This weeks links (2011-04-25)

2011-04 Great Ocean Walk

In brief:

Nicholas Briggs, Big Finish executive producer: ‘We are all so shocked and so very sad at the news of the death of Lis Sladen. Only yesterday I was filming a DVD extra in which I was talking with such heartfelt passion about how she was so ‘luminous’ on screen and how brilliant she was as Sarah Jane Smith. And that is the truth. For so many of us, she was the ultimate Doctor Who companion. On paper, in the original Doctor Who TV series, there was, arguably, nothing startling or particularly compelling about the character; it was Lis who made her totally fascinating to watch. Lis created Sarah Jane. …
– Elisabeth Sladen (2011-Apr-20) [Big Finish News]

* iPhone Tracker
This open-source application maps the information that your iPhone is recording about your movements. It doesn’t record anything itself, it only displays files that are already hidden on your computer.

* BUILD THIS Beer-Keg Radio FOR YOUR GAME ROOM [Modern Mechanix]

* YouTube Founders Acquire Delicious (2011-Apr-27) [delicious blog]
Today, we’re pleased to announce that Delicious has been acquired by the founders of YouTube, Chad Hurley and Steve Chen. As creators of the largest online video platform, they have firsthand experience enabling millions of users to share their experiences with the world. They are committed to running and improving Delicious going forward. …

Some reading/listening:
* A SNEAK PEEK AT JIM BUTCHER’S GHOST STORY ON SALE JULY 26, 2011 [Penguin Extras]
Read the first Chapter of GHOST STORY (The Dresden Files #13)

This weeks links (2011-04-11)

In brief:
* Global mobile statistics 2011: all quality mobile marketing research, mobile Web stats, subscribers, ad revenue, usage, trends… (2011-Mar) [mobiThinking]

Mobile only: 25% of Americans and 22% of Brits use the mobile web but ‘never or infrequently’ use the desktop web.

Some reading/listening:
* The current Sword & Laser book Blindsight by Peter Watts for ereaders

That’s entertainment (2011-MAR)

Ok, so it seems these posts are going to be quarterly rather than monthly

Listening

The Tiffany Aching Discworld books, by Terry Pratchett

Tiffany Aching is a fictional character in Terry Pratchett’s satirical Discworld series of fantasy novels. Tiffany is a trainee witch whose growth into her job forms one of the many arcs in the Discworld series. She is the main character in The Wee Free Men, A Hat Full of Sky, Wintersmith, and I Shall Wear Midnight. Tiffany grows up over the course of the series, from nine years old in The Wee Free Men to nearly sixteen in I Shall Wear Midnight. [wikipedia]

• The Wee Free Men (2003) Tiffany Aching #1,Discworld #30 ★★★★
• A Hat Full of Sky (2004) Tiffany Aching #2, Discworld #32 ★★★★
• Wintersmith (2006) Tiffany Aching #3, Discworld #35 ★★★★
• I Shall Wear Midnight (2010) Tiffany Aching #4, Discworld #38 ★★★★

Back in January we listened to the Tiffany Aching Discworld books while traveling to, around and from Adelaide.

The Clockwork Century by Cherie Priest
* theclockworkcentury.com
On July 11, 2009 Priest announced via her Twitter that she had launched a new website based on the universe of a series of upcoming novels. The novels, while not specifically related, will all be set in the same fictional world which she calls the Clockwork Century. Advertising it as alternate history rather than steampunk … [wikipedia]

• Book 1 – Boneshaker (2009) ★★★★
• Book 2 – Clementine (2010)
• Book 3 – Dreadnought (2010)
• Book 4 – Ganymede (2011) {yet to be released}

Dresden Files by Jim Butcher
* Dresden Files [jim-butcher.com]

The Dresden Files is a series of fantasy/mystery novels written by Jim Butcher. He provides a first person narrative of each story from the point of view of the main character, private investigator and wizard Harry Dresden, as he recounts investigations into supernatural disturbances in modern-day Chicago. Butcher’s original proposed title for the first novel was “Semiautomagic”, which sums up the series’ balance of fantasy and hard-boiled detective fiction. [wikipedia]

I started reading these after seeing them pop up all the time in the The Sword and Laser – What Else Are You Reading? group discussions. I have picked up both audiobooks and eBooks (epub) copies and am working through them in order.

