Authors to read

Richard Calder
Charles Stross
Ian McDonald
Joe Haldeman
Jack Vance
John C. Wright
Alistair Reynolds
Ian M. Banks
Kay Kenyon
Robert Silverberg - The Book of Skulls
Michael Morcock - Behold the Man
James Blish - A case of conscience
Dan Simmons
Ian R. McCloud - The Light Ages
John Burdett - Bangkok Haunts

Gadget Girl

I love tech gadgets. Today, I'm jonzin on smart phones. While I do love Verizon's enV, I think I prefer the xv6800. Which means I'm back to the pocketpc thing. Beautiful wide screen, qwerty keyboard, 2mp camera, wifi. So I can call, surf, work (hopefully write blogs n stuff); mostly so I can call and surf. And the damn thing ain't cheap. So even when I get to purchase a new phone in September, that sucker would cost me $399. And that's $150 off. I'll have to shop around. I would love a Helio, but do I want to leave Verizon? Probably not. I've been really happy with Verizon.

Verizon xv6800

I also love the new EeePC from Asus. It's so cute. Which is kinda wrong cuz should tech really be cute? Or, should it be kickass? Now they are even selling them in colors - pink, green, blue, black and white.



I would like one to play with, but it's Linux. And while I love the idea of opensource (as in my flirtation with Mandrake Linux way back when), I am a WinWhore (sad as that is) and I love to add all kinds of apps (software) to my devices. Not to mention the fact that the EeePC is really only for work (document creation) and surfing with the Wifi. I wonder if it's really practical. Ya can't play games on it. It has a low amount of memory and wouldn't have a great video card for rendering. So, I'd be better with the PocketPC PPC) option. Though, the PPC I already own (xv6600) is in storage right now as the service for phone and web is $80. And I'm not permanently employed yet.

Hells bells, I need a job.

Then there's the PC Touchscreen. There's a nice GVision, 15" LCD Touchscreen available at TigerDirect for $399. SWEET!




And now for something a little different. . .

Mecca goes free wifi for the Hajj. So now you can pray and email at the same time. Why can't you just email your prayer to Mecca and have that count?

Other big news today (no, not Jamie Lynn Spears) is that Congress is looking at requiring traditional radio to pay performance fees the same way satalite and internet radio does. How will this affect us? Granted, major radio stations can afford it, and the fees I've read about aren't huge ($1,000 for NPR for instance).

Bitchy Server

It truly is a bitch when the server you're working from decides it doesn't want to behave. Trying to work on my webpage and the server keeps bombing out. Very irritating.

I'm not sure I have much to say today. I'm already tired of complaining about my familial woes. Everyone has them and they are mostly the same ones. Would like to go home and code all evening, but who knows if that will work. The neice wanders in and chaos ensues. One never knows what mom and sis have in store. Of course, I could adhoc network and code from the laptop while sitting in the livingroom enjoying family time.

Checking out MS Live a bit today. Leo Laporte and Paul Thurrott seem to like it. And there's the question of Kindle or e-Reader. Not that I can afford either one presently. I wonder what the Audible Pattern Recognition sounds like.

Books I want: Callahan novels by Spider Robinson

Tuesday's whine

I was such a whiney bitch yesterday. Wah wah. Boohoo. I hate my life . . . woe is me. Whatever.

I need the latest generation Sony e-Book Reader. I need to be able to carry a library with me, just like the music library on my nano. And I need to be able to sign up for Audible audio books. I need TOYS, people! Glorious, technological toys!

Random Notes: Great article on Soviet architecture. William Gibson had posted the link on his blog.

Books I miss: Pattern Recognition,

Books I want: Strugatsky books,The Fiend in Human: A Victorian Thriller

Frozen Za and vacumn melodies

Who'da thought I'd actually be able to get my ass outta bed at am everyday to get to work? Not me, not in a million years. Yet, that's what I've been doing. I managed to skip out on the bumper to bumper in Chicago just to catch it here in going into Tampa everyday. At least the scenery is SO much better! Trees and cows and stars and creeks like the Pithlachascotee. I'm constantly amazed at how many stars you can see here at night.

It's odd having xmas without cold. Neely and I put up the xmas decorations in the front yard in our shorts and tshirts. It was surreal.

So here is the beginning of my blog. Let's see if I keep it up. Dinner tonight is a Digiorno frozen pizza (love the 'za). Neely is vacumning in prepartion for mom's arrival on Saturday. Ryleigh is trying to be of assistance, though don't know how much help a four year old can really be in cleaning up - she is managing to push the on/off button on the vacumn when Neely asks.

Books I'm reading: The Eternity Artifact, The Lovely Bones, Quicksilver, Dexter in the Dark.

Books I'm Jonzing for: World War Z, Anansi Boys, Mr. B Gone, a bunch more I just wishlisted on Amazon and some I put on my xmas list.

Been thinking about signing up for Audible - the audiobook download site. 1 free book a month plan - 1 book a month could get me back and forth from Tampa twice a day in one month. Gotta wait for the permanent job, though.