I just finished the last block for Galaxar’s blanket! No more pictures till it’s done!
Jan 302010
Jan 232010
How To Survive A Robot Uprising - Daniel H Wilson
Daniel H. Wilson
2005, 176 pages
How do you spot a robot mimicking a human? How do you recognize and deactivate a rebel servant robot? How do you escape a murderous “smart” house, or evade a swarm of marauding robotic flies?
In this essential survival guide, roboticist Daniel H Wilson teaches worried humans the secrets to quashing a robot mutiny. From treating laser wounds to fooling face and speech recognition, outwitting robot logic to engaging in hand-to-pincer combat, How to Survive a Robot Uprising covers every possible doomsday scenario facing the newest endangered species: humans.
Earlier this year, I reviewed Daniel Wilson’s Where’s My Jetpack? I think this book was a bit better. The humour was a bit drier, which I liked a lot, and it felt less like a Wikipedia article. Slightly terrifying at times, it reminded me of why we want to make friends with the robots while they are still under our control.
Jan 222010
So, Lemmers sent me a picture to show me how mad Isaac was at me for not getting anything done last week.
He looks mad, doesn’t he? Well, I didn’t want to disappoint Sir Isaac yet again this week, so in the last seven days, I have made six pretty quilt blocks!
My total is up to twenty four blocks. I need twenty eight, and two of the blocks aren’t usable. That means there’s only four more blocks to go. This is exciting. And it makes Isaac happy.
See?
Jan 212010
The Handmaid's Tale - Margaret Atwood
Margart Atwood
1985, 400 pages
Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead, once the United States of America. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets, where pictures have replaced words because women are forbidden to read. She must lic on her back once a month and pray that the Commander maker her pregnant, for Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable.
Offred can remember a time when she lived with and made love to her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now…
What ever happened to utopian futures? Seems that they went out of style some time before the cold war. *sigh*
This was my first Margart Atwood book. Her Wikipedia article has an entire section about her beefs with the term science fiction, so I will tow party line and say that this novel is speculative fiction, and I would have to say that it fits more into the latter than the former. It is told in the first person by a woman who has seen the transition from the modern world we know and love, to a brutal totalitarian, sexist theocracy. one of the things that I felt shocked by was how easily the propagandists and those in power made the new policies that robbed women of their status bit by bit, how quickly the end of the world came. Offred’s flashbacks to her former life made her current situation that much more heartbreaking.
Somehow, even through all the bleakness, Atwood has managed to make me see the glimmers of goodness in Offred’s life, and that to me is a great skill. This book was wonderful. I think I would recommend it as a gateway drug for my science fiction hating peers, as “it’s not sci-fi” at all.
Jan 202010
Geek Love is ours
We’re getting into details now. We finished the wedding website a few days after invitations started arriving, and we got gift registries sorted out and published last night. I have confirmed my makeup and hair people, and Pat Morrison is good to do for ceremony music. We’re making headway with finalizing the ceremony. On Saturday I have an appointment with the person doing alterations on my dress. I’m going tomorrow for attempt number two at obtaining the marriage license.
Last week, we tried to get the marriage license and my passport only to find that my birth certificate is no longer considered a birth certificate. I had to order a new one, which arrived yesterday, so tomorrow I’m going to go try again. The passport people and marriage license require the same identification set and are in the same building, so that’s at least convenient. I have to take another morning off to do it, but at this point I just want it to be done.
The gift registry was harder to do than we wanted. No brick and mortar stores have good online gift registries, and our families aren’t going to be okay with using an Amazon.com registry. Sears had the best online registry, and as a web developer, I have to say that not having an online registry may have been better. It wasn’t tied into their catalogue website at all, but their wishlists are. What is the difference between a wedding registry and a wishlist? The only thing I can think of is adding multiple people’s names to the account, but even then, there aren’t individual log-ins.
I have a feeling some of our guests aren’t going to like the number of items on the registry, but Alan and I had a hard time coming up with the items we have added. We have a full apartment and don’t really have room for more stuff. We’re going to upgrade our dishes and a few small appliances, but other than that, we are good. We have a short registry, but it seems like we always managed to pick the most expensive item in the store when we did add something. I’m going to blame Alan for this, even though it’s probably not his fault.
We have to work on our vows still. Right now Alan’s seem to be lines from an MC Hammer song, and mine involve the robot apocalypse. Think we’re going to have to do a bit better than that.
What other wedding things am I missing guys? What things should be done by 7 weeks before the event?
