Today a co-worker mentioned suspension of disbelief to me (thanks Katie), and it got me thinking about how the approach to the concept has changed. Establishing suspension of disbelief in genres that are inherently easy to disbelieve has really evolved in the last decade or two. Tolkien eased us into the world of Middle Earth by giving us a detailed, …
Skin Game: Dresden goes on a heist (book review)
Take Ocean’s 11, replace the crew with a wizard, a warlock, two fallen angel-possesed bad guys, a cop, a knight of the cross, and a summoner, then throw in a pinch of Mab, the queen of the winter fae and Uriel the archangel, and you’ve got Skin Game, by Jim Butcher. Yeah, I know, it’s a mouthful, but if you …
X-Men: What year is it anyway? (movie review)
My cousin, Tommy, told me not to bother seeing this movie. I’m glad that I didn’t listen to him (sorry Tommy). Four of us went, which included two not-so-nerdy wives. Everyone came out of the theater happy. Don’t get me wrong, the movie has some problems. I don’t think I’ve actually seen a movie that doesn’t have some flaw, and …
Update on the Net Neutrality debate
Huzzah! Jessica Rosenworcel, a commissioner of the FCC is asking to delay the vote due to public outcry over Tom Wheeler’s new proposal. To recap, this new proposal would allow companies like AT&T and Comcast to charge extra money to companies like Netflix and Amazon just to get adequate bandwidth. This would inevitably prevent start-ups with bandwidth-heavy services from competing because they likely …
PSA: Landscape is your friend
Watch the video. Protect your knees, and record properly. 🙂
Fight for net neutrality (important stuff)
If you’re not entirely sure what net neutrality is, I’ll give you a few minutes to check out this article on Wikipedia (you only really need the definition). The FCC wants to let Internet Service Providers (ISPs) charge premiums to content providers like Google, Netflix, Apple, Hulu, and more. These premiums would consist of extra fees to ensure that the content from a …
Star Wars vs Harry Potter (for your viewing pleasure)
I figure you all enjoy a bit of enjoyment.
Curiosity is power
So, as a writer, I often find myself pondering what makes a book (or any kind of story) successful. I’ve come to realize that you can throw around terms like “tension” and “suspense” all you want, but it all really boils down to one thing: curiosity. Curiosity is the key to ANY good story. You’ve got to make your audience …
Cosmos is kind of incredible
Neil, you are the man. If you ever happen to read my humble blog, please know that you’re one of my personal heroes, and I find the work you do (both in and out of a lab) to be truly world-changing. Why do I think all of that about Neil Degrasse Tyson? The man is on FOX–that’s right, the network …
Nerds rule the world (here’s proof)
This video was just too awesome not to post: