Crypt of the Electric Phantom

Spamusement -- It Rocks

2008-07-24T02:14:38Z

I think it's been a while since I plugged Spamusement. It was originally a site where the webcartoonist drew stick-figure cartoons inspired by the subject lines of spam emails he received. It started out as a small joke, and mushroomed to have a huge following (well, huge in web-terms). Eventually, the well ran dry. Rather than let it languish on the Island of Lost Sites, he set up a guest cartoonist bit, where people who've been posting their own interpretations in his forums get them on the front page. Many of mildly humorous, some are poor, and some of sheer genius. Then, every once in a while, you get one like this one.

That's the most I've laughed in quite some time! Now, I feel guilty and amused at the same time!

Laptop Woes

2008-07-22T19:44:01Z

So, I noticed the other day that my laptop's battery light was blinking three amber flashes, then green. Checking the battery status indicator, it looks like the charge reads at "0%" but it's not charging. Completely surprisingly, my Dell's laptop battery seems to have developed a fault! Who'd have thought it?!?

No worries, I think to myself. You bought the extended three-year warranty. You got the laptop in March 2007, so you're golden!

It turns out, not so much. Seems the laptop battery is considered a "consumable," and is not covered under the warranty. Dell will replace it (a 9-cell Li-Ion battery) for the not-inconsiderable amount of $299 plus shipping.

Buh-wah?!?

Looks like I'll be buying a replacement on eBay or some other online provider. I can find 6-cell batteries with 90-day warranties for $45 shipped; I'm hoping I can find something similar in a 9-cell size. Until then, I guess I don't technically have a "portable." Going to be fun when I'm on-call...

UPDATE: Okay, one (1) brand-new 9-cell Li-Ion laptop battery direct from Dell: $299 + shipping.

Two (2) brand-new 9-cell Li-Ion laptop batteries from an eBay seller with 98.9% positive feedback on 9202 transactions: $110 + shipping.

Guess which way I went?

Weekend Update

2008-07-22T02:51:31Z

I haven't updated in a while, so I guess it's time. I don't feel up to posting a review of my Germany trip, so I'll stick to this past weekend.

I spent almost all of the time from Thursday to Sunday at DexCon 11 in New Brunswick. This year I volunteered to do whatever was necessary to make sure people had fun, running games and so on. I got about sixteen hours of sleep total, as I spent most of my time running around the hotel for various reasons. This is the first time I spent the Con taking ownership over a few things, making sure people had fun. Usually I spend the whole time basically doing what I want when I want; this time, I had basically only a few hours of doing things off the cuff.

It was really cool. I had this strange feeling of empowerment... maturity, maybe. I should do it again.

Unfortunately it meant that I missed yduras' trip to see The Dark Knight on Sunday. Ah, well, I'll try to catch it during the week, maybe. It should be less crowded. In the meantime, I can tide myself over with some of the excellent articles on Batman and the character of the Joker.

On a sadder note, I was away two days and most of the temps at the customer site were apparently let go on Friday for goofing off. There were three cute chicks there, including one who I liked to talk to about books -- she and I shared a number of identical or similar tastes in literature. I'd recently lent her my copy of Theodore Sturgeon's Some of Your Blood, a really creepy short novel*. I was looking forward to hearing what she thought about it. Damn it! Kids today, don't know how to hold onto their jobs. Ah, well, they're young and temps, I'm sure they reported to another job today already. Just means a little of the eye candy (and brain candy) is gone. Damn.

Other than all of that, no news, really. My dad will be coming back on Wednesday, so if I'm going to set up a dinner with some friends of mine, it better be soon.

*And for the record, I was going to drop it onto PaperbackSwap when I got it back, so it's not really a loss.

Happy Birthday, catwithbell!

2008-07-07T22:57:40Z

Books I Read While In Germany 2008

2008-07-04T13:52:27Z

I had time while driving and flying to read some of the books on my ever-growing "to be read" pile. I basically just picked these because I'd picked them up years ago and not reading them was gnawing at me. Let's see if you can spot the theme here.

