en Passant not letting life just pass on by

Click here to download INFECTED Chapters 56-58

Bill Miller finally tracks down Perry Dawsey, and finds that his best friend has seen better days. Dew Phillips responds to Perry's internet plea for help, but will he get there before Perry takes off?

NEW ADVERTISING STRATEGY SURVEY
I'm experimenting witha sponsor for each chapter -- short ads in the middle of your free podcast. Listen to this episode, then CLICK HERE to let me know what you think. Vote and leave comments, tell me what's on your mind, Junkies!

EPISODE SPONSORS:

• Chapter 56 is brought to you by Petmeds.com, use the checkout code "Scott" get 10% off any order of $39 or more for pet medications and supplies
• Chapter 57 is brought to you by EastBay.com, use the discount code "scottsig2" to get 20% off any order of $75 or more on your athletic shoes and gear
• Chapter 58 is brought to you by GoDaddy.com, use the discount code "scott1" to get 10% off your entire order for URL registrations, web hosting or domain transfers

This TechNet Radio session features an overview that highlights the new features and architectural changes in the VSTS 2008 Database Edition GDR? August 26th, 2008 Participants: Eric Ostrowski Paul Mestemaker Mairead A. O'Donovan Chris Avis Participants Descriptions: Eric Ostrowski - Your Show Host and TechNet Radio Producer Paul Mestemaker - Program Manager, SQL CAT Mairead A. O'Donovan - Mairead A. O'Donovan joined Microsoft in 2003 and is currently working as a program manager on the Visual Studio Team System (VSTS) team. She is part of a team that is responsible for building the Visual Studio Team Edition Database Edition within the VSTS product line. Chris Avis - IT Pro Evangelist **Additional Resources ** SQL CAT http://www.sqlcat.com/ Chris Avis' Blog http://blogs.technet.com/chrisavis/

Today, NASA revealed first light images and announced a new name for its latest space telescope.

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Astronauts on board the International Space Station have recently photographed strange electric-blue clouds hovering at the edge of space.

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Click here to download Mur Lafferty's
Playing for Keeps novel as a free PDF.

I've been pimping Mur Lafferty's novel Playing for Keeps for a couple of weeks now. Monday, August 25th, she's rushing the Amazon.com charts, trying to drive the book up to a high rank. She's giving away the full PDF of the novel to prove it's worth your scratch. My pimpage will continue with a new Siglerisimo story set in the Playing for Keeps universe. That's right, Pope Siglericus XXX does superhero fiction. Brace youself for ... The Torpedo! That story should be out on the 25th or 26th, but for now, try out the freebie -- if you like what you're reading, pick up a copy on the 25th.

This novel takes a fun look at the role of "regular people" in a city infested with superheros. It's got a major liberal bent, i.e., the government and authority are baaaad things!, but the look a super-impact on our day-to-day life is great. Things like higher insurance rates, superfights causing commute-crippling traffic jams, and what about those supers who only have ho-humm powers

And now, a Special Bonus Show before we kick off Season Four in two weeks time.... We step away from our normal audio drama format to bring you this one-off Audiobook Teaser episode presenting the first three chapters of the New Red Panda Pulp Adventure Novel -

Tales of The Red Panda: The Crime Cabal!

TOTRP: The Crime Cabal will be released soon in a special edition from Age of Adventure Publishing, and is now Available For Pre-Order! Order your copy now and get it signed by the author! Listen for details at the end of this week's program or jump directly to the chase at http://talesoftheredpanda.blogspot.com ! Length: 52 min, Size: 12mb

Click here to download INFECTED Chapters 51-55

IN THIS EPISODE:
Margaret and Amos discover "the arches." Perry gets back on the Internet again, and that smells like bad news. Murray Longworth gets involved, and most importantly, it turns out Perry's triangles have friends ...

By Jeffrey R. DeRego.
Read by Stephen Eley.

Audible.com Promotion!
Get your free audiobook at: http://audible.com/escapepodsff

I raise my hand and she stops chattering. “Just tell me who you are and where I am.”

She freezes and blinks twice. “Tell you where you are? Cap, you’re home. This is the Cleveland Pyramid. I’m Sarah Shadow. You don’t recognize me?”

“That doesn’t mean anything to me!” I stand up. Frustration washes over me like heat from a blast furnace, and worse, my stomach is rumbling. “I woke up today. The first person I saw was you, but I’ve never seen you before in my life. I figured as long as I was in the hospital, or wherever, I’d start to remember, but it’s a blank. Where am I, what is this place, what are you people?” I point at her costume. “And that, what’s that, are you part of a circus act or something?”

Rated R. Contains profanity, sexual innuendo, and a bit of soap opera.

