The Windkey and the Lamplighter

Once you get a Charlie Card (trivially available at the Porter Star,
even though the MBTA tells you it’s only 7am-7pm), it’s very nice.
Particularly, rates for me have gone down with the changeover. The
card supports automatic transfers: after paying $1.25 to use the bus,
I was automatically charged only $0.45 to use the T. Coming home
tonight, I expect to pay $1.70 for the T and receive a free bus-ride.
The old paper transfers are gone, and the rate for a combined bus+T
ride has dropped from $2.15 to $1.70.

Yes, the rate for just a subway ride has risen from $1.25 to $1.70.

I was busy at work today, so the first I heard about the iPhone
was a message from Brian: "Steve Jobs has heard your prayers".

And he’s so right. It’s exactly what I want, other than the $400
pricetag, and my current contract with T-Mobile is already complete.
I do already have an iPod (30g), but it’s a 3rdGen. I was thinking of
replacing my point-and-shoot camera—2 MP should be plenty—and I
am thrilled that someone finally made an SMS messaging application
that keeps reasonable logs. It has Google Maps and it can read
email, and it’s smart enough to turn the display.

I want one.

This was featured on BoingBoing, so we ordered a copy. It’s about
140 pages, mostly in two-page spreads about each of the Hindu
deities. Each spread has a description and often a bit of the origin
story for the god, demigod, planet, etc. on one side, and a picture on
the other—but the pictures. The author is an artist for Pixar, and
the art style reminds me of the PowerPuff Girls—very big faces,
big eyes, simple lines and bright colors. The picture of Kali is by
far my favorite, but I can’t find it online, so I’ll just show you the cover.

src="http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/11710000/11717460.jpg"
height="300">

I really enjoyed reading this, for all that it didn’t take very long.
It doesn’t hurt that this is about the most comprehensive introduction
to Hindu deitiies I’ve ever seen (the sum total of my knowledge before
having come from Siddartha, Lord of Light and The
Black Company, from which I first heard of Kali.

Universe Today was the first link on Google about the paper
published in Nature today. They quote Christopher McKay, a scientist at NASA Ames:

"The rain on Titan is just a slight drizzle, but it rains
all the time, day in, day out. It makes the ground wet and muddy
with liquid methane. This is why the Huygens probe landed with a
splat. It landed in methane mud."

"We determined that the rain on Titan is equal to about two inches
(about 5 centimeters) a year. This is about as much
rain as Death Valley (receives). The difference is (that) on Titan,
this rain is spread out evenly over the entire year"

I don’t have access to a Nature subscription, (a personal one is
$200/year) but the Editor’s Summary is free.

I think I can give my review in the form of a (very slightly edited to
remove a spoiler) quote:

"Atomic bombs literally volatilized most of the pirate vessel; vials
of pure corrosion began to dissolve the solid fragments of her
substance into dripping corruption. Reeking gases filled every cranny
of circumambient space as what was left of [the] battle cruiser began
the long plunge to the ground"

Any book that doesn’t just blow up the pirates but "volatilizes" them
is good by me. The whole book—all 287 pages of it—is written in
this over-the-top style. It’s a really fast read anyway, since the
plot is pretty light (though with a lot of details if you care to look
into them.)

January: My sister got married in Colorado. I sang at her wedding

February: I saw the pictures from my sister’s wedding and started a
diet. Entirely unrelatedly, Brian and I got engaged.

March: We went to see Spamalot

April: My cute little Corolla got crushed on 4/5/6, and I bought a
Subaru TANK, I mean Outback, a few weeks later.

May: I found a wedding dress that was exactly perfect, we booked a
hall and a hotel. We also started looking for a house.

June: Brian’s mom held a bridal shower for me, which resulted in all
his family members deciding to adopt my bridesmaids, a fantastic collage, and a new appreciation for what garden parties can be like
if you have a big yard.

July: I sprained my ankle at work, and started physical therapy.

August: Lots of wedding preparation, and another shower with my
wonderful friends which included a cake frosted like Mars. I have the
best friends.

September: Brian and I got married and went to Yellowstone National
Park for a week. Also, just before that, hiring the DJ at midnight on
a streetcorner in Arlington.

