Some Things I Underlined (‘To Sail Beyond The Sunset’)

Categories: Quotations
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Published on: May 9, 2013

Following are some passages I underlined during a reading of To Sail Beyond The Sunset (1987) by Robert A. Heinlein, the last novel he published before dying in 1988:

“I remember Earth. I knew her when she was clean and green, mankind’s beautiful bride, sweet and lush and lovable… It is futile to mourn over the corpse of Earth, as silly as it would be to cry over an empty chrysalis when its butterfly has flown. But I am incurably sentimental and forever sad at how Man’s Old Home has changed.”

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“Censorship is never logical but, like cancer, it is dangerous to ignore it when it shows up.”

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Beware: Editing Signs’ Grammar Without Permission Is A Crime

Categories: Grammar, InTheNews
Comments: 2 Comments
Published on: May 8, 2013

There is a school of thought, albeit a relatively unpopular one, that poor grammar or punctuation on printed signs should be corrected with a Sharpie or other tool, vigilante style.

In the News: Vigilante Copy Editor (New York Times)

And there are older instances, such as this one (The Virginian-Pilot).

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Some Things I Underlined (‘The Cat Who Walks Through Walls’)

Categories: Quotations
Comments: 2 Comments
Published on: May 7, 2013

Following are some passages I underlined during a reading of The Cat Who Walks Through Walls: A Comedy of Manners (1985) by Robert A. Heinlein:

“It does not do to encourage bad banners; one should retaliate, urbanely but firmly.”

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Renters Forever: Photoshop Moves To Subscription Model

Categories: Business, InTheNews
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Published on: May 7, 2013

In The News: Adobe starts subscription for Photoshop and Dreamweaver (BBC News)

This shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone; many software companies are moving in this direction. Instead of having to ship millions of boxes and discs every year when they upgrade the software, they’re just going to add the updates to the online “Creative Cloud” system. Any subscribers would automatically have them.

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Some Things I Underlined (‘I Will Fear No Evil’)

Categories: Quotations
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Published on: May 6, 2013

Following are some passages I underlined during a reading of I Will Fear No Evil (1970) by Robert Heinlein:

“…most people think of money as something to pay the rent. But a money man thinks of money in terms of what he can do with it.”

“…it’s impossible for a woman to lay it on too thick with a man. If you tell a man he’s eight feet tall and say it often enough, with your eyes wide and a throb in your voice, he’ll start stooping to go through seven-foot doors”

DIY: Measuring Cup Holder

Categories: DIY, How To
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Published on: May 1, 2013

For about $5, I made this measuring cup holder that’s hidden inside a kitchen cabinet:

DIY: Measuring Cup Holder
(Copyright © 2013 by Wil C. Fry. All rights reserved.)

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Movie Review: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy (2011)

Categories: Movie Reviews
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Published on: April 28, 2013

My wife and I invoked our “30 minute rule” when watching this movie. The rule is: if the movie can’t interest either of us in 30 minutes, then we turn it off and quit wasting our time.

According to Wikipedia, this film is based on a 1974 novel and “the story follows the hunt for a Soviet double agent at the top of the British secret service.” In the first 30 minutes, no one “hunted” for a Soviet double agent. In fact, it wasn’t even clear that anyone in the movie was part of the British secret service.

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Quotes From A Stranger

Categories: Book Reviews, Quotations
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Published on: April 27, 2013

Following are some passages I underlined during my 2002 reading of Stranger In A Strange Land (1961) by Robert Heinlein, of which I wrote on Nov. 14, 2002, “Perhaps the best book ever written.” (I no longer feel that way, but it’s still a pretty good book.)

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White House Diction Lessons

Categories: Fixing English, Government
Comments: 2 Comments
Published on: April 26, 2013

There’s a new White House Tumblr page, and the first entry includes an image with this lettering: “ANIMATED GIFs (HARD ‘G’)”.

First, let me say I’m proud that they didn’t put an apostrophe in “GIFs”, as so many on the internet seem to do these days.

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Penmanship Is More Than Outdated; It’s Unnecessary

Categories: InTheNews, Language
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Published on: April 21, 2013

Because I assume everyone wants to know my opinion (ha!)…

In the News: Is Handwriting Still Important? The Digital Generation Skips Penmanship (BBC News)

While I’m admittedly old-fashioned in many ways (for example, I don’t have a “smartphone”), I can usually argue practicality (for example: there’s no point in me having a smartphone). But the practicality argument works against old-fashioned ideas in the case of handwriting.

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