I bought this book randomly when I saw it at a charity book sale. While the title is kid of odd, its actually quite a good read. The book is sort of a science fiction fantasy novel, set in the far future with a reasonably plausible plot line. There are a few elements that I feel could be explained a bit better, but overall the book is quite good. I'll be buying the next one in the series. [isbn: 0743488598]
This is a classic book, so I expected a lot from it. I was a little disappointed to be honest. The book is slow, although interesting. There chapters are all very short as well (around four or five pages), which is a little odd. There is a lot of potential with this concept, and I feel this book could have gone a lot further.
I was keen the other day on giving caramelizing onions in the slow cooker a go. It was comparatively simple, although I had trouble finding a site which had a complete set of instructions -- lots of sites say "it works", but don't give a lot of detail. So here's what I did: put 1.2 kilograms of diced onions in the slow cooker. Chuck 75 grams of butter on top, as well as a heaped soup spoon of brown sugar. Run the slow cooker on high for two hours, stirring hourly. Then turn the slow cooker down to low and run it for 14 hours, stirring when you're in the mood. Add a cup of chicken stock, which you stir though. Run the slow cooker for another hour with the lid off to dry stuff out. The stock gives a nice sheen to the onion, but doesn't really change the flavour. The finished product is lovely, and makes a great french onion dip.
Starbound Days of Air and Darkness Bad Science Dirk Gentley's Holistic Detective Agency The Apocalypse Troll
As I sit here reading the notes from the Future LCAs birds of a feather at LCA2011, I've come to the realization that most of the conversation was about the mechanics of what is required for an LCA bid. It can be daunting to know what needs to be done in order to have a successful bid for an event as complicated as LCA, especially if you've never been an organizer before. Its not clear that Canberra will have a successful bid for 2013 yet, but I think its a good idea to share what we've done so far if it helps others develop high quality bids. The first thing to think about is your team. At the BoF, it was strongly suggested that you need around five to six people for a good bid. I've seen conferences run with fewer people than that, but it is risky. LCA is a large and complicated event these days, and with a planning horizon of around two years, you need to be prepared for there to be a fair bit of churn in your core organizing team. Some people will move away, or change jobs. Others might have a new child and…
This is an interesting combination of a first contact story, a combat science fiction story, and a love story. It is very different from the other science fiction I've read recently, and I enjoyed it a lot. The book has a good beginning and ending, but is slow in the middle. I'm glad I kept at it though. [isbn: 0671578456]
So, a million people have blogged and tweeted about this, so I'm going to keep this short. Congratulations to Ballarat on their winning 2012 bid. They've stepped up for what is a massive job, with the added complications of being the first to try something a little new. As a ghost I appreciate them being willing to expend this effort for the benefit of all of us. I've had a few chances to spend time with the Ballarat core team this week, and I think they're dedicated, smart, and going to do a great job. I know some are concerned about transport, and to be honest I was at first too, but I don't think it is actually all that bad. There is a shuttle bus just like any other modern city (it seems to take about 90 minutes on the airport shuttle, which isn't that much longer than getting to the Melbourne CBD from that airport). There are also rental cars, and Google Maps tells me that you could save 8 minutes on your trip that way! Worst case it is only a 22 hour, 35 minute walk according to Google Maps. Personally, I'm going to walk from Canberra,…
Hi. I just wanted to quickly let people know that if they're interested in being kept informed about the bid for LCA 2013 to be in Canberra, you should subscribe to our mailing list at http://lists.clug.org.au/listinfo/canberra2013. We'll send regular updates to that list as we hit important deadlines during the bid process. [btags:]
For the last several months, a small group of people in Canberra including myself have been preparing a bid for LCA 2013. This is not just to give us more time to make the conference the most awesome, froody LCA you've ever been to. No - 2013 is also the centenary of the founding of Canberra as the nation's capital. It's a very significant year for us and we'd all be thrilled if we could show the attendees of LCA our great city and Canberrans the great work the FOSS community does to improve everyone's lives. So we're really stoked that the bidding process is going to be opened early, and I think it'll lead to a really interesting competition that will result, whoever wins, in the best LCA ever! If you're interested in getting involved, drop me a line! [btags:]
This book took me a little while to get into. although I am glad I kept at it. Not as good as The Hitchhiker's Guide, but still worth the time to read.