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Maps on the Web
This week's CBC Web column...Download an audio version.***Jokes about how hard it is to fold a highway map use to be a staple of slice-of-life comedians. Well, highway maps are probably just as hard to fold as they ever were—but you don’t have to fold them, or even use them, if you don’t want to.These days, more and more people are finding their maps on the World Wide Web. Whether you’re planning a trip or just want to find out where something you’ve heard about on the news occurred, the many map sites on the Web can provide directions, sometimes accompanied by aerial photographs.Now, I’m a guy, and aside ...World-wide wikis
Today's CBC Web column...*******Once upon a time, a computer programmer named Ward Cunningham visited Honolulu, where a Honolulu International Airport counter employee told him to take the a particular shuttle bus line between terminals, nicknamed the "WikiWiki" line: wiki is a Hawaiian-language word for "fast."I don't know whether Cunningham took the WikiWiki bus or not, but in 1994 he began developing something called WikiWikiWeb, and in 2007 the word wiki entered the Oxford English Dictionary Online. Presumably it still means "fast" in Hawaiian, but for Internet users, it now has a new meaning: a collaborative website that can be directly edited by anyone with access to it.The WikiWikiWeb was, and is, ...CBC moves Moose Jaw to Alberta!
From a CBC.ca arts story this morning (here's the link, but I would suspect this will be corrected soon, which is why I've appended the screen shot below)*:Vancouver writer Ivan E. Coyote, Moose Jaw, Alta.-based poet Daniel Scott Tysdal and Victoria's Bill Gaston have won ReLit awards.Moose Jaw, Alta.? The whole town up and left Saskatchewan? You'd think it would have been in the papers...*UPDATE: Yes, it's been corrected.My dad always said I could be whatever I wanted to be…
...and that's especially true of the Internet, where a false persona is only a few mouse clicks away. Witness this slide show of real people and the avatars they use in online games.I don't know what it says about me, but I'm more uncomfortable being anonymous online than I am being myself. I even spent quite a bit of time during my Second Life experiments trying to get my avatar to look like me.I think it goes back to being a newspaper editor, and refusing to print any letters that arrived unsigned. You got something to say? Say it as yourself, or give me a darn good reason why you're hiding behind a false name, ...SF Canada site updated
I've posted the latest update to the SF Canada website. Our big feature this time around is an interview with Bantam editor Anne Groell, conducted by Celu Amberstone. There's also a short piece of fiction from Ahmed A. Khan.Of course, you can always get the latest news from SF Canada members (now with more Saskatchewan content: myself, Arthur Slade, Alison Lohans, Geoffrey Ursell and Barbara Sapergia are the Saskatchewan SF Canada contingent) at news.sfcanada.ca.Dragons and turkeys and midgets, oh my!
This week's CBC Web column...*******Did you hear about the 42 members of the Cambodian Midget Fighting League mauled in a match against an African lion?How about the mummified fairy discovered in Derbyshire?Or, closer to home, did you know the world's last surviving scientist specializing in the study of dragons lives in a nursing home in Moose Jaw?The Internet as put an amazing amount of information at our fingertips. There's a lot of very accurate, very useful information out there. And then there's the stuff that...isn't.Sometimes false information is presented deliberately, as a hoax. Sometimes it's put online as a joke, and people take it more seriously than its ...From Babel Fish to Woohoo!
Today's Web column for CBC Saskatchewan's Afternoon Edition...*********If you've ever watched Star Trek, you've heard of the Universal Translator. The Universal Translator is a computer device that is able to instantly translate almost any alien language, no matter how bizarre, into American English.Of course, the Universal Translator doesn't exist...yet. But all over the Web you can find sites that offer you free online translation of selected text or entire Web sites. Do they work? How well do they work?Computer translation is more properly called machine translation, probably because the field is a lot older than you might imagine: in 1954 a successful experiment in machine translation was carried out in which ..."Science is easy!"
My daughter received a Webkinz for her sixth birthday last week. Webkinz are stuffed animals which come with a code that provides access to a website where kids can play games, buy things for the online version of their animals, etc.Among the Webkinz activities are quizzes about various topics. Among the topics: science. Which, I'm pleased to note, is the topic my daughter chose over all others when we decided to do quizzes yesterday."Science is easy!" she said.That's my girl.Music scores for free!
I just learned about this site: the International Music Score Library Project. It's a wiki that aims to "create a virtual library containing all public domain musical scores, as well as scores from composers who are willing to share their music with the world without charge."There are currently 4,268 works represented in 7,460 PDF scores. It looks like a treasure-trove for musicians to explore!Searching out search engines
This week's CBC Radio Web column...*********Have you ever heard yourself say, "Let me Google that?" Probably. Google is by far the most popular search engine on the World Wide Web--so popular many people never think of using anything else. But Google isn't the only way to search for things on the Web.Just how popular is Google? Only one way to find out: I Googled "Google search engine share."According to the Web site Market Share, in May Google had 51.71 percent of the search engine market. But that's just the U.S. version of Google. Add in Google U.K., at 9.84 percent, Google AdSense at 3.4 percent, and Google Canada at 3.24 ...
Edward Willett is a Subscribe to my weekly science column for free!
