Posthuman Blues

I found Jacques Vallee's "Anatomy of a Phenomenon" at Half Price Books. As soon as I finish acquiring permission to use graphics in my Mars book, I'll probably read it in one sitting. I've already gone a few days without a fix from China Mieville's "Perdido Street Station," which I'm aching to get back to.





Malin Space Science Systems requires written consent to use Mars Global Surveyor (MGS) imagery. Considering that the MGS is a NASA mission, launched with tax money, this seems decidedly unfair. The images belong squarely in the public domain; I shouldn't have to ask anyone's permission. (And before Dr. Mike Malin was handed largely unconditional access to the Mars Orbiter Camera, I wouldn't have had to. MSSS' "ownership" of Mars data is a legal charade and one of the countless flaws with the NASA bureaucracy.)

In other news: Amazon.com has reconfigured their single-item sale referral system, which means that unless I can think of something clever, I will no longer be able to post individual book covers on my book review pages. Instead, I'll have to settle for Amazon's really ugly "improved" interface. The difference is totally cosmetic but it's still annoying.

Oh, yeah -- not only does my PC's DVD player not work, but neither does the CD burner. The computer fails to recognize it; it might as well not exist. I'm going to have to send the damned thing back to Radio Shack's "service" center sooner than I had planned. But at least I have my laptop as backup this time.