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Saita

Saita, Raph

 

Mandelbrot Trip to E75

I love fractals and found a video of an absolutely eyeball slicing trip through Mandelbrot.

Fractals are about the only form of math I can appreciate, aside from counting my lunch money.

The trip to E75 makes this journey double the size of the known universe.  A magnification of E12 makes a single particle have a circumference the size of Earth's orbit around the Sun. (hd-fractals.com)

Chinese Dragon Ferns And Needles On Fire In Ice. from teamfresh on Vimeo.

 

Dracula, Bram Stoker

The only thing I liked about Bram Stoker's Dracula was that it was an assembly of journal entries and phonograph recordings.  Other than that, it devolved into endless pages about a bunch of snivelling bromosexuals the second Van Helsing showed up.

I must admit, the wordiness of the dialogue was occasionally entertaining.  People writing letters and telegrams, taking trains, and cabs which were just horse drawn carriages.  I often wondered if Dracula had never been written until 2010, what it would be like.

1897 Van Helsing: My brave companions, have you the various implements which I had with great forethought provided to you all during the previous night's foray into the lair of the damned, to do the task that has befallen us and bring this evil that has cast our very lives into darkness with but only one shining light to give us hope, our very own sweet Mina, may the Lord bless her in all her kind ways, as our strength?

2001 Van Helsing: Guys, got all that shit I gave you last night?  Cuz we're gonna need it to get out of this clusterfuk.

2010 Van Helsing: @bromosexual_pals d00dz bring ur shit i gave 2 u. #wtfpwned

One day, professors will be asking students to tweet their dissertations.  At that point we'll be really fucked because nobody will be able to speak more than 140 characters.  Until Twit comes out and limits messages to 70 characters.  Language will be a series of clicks and pops.  Someone will write a new screenplay for the Lord of the Rings Trilogy on 3 pages, which will be way too long and epic for anyone to sit through.  Finally everyone will die of frail old age after 140 hours.

Really though, I love reading about the bromosexuals and what passes for incredible 1897 intrigue and suspense as they formulate a plan to enter one of Dracula's lairs by pretending to be the owners of the house and hiring a locksmith to open the front door, during which a policeman stops to ask them if they were really the owners then goes on his way.  Whew.  Close call.

 

list of places to shop for ebooks

Here is a list of places I like to shop for ebooks.  I look for ebooks in epub format.  They are not listed in order preference, simply because I go to the site that has the best price, or has the title available.

  1. http://www.barnesandnoble.com  I have a Nook which connects directly to the Barnes and Noble ebook store.  Very convenient.
  2. http://www.gutenberg.org  Gutenberg Project has lots of free ebooks.  I have been finding that they have books available in epub format.
  3. http://www.fictionwise.com  They have a rebate program which is quite awesome, sometimes the rebate is 100% of the price of the ebook.  They also announce specials on Twitter.  One of my favorite places to price shop.
  4. http://www.kobobooks.com  This store sends coupons and discounts if you sign up for their email.  I sometimes come here when they email a coupon that interests me and I think I can score a cheaper price with them after the discount.
  5. http://books.google.com  has some classics in epub format.  I use Gutenberg more than google books, though i wont be surprised if in the future Google becomes a great source for finding all kinds of ebooks.
  6. http://www.diesel-ebooks.com  has epub format ebooks in most titles.  Sometimes they are cheaper than Barnes & Nobles online.  Probably depends on what title you are after, but worth checking on the chance to save a dollar or two.
  7. http://www.arthursclassicnovels.com  I really love this site.  A lot of the titles here are probably available at Gutenberg Project, but I just enjoy browsing at this website.  Technically, it's a website where you can read books online in your browser, but I just print the page to a PDF and side load it to my Nook.
There are lots of free utilities that install a 'virtual' printer that outputs a PDF file.  I will list those in a future update.
 

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Bookshelf

Raph finished reading:

The Zanzibar Chest: A Memoir of Love and War
Life, the Universe and Everything
Brain Droppings
A Clash of Kings
Survivor: A Novel
Into the Wild
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disaster
The Tipping Point
A Game of Thrones


Raph's favorite books »