Wednesday, March 26, 2008

a new decalogue

Pope Crys at the Complaints Department has issued a list of commandments. This seems like a fun thing to do, so I'm going to join in...
  1. Thou shalt not exceed thy carbon footprint
  2. Thou shalt worship Ceiling Cat and all his furry minions
  3. Thou shalt not build inaccessible webpages
  4. Thou shalt not wear too much perfume in a built-up area
  5. Thou shalt not drum into the wee small hours
  6. Thou shalt not write interminable bad poetry
  7. Thou shalt not put the toilet roll back-to-front on the holder
  8. Thou shalt not pollute thine ears with Chris de Burgh
  9. Thou shalt honour LGBT people, especially the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence
  10. Thou shalt not publish thy rants upon YouTube, unless they are about contraventions of the first nine of these commandments.

Thursday, March 20, 2008

rendezvous with Yama

It's the end of an era, the death of Arthur C Clarke. He was one of two authors who introduced me to science fiction (the other being Ursula K Le Guin).

My favourite one of his books has to be The Fountains of Paradise, but I also found Childhood's End deliciously creepy. One of his short stories, The Nine Billion Names of God, is one of my favourite short stories (even though Buddhists don't believe in "God" in quite the way that the story implies).

He also invented the space elevator and the idea that geostationary satellites would be ideal telecommunications relays.

Quite a few people have remembered him on their blogs:

Here is to Arthur C. Clarke. Here is to Sri Lanka. by Iva Skoch
Gadling - http://www.gadling.com


Arthur C. Clarke: An Appreciation of a Life Well-Lived by Jeff VanderMeer OMNIVORACIOUS - http://www.omnivoracious.com/

Arthur C. Clarke, 1917 - 2008 by The Bad Astronomer
Bad Astronomy Blog - http://www.badastronomy.com/bablog


Arthur C. Clarke Appreciation by Jeff VanderMeer
Ecstatic Days - http://www.jeffvandermeer.com

An appreciation of Arthur C. Clarke
Official Google Blog - http://googleblog.blogspot.com/

Arthur C. Clarke, RIP
skepticalobservor - http://skepticalobservor.blogspot.com/

Remembering Arthur C. Clarke by Dave Itzkoff
Paper Cuts - http://papercuts.blogs.nytimes.com


Arthur C. Clarke: 1917 - 2008 by Dan Sandler
Control Freak - Video Games - http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/entertainment_videogames/


Arthur C. Clarke RIP by Stuart Woods
Quillblog - http://www.quillandquire.com/blog


RIP Sir Arthur
- Liz Williams

Arthur C Clarke is dead by Al Billings at In Pursuit of Mysteries

Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Stand with Tibet

I just signed an urgent petition calling on the Chinese government to respect human rights in Tibet and engage in meaningful dialogue with the Dalai Lama. This is really important.

Please sign the petition.

After nearly 50 years of Chinese rule, the Tibetans are sending out a global cry for change. But violence is spreading across Tibet and neighbouring regions, and the Chinese regime is right now considering a choice between increasing brutality or dialogue, that could determine the future of Tibet and China.

We can affect this historic choice. China does care about its international reputation. Its economy is totally dependent on "Made in China" exports that we all buy, and it is keen to make the Olympics in Beijing this summer a celebration of a new China that is a respected world power.

President Hu needs to hear that 'Brand China' and the Olympics can succeed only if he makes the right choice. But it will take an avalanche of global people power to get his attention. Click below to join me and sign a petition to President Hu calling for restraint in Tibet and dialogue with the Dalai Lama -- and tell absolutely everyone you can right away. The petition is organized by Avaaz, and they are urgently aiming to reach 1 million signatures to deliver directly to Chinese officials:

Please sign the petition.

Thank you so much for your help!

Wednesday, March 05, 2008

signs and pawtents

Teh Ceilin Cat make Her appearunz in teh sky...

Humorous Pictures

And here is Her pawprint...

The Cat's Paw Nebula

U not knoe wot is a Lolcat?