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San Francisco, 6:37 AM
Sun Nov 22
10 posts in the last 24 hours

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  • posts about #explosions more →

    New Dean Koontz Novel Proves Book Critics Are Evil

    When Supermassive Stars Eat Their Own Young

    The Pyrotechnic Tragedy of Sheffield's Hyperbolic Cooling Towers

    The Periodic Table of Elements, in Videos

    We Can Predict When Stars Will Explode

    Exploding Mohawks Are Back, Baby!

    You Have Ten Seconds To Reach Minimum Safe Distance

    The Navy's Explosive Super Weapon Crushes Speed Records

    When Nano-Wires Explode

    Massive Detonation Leaves A Permanent Scar
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    Dsmvwl  Admin  Promote to frontpage Approve user Ban user ×
    Image of lightninglouie lightninglouie
    04/20/09

    In reply to New Dean Koontz Novel Proves Book Critics Are Evil
    I'd love to see Dean Koontz versus Anne Rice in a no-holds barred Cage Match of Egotistical Batshit Lunacy.
     Reply
    lightninglouie was starred lightninglouie was unstarred
    Image of alphanumeric1971 alphanumeric1971
    04/20/09

    In reply to New Dean Koontz Novel Proves Book Critics Are Evil
    Fer all youz haterz out there, try pickin up a copy of "Odd Thomas"!Boo be straight trippin, cuz that shiznits off the hook yo!*


    *Sorry, I'll go take my meds now. But really, give The Odd Thomas books a try. they're quite good....


    yo.

     Reply
    alphanumeric1971 was starred alphanumeric1971 was unstarred
    Image of crashedpc - Haifisch crashedpc - Haifisch
    04/20/09

    @alphanumeric1971: That pitch totally sold me. I'm off to the nearest Goodwill store to pick up a copy.
     Reply
    crashedpc - Haifisch was starred crashedpc - Haifisch was unstarred
    Image of Smeagol92055 Smeagol92055
    04/20/09

    In reply to New Dean Koontz Novel Proves Book Critics Are Evil
    Recipe for every Dean Koontz book:


    1. precocious child that considers itself an alien/mutant

    2. smart dog, usually golden retriever.

    3. other bullshit.

     Reply
    Smeagol92055 was starred Smeagol92055 was unstarred
    Image of crashedpc - Haifisch crashedpc - Haifisch
    04/20/09

    @Smeagol92055: Points 1 and 2 are quite easily achieved and are laudable. Point 3, however, seems to be the part where the true Koontz essence, the Koontzence, if you will, comes through.
     Reply
    crashedpc - Haifisch was starred crashedpc - Haifisch was unstarred
    Image of Smeagol92055 Smeagol92055
    04/20/09

    @crashedpc: Koontzence: The true essence of terrible writing.


    Couldn't be worse that Cumming.

     Reply
    Smeagol92055 was starred Smeagol92055 was unstarred
    Image of crashedpc - Haifisch crashedpc - Haifisch
    04/20/09

    @Smeagol92055: Actually, I would argue that many things can be worse than cu- OH.


    "Koontzence, the new fragrance from Dean Koontz: Now comes in convenient shake before using bottle."

     Reply
    crashedpc - Haifisch was starred crashedpc - Haifisch was unstarred
    Image of ManchuCandidate ManchuCandidate
    04/20/09

    In reply to New Dean Koontz Novel Proves Book Critics Are Evil
    Is Dean also going to write about being terrorized by a martini drinking talking white dog that drives a pickup truck?


    It's one thing to deal with critics, but it sounds more like that Dean's skin is a little too thin to deal with a world full of knives.

     Reply
    ManchuCandidate was starred ManchuCandidate was unstarred
    Image of Rasselas Rasselas
    04/20/09

    @ManchuCandidate: +1
     Reply
    Rasselas was starred Rasselas was unstarred
    Image of Grey_Area Grey_Area
    04/20/09

    In reply to New Dean Koontz Novel Proves Book Critics Are Evil
    Horror author/actor Michael Boatman topped this in last year's the Revenant Road. In it Obadiah Grunge, best-selling author and monster-hunter, is chased by an army of homicidal book critics. Boatman isn't as "great" a writer as Koontz, *snorfle!* but splatterpunk fans will certainly get a kick out of his work.


    The scene where a knife-wielding critic runs across Times Square at Grunge screaming, "DIEEEEE!" is hysterical.

     Reply
    Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred
    Image of crashedpc - Haifisch crashedpc - Haifisch
    04/20/09

    In reply to New Dean Koontz Novel Proves Book Critics Are Evil
    So basically the critic is the self-appointed leader of my debate team back in high school. Dickface.
     Reply
    crashedpc - Haifisch was starred crashedpc - Haifisch was unstarred
    Image of steampoweredboy steampoweredboy
    04/20/09

    In reply to New Dean Koontz Novel Proves Book Critics Are Evil
    You'd think all those piles of money would soothe Koontz's furrowed brow.
     Reply
    steampoweredboy was starred steampoweredboy was unstarred
    Image of crashedpc - Haifisch crashedpc - Haifisch
    04/20/09

    @steampoweredboy: "Madam, a moist towellete with which to wipe your brow, and a mint julep to calm your nerves."
     Reply
    crashedpc - Haifisch was starred crashedpc - Haifisch was unstarred
    Image of Alexis Alexis
    04/20/09

    In reply to New Dean Koontz Novel Proves Book Critics Are Evil
    Remember Lady in the Water? The evil critic got mauled. If a student did this in a writing class they'd get chewed out like no other. What is Koontz/Shyamalan's excuse?


    I also (loosely) remember the prize quote from the film "How can any individual begin to judge another person's work?"


    Ugh.