October:
November:
December: Wow, these months went fast. I’ll have to come back to this.

Books Read:
Od Magic, by Patricia McKillip
The Dresden Files, by Jim Butcher
* Storm Front
* Fool Moon
* Grave Peril
* Summer Knight
* Death Masks
* Blood Rites
* Dead Beat
* Proven Guilty
* Council Wars, by John Ringo
* There Will Be Dragons
* Emerald Sea (aka "Hey, Dragons!")
* Against The Tide
* East of the Sun, West of the Moon
* Lensman Series, by E.E. Smith
* Galactic Patrol
* Gray Lensman
* Second Stage Lensman
* Children of the Lens
* Triplanetary (half-finished)
* Dancing Barefoot, by Wil Wheatin
The Final Solution, by Michael Chabon
Accelerando, by Charles Stross
Friday, by Robert Heinlein
The Merchant Princes, by Charles Stross
* The Family Trade
* The Hidden Family
* Clan Corporate
Wicked, by Gregory Maguire
Miss Manners on Weddings, by Judith Martin
How to Have the Wedding You Want, by Danielle Claro
The Black Company, by Glen Cook
* Shadow Games
* Dreams of Steel
* The Silver Spike
* Orphans of Chaos, by John Wright
Farenheit 451, by Ray Bradbury
Garrett on the Case, by Glen Cook
* Angry Lead Skies
* Whispering Nickel Idols
* Honor Harrington, by David Weber
* At All Costs
* Song of Ice and Fire, by George R. R. Martin
* A Feast For Crows
* Tigana, by Guy Gavriel Kay

Bad Astronomy will tell you all about it—years, days,
nychthemeron—it’s all there.

This is the third and last book of The Deed of Paksenarrion. It’s
revealed that Paks has been crushed and driven into the dirt just to
show how strong-willed and awesome she is in climbing out. She
doesn’t just have talent and barbarian strength—she can make it
without those. She isn’t just a Paladin chosen by the church—God
picked her out personally and she can make it without the church, even
over their opposition. It’s a nicely resonant ending to the trilogy.
Sheepfarmer’s Daughter stands alone, but this book justifies
Divided Alleigiance.

Books read this year: 42

This is the second book of The Deed of Paksenarrion. It departs
from the first in its tone just as Paks departs from her beloved
Company. The structure is very similar to the first—she leaves her
home and comfortable backgroung to seek something new. The plot is
much more similar to a D&D adventure: she teams up with some elf just
because he’s the other PC, goes dungeon delving because it’s there,
and spends much of her time griping about the railroaded plot. As
novelized D&D games go, this is top-notch. Moon’s aware of the
conventions of the sub-genre, writing years after Weis and Hickman,
and does very well with them. Some are honored, others intentionally
overthrown.

I was warned that this isn’t as good as Sheepfarmer’s Daughter. It’s
not. It is worth it to get to Oath of Gold, though.

Books read this year: 41

This is subtitled "Exposing the Bogus Arguments of Politicians,
Priests, Journalists, and Other Serial Offenders." It’s a short
treatise by a graduate student in Philosophy at Cambridge. This is
the sort of philosopher my Topologist friend might appreciate: he very
nicely slices up a variety of bullshit and serves it garnished with
humor. It’s a rah-rah book. There’s nothing in here to convince a
politician, priest, or journalist that he’s wrong, or to explain
logical argument. It does make rationalists feel good to read,
though—and at 155 tiny pages, it’s not a large investment.

I remember when I would have completely understood everything in this
book. At this point, that feels more difficult. Now it seems like
the author doesn’t understand—that some statements have purposes
other than conveying simple truths, that an argument is won in
practice by emotionally convincing an audience, not by rationally
convincing your debating partner. The ancient art of Disputation
is no longer practiced. If about to be immersed in a designed
society, I should be very glad to know that Mr. Whyte was involved in
the design. Since he did not construct our present culture, his
insights into how cultures ought to be built seem of limited
usefulness. We can work towards that world, but we are unlikely ever
to live in it.

Books read this year: 43