The New Worlds Continue to be Strange… and Genre-Hopping
Just dropped earlier today. I have a mixture of emotions that is most un-Vulcan-like.
Various and Sundry
Tag: Videos to Watch
Various and Sundry
The Logic of Putting a Little ZIP in Mailing Addresses
So, in case you hadn’t heard, the United States Postal Service has decided to glow up Mr. ZIP for a new generation (see image above). And in case you forgot, “ZIP” stands for Zone Improvement Plan, but perhaps you’re wondering how ZIP codes really work. Enter the inimitable CGP Grey: Mind you, there are funnel people who will happily expound on some of the nuances the video above doesn’t get precise, but it’s still wonkily…
Various and Sundry
Just Loose Your Arrows & Dig Another Ditch: A Guide to Ancient Warfare
One of the last times I talked about pirates, I referenced a couple videos with pirate experts. Truth be told, I love these sorts of videos where historians review films and explain how accurate or, frequently, how wildly inaccurate the films are. It’s especially fun when the historians are clearly having fun with it. Historian Roel Konijnendijk clearly has fun talking about ancient and medieval warfare, even though he’s clearly pained by certain cinematic tropes.…
Various and Sundry
Satirical Space Opera… from the 2nd Century?!?
I’m always up for looking for interesting public domain works we might adapt for Jabberwocky Audio Theater, and as you may imagine, that’s meant various science fiction, fantasy, and horror works from the 1920s. But apparently, I haven’t been looking back far enough because there’s a space opera from [checks notes] Ancient Greece?!? I’ll let Austin McConnell take it from here: Now, I will disagree with the title of the video because I absolutely will…
Various and Sundry
Wondering if you can learn more about the Mongol Empire? Yes you khan!
I know how it is. We live in excessively ‘interesting times.’ Many organizations are asking people to do “more with less.” Most importantly, despite you, like my family, being very interested in Mongolian history especially the Mongol Empire, you simply haven’t had time to brush up on the main points of this consequential, multicultural empire whose echoes have been felt ever since in world history. Well, luckily, the internet abounds in concise, informative, and entertaining…
Writing
Science Fiction, Fantasy, Reality, and You
Coming off my blogiversary post on Saturday, I was catching up on some TED/TEDx videos and one of them made me think of the originality post I talked about re-visiting within the next year. The speaker not only touches on fantasy tropes being tropes and therefore not original, but also about the not unheard of concept that fantasy helps understand reality. In fact, it’s not just fantasy, there’s science fiction as well. And I see…
Various and Sundry
Downloading Local Copies of Kindle Purchases is Kaput as of February 26th
I’m interrupting my usual posting cadence for those seven or nine regular readers who might also have a number of Kindle purchases. Basically, as of February 26th, Amazon is removing the ability for you to download purchases as copies over which you have full control. For more information, you can check out Andrew Liszewski’s piece for The Verge that, like many of us, you may have missed on Valentine’s Day or read David Gewirtz’ article…
Various and Sundry
The Rise of Fake Job Listings
Amidst all the changes happening in America at the moment, I suppose “ghost jobs” aren’t on the top of some people’s concerns, but for anyone needing to find a new place to work, the increased existence of ghost jobs is something to bear in mind. CNBC has a nice 12-minute piece from last August that walks through what now can account for four out of every 10 job listings. What I like about the newspiece…
Various and Sundry
Wait! Those are the lyrics? The Civ VII Theme
Tomorrow will be the release of Civilization VII, the latest version of the video game series that has been tempting players with “one more turn” for over 30 years. In fact, certain users who pre-ordered the game got early access in case you were wondering if friends disappeared from online spaces and social gatherings. They almost certainly missed the Superb Owl this past Sunday. I have played all the versions of Civilization over the decades…
Various and Sundry Writing
More about what’s in the Public Domain in 2025
My now annual post about the Public Domain continues to a noticeable amount of traffic and I continue to find additional resources post-January 1st, so here’s two more. First is a video from energetic book-lover Jenny Fern whose 16-minute video about books entering the public domain. She is candid about not knowing some of the authors or characters at all, so don’t be hatin’ on someone who doesn’t know about Miss Marple, and enjoy this…