S&L Podcast – #116 – Secret of success

Friends of Sword and Laser are doing VERY well.  We’re not saying that being a guest on Sword and Laser will guarantee you riches… but it seems like it might.  Just saying. Also we have verification on the humanity of the Bibliomat. Also WARNING: there’s cursing. But it’s worth it. All that and Moria, on this episode.
 
WHAT ARE WE DRINKING?
 
 
QUICK BURNS

 
 
BARE YOUR SWORD

 
TV, MOVIES AND VIDEO GAMES

 
BOOK CHECK-IN
 
EMAIL
 
I went to the Monkey’s Paw this weekend when I was in Toronto. I took a video (albeit crappy) of it. I was thinking I could send you guys the book for your set, as the random book I received ended up being….”The Dictionary of Mysticism”. 
What do you think?
Thanks,
Caitlin from Canada

Tom Merritt 
Awesome!
So….. person inside??

Caitlin O’Brien
to Tom, Veronica 
….sort of. I put my money in, and it made some noises, but nothing came out. A guy at the front of the store yelled “”just a minute!”” and came back to load it for me. Once he was done, he gave me back my toonie and told me keeping it stocked is a full time second job. So, there was human involvment – just no human inside. Plus, when I was googling the address, I came across this video: http://jezebel.com/5965769/magical-used-book-store-dispenses-random-literary-treasures and it shows how it works.
I was pretty excited that something so relevant to the Sword and Laser came out.
  
  
Hey Tom & Veronica, just wanted to leave some feedback on the audio podcasts. I really like the new overall show balance you guys have got going these days with the news in the audio podcast, and also the more relaxed feel that you seem to have. The audio show is the perfect thing to listen to late at night with a glass of wine when you need to unwind. (I’m drinking a nice locally-made Ontario riesling, for the record.)
I love the idea of the audience being on the audio show, the “”plead your case”” scenario, especially in cases like Nick’s. Have you heard back from him yet? Is he going to be on the show?
As always, I love all the show formats, audio and video. Have a great day!
 
Gordon S. McLeod
  
  
“Tom and Veronica,
I just wanted to say that I think you do a wonderful job with The Sword and Laser podcast and YouTube show.
I started listening to the podcast in 2009. Since then, you have introduced me to so many great books. I don’t often read along with your picks, but I usually add them to my “”to-read”” list and have read many of them later on.
I’ve also really enjoyed the author interviews over the years. The author spotlights on the YouTube show are especially nice.
Oh, and I have to send a big thanks for convincing me to sign up for Audible. My commutes to work are sooooo much better now.
Thanks for everything and keep up the great work!
Happy holidays,
Mike”
  
ADDENDUMS
This podcast is brought to you by Audible.com the internet’s leading provider of audiobooks with more than 100,000 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.

 

Tech News Today 646: Slice of Page’s Brain

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

Microsoft fights Apple, Yahoo fights Gmail, Facebook fights democracy, and more.

Guest: Loyd Case

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Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com.

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Running time:: 0:47:33

Tech News Today 645: The Patents Must Flow

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

Yahoo gets sporty with NBC, Steam making hardware, Is Apple TV getting apps?, and more.

Guest: Jonathan Strickland

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Running time:: 0:47:22

Tech News Today 644: Use Your iPad During Takeoff?

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

T-Mobile shouts “Death to subsidies”, FCC says yes to iPad during takeoff, Netflix’s naughty Facebook post, and more.

Guest: Darren Kitchen

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Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com.

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Running time:: 0:47:21

S&L December Book Club: ‘The Hobbit’ Kick-Off

We kick-off a Classic Sword pick, J.R.R. Tolkein’s The Hobbit, find out what THE Cloud Atlas is all about, and reassure Lem that he’s still our favorite dragon.

More about our December pick, The Hobbit:
On GoodReads:http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5907.The_Hobbit
The Hobbit movie: http://www.thehobbit.com/

E-Mails & GoodReads Discussions:
http://www.theawl.com/2012/11/ways-in-which-the-movie-cloud-atlas-has-changed…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IeEdIBuanmU
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/1090560-who-s-your-favorite-dragon

Bridge of Birds Review by Aaron: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V5x2xmrE0-c

Tech News Today 643: Invading From the Bottom Up

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

Apple wants to be Made in the USA, Google+ killing it, MS Surface getting killed, and more.

Guest: Ewen Rankin

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Running time:: 0:43:51

Tech News Today 642: Women and Robots First

Hosts: Tom Merritt, Sarah Lane, Iyaz Akhtar and Jason Howell

Instagram blocks Twitter, Netflix and Disney find their happy place, your phone bill as a video, and more.

Guest: Raj Deut

Download or subscribe to this show at twit.tv/tnt.

Submit and vote on story coverage at technewstoday.reddit.com.

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Running time:: 0:49:15

The Sword & Laser Anthology

We’ve been talking about it for years, but now it’s actually going to be a real thing! That’s right, we’re officially announcing the Sword & Laser Anthology!

We’ll be starting open submissions in March, but here’s what you need to know:

1. We’re looking for unpublished, new material.

2. Genres: science fiction, fantasy, and everything in between.

3. Word count preferably between 1500-7500 (though more or less will not disqualify you).

DON’T SEND US ANYTHING YET! We won’t even LOOK at it until we announce the open call. Just start thinking about what you’d like to submit. We wanted to give you some warning, but you’ll have time, we promise!

GOOD LUCK and GOOD WRITING!