Fantasist's Scroll

Is that a star or a satellite in the sky?

Well, with the information, and links, in this article from TechTV, you could find out! It’s a list of information about NASA’s J-Track program that lets you track satellites, and other space objects, right from your browser! It’s really pretty cool and, best of all, it’s free. Hey, your government dollars working for you!
There’s also some information about other NASA software that they use in space missions. So, if you’re interested in just what that light was over your house, here’s how to find out.

Have fun!

Another great Lawrence Watt-Evans book!

I just finished reading Touched By The Gods by Lawrence Watt-Evans last night. It was, of course, up to his usual wonderful work. Though, I have to admit I had some issues with the names he used. They were occasionally hard to pronounce and that interrupted the “flow” of the story for me sometimes. But, that’s really my only complaint.
It’s a fairly straight-forward theme, really, a champion who is chosen by the gods during a time of peace is suddenly thrust into a war that could destroy civilization as he knows it. Standard heroic fantasy stuff. Of course, Lawrence Watt-Evans manages to bring those “stock” characters to life and make them real with an expert stroke of the brush. Malledd, who is the god’s chosen champion, is born into a smithing family and takes up the trade at his father’s anvil. He grows to enourmous size, even for a smith, but settles into a peacefull life with his wife and children. But, it’s not meant to last, and it would have made a boring book if it had! An enemy of the empire in the far East has found a dark magic that he hopes will allow him to avenge himself against his people’s conquerers. And, along the way on his quest for vengence, he discovers that the gods can favor more than one champion…
I won’t tell any more than that, though, lest I give something away. Let me say only that Touched By The Gods has some interesting takes on destiny and duty. In fact, they’re themes throughout the book as Malledd struggles with the internal conflict between staying home with his family and doing his duty to his empire. An enjoyable read and a bit of a break for Lawrence Watt-Evans who is well known for his Ethshar series of books. I really can’t say enough about his fantastic fiction. And, yes, I meant that as a play on words! So, what are you waiting for? Go get this book and read it!!

Well, not in the United States!

This article in Wired News discusses the Korean created cloned human embryo and the stem cells derived from it. In part, it says, the Koreans managed this before us because of our moral and religious leanings. Our politics and medical ethics are derived from our, primarily, Judeo-Christian outlook on the world. Those beliefs have stymied clone experimentation on humans in the United States. Wrongly or rightly is something for every individual to judge.
I, on the other hand, find myself speculating on what that will mean to the future of the world. Will we have thousands of copies of Kim Jong Il? Or, since China is working on these kinds of things too, Chairman Mao? Will we be reading about a genetically “improved” army marching out of Asia somewhere to conquer the world? Or, do we just have to worry about having shorter lifespans than the average Korean? Perhaps, as William Gibson has suggested in his fiction, we will all be going to Asia, somewhere, for the “best” surgeries and “improvements”.
Who knows… But, as a writer, the possibilities are thought provoking, to say the least!

Well, more like a thruster.

Actually, according to this article on Australian IT, it is a thruster. A new plasma thruster developed at the Australian National University is being heralded as a breakthrough in deep space exploration. The thruster, called the “Helicon Double Layer Thruster”, uses solar electricity to create a magnetic field through which hydrogen is passed to make a beam of plasma, which powers a ship through space.
HDLT inventor Dr. Christine Charles says,”For deep space exploration, like going to Mars, you need to use plasma propulsion because it is a lot more fuel efficient and you can go a lot faster.” And, in this case, faster is definately better.
All I can say is, “Good on, ya’, Mate!”

On the cheap!!

Here’s a website called Fontifier that lets you make your very own, hand-drawn font. For free. At least, it’s free right now. It might cost something eventually, but this week, it’s still free. So, get it while it’s hot!
You just go to the website, download the template, fill it out, scan it and send it back. Then, you get a personalized font. The only thing you need is a printer to print the template, a felt-tip pen to write the font, and a scanner to scan it in. They pretty much do the rest. Cool stuff.
Make sure to read the FAQ if you’re interested in doing a font for your conlang.

No, this time, they mean it!

According to this article on Australian IT, the long awaited vaporware of e-paper is finally a viable reality. This has actually been around for quite some time, but now they’re able to put it into something that resembles production. What a shame that so many of the e-book readers have gone the way of the dodo. Well, maybe we’ll be lucky and someone like Palm will take this technology and run with it.
In any case, it’s nice to see this finally take hold a bit.

Not the usual Fantasist’s Scroll book.

But, well worth looking into. I first got interested in Rastafarianism by way of William Gibson, who had several characters who were Dreadlocks. My ignorance of what that was all about was, well, somewhat shocking for me at the time. So, I started poking around. Quite a few years ago, I found Rastafari: Roots and Ideology by Barry Chevannes. It followed me around, unread, in a box for several years. Well, I finally read it this past week. What a shame I waited so long!
This was a very good book about the history and origins of a relatively new religion. Among other things, it was fascinating to track the birth of a new faith from its very start through the modern day. As a sociological look at a small, but growing, religious or spiritual movement, this is a great book. It is, however, a rather schollarly look at this movement and, as such, is somewhat dry at times. Still, it presents not only a well-rounded look at the religion, but also the socio-economic forces that shaped it. One of the main “pillars of faith”, for instance, is the concept of “repatriation” to Ethiopia. This would never have come about if not for the practice of black slavery in the New World.
I’ll not attempt to describe the intricacies of Rastafarianism in a short message, but, if you’re interested in knowing more, this book is a great place to start.

Why We Fear Friday the Thirteenth!

I always thought it was because Judas was the Thirteenth Apostle or something like that. No, according to this article on GlobalPsychics.com, it has to do with the plot to suppress the Knights Templar. Hey, stop laughing! That’s what it says!! And, I quote:

The modern basis for the Friday the 13th superstition stems from Friday October the 13th, 1307. On this date, the Pope of the church in Rome in Conjunction with the King of France, carried out a secret death warrant against “the Knights Templar”. The Templars were terminated as heretics, never again to hold the power that they had held for so long. There Grand Master, Jacques DeMolay, was arrested and before he was killed, was tortured and crucified. A Black Friday indeed!

So, there you have it, Friday the Thirteenth is a global conspiracy!
Enjoy it.
(Yes, I also posted this on my other blog.