Dispatches since 2005
The journal
Announcements, new editions, travel, diving, cooking and the working life of a novelist — 207 entries, all of them here in full.
May 19, 2011 · 118 words
Orbiter Montage
Exciting moments at the Cape, condensed. We arrived predawn. Yes, that is an alligator cruising along in the lower left. The sun arrives. Main engine start. (Five seconds before liftoff) A tower of brilliant flame, brighter than any camera can record. The orbiter vanished into low cloud just as the sound reaches us acr
Read entry →May 18, 2011 · 129 words
Enough Knight Moves Already! (And sincere thanks, by the way)
Thanks to you lovely readers, I now have a couple dozen scans of Knight Moves. My cup runneth over. You need not send more. I am content. The prize has been awarded, though anyone who helped in any way will be mentioned in thanks. I also seem to have a copy of Days of Atonement, […]
Read entry →May 17, 2011 · 174 words
Endeavor Forever
So I saw the launch of Endeavor, which was deeply cool but only about five seconds long before the orbiter penetrated the low-lying cloud level and disappeared. The sound seemed to go on for ages. I got great pictures, which I was planning on posting here, but I brought the wrong connector and I can’t […]
Read entry →May 15, 2011 · 311 words
Crowdsource, Please
Like every other midlist writer on the planet, I’m striving to get my out-of-print books and stories online so that (a) you can enjoy them, and (b) I can make a few bucks. To this end, I embarked upon a Cunning Plan. I discovered that my work had been pirated, and was available for free […]
Read entry →May 14, 2011 · 704 words
Computers Stealing Our Dreams
Ah, to be in England now that Adam Curtis has a new documentary series . . . All Watched Over By Machines of Loving Grace will premiere in a couple weeks on the BBC, and by all accounts is a sort of meta-critique of digital society and its proponents and heroes. (About time, too.) The […]
Read entry →May 10, 2011 · 855 words
The Crazy Train
I was sorta hoping that the death of Osama bin Laden might nudge a few people back to sanity, but it isn’t happening. I mean, I expected the 9/11 Truthers to claim that Osama didn’t do it and isn’t really dead, because they’ve been on the Crazy Train for some time. But even the usual […]
Read entry →May 7, 2011 · 91 words
Another Step Closer to the Robot Apocalypse
Boeing’s new “autonomous fighter-sized aircraft,” the Phantom Ray, has had its first successful test flight. The Phantom Ray is no mere drone with looks inspired by, say, Hardwired, it’s an “unmanned airborne system” intended to complete its missions without a human at the controls. Just tell it what you want it to do,
Read entry →May 7, 2011 · 395 words
Iranian Politics Explained
If you’ve ever wondered why Iranian politics are so strange, perhaps the answer is now at hand. It seems that the president’s inner circle has been relying for advice on “djinn, fairies, and demons.” We have this on no less an authority that Ayatollah Khamenei, Iran’s Supreme Leader, whose spat with President Ahmadinej
Read entry →May 2, 2011 · 133 words
Hard Landing
Endeavor is having its electronics checked, the astronauts are home in Houston, and the earliest possible launch day is May 8. I tried to get my airline tickets changed to tomorrow, but all flights were fully booked, so we’re flying home on Tuesday. After which we will improvise. We’ve learned that NASA is very good [&
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