found_drama

• Must Read: 20 Science Books Every Scifi Fan (and Writer) Should Read
  A sort of “top 20″ of accessible science books; not that they probably could have nixed a couple of these which are otherwise summed up in “The Moral Animal”.
  (tags: literature math science scifi writing todo)
• Spammers Hijacking IP Space
  via Slashdot
  (tags: spam email research todo)

Quote:

…I think I’d probably tell you that it’s easier to desire and pursue the attention of tens of millions of total strangers than it is to accept the love and loyalty of the people closest to us.

There is an odd surface tension here; some readers may approach Idoru from the wrong bias, through the lens of Neuromancer and the Sprawl trilogy. Those readers will expect the traditional cyberpunk romp of amphetamine-fueled Yakuza battles and twisted violent sex in coffin hotels; those readers will be disappointed and may not be able to penetrate the skin of this charged, deeply emotional book. Idoru is William Gibson’s Through the Looking Glass.

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The mission, the secret has been compromised.  Our own expedition was a success in as much as our craft — a lightweight, one-man, helium-propelled bicycle of an aircraft — returned to base.  What none of us had banked on was that we would be pursued by a friend.  (M.F., was that you?)  His craft however, was not so provident.  Our intelligence reports tell us that he chased after us, that he out-performed us in the air, that he then went off the radar and never came back.  As the pilot, I am angered and shamed; as his friend I am saddened and confused.  Intelligence tells us that he had been coerced by Communists.  So many plausible explanations, so little time to find him.  We spring immediately to action.  Our evidence leads us to an elementary school.  We question the teachers, the students, we study the equations scribbled on the math class’ chalkboard.  Where could he have gone?

Via Ecstatic Days, a formula for creating your literary name:

(1) Use the first name of your favorite writer as your first name.
(2) Use the name of your first pet as your middle name or for your middle initial (if your pet had a separate last name…you’re a freak).
(3) Use the first or last name of your favorite character in fiction–your choice–as your last name.

I guess that would make me:

David Felicity Case

Or something along those lines…

• AdWords Learning Center
  (tags: google adwords tutorial search marketing learning education work todo)

There is no narrative, I am left with only three images.  The path is a garden path.  Flagstones form a jagged path that weaves in and out of some Civil War-era garden.  You can tell that it is summer because all of the trees and bushes are green but none of their blossoms are left.  A structure is tucked away behind some of the bushes.  A gazebo?  It is very narrow and has white columns and looks much taller than it actually is.  The antique bookstore is nothing more than it sounds like.  Sparse shelves reek of musty pages and cracked leather bindings.  The shelves form a ring around the perimeter but no free-standing shelves divide the space.  The boy terrifies me.  His face is calm but his eyes are a thundercloud.  He pushes the man down, backs him into a corner.  He raises the long, curved knife, and plunges it into the man’s chest to extract the heart.

• Web 3.0 Will Be About Reducing the Noise—And Twhirl Isn’t Helping
  “There is too much to pay attention to and not enough ways to reduce the noise.” Sure there is: say no.
  (tags: Twitter)

Thanks out to everyone that came and made this a huge success. Amy was thrilled.

All the pictures.

• Congress Near Deal on Genetic Test Bias Bill
  via New York Times (via /.)
  (tags: politics genetics news)
• WordPress @ Reply
  via WordPress Plugins
  (tags: wordpress blog todo)
• multipart/mixed: SVN vs. Mercurial vs. Git For Managing Your Home Directory
  goes hand-in-hand w/ Justin’s comment from the other day…
  (tags: geek lifehacks subversion git Mercurial essay software todo)

Third person, fly-on-the-wall type P.O.V.  A Handmaid’s Tale-style near apocalypse.  An evangelical Christian school; a real house on the hill sort of thing.  No one knows how they’ve kept this thing a secret, this sprawling multi-wing complex.  It’s the eve before the unveiling; the board of directors is giving a tour to some media folks from the outside world.  They’re well-dressed and proud that they’ve come this far, proud that they haven’t succumbed to the terrors without, proud that this facility of theirs will no doubt serve as a beacon unto the rest of what’s left of civilization.

Our camera changes up; we follow a young man sneaking through the halls of the All Girls wing.  He isn’t a Humbert Humbert type; he’s about the same age as these girls and he seems to be here looking for one in particular.  We get the sense that he’s fought through whatever terrors are outside to get here, to find her.  And he does find her, manages to catch her arm and away they slip into one of the quieter rooms.  The room is slanted and at the top of the rise is a trophy case.  They talk guardedly; she is trying not to give something away and he is trying not to betray some other secret.  He notices that she is pregnant.  She explains that it has something to do with taxes, that it’s for the good of the school.  He makes some lewd jokes but they’re all in good humor.

The camera shifts again: outside, the terror closes in.  Thousands upon thousands of green-skinned plague zombies swarming up the cliffs.  The school’s defenses take their positions on the ridge of the cliffs and fire down into those hordes.  There is a muffled voice crying out not to shoot, that shooting will only make things worse but the firing goes on.