I was so impressed with its ease of use, I ended up typing in all of my to-do list items and then some. If I continue to use mindmeister, I don’t see myself needing anything but the free version (there is a premium pay service as well), and I can’t wait to try out the real-time collaboration feature. Anyway, it’s as least as useful as a Google Docs type of web-o-service. Cheers.

Anyway, I’ve got some pushups to do. Later!

*I also posted this on my tumblr blog - it was just too good a book to just mention there

I just finished ENDER’S GAME, by Orson Scott Card, and I was honestly
blown away. What a great read! While it is true I have been reading
more mundane, down-to-Earth literature of late [MAINSTREET, KIM, THE
RAINBOW], I found this novel to be so well written and well-paced - not
to mention downright fun to read - I found myself halfway through it
after the first day and finished with it in another day and a half.

The pacing reminds me of many of John Grisham novels, where some invisible
rope seems to pull the reader through the book. Part of that is the
cool-factor. The kind of cool found only in good science fiction - born
out of an interesting premise, laced with new ideas along the way, and
topped off with something of a twist at the end. This is the kind of
book that makes one sad to be through with - my only consolation is
that I also bought the sequel to ENDER’S GAME, SPEAKER FOR THE DEAD.
[From what I’ve read, this one is good too, but entirely different]

I’m not going to go into what this book is about - there are many themes
and interesting aspects to it, but suffice it to say that this is a
MUST for any sci-fi fan and a strong recommendation for everyone else
(but be warned, this might get a person hooked on sci-fi).

My score: 5 out of 5

Yeah. To me, this book felt like a war documentary - I think it was the
lack of exciting plot, more than anything - Heinlein was masterful in
skewing the world we know into a believable futuristic world, a
realistic world, full of cool ideas and concepts, but it was just a
little too dull.

Allow me to summarize: a youngster joins up with the “Mobile Infantry”,
is sent through boot camp, war breaks out against bug-like aliens,
youngster rises slowly through the ranks . . . and . . . that’s it. No
twist. No big finish.

Seriously, the first few chapters I was smiling to myself. “This is
gonna be great,” I thought. And it was, but again, the exciting plot
failed to show itself. So, my verdict: if you’re a hard-core Sci-fi
fan, you’ll be reading this anyway, but if not, don’t bother with this
one (though it is a quick read at around 208 pages).

My score: 3 out of 5

What’s up with twitter.com? One day it’s “having difficulties”, another day it’s “down for maintenance”, today it’s “over capacity.” I guess they’re just waiting for someone to buy them out, meanwhile making only the minimum amount of upgrades to keep up with interweb traffic. Kinda crummy - then again, they are apparently fixing it as it breaks, and that’s better than nothing. Anyway, keep up twitter. Keep up.

The downside is, while I do still have access to all the previous comments on this blog as administrator, the slate has been wiped clean of all comments from your point of view. So . . . start commenting. The first time you comment, go ahead and register (you can enter your user information, website, email, facebook id, twitter account, upload an avatar, etc….).

We will see how it goes. And if you want me to dig up your comment from a previous post, just ask me and you can re-comment if you wish. Oh, and here’s the link for the Disqus website: disqus.com

I noticed a comment on the post asking how long Ulysses was, and after briefly consulting my handy hardcover copy, the answer is 768 pages. (Your welcome) I only got halfway through that one, by the way. Maybe someday I’ll finish it.

By the way, the longest novel I’ve personally completed would probably be The Lord of the Rings by Tolkien (who wrote it as a single novel, originally, before his publisher split it into three books). Go ahead and leave a comment - what’s the longest novel you’ve read?

photo credit: smellyknee

1. Wolverine (46%, 6 Votes)
2. Super Grover (23%, 3 Votes)
3. Superman (15%, 2 Votes)
4. Batman (8%, 1 Votes)
5. Captain America (8%, 1 Votes)
6. Spiderman (0%, 0 Votes)

Batman, Captain America, Spiderman - these very pillars of superhero-dom - were all three disregarded by most voters. Spiderman received zero votes, in fact. (I warned you the results were startling) Superman came in third place with two votes (I’m pretty sure one of those was a scientist, so that vote is 50% scientific). Super Grover, hardly a traditional contender in this space, reached the amazing second place position (but everyone knows he’s not even real . . . he’s a Muppet, for crying out loud!). And first place for best superhero: Wolverine, garnering twice as many votes as the second place and winning over the hearts and minds of at least six of those who voted . . . er, something like that.

Give me a couple of days and I’ll have another poll ready. On a related matter, I’m taking suggestions for silly or interesting poll questions (nothing scientific, however) - just leave a comment, thanks!