Savannah, kalaeth
A clever little fanfic of the increasingly popular Girl Scouts series by fellow niner Reavyn.  Have you bought your cookies yet?

Tattoo, MamaD
Covered in the #SaturdayShortStories Roll Call, this one still gets me.  Delve in to the Twilight Zone according to Mama Dragon, and mind the tattoo you choose.

Untitled, Shini: R.O.A.C.H.
Space, culture clash, and aliens.  You can hardly get better than this entry to #ThursdayTales.

Enjoy these fictions!

Morning Coffee Boy, my old friend, can be found at his awesome blog here.  It’s worth checking out on a regular basis.

(flourish)

The OODA Loop, which stands for Observe, Orient, Decide and Act. It’s a military (and business!) strategic concept which was recommended by my good friend and partner in mindcrime Kledon. I’m toying with a concept involving some future urban warfare and he recommended this as a good way to envision the future of combat. I will blather about it more later.

My (mostly crap) short story “Transmission” is in the process of revision, thanks to the help of one of my scientist pals who thought I could do a little more with it. I’m going back, back, back in the life and times of humanity and learning about mitochondria and HERVs. Mitochondria are the organelles inside of our cells which make ATP (there’s a link on wiki) and which are passed down through maternal lines only. This isn’t to say paternal mtDNA (mitochondrial DNA) doesn’t get passed to a baby, it just doesn’t make any lasting impact because it gets deaded (or something similar). HERVs are Human Endogenous Retroviruses which is a fancy way to say “germs which leave their tracks in our DNA and can be found there to this day” for the most part, and is an interesting topic of study even when I’m not inventing a deadly imaginary disease.

Yes yes I link to Wikipedia a lot but that’s because it’s a decent springboard for the basics whereas I doubt many would be terribly interested in the sometimes-bland things I wander around in. That’s not to say I won’t link them, because oh, I will.

For my final link I present this site here about human migration across the ages and the world. Recommended by the same scientist who spurred my story work on “Transmission.” It’s brilliant and very *very* interesting, tracing the journey of humans across the globe. Should you read “Transmission” you might spot the magical locations where the preceding information will be handy in the revisioning.

That is all for now. Well, just one more link. GeekNexus is a new kind of social networking site for, well, geeks (nerds too I’d say!) which is sort of like twitter, sort of like Facebook, but a lot like its own thing. Very new, very “just beginning”, but it’s where I like to post things I’m not putting here or at UnMo. If you drop in I’ll friend you, I’m Gaudeamus there.

EDIT: I started this in July and then took a lengthy break before finishing the post. Hence the July publication date.

Wie weit mag es sein
bis zum Horizont?
Diese Frage will ich euch beantworten.
Steh ich auf der Welt,
meines Blickes Strahl
trifft die Erde als Tangente am Horizont.
Dann um 90 °
Bis zum Erdmittelpunkt
hab ich den Erdradius.
Nun zurück zu meinem Kopf -
Radius + ein Mensch -
gibt es ein rechtwinkliges Dreieck.
Wie weit ist es bis zum Horizont ?
Diese Entfernung ist “a”,
der Radius ist “b”,
Mittelpunkt bis Kopf ist die Seite “c”.
Nehmen wir den Satz
des Pythagoras:
a² + b² = c²
Stellen wir dieses um,
so errechnet sich “a”
aus der Wurzel der Differenz
zwischen c² – b²
Fehlen nur noch die Zahlen.
Wie weit ist es bis zum Horizont ?
Der Erdradius “b”
misst in etwa 6.378.000 m
C = 6.378.001,70 m
Bildet man die Quadrate,
So ist deren Differenz
21.680.000
Nun die Wurzel daraus:
4650 m
So weit ist es bis zum Horizont.

How far would it be
Till the horizon?
This is a question I want to answer you
Standing on the world
My eye’s gaze
Meets the earth as tangent in the horizon.
Then by 90 degrees
To earth’s center
I have the earth’s radius.
Now back to my head
Radius plus one man
Gives a right triangle
How far is it to the horizon?
This distance is “a”,
The radius is “b”,
Center to head is the side “c”.
Take the theorem
Of Pythagoras
a² + b² = c²
Solving this For “a”
So “a” is calculated as
The square root of the difference
Of c² – b²
Only the numbers are still missing.
How far is it to the horizon?
Earth’s radius “b”
Is approximately 6,378,000 meters [6975066 yd, 3963 mi]
C = 6,378,001,70 meters
Square those
Then their difference is
21,680,000
Now the square root of that:
4,650 meters [5085 yd, 2.89 mi]
So far is the horizon.

It’s nerdy but it’s one of the sweetest lyrics I have ever read. It sounds a little crazy but it’s the words.

Re: my ink posts. I’ve finally been getting complaints, and if not complaints, then kindly advice about SEO. I will OCR them by the end of the week. Shit, it’s the end of the week! Fine, I will do it tomorrow. Once that’s done, keep an eye out for a magical future link which will toggle ink vs text-only versions of the site. It’s MAGIC!

I have been getting like 30 spam comments a day. I realize on a big scale this is not a lot of spam, but for me it is amazing! To think, all those spambots that care enough about me to come by here on a daily basis, leaving me loads of visually-interesting spam comments. That is really very beautiful and to be honest I hope that one day one of those spambots becomes sentient and decides to ally with me as my information-crawling sidekick! Then, I will tell it where to find the Terminator films online and in a bizarre real-life analogue to a time paradox, Skynet will happen.

Shambles has not been deaded. It’s taking a moment to gather itself and will be back to entertain and harass you. What’s mainly happened is I became overcome by the possibilities and had a little brain melt. Luckily I have a brain-shaped freezer mold that I use for this kind of thing and my brain should be completely hard-frozen by tomorrow, which leaves the weekend for writing. I’m going to try to do 2 entries, one this weekend and one in the upcoming week, so that dear monkeyLOLogist has something to read when she’s done with her busy busy school schedule. <3 SPOILER ALERT: there will be actual Shambles.

Nothing much else for now, I’ve got a pile of future things I would like to post and I’ve just got to organize it first. Meanwhile, check out some new links I’m adding to the site.

Sometimes otherwise known as raev.net, the Squatblog is a collection of strange, disjointed ramblings from a strange, disjointed friend of mine. He’s a smart man with a filthy (e-)mouth and really great rants. A fun thing to do when you’re mad is to read one of them out loud in an angry Australian accent. You don’t even have to be good at it. The hilarity is like a tiny little break from angry reality and when you’re done you realize that it doesn’t matter what you’re mad about, acting out an angry rant makes you feel better. Your mileage may vary, but I have not put anyone in the hospital since I started doing this.

Sittingbear Rambles is a blog featuring some really great poetry. “Something old, something new… is pretty mournful. The last bit of the first half is particularly brilliant.

what do you say
when they don’t look
in your eyes
anymore

Really, that can apply to any number of situations with any kind of relationship and “mean” different things, but it all means the same thing. Astute. Go there, read stuff, put on perhaps some jazz or blues while you read. He conjures up some good imagery.

Finally I would like to leave you with this, Life of Bacteria from Happy Dysfunction. I spoke of him in an earlier post and his darkly funny story has now been posted!

I depart with this ringing endorsement of Morning Coffee Boy who has summed up my feelings nicely.

I have taken note of my inconsistent handwriting styles. Sorry about that. I cannot seem to commit to one and they often flow into one another. I noticed this while checking for readability. But if I said I’d fix it then I would have to tag this entry with “empty promises”.

Tomorrow is my birthday! I will be the ripe old age of blankety-blank. I hear tell there’s going to be cake. Let us hope the candles don’t cause an inferno.

I’m a little stuck on entry 3 of Shambles. I suspect I am going to have a rough time with the next few entries. Bear with me please, I have to find a rhythm. I’m not going to crap out on trying to write well, I’m just tackling a lot of things at once with this story, in terms of my own style and limitations, as well as the content and concept. (I sure hope this is legible!)

I now have a mobile version! It loads automatically when a mobile browser is detected. I am not all famous or anything but I noticed some people have been reading this site on their phones! Wow, thank you. It is awesome that you think I am worthy of reading on a tiny screen!

