review

I just finished reading “Dies the Fire” by S. M. Stirling. I was given the book by a friend (to barrow) who thought I’d enjoy it. After taking what my friend thought was much too long to finish it, I finally did this last Friday morning (at 2am). “Dies the Fire” is the first book in a trilogy, the sequels being “The Protector’s War”, and “A Meeting at Corvallis”. “Dies the Fire” is set in 1998, an unknown event, later called “The Change,” alters the laws of physics to the point that explosives, electronics, and modern forms of energy no longer function. It’s so bad that steam engines don’t even work. The book follows two leaders - Michael Havel, Juniper Mackenzie and their followers as they deal with the resulting breakdown of modern civilization, chaos and mass death following “The Change.” as people struggle to survive in a world plunged into the dark ages, skills like farming, and being able to fight with a sword are skills that keep you alive.
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In the interest of full disclosure – I am a huge fan of “Mythbusters”, have been since day 1.

Last week the Discovery Channel ran sneak peeks of upcoming series, one such series is “Smash Lab.”

Insulting - That’s the word you could use to accurately describe “Smash Lab,” it’s an insult to the audience’s intelligence. The whole sneak peek episode was a 1 hour commercial for Rhino Lining, where they “tested” to see if the truck bed liner could be used to bomb proof a building. I don’t have a problem with the shows creed to “take on everyday technology and apply it in revolutionary new ways.” Sounds good, if you actually test that technology in an unbiased way. It was clear from the start of the show that the result was predetermined; scripted even.
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I recently finished putting together my alarm clock/timer kit from Denkimono, it’s a beautiful, high quality, useful kit.
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