Fetzer, 51, From Waitsboro, North Carolina. Military Veteran, Arabic Linguist.

I've just put up the site for my latest book, a slim chapbook in PM Press's Outspoken Authors series called The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow. The book contains a novella ("There's a Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow/Now is the Best Time of Your Life"), an essay on futurism, the transcript of a lecture on copyright and creativity, and a wide-ranging interview with Terry Bisson. — Read the rest

From the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, a helpful banker's guide to spotting "single-issue terrorists," which includes (apparently) abortionists and ecological extremists. It also groups attacks on property with attacks on people, and sales of books and literature with sales of false identification documents. — Read the rest

I'll be speaking next Wednesday, the 19th, in Washington DC, as part of a one-day conference on the future of energy. What Will Turn Us On in 2030? is part of Future Tense, a series of events sponsored by Slate.com, Arizona State University, and the New America Foundation. — Read the rest

The Very Large Array is a spectacular piece of a scientific equipment with a less-than-compelling name. Located in New Mexico, you've seen this radio observatory pop up in the background of movies, album covers, and on Carl Sagan's Cosmos.

This year, the Very Large Array, which has been around since the 1970s, got some much-needed electronic upgrades and now the National Radio Astronomy Observatory, which runs the Array, would like to rename it. — Read the rest

When an animal as big as a whale dies, its body becomes a whole new ecosystem. One whale carcass can support other forms of life for 50-to-75 years—basically as long as the whale itself lived.

This gorgeous video (I am not kidding. — Read the rest

Officials were worried this week, when they discovered a radiation hotspot in Tokyo, kicking off readings as high as 3.35 microsieverts per hour. (For context, a dental x-ray is about 5 microsieverts. This wasn't a massive amount of radiation, but it was concerning. — Read the rest

The Awl offers a selection of photos and videos from the early hours today, in which the city of New York's deadline for clearing out the park (so it might be "cleaned") passed.

This strangely affecting short of Paris, abandoned under a yard of water, is by Olivier Campagne & Vivien Balzi. Brice Tillet made the music. [Video Link via Laughing Squid]

Field Notes' lovely but inexpensive pocket jotters now come in stiff-cover red.

Holy Smokes is a company that will load cremains into shotgun shells and standard-caliber cartridges for you. [Wired]

Illo: Rob Beschizza. Photo: Frederic Poirot

Author William Gibson discusses Victorians, John Shirley and the early days of his career. A longer version of this interview appeared in the 197th issue of Paris Review

Rome Sweet Rome, a historical sci-fi saga published as comments at Reddit, was snapped up today by Warner Brothers.

In answer to a question — "Could I destroy the Roman Empire … with a U.S. Marine Battalion?" — author James Erwin posted his reply in the form of a short story. — Read the rest

An unwise individual has made a wager that involves inserting a cotton bud soaked in the world's hottest pepper into his rectum. He has asked Reddit how to minimize the harm that might arise as a consequence of this undertaking. Redditors have reacted with a perfect mixture of horror and fascination, as you might expect. — Read the rest

If you thought your mobile carrier was a pile of shit, it's understandable — after all, the phones themselves are festering hives of E coli:

Researchers said that 16% of the devices were contaminated with E coli, which can cause food poisoning, most probably because people fail to properly wash their hands after going to the toilet.

Seattle prosecutors decided not to press charges against Seattle superhero Phoenix Jones. As I posted yesterday, Jones was arrested over the weekend for allegedly pepper spraying a group of people. His "spokesman" says he was attempting to break up a fight. — Read the rest

[Video Link] I couldn't figure out how he did it. I had to watch the video below to learn the trick.

(Via TYWKIWDBI) — Read the rest

[Video Link] This police helicopter has gee-whiz visioning technology that makes it easy for the pilot to pinpoint a moron who flashed him with a green laser.

Laughing Squid: Man Aiming a Laser Pointer a Police Helicopter Is Quickly Arrested — Read the rest

[Video Link] It's fun to watch this fellow drop a magnet on a large disk of copper. I have no idea why he is talking about a Brazilian X-rated website. That's just a bonus feature. — Read the rest