Month: April 2014

Book Review: Lord of Emperors by Kay (4 Stars)

Lord of Emperors by Guy Gavriel Kay

4 out of 5 stars

Read in June 2010

The characters I related to best surprised me in this second half of the Sarantine Mosaic duology. I wept more than once for a chariot racer and for an obsessed, vengeful woman. Crispan, through whose eyes most of this tale was viewed, did not touch any of my heart-strings.

Both this novel, and its predecessor, Sailing to Sarantium, included phenomenal chapters filled with thundering horses hooves, dust and crashing chariots … just a pleasant day at the Hippodrome races. Continue reading “Book Review: Lord of Emperors by Kay (4 Stars)”

The CDC Debunks Hollywood Myths About Pandemics

http://io9.com/the-cdc-debunks-hollywood-myths-about-pandemics-1560897979?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_twitter&utm_source=io9_twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

Apropos considering I just wrapped up watching the first 13 episodes of the first season of Syfy’s Helix.

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

Comcast files to start the TWC merger process. Here’s how regulators should view the deal. — Tech News and Analysis

http://gigaom.com/2014/04/08/comcast-files-to-start-the-twc-merger-process-heres-how-regulators-should-view-the-deal/

Regulators should ask Comcast why cost savings won’t be passed along to consumers and what role the data caps have in keeping the average revenue per subscriber at a set rate. Compared with broadband rates in other parts of the world, it’s bizarre that U.S. wireline communications bills just keep rising.

My Internet provider is TWC. Twice in the last year my rates have increased but service remains lackluster at best.

I keep hoping Google Fibre will move west a few more miles so I can cut the cord to Comcast/TWC.

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

5 Privacy Laws I Would Put on the Books Right Now – Popular Mechanics

http://www.popularmechanics.com/_mobile/technology/how-to/computer-security/5-privacy-laws-i-would-put-on-the-books-right-now-16658215

All of these suggestions make sense … good common sense.  Wonder if Thomas Paine would agree.

Oh and I treat my email like I would a post card. Just saying.

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

Book Review: The Martian Chronicles by Bradbury (2.5 Stars)

The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury

2.5 out of 5 stars

Recommended by the GoodReads SciFi/Fantasy Book Club August 2009 Selection

Read in August, 2009

Synopsis (courtesy Wikipedia):

The Martian Chronicles is a 1950 science fiction short story collection by Ray Bradbury that chronicles the colonization of Mars by humans fleeing from a troubled and eventually atomically devastated Earth, and the conflict between aboriginal Martians and the new colonists. The book lies somewhere between a short story collection and an episodic novel, containing stories Bradbury originally published in the late 1940s in science fiction magazines. The stories were loosely woven together with a series of short, interstitial vignettes for publication.

My Thoughts:

This collection of stories about Mars reminded me of Edgar Rice Burroughs stories. But where Burroughs entertained with adventures and action, Bradbury expounded on various themes, mostly anti-war and anti-establishment.

Continue reading “Book Review: The Martian Chronicles by Bradbury (2.5 Stars)”

10 Shocking Ways the Second World War Could Have Ended Differently

http://io9.com/10-shocking-ways-the-second-world-war-could-have-ended-1558135375?utm_campaign=socialflow_io9_facebook&utm_source=io9_facebook&utm_medium=socialflow

A bunch of interesting WWII what ifs.

Posted from WordPress for Android via my Samsung smartphone. Please excuse any misspellings. Ciao, Jon

Book Review: The Copper Crown by Kennealy-Morrison (5 Stars)

CopperCrownThe Copper Crown by Patricia Kennealy-Morrison

5 out of 5 stars

Read at least five times since the late 80s

Synopsis:

WHEN EARTH MEETS KELTIA WILL STAR EMPIRES FALL?

When lore became legend on ancient Earth and the powers of magic waned, the Kelts and their allies fled the planet for the freedom of distant star realms.

But the stars were home to dangerous foes, and millenia later, the worlds of Keltia still maintained uneasy truce with two enemy empires -the Imperium and the Phalanx. Then, at the start of the reign of Aeron, mistress of high magic and queen of all the Kelts, an Earthship made contact with her long-fled children. And while Earth and Keltia reached out to form alliance, the star fleets of the enemy mobilized for final, devastating war….

My Thoughts (Warning: Spoilers):

Every couple of years, I get the urge to pull out this novel and re-read it. Continue reading “Book Review: The Copper Crown by Kennealy-Morrison (5 Stars)”