Below are the 20 most recent journal entries recorded in ianrandalstrock's LiveJournal:

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Wednesday, November 25th, 2009
2:40 am	Putting words over my signature Google alerts are a good thing, I guess. I just got one alerting me to a lj post from someone I didn't know, fayanora. That post quotes my "review" of a book, which Fayanora copied from Amazon. But it isn't a review. I never read the book, and I never said those things. I've figured out where it came from: I received the book at SFScope.com in July 2008, and as with all books I receive for review, I listed it along with the text of the accompanying press release. But this page pretty clearly shows that it's simply been received, not reviewed. That "review" is now the only Editorial Review on the Amazon.com page, and I can't post my own review (of "I never read the book") since I didn't buy it from Amazon, and I can't start a discussion saying "Hey, that's not a review, and those aren't my words," since I didn't buy it from Amazon. I've emailed Amazon customer service asking them to delete it, but I'm not overly hopeful. I don't know; it might be a great book, something I'd love to read. But the press release didn't grab me strongly enough to read it, and now I'm guessing it was the publisher or author who decided to copy their own words and put them over my signature, which makes me that much less inclined to read it (or anything else from them). Anyway, I just wanted to share/vent. Thanks for listening. (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, November 16th, 2009
11:52 pm	You call that reporting? That's just the questions, not the story. We just watched the local ABC News programs "special investigative report" about a spate of marriages that took place in Harrison, New York. Apparently five times as many marriages as usual in the space of a month, and all of them men with middle eastern names and women from New York City, and in the months just before September 2001. Sounds fascinating, doesn't it? We heard the teasers several times in the top of the newscast, and stayed for the story. When they finally got there, however, we were horribly disappointed. Jim Hoffer, the investigative reporter, didn't tell us what was going on or why. So I just sent him a little expressing my disappointment, and decided to share it with you. I was a reporter (well, I still am, but I'm working in a far more limited field these days). As a reporter, his story wasn't finished. And as an editor, not only wasn't it finished, but it wasn't even started. Had he presented that report to me as an editor, I would have said "Okay, great. These are some fascinating questions. Now go out and find the answers; that's your story." But what we got was just the initial questions. I felt my time had been wasted, waiting for that story and then watching it. The letter: ( Text of my letter to the reporter below this cut. ) (Comment on this)
1:56 pm	Another Cableblindness day It's another one of those days: Cablevision claims to be upgrading the network in this neighborhood. At the same, time, they're already responding to reports of outages here, so my phone call didn't do anything except find a very chatty fellow who couldn't help me. In other words, another day of spotty access, and I hope to be able to get all my work done during the inages (well, what would you use for the opposite of "outages"?). (Comment on this)
Sunday, November 15th, 2009
1:21 am	I don't think I could do that Frequently, when I'm out and about, I can picture myself doing many things, wondering what it would be like to work at this job or that. In restaurants, I can picture myself in the kitchen (although I think I'd prefer baking the desserts to cooking the meals). On the road, I wonder about the lives of the truck drivers. At an art exhibition, I want to try my hand at every medium I see. Politician, actor, teacher, fireman, pilot, deckhand on a cargo ship, and on and on. But today, I was out getting my hair cut, and I looked around the crowded salon, and realized I simply can't picture myself cutting hair for a living. I guess that's one. (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 12th, 2009
7:00 pm	Elbridge Gerry, look what you hath wrought The New York Times has a nice editorial on the screwball way we decide who our neighbors are. Well, not so much that, as how we determine which people live in the same district for the purpose of electing our legislators. Read this editorial, and see if you don't agree. The only real problem I have with it is the focus on New York State only. The concept applies nearly nationwide (except for, as they mention toward the end, Iowa). The maps of a few chosen districts are fun, too. (Comment on this)
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
