Just Making A Post – BECAUSE I CAN.
In the vein of “I got a Kindle and have never looked back..”, that was the eye-opener into eBooks for me. THEN, I got an iPad. I GAVE THE KINDLE AWAY. Now I can read AND look up things (If you read Neal Asher, you’ll know what I mean), surf and check in with others!
As for series to read while waiting for some others to publish, here’s a list in no certain order or preference:
(First book in series is listed)
The Real Story: The Gap into Conflict – Stephen R. Donaldson – The opener into a 5-book series. Donaldson is an acquired taste, but I enjoyed the series. (These books are analog – I can’t find them ALL in eBook format)
Gridlinked – Neal Asher The first book in the Agent Cormac series. AWESOME author that completely captivated me. I owe somebody here BIG for tipping me off to this guy.
The Clone Republic – Steven L. Kent The Clone series is a fast read. The series is fun and easy to get through. Kent is a very friendly author so you might check out his blog (www.sadsamspalace.com)
Dauntless – Jack Campbell This series will grab you and not let you loose until you’re done with the series. I’ve even had friends of mine that DO NOT like mil-porn rave about this series. (This is the pen name of John G. Hemry. A VERY nice guy. Visit him at http://www.johnghemry.com and write him. He WILL respond.)
Old Man’s War – John Scalzi If you don’t like this series, I’ll pay you for the books. That simple. (Visit John on his blog at http://whatever.scalzi.com/ . You’ll soon find he is very much deeper than the sci-fi he’s written)
Mutineer (Kris Longknife) – Mike Shepherd Local author that tells a good story. I feel this is almost YA, but I enjoyed the series and will continue reading it. Recommended.
The Battle at the Moons of Hell (Helfort’s War) – Graham Sharp Paul A great series that is similar to The Clone Series. Fun, fast and action-packed. Enjoy!
Star Soldier (Book #1 of the Doom Star Series) – Vaughn Heppner Another indie author I found on Amazon. Loved the series and will continue reading it.
Hidden Empire: The Saga of Seven Suns – Kevin J. Anderson Since everyone seems to be mentioning this series, I HAD to add it here. A sweeping epic that almost hides the ecocentric plot behind sci-fi will absolutely amaze. I LOVED this series. HIGHLY recommended.
Quarter Share (Solar Clipper Trader Tales) – Nathan Lowell A fun, almost YA series about the coming of age of a boy on a freighter plying the Deep Dark. No space battles, no sex (well, no REAL sex), no hard sci-fi. Just a great story told from a youngsters point of view. (http://solarclipper.com)
Midshipman’s Hope – David Feintuch This IS YA in my estimation, but this series by the late David Feintuch is an exceptional series about coming of age with a bit of 18th Century discipline thrown in to spice the story. Very good, quick series to read.
Starship: Mutiny – Mike Resnick A very cool series that I was sorry to see end. Just the perfect blend of swashbuckling, technology and humor that I love.
Soldier of the Legion – Marshall S. Thomas A GREAT series I’ve recently discovered! Along the lines of the Clone series, a long running battle against implacable aliens and another Human regime. The core group pretty much remains throughout the book but the day-to-day goals are certainly fluid. Technology is over-the-top and yet believable. The battle sequences are frantic and get you involved! A great series to read!
There you go, a few ideas. MOST of these authors I found right here, reading other readers recommendations! And for goodness sake, tell me what you think of my list. I KNOW I’ve forgotten many, many others. I’ll keep adding to the list as my senior memory dredges more great series to mind.
ANOTHER New Story!
Posted by MDF in Personal, This Web Site on January 27, 2011
I know, it’s been way too long. I know. But, Twitter is keeping me VERY busy. I know.. I suck.
Anyways, enjoy the new story, and as always, tell me what you think!
The Rough Life Of A Telco Lineman
MDF
New Story!
I’ve posted a NEW STORY. This is a story about youth and the lack of common sense. A lesson in what NOT to do, if you will.
It is titled ‘Lucky, I Am‘.
Enjoy.
ANOTHER Update…
Posted by MDF in Personal, This Web Site on September 8, 2010
Updated Photo Gallery ‘Frank’s New House’ with pictures of the progress he’s made this last week. Will have another update this coming Monday or so for the work we’ll do this weekend.
Enjoy!
Frank’s New House
Posted by MDF in Personal, This Web Site on September 5, 2010
The race to beat the weather rages on. The siding is almost completed and Frank has been staining the installed siding to weatherize it and the staining announces the finishing of that side of the house. It looks pretty cool. I’ve added the latest images to the Gallery – go take a look!
I also updated the sort order of the Gallery. A lot of the images were out of order. Some might still be; it’s kinda tough to look at 255 images AND make sense of the order looking at thumbnails that are only 1/2 inch in size. Maybe someday I’ll get it down…
Big Changes Here At My Little Corner Of The InterWebs
Posted by MDF in Personal, This Web Site on August 31, 2010
I’ll be switching from Qwest to Comcast next week. Qwest was AWESOME in the last ten years, but their technology has lagged and now is almost unusable. I’ve had way too many instances of the Net just screeching to a halt in the afternoons and weekends due to way too many people being served out of the old technology. [SIGH] So, for a while, the camera and weather systems might be offline.
I’ve also updated the Photo Gallery with some new collections. Enjoy!
So, you get your political talking points from a cartoon, eh?
Posted by MDF in Commentary on August 1, 2010
Here’s the cartoon that got me thinking: CLICK ME
I guess the point was that religion is bad; Atheism is good.
