S&L Podcast – #157 – Marie Brennan’s Fantasy Brings the Science to Fiction

Natural-History-of-Dragons-CROP.jpg

We chat with Marie Brennan about her historical fiction her fictionalized history and all kinds of matters relating to anthropology, ethnography, archaeology and natural history. And dragons. Plus get a peek at how much glee she takes in chopping off hands. That and more insights coming your way in this interview with Marie Brennan.

Direct download link!

Wikipedia article on Marie Brennan

Swan Tower (Marie Brennan’s site)

 

Cordkillers: Ep. Beta 2 – Ear love

Are more people really cutting the Internet than TV? The answer is sort of, if you squint. And find out what game is the most pirated video of 2013 with thrones.

Download audio

Download video

Cord Killers Beta 2 – Ear love
Recorded: December 29 2013
Guest: Fraser Cain

Intro Video

Primary Target

Secondary Target

Signals Intelligence

Gear Up

Moving Targets

Front Lines

Winter Movie Draft

  1. Justin Robert Young: $503,513,000
  2. Fr. Robert Ballecer: $485,056,000
  3. Casey McKinnon: $445,324,422
  4. Jeff Cannata: $350,016,348
  5. Tom Merritt: $252,303,646
  6. Brian Brushwood: $177,515,619

Under Surveillance

Dispatches from the Front

  • Great start to the new show, thanks for bringing us what we want when want and whatever…

    When Netflix launched profiles back in the summer, they broke parental controls by allowing kids to choose which profile to login with. Since there’s no authentication or PIN for profiles, kids can start watching Human Centipede or whatever they want, when they want etc.

    I emailed you guys about this when profiles launched and you thought it was a niggle that Netflix would sort out. Nearly 6 months in and it hasn’t changed despite other changes to the service and software.

    I’m the parent and it’s my responsibility to protect my kids, but if the tools aren’t there to help me supervise their viewing, then I won’t let them use the service, simple. But that’s not really in Netflix’s interest, surely?

    James

     

  • Never lose the sharpie on cardboard!
    That is all.

    Bill

     

  • Thanks for changing the format of the video in the feed. Was frustrating seeing that I got the beta episode, but wasn’t downloaded. (Course, went to the website to grab it).

    Now, can you offer a smaller sized version of the video? 1.28GB is kinda huge for video file to play on a phone.

    Just asking.
    Thanks,

    Corey

 

Holiday wishes

Thanks to everyone for making 2014 look bright! Best wishes to you and yours.

S&L Podcast – #156 – Wrapping Up Dragons!

It’s a no-holds barred episode where Tom and Veronica reveal their most horrible secrets.  Happy Christmas! Also good news from Scott Lynch, slightly bad news from Charles Stross, and the book character you want on your side in a bar fight.    

WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?    
Tom: Talisker 18    
Veronica: 2010 Pali Wine Co. Tower 15 The Jetty    
    
QUICK BURNS    
    
New writer hired to continue ‘The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo’ book series    
PSA: Why there won’t be a third book in the Halting State trilogy    
Scott Lynch on THE THORN OF EMBERLAIN    
New Yorker on Kim Stanley Robinson: “Our Greatest Political Novelist”    
    

CALENDAR
   
TV, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES    
    
First Tantalizing Footage from Game of Thrones Season 4!    

BOOK WRAP-UP   
    
A Natural History of Dragons: A Memoir by Lady Trent (but actually by Marie Brennan)    
    
Alt: His Majesty’s Dragon by Naomi Novik    
    
Next Book: Einstein Intersection by Samuel R Delany (Damon Knight Grand Master Recipient)    
    
BARE YOUR SWORD    
Reading Goals for 2014    
Improved version of Reading Goals thread    
Favorite Series?    
When in trouble, who’d you want watching your back?    
    
EMAIL    
    
I just wanted to send along a thank you to you guys and the whole sword and laser community. Thanks to the sword and laser hive-mind I was able to pull together the resources I needed to complete my Masters Thesis in History. I defended my thesis today and passed! Sword and laser’s book club also provided a much needed respite from the demands of grad school. If anyone’s interested I wrote my thesis on the perception of the atomic bomb in American media in the postwar period. And so many people from this group helped me find the works I needed to bolster my research. Thanks again! 

-Bethany 
    
ADDENDUMS    
Borderlands Meetup Jan. 20     

Try these other fine Boing Boing podcasts    

This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com the internet’s leading provider of audiobooks with more than 150,000 downloadable titles across all types of literature and featuring audio versions of many New York Times Best Sellers.
For listeners of this podcast, Audible is offering a free audiobook, to give you a chance to try out their service. For a free audiobook of your choice go to audiblepodcast.com/sword

Direct download link to show!

Cordkillers: Episode (Beta) 4K getting more OK

Tom and Brian kick off the very first Cordkillers with special guest Justin Robert Young. Netflix is leading the charge for 4K, Hulu has millions but is it enough, and why Atari’s famous ET game failure could help Xbox.

 

Download audio from Archive.org

Download video from Archive.org

Cord Killers: Beta
Recorded: December 23 2013
Guest: Justin Robert Young

Intro Video

The Big Story

Another Big Story

SlipStream

Tube Tops

Film Falm

Scan Lines

What we’re watching

Winter Movie Draft

  1. Justin Robert Young: $483,480,275
  2. Fr. Robert Ballecer: $392,813,988
  3. Casey McKinnon: $390,058,157
  4. Jeff Cannata: $265,369,223
  5. Tom Merritt: $182,530,164
  6. Brian Brushwood: $119,438,873
     

Premiering this week

Feedback

Gentlemen, in your honor, my wife, Wendy, and I cut the cord with Verizon today. We cancelled our Cable TV, but kept our FiOS internet service, so we still have one cord, but it’s the good one. And Verizon said we’re “welcome” to keep 13 local TV channels for free. Ha, I guess we don’t get to keep the UHF channels. 🙂

Now we’re saving $70 a month. Oops, just found out that we’re only saving $65 a month, because, “dear valued customer,” it’s actually $5 more per month than they said. Oh, and we also have to pay an additional $10 to return our DVR. (I feel like I just made a deal with some guy on Canal Street.)

We will continue to feast from our AppleTV, where we watch Netflix and iTunes… and podcasts, podcasts, podcasts. So we’re ready for your next show!

Happy Holidays to you both. Thanks for all the years of information and inspiration. Excited to see what you guys will do next.

Cheers,
Philip & Wendy Shane
Brooklyn, NY

 

See what you can do when the TV network is NOT in the USA? <sigh> 180 channels, $15/month, 8-day replay period without needing a DVR (they record & store everything), inside home/outside home, looks great if you were an international sports/soccer fan.

Now Playing on Slingbox 500: DishWorld

Jamie