11:58 pm	Election post-mortem Been meaning to post, but kinda too busy: it seems I was right in my predictions as to who would win the city-wide elections in New York City (not the men I wanted, but those I predicted). The big surprise was that Mayor Bloomberg got only 51% of the vote (compared to Bill Thompson's 46%). Pundits are saying Bloomberg spent about $175-$200 per vote he received with his massive, personally financed campaign. In other words, if he'd paid everyone who voted (whether they voted for him or against him) $100, he would have spent less money, and more directly affected the economy of New York City for the better. Oh well. Polls had Bloomberg running 15-20% ahead in the weeks and days before the election. For him to win by such a slim margin (after outspending his less-qualified opponent by like 15-to-1) is a very loud signal from the voters. Originally, I'd planned to write this post saying "Now that he's won a third term by such a large margin, it's pretty clear that we the people are probably willing to overturn term limits, and we ought to put the question on the ballot." But now, seeing that he won by such a slim margin, it tells me my fellow citizens really do think term limits are a good idea (I so disagree with them on that point). In the end, I'm glad Bloomberg won (I really didn't think I'd get enough votes to take it), because he was the best choice of those on the ballot. But now, I'm just a little worried: what's the next law he'll decide he can ignore? (1 Comment |Comment on this)
Tuesday, November 3rd, 2009
5:16 pm	Remember, if you want to complain, don't vote. I just got back from voting. See previous post for how I voted. But something I've been hearing frequently today (well, other than the avalanche of "Vote Bloomberg" ads: I really, REALLY hope the printers and recording studios he used are all in New York City) is the refrain "Remember, if you don't vote, you can't complain." They're wrong! If you vote, not only are you expressing your opinion, but you're agreeing to accept the outcome of the election, whether your choice wins or not. It's just like buying insurance: if you kick in your money, you have the right to take some out under given circumstances (you might not get any back, but you might). But if you don't kick in, you're not part of the pool, and you're not bound by its strictures. If you don't vote, you're saying "I disagree with the whole system. I'm going to complain about it because I want something different." If you vote, you'll have to abide by the will of the majority. Oh, and my predictions for the election? I predict that not one of the candidates for whom I voted will win election. I expect Bloomberg to be re-elected, Bill de Blasio to win the race for Public Advocate, and John Liu to be elected Comptroller. We'll see… (2 Comments |Comment on this)
Monday, November 2nd, 2009
7:11 pm	Election suggestions Tomorrow is Election Day here in New York City (and many other places, as well, but I've been kind of focused on the local stuff). For my NYC readers, here's my attempt to influence your vote. Earlier in the year, I talked a number of times about Mayor Bloomberg's despicable ignoring of New York City's term limits law (adopted by public referendum, twice). And even though I disagree with the concept of term limits, I'm even more worried by a politician who ignores laws adopted by public referendum. Michael Bloomberg has campaigned on a platform of "re-elect me, because I can help the economy get better." In that, he was mostly right: he's been spending on the order of a million dollars a day on his re-election campaign, and if he's been spending that money in New York City, his campaign really has been good for the economy (heck, I got two phone calls and one in-person visit from his campaign today). And of all the announced candidates, he really is the most qualified for the job, but I just can't trust that he'll decide to step down in four years if we elect to him a third term tomorrow. On the other hand, I don't think any of the other announced candidates would be good mayors (although I have to give comedy points to Party for Socialism and Liberation candidate Francisca Willar, who says the most important issue she'd address as mayor is "The billionaires must pay for the economic costs. A 5 percent tax on all wealth over $100 million would alone raise over $8 billion a year from the city's 55 billionaires alone; if they try to leave the city, their property and wealth should be confiscated."—I read that campaign statement and laughed at her apparently tenuous grasp on reality in favor of "the world is what I want it be"). So I'll be writing in my own name for mayor tomorrow. Feel free to join me: Ian Randal Strock for Mayor of New York City. For Public Advocate, I'm going to vote for Jim Lesczynski, who says the most important issue he'd address as Public Advocate would be to "eliminate the position of Public Advocate". For Comptroller, I'm voting for Joe Mendola. (3 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, October 31st, 2009
11:27 pm	Is it sports, entertainment, or advertising? And who's paying who for what? If, every time the newscaster mentions tomorrow's New York City Marathon, he calls it "The ING New York City Marathon", has he stopped reporting the news for instead broadcasting an advertisement? I find it a little annoying. Then again, I also don't like calling New Shea Stadium "City Field". It's kind of up there with the fact that what used to be "the Super Bowl" is now "the Big Game" everywhere except for companies that have paid the NFL enough money. The NFL gets pissed if someone hasn't paid them money but uses the term Super Bowl, but how would they respond if the news media said "You know what? This is entertainment, not news. If you want us to talk about it, buy an ad."? (Yeah, I've got the news on the tv while I'm sitting here editing.) (2 Comments |Comment on this)