Referenced Sites: Playing for Keeps by Mur Lafferty

The Escape Pod episode is still coming up later today. But by special permission of Mur Lafferty, here’s a special bonus for you: the complete text of her novel, Playing for Keeps, in PDF format. It’s officially launching August 25th, so be sure to buy it from Amazon then!

First: my apologies for recent delays in getting Escape Pod out; in the last couple of weeks it’s hit the feed Friday afternoons rather than late Thursday. It’s probably going to happen again this week. Personal business lately has included me losing my day job, finding a new and much better day job in the space of a couple of weeks (I start Tuesday), and taking on some short-term obligations to fill in the gaps. Expect more on that in an upcoming metacast In the meantime I’m realizing I’m having to get much better organized with a lot of Escape Artists work, not for efficiency but for necessity. So yes, things are late; but I still don’t expect to miss any weeks, and I hope that the lateness will be short term.

Now to the news: once again, Escape Pod and Minx’s Polyamory Weekly will be hosting a joint meetup at Dragon*Con. Just like last year, we’ll be doing a group brunch on SUNDAY, AUGUST 31 AT 11:30 AM, at the Gordon Biersch Brewpub. It’s about a mile north from the hotels, but an easy walk or cab ride. This time we have the restaurant’s upper mezzanine reserved, so it’s like having the place to ourselves. Ask at the front for the Escape Pod meetup.

Generally, I expect to hit very little programming at this year’s D*C. My intent for almost the entire con is just to hang out at the bars or parties, and socialize and relax. If you’d like to join me, follow my Twitter feed to find out where I am or drop me a line to met me know where you are. And if you know where the good parties are — let me know too!

Thanks, and we’ll have the next EP up as soon as possible. (It’s a Union Dues story, if that helps with the waiting.)

fraticide redemptive infinitum
:||:::
|::::|

Click here to download INFECTED Chapter 45

Real proud TechTard™ moment for me, Junkies. I forgot to include Chapter 45 in the episode labeled "INFECTED Chapters 41-45." So, here it is. Many apologies for the storytelling inconvenience!

 Click here to download NOCTURNAL Episode #31

It's back! No more delays, Junkies, let's get this party started!

IN THIS EPISODE:
Bryan's fight to rescue Savior heats up as he goes toe-to-toe with Pierre. The Russians and the Mob put their pieces in place for the end game, and Robyn's next on Rex's hit parade

PODCASTS MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE:
The incomparable Mur Lafferty and her Playing for Keeps free audiobook.

OTHER STUFF:
- I address where I've been and why NOCTURNAL #31 is so, freakin', LATE!
- An update on CONTAGIOUS
- A big rant explaining my last big rant, that pissed off some Junkies

As reported in my recent UltraCreatives interview with author and podcaster Mur Lafferty, Mur recently reactivated the Playing for Keeps “Stories of the Third Wave” fan podcast to promote the novel’s Author Sanctioned™ release date of August 25 at Amazon.com.

This anthology of fan-created content is astounding in scope; Mur told UltraCreatives listeners that she’d received so many stories for “…Third Wave,” she’s resorting to a daily release schedule just to keep up. How cool is that?

Even cooler (at least for me) is that Mur invited me aboard to write a short story set in her Playing for Keeps universe. I was flattered by her offer and concocted Gestalt, my contribution to the project. It was also a blast to get back in front of the mic and reading my own fiction again.

Longtime listeners of the 7th Son podcast know that 7S was originally conceived as a superhero story … but since I was (and to a degree, still am) convinced that believable superhero tales are extremely hard to tell in prose fiction, I abandoned that concept for a more realistic narrative. As I wrote Gestalt, I set to prove myself wrong — and I think I did just that. Your reaction as a reader may prove differently, but I’m very proud of this little story, and I hope I did Mur Lafferty’s universe justice with it.

If you’ve never heard the Playing for Keeps podiobook or the “Stories of the Third Wave” podcast, but like what you hear here, be sure to visit PlayingForKeepsNovel.com to subscribe to both projects.

And please help support Mur Lafferty’s work as she rushes the Amazon charts on August 25. Here’s a link to the book’s product page at Amazon.com — but please be a part of the community effort and wait to purchase Playing for Keeps on the 25th.

Stay super.

–J.C.

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After an unexpected — and shame on him, unnannounced — micro-hiatus, J.C. Hutchins is back with a new UltraCreatives interview. This episode features the triumphant return of author and podcaster Mur Lafferty.

There have been some tremendous developments in Mur’s career since she last appeared on the show back in February. J.C. and Mur discuss her novel Playing for Keeps, and how it was recently purchased by indie publisher Swarm Press for mainstream release. Mur also chats about the reactivation of her “Stories of the Third Wave” podcast, her ambition to rush the Amazon.com charts on August 25 and much more. It’s a fun, fascinating interview.