(Picture of a stick version of me performing a bow of gratitude. A cellphone and heart, with flames under them.)

HOT MOBILE LOVE 2 U

To everyone else who visits:

AN EQUALLY POORLY DRAWN HOUSE OF LOVE WITH A TIRE SWING AND M-BIRDS!

(Picture of a heart-shaped house with a chimney, next to a tree with a tire swing. M-birds flying around.)

The irony here is that I need to OCR this post so mobile visitors can read it.

My final thanks of this post goes to my 100% awesome host, Constant-Hosting, who provide dang reliable hosting, AND upgraded the server to fix my libxml issue so that I can now directly posts ink blogs with WLW. Many thanl-yous. Also thanks for fixing those permissions etc <3. This may be construed as pimping out their services. I would apologize but frankly, I need to go put some hoes under pimp arrest. Plus they keep my shit workin. You can’t place too high a value on that when you’re getting personal tech support and they are fixing your piddle little ink issue and you’re getting the sweet “friend deal”. Imagine if I PAID them! Shit naybe if I do they will come set up my media server. I CAN but I’m too lazy.

Now, off to test my pimp hand!

(*****)With stars,

Connie

–EDIT– 19 July 09: Hooray, text!

The sad part is, with the the OCR and all, this is an empty promise until maybe next week. I PROMISE! (UPDATE: “OCR” Done)

–EDIT– I have begun the OCR process, which due to my poor timing, involves typing the posts by hand.

I sometimes like to write poems in Spanish. I enjoy the ability to put words together in another language, especially when it’s nice and mellifluous when spoken. This is my typical type of poem in Spanish: evanescent, scantily planned, and barely making full sentences in English at 20mar%0AO%20el%20color%20de%20m%C3%BAsica%20triste%0AAhora%20estoy%20en%20el%20marco%20del%20Esp%C3%ADritu%0ABajo%20esp%C3%ADritu%0AEn%20la%20distancia%20est%C3%A1%20la%20estrella%20en%20mi%20cielo%0ANo%20puedo%20lograr%20con%20mis%20manos%0AS%C3%B3lo%20con%20mis%20palabras%0AY%20con%20mi%20mente%0AY%20a%20veces%20mi%20coraz%C3%B3n%0AEsta%20baja%20esp%C3%ADritu%0AQue%20pena%20de%20tristeza%0ARaz%C3%B3n%20para%20que%20llorar%0AMi%20%C3%BAnico%20esp%C3%ADritu%0ASe%20trata%20de%20un%20vapor%0AUna%20niebla%20et%C3%A9rea%0ANo%20puedo%20tocarse%0ANo%20puedo%20abrazar%0ANo%20soy%20capaz%20de%20hablar%0AEstoy%20en%20el%20marco%20del%20Esp%C3%ADritu%0ABajo%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A%0A">Google Translate. Just the way I like it. Almost aching and almost incomplete.

I know Ada Lovelace Day is about celebrating women in technology but ever since I first heard about it I wanted to write about Alice Sheldon. Under the guise of James Tiptree, Jr. she guided me to the fantastical world of science fiction that I still enjoy today. I really had very little interest in it before her. This is not strictly technology, of course, but we were invited to “interpret” “widely” and so I did, to include the role of exposing to and arousing curiosity in technology and natch, science. It’s a little rambly, I’m sure, because it’s mostly like an open love letter, but I can say, definitively, I wouldn’t be half the geek I am today if I had never discovered Tip. Thank you a million times Alice, even though I am regularly somewhat disappointed to find I bit off your ideas without realizing it, more than once even.

*Transmission is indirectly inspired by and similar to “The Screwfly Solution” where “Harry and Debbie” is part of a story in which there exists a technology similar to that used in “The Girl Who Was Plugged In.”

