On April 23, 2020 Jacqueline Carnot discovered a supernova in the constellation Draco, nicknamed "the Dragon's Egg."

In an interesting temporal distortion, a 10-year-old astronomer confirmed this discovery on October 30, 2013.

Ms. Carnot was depicted in Robert L. Forward's fictionalization of the event in the book Dragon's Egg.

Scientists are still waiting to confirm that the supernova created a neutron star which supports life and is on a trajectory to pass close to our sun.

Hmm. X.Org must have seen the writing on the wall and decided to get out of the X Window business. I hadn't heard that they were driving Wayland project. Good exit strategy. Likewise Mesa.

No kidding. I work at a bookstore and bibles are one of the most lifted items, along with graffiti books, pot growing books, and books by Bukowski, and Derek Jensen.

Make that "or his aides."

Apocryphal?

And Reagan, or his aids, playing Edelweiss upon the arrival of the Austrian representative, probably in the mistaken notion that it was the Austrian national anthem, or an Austrian folk song, or at least Austrian.

It was written for The Sound of Music.

http://www.professorwalter.com/2011/01/edelweiss.html

And here in the US we use the term "virtual Maginot Line" for what in Europe you call a "virtual Schengen border."

It was an attempt at humor by stating something so completely obvious (that Tufte is steeped in the history of how to convey information visually) that my supposed surprise at discovering this would be funny. Since his books are chock full of this history, I didn't consider that I might be taken seriously on that point.

Wonderful books. I'd like to see him lecture.

Sorry to give that impression. It wasn't sarcasm. It doesn't really mean anything. These are not the droids you're looking for.

Perhaps I may not have kept up with the times. Wikipedia says (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Apress) that Springer had a minority stake in Apress but now owns them outright. Ah well, learn something every day.

Apress is an indie, in that it's not an imprint of some larger publisher or conglomerate. They have a deal with Springer Verlag for distribution. If there's any ownership involved I haven't heard about it.

Bizarrely you've actually got the same publisher in both the good and bad columns. Charles River got aquired by Thomson (now Cengage), owner of Course Technology. The title that you mentioned, "Shaders for Game Programmers and Artists" by Sebastien St-Laurent, is probably from another publisher they acquire a few years ago, Premier.

I'm not saying you're wrong though. In the end, it all depends on the author and editor, and one publisher could easily could have good and bad books. Especially when they're produced by different imprints/divisions. Now that a lot of smaller publishers have been eaten by big ones, I guess that I'd keep an eye out for what division I'd be working with.

I bought a bag from him when he was a local, but in Santa Cruz, California. Had a little one room store just off the main drag. I seem to remember a sewing machine at the back by the register. I think it was his "factory" as well as his showroom and store.

After I bought the bag he pointed out that he didn't really like the standard zipper pull that came on the zippers he used and made his standard offer to replace it with one he like better. For free. It was better.

This guy's attention to detail and customer service were amazing. I didn't know what happened to him after his store closed down. I'm glad to hear that he went on to bigger things in Seattle.

Rock on Tom!

(Disclaimer: I'm not a friend. That was the only time I remember talking to him, although he may have shopped where I work as well.)