• Renewed Mars

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    I’d be quite surprised if readers of this weblog didn’t know about my assorted Mars adventures both on and off the web, but it’s been a while since I’ve talked about them so here’s an update about New Mars, one of my longest running projects. The New Mars forums have, as I predicted a few…

  • Strike Back

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    A recent conversation: Him: I need to get a new mouse for my computer – the right button doesn’t work any more. Me: Hmm, that sucks. I guess it means that you can’t- Him: Yeah, I can’t crouch in Counterstrike any more, I can hardly play it now. [beat] Me: I was going to say,…

  • KSR is Missing

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    Artists and the Red Planet – It seems scarcely possible, but BBC News Online has written an article about Mars novels and films, and managed to leave out Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy. This is not a trifling omission; KSR’s trilogy is unchallenged as being the best and most important modern fiction about Mars. And…

  • Lost in Translation

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    I saw Lost in Translation with a few friends this afternoon. I’ve been looking forward to seeing this film ever since I heard about it months ago, and my expectations reached soaring heights as it received universally positive reviews. I was a little worried, consequently, that even a great film would turn out to be…

  • Take The Sword Of The King

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    Tomorrow I’m off to London with a motley crew of friends to see the Lord of the Rings exhibition at the Science Museum, one day before it leaves this country and heads to New York. I’m definitely looking forward to it; I wasn’t that keen on The Fellowship of the Ring, and while I enjoyed…

  • Who wants the Gobi Desert?

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    Bruce Sterling, SF writer, has pointed out that the Gobi Desert is far more hospitable than Mars, so before we ever settle Mars we’ll have settled the Gobi Desert (i.e. not any time soon). He also points out that by the time we have the ability to terraform Mars, we’ll be doing much more interesting…

  • Finders, not keepers

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    Tokyo finders not keepers – a charming article from the IHT/NYT about the practice of lost property in Japan actually being returned to a national network of lost and found centres by finders, as opposed to being swiped. There is still hope left for humanity, it seems, if we can follow the Japanese example.

  • It’s a Musical MacWorld

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    I was inclined to write off yesterday’s MacWorld keynote by Steve Jobs as a total disappointment; no significantly new hardware was announced and the mini iPod is overpriced. The new iLife suite is an real improvement, but I won’t get to see the software any time soon. For some reason, the UK educational pricing knocks…

  • He Was A Crook

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    He Was A Crook – Hunter S. Thompson’s damning eulogy for his arch-enemy, Richard Nixon. “Some of my best friends have hated Nixon all their lives. My mother hates Nixon, my son hates Nixon, I hate Nixon, and this hatred has brought us together. Nixon laughed when I told him this. “Don’t worry,” he said,…

  • Confound you and your punctuation book!

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    There’s been a lot of press about Lynne Truss’ bestselling book on punctuation, Eats, Shoots & Leaves. It’s a very quick and light read, but the book certainly deserves all the attention it’s been getting. Lynne Truss has written what is essentially a very long essay on the history and contemporary uses of punctuation, amply…