Roughly:

We're discovering new moons around those planets every time we send a new space probe to them!

So, this is a case where the minimalist design leads to implied (or actual) factual errors. Specifically, the design suggests that the Milk Way is an elliptical galaxy, that the planets' orbits are evenly spaced by radius, and that the phases of moons depends on their position around their planet rather than their…

I know what deus ex machina means. It's just especially ironic that Hamilton used the device so literally.

This photo tells a fantastic story!

I so want this lighthouse to be on the Isle of Myst.

And here I am thinking that another Wraith Squadron book will bring me back to Star Wars after the mess of the Yuuzhan Vong!

Was that when the Yuuzhan Vong thing started? That was...such a dumb series. Yes, yes, the aliens have biotechnology exclusively out of all the kinds of technology, yes the Republic is getting pushed back, yes they're desperate, we get the picture...wait, there's another book like that? And another...?

This, a billion times. I mean, you can't get much more literally deus ex machina than, "and then one of my characters discovered a machine that made him Q, he snapped his fingers, and all the problems were solved."

Among authors, the most prevalent misconception is that "there are sure-fire shortcuts to be had," says Buchanan.

You know what I want to know? When did we stop referring to genre movies as "<insert genre> movies" and start referring to them as "<insert genre> porn?"

Love all the little tidbits strewn about in this - like Leibniz's Rule or Holst's Neptune!

I just finished playing through again! Not coincidentally, I found myself marveling at the hulking geometric constructs marching off into the distance in The Fall. Really tremendous visuals. Some of the best ruins depicted in any game.

Just before that scene for me...

"The Inner Light" might be my favorite Trek episode ever. Awesome.

Wash's death is annoying. Because it doesn't move the plot along, and it happens in such a totally random way that it's completely obvious that it's Joss Whedon, writer, killing him off just because he can.

Classic Star Wars with the XCOM engine. You hand-pick your team of Jedi, Rebel troopers, and astromech droids, infiltrate Imperial bases, and then accidentally look at your Steam page to see that you've broken 200 hours in the game.

Oh, yeah? Blobfish.

Thanks...but I guess I need an editor to say that! :)

There's a bit of a catch-22. I tried selling a story a while back to a number of magazines and sites, and almost none of them give any editorial comments whatsoever. (One editor, from Analog, I believe, handwrote on my form rejection letter that he finds stories written in the present tense to be very distracting…