Secret Societies Handbook

by Michael Bradley

My review

rating: 3 of 5 stars
This is a sort of very basic overview of some of the major players in the most popular Conspiracy Theories, which I read in one sitting on the plane. It's really light in providing the interesting coincidental details that make Conspiracy Theories fun, but I suppose it makes an acceptable overview for someone who's never been exposed to them before. I did learn about a group I'd never heard of before. Kind of pointless unless you can find it in the bargain bin (like I did).

It covers the Assassins, the Bilderberg Society, the Bohemian Club, the Club of Rome, the Council on Foreign Relations, Essex Junto (very interesting -- didn't know about those), Freemasonry, the Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, The Bavarian Illuminati, the Knights Templar, the Ku Klux Klan (hardly secret, but whatever), the Mafia, Majestic-12/The Aviary/The Aquarium, Mensur, Opus Dei, the Order of Skull and Bones, the Priory of Sion, the Rosicrucians, the Round Table, Triads, and the Trilateral Commission.

A History Of Secret Societies

by Daraul

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is a "classic" from the field of Conspiratorial studies, which I've started many times over the last twelve or so years but never finished until now. Written by author Idries Shah under a pen name ("Arkon Daraul"), this is an old book with some interesting bits to it. Shah plays a little fast and loose with many of his allegations, but he has something of value to add. He claims to have had contact with several of the societies he writes about, but is vague with details. He also fails to cite many references, and there's no bibliography, which would have made this a five-star book for me -- if he's wrong, at least with his sources handy you can check for yourself.

Shah's main thesis seems to be that most secret societies contain at their core some ecstatic ritualized experience which is what transforms the member into someone new. That's basically the definition of an esoteric society, so it's nothing new, but it's interesting how many societies he claims this for. He also lists the Sufi (Islamic cabbalists) and Tibetan Buddhism as secret societies, which is actually pretty funny. An entertaining read, if a little difficult to slog through sometimes. Definitely recommended as a starting point, as long as your willing to check your facts.

It covers the Assassins, the Knights Templar, and the Rosicrucians in quite some detail; the Sufi, the Mithraists, the Skoptsi, the Carbonari, the Garduna, ancient Mystery cults, the Decided, the Yezidi, the Tibetan Buddhists, the Thuggee, the medieval witches, and the Vehm are given shorter investigations.

The Templars and the Assassins: The Militia of Heaven

by James Wasserman

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
I'm pretty sure this book started off as a college-level thesis for the author, James Wasserman, who's an occultist living in NYC. It seems to be extremely well-researched and refers copiously to other reference works, always a good sign in a Conspiracy book.

Wasserman examines the culture of Islam and the Holy Land just prior to and during the Crusades, in an attempt to support his thesis that the Assassins and the Knights Templar strongly influenced the form of most modern esoteric secret societies. His deep knowledge of classic Islamic development tends to favor some parts of his thesis more than others, but I can find no fault with this book. He definitely does a great job of pointing out the relationship between curious and unusual historical incidents and the prevailing ideas about metaphysics and political maneuvering. I would happily read any further books he writes on the subject of Conspiracy.

This book only really covers the Assassins and the Knights Templar in any great detail, but that detail is exhausting. He briefly mentions dozens of other secret societies and occult traditions in the last chapter where he attempts to prove his conclusion.

Inside Secret Societies: What They Don't Want You to Know

by Michael Benson

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
This is less of a book and more of a reference encyclopedia on Conspiracy Theories and Secret Societies. He covers a few of the groups, the popular ones like the Council on Foreign Relations or the Freemasons, in much more detail than others, but there's a lot of information in here and it's not really easy to read it cover-to-cover.

Many of the entries provide URLs for websites where more information can be found; I'm a little on the fence about this idea. I mean, I think it's a nice touch to have these links, but link rot will means that most of them will be bad within a few years, while the book will sit on a shelf for maybe twenty or thirty in most cases.

View all my reviews.