5:39 pm	Ares flies. Why am I not completely excited? NASA launched the new rocket, which they're planning to use as the next-generation manned launcher, on Wednesday. The Ares I-X flew well, doing what it was supposed to, and I just watched the video on NASA's web site. Now I'm trying to figure out why I'm not nearly so excited by this launch as I've been for nearly every other rocket launch I've known about. I think it boils down to the fact that this feels like a step backward in terms of launch technology. We're going from the rebuildable Space Shuttle back to a disposable system. And we're going from a highly technical, broadly capable vehicle (the shuttle itself) to the older can for the human spam (just a capsule atop a firecracker). I guess it makes more sense: design a craft for each mission (one for people, one for cargo, etc.) than the "try to be everything for every mission" shuttle, but still… I just don't know. On yet another hand, NASA claims this vehicle will be able to take people farther out into space than the shuttle could, and that's a good thing. But again, just as in the 1960s, it seems like a vehicle designed for only one (or possibly two) purposes, but which can not be modified, or part of a larger program. If instead NASA was building an orbital transfer space station (something in an equatorial orbit, rather than the high-inclination the ISS requires to cover the Russian launch site), it could be used for in-orbit science (the claim for the ISS), as well as a staging base for much bigger manned missions to the Moon (one of the claims NASA is putting forth for the new launch system), as well as many other things. I guess I'm disappointed because Ares is, at best, just an incremental improvement in US space launch capability. Heck, even the current shuttle system could be so much more if political realities had allowed it to be. Nevertheless, it was a pretty launch, and I'm looking forward to the first manned flight, whenever that will be. (Comment on this)
Sunday, October 25th, 2009
5:46 pm	Improving competitive skating Kit was watching figure skating today, and at one point, the announcers said something like "We'll be back after this break with the final six skaters for the open skate." I wondered how much more entertaining the figure skating would be if all six were on the ice at the same time (as they were during the warm-up period, only more so). Since deductions are taken for falls and such, it would make figure skating much more competitive, wouldn't it? I'd watch it. (Comment on this)
Friday, October 23rd, 2009
7:31 pm	Baking darker The baking is coming along nicely at KitBakes.com, but we've realized (with a little help from our friends) that in order to really expand, really grow as a business, we need to stand out from the crowd. And we think we've found our niche. Dark Desserts will be offering "Sugar with an Attitude". In other words "It's not just sweetness and light." But to truly represent the new division of the baking business, we need a good logo to go with it. So we're running a "Design the Dark Desserts Logo" contest. Details are available here. Thanks for your support thus far. Do remember, please to tell your friends we're baking, and baking good stuff. (Comment on this)
Monday, October 19th, 2009
6:49 pm	We've started baking Quick update on the new business, which I announced in this post: Kit and I are gratified by your rapid response. We're by no means overwhelmed with orders, but we have received a few at KitBakes.com. I was surprised that the first order wasn't for brownies, it was for pumpkin bread. On the other hand, it took us only three orders to have at least one order for each of the four products (pumpkin bread, then brownies, and the third order requested mondel bread, cookies, and pumpkin bread). All the orders will be baked and shipped very soon (we're baking fresh to the order, so nothing sits around here), and looking forward to the business growing. We've also received some… interesting… suggestions from a friend that we're going to be looking at to expand the business in the coming days. More news when we make decisions. Thanks, again, for your support, and for telling your friends. Also, something that isn't mentioned on the web site: if you want a bulk order (perhaps to cater a party, or to give many gifts), and live in New York City, contact us to see what we can do about delivery. (Comment on this)
Friday, October 16th, 2009
8:33 pm	Kit bakes, and bakes, and bakes... They say the economy's improving, but not everywhere, and not all that fast. What we need, to really make things better, is chocolate! Those of you who've tasted Kit's brownies and cookies know that she can BAKE. And we've decided to run our own economic stimulus project. Thus, I present www.KitBakes.com. We're asking (all right, begging) you to take a look at the site (which is little more than a glorified menu), and then think of your friends and family members who would just love to get a shipment of Kit-baked deliciousness. If you're willing, you might also tell said family and friends to check out the site themselves. We're not asking for charity, not looking for donations: we're selling a product for which we've already received rave reviews. Thanks for your attention. We wish you happy holidays, and the warmest of gooey, yummy brownies… (Comment on this)
Thursday, October 15th, 2009
