Daniel King

I’ve been publishing my own short stories, comics and poetry since I was a child. It’s in my blood or something. When I have something I want to share, I’ll print twenty or fifty or a hundred copies, sell enough to cover the cost and give the rest away. It’s not a hobby, but not a business venture either.

In May, I decided to write stories professionally. Since then, I’ve written the rough draft of a novel that’s been bubbling in my psyche for a couple years, and more books are starting to get their own folders as I write simple plot outlines, character sketches, setting descriptions and miscellaneous notes. I’ll be shopping these around to publishers and agents in the coming months. I’m also working on a short story or two.

Part of the dive is a new look at recent “classic” literature. Writers read, right? I bought “New York Public Library’s Books of the Century” at Barnes & Noble. The editors chose 159 of what they thought were the most significant works of the past hundred years. I plan to read as many of the recommendations as I can. I was surprised both at how many and at how few I’ve already read.

My first purchase was the “Early Works of Edna St. Vincent Millay“, which I absolutely adore. I passed up Marcel Proust for the moment and will likely “cheat” by starting with the graphic novel, hrrmph.

Google just helped me order pizza. I called the toll free number and was greeted by a friendly computer voice. It asked me what city to search in, then what listing I wanted. It repeated the information back to me in its own voice so that I knew it was searching for the right business.

The experimental Google 411 service then immediately gave me listings for the pizza chain I asked for. I just said, “Number one” and it told me more about the listing. I could get more info or it would even connect me to the number. When I said “Go back”, it took me back to the list to choose another listing.

When I call actual 411, I tell the computer what I want, then have to tell the operator again. The person is usually abrupt and unfriendly. Oh, and I have to pay a couple bucks for it. And more if I want to be connected to the number.

With Google 411, it was quick, friendly, and free. I can’t imagine this service remaining free, but for now I’ll help them test out this service and you can too.

Just call: (800) GOOG-411 which numerically translates to (800) 466-4411.

(I didn’t actually order the pizza, but I couldn’t think of anyone else to call.)

It occurs to me that I don’t know anyone who has their face on a billboard. Perhaps I need to do something about that. I could get a PSA billboard done for free. Maybe I’ll tell my friend Justin that having his face on a billboard will help him get girls or something.

Sci Fi Channel has 14 classic science fiction movies that won’t cost you a cent. My guess is that these movies are in the public domain and can be found elsewhere, but they provide a convenient interface if you don’t mind watching flash movies embedded in a web page (full screen is buggy at this writing).

My Greasemonkey video downloader script doesn’t grab it, but there might be a way to download the movies if you look around. Public domain, remember?

Recently, spammers have tried to contaminate anti-spam filters with an onslaught of nonsense emails and emails that resemble mail server error responses. I filter all my email through Gmail (the ‘G’ is for Google) because I can use it anywhere (even on my cell phone). Their spam filter rarely lets any spam through, but the last couple weeks, I’ve had ten or twenty spam mails a day.

I was able to filter half of these myself since many were almost identical. Over the last few days, the number has dropped to one or two. I checked my spam folder. Gmail caught them! Good work Google!