     Reply
    Alexis was starred Alexis was unstarred
    Image of Andrew James Gordon Andrew James Gordon
    04/20/09

    In reply to New Dean Koontz Novel Proves Book Critics Are Evil
    If I had to read a Dean Koontz book, I'd probably go insane too.


    ba-zing!

     Reply
    Andrew James Gordon was starred Andrew James Gordon was unstarred
    Image of OW-Holmes:Bringer of Fear OW-Holmes:Bringer of Fear
    04/20/09

    @Andrew James Gordon: Hey, I used to like Dean Koontz.


    When I was 9.

     Reply
    OW-Holmes:Bringer of Fear was starred OW-Holmes:Bringer of Fear was unstarred
    Image of Smeagol92055 Smeagol92055
    04/20/09

    @Andrew James Gordon: Can you ba-zing yourself?
     Reply
    Smeagol92055 was starred Smeagol92055 was unstarred
    Image of crashedpc - Haifisch crashedpc - Haifisch
    04/20/09

    @Smeagol92055: Illegal in 24 states.
     Reply
    crashedpc - Haifisch was starred crashedpc - Haifisch was unstarred
    Image of Mathmos Mathmos
    04/20/09

    In reply to New Dean Koontz Novel Proves Book Critics Are Evil
    So, who on the io9 staff should review this book? Is Charlie Jane volunteering?
     Reply
    Mathmos was starred Mathmos was unstarred
    Image of Grey_Area Grey_Area
    04/20/09

    @Mathmos: I'd do it but I have a couple of authors tied up in my basement right now. I have to wait for the new band saw and make sure they don't escape.
     Reply
    Grey_Area was starred Grey_Area was unstarred
    Image of crashedpc - Haifisch crashedpc - Haifisch
    04/20/09

    @Grey_Area: Dibs on the giblets!
     Reply
    crashedpc - Haifisch was starred crashedpc - Haifisch was unstarred
    Image of Smeagol92055 Smeagol92055
    04/20/09

    @Mathmos: I already did Battlefield Earth and part of Marienbad, My Love. You're not gettin' me the same way three times!
     Reply
    Smeagol92055 was starred Smeagol92055 was unstarred
    Image of crashedpc - Haifisch crashedpc - Haifisch
    04/20/09

    @Smeagol92055: Ohohohoho, I remember Marienbad, My Love. How were the first 10000 pages of copy-pasted drivel?
     Reply
    crashedpc - Haifisch was starred crashedpc - Haifisch was unstarred
    Image of crashedpc - Haifisch crashedpc - Haifisch
    04/20/09

    @Smeagol92055: I'll give you a macaroon if you read Relentless.
     Reply
    crashedpc - Haifisch was starred crashedpc - Haifisch was unstarred
    Image of reddingofish reddingofish
    01/20/09

    In reply to When Supermassive Stars Eat Their Own Young
    Being an IT guy I wonder how much processor time that took and what computer they used to render it on.
     Reply
    reddingofish was starred reddingofish was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    01/20/09

    @reddingofish: Well it's a cluster of computers. Something like a Beowulf cluster except gianter, I'd expect.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of corpore-metal corpore-metal
    01/20/09

    @Annalee Newitz: Actually it would still be a beowulf cluster. Aside from very technical issues, there is no serious scaling limit on beowulf cluster managment software.


    Linux rules.

     Reply
    corpore-metal was starred corpore-metal was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    01/20/09

    @corpore-metal: Yay Linux! Soon I will be playing with Linux on my G1.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of Mount_Prion Mount_Prion
    01/20/09

    In reply to When Supermassive Stars Eat Their Own Young
    Needs sound FX ("psssssshhaaaaaah! mrrrreeeeeeooooow! cuuuuthhummmmmm!") and slow-mo.
     Reply
    Mount_Prion was starred Mount_Prion was unstarred
    Image of Skunky Skunky
    01/20/09

    In reply to When Supermassive Stars Eat Their Own Young
    It's really too bad that these things take so long to happen in reality, we'll never get to properly watch what happens. With that in mind, I wonder how the scientists determine how accurate their models are?
     Reply
    Skunky was starred Skunky was unstarred
    Image of Annalee Newitz Annalee Newitz
    01/20/09

    @Skunky: Obviously I am not a physicist, but I do know that these kinds of explosions are modeled on massively parallel computer clusters, and take into account many different variables - everything from the behavior of gas, to the gravitational fields of enormous bodies interacting with each other. Some of the data used comes from what we know of observing nuclear explosions on Earth.
     Reply
    Annalee Newitz was starred Annalee Newitz was unstarred
    Image of Skunky Skunky
    01/20/09

    @Annalee Newitz: You know, I love what I do for a living, but I can't help but be jealous of anyone who's job responsibilities include 'observing nuclear explosions.'


    I do hope you're right, it sounds very reasonable, the more that's included in the model, the safer it is to assume accuracy. I'm sure observations of our own Sun with tools like STEREO has helped too, to some degree.

     Reply
    Skunky was starred Skunky was unstarred
    Image of corpore-metal corpore-metal
    01/20/09

    @Skunky: Those same supercomputers are used to simulate nuclear explosions. They are so accurate now, that our country, Russia and other nations use them instead of doing below ground testing. They trust them enough to use them to design new weapons without any real world testing.
     Reply
    corpore-metal was starred corpore-metal was unstarred
    Image of Skunky Skunky
    01/20/09

    @corpore-metal: Just imagine if the calculations are wrong! WWIII breaks out, someone hits the big, red, candy-like button and lobs a nuke. Missile homes in on it's target, a bright flash, and suddenly on the horizon there's half a locked-up mushroom cloud that fades into some wild pixelization and a kernel panic message.
     Reply
    Skunky was starred Skunky was unstarred
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