The old blog, active from 2006 through 2012.
Gimmicky Promotional Giveaway Contest Winners
I've had a lot of fun with this "Infoquake" Gimmicky Promotional Giveaway thing. I received a lot more limericks than I had anticipated, and a lot fewer science fiction convention sexual experiences than I had anticipated. So here now, I present the five winners of signed copies of "Infoquake." Winners are being notified by e-mail. Continue reading→
Will Open Source Software Rule the World?
A few people have pointed me to this discussion about Infoquake on the Asimov’s forums. Some of the forum participants appear to be skeptical about Infoquake because it doesn’t embrace open source software as the end-all, be-all of human existence. I could point out that one shouldn’t necessarily take anything one reads in a science fiction novel as an outright prediction. I’ve blogged elsewhere about the impossibility of predicting the future in any meaningful kind... Continue reading→
The Day of Gimmicky Promotional Giveaways
It’s Thursday, my brain functionality’s starting to recede down the back of my neck, and I’m staring at a stack of Infoquakes wondering what I can do to promote the book. I’ve toyed with the idea of doing some kind of gimmicky promotional giveaway here on my blog before. But I’ve always decided to put this off, because I don’t like to do things half-assed and I have no idea how effective this will be.... Continue reading→
In the Name of Jesus
I’m having trouble wrapping my head around this latest papal crisis involving the Pope’s supposedly anti-Islamic statements. And that’s not because I have any difficulty understanding what he said. (My sympathies actually lie with the pontiff here, because despite the fact that the passage he quoted wasn’t particularly kind to Islam, it was just a quote.) I just don’t understand the modern-day Pope in the first place. Insulting someone else’s religion isn’t what I’m trying... Continue reading→
“Infoquake” News: Two In-Depth Interviews, Two New Reviews
Two new in-depths interviews with me have appeared on The Agony Column and SFFWorld, as well as two new reviews of "Infoquake." Continue reading→
coComment Does Web 2.0 Right
Despite last week's rant about too much web 2.0 hype, I've made one discovery recently that's made my life a lot easier. It's called coComment. coComment keeps track of all the comments you make on blogs throughout the web so you don't have to go Googling for them yourself. Continue reading→
A Shout-Out to Johns Hopkins Alumni
While I was at WorldCon a few weeks ago, I was pleased to run into an acquaintance of mine from my days at Johns Hopkins. Edward Einhorn was there hanging out in the dealer’s room signing books just like me. Ed, I discovered, is the author of not one, but two books in the venerable Oz series: The Living House of Oz and Paradox in Oz. If you’ve got a soft spot for the Oz... Continue reading→
Meta-ing Ourselves to Death
I'm starting to get that dot-com bubble burst feeling again. There are too many meta information tools out there with shaky revenue streams. Continue reading→
“Infoquake” News: Baltimore/DC Readings Next Week, “Book of the Year” Review
The latest news on "Infoquake," including news about readings and new reviews. Continue reading→
MySpace Spam or Clever Marketing?
In case some of you are wondering why your MySpace Friends lists are suddenly exploding, here’s why: I’ve been going crazy with MySpace promotion over the past few weeks. Despite my misgivings about MySpace (which mainly have to do with the site’s design, functionality and usability — not its general purpose), I’m attempting to make practical use of it to promote Infoquake. And so in the last three weeks, my friend count has skyrocketed from... Continue reading→