Comments for Megatheriums for Breakfast

Comment on Fiction: At the End of His Tether by stefficus

stefficus — Tue, 01 Nov 2011 09:53:00 +0000

aww, sally! great job on this, lots of little details that bring it into focus. really liked it… except for the fact that you made me tear up at work. heh.

Comment on Will our grandchildren stumble upon treasures? by david

david — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 06:46:41 +0000

OK, before anyone picks me up on it, I had to fake up the Gollancz cover for The City and the Stars, as best I could remember it!

Comment on Not-Very-Recent Reading by david

david — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 11:10:40 +0000

@Laurel Kornfeld But to be fair, the real interest of Brown's book is not this issue of nomenclature, but the fascinating story of the study of the remote bodies in the Kuiper Belt.

Comment on Not-Very-Recent Reading by Laurel Kornfeld

Laurel Kornfeld — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 03:28:57 +0000

Pluto is not dead; Mike Brown tried but failed to “kill” it. The IAU demotion was done by only four percent of its members, most of whom are not planetary scientists. It was opposed by hundreds of planetary scientists in a formal petition led by Dr. Alan Stern, Principal Investigator of NASA’s New Horizons mission to Pluto. Even Dr. Neil de Grasse Tyson admits the debate is ongoing. Significantly, in November 2010, astronomers discovered that Eris, the body Brown discovered along with Chad Trajillo and David Rabinowitz, is actually slightly smaller than Pluto. I encourage people to learn both sides of the issue. Some good pro-Pluto as a planet books are “Is Pluto A Planet?” by Dr. David Weintraub, “The Case for Pluto” by Alan Boyle, and my own book, hopefully out in 2011, “The Little Planet that Would Not Die: Pluto’s Story.”

Comment on Three Months of Silence by Elena

Elena — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 03:24:11 +0000

David,
I’m very sorry to read about the passing of your father. He sounds like a good man – your love is very palpable.

Thanks for your blog. It is relaxing and eclectic to read.

My sincere condolences for your loss. All the best to you and your family.

Comment on Little-Ease – Part 2 by Eric Lindsay

Eric Lindsay — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 08:35:54 +0000

Hang in there on the back pain. I went through years of problems (not always contiguous). Never found a cause. However sometimes something random helps a heap. In my case, I went on an acrobatic flight in a Tiger Moth. Something about the negative Gs seemed to really help, and I have had no further relapse. I am trying to maintain a daily 50 situp regime, as this seems to help the muscles that support the back. I do my writing from a Jason LaZBoy recliner, using a Bluetooth keyboard and mouse. This at least keeps my back straight. I am using a firm Latex mattress, will a pillow top to soften it somewhat. Hotel beds were always a risk, but I just returned from Cape York (many strange beds, many small cramped aircraft) and things continue well. Good luck!

Comment on The Future of Reading? by david

david — Wed, 25 Mar 2009 05:03:13 +0000

Since I wrote this piece, I’ve been doing a bit more reading. I haven’t changed my views, but these links give you more of the publisher’s point of view:

http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/21/ebook-iphone-oreilly-technology-breakthroughs-ebook.html

http://toc.oreilly.com/2008/08/pricing-digital-book-content-wheres-the-sweet-spot.html

http://toc.oreilly.com/2009/02/expectation-of-fair-pricing-no.html

The latter, in particular, talks about the consumer expectation of FAIR pricing, with which I agree. I don’t expect Ruth Rendell’s latest book to be FREE in e-book format. But I do expect it to be priced fairly in comparison to the hardcover format.