Fantasist's Scroll

At least, in a limited capacity.

After much thought, and reworking of code, I’ve decided to bring back the popular ConLang Word Generator. It functions basically the same, but will only generate a maximum of 25 words at a time. Hopefully, that will not be too big a burden on the server.
However, rest assured that if I get even the slightest hint of trouble, I’ll have to take it down. It was pretty touch and go last time I had a popular script running that killed my web host’s server, so I’m not taking any chances this time.

And, stay tuned for a new, totally different, word generator! Coming soon to a web page near you!!

I’d like to give this book a good review.

No, really, I would. When I picked it up, I had high hopes for a deeply moving spiritual experience. Unfortunately, I didn’t get it. Oh, it was a good reminder that I need to be more connected to the source of my spiritual strength, which is God. But, mostly, it was watered-down New Age mubo-jumbo.

It started out okay, though it wasn’t what I expected. It was, essentially, a work of fiction meant to impart nine “insights” of a spiritual nature. I hadn’t expected a story at all, but I plowed ahead anyway. Even though it was written at about the same level as USA Today. Then, they started to tell me that I needed to be a vegetarian. Uh-oh… I disagree with that for a number of reasons, which I won’t go into here. Suffice it to say that was my first warning that this wasn’t my kind of book. But, I reminded myself of all the Hindu and Buddhist vegetarians and kept reading.
Then, they started seeing auras. Oh, they called it “energy fields”, but it was nothing more than auras. That’s not bad in and of itself, but it added a bit of hokey-ness to the whole thing that was hard to get past later.
And, from there on out, everyone was a characature of a stereotype found in pop-psychology or New Age literature. Not that it’s all that bad, but it didn’t endear the book’s author to me. And, ultimately, it all got in the way of my reading. It’s never a good sign when the medium obstructs the message.

Still, it wasn’t a total loss. I did gain a deeper appreciation for better books! And, it made me think about what “coincidenes” really mean. Are they just interesting accidents? Or, are they messages from a higher source? So, I vowed to pay closer attention to chance encounters and such.
Also, it made me think more about how we interact with each other. How most of us are not conscious of the way we talk to and treat others. I know that I have not always been very conscious of how I deal with others. So, I promised myself that I would pay more attention to my interactions with other people.

So, while I can’t honestly reccomend this book to anyone else, it wasn’t a total loss. Oh, and normally, I’d post this on a Sunday, since it was a book about spirituality, but I’m announcing a new site feature tomorrow. And, the next two Sundays as well. Stay tuned!

They’re bringing him back for his 40th anniversary!

No, really, a new Dr. Who series is going to be done for the BBC. For those of you who are big geeks like me, you already know who Dr. Who is. For those of you who don’t… Well, it’s about time you were educated.
Though it’s hard for me to believe that the Good Doctor has been around for fourty years, he apparently has. And, he’s still popular enough that BBC1 will be airing a new series based on the classic series. The series was about an immortal, time-travelling, space travelling alien who was out to protect the universe from any and all baddies. At his disposal to aid in this duty were the TARDIS and his sonic screwdriver, among other toys. And, of course, his ever-faithful humanoid companions. (Not all of them were actually humans from Earth.) Oh, the memories this brings back!
You can read more about this at the Official BBC Dr. Who Website.

Just something that touched me.

I read a lot about a lot of things. One subject that I tend to enjoy reading about online is conlanging. One of the more well known people in conlanging is Jeffrey Henning, who runs Langmaker.com. But, he has a whole other side that a lot of us don’t really know. I stumbled across it the other day. As an example of how deep a person he is, I offer his Forgiveness Prayer.

This is just crazy!

But, I love it! The TerraWind is billed as “the world’s first luxury Amphibious Motor coach / Yacht” on their website. You just have to see this to believe it. It looks like a regular motor coach, but then, it just drives out into the water and is a freakin’ boat!!
Man, when I’m rich, I gotta’ get me one of these!!

Here’s a disturbing little thought for anyone who wants to create literature for a living…

It’s one thing when songs are pirated, or movies, after all, we all know how much those artists make and waste, right? Well, okay, maybe they’re harder up than a lot of us think. Still, this article on Slate about publishing piracy really disturbed me.
I’ve seen this trend coming, really, but it still scares me. As the economy gets tighter, more and more people can justify in their own minds taking advantage of the pirate networks. It started with the incredibly inflated prices of software, then music and movies, and, now, books. The problem is this: in each case, there is a smaller and smaller margin. For one thing, the print industry is even harder to break into than the music industry, which is pretty damn hard to crack. What’s more, there’s an even smaller market for printed material than for music. (Not in my house, but, then, I’m a geek who wants to be a full-time writer.) I know, first hand, just how little an individual author makes off a published work. Piracy cuts directly into that small percentage of revenue.
So, read the article, think about it, and “go forth and sin no more”.

Now, this is a service!

Ever wanted to look something up in the Bible? How about the Koran? Or the Analects? Or, really, just about any other religious text you could imagine? Well, they’re gathered all in one place on the internet, for free:
Sacred Texts Online.

They’re all there and you can download them, too! It’s well worth a look.

I sure do, even though I’ve never gotten one.

Here’s an entry on Slashdot about micropayments. I remember thinking they were a good way to pay for a good website with fun tools. I remember a lot of people who felt the same way, once, too. I wonder what went wrong?

You know, if you’d like to experience micro-payments, you can donate to this site via PayPal:

Or, via The Magus’ Wish List.

All right, all right, my shameless begging is over!