14:34, 1 Feb, 2010,
by Ardellis.
I’ve been reading about this gawdawful mess on writers’ blogs and on AW all weekend. And I agree with Scott Westerfeld and a lot of other folks that the point where Amazon went too far was when they delisted EVERY Macmillan title from their site, paper or electronic, as a tactic to pressure the publisher into agreeing to their terms.
What I haven’t heard anyone say yet (and I’ll admit to not following every single crosslink in this wide-ranging discussion) is that this sounds an awful lot like the business practices that Wal-Mart has been notorious for using in the past. I hate Wal-Mart with the same sort of passion with which I hate the big tobacco, oil, and insurance companies.
And Amazon has now distinguished itself enough to join them.
Posted in: Entertainment & The Arts, Society, Law, and Politics.
Tagged: amazon · publishing
05:33, 29 Jan, 2010,
by Ardellis.
My favorite busker is going home to Mexico. After today, there will be no more pretty flute music in the North Station T-stop on Thursday and Friday mornings. Not to mention a warm smile and a bit of friendly conversation. *sigh*
Posted in: Entertainment & The Arts, Life Offline.
Tagged: music
05:11, 28 Jan, 2010,
by Ardellis.
I truly never even considered the possibility that someone would ever make a rap video about economics.
It’s brilliant. Go watch it.
Posted in: Amusing, Entertainment & The Arts, Society, Law, and Politics.
Tagged: economics · music
05:14, 20 Jan, 2010,
by Ardellis.
Massachusetts, the cradle of liberty, just elected Scott Brown to the US Senate. WTF?
Posted in: Society, Law, and Politics.
11:00, 9 Jan, 2010,
by Ardellis.
Yesterday, the Portuguese Parliament approved gay marriage!
Posted in: Society, Law, and Politics.
Tagged: gay marriage
05:32, 7 Jan, 2010,
by Ardellis.
I find it very amusing that Leverage now has its own convention: Con-Con.
Posted in: Entertainment & The Arts.
Tagged: tv
06:44, 27 Dec, 2009,
by Ardellis.
Saw Sherlock Holmes yesterday, and I must say it’s pretty spiffy. I would rather have seen a British actor playing Holmes, but Downey did a good enough job, and I have to admit the chemistry between him and Law’s Watson was very good indeed. Of course, I spent as much time admiring the sets, props, and costumes as I did the cast, and Guy Ritchie paints a marvelously grey late-Victorian London. Overall a fun movie. It’s not going to make my top 20, but I wouldn’t mind owning a copy on DVD when it comes out. I imagine the extras will be extremely fun.
Posted in: Entertainment & The Arts.
Tagged: film
05:40, 19 Dec, 2009,
by Ardellis.
Posted in: Entertainment & The Arts.
Tagged: street music
10:32, 16 Dec, 2009,
by Ardellis.
Or so I keep telling myself.
The latest round of upgrades (WP and/or theme) hosed my site, leaving all pages blank except the home page. So I backed up my posts and reinstalled WP from scratch.
As you can see the posts are all back where they belong. Now I have to reconfigure everything else.
Posted in: Life Online.
Tagged: wordpress
06:58, 12 Dec, 2009,
by Ardellis.
Dr. Peter Watts, Hugo-nominated Canadian SF author, was punched in the face and arrested by the US Border Patrol, who are charging him with assaulting a federal officer, apparently for getting out of his car and asking why they wanted to search it. This happened while he was crossing the border from the US into Canada.
They, not unsurpisingly, continued to mistreat him after they’d arrested him. But don’t take my word for it. He’s written about it in his own blog, here and here.
There’s more info over at Making Light, Boing Boing, and Whatever, among other places.
I don’t think I need to say how appalled I am at this, do I?
Posted in: Society, Law, and Politics.
Tagged: peter watts · usbp