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Magebane
“Spectacular” – Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“Evil wizards, multi-level conspiracies, hidden kingdoms…Lee Arthur Chane…has done a marvelous job…Magebane is a very entertaining book and well worth the time.” – A.M. Donovan, Night Owl Reviews
I happily recommend Magebane and I’ll certainly give Chane’s next novel a try based on this one.” —Bill Capossere, Fantasy Literature
“…an original and delightful tale of epic fantasy and magic, steampunk science, adventure, tragedy, and love…” – Errant Dreams Reviews
Eight centuries ago, the world changed. A devastating war swept the lands, and the MageLords, who had long ruled by virtue of their spell powers, were driven to a distant place, separated from those they had ruled by a magical Barrier. With magic banished from the rest of the world, the MageLords became mere legend and people turned to science to improve their lives. But if one man has his way, all that is about to change….
Written as Lee Arthur Chane (the middle names of my older brothers, Jimmy Lee and Dwight Arthur, and myself, Edward Chane Willett).
Marseguro
Winner of the 2009 Prix Aurora Award for Best Long-Form Work in English
Water world Marseguro is home to the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from human DNA. When an unmodified human seeks revenge on a Selkie by activating a distress beacon taken from the remains of the original colony ship, a strikeforce is sent from Earth to eradicate the genetic abomination. Yet Marseguro will not prove as easy to conquer as the Earth force anticipates…
Terra Insegura
Finalist for the 2010 Prix Aurora Award for Best Novel in English
Marseguro, a water world far from Earth, is home to a colony of humans and the Selkies, a water-dwelling race created from modified human DNA. For seventy years the colony has lived in peace. Then Earth discovers Marseguro, and a strike force is sent to eradicate this “abomination.” But Marseguro has created a genetically tailored plague to use against Earth’s Holy Warriors. With the enemy defeated, the people of Marseguro feel they are safe. But Chris Keating, the traitor who signaled Marseguro’s location to the Holy Warriors, has fled to Earth, unknowingly carrying the deadly plague within him. The people of Marseguro feel they must send a ship to Earth with a life-saving vaccine. Only time will tell what awaits them when they reach their destination.
Lost in Translation
Kathryn was a human empath whose world and life had been destroyed when the alien S’sinn slaughtered her parents before her very eyes. Jarrikk was a young S’sinn, an unproven warrior who’d seen his flight mates slaughtered by the humans who’d sought to colonize his world.
As humans and S’sinn found themselves on the brink of war, these two Translators had to work together to find a common ground and avert catastrophe. But whether their Translators’ oath and training could overcome the enemies leagued against them was very much in doubt…
Archives
Song of the Sword
My new YA fantasy novel from Lobster Press
Before the Lady called her, Ariane’s life was a mess. Two years ago, her mother disappeared. She bounced around different foster homes until her aunt finally took her in. The meanest clique at her new high school has decided to make Ariane their prime target. And to top it all off, she is having frightening premonitions, and they are becoming more intense. The moment water touches her skin, she sees visions of a lake, a lady, and a sword. When a staircase opens up in the middle of Wascana Lake and the water begins singing to her, she has no choice but to answer the call….
Historic Walks of Regina and Moose Jaw
Ten walks to points of historic and architectural interest in the cities of Regina and Moose Jaw (eight walks for Regina, two for Moose Jaw).
Johnny Cash: The Man in Black
When country music legend Johnny Cash took the stage at Folsom State Prison in 1968, he solidified the public’s perception of him as a rebel who followed his own path. Born in Arkansas during the Great Depression, Cash endured poverty, the death of his older brother, and a difficult relationship with his father. He turned to gospel and country music to express the pain, and after many years of struggling, his songs of hardship and hope would finally reach the ears of those waiting for an artist who represented them, ordinary people fighting to survive.
Andy Warhol: Everyone Will Be Famous for 15 Minutes
“Paintings are too hard. Machines have less problems…” In the 1960s, Andy Warhol became the most famous creator of a new style of art called pop art, which transformed mass-produced items of popular culture into fine works of art. From Campbell’s Soup cans to photographs of Marilyn Monroe, Warhol’s willingness to use anything and everything from the mass media in his work expanded the range of subject matter available to artists. His avant-garde films, artistic usage of American icons, and unconventional social life made him a controversial figure, both greatly admired and deeply reviled. A trendsetter rather than a trend-follower, a dispassionate observer of both the seamy and celebrity sides of life, Warhol was a true American rebel.
Disease-Hunting Scientist
The true stories of six real disease hunters. Epidemiologists travel the world trying to keep us safe from deadly diseases—from high-tech labs in Canada to remote villages in Africa. Learn how these “disease detectives” are coming up with new ways to fight disease, and find out if you have what it takes to become an epidemiologist, too!
The Bounty Mutiny
The Bounty was a British ship visiting Tahiti in 1789 when some of the crew overthrew the captain, William Bligh, and set him adrift in a tiny boat with sailors loyal to him. The mutiny resulted in a number of trials–both of the men who mutinied and of Bligh for losing command of his ship. These fascinating events have been the source for numerous Hollywood movies, most recently The Bounty. The Bounty Mutiny: From the Court Case to the Movie explores the famous case and the movies it inspired.
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