Victhor The Viking

Little Brother is one of the most thought provoking books I have read in a while.  I think kids should read this book.  I believe we sometimes take freedom for granted.  Read Little Brother and you will think differently.

Content is a collection of essays on expounding upon the issues of free speech and universal access to information.  I am a proponent to having owning the copyright to my own works but make it available to whoever wants it with some rights reserved  with the use of Creative Commons.   Creative Commons is a nonprofit corporation dedicated to making it easier for people to share and build upon the work of others, consistent with the rules of copyright.

Donate One of these books. See Cory’s website, Craphound.com, for more information.

In Canada, the US and the UK, kids will be going back to school in a short while, so now’s a good time to remind you of the donation program for my books. Here’s how it works: teachers, librarians and others, like people who work in family shelters, halfway houses, prisons, etc indicate that they’d like copies of my books for their classes or collections. Then, people like you order copies and have them sent straight to the teachers. I pay someone who checks out each donation solicitation to make sure that it’s legit.

via Back to school donation drive for my books – Boing Boing.

I am currently reading Little Brother by Cory Doctorow and is very eye opening.  It has been marketed as a young adult book, but it does not matter how old you are it is intense!  It is making me really think about the so called “Patriot Act” .

I wish I could have been at WorldCon just to see Neil and Cory together!  I know I am a nerd.  Not metal at all…what can say…

On Saturday at WorldCon, Guest of Honor Neil Gaiman read Cory Doctorow’s short story “The Right Book” to a full house for later audio release with an upcoming self-published project. During the question and answer session afterward, the subject of giving digital work away for free came up.

via Tor.com / Science fiction and fantasy / Blog posts / Gaiman and Doctorow Discuss Giving It Away.

Great review of Cory Doctorow’s Little Brother.  I have a books store gift card so this one is definitely, my next purchase!

The thing about it though is that it’s such a compelling read. The first time I read it, I literally didn’t put it down. I started reading it in bed one night and kept on reading it until 2am. This time I did manage to put it down, just about, but I still zipped through it at top speed. (It’s not as much fun reading something in manuscript as you probably think. You have to wait months to talk to other people about it, which turns out to be just as bad as waiting to read it yourself.)

via Tor.com / Science fiction and fantasy / Blog posts / 2009 Hugo Best Novel Nominee Spotlight: Little Brother, by Cory Doctorow.

Palin made her farewell speech but I believe the way that William Shatner delivered it on the Tonight show was better:

I listened to the podiobook “Eastern Standered Tribe” by written and read by Cory Doctorow.  This book is one of my favorite books to date.  A book set in the near future where the 24 hour life of chatrooms has meshed into tribes that work against each other in the online world.

When I was in Norway for Inferno they had a display for the Anti-Sweden Jeans.  They are basically overpriced black jeans.  But today I came across one of their commercials on Youtube that has a song from Sunn O))).

Video on Youtube of Anti Swedish Jeans

And finally another example of the spirit in the other life froms that tells me there is something special in life and we should do our best to live in harmony with the other life forms on earth

Yang Yun was taking part in a free-diving contest at Polar Land in Harbin, north-east China, in which participants were required to sink seven metres to the bottom of a pool and stay there for as long as possible without the aid of breathing equipment.

Cramped ... the diver said her legs "failed to work" in the Arctic temperatures of the pool. Pic: CEN/Austral