OK you can’t download the album for free but they are providing it in it’s entirety as a stream with a nice embeddable player as you can see below. Obviously this gains them lots of free(ish) marketing but it also allow customers to listen before they commit to buying in a format that might be more useful to them.

I’ve always thought streaming music will be the way forward as bandwidth becomes cheaper and broadband coverage ubiquitous and we are just starting to see the beginnings of this with ad funded services such as SpiralFrog and We7. Illegal downloading will never go away no matter how much money the labels throw at combating it but if you make something easy to access, legally for zero (or little/ad driven) cost then people will use it and possibly even buy stuff if that is made easy, non-crippled and reasonably priced too.

Heres hoping eh.

There can be a tendency in short fiction magazines to publish stories which whilst demonstrating the craft, lose the entertainment to the ‘challenge’. Of course those stories have their place but with limited time for reading, sometimes I just want something that keeps me turning the pages and Darwin’s Evolution so far has managed that.

Good stuff then, I’ll keep reading and I will no doubt donate when I am feeling a little healthier in the pocket.

Darwin’s Evolutions is a web-based periodical that presents speculative fiction (science fiction and fantasy) genre stories in a monthly “magazine” format along with available print on demand and abridged podcast versions.

Within the boundaries of our ‘zine and our archives, expect to find engrossing stories, expressive art, and the best serial-comics we can convince to join our efforts.

This webzine is funded by the kindly donations of our readers along with select business sponsorships. We will avoid tacking on onerous web-style advertisements so long as our readership and affiliated sponsors can support us.

In every issue expect stories that give you characters to care about in challenging situations whose struggles to overcome their adversity will keep you clicking or turning the next page to find out what happens next.

I really can’t stress enough how good these magazines are, especially when you consider that the market for short fiction is far from huge and healthy. TTA Press not only produce magazines full of great new fiction and interesting editorial, they also manage to make the magazines look, feel and probably smell great, which can come as a shock if you are used to reading the pulps.

The podcast seems similarly well produced, and fulfils both my love of short fiction and my love of other people reading stuff to me so I can give my eyes a rest. If you fancy some free short stories and you want to have a taste for what is available in the magazines then I highly recommend checking it out.

Welcome to Transmissions From Beyond, the biweekly podcast of stories selected from the pages of the TTA Press magazines Interzone (science fiction & fantasy), Black Static (horror) and Crimewave (crime & mystery) by editor Pete Bullock. New stories appear every other Monday.

1. See this bonfire?
2. Therefore, God exists.

Are you a slow-moving zombie who likes chasing injured people whilst groaning, searching for that fast-moving zombie with missing limbs and a taste for brains? Then ZombieHarmony is the best and quite possibly only place that will meet your needs.

…Braaaaiiiinnnnssssss…

However a while back I logged in to find a message stating the site was closed and would reopen as a worldwide site so anyone could read the books from any country. Sounds good but I’ve now checked it out and they have changed the way books can be read.

The free PDFs are history and you can now read all the titles online for free using their own reader. This whilst not as good as the PDF downloads is at least a good compromise for those countries that couldn’t previously access any of the books. However you can get the PDF files but you now have to pay rather high prices and not all books are available in all countries.

I’m not sure how successful this will be. I’ll continue to use it for reading free books online and it’s a good resource, it’s just a shame they couldn’t keep the advertising supported free PDF downloads.

Boiled them up in some salted water for about 6/7 minutes and they were delicious. Thought they might taste a bit muddy out of the river but once the gut is removed you are left with lovely clean tasting flesh.

Yummmmmm…I like free food.

The river near us is teeming with the American “Signals” so it didn’t take to long to grab some little monsters.

Our high tech equipment inculded a plumb line I found in a draw with some bacon tied to it, plus a cheap fishing net we bought Sophie. They really are quite stupid and will hang on for quite a while until you net them.

It’s quite strange seeing them appear from the depths, grab some bacon and then head back into the gloom with it like little freshwater lobsters. They really don’t look like they belong in an English river (and I guess these ones don’t), especially when you pull them out as the big ones really are very large.

Anyway, Sophie’s patience was wearing thin so we stopped short of getting a decent meals worth but I may well stick them in the pot tomorrow and see how they taste.

If you’ve not heard MURS and you want something a little more intelligent than the normal chart crap they call hip hop, then you really should check this album for a taste. it’s got a nice laid back summer feel to it so great for chilling in the current heat.

Enjoy.

Normal service will resume.

For those of you who didn’t sign up for the Tor ebook giveaway to promote the quite spangly new site, they have now made all the ebooks available to download until Sunday July 27th.

Go and grab them quickly before they disappear.

There are also a load of nice desktop wallpapers of cover art for those of you who like pretty pictures…some of them really are very nice.

