Maps for the Song of Ice and Fire

I'm reading the (new) fourth book in George R. R. Martin's Song of Ice and Fire series. Books 1-3 are simply amazing, and this one seems wonderful so far. He has a way of focusing in on and developing complex, engaging characters -- many of whom I am hard pressed to call good or bad -- while also creating an expansive world. That world is so huge that I actually find myself flipping to the back of the book to figure out who belongs to which family. And I also constantly check the inside cover maps of the novel to try to track the movements of each of the characters he follows. But the maps don't have enough places marked! Luckily I found this site, which has much more detail in the maps. Phew! Now I know where Duskendale and Maidenpool are. But it took a little more searching for me to find a fan's rendering of where places like Qarth and Braavos are located.

TMBG Podcast

This makes me very happy... They Might be Giants now has a podcast! Good tunes... and very funny.

Zubbles: Coming Soon!

Saw this on Boing Boing. A gift idea! Unfortunately, not available until Feb 2006. But, as my wife points out, maybe a Easter basket present...

Boing Boing: Game: defend your gallery from modern art by shooting it

Oooo... I didn't want to forget this from Boing Boing. I think I will try it out tonight. Is there something vaguely fascist about the concept, though? Hmmm... Ah well, I'm sure I will have fun blowing up some art.

Here's the direct link.

RISK on Google Maps

Cool!

Slashdot | RISK The Game On Google Maps: "ZenChi has created a Google Maps API project based on the popular board game RISK on Google Maps. "

via slashdot

Iron and Wine

Been listening to Radio Paradise on an off lately.... a really nice mix of music. The stuff I know, I like. The stuff I don't know, is almost always my taste.

Anyway, heard this song from Iron and Wine -- a great sound, lyrics that are poetry, simply beautiful.

Boing Boing: Counting Heads: exciting, major new sf novel

Nice post from Boing Boing. I may just add some of the stuff in here to my reading list.

Boing Boing: Counting Heads: exciting, major new sf novel

New Doctorow Novel

Doctorow's new book, The March, looks good. A book review in the Boston globe describes it as "a mosaic composed of ''little' lives, each with its uniquely human value, destroyed or saved by the hazards of war."

Unix and LOTR

For the really geeky LOTR / linux / unix / OSX folks out there try this:

1. Open the Terminal in Mac OS X (Applications / Utilities).

2. Type
cat /usr/share/calendar/calendar.history | grep "LOTR"

3. You should see a list, in month and day order, of events in Tolkien's The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings. For instance, September 14 is the birthday of both Bilbo and Frodo.

From IT: Instructional Technology