Best Writer on the Net?
Posted by admin on January 29, 2008
From the Wall Street Journal, Further proof that Murdoch’s ownership in no way degrades responsible journalism.
Taking the Linux Plunge
Posted by admin on January 27, 2008
Well, I finally did it.
After playing around with Live Linux CDs for the last few months, I finally became Bill Gates Free.
I had been using Open Office and Mozilla pretty exclusively, and was waiting for just the right time to try it. With the Fedora 8 disk available, I downloaded it ans tried it out didn’t like it as much as the Ubuntu 7.10, but it worked and everything seemed to be going well.
I backed up my files to the server, and hit install. It took about 5 minutes to destroy years worth of cruft and start fresh. My Impressions so far:
- The installation was easy. Even getting the right drivers for my new Printer and scanner went well. Although not nearly as smooth as Windows, this new version works out of the box.
- Adding packages and upgrading is actually easier than Windows. And the amount of professional, full-featured, free programs is pretty darn amazing.
- I’m still picking and choosing packages. Because I always seem to have something running in the background and over the internet, the system is running a little slower than under Windows. I’ll get to tweak it over the coming weeks.
So far so good. Wish me luck.
Poll: Are you reading “Duma Key”?
Posted by admin on January 24, 2008
I’ve always been a fan of Stephen King. Read him from the time I was about 12, and I think the first book was The Shining. But I lost interest in the period around Insomnia.
It just seemed as if King himself was burnt out. And the fact that’s he’s so prolific and has written so many novels, means that a Stephen King novel is no longer an event. Heck, Stephen King TV shows aren’t even events anymore.
But something strange happened. in the last few years. We all know about the accident, about the switch in publishers, about King’s race with himself to finish the Dark Tower.
Somewhere in there, King seemed to find himself. He still needs an editor willing to take on his excesses, and he still can pulp it up with the best of them, but his works have for the most part deepened and matured. He seems to be in Spielberg mode: Pop alternating with Pomp.
And it seems the publishing world has noticed. There’s a visible marketing blitz on for Duma Key that’s we haven’t seen for a King book in a while. And it’s done the trick. I can’t wait to pick this book up. How about you?
{democracy:2}
The Rabbit Hole: How was your Day?
Posted by admin on January 23, 2008
Let me tell you about my evening…
It snowed just enough during rush hour to make the roads a mess and I got home a little late. I saw about three fender-benders on the way and was glad just to pull into our drive. Our mailman was still on our street, parked about three houses down.
While eating, we heard a noise on the porch and thought it was the mailman. after finishing, I got up to get the mail. I looked out the door and saw a strange, white SUV in the driveway, next to mine.
I opened the door to see who it was, and realized that he wasn’t parked next to mine, but was straddling the curb between my property and the neighbors. There’s a little hill that dips down between the yards. Another few feet, and the truck would have flipped over right into my neighbors house.
The driver was just getting out. I asked him if he was OK and he said yeah, he slid on the ice. He seemed OK and we began to examone the truck. It was obvious he was going pretty fast down our street ( See the previous Post about Grace) and swerved around the mail truck and lost control. He crossed my neighbors lawn and luckily missed all the trees and my car. There was no damage to anything but his car and I asked if he needed to call anyone.
He got out his cell phone and called AAA. He asked for my address and seemed OK. I told him he could come in and wait, but he said he’s stay outside.
About twenty minutes later, there was a knock on our door. It was the Tow truck driver.
“How’d you manage that?” he asked.
“It wasn’t us. It was the guy out there.”
“Who?”
He was gone. We went outside to check, and the driver was coming down the street. He and the Driver started to talk, and they started to tow the truck.
At this point, the driver needed to move my car. I had errands to run, so I told them I’d move an be back in a minute.
When I got back, the SUV was still there, the Tow truck was gone, and a police car was at my neighbors house.
Long story short, and so I don’t contaminate the jury, There was a discussion while I was gone on whether the police should be called, then they were, then the SUV driver freaked, then the Tow truck guy was left holding the bag and he freaked, then everyone freaked except for the cop who was professional and coolly detached throughout.
Tomorrow, I’m going to get the police report, because while I can believe the SUV driver was messed up, either drunk or high or injured and left his car AFTER calling AAA, I can’t figure out where the tow truck Driver went.
Lesson for writers: Re-write this story so it’s believable. It’s true: But it’s not true sounding. Why Didn’t I call the police? Adrenaline, relief, shock? Why did the SUV Driver take off? Same thing? Outstanding warrant? I don’t know. And the Tow guy? What’s he doing today, other than filling out unemployment forms? Coincidence and incomplete information are par for the course in the real world, but your stories need to make sense.
Lesson for everyone else: Call the police.
