Nerdlinger

Rule 34

This is Charles Stross new novel, Rule 34. If the title strikes you as peculiar then you might like to know that it refers to 34th rule of the Internet; Generally accepted rule that states that pornography or sexually related material exists for any conceivable subject. Or said more bluntly; If it exists, there is porn of it. No exceptions.

The book is a loose sequel to “Halting State,” and has is summarized like this:

Detective Inspector Liz Kavanaugh is head of the Rule 34 Squad, monitoring the Internet to determine whether people are engaging in harmless fantasies or illegal activities. Three ex-con spammers have been murdered, and Liz must uncover the link between them before these homicides go viral. 

 I have just finished the book and would like to recommend it. I liked this much more than some of Stross later novels and certainly much more than “Halting state.”  It is suspenseful and funny, and since the novel is set in Stross hometown of Edinburgh - the gritty feel of that particular city is very much present.   Recommended.

Now reading

 “Explodes out the gate like a sonic boom and never stops. Adrenaline bleeds from Williams’ fingers with every word he hammers into the keyboard. The razors of The Mirrored Heavens would eat cyberpunk’s old-guard hackers and cowboys as a light snack.”—Peter Watts, author of Blindsight

I like this book a lot. Pick it up if you like fast, actionpacked SF. 

John Waters is right - as always

I have just finished reading the latest Waters book. Role Models.  Publishers Weekly describes it like this (and I can’t improve on the description):

The director of the gross-out epic Pink Flamingos and other cinematic provocations salutes the people he finds inspiring—himself foremost among them—in these self-regarding essays. Waters’s role models range from icons like Johnny Mathis and Tennessee Williams to a gay reality-porn auteur, a lesbian stripper called Lady Zorro, and ex-Charles Manson groupie and murderer Leslie Van Houten. When he pays attention to them, Waters produces vivid portraits of his subjects, especially those with really lurid backstories, but he’s happier when the spotlight is on him and his studied outrageousness. He discusses celebrity and the graphic pornography on his walls, and regales readers with scatological scandals, disdaining religious beliefs while graciously tolerating people who hold them. 

I recommend the book.

Somebody made this image macro of a quote by John Waters and it just makes me happy.
 

Yog-blogsoth

This blog will be an attempt to draw all the creatures Lovecraft ever wrote about or mentioned. (Not safe for work and not safe for your sanity.)

http://yog-blogsoth.blogspot.com/

Currently reading

I got a hankerin’ for japanese SF for some reason a few days ago.  I have never read any japanese SF that I can remember, and I thought there ought to be some translated to English at least.

Turns out it was. 

The publishing house Haika Soru publishes hard japanese SF (is there any other kind?)  

The book I am currently reading is this:

Good Luck Yukikaze

The alien JAM have been at war with humanity for over thirty years… or have they? Rei Fukai of the FAF’s Special Air Force and his intelligent tactical reconnaissance fighter plane Yukikaze have seen endless battles, but after declaring “Humans are unnecessary now,” and forcibly ejecting Fukai, Yukikazeis on its own. Is the target of the JAM’s hostility really Earth’s machines?

So far it’s quite good. I am liking it :)

First one

I decided to try out this tumblr malarkey when I really should be doing other things.  My old blog at razorhack.net is still down, and I have no idea when I will get the .. ahum .. inspiration to start over.  Much of what was posted there is probably gone forever. The server crash sent most of it down into the cybernetic gopher hole. 

Diablo Cody twittered this a few days ago:

“If you’re not watching Housewives of NJ, you’re missing casual details like this:”