This is a rather irregular feature, but so be it. I find more links than I have time to really blog about individually, so from time to time I’ll clean out my bookmarks by putting links to things I found interesting and wanted to talk about here. So, here goes:
Steampunk Laptop from Datamancer! I just discovered this from Brass Goggles and you should all check it out. I want one really bad, even if it doesn’t boot up. This is just wicked cool.
A list compiled by Leslie Kay Swigart of science fiction, fantasy, utopian, dystopian, and horror dissertations and theses (not necessarily in that order). A great resource for finding work that other people have written in the field!
Publisher Weekly’s Best Books of the Year, which includes some SF & F titles. Alternately here is Amazon’s Best Books of 2007 in the SF & F genres (a list of ten).
ManyBooks is an interesting site that might prove useful to those of you out there that don’t mind reading on a screen. I don’t think you can print anything out there, but it’s still free literature, some by well known authors.
Judge A Book…By Its Cover. An interesting site that compiles a whole slue of book covers for your perusal.
An interesting chart showing the evolution of Indo-European languages. The design is interesting too.
A huge list of recommended fantasy authors from SFF.net. It’s REALLY BIG. Just a warning.
The Internet Top 100 SF & F list. It’s old (back in 2003), but maybe it holds some relevancy to you guys out there and it will lead you to some works you’ve never heard of before.
Want to see your DNA or fingerprint on your wall as art? Well check this site out. I desperately want to get a lighted display of my DNA for my wall. That would be cool.
The First Espresso Book Machine. If that name doesn’t say it, then read the article. It’s a bit late, but basically it’s a machine that will actually print out books from a computerized library. In theory it could make buying books from the book store a whole lot different. Can’t find the book you want? Print it out!
TangentOnline reviews short speculative fiction works (anthologies, magazines, etc.). They’re currently on hiatus while they update their website, but they’ll be back soon. For those maybe looking for good short fiction to read in SF & F, this is a place to look.
The genius of Isaac Asimov on the the idea of ‘intelligence’. This is brilliantly written. Then again, Asimov was an amazing human being and writer.
Here are some links for you fantasy writers out there: building magic systems, Tolkien and fantasy (sort of an extensions upon the previous link), Serendipity’s random generators (names, etc.), a Dictionary of Symbolism, a glossary of medieval terms, life in the middle ages, medieval demographics, a huge list discussing prices of medieval items and the like, medieval warfare, medieval names, and The Tome (a.k.a. The History Channel’s site that discusses just about everything to do with medieval times).
And, to end this I give you a link to just about the coolest thing to happen in human history next to forming the written word: the Voyager Golden Record. It makes me smile thinking about the creatures who might one day hear that.
