Category: Culture

  • Back to the past

    So I’ve almost finished Deathly Hallows; started it on Sunday and should have it finished later tonight. I’m enjoying it so far; the beginning is one of the best in the series and the pace is good throughout. I’m not going to give away spoilers, but there was something which caught my interest halfway through…

  • Exploring netiquette

    A few things have been going round in my head for the last few days. The first thing is that I’ve been helping my mother get set up online. She’s used computers for awhile, but she’s never really gone online more than to shop at Amazon and some fabric stores. For the last couple of…

  • 5 books to introduce people to science fiction

    Ever wanted to try science fiction, but not sure where to start? Or had a friend ask you for something they might like? Here are 5 suggestions.5) Ender’s GameOrson Scott Card4) Blood MusicGreg Bear3) SpinRobert Charles Wilson2) The Man in the High CastlePhilip K. Dick1) Never Let Me GoKazuo Ishiguro

  • Going wild about Harry

    Stephen King farewells Harry PotterJust been reading this column by Stephen King. It’s an interesting perspective; King has this uncanny ability to capture what people are thinking but aren’t sure how to say, and I think (as usual) he’s right on the money. There has been so much speculation about what’s going to happen in…

  • When does protection go too far?

    This hasn’t been a good period for John Howard. Howard forgot a Tasmanian Liberal candidate’s name on air, and then the ridiculous upgrades to the government’s VIP aircraft were revealed: $100,000 worth of upgrades, including $9000 in silk wall panelling and $6200 in almond-coloured leather added to the ceiling (refits that were later dropped). The…

  • Creative Commons Licensing

    I’ve had several experiences with Copyright infringement since my work was first published. The most serious was when a high school in Germany reprinted portions of A Glimpse of the Future without permission. It was a strange situation; on the one hand it was a copyright infringement and pissed me off, but on the other…

  • Ann Howard

    Ann Howard’s Original Oil PaintingsI came across this artist’s site earlier while doing some research. I’m impressed. I love “Stairway To Heaven”; that’s just what I feel, sometimes. Are you ever truly free, no matter what you believe?Shiao-Yen’s biography says she is a native of Taiwan who has lived in the US for thirteen years…

  • Modern Myth

    Well, I’m still working on Shards of Babylon. Should be finished soon… or at least as “finished” as any story of mine ever is. In the meantime I’ve started planning a few short stories to work on later this year. One I’m looking forward to is The Last Giant. It’s going to be a bit…

  • Banning people with HIV from entering Australia

    HIV border control suggested to stop outbreak Am I the only one who finds John Howard’s comments here difficult to understand? Or am I getting senile or something, because the reaction to these new guidelines has been very muted. The new system proposed by Tony Abbott would require visa applicants over the age of 15…

  • 5 post-apocalyptic books everyone should read

    5) A Canticle for LeibowitzWalter M. Miller4) Oryx and CrakeMargaret Atwood3) On the BeachNevil Shute2) Alas, Babylon!Pat Frank1) Earth AbidesGeorge R. Stewart