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Shameless self-publicity, part #568456845

Here's a video of yr hmbl crrspndnt, reading from Halting State at Borders in San Francisco two weeks ago. (Many thanks to James Young for kindly videoing the event and sharing the results with us.)

(If I look slightly glassy-eyed it's because my day started with a 4:45am wake-up call in Portland and I didn't get any down-time between then and this reading, which started around 8:00pm in San Francisco.)

21 Comments

1:

Great reading! When are you coming to the Low Lands? ;)

2:

Which particular Low Lands?

3:

Think of a country with a name that translates as "low lands", that really is a low land, and to which you will lose me this weekend.

Then persuade Cornelis to get someone to invite you because you know you want to go back there.

4:

Website addresses ending .nl are a bit of hint.

5:

Thank you for the link to video, and please convey my gratitude to the unnamed gent who recorded the proceedings!

6:

I did a quick run through the archive of your blog to make sure you haven't already answered this, but I wanted to ask: What laptop is that in front of you in the video?

7:

Wow.. sounds like you have the MRD done for a variation on Brins' Tru-Vue goggles.. and I see some serious signal processing we need to enable..

thank John for the Video.. wish I hadn't been on the east coast while this was getting recorded.. Now I just have to find a minute to read this.. Jonathan

8:

Mathias: the laptop was a Kohjinsha SH-6 -- only sold in Japan (although there's a gray-market exporter who'll send you one -- see www.conics.net.

9:

And does it have Gutsy Gibbon on it yet ?

10:

Youichi: it does, as of last week ... and I'm annoyed: Ubuntu 7.10's ACPI suspend on laptops seems to be seriously broken. (Haven't had time to investigate how badly broken; I've failed over to the Macbook, because I've got too much work to do to waste time debugging OS subsystems.)

11:

Bravo! Great show.

I want to love Ubuntu but just can't.

Current kernels have failed on two laptops I tried to resurrect a low-end Gateway (no suprise there) and a six-year-old powerbook G4 (currently assed out of Apple's Leopard upgrade). I lost a week of my life learning more about BIOS and ACPI than I ever wanted to know only to fail and go back to OSX.

12:

Yeah... the Netherlands! =]

13:

Charlie @10 re: Ubuntu

I feel your pain, the simplest solution is probably to give up ACPI and use s2disk. It is actually pretty fast and works great for me.

Check this: http://ubuntuforums.org/showthread.php?t=471855

BTW, I recently finished "Halting State" and "Merchant Wars". HS is my favorite at this point :-) MW is fairly good too, although it is a pity Miriam not doing much anymore. I hope for followup.

As hang glider pilot, I loved ultralight, although I'd prefer Dragonfly :-) They are evil litle planes. I loved Ken Macleod having hanggliders in his "Dark Light" as well -- cool, but unfortunately not very realistic...

14:

Nice reading. So, have you heard any more from your editor about that late Heinlein space opera?

15:

OGN: Yes, SATURN'S CHILDREN will be published in the US in September 2008. They've even finalized the cover ...

(Still waiting to hear if Orbit are taking it for the UK, and if so, what their publication schedule is like.)

16:

Due to a mixup with Amazon have a second pristine copy of the US version of Halting State available in the UK for cover price + UK postage...

Anyone interested, email on qp05dialpipexcom

I think its a keeper...

-- Andrew

17:

My second Halting State has now found a new home (cf 16) with impressive speed...

-- Andrew

18:

I'm going to see if I can get a trade "HS" soon ... Which reminds me: I've just read "Jennifer Morgue" - have you been taking lessons from Mr Pratchett on footnotes (oh dear) ... and One slight problem with the "Benthic Treaty" Undersea trans-oceanic cables for communications. Oops?

19:

G. Tingey: well, no oops. You know there's an official problem with cables insofar as sharks seem to have an unaccountable tendency to sharpen their teeth on them? And have you ever wondered why they take quite the same weird paths that they do ...?

It's a conspiracy, I tell you!

20:

How could you not express the weirdness of the world, through the lens of Scotland/England and the lens of ancient/future?

Die and you're under arrest! Britain's most stupid laws

The laws and other regulations were culled from published research into ancient legislation that has never been repealed although subsequent statutes have rendered them obsolete.

Respondents were given a shortlist and asked to vote.

Most ridiculous British law:

  • It is illegal to die in the Houses of Parliament (27 percent)

  • It is an act of treason to place a postage stamp bearing the British monarch upside-down (seven percent)

  • In Liverpool, it is illegal for a woman to be topless except as a clerk in a tropical fish store (six percent)

  • Mince pies cannot be eaten on Christmas Day (five percent)

  • In Scotland, if someone knocks on your door and requires the use of your toilet, you must let them enter (four percent)

  • A pregnant woman can legally relieve herself anywhere she wants, including in a policeman's helmet (four percent)

  • The head of any dead whale found on the British coast automatically becomes the property of the king, and the tail of the queen (3.5 percent)

  • It is illegal to avoid telling the tax man anything you do not want him to know, but legal not to tell him information you do not mind him knowing (three percent)

  • It is illegal to enter the Houses of Parliament in a suit of armour (three percent)

  • In the city of York it is legal to murder a Scotsman within the ancient city walls, but only if he is carrying a bow and arrow (two percent)

  • 21:

    Thanks for coming to town. I'm sorry I missed an opportunity to attend one of your public appearances. I hope you liked your visit.

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    This page contains a single entry by Charlie Stross published on October 24, 2007 3:56 PM.

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