First, let me point out that this is typical of anybody wanting to make a point about THEIR beliefs being better than another person beliefs. They compare apples and oranges and completely bury you in statistics and rankings. They could just as well have said Norway is better than California because they get more snow. Hell, go all out and say that the USA is the most evil country in the world because we have more rednecks than Norway. Yep, we ARE evil!
But more to the point, it is easy to spout your stats as fact. Very easy. So, that being said, I went and checked a few of the ‘facts’ in this ‘cartoon’ out. It’s not as cut and dry as they would have you believe.
Point #1. Atheism. The cartoon suggests 70% of Norway identifies as Atheist. The closest I could find was that Norway ranks #4 world-wide as a percentage of population (Zuckerman, 2005). No biggy, I’m atheist and really don’t care if anybody else is.
Point #2. Number 1 in Global Peace Index. True. (www.visionofhumanity.org)
Point #3. Second Highest GDP per capita. Well, the CIA Fact Book ranks Norway as #5 as of 2009. Close, but no cigar.
Point #4. Unemployment rate below 2%. False. The same CIA Fact Book ranks Norway #23, with an unemployment rate of 3.2%. I didn’t make the claim, the cartoon author did.
Point #5. Average Hourly wages ‘among the world’s highest’. I’ll give them a ‘True’ on this one. The one source I looked at rated them #1.
Point #6. Ranked first in the world in life expectancy at birth, literacy, education and standard of living. Okay, true on this one if you use the United Nations Human Development Index. However, I looked at the CIA Fact Book and saw Norway as #23 in Life Expectancy at birth. In literacy, Norway came in tied for 21st. But, here the facts are a little misleading as the PERCENTAGE of literacy was 99%. The TOP 46 countries ALL came in at 99% or higher. Standard of living. #1 again, according to the UN’s HDI.
MY point? Comparing all of these rankings to be attributed to Norway’s high Atheism rate? A non-sequitur. We might as easily said Norway is so high in these areas because they don’t speak Chinese. Or maybe they don’t have a lot of cows. Maybe it’s because Norway’s population is similar to Alabama’s. WHATEVER.
I’m just getting more and more worn out on these ‘Progressives’ beating the Anti-Religious drum to prove their points. I have some VERY spiritual people in my family that wouldn’t hurt a fly AND are as opposed to ‘Right-wing’ politics as anybody. The two are NOT inclusive!
Get a life, people. At least argue your points rationally, instead of through a cartoon.
Site updated and cleaned up
Posted by MDF in This Web Site on July 30, 2010
SO, I changed the look and feel of the little web site. Tell me what you think!
I’ve also checked most of the links to make sure they’re still relevant. Tell me if I missed one, would you?
Enjoy!
ArborRemodeling.com
Posted by MDF in This Web Site on July 5, 2010
We had to laugh a bit.. we received a mailer card from the builder of our house this weekend. We’ve been dealing with issues related to these idiots since 2002. I even put up a web site (ArborSucks.com – now gone) to illustrate to these schmucks what crappy construction quality they had (have?). CLICK HERE to see a copy of the web site I kept stashed away. Anyways, here’s the text of an Email I sent back to them today:
“We just received your mailer advising us about ‘ArborRemodeling.com’
and the associated services you offer.
You are PRECISELY the people we would NOT have work on our home. We are
still dealing (8 years later) with the craptastic construction ‘effort’
you put into the structure in the first place. Extremely poor paint
quality. Structure issues. Poor HVAC ducting. Inefficient heater/AC
unit. I could go on, but you get the idea.
Again, thanks, but no thanks.
With ALL sincerity,
Michael Fisher”
I’ve also spammed this text to all the residents in our little neighborhood that I know. The reactions should be worthy of a good outdoor BBQ and drinking binge!
I hope to hear from Arbor soon.
Local Weather
California vs. Arizona
Posted by MDF in Commentary on August 8, 2010
California:
The Arnold is jogging with his dog along a nature trail. A
coyote jumps out, bites the Governor and attacks his dog.
1. The Arnold starts to intervene but reflects upon the movie “Bambi” and
then realizes he should stop; the coyote is only doing what is natural.
2. He calls animal control. Animal Control captures coyote and bills the
State $200 testing it for diseases and $500 for relocating it.
3. He calls a veterinarian. The vet collects the dead dog and bills the
State $200 testing it for diseases.
4. The Governor goes to hospital and spends $3,500 getting checked for
diseases from the coyote and on getting his bite wound bandaged.
5. The running trail gets shut down for 6 months while Fish & Game
conducts a $100,000 survey to make sure the area is free of dangerous animals.
6. The Arnold spends $50,000 in state funds implementing a “coyote
awareness” program for residents of the area.
7. The State Legislature spends $2 million to study how to better treat
rabies and how to permanently eradicate the disease throughout the world.
8. The Governor’s security agent is fired for not stopping the attack
somehow and for letting the Governor attempt to intervene.
9. Additional cost to State of California: $75,000 to hire and train a new
security agent with additional special training with regards to the nature
of coyotes.
10. PETA protests the coyote’s relocation and files suit against the State.
Arizona:
The Jan Brewer, Governor of Arizona is jogging with her dog along a nature
trail. A coyote jumps out and attacks her dog.
1. She shoots the coyote with her State-issued pistol and keeps
jogging. The Governor has spent $0.50 on a .45 ACP hollow point cartridge.
2. The buzzards eat the dead coyote.
And that’s why California is broke.
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