November 2010
2 posts
8 tags
The Fire Ants of Terrorism
An interesting article I found at CNN:
Is America on the path to ‘permanent war’?
The fight against terrorism will fail if we continue to frame it as a “war”. I’m not against war; I am against the futile waste of people and resources on an unwinnable situation. We honor our service men and women by NOT throwing away their lives in a “war” that has no...
Busy-ness
When I’m not active on my blog or Twitter, that means I’m working.
Which is good. :)
I’m in the midst of a time-critical project for one of my clients, plus I’m trying to wrap up Revelations of Darkened Souls by the end of the year.
However, I do have some subjects to post on the blog, once I get my head above water. I’ll see if I can find time later this week to...
October 2010
3 posts
8 tags
A Musing on the Nature of Music
Information without substance exists; 2 + 2 = 4, even if there is no sentient being to add the numbers. Thus, we discover math, rather than invent it; our only creation is the notation, not the actual concept. Is the same true for other aspects of the universe, such as music? Does a song exist before it is composed, and where does it reside if it is not written down or played?
14 tags
The Potential Redemption of Villains...
From the forthcoming Revelations of Darkened Souls…
Lightning struck the ground, crackle-walking between trees, briefly illuminating a hunched, hooded shape on a nearby path. The path was steep, and the person moved slowly but steadily through the torrential downpour, approaching the unlit castle. Once inside the barbican, the figure stopped, leaning its back against the wall under an...
3 tags
What we don't back up...
For the last couple of weeks, I haven’t been able to post on this blog because I lost my log in information…
My main computer recently lost a hard drive controller. I’m pretty studious about keeping track of things. For example, I have a vast spreadsheet containing license keys, passwords, and other critical data (very encryted, thank you). But it didn’t have my magic...
September 2010
3 posts
12 tags
On Kehklik: A Dragon's Perspective
From A Journey of Dragons, here is the dragon Sytherek’s consideration of the kehklik, a unique species in the lands of Syraqua…
Sytherek lay atop a mesa, head held high, motionless except for his searching eyes. His perch offered an exceptional view of two neighboring kehklik hives, one young, one old. Recent events had rekindled his interest in the creatures. He observed,...
16 tags
Of Love, Bathrooms, and Laser Pistols
I’ve been very busy recently, with programming and life and writing and… well, stuff. This passage is from the the third act of Revelations of Darkened Souls, the forthcoming sequel to A Journey of Dragons. I’ll be posting more int he coming weeks… as always, this is preliminary text, from before major editorial passes and final polishing. :)
Norgrim is the leader of the...
8 tags
August 2010
7 posts
11 tags
Mean Atheists (of the big-A variety)
I am an atheist, in that I do not believe in the existence of supernatural “gods”. While I deny the existence of Gods in the traditional sense, I have reasons to accept the existence of higher purposes and spirituality. If people must apply a label to me, I am a Theravada Buddhist (for the most part).
I am NOT an Atheist (note the capital “A”), a subset of atheism...
17 tags
An Excerpt from the New Novel...
Revelations of Darkened Souls is the sequel to A Journey of Dragons. What follows is a scene that is inspiring quite a bit of artwork, including the cover for the new book.
A bit of background: Three women — the humans Alanora and Zarah, and their dwarven friend, Kalinda — have escaped from a research facility operated by the Theorists, an autocratic group of dwarves who use...
8 tags
In Defense of Marriage, for Everyone Who Wants It
I just read an interesting article about how religionists misuse science in their campaign against marriage equality. The author, John Horgan, does a good job of laying out where his own writings have been badly misused by people who are against the so-called “homosexual agenda.”
In reading this article, what struck me most was Horgan’s repetition of a very tired joke that I see in many articles...
8 tags
A Rationality for Self-Publishing
The stigma of self-publishing is typical of most prejudices — it’s based on a small body of facts. As a bona-fide published author of over a dozen dead-tree, bookstore titles, I’ll try to shed some light on why I went the self-publishing route. I have no trouble with editorial changes; I’m a strong defender of the NEED for editors as a critical eye. I even have a successful...
8 tags
10 tags
Publishing without a Safety Net
I’ve been a professional author for many years. My past publications — hundreds of magazine articles and a couple dozen books — were about technology and computer programming. So I’ve done the “real” writer thing, with publishers and editors and paper and such.
I’m much happier writing fiction these days. And I’m getting my books into the public’s hands through crowd funding and open...
July 2010
10 posts
7 tags
The Conscience of Anne Rice, and the Failure of...
Anne Rice recently started a fascinating conversation with her decision to leave Christianity, while still maintaining her faith in Jesus.
http://marquee.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/30/anne-rice-leaves-christianity/?hpt=T2
To many people, Jesus = Christianity, which simply isn’t true. Mary did not call her son “Christ”; that is a Greek name unknown to a man whose real name was...
The Fate of Original Thinkers
Buddha, Jesus, and other prophets would not recognize most “religions” that claim them. Adam Smith and Karl Marx would not be entirely copacetic with modern capitalism and communism, respectively. It is the sad fate of most original thinkers to have their words and ideas twisted and exploited by “followers” who seek power and profit.
A Disturbing Prospect →
Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich wants to be President. And to get there, he’s perfectly happy to destroy the nation he professes to love.
The United States is founded on a set of fine principles, which include freedom of speech and assembly. That is what we should be fighting for — the preserve those freedoms.
Instead, people like Gingrich ignore the very Constitution they...
Oklahomans flunk citizenship tests -- and Native... →
Let’s see now… U.S. citizens in Oklahoma, the bible belt folk who were born into their rights, have trouble with a citizenship test. And Native Americans did better than “whites” on the test.
I find this rather poetic.
In my experience, the people who thump their Bibles and scream the most about “patriotism” know very little about either.
How the USDA Secretary was "snookered" by FoxNews... →
It’s bad enough that Fox News and Breitbart tell blatant lies… what’s worse is the knee-jerk, panicked reaction of USDA Secretary Vilsack, who demanded this woman resign before he even knew the whole story. Vilsack’s behavior smells of reactionary politics; his concern is for image, not truth.
The Genocide behind Smart Phones? →
Oil can be replaced; generating electricity isn’t difficult. It’s the rarity of certain elements and minerals that will break our technological society, because they simply cannot be replaced or synthesized. The politics of the world is already turning toward control of such resources.
Kickstarter - A Journey of Dragons, an original... →
A Journey of Dragons is the first in a series of original science fantasy novels. It’s set in the land of Syraqua, where dragons have settled and humanity is nearly extinct, where dwarves delve into dark secrets of the past, while iguana-like reptilians seek a future of their own making. Human civilization has risen and fallen twice before; it now rises again, facing challenges from both...
Kickstarter - Evolutionary Algorithms - Natural... →
I get messages every week to republish my old books on genetic algorithms and cellular automata. Mainstream publishers aren’t interested in this sort fo book anymore… I know, I’ve looked. Perhaps, crowdfunding will provide the resources so I can refresh and republish this material. And do it better, without all the restrictions I was under from dead-tree publishers.
Evolution...
