aesmael

Again, not so much read. Didn't I used to read more? Most of it after the point I decided I was too tired to do anything productive but not yet willing to sleep. Eventually I worked out why: it is because I am doing other things with my time, often social things. If I spend a few hours on Skype with soltice and pazi_ashfeather, of course I am not going to doing quite so much reading in the day.

Cosmic Variance

1. Dark Matter and Fifth Forces [Unfortunately I know this stuff less well than I ever did, but still a moment of "Oh wow, that is really interesting" in reading.]

Google Reader Shared Items

1. Biodiesel Mythbuster 2.0: Twenty-Two Biodiesel Myths  Dispelled [via soltice. Long, interesting. Not something I am really qualified to evaluate. Looks decent though.]
2. Electric Skateboard (Double Comic) [via gentle_gamer. skipped because I am not reading xkcd yet.]
3. Gibson intros SG Robot Guitar, new edition of Les Paul version [via soltice. My first thought was that this must be a guitar designed by William Gibson. I still do not know.]
4. What is the big deal about stuff white people like? [via gentle_gamer. When I started reading this I thought I would have some quick, possibly snarky thing to say in response, but it turned out to be a serious criticism of the blog, one that made a lot of sense to me. Oh, one thing to add. I am inclined to agree with the comments to this post that 'Stuff White People Like' is fairly conservative in outlook in cliche in line, but the way it is framed still does some good by jarring white people to take another look at their assumptions and culture. At least, it did for me the first time I encountered it.]
5. Video: Little Big Man - today is a good day to die [via soltice. A robot driving a robot. Sort of. But it tempts me to have thoughts about things so it must be art.]
6. Australian government wants power to snoop work e-mail, IMs [via soltice. Oh, those insidious terrorists.]
7. Toon: A Few Reasons Why (We Need a Transgender Rights Bill) [via gentle_gamer. Interesting. Not ever seen this site before. The rest of her work on the site seems pretty neat too.]
8. Libraries in crisis? [via soltice. Refers to here. Not so great news for someone hoping to work there next year. I am not convinced the writer of the article knows what ey is talking about though.]
9. Toon: The Joys of Tax Time! [via gentle_gamer. If this keeps up, I may subscribe myself. Or this is good too.]
10. Burning Car [via gentle_gamer. First thought: bored. On further examination, fascinated by the moments which might be so captured and their preservation marking dramatically the stilled moments of time marking the shifting sources of these images.]
11. Yuri's Planet [via gentle_gamer. Thought I had starred this for possible desktop use. Apparently not. Fixed now.]

ScienceDaily

1. solticepazi_ashfeatherLeishmaniasis Parasites Evade Death By Exploiting Immune Response To Sand Fly Bites [Sometimes I wonder what immune systems do when they are not being subverted. Sometimes.]

This list of traits characteristic of Asperger's Syndrome was taken from this post and sorted into those I think apply to me, those I think do not, and those which I really do not know if yes or no, with personal notes added in brackets. The list appears to have been compiled from these three sites, although I do not know how this was done.

( List is long, so you click )

Holidays and when we go back there are assignmenty type things to have done. Consequently lists are being made, tools for guidance.

The first is a reading guide to be produced for an audience, naming at least 25 authors on the subject of my choice. Have to choose a subject by next week and currently am undecided on which of four ideas to go with, so I am going to put each here and see how much material I can find by the deadline. Clearly, if I can only find enough to use for one, it would be inadvisable to choose another. If anyone has suggestions for these, that would be quite helpful.

Early crime fiction

1. Christie, Agatha
2. Doyle, Sir Arthur Conan
3. Poe, Edgar Allan
   

This is the one I am especially uncertain about. The first idea I had was to contrast modern crime fiction/mysteries with early examples of the genre.

Crime/Mystery stories across other genres

1. Fforde, Jasper
2. Pratchett, Terry

Simple enough, stories which are classed of a genre other than crime or mystery yet contain strong elements of same. Stories like Pratchett's Watch books or Fforde's novels of Thursday Next or Jack Sprat.

Alternate envisionings of human sexuality and gender

1. Egan, Greg
2. Le Guin, Ursula

I am having difficulty defining this one, which suggests to me my idea is currently too fuzzy. I think I am after alternative functionings, such as found in The Left Hand of Darkness, Schild's Ladder or Distress.

Fictional autobiographies

1. Dickens, Charles
2. Wolfe, Gene

Clearly enough, fictional stories which are framed as an autobiography. I am most hesitant about the names on this list since I have not read the two stories I am thinking of, David Copperfield and The Book of the New Sun.

Let's see how much I can expand these lists over the next week.

The other is a shopping list. Last night soltice showed me this. If she had not, I would have spent today looking for it. The other project in need of doing is after all the creation of a book, blank, fit for a person to write in. So those items are what I am going to have to acquire.

Clips, paper, wax paper, cloths wet and dry. It says "[i]n addition to the rest of your book making materials" but I have yet to see a page on the rest of the site explaining what they are. Other items mentioned: bone folder, linen tape, mull cloth (this is looking less acquirable, wonder if substitutions might be made - better see), awl or needle, thread and needle, beeswax, glue, spine board.

I am not after the same result as this tutorial, so there are a few alterations I can make to the method which will hopefully be easier. Still, I would like to try this method in full at some point.