An Open Letter

2008-07-03T22:16:41Z

To: [Customer Service Manager], [Airline]

Dear Sir:

Recently, terrible allegations have come to light regarding the interrogation techniques that our Central Intelligence Agency has been empowered to use on prisoners of war currently incarcerated in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. These allegations are that the methods used on a small number of prisoners ("prolonged constraint," "sleep deprivation," and "exposure") came from an article entitled "Communist Attempts to Elicit False Confessions From the Air Force Prisoners of War," written by Albert D. Biderman in 1957. The article listed a number of other techniques used by the Communist Chinese, including "semi-starvation," "filthy, infested surroundings," "makes victim dependent on interrogator," "weakens mental and physical ability to resist," and "reduces prisoner to 'animal level' concerns."

I read this article as I was preparing to fly the return leg of my trip to Europe via [Airline]. After the flight, I noticed something of a strange synthesis regarding these two, seemingly-unrelated items:

"Prolonged Constraint:" During the first part of the eight hour journey, I was given to believe I might be able to at least move about the cabin, despite being placed in a seat surely intended for either a child not out of his or her early teens, or a supermodel on a weight binge. I thought things were a little cramped, but after the person residing in the seat in front of me put their seat back as far as it could go, I realized I could actually have worked on their teeth. I would not have been surprised had an ingeniously-designed X-Ray gun popped out of the ceiling along with a lighted mirror and Muzak versions of death metal. A little turbulence halfway through caused some passengers distress, we were forced to stay in our seats the rest of the flight, at which point I realized my earlier feelings of constraint had been laughably short-sighted. I believe the feeling is beginning to return to my right foot as I write this, so I will turn to our next item.

"Sleep Deprivation:" Eight hours, one compartment, seven babies, massive turbulence. On to our next item.

"Exposure:" Sir, I am certain that careful study has been performed at [Airline]'s extensive Human Limit Laboratory in Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, but the results still seem, shall we say, slightly off of the mark. I will admit that wearing shorts with 90-degree weather at both my site of departure and my final destination was perhaps short-sighted, but the sound of the air-conditioning fans blowing during the first half of the trip did take my mind off of the sub-arctic temperatures being maintained for my benefit. Once the plane had turned slightly, allowing the full blast of the sun to penetrate the cabin directly, I had a momentary relief... until the sound of the fans stopped and I realized that we now had several hundred people enclosed in a heated box.

"Semi-Starvation:" Being a six-foot tall man with a weight settled at almost exactly 100 kilograms (I enjoy round numbers, you see), you may understand that I am no stranger to various kinds of food. I consider myself a gourmand of world culture, at least as much of it as I may safely ensconce without leaving the comfort of a thirty-mile radius of my home. Being that my home is in the center of New Jersey, this actually encompasses more varieties of food than you might think. In addition, I am well aware that different kinds of food call for differently-sized portions. However, I would find it laughable to call call a hard roll the size of a potato, four limp linguine stuck in coagulated cheese, four blades of lettuce with a single carrot chunk, and something that vaguely resembles maraschino cherry paste "the Pasta Speciále." Similarly, two English muffin halves with a bit of cheese and spinach dip on them do not constitute "Quiche."

"Filthy, Infested Surroundings:" As I intimated earlier, the turbulence on the flight turned out to be a little more extreme than usual, thus causing grave gastrointestinal distress for many of my fellow passengers. Fortunately for them, there were several restrooms in our Heated Death Box, and they were able to pursue their business with few public mishaps. Unfortunately, as I learned when I found the need to relieve myself after my hearty meal of kaiser-roll+butter-pat, I discovered that there were apparently some stains too difficult for your trained crew of expert waitstaff to attend to. I suggest installing a drain in the center of the floor of each restroom, and a manually-activated sprinkler head in the ceiling.

As for "Makes Victim Dependent on Interrogator" and "Weakens Mental and Physical Ability to Resist," let me just say that the various minor indignities and threats to public health and safety wore on me until, at the end, as I stumbled unbelievingly like a death row inmate with a last-minute pardon, blinking and crying with gratitude in the sun, the hypnotizing mantra of 'Thank you for flying [Airline]! Please come again!' "reduced me to 'animal level'."

Yours truly,
the_malum

Obscure Sci-Fi/Fantasy

2008-06-25T00:16:47Z

So, elfling519's recent post asking for contemporary book recommendations that she could find in a bookstore got me to thinking: what about the most obscure (but still very worthwhile) sci-fi/fantasy books/authors?