Find Mur Lafferty on the World Wide Everywhere:

• The “portal” site for all her creative projects, Murverse.com
• The official Playing for Keeps website, PlayingForKeepsNovel.com
• The Amazon.com product page for Playing For Keeps (but PLEASE wait until Aug. 25 to purchase!)

In the intro to this episode, J.C. also explains just where the hell he’s been for the past three weeks, what commitments have kept him from releasing 7th Son: OBSIDIAN content, and when that content will return to the feed. (Hint: It’s goddamned soon.)

As promised, here are links to some important sites (including MINE, J.C.’s new pop culture blog project) and some writing he’s done in recent weeks.

• MINE, the new pop culture blog from Myxer.com
• What is MINE? MINE is yours
• Help spread the MINE meme
• Please help fellow Beta Clone and artist Carlos Weiser become a pro-published comic book artist!
• On Twitter, and the Great Unfollowing of 2008
• Learning from King and Whedon, and getting out of the ghetto

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On this episode of TechNet Radio, we discuss the performance improvements in SQL Server Analysis Services: the architecture behind it and what people should expect. August 19th, 2008 Participants: Eric Ostrowski Chris Avis Roni Karassik Paul Mestemaker Richard Tkachuk Participants Descriptions: Eric Ostrowski - Your Show Host and TechNet Radio Producer Chris Avis - IT Pro Evangelist Roni Karassik - Product Manager, SQL Marketing Paul Mestemaker - Program Manager, SQL CAT Richard Tkachuk - Richard Tkachuk is a Senior Program Manager on the SQL Server team at Microsoft. He has worked with SQL Server Analysis Services for almost ten years with particular focus on the MDX language and the security model. Richard's current focus is helping customers with large-scale Analysis Services implementations. **Additional Resources ** PASS Community Summit 2008 http://summit2008.sqlpass.org/ Chris Avis' Blog http://blogs.technet.com/chrisavis/ SQL CAT http://www.sqlcat.com/ Denny Lee's Analysis Services Distinct Count Optimization column http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=65DF6EBF-9D1C-405F-84B1-08F492AF52DD&displaylang=en Richard Tkachuk's whitepaper http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/sql/2005/ssas2005perfguide.mspx

What if you woke up one morning and found your whole planet had been swallowed by the atmosphere of a star? Don't laugh, it could happen to you, and NASA has a special program to deal with it.

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Red alert, everybody! Carlos Weiser, a 7th Son superfan and brilliant cartoonist and artist, needs our help!

Longtime listeners of 7S might remember Carlos and his magnificent contributions to the 7th Son experience. Last year, he created amazing comic book-style portraits of the seven Beta Clones, and I was so astounded by their quality that I gave Carlos his own “gallery” here at JCHutchins.net. His renditions of the characters — Kilroy2.0 in particular — were terrific.

Now we all have a chance to thank Carlos for his efforts and talents. Carlos is currently a Top 10 finalist in Platinum Studios’ The Comic Book Challenge. This annual competition brings the works of artists from around the U.S. (and possibly beyond) together, with one mission: to find the very best sequential storyteller of the bunch. Thousands enter. Carlos has made it into the Top 10.

With our combined generosity and voting, we can help Carlos realize his lifelong dream of having his comic art published. The Challenge’s finalist receives his entry published as either a comic book miniseries or a graphic novel to debut at a 2009 comic book convention, a cool interactive Cintiq monitor-tablet display, tons of software for coloring and digital production, and more. Here’s a thumbnail of his three-page entry for The Challenge:

Check out Carlos’ page at The Comic Book Challenge and please vote for him! Here’s an opportunity to not only showcase our combined Beta Clone power, but also give something back to a fellow fan. Thanks for your consideration, and please cast your vote for Carlos!

–J.C.

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By Andy Duncan.
Read by Jared Axelrod (of The Voice of Free Planet X).

“Fenneman?”

The studio audience laughed loudly, as it always did when Groucho turned, in mock desperation or annoyance, to his long-suffering, hopelessly square announcer. Groucho’s voice slightly increased in pitch whenever he said Fenneman’s name, as if he were just at the edge of losing his celebrated cool. This half-squawk had been funny in the stateroom scene of A Night at the Opera (”Steward! Steward!”), and it was still funny on You Bet Your Life twenty-five years later. He was a pro, Groucho was, and I did right by him; I modulated that pitch myself.

Rated R. Contains profanity, and real and simulated persons behaving badly.

Featured Site:
Playing for Keeps

NASA scientists are preparing to launch a "flying tractor" with microwave sensors to explore the nitty-gritty realm beneath your feet.

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