Hugo packets are being delivered

The electronic packets for Hugo voters are now being delivered.

(a few minutes later)

There is a nice header proclaiming: The works in this package are presented without Digital Rights Management because the authors and publishers trust that you will use this Hugo Voters Packet as it was intended -- for yourself, to aid you in your voting for the Hugos and Campbells. Please do not share this Packet with others outside of your household.

Nevertheless, the only method of getting METAtropolis, an audio book, is by signing up with Audible and running their proprietary software.
What the heck is wrong with MP3 or Ogg Vorbis?

Hugo packets are being delivered

The electronic packets for Hugo voters are now being delivered.

(a few minutes later)

There is a nice header proclaiming: The works in this package are presented without Digital Rights Management because the authors and publishers trust that you will use this Hugo Voters Packet as it was intended -- for yourself, to aid you in your voting for the Hugos and Campbells. Please do not share this Packet with others outside of your household.

Nevertheless, the only method of getting METAtropolis, an audio book, is by signing up with Audible and running their proprietary software.
What the heck is wrong with MP3 or Ogg Vorbis?

Cold-brew coffee

I had forgotten how good this method tastes.

Find a large glass jar. Put in about five times as much water as coarsely ground coffee. Put the lid on and leave in the refrigerator for 24-96 hours. Filter out the grounds -- I use a wire colander.

The result is a huge extraction of coffee flavor, but with almost no acid, and with all of the caffeine that was present. Perfect cold coffee. Keep it sealed and cold, because warmth releases the aromatic oils...

Cold-brew coffee

I had forgotten how good this method tastes.

Find a large glass jar. Put in about five times as much water as coarsely ground coffee. Put the lid on and leave in the refrigerator for 24-96 hours. Filter out the grounds -- I use a wire colander.

The result is a huge extraction of coffee flavor, but with almost no acid, and with all of the caffeine that was present. Perfect cold coffee. Keep it sealed and cold, because warmth releases the aromatic oils...

Etymological query

Does anyone *not* in my family use the term "bulka" to describe challah made in a pullman-style loaf rather than round or braided?
In Polish it seems to mean a bread roll made with eggs, which is pretty close, and very likely the original source -- but I'm looking for anything in between.

Etymological query

Does anyone *not* in my family use the term "bulka" to describe challah made in a pullman-style loaf rather than round or braided?
In Polish it seems to mean a bread roll made with eggs, which is pretty close, and very likely the original source -- but I'm looking for anything in between.

Music Videos For Bio Geeks.

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/04/battle_of_the_biology_bands_no.php

One about DNA PCR, and two about cellular monitoring equipment.

Awesome. Geektastic.

Music Videos For Bio Geeks.

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2009/04/battle_of_the_biology_bands_no.php

One about DNA PCR, and two about cellular monitoring equipment.

Awesome. Geektastic.

Books

_The Long Look_, Richard Parks

There's this magician, Tymon the Black. Magicians are rare, require some natural (or supernatural) talent, and lots of esoteric knowledge which they seem to learn mostly from books. This magician is cursed with The Long Look. Every so often he is hit with a trance, in which he sees something that could happen -- will happen, unless he decides to stop it. He doesn't get any clues about whether or how he should stop it or encourage it. This is very frustrating to Tymon.

He has a loyal sidekick who is a dwarf -- well, a small human. Adult, male, 4 feet tall, named Seb. Seb isn't a magician, but he's very handy with a knife or a rock or his fists, and he's a good cook.

Then there are all the royalty. We deal with four or five countries, all of whom are no more than a week's walk apart across mountainous territory. One of them has ocean access. One of them is a productive valley in the middle of the mountains. All of them have been relatively peaceful for a decade or two... and that might change.

The tone is difficult to describe; Tymon takes blatant advantage of knowing how everybody thinks magicians are supposed to act. It's slightly reminiscent of Brunner's Traveller in Black stories. It's not snarky, and it's not exactly a puzzle-story. It's as though Parks carefully set up all the pieces on a game board, handed them their character backgrounds and motivations and initial plots, and then wrote the ending. Later he comes back and figures out how they get from A to Z... which they do. Yet it's a fairly short book.

Pretty good.

Books

_The Long Look_, Richard Parks

There's this magician, Tymon the Black. Magicians are rare, require some natural (or supernatural) talent, and lots of esoteric knowledge which they seem to learn mostly from books. This magician is cursed with The Long Look. Every so often he is hit with a trance, in which he sees something that could happen -- will happen, unless he decides to stop it. He doesn't get any clues about whether or how he should stop it or encourage it. This is very frustrating to Tymon.

He has a loyal sidekick who is a dwarf -- well, a small human. Adult, male, 4 feet tall, named Seb. Seb isn't a magician, but he's very handy with a knife or a rock or his fists, and he's a good cook.

Then there are all the royalty. We deal with four or five countries, all of whom are no more than a week's walk apart across mountainous territory. One of them has ocean access. One of them is a productive valley in the middle of the mountains. All of them have been relatively peaceful for a decade or two... and that might change.

The tone is difficult to describe; Tymon takes blatant advantage of knowing how everybody thinks magicians are supposed to act. It's slightly reminiscent of Brunner's Traveller in Black stories. It's not snarky, and it's not exactly a puzzle-story. It's as though Parks carefully set up all the pieces on a game board, handed them their character backgrounds and motivations and initial plots, and then wrote the ending. Later he comes back and figures out how they get from A to Z... which they do. Yet it's a fairly short book.

Pretty good.