I told you we'd be back on the 24th, and I ain't lyin'! New Sturgeon's Law right on schedule and still clocking in under 20 minutes. Barely.

-R

P.S. I stupidly deleted these notes so I'm reposting them as best I can. Sorry about that.

Sturgeon's Law #008
24 September, 2005
now fortified with tasty PodProducer

Opening and Closing Music - Merrigan's Reel by Jim Fidler

Addendum: Second Life (again!)
here's a cool short film about an SL clothing designer

Doctor Who
difficult to know where to begin
Doctor Who is, essentially, a story about a time traveling alien and his oft-changing companions and their adventures in time and space
except that's just the phenomena...
once a friend on livejournal asked something like: what TV show character(s) influenced you most? I tried several answers out but then realized it's the Doctor, easily:

intelligence makes you effective, but compassion makes you good

the Doctor was both, but not perfectly -- he could be dumb, he could be judgmental -- just like people, and just like me
I've seen the new series -- it doesn't matter that it has better special effects (although it does) and it doesn't matter that it is less quaint (although it is)
what matters is that it is true to the values of Doctor Who, which is what always mattered and why you should watch it, old and new
the new series is, after its fashion, the 27th series of Doctor Who, totalling at least 175 stories and almost 700 half-hour episodes in the old series plus 13 -- so far -- of the new, and it's already green lit for two more seasons at least
so you'd better get to watching!

Promo: Doctor Who: Podshock
a bit long for my short commute, but it's got your Doctor!

Music: "Better Life" by Common Ground

PSA: by Michael Butler of the Rock and Roll Geek Show

Getting Things Done
by David Allen
yes, I'm talking about a book on productivity, and no, you may not fall asleep
Allen's system of organization appeals, I think, to the hacker mind, and has already made a huge difference in my own organization
yes, I've drunk the koolaid!
collect, process, organize, review, do
the "next action" model
much more to say about it, but that's what the book's for -- inexpensive and worth twice what it costs
probably worth more than that in saved time and, more importantly, reduced stress
reduced stress, you say? zen-like approach: if you trust your system to keep track of your work, you won't feel obliged to juggle it all in your head
would love to hear from people that make good use of it!

Promo: The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd

Mail:
Mike from Sunspot: "I just wanted to thank you for playing our tune, "Prozac Girl" on your podcast. We appreciate it. I dig the Chronicles of Amber too so it's cool to hear a little Zelazny talk too!"

Next week: no Sturgeon's Law. I'll be busy all weekend and really quite a bit around the weekend. So #008 should be on the 24th. See you then!

-R

Sturgeon's Law #007
10 September, 2005
now fortified with tasty PodProducer

Opening Music - Merrigan's Reel by Jim Fidler

Correction from last week:
Second Life, just to confound me, has sweetened the deal
The one-time $10 is waived in the case of new subscribers (as opposed to people getting second accounts)
So there you go, the free demo period is now infinitely long

Chronicles of Amber
by the late Roger Zelazny. prolific author and my favorite as far as sff goes
Chronicles technically consist of 10 novels, 5 short stories, and, uh, well anyway, lots of stuff
generally acknowleged that the first series (5 novels) is the "good stuff" although I quite liked the short stories published shortly before Zelazny's death
protagonist Corwin perhaps the perfection of Zelazny's favorite hero type, the jaded immortal
allegedly the first book, Nine Princes in Amber, was done to see if he could start a fantasy novel with no initial idea, just a character in the hospital with amnesia, and write it on the fly
Amber inspired an RPG, choose your own adventure books, a computer game (in the 80s), a comic series, numerous untrue movie rumors...
joe bob random sez: read em!

Promo: The Godcast Network
my own The Whole Truth is a part of this

Music: "Prozac Girl" by Sunspot
rock trio from Madison, Wisconsin

PSA: by RevTim of The Godcast Network regarding hurricane relief

Cowboy Bebop
anime series of 26 episodes, aired on two different Japanese stations between 1998 and 1999
also a movie (Knockin on Heaven's Door), which has been dubbed and had a theater release in the US as Cowboy Bebop the Movie
futuristic bounty hunters try to make a living -- sometimes the feel is almost Fireflyesque (or vice versa)
but it's all about the music -- even the episode titles are song titles and they're referred to as sessions instead of episodes
I would never, ever, ever have believed anime could be this hip and groovy
Even the dub's great! highly recommended on DVD, if only for the fact the DVDs look like vinyl albums (more or less)

Promo: Klingon Word from the Word podcast
member of The Godcast Network
Joel, otherwise known as Mr. Klingon

Mail:
Repeat emailer Alexander mailed to say "Thanks for mentioning Larry Gonick!" No problem, Alex.
Larry Gonick his own self mailed to ask about putting a link to the show on his website. Hey, no problem, Mr. Gonick! Safe to say that would be an honor.

Okay, well, I appear to sort of kind of be a day late. I mean, well, sort of. Let's pretend not, though. I haven't slept yet, it's still Saturday therefore, right?

-R

Sturgeon's Law #006
3 September, 2005
now fortified with tasty PodProducer

Opening and Closing Music - Merrigan's Reel by Jim Fidler

Second Life
VR: not there, but this is a step forward
reminds me of Snow Crash in some ways
online world that doesn't restrict your ability to customize and build just to shake you down for money
shakes you down for money for "land" instead... but not mandatory
free trial, then $10 one-time if you don't own land
even premium account pretty reasonable
hard to list the fantastic array of things being built -- museums, games within the game, art projects, vehicles...
official "embedded journalist" blog
don't forget to say that Random Twilight sent you!

Promo: Otaku Generation podcast
apparently not kidsafe/worksafe -- you've been warned

Music: "Song for Newfoundland" by Jim Fidler
That's Jim "performed the song I use as intro and outro music" Fidler, of course

Larry Gonick
"The Overeducated Cartoonist"
MA in Mathematics from Harvard, but...
books:

• Cartoon History of the Universe 1-3
• Cartoon History of the United States
• Cartoon Guide to Genetics, Physics, etc...

while in no way unbiased, histories include many things often elided by school history classes (for example, labor and socialism in the US, detailed histories of non-western cultures)
Larry's simple cartooning style makes difficult topics easier and more entertaining... although even he couldn't save Statistics
eagerly awaiting next volume of History of the Universe, although trend suggests it'll be a sizable wait

Promo: Tips from the Top Floor podcast