Yes, I know, I know, science fiction and fantasy sub-genres of literature are already "obscure" to some, being still considered a "fringe" form of entertainment; some literary snobs can't even refer to them as literature at all. But the people reading this are computer users, Internet pioneers who run the fringe already. Surely some of you have recommendations to offer me in the realm of obscure sci-fi and fantasy (F&SF) books and/or authors?

I'll start:

Jack Vance: An F&SF author since the pulp era, Vance's style is unique and entertaining, the kind of writing which seems light and fluffy until you realize he's embedded some interesting speculation in there. A student of human foibles and the variability of cultures over time, Vance has written well-received books in both sub-genres. His best-known book, The Dying Earth, is an anthology of stories he wrote before 1950.

R. A. Lafferty: It is difficult to classify Lafferty's stories. Are they fantasy? Science fiction? Both and neither? I just say "speculative fiction" and leave it at that. His best-known work is probably Past Master, a novel about the resurrection of Thomas More into the world of the future to save civilization, which was published in 1968.

Jorge Luis Borges: A blind Argentinian who wrote of mazes and reflections with a life of their own, Borges is another whose work is difficult to classify. Although you'll find him in the "Fiction and Literature" section, his work belongs on the same shelf as the previous two. His most famous work, the anthology Ficciones, was published in 1944.

And those are just my favorite authors.

RIP George Carlin

2008-06-24T02:34:13Z

"I'm a modern man, a man for the millennium. Digital and smoke free. A diversified, multi-cultural, post-modern deconstruction that is anatomically and ecologically incorrect. I've been uplinked and downloaded, I've been inputted and outsourced, I know the upside of downsizing, I know the downside of upgrading. I'm a high-tech low-life. A cutting edge, state-of-the-art bi-coastal multi-tasker and I can give you a gigabyte in a nanosecond!

"I'm new wave, but I'm old school and my inner child is outward bound. I'm a hot-wired, heat seeking, warm-hearted cool customer, voice-activated and biodegradable. I interface with my database, my database is in cyberspace, so I'm interactive, I'm hyperactive and from time to time I'm radioactive.

"Behind the eight ball, ahead of the curve, ridin' the wave, dodgin' the bullet and pushin' the envelope. I'm on-point, on-task, on-message and off drugs. I've got no need for coke and speed. I've got no urge to binge and purge. I'm in-the-moment, on-the-edge, over-the-top and under-the-radar. A high-concept, low-profile, medium-range ballistic missionary. A street-wise smart bomb. A top-gun bottom feeder. I wear power ties, I tell power lies, I take power naps and run victory laps. I'm a totally ongoing big-foot, slam-dunk, rainmaker with a pro-active outreach. A raging workaholic. A working rageaholic. Out of rehab and in denial!

"I've got a personal trainer, a personal shopper, a personal assistant and a personal agenda. You can't shut me up. You can't dumb me down because I'm tireless and I'm wireless, I'm an alpha male on beta-blockers.

"I'm a non-believer and an over-achiever, laid-back but fashion-forward. Up-front, down-home, low-rent, high-maintenance. Super-sized,long-lasting, high-definition, fast-acting, oven-ready and built-to-last! I'm a hands-on, foot-loose, knee-jerk head case pretty maturely post-traumatic and I've got a love-child that sends me hate mail.

"But, I'm feeling, I'm caring, I'm healing, I'm sharing -- a supportive, bonding, nurturing primary care-giver. My output is down, but my income is up. I took a short position on the long bond and my revenue stream has its own cash-flow. I read junk mail, I eat junk food, I buy junk bonds and I watch trash sports! I'm gender-specific, capital-intensive, user-friendly and lactose-intolerant.

"I like rough sex. I like tough love. I use the "F" word in my emails and the software on my hard-drive is hardcore -- no soft porn.