• Book 1 – Storm Front (2000) ★★★★
• Book 2 – Fool Moon (2000) ★★★★
• Book 3 – Grave Peril (2001) ★★★★
• Book 4 – Summer Knight (2002) ★★★★
• Book 5 – Death Masks (2003) ★★★★
• Book 6 – Blood Rites (2004) ★★★★
• Book 7 – Dead Beat (2005) ★★★★
• Book 8 – Proven Guilty (2006) ★★★★
• Book 9 – White Night (2007) ★★★★
• Book 10 – Small Favor (2008) ★★★★
• Book 11 – Turn Coat (2009) ★★★★
• Book 12 – Changes (2010) ★★★★
• Side Jobs: Stories from the Dresden Files (2010) ★★★★

And yet to be released;

• Book 13 – Ghost Story (2011)

Ghost Story is to be on sale 26-Jul-2011, there is a Ghost Story – Sneak Peak posted on Penguin Extras.

Reading

Dresden Files by Jim Butcher , eBooks.

Watching

The Dresden Files (2007)
Based on Jim Butcher’s best-selling novels, “The Dresden Files” chronicles the cases of no ordinary detective. Harry Dresden (Paul Blackthorne) is a wizard, the only one listed in the Chicago phone book. He’s got a handle on the crimes that can’t be solved by anyone else. Paranormal? No problem. Dresden deals in all matters of supernatural threats. If you need a little hocus pocus or some other worldly advice, Dresden’s your man.
Billed as “The Complete First Season”, this is not actually not just the first Season, but the only season.

Games

The Dresden Files RPG
You might notice a theme developing here, but I have obtained a copy of the Dresden Files RPG from hobby game publisher Evil Hat Productions. Yet to have a test run.

Music Monday #057 – The Cog is Dead

Some more Steam Punk music for this weeks fix;

The Cog is Dead
Greetings one and all! I, Captain John Sprocket of The Cog is Dead am proud to announce the launch of our brand new website! Yes, it certainly has been a long time coming, but one must tend to many things and it is often difficult to find the time to sit at a keyboard and laboriously fiddle with HTML code and similar internet things. But at long last it is finally here and looking better than ever! So please feel free to look around, hear the sounds, and check back to find out
what new melodies the boys and I manage to think up and display for all to hear! Unfortunately they do not make a computer that runs on steam so I am forced to use this electric technology while I am here. But hopefully soon, after we have toured the world and spread our message
the word will get out that the only logical (and beautiful) source of energy is STEAM ENERGY! Anyway, that is all for now. Take care, my little Coglettes!
Sprocket out.
– The Cog is Dead

And now for some music …

This weeks links (2011-04-04)

In brief:
* Watch the first 12 minutes of HBO’s Game of Thrones now! (2011-Apr-03) [io9]
* Check out the gorgeous landscapes of Westeros, plus photos of the Game of Thrones food truck! (2011-Mar-29) [io9]

Some reading/listening:
* Story: My Love Sick Zombie Boy Band by Damien G Walter (read by Sam Moffatt) (2011-Mar-31) [Dark Fiction Magazine]
* Restoration of Faith Dresden Files [jim-butcher.com]
Ever wonder how Harry did as a private eye before he set out on his own? Read about Harry’s life as a Ragged Angel in Jim’s short story, Restoration of Faith.

**April Monthly Challenge – Classic English Literature**

April Monthly Reading Challenge – Classic English Literature
Did you get an invite to the wedding? Let’s celebrate William and Kate‘s wedding on the 29th of April with a month of classic British literature. To help us get in the mood visit the Jane Austen Festival of Australia which is held in April every year.
To join the challenge choose a book with a UK author that was published before the end of WWII (1945). The book you choose can crossover into other challenges.
– Aussie Readers [Goodreads]

At the moment I am leaning towards reading Of Human Bondage by W. Somerset Maugham for this challenge. This may change as we get further into April

Of Human Bondage (1915) is a novel by W. Somerset Maugham. It is generally agreed to be his masterpiece and to be strongly autobiographical in nature, although Maugham stated, “This is a novel, not an autobiography, though much in it is autobiographical, more is pure invention.” Maugham, who had originally planned to call his novel Beauty from Ashes, finally settled on a title taken from a section of Spinoza’s Ethics.
In 1998, the Modern Library ranked Of Human Bondage #66 on its list of the 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century. [wikipedia]

LINKS:
[1] British literature [Wikipedia]
[2] The Big Read – Top 100 (2004-Aug) [BBC]

Voice activated lifts? April 1st