"So I've spent much of yesterday and today restoring all of the original software from the recovery disks yet again and trying to make my PC usable, not to mention stable. So not only have I lost even more blogging time, I'm missing all of the news that's fit to print."

Welcome back, Jenny.

8:55:28 AM      

"The Old-Folks Home for Books:". How do bestselling novels end up on the bargain table at bookstores? The acrane, bizarre economies of the publishing business.... [ReRead]

"...For publishers and booksellers, it's all pretty slick and efficient. Unfortunately, the system leaves authors out in the cold. A typical book contract gives the author a royalty on each book sold in the first round. But in most cases, if the book is remaindered, the author gets nothing except the right to buy his or her own book for a song."

ReRead points the way to this Boston Globe article.  I feel bad for the authors, but at the same time this is a great way for people like myself to stock up on expensive technology manuals you'd normally spend a good portion of your weekly wages on.

8:45:27 AM      

John llinks to Woods Hole article discussing the prospect of a mini ice-age triggered by... global warming.  It's a lengthy, but extremely well written piece, with lot's of diagrams to explain the processes at work. 

"...We are walking toward the edge of a cliff—blindfolded. Our ability to understand the potential for future abrupt changes in climate is limited by our lack of understanding of the processes that control them." 

8:35:27 AM