"I bought a microwave at a mini-mall; I bought a mini-van at a mega-store. I eat fast-food in the slow lane. I'm toll-free, bite-sized, ready-to-wear and I come in all sizes. A fully-equipped, factory-authorized, hospital-tested, clinically-proven, scientifically-formulated medical miracle. I've been pre-wash, pre-cooked, pre-heated, pre-screened, pre-approved, pre-packaged, post-dated, freeze-dried, double-wrapped, vacuum-packed, and I have an unlimited broadband capacity.

"I'm a rude dude, but I'm the real deal. Lean and mean! Cocked, locked and ready-to-rock! Rough, tough and hard to bluff! I take it slow, I go with the flow, I ride with the tide, I've got glide in my stride. Drivin' and movin', sailin' and spinin', jivin' and groovin', wailin' and winnin'. I don't snooze, so I don't lose. I keep the pedal to the metal and the rubber on the road. I party hearty and lunch time is crunch time. I'm hangin' in, there ain't no doubt, and I'm hangin tough, over and out!"

--George Carlin

-----------------------

Incidentally, I've seen many comments online where people say they bet he's "up there, smiling down at us." They usually get ridiculed and mocked by the other people on the message boards who note that Carlin was an atheist.

And those latter people are just plain idiots. Carlin did a whole routine about the dumb shit we say when someone passes away. One of his favorites was, "He's up there, smiling down at us." It can be seen on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3PiZSFIVFiU

I Heart xkcd

2008-06-23T23:05:14Z

Today's comic beautifully illustrates why:

My Dad, Part 4

2008-06-22T23:54:28Z

Dad: "Your bathtub was filthy! I had to really scrub it to get all of the filth off! How often do you clean that, anyway?"
Me: (*looking in the tub*) "Er... What happened to the anti-slip strips I glued to the bottom?"

My Dad, Part 3

2008-06-22T17:20:21Z

Dad: "Your bathroom is filthy! Especially your shower glass! We're going to bring the pieces in the garage and wash them off thoroughly with glass cleaner."
Me: "It's not filthy!"
Dad: "Yes, it is!"
Me: *grumble, grumble*

[An hour later...]
Dad: "Well, I guess what I thought was filth was old caulk! I guess they're not as filthy as I thought!"
Me: *grumble, grumble*

My Dad, Part 2

2008-06-21T19:03:18Z

Dad: "While we're waiting for the plumber, help me move this roll-top desk."
Me: "Okaaaay... Why?"
Dad: "I brought a bookshelf I made. We'll put it here instead of the desk, which you never use."
Me: "Oh, that's okay then."

Half an hour of sweating the beast down one flight of stairs and out the door while trying not to dent the walls later:

Me: "Dang! A shower would feel sooooo good right now!... Too bad we turned off the water because of the stopcock issue..."

So, now I sit here in a puddle of my own sweat trying to cool down and ignore the smell. My dad, being the one with a minivan, gets to drive to the dump with the desk; I suspect he couldn't stand the smell.

My Dad Arrived Yesterday

2008-06-21T16:01:33Z

Yesterday, he told me, "We're going to replace the stopcock by your guest bathroom's toilet bowl. It doesn't move right when I turn it!"

Earlier today, after an hour of sweating, he said, "I can't seem to twist this off! I'll put an attachment on, and maybe we'll get a plumber on Monday."

I went to get some certified mail from the post office. (Yay! My special limited edition Kung Fu Hustle arrived!) When I came back he said, "Well, I guess this is a sweat fitting (i.e., soldered) as opposed to a screw fitting (i.e., one that turns). Can you get a plumber for today to solder in a new fitting?"

I wonder if, by the end of it, we'll have torn out part of the wall and floor of the bathroom?

I hope that plumber hurries!

----------------------------------------------

Happy birthday, spiralsongkat!

Boredom

2008-06-15T03:57:20Z

I've been trying to keep my signal-to-noise ratio high, by only posting about important stuff. And because of that, I haven't posted much the last couple of weeks.

So, I inflict this image on you all:

Eight Internet Companies That Need to Improve

2008-06-02T14:57:55Z

I agree with many of the points in this article [8 Companies We All Hate (and why we use them anyway)], although I agree with the poster who marvelled at "a Gawker Media site slamming someone for 'cheap extra pageviews.'" If it wasn't for NoScript and AdBlock Plus with the Filterset.G filter, I would never visit any Gawker Media sites at all. Too many distracting ads and links!

Cool Props

2008-05-27T04:30:28Z

I visit replica prop message boards. Replica prop makers are those guys who don't think the Star Trek phaser they bought at ThinkGeek is accurate enough to the version they saw on TV, and so make their own to fulfill their vision of what it should look like. Replica prop makers have made everything from the De Lorean from the Back To The Future franchise, to Captain Jack Sparrow's flintlock pistol from the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, to lightsabers from Star Wars (pretty much the beginning of the hobby for many of them; sure, you can buy these things now, but "a true Jedi makes his own.") It's a "gray hobby" -- in a gray area of the law, since technically the movie studios own the rights to make these props. However, most prop makers make things only for themselves, or they produce items that the studios aren't making (no one makes an official Paramount De Lorean, for instance.)

Mind you, I don't have the energy or vision to make anything like these people, but I like to browse the boards and marvel at other people's hard work. So, I got a chance to marvel at one particular piece of brilliance:

Wall-E Spotted in LA! from Blink on Vimeo.

Birthday Wishes

2008-05-20T04:34:25Z

Happy Birthday, elfling519!

Good wishes sent. Physical gift to follow.

Teenagers

2008-05-19T15:45:50Z

Some of you with older kids should get a kick out of this:

And I'm sure most of you have seen it already, but I hadn't and I got a kick out of it, so there.

Did Some Sci-Fi Surfing

2008-05-18T17:50:56Z

Interesting bits:

Reynolds/Washburne 2008! Vote for the party that aims to misbehave! (That's a Firefly reference, for those who haven't seen this fine series/movie.)

In 1952, a visionary published the Space Patrol Official Handbook. I recognize most of the images without having to check the captions, which just goes to show that I've seen too many movies.

That led me to Dreams of Space, which is a great site with an extensive bibliography of space books up to about 1974, and, where available, scans thereof.

I don't think I've mentioned this site on my blog before, but I'm a big fan of Winchell Chung's Project Rho site with all kinds of sci-fi goodies therein -- star maps, a discussion of the physics behind space travel, etc.

In Case You Missed It

2008-05-15T03:59:12Z

A link for your enjoyment.

And in case it's not obvious, I was so busy at work I didn't get a chance to browse, so I'm doing it all this evening, in lieu of the concert. And since I'm not at work, I have time to share.

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Year 2000 Has Finally Arrived

2008-05-15T03:14:09Z

This guy has built a real, honest-to-dog jet-pack and flew it successfully for five minutes. He developed it himself at the cost of $285,000 and "countless hours." Mind you, there are still limitations to be overcome. The suit weighs 120 pounds, so lugging it around before you take off and after you touch down could be a problem; a few months of that, and you'll be so ripped you won't have to jet to work, you could probably run there without breaking a sweat.

But I still want my flying car...

Rate Your Man

2008-05-15T01:13:31Z

Husband's scale, page 1
Originally uploaded by Tiabla

Apparently, in the 1930s, this was the kind of thing pop marital counselors published in the magazines. Nice to know little has changed; they had just as many unreasonable expectations as we do today. I mean, "Snores"?!? Like that can be controlled!

Stolen from alicetheowl.

An Observation Regarding DVDs

2008-05-12T20:44:17Z

So, I posted a few DVDs on SwapaDVD over the weekend, and noticed something that, at first, struck me as odd.

I posted a few of what I consider "good" movies, i.e., they fit squarely in the category of "Entertaining" and have good special effects/acting/writing/etc. I also posted some crappy DVDs, the kind I hope I can get rid of. Lo and behold, the crappy DVDs fairly flew out of my queue, while the good ones molder.

I was confused about this until I gave it some thought. Of course, a movie like Payback or The Saint is going to show up on cable or network television quite often; if you really want to see it, you can just wait a little while, and be reasonable assured it'll be on some channel somewhere. On the other hand, how often do they play a movie like Princess Warrior or The Eye of the Serpent? Not very often, let me tell you! So these connoisseurs obviously figure to find stuff they'll otherwise have a hard time watching.