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson

PDF || HTMLnew! || HTML zipnew! || Mobinew!

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

Spin by Robert Charles Wilson

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

Farthing by Jo Walton

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

The Outstretched Shadow by Mercedies Lackey & James Mallory

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

Crystal Rain by Tobias Buckell

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

Lord of the Isles by David Drake

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

Through Wolf’s Eyes by Jane Lindskold

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

The Disunited States of America by Harry Turtledove

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

Reiffen’s Choice by S.C. Butler

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

Sun of Suns by Karl Schroeder

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

Four and Twenty Blackbirds by Cherie Priest

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

Spirit Gate by Kate Elliot

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

Starfish by Peter Watts

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

Touch of Evil by C.T. Adams & Cathy Clamp

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

A Shadow in Summer by Daniel Abraham

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

Orphans of Chaos by John Wright

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

In the Garden of Iden by Kage Baker

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

In the Midnight Hour by Patti O’Shea

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

Battlestar Galactica by Jeffrey A. Carver

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

Flash by L.E. Modesitt, Jr.

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

Soul by Tobsha Learner

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

Darkness of the Light by Peter David

PDF || HTML || HTML zip || Mobi

Three Shadows by Cyril Pedrosanew!

PDF || ePub

Posting will resume next week hopefully.

Project Gotham it ain’t but it is a fun little racer and you do get to race around recognisably London streets.

To celebrate the launch of the new CLC Coupé, Mercedes-Benz is proud to unveil a free to download PC Game entitled ‘CLC Dream Test Drive’ for the simple reason we think a dream car deserves a dream test drive. Simply download the file to your PC today and experience an exhilarating driving experience on the streets of London with zero traffic!

Configure your CLC 350 Sport to your personal taste – alter the exterior colour, and alloy wheels, and choose from two driving game modes – across a total of five tracks.

Race against five computer controlled competitors around famous London landmarks such as Big Ben, Tower Bridge, and Nelson’s Column. Or compete against online competitors world wide in the fastest lap time trial for glory and prizes via the online leaderboard.

In addition, you can race during the day or night, configure the controls, see replays of your race, and view the new CLC Coupé from every angle.

The streets of London will never look the same again!

We hope your CLC Dream Test Drive encourages you to take a real test drive soon.

[via Reuters]

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Yahoo Inc said on Thursday it would offer its users hundreds of popular casual online games as free downloads backed by revenue from advertising integrated into the games.

More than 400 ad-supported games from top casual games publishers like Anarchy Big Fish Games and Sugar Games will be available to users before year-end, Yahoo said.

The company is working with technology providers Double Fusion and NeoEdge to sell and integrate video ads into the Yahoo! Games catalog.

Casual online games are usually games developed for mass consumers. They rarely require much expertise or time to play.

Some of the most popular casual games include Solitaire, Tetris and Bejeweled, and many players of such games are women between the ages of 35 and 54.

Yahoo said in-game advertising will allow it and its publisher partners to drive revenue by providing advertisers access to a coveted demographic of gamers.

Not entirely convinced by the domain name (read up on John Locke) but I love the site which indexes loads of good educational and documentary type programmes from a wide variety of sources.

JohnLocker.com was started in April of 2008 to help students, teachers, educators, and the public get educated on a variety of topics. As the first user powered online learning network, you can expect to come away with knowledge that both challenges and empowers you.

By harnessing the power of social communities, JohnLocker.com is able to provide the best documentaries and educational videos found on the web. It is our goal to make the process of watching, adding, rating, and dicussing the individual videos as simple as possible.

Every video on JohnLocker.com was added by people just like you. By clicking “Quick Video Add”, you can instantly import any video from YouTube, Google Video, Veoh, MegaVideo, and DailyMotion by simply copying and pasting the URL of the video.

Please help JohnLocker.com grow by telling all your friends and relatives where they can educate themselves online for free. Without all of you, JohnLocker couldn’t provide the videos and documenataries you see today.

Who thought having an extension was a good idea, I’m sure it was nothing to do with me.

Sorry for the lack of updates but I’m struggling to get anything done round here as you need to remove a thick layer of dust first.

I think the worst is over so hopefully life will return to normal soon.

You can find most of the Conan stories online as ebooks, along with the rest of Robert E. Howard’s writing as I think the majority of it is out of copyright. I’d recommend checking a few of them out as they still stand up fairly well today, it’s the pulp prose that gets me every time…

Hither came Conan, the Cimmerian, black-haired, sullen-eyed, sword in hand, a thief, a reaver, a slayer, with gigantic melancholies and gigantic mirth, to tread the jeweled thrones of the Earth under his sandalled feet.

The audio drama is produced by BrokenSea Audio, who do a great job of creating free audio dramas with really high production values and this one seems no exception.

Only one episode available so far but after listening I’m looking forward to the next and hoping they do a few more Conan stories.

Go and listen by Crom!

Episode #1:
Into the seaport town Messantia, of the southern Hyborian kingdom of ARGUS, the road of Kings led the twenty four year old Cimmerian barbarian- CONAN. Having gotten crossways with the local justice system over a friend of his and the death of a guardsman, Conan took the law into his own hands with his mighty broadsword. The guardsmen were not pleased by his northern Cimmerian ideas of justice, so CONAN “borrowed” a horse from the courts and fled looking for a ship.

The mercenary ship- The ARGUS, just so happened to be putting out to sea as CONAN thundered down the pier having just stormed through the market- guardsmen hot on his trail.

Will the ship’s captain, TITO, allow the Cimmerian passage, or will the guardsmen fill his back full or arrows first? And what of the legendary She-Devil Pirate Queen of the Black Coast?

I’ve not listened yet and obviously being out of touch with “tha youth” I’ve not heard of half the bands on the playlist…although I’ve seen UNKLE. Feel free to join me in listening and tutting at what the young ‘uns call music these days

Neon Neon - Belfast
Neon Neon are the electro creation of Super Furry Animals’ Gruff Rhys and producer Boom Bip. They play the Other Stage on Saturday

White Denim - Darksided Computer Mouth
There’s a buzz about these inventive Austin garage-rockers. They play the Queens Head Stage on Saturday

Mulatu Astatqé (Ethiopiques) - Yékèrmo Sew
Hypnotic jazz, soul and funk from the celebrated Ethiopiques artists
headlining the JazzWorld stage on Saturday

The Shortwave Set - White Lie
Dangermouse-approved London indie pop - catch the Shortwave Set at the Dance Village Lounge Stage midday on Sunday

CSS - Rat Is Dead
Sao Paolo’s smuttiest art-popsters headline the Park Stage on Saturday

Operator Please - Zero Zero
These Aussie power-poppers are great live. They play the Park Stage on Friday

Crystal Castles - Air War
Crystal Castles make the sound of your Sega Megadrive crashing sound tuneful. They forward-thinking 8-bit sound terrorists play the John Peel Stage on Saturday

The Brute Chorus - The Cuckoo and the Stolen Heart
Country-tinged guitar pop from East London, The Brute Chorus play the BBC Introducing Stage on Friday

Metronomy - Let’s Have A Party
Sonic visionary and remixer extraordinaire, Metronomy plays the Dance Village on Saturday

XX Teens - The Way We Were
XX Teens’ artful guitar noise can be heard in the Dance Tent on Satuday

Foals - Red Sock Pugie
Guardian/music favourites Foals bring their exotic math-pop to the Other Stage on Friday

Glasvegas - Be My Baby
Set for their first chart hit over Glastonbury weekend with Geraldine, this Spector cover was an early b-side for the Glaswegians. The band play the John Peel stage on Friday

Micachu - Curly Teeth
Existing somewhere between grime and classical, catch this hotly tipped Londoner at the Vice/Lock Tavern Tent on Friday

Yeasayer - Sunrise
The psychedelic Brooklynites twist Eastern and African sounds into strange new shapes. They play the John Peel Stage on Sunday

UNKLE - Heaven (featuring Gavin Clark)
UNKLE bring their moody avant-pop to the Dance East on Saturday

<Homer Simpson Mode>But I want it now!</Homer Simpson Mode>

[Via slashfood]

I’m not sure what strange thread I was following which led me to the free ebook “emergency nursing unscrewed” over at impactednurse.com but I’m quite glad I ended up there as it’s an interesting read.

The site is published by Ian Miller “a registered nurse with nearly 23 years experience working in the Emergency Department of a major teaching hospital in Canberra Australia.” and appears to be a very well written and possibly useful (if you are a nurse) resource.
However it is the book that led me there and whilst I am not a nurse and have no intentions of becoming one, on browsing I found myself reading huge chunks of it. It really is an interesting, often very funny, and quite grossly graphic insight into the world of the emergency department nurse.

If you’ve ever wondered…

• How to insert a catheter

Local takes around 3 minutes to work properly, although that is a long time to be discussing the latest sports results with a bloke whilst holding his penis in your hand.

• How to remove a penis caught in a zip

Call the police, call the rescue helicopter, call the priest.

• how to handle the smell of poo

You all know the scenario; you roll your semi-conscious patient over only to discover a steaming lumpy broth of diarrhoea that, thanks to the physics of capillary action, has oozed and squittered its way into every fold and fossa betwixt and between

…and many more delightful subjects, then this is the book for you.

