The Sword and Laser (S&L) is a science fiction and fantasy-themed book club and podcast, started by Veronica Belmont and Tom Merritt. The main goal of the club is to build a strong online community of sci-fi / fantasy buffs, and to discuss and enjoy books of both genres. — About S&L [www.swordandlaser.com]
The following is the list of books read by The Sword and Laser book club during 2012. This page is designed as is a quick reference page so that I can quickly jump between the forum pages and good read listings.
* I’m Not Lovin’ It: McDonald’s Twitter campaign backfires (2012-Jan-25) [The Age] A social media campaign to share stories about McDonald’s failed spectacularly yesterday when Twitter users hijacked the hashtag #McDstories to talk about eggshells in their McMuffins and fingernails in their burgers.
* I Spy Your Company’s Boardroom (2012-Jan-23) [Wired: Threat Level] HD Moore and Mike Tuchen of Rapid7 discovered that they could remotely infiltrate conference rooms in some of the top venture capital and law firms across the country, as well as pharmaceutical and oil companies and even the boardroom of Goldman Sachs — all by simply calling in to unsecured videoconferencing systems that they found by doing a scan of the internet.
* How Apple is sabotaging an open standard for digital books (2012-Jan-22) [ZDNet] Apple has built its iBooks platform on the back of an open standard. With last week’s introduction of iBooks 2.0 and the free iBooks Author software for Mac OS X, Apple is deliberately locking out that popular open standard.
2012 Subaru Cycling Australia Track National Championships
* 2012 Subaru Cycling Australia Track National Championships
Thursday 26 to Sunday 29 January 2012 : Super-Drome, Adelaide, SA
* #tracknats
* Live Stream [SBS Cycling Central] SBS and Cycling Central continues its dedicated coverage of cycling this week with a live broadcast and live streaming of Subaru Cycling Australia Track National Championships from the Super-drome in Adelaide.
* Highlights [SBS Cycling Central]
* H.G. Wells – The Time Machine [Project Gutenberg] The Time Machine is a science fiction novella by H. G. Wells, published in 1895. It indirectly inspired many more works of fiction in many media. This 32,000 word story is generally credited with the popularisation of the concept of time travel using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively. The term “time machine”, coined by Wells, is now universally used to refer to such a vehicle. This work is an early example of the Dying Earth subgenre.
The Jane Austen Argument opened for the Dresden Dolls last Wednesday in sAdelaide rAdelaide. A great young (yeah, I’m getting old – get off my lawn) band that’s worth a listen.
The Jane Austen Argument are an Australian musical duo from Melbourne, Victoria. Formed in 2010 by Tom Dickins, (vocals, piano, ukulele) and Jen Kingwell (piano, vocals, ukulele), the band consider themselves an “indie cabaret duo with overtones of anti-folk and punk love”. The duo have had a great amount of support by friend and fellow artist Amanda Palmer, and have supported her on her Goes Down Under Tour of 2011 as well as featured on her compilation record of the same name. Their debut album Somewhere Under The Rainbow comes out in 2012.
– wikipedia
* Subspace Survivors by E. E. Smith [librivox] A team of space travelers are caught in a subspace accident which, up to now, no one has ever survived. But some of the survivors of the Procyon are not ordinary travelers. Their psi abilities allow them to see things before they happen. But will it be enough?
Smith’s story “Subspace Survivors” first appeared in the July 1960 issue of the magazine Astounding.
♬ Feel the rush as colours blur,
Feel the rush and hear the purr of wheels in motion
wheels in motion
Feel the rush as pedals whir,
feel the rush as colours blur and wheels in motion
wheels in motion ♬
– Feel The Rush! (TDU Theme Song)
Stage Details:
Stage P: Sun Jan 15, Down Under Classic – Adelaide East End (51 km)
Stage 1: Tue Jan 17, – Prospect → Clare (149 km)
Stage 2: Wed Jan 18, Coleman Group – Lobethal → Stirling (148 km)
Stage 3: Thu Jan 19, Unley → Victor Harbor (135 km)
Stage 4: Fri Jan 20, BUPA – Norwood → Tanunda (130 km)
Stage 5: Sat Jan 21, JAYCO – McLaren Vale → Old Willunga Hill (152 km)
Stage 6: Sun Jan 22, Adelaide City Council Street Circuit (90 km)
This month Microsoft have released seven (7) security bulletins of which one (3) has a maximum rating of Critical and six (6) which have a maximum rating of Important.
… today we are releasing seven security bulletins, one of which is rated Critical in severity, with the remaining six classified as Important.
These bulletins will address eight vulnerabilities in Microsoft products. Customers should plan to install all of these updates as soon as possible.[1]
Jason Webley is an American musician known for his fusion of folk, experimental and alternative music. He began as a busker, playing accordion in the streets of Seattle, Washington, but has since moved in-doors and on stage, playing various venues. – wikipedia
Moshcam Presents: The Dresden Dolls Live WEBCAST From Sydney
Have a #PartyOnTheInternet thanks to @Moshcam
LIVE FROM SYDNEY http://www.partyontheinternet.com/
Use the hashtag #DresdenDollsLive to follow the conversation on Twitter
