(no subject)

Good morning all, and welcome to Radio Free Monday!

Quick note -- I'm at a corporate retreat next weekend (I KNOW) and will only have my netbook with me, which is a trifle hard to code on. I'm going to try to get RFM coded, but it may be a bit late next Monday. Try to go easy on me this week with the links. :D

And away we go!

Learn Stuff!

fullofowls linked me to both a list of the 50 Best Blogs For Humanities Scholars and a site hosting a free conservation sciences textbook in PDF format.

Last week off_coloratura had her iPhone stolen out of her hands here in Chicago. She has some tips posted for how to ensure that if your phone is stolen, your information remains safe.

brainwane let me know about The Clarion West writers' workshop, which aims "to provide a high quality educational opportunity for writers of speculative fiction at the start of their careers," and is accepting applications for this summer's workshop until March 1. There are a number of scholarships available, including The Octavia E. Butler Memorial Scholarship, which covers tuition and housing for a student of color to attend. They've also received a grant to help ameliorate accessibility issues for students with disabilities, which they're working on now.

mcgonagalls_cat linked me to 16 Charitable Ways To Celebrate Valentine's Day. While the excuse of V-day is a bit specious, the links are good.

Places To Give, Things To Buy

luvscharlie has discovered two stray dogs in her mother's neighborhood in Powell, Tennessee. The area shelters are all full or kill-shelters, and she can't find any reliable rescue groups in the area. If you can foster or know of a no-kill shelter or rescue group that would help, she'd appreciate it -- she'd like to help them before animal control picks them up.

melayneseahawk is working on a BFA in Stage Management, and baking to help put herself through school. Check out her Etsy Bakery!

lavenderspark linked me to the Save Undershaw campaign, which is working to preserve Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's historic home from renovation and sprawl. There's tons of neat info, links about ways you can give and ways you can help without giving, and photos for sale as a fundraiser.

toar_project let me know about A Rainy Day For Earthworms, an independent film that has run out of funding and is campaigning for donations via Kickstart. The film synopses says "Set in Chinatown, A RAINY DAY FOR EARTHWORMS follows the perspective of a 1st generation Chinese-American child after a tragedy shakes the community." They've already raised $1000 of the $5k necessary; they're offering rewards for various donation levels.

kerrikins let me know about babyslime, a photographer whose business is suffering due to the economy -- plus we all know how hard it is to make a living in the arts. She has posted an entry about her situation with links to her store (click "featured", then "Fine Art Store") where people can see the prints that she has available for purchase.

Help For Free!

Claire over at NonProfity has a very brief survey for people who work in the Not For Profit sector.

annotated_em sent me a link to kaigou's survey on fan attitudes towards fan fiction. I've heard some discussion of the survey and its positive and negative points; I filled it out and had a few quibbles but overall had a good time. Check it out for yourself!

Okay, on the "not sure about this, but what harm can it do" front: Anon let me know that the Green Movement in Iran is demonstrating today (they've linked here and here), ostensibly in support of Egypt but actually in protest of their own regime. The official Anonymous, an activist group, is DDoSing Iranian government websites and trying to raise news media awareness for Iran. If you want more information or to help, check out #opiran on irc.anonops.ru. They recommend using Tor or a vpn to connect to IRC, but that's not mandatory. I can't vouch for this info, I don't use IRC anymore so haven't checked it out to make sure it is a) legit or b) safe. Proceed with care.

Fun Videos This Week:

celticdreamz linked me to Doctor Who Meets The Muppets. OH YES.

Rae linked me to a sad but lovely music video called Eye Of The Storm with some absolutely gorgeous steampunk aesthetics.

onebrightroad knows how dear to my heart origami is, and linked me to a TEDTalk lecture entitled "Idea Plus Square Equals Origami". It's a little heavier than the other two, but very engaging and informative. (And yes, before everyone links me, I have seen Between The Folds. :D)

And this has been Radio Free Monday! Thank you for your time. You can always post items for my attention in comments here (or on any post) or email me at copperbadge at gmail dot com (PMs are kind of a bad way to reach me). If you're not sure how to proceed, here is a little more about what I do and how you can help. Remember, non-embedded links are love.

(no subject)

So, I remembered it was Valentine's Day today.

I even bought chocolate to put out in the candy dish at work -- Dove chocolate was on sale so I bought that, having repressed the fact that Dove puts little messages on the insides of its wrappers. Normally they're harmless little things like "Chocolate makes the world go round!" or "Sunny days are made for joy" and other phrases that only seem to make sense until you examine them.

The one I just got was "You know what? You look good in red." Which sounds more like the tagline of a film about a serial killer than something I want to read while eating a chocolate.

What I did not remember is what Valentine's Day means to me personally: flower deliveries. So many, many flower deliveries. And the endless comments: "Oh, are those for me?" "Sam, you shouldn't have." "It's a jungle at your desk this morning!"

But then everyone liked the origami heart I folded to stand next to the candy bowl, so that's okay.

Review: Different, by Youngme Moon

So I've been reading "Different: Escaping The Competitive Herd" by Youngme Moon. And finally I got to the Addenda, and could stop reading.

The basic premise of Different focuses on product creation and marketing practices. Not really my area, though I have an interest in PR/marketing and enjoyed Made To Stick, which is more on the marketing end of the spectrum. Like Made To Stick, Different is a book I acquired from work -- someone sent copies to one of our teams, but they also sent a copy to someone who wasn't employed here anymore, so I said I'd take it off their hands. I get the strangest reading material this way.

( Different: Escaping the Competitive Herd )

Final Verdict: Different is interesting, and it has some insights to make, but I think it would have done better as a long article. It could have been radical, biting, and polarizing as a shorter piece, though I understand the urge to make a book -- who reads articles, or at least retains them, anymore? (This is rhetorical, I'm sure lots of you do, you don't need to tell me.) It's just not quite enough for a book, and stretching it out dilutes the impact. As interesting as some of the points were, I was very glad to be done with it.

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I came home to find men hammering mysteriously on the roof, which happens to share a plane with my ceiling. Now they are in my apartment doing eldritch things to the windows.

PEOPLE ARE IN MY SPACE GET THEM OUT. I want to cook dinner in private and watch The Chicago Code and I can't do that when most of the furniture that's normally in front of the windows is now in front of the TV. Also now I have to wear pants until they leave.

I have executed Emergency Plan Delta and retreated to my bedroom with a box of Girl Scout Cookies.

(Samoas, if you must know.)

(no subject)

I don't have a particular stance on Valentine's Day, other than "oh god make the flower deliveries stop". But I did think it was rather sweet that today's origami was a Stand Up Heart.

I folded it this morning and set it next to the candy dish and all day people kept MOVING IT AROUND. I don't know why, they never touched the bunny I put up for the lunar new year.

I also don't know why the paper pattern for today was wood grain. Unless, you know, you were to give it to someone and then you could say "Do I give you wood?"

No. No, I think not.

(no subject)

It's Monday night and the El is rumbling outside, which means at least for this week it's time for

Sam's Three Things About The Chicago Code, 1.02: ( Hog Butcher )

3a. People talk sometimes about how New York is a "character" in White Collar, and I didn't really get that before, but I think I do now. I may not recognise every location they're shooting in, but I recognise the architecture and the general setup of Chicago, the way it functions in a physical-space way. I know where they are, and I know they're in Chicago. Chicago Code isn't as subtle with it, and that does hurt the writing, but they're getting there.