Imagine, for a moment, that Charles Dickens wrote URLs. For the non-technical, a URL is a website address. A “Universal Resource Locator.” I presume you’re reading this from http://www.allyngibson.com/, though there are other places and other ways you might have found your way here. But, again, let us suppose that Charles Dickens wrote URLs. WeContinue reading “On URLs as Written by Charles Dickens”
Category Archives: Reading
On Hemingway’s Papers
A few weeks ago, during our weekly Friday production meeting at work, our marketing director announced, “We’re not writing Hemingway here.” This was in reference to something I had written for the company’s website, on something I had some knowledge of and interest in — Tolkien, the Volsung Saga, and the new Tolkien book comingContinue reading “On Hemingway’s Papers”
On the New h+ Magazine
The second downloadable issue of h+ Magazine is now available. It’s a magazine on transhumanism and other futuristic trends. I enjoyed the first issue immensely. This issue has an interview with Vernor Vinge on the subject of the Singularity. If this is of any interest, give it a shot.
On This Week’s Subway Reading
As long-time Allyn-ologists know, I have a Saturday routine. I get up, I drink coffee, I put on NPR so I can listen to Weekend Edition with Scott Simon. I love listening to Scott Simon. His voice has the most incredible cadence I have ever heard, and with every word he enunciates, you feel itContinue reading “On This Week’s Subway Reading”
On an Excess of Zombies
What is the fucking deal with zombies? I swear, sometimes it feels like the world has gone zombie-crazy. Everybody’s talking zombies. Zombies this, zombies that. Zombies, zombies, zombies. I don’t get it. Why, just today, I pounded my desk at work, lest I shout at the top of my lungs, “Stop with the fucking zombies,Continue reading “On an Excess of Zombies”
On Newt Gingrich’s 1945
I own Newt Gingrich’s 1945. Confession time. I paid full price for it. On the day it came out. 1945. It’s legendary in science fiction circles. Then-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich made a deal with Baen Books for a series of alternate history novels. Co-written with William Forstchen, 1945 posited a world where AdolfContinue reading “On Newt Gingrich’s 1945”
On The Century of the Black Ships
Recently I was given a history book on a narrow, though interesting, subject — the literature of Japanese/American warfare written between 1900 and 1940 entitled The Century of the Black Ships. It was written by a Japanese scholar, Naoki Inose, and published in Japan in 1993. Viz, a manga publisher, translated the book into EnglishContinue reading “On The Century of the Black Ships”
On Fun With Slate
I love reading Slate. It’s an online magazine with eclectic content. Politics to video games, pop music to the ethics of cloning, columnists from Christopher Hitchens to Timothy Noah, Slate has insight into almost everything. Here are my two finds of today. First, a 45-minute audio discussion of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby. OneContinue reading “On Fun With Slate”
On H+ Magazine
When I was a junior in high school, I had to write a major research paper for my English class. Semester long project, that sort of thing. What did I want to write about? I pondered this. I pondered this some more. And then I read a review of Hans Moravec’s book, Mind Children. TheContinue reading “On H+ Magazine”
On the BBC’s HMS Surprise
For people, like myself, enchanted with the Age of Fighting Sail, the BBC is broadcasting online a radio dramatization of HMS Surprise, the second book in Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey and Maturin series of novels, on Afternoon Play. It’s 1804, the Napoleonic Wars are in full swing, and Lucky Jack Aubrey is back at sea! It’sContinue reading “On the BBC’s HMS Surprise”