How aware are you, really?
I am up to my eyeballs in deadlines, but I had to take a moment to post this. It’s about awareness, and what you see or don’t see. Ironically, in order to make this post, I had to request my password three times because I kept missing the instruction telling me to check my email [...]
The dangers of taking a break
I work. A lot. And I associate with people who work a lot. One of my friends, a pretty high powered engineer, just got back from vacation, and he’s having trouble getting his head back in the game. “I’m still like — wow, it’s sunny today … let’s go out with the dog and make [...]
Modern patronage — support independant musicians and get cool prizes
Used to be, artists survived using patronage, where one rich person would support them just “because”, or for the prestige of being the one who enabled this talented person to create their art. Long ago that system gave way to big companies basically enslaving their artists, but now that the internet has begun changing the [...]
The little dancing girl is just too cute
OK, so I’m not into viral things, but the last couple have been pretty funny. I’m just really enjoying this little girl. I can’t figure out whether it’s done with special effects, or it’s just not as spontaneous as it looks. Either way, it’s just too damned cute. It’s a commercial, but it’s damned cute [...]
Why Ianto had to die, and other Torchwood mysteries
I really intended today’s post to be about something other than the Doctor Who universe, but sometimes life just hands you things you can’t ignore. Airlock Alpha posted an article about an interview with John Fay, who’s writing for Torchwood: The New World, the fourth season of Torchwood. The basic contention is that Ianto had [...]
Back after four years
OK, so I’ve dropped the ball on updating Chaos Magnet. Yes, it has actually been four years since I last posted. Even I couldn’t believe it! I won’t bore you with what the last four years have been like. Suffice to say I’ve moved three times (or is it four) and I’m happy to say [...]
Silence is golden — but is Christmas music really “torture”?
So apparently with the ever-expanding Christmas season, there is beginning to be an issue with employees who have to listen to the same Christmas CDs over and over again. I can definitely sympathise. They should come to MY house. At least Sarah has hundreds, maybe thousands, of CDs to choose from. (via open…)
Serious creativity
Here’s an interesting notion: can you be more creative by being more structured? Check out this essay on Serious Creativity.
A word about parenting
Another gem circulating in email: Whenever your child is out of control, take comfort from the thought that even God’s omnipotence did not extend to His own children, Adam and Eve. After creating heaven and earth, God created Adam and Eve. And the first thing he said was “DON’T!”
Fun writer tools
My installation of Microsoft Word decided to take a dive, and i didn’t have time to deal with it. Fortunately, there are really only two tools I use in Word that I can’t get from WordPad: styles and the word count. For a lark, I tried out Writely, and online word processor. it’s pretty slick, [...]