Saturday, August 29, 21:59 CDT
I was bored in study hall yesterday so I wandered down to the art room, where there's a flatbed scanner, and scanned the back of a notebook I've been scribbling on lately. The resulting .jpg is 345k, and I can't imagine anyone wasting that much download time on it, so I converted it to a black-and-white .gif, which is about 32k.

[scribble.gif (32k)]

Ok, I finally have my links page back up. It's pretty sparse, since I decided to just upload it and add stuff to it a little at a time. My SF and IRC pages should be back up soon as well.

:: p1k3 / 1998 / 8 / 29

Wednesday, August 26, 1:24 CDT
There's a disclaimer back up at the top of the page. I don't like how much space it takes up, but it's a necessary evil, I guess. Perhaps I'll write a few more, and set up a simple Perl script to rotate them, just for a little variety.

:: p1k3 / 1998 / 8 / 26

Tuesday, August 25, 18:36 CDT
In one of those wierd little coincidences that my life seems to be full of, I was thinking last night about how incredibly cool a well done film version of The Lord of the Rings could be. And what do I find upon checking Slashdot? It's actually going to happen. And as a trilogy.

I know I shouldn't be optimistic about this. I fully realize that a truly great work of Science Fiction or Fantasy has never survived the translation to film. I've seen Dune. I know that to really do LotR justice would require at least six films, all with massive budgets.

And yet, I can't help myself. Maybe, just maybe, it can be done. And just think how awe inspiringly good it could be... I can dream for a little while, anyway.

As always, there's all sorts of good stuff to be found over on Ain't It Cool News. Harry Knowles seems really optimistic about this one, which is a good sign.

sfnal :: p1k3 / 1998 / 8 / 25

Monday, August 24, 21:15 CDT
Yeah, I know, I still don't have my links 'n stuff back up. I'll get it done some night this week. Really.

I won a $6 book in the SF trivia contest last night on irc.graffiti.com. The next contest is Sunday @ 20:00 EDT (8:00 PM for those of you who're still using 12 hour time), and the prize is a bag of peanuts.

<Annakie> Hey no comments from the peanut gallery! ;)

:: p1k3 / 1998 / 8 / 24

Saturday, August 22, 13:09 CDT
I finished Startide Rising, by David Brin, several days ago. Excellent book, though not quite what I expected. A ton of interesting ideas, and they mesh well. The characters are even well developed. Not an easy feat, when you consider that most of the protagonists are genetically engineered sentient dolphins. I'm definitely planning to read the rest of the Uplift novels.

:: p1k3 / 1998 / 8 / 22

Thursday, August 20, 19:00 CDT
Well, school started here today. The begining of another fun-filled and enriching year at Laurel-Concord High School. I suppose I should put up some sort of disclaimer now that the Library Nazis are back out in full force.

Two more years...

:: p1k3 / 1998 / 8 / 20

Wednesday, August 19, 22:11 CDT
My Great Aunt Annie passed away last Sunday morning. She was a wonderful and unique person, and she always lived her life to the fullest. She'll be missed.

:: p1k3 / 1998 / 8 / 19

Saturday, August 15, 11:32 CDT
I saw Saving Private Ryan last night. It's an intense, moving, and disturbing film. One of the best war movies I've ever seen, and the questions it asks are worth serious thought. I don't think I could write a review that would do it justice, so I'll just say that if you haven't yet seen it, do so.

:: p1k3 / 1998 / 8 / 15

Thursday, August 13, 1:20 CDT
Hmm... So much for daily updates. I'll try and get back on schedule soon.

I uploaded another minor piece to the Dæmonsong Tech Bible. It should grow over the next couple of days, and get a little easier to navigate. I'd also like to add a timeline, somewhere or another.

7 days 'til school starts... Time to initiate a panicked scramble, I guess.

:: p1k3 / 1998 / 8 / 13

Friday, August 7, 17:26 CDT
I noticed Gurney has some pictures up over on the Con-events-ion page.

I took down my links, sf, and IRC pages, as they were really outdated. Hopefully I'll be able to get them overhauled and back up within a couple of days.

:: p1k3 / 1998 / 8 / 7

Thursday, August 6, 11:18 CDT
I was skimming through Blue's News earlier today, and came across a link to User Friendly, a daily comic that's worth checking out. It's computer/Internet humor, and it's actually funny.

I have a theory that the web will save the comic strip as a medium. It's fairly obvious that newspapers are dying. And most continue to shrink their comic sections into anemic little black-and-white postage stamps. I'm just waiting for someone to come up with a service that puts together a customized comic page in an easily printable layout.

:: p1k3 / 1998 / 8 / 6

Sunday, August 2, 23:08 CDT
I noticed that Stick Figure Death Theatre now has its own domain. Ain't gratuitous animated .gif violence great?

Sunday, August 2, 17:24 CDT
Just a reminder, there's an SF/Fantasy trivia contest tonight at 8:00 EDT in #TriviaBlitz on irc.graffiti.com. IIRC, the prize is a $6 book.

Sunday, August 2, 16:51 CDT
There's been a lot of noise in the media lately about the Modern Libary's list of the "100 best novels of the century". Mostly this is because it's a lousy list, and everyone seems to disagree with it. A quick scan through the list shows that it almost totally ignores SF, along with pretty much everything written in the past quarter century.

Any attempt to list the best novels of this century that leaves out works like The Lord of the Rings, Dune, and Stranger in a Strange Land is an obvious failure. Or in this case, a lame publicity stunt. Bleah.

At any rate, if you're looking for a reading list that's actually worth something, there are quite a few good ones on the 'net. I've listed some of my favorite sources of recommendations below. I don't claim these are balanced (my tastes lean heavily towards SF), but at least they're worthwhile.

  • The Internet Top 100 SF/Fantasy List - Always a good bet, and it's updated weekly.
  • rec.arts.sf.written - Hang around here for a while, and you're bound to pick up a number of good recommendations. The same applies to other newsgroups, of course, so look around.
  • Amazon.com - Usually some decent recommendations. (If I could figure out how, I'd link directly to the sections I'm thinking of.)

:: p1k3 / 1998 / 8 / 2

Saturday, August 1, 20:18 CDT
I see over on Gulthek's page that he's building a computer. Looks like it'll be a nice machine. This is what I plan to do with my next 'puter, which at this rate I'll probably be getting sometime early next millenium. ;)

I moved the July updates to the old updates file. (Man, this year is going by fast...)

:: p1k3 / 1998 / 8 / 1