Now I know what kind of movies I need to stock as trade-bait. Those two movies cost me $5 total, some five or six years ago...

Lucky

2008-05-07T17:20:41Z

So, I was driving home yesterday, and I happened to be flipping through radio stations when I heard the DJ on K-Rock say "... Seether and Flyleaf at the Nokia Theater. Caller 92 wins the tickets." I thought to myself, I like Flyleaf, and tried calling in. I dialed four times, and the last time was really going to be the last, when the DJ picked up the phone and told me I'd won.

It turns out that I've apparently won two tickets to the May 14th 6:00 PM Seether/Flyleaf show at the Nokia Center in Times Square; this is ironic, since I no longer have a girlfriend to take with me. I'll have to cast around and see who would be up for this.

Also included in the prize is a copy of Rock Band for the Xbox 360. I don't own an Xbox, so this might end up on eBay or end up someone's Xmas present.

I drove very carefully the rest of the way home. The way my karma works, I figured there was an even chance I'd get pulled over or someone would run into me.

J. K. Rowling vs. Orson Scott Card

2008-05-02T16:57:58Z

There's been news recently of J. K. Rowling and a lawsuit she has pursued against the publisher of the Harry Potter Lexicon, a fan-focused work which basically categorizes all of the various characters, locations, objects, etc. in the series; the material previously appeared on the website http://www.hp-lexicon.org/, which J. K. Rowling herself claimed to have used to check "facts" she had previously used in her books. She has won a temporary injunction against the book's publication. The suit alleges that the stress of pursuing this lawsuit has negatively impacted her creativity, and that it seems unlikely now that she would produce any similar work -- such a book was apparently on her docket of "books to write," despite there not being even a hint of such in the publishing After three days, both sides reached a limited settlement regarding endorsements -- neither Rowling's name nor her previous endorsement of the website will be used on the book if it is eventually published. The judge is not expected to rule for several weeks.

Orson Scott Card, who wrote the wildly-successful sci-fi novel Ender's Game (1994) has written an essay critical of J. K. Rowling and her legal maneuvers. He makes a couple of interesting points, the only important one being that all authors "borrow" elements from those who wrote before. Most authors are completely upfront about it, too; Card borrowed the concept and name of the ansible, a faster-than-light communications device, from the writings of Ursula K. LeGuin. But there's a point at which such "borrowing" becomes an illegal attempt to profit from the work of another.

Where do you draw the line? The "author" of the Harry Potter Lexicon basically admitted that his website was a collation of elements from J. K. Rowlings' work, and he made no attempt to profit from it; some may consider this similar in nature to fan fiction sites, which have enjoyed some immunity, probably because they represent no loss of income and only a tiny fraction of the reading public. On the other hand, the book form of the website would have been extensively rewritten, so it may have constituted original, critical work on what is arguably one of the most popular works of popular fiction in modern times. If it never gets published, we'll never know.

One of the more enjoyable parts of Card's rant is an interesting synopsis of Ender's Game, which could also be a synopsis of Harry Potter:

"A young kid growing up in an oppressive family situation suddenly learns that he is one of a special class of children with special abilities, who are to be educated in a remote training facility where student life is dominated by an intense game played by teams flying in midair, at which this kid turns out to be exceptionally talented and a natural leader. He trains other kids in unauthorized extra sessions, which enrages his enemies, who attack him with the intention of killing him; but he is protected by his loyal, brilliant friends and gains strength from the love of some of his family members. He is given special guidance by an older man of legendary accomplishments who previously kept the enemy at bay. He goes on to become the crucial figure in a struggle against an unseen enemy who threatens the whole world."

Personally, I think this lawsuit is both premature (How can we know what would have been infringed before the fact? Are we living in the world of Minority Report?) and, to some extent, the desperate ploy that Card describes in his conclusion (It is worth noting that, unlike any other author website I've ever been to, J. K.'s has no 'Things I'm Working On' section -- there's no hint on there that she's working on anything at all, actually, except the lawsuit). Card may be an angry man ranting about an author he doesn't respect, but some of his points are valid.

For those interested in more in-depth discussion of the relative merits of the case can check out fandom wank's commentary.