At this point in my writing habit I can identify several factors in that piece that inspired me. One of the biggest was that over the years I was pushed by my memory of it to pursue knowledge. I wanted to know if it was true what the story said about the screwfly. I wanted to know if the story events could really happen to us and if so, how? And if not that, then what? Ironically at one point I was intensely actually studying the screwfly and thinking “This sounds so much like a story I read when I was a kid.” The screwfly, also known as the screw-worm, was eradicated in the United States in 1982 and in many places in South American throughout the 1990′s and in continuing efforts using a sterilization technique that became the basis for the pest’s namesake story. This was it. What I had read so many times over the years and returned to in my thoughts so often was this incredible and frankly quite frightening story exposing real-life science in a fictional setting. The technique used to eradicate the screwfly aren’t appreciated or even known by many people outside of science class, but in that story it became disturbingly relevant when applied to my own species.

James Tiptree Jr, revealed in 1977 as Alice Sheldon, was an intelligence officer in the Army Air Forces (direct precursor to the Air Force), one of the earliest members of the CIA, and an experimental psychologist. The last name “Tiptree” came from a jar of Tiptree marmalade, though as the years went on it was altered warmly by friends and fans to “Uncle Tip” or just “Tip”. Her roles in the military and in the CIA were intelligence, while her later scientific work was primarily concerned with the mind. When she turned to writing, she was lauded for exploring gender identity and roles, and in such a distinctively male voice that compatriot Robert Silverberg said “There is something ineluctably masculine about Tiptree’s writing … his work is analogous to that of Hemingway … that prevailing masculinity about both of them — that preoccupation with questions of courage, with absolute values, with the mysteries and passions of life and death as revealed by extreme physical tests.”

While “The Screwfly Solution” is credited to Raccoona Sheldon, I was inspired to seek out more of her work and found I had read other of her stories that similarly affected me, without realizing it was the same author. When I personally found out Tiptree was actually a woman, THE woman, I was bowled over. Here was a woman writer, a scientist, the themes of whose stories often explore the result of some scientific or technological advancement. She was asking the same questions I was and am asking. Her thinking had inspired mine and all that time she was secretly a woman. That Google search changed everything. While much has been made, rightfully, of her forays into sexuality, exogamy, and the eventual end of human society, running underneath those themes is the pulse of a woman in love with science. In “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” Earth is a world populated solely by women who manipulate genes to ensure the survival of the (female) human race. CP in “With Delicate Mad Hands” is a girl so tormented by lack of acceptance on Earth that she is driven to become one of the best spacecraft pilots her world has known, and eventually her skill and determination lead her (by sketchy means) to the peace and happiness she has sought all along. While not all of Tiptree’s stories feature women protagonists and not all of them contain the sometimes-cataclysmic effects of technology on humanity, what her stories frequently do feature is the assumption that women are not afraid of science and technology and are neither unable or unwilling to make use of those tools and disciplines for their own ends. They embrace them and they do what they can because they feel they must.

What is it we look to technology for if not some form of wish fulfillment? We wish the screwflies would leave our livestock alone. We wish the world were more peaceful. We wish to find whatever it is we’re looking for and we continually work to make that happen by applying science to the problem and developing new technologies based on what we learn. In Tiptree’s works the rumination is not on the technology itself but on what drives it and what can be driven by it. The human drive to discover what is happening around us and then how to change it to suit us are channeled into tales which eventually expose the human consequences of that technology.

As a writer of science fiction I am deeply indebted to Alice Sheldon for simply being herself: a woman interested in science and technology and what can be wrought with them. Her skill in telling a story and portraying strong, competent women characters in roles traditionally given to men in fiction of the time: scientist, pilot, keeper of humanity’s final memoir, were the impetus which gave me the confidence to pursue science fiction writing. I am not a scientist. I am not an engineer. I am not a mathematician. I can, however, write about people – particularly women, operating in those capacities and perhaps inspire a future generation of scientist, engineers, and mathematicians in the tradition of sci fi writers who have inspired scientists. Just as Larry Niven’s “Ringworld” was inspired by Freeman Dyson’s sphere, the Waldo suit was inspired by Heinlein’s short story “Waldo“. I can’t speak to Sheldon’s goals or to Tip’s, but my goals are to carry on her work of exploring the role of science and technology in our lives and the consequences on both society and individuals, and to inspire other young women to look at the world with new and more curious eyes.