expect

i'd like to think my scathing blog was the reason :) but activestate just released a new tcl/tk package that inludes expect. for free.

kinda feel sorry for the guys that bought it at the ridiculous price of $300.

radio shack

i read slashdot pretty much on a daily basis via rss. and a few other tech related websites some how i managed to miss the renaming of radio shack

apparently this is canada only, but still it feels like i stepped into the twilight zone. probably a good thing i'm not a slider :)

what's in a name

open blog to sean combs:

hey, i gotta an idea. PICK ONE.

here's some for you to chose from:

piffy puffy cloudy diddy diddler doody doodler piddly puddly poodle

not new

somewhere on one of the links here (profile i think) it says i've been blogging since aug 2005. of course that's not right. that's the first blog HERE.

this is my first real blog.

my number one fan

i'm not sure i should feel flattered or not, that out of all the blogoshere mr. perdue has singled out my blog...anyway...

i'll quote some excerpts from the comments, and reply to them:

perdue: "Anyway, to the subject at hand: Dan Brown won a round, but the case is far from over."

i guess as long as this thing stays in the news, you will sell a few more copies of your books. to clarify, i had copies before i read dan brown's book.

perdue: "Contrary to the headlines, Judge Daniels did not "acquit" Brown, but quite to the contrary, acknowledged that there were many similarities in the setting, plot and characters, in other words the key ideas making up my books."

let me repeat. neither your ideas, or brown's were original. davinci codex aside, i've run across the basic premise before. i came up with the basic premise in '75 or so. i don't think either one of you should be claiming it's an original idea.

ok, the setting is the same, but i'm not sure that point should be mentioned in the lawsuit. any thriller involving those themes is probably going to have scenes that take place in italy.

the plot of all the books involved was formulaic. certainly not original. same with the characters. male hero, temporary female sidekick/love interest/possible key figure. is there a thriller on the books shelves that DOESN'T have that?

perdue: "Thus, I believe Judge Daniels erred in his decision. "

i'm not sure you're going to get very far with this line of thinking.the attitidue of: 'we're standing in front of you your honour because we think the last judge was wrong...and if you're wrong, we'll just find another judge until he thinks the right way' is very productive.

i find it hard to believe that your books aren't selling more because of the lawsuit. even, god forbid, some illiterate judge decides it IS copyright infringement and awards you the money, you probably still won't have a best seller on your hands, just the winnings of the Litagation Lottery.

as a writer myself, i also find it hard to believe that YOU [as a writer] have not come to terms with the fact that ideas can be conceived of in parallel. and that somebody could get those ideas published before you do.

you conveniently avoided one of my main points: the davinci code is a better read. it's more interesting, entertaining, and it's better written [refer to my two examples of the writing]. i agree with the judge's 'erred' comment about that also.

vocabulary

[i would have commented on the blog in quesiton, but again, it was elitist
blogger.com only comments allowed.]

just read a blog via blog explosion about somebody complaining they
couldn't swear on various msg boards they frequent.

i think it was isaac asimov that said 'swearing is a crutch for the
illiterate'

'nuff said

test post

trying to decide if i should actually use blogger or not...