1:17 pm	don't you just hate it... This is so sad, and so true: the evolution of the marketing department in publishing. Read and groan: "Subject: Our Marketing Plan" by Ellis Weiner in The New Yorker. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 14th, 2009
2:34 pm	Heinlein predicted it, again Just heard this story on WINS (though the link is to Fox News) about concerns over the new hybrid cars. Specifically, the National Federation of the Blind is warning that the new hybrids are too quiet, taking away a warning cue from the visually impaired and possibly endangering blind pedestrians who won't know to not cross the street. Discussions are now ongoing over some sort of auditory warning signal. It wasn't for the same reason, but in The Cat Who Walks Through Walls, Robert A. Heinlein had a modern vehicle without an internal combustion engine using a recording to sound like an old Tin Lizzy. (Comment on this)
Thursday, October 8th, 2009
10:57 pm	Outta here Heading off line for the weekend. To Albany in the morning for Albacon. Hope to see some of you there. (Comment on this)
Wednesday, October 7th, 2009
10:44 pm	Thomas Sowell's The Housing Boom and Bust: ignorance really would have been bliss The Housing Boom and Bust by Thomas Sowell Basic Books, $24.95, 184pp, hc, 9780465018802. Economics. This is the type of book that is both exhilarating and frustrating to read. Exhilarating because it's wonderful to find other people who can think clearly and rationally, and cut through the political rhetoric and bullshit to get at the heart of the matter. It's frustrating because it points out just how screwed up we've allowed our economy to get by simply looking away and letting politicians do what they want (while they may say it's for the good of whatever problem they're trying to solve, they don't have a clue; but they do know how to operate the system to increase their own power and reach, and to maintain their offices). In this case, Dr. Sowell (a senior fellow at the Hoover Institution) looks at the recent housing crisis and boils down its causes, not to a simple "this action caused that", but to the less noticed, more important causes. Among them, land-use restrictions which caused housing prices to rise for no rational reason. He also points to the fact that the vast "crisis" of which the news media and government loved to speak was far more limited than any of them would have cared to tell us (how many times did you hear housing prices were skyrocketing in Idaho, or Oklahoma…). Even more riveting (though obvious after reading the book) is the recent religious drive for "affordable housing" and governmental pressure forcing banks to give mortgages to those who had no chance of repaying them. In short, Sowell says government inserting itself where it wasn't needed, putting pressure on banks, was a major cause of the housing/mortgage crisis (and the full economic mess that followed it), and once the crisis was recognized, governmental response was "we need to involve the government more in these decisions." Sowell is pretty even-handed in spreading the blame around—neither the Republicans nor the Democrats come out looking all that good—though he has special recognition of the work of Barney Frank and Christopher Dodd. He also reminds us that there's nothing better than a crisis for a ready government to insinuate itself even further into places where it isn't wanted or needed. It's difficult to read a book like this, knowing that the author is just the type of person we'd love to have involved making the decisions of the government, and knowing that there's absolutely no way such a person could ever get elected. If you've heard anything about housing in the last few years, or been affected by what happened in the economy, pick up this book and give it a read. It won't fix what ails you, but it'll help you focus and direct your anger where it ought to be. (Comment on this)
Monday, October 5th, 2009
10:16 pm	Albacon this weekend I'll be in Albany, New York, this weekend for Albacon. The schedule has been finalized, so I know what I'll be doing. If you're going to be there, look for me at: Friday at 5PM: "Self Publishing Pros and Cons" with Carl Frederick, Peter Huston, and Eugene Mirabelli. Saturday at 1PM: "Can Hollywood do thoughtful SF?" with J.A. Fludd, Allen Steele, Alan F. Beck, jan howard finder, and Ron Drummond. Saturday at 4PM: "Is SF Becoming Mainstream?" with David Hartwell, S.C. Butler, and Chuck Rothman. Sunday at 11AM: "The Future of Magazine Publishing" with Susan Hanniford Crowley, Carl Frederick, and Alan F. Beck. Sunday at 2PM: "Characters vs. Science" with S.C. Butler, Chuck Rothman, and Andre Lieven. I'll also be at the Ice Cream Social Friday at 8PM. And since I don't have a dealer table at this con, I'll be at loose ends the whole rest of the con. So look me up, entertain me, keep me company, and let me tell you about my business ventures, and how you (yes, you) can be a part of them. (4 Comments |Comment on this)
Saturday, October 3rd, 2009
3:33 pm	Ian's words, in Polish For those of you who read Polish better than English (I can't imagine there are too many of you who read my blog and fit into that category), a review I wrote of Douglas Clegg's Isis on SFScope has been translated into Polish and published here, by Carpe Noctem. Any Polish speakers out there want to see if they did a good job? Thanks. (Comment on this)