Also available are two other ebooks:
how to be a nurse

Want to know how to survive burnout?
How about…how to survive one shift in the emergency department?
Is your workday getting a little bland and cynical?
Do you feel you need to add a little depth to your nursing practice?
Need to improve your listening skills?

No problem. Join me as we get a little vertical, engage in some reflective introspection, reach out and…… hit the big red button.

And the quite brilliant list of advice…

• Try not to sneeze when wearing a protective face shield.
• Never bend down to pick up your pen when the patient is vomiting into a kidney dish.
• Always give the patient a call-bell, even when they have an itchy buzer finger.
• When returning from a toilet break always always check to make sure you do not have a tail of toilet paper hanging out the back of your pants.
  Wash your hands. Often. And properly.
• Be gentle with your colleagues.
• Always handle a dead body with respect.
• Air goes in and out. Blood goes round and round. All the rest is obfuscation.
• Never underestimate the amount of faeces that can be concealed in a pair of old y-fronts.
• Listen until it hurts.
• Watch for burn-out. Watch for rust-out.
• Best not to fall asleep at the desk and dribble all over your patient notes.
• Remember: Best practice. Remember: Worst case scenario.
• Guard your testicles from static electricity when making a bed on a dry day. (If you don’t have testicles, guard the testicles of those around you.)
• The voice of experience sometimes gets drowned out by the din of expedience.
• There is no such thing as this will only take a moment.
• If you tell your patient “Ill be right back”, make it so.
• Chocolate is brown. Faeces are brown. It’s confusing, I know. But try to pay attention.

the back passage

Compiled into one easy-to-read compendium. True stories from the emergency department gathered into one soggy lump for no other reason than to lift your spirit.

here for your edification is a short list of items I have personally helped retrieve from the collective back passages of a large cross section of society:

• A sundry of vibrators in various colours shapes and novelty themes.
• A large frozen chicken roll.
• A table leg wrapped in newspaper and cling-wrap.
• A pencil.
• A steel tube.
• A perfume bottle.
• And of course the all popular varieties of elongated vegetable.

I’m sure they will be very useful for anyone wishing to follow a nursing career, and for the rest of us they offer a glimpse of life working in a hospital, plus a few laughs and gross outs.

They have all been release under a Creative Commons license so go and read them.

Nevermind I enjoy short stories in general and Cory’s short stories have always been an enjoyable read, so a comic based on his short stories will no doubt entertain me.

As with all of my books, this one is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike-NonCommercial license, meaning you can copy it, share it, remix it and play with it, provided it’s on a non-commercial basis. I’ve uploaded the full book in high resolution as a PDF and CBR file to the Internet Archive, for your downloading pleasure.

Collected in this volume are adaptations of my award-winning stories “Craphound,” “Anda’s Game,” “When Sysadmins Ruled the Earth,” “After the Siege,” “I, Robot” and “Nimby and the D-Hoppers.”

There isn’t a great deal to the game but I just love the presentation and it does have that strange hypnotic effect that these sorts of games have.

Most of all I love the music, so I shall shortly blog about where it comes from as it’s from an album I’ve looked at a few times.

You have to save the planet from invading space invaders. The space invaders have a weakness if they are stacked according to the match-3 rules they will die and disappear!

Click space invaders to drop them. Try to stack them in piles (or lines) of three or more.

I’m no audiophile but I love the warm sounding recording and it’s just the sort of thing I like to listen to very late at night when working on the PC after a crazy day spent with toddlers.

I suffer from bad bouts of insomnia so I’m always on the lookout for quality relaxing albums which this  most definitely is….as opposed to say some new age twunt playing panpipes over some whale song.

He has some other work available so I’ll check that out soon.

How do you start a movement with a marker pen? What’s the connection between the nun who invented disco, and file sharing? How did a male model messing with disco records in New York in the 1970s influence the way Boeing design airplanes? Does hip-hop really hold the secret to world peace? How did three eleven-year-olds revolutionize the video game industry by turning Nazis into Smurfs? And what’s going to happen to Nike when it’s possible for kids to download sneakers?

The Pirate’s Dilemma tells the story of how youth culture drives innovation and is changing the way the world works. It offers understanding and insight for a time when piracy is just another business model, the remix is our most powerful marketing tool and anyone with a computer is capable of reaching more people than a multi-national corporation.

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Atheist Anonymous Comic 6 by ~Devain on deviantART

Escape the pyroclastic wall of doom and find your dino sanctuary.

Love this great browser game from Pixeljam Games.

Old school graphics and gameplay but really nice presentation and dinosaurs…what more could you want.

It’s a kind of speed platformer/race game where you play a lovely pixelated dinosaur, trying to escape the big wall of doom threatening your extinction.

Keep discovering new little things which make me smile and there is a multiplayer version available too for those feeling sociable.