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Tangent Online Recommended Reading List–2009
The following list is comprised of some 170-plus stories. Each length category (short story, novelette, novella) is separated into three further categories featuring stories that made an ever increasing impression on our reviewers. Thus, in each category, you will see a number of stories making the basic list, then a category of additional stories with one star (*), then two stars (**), and finally three stars (***), the latter being those with which the reviewers were most impressed.
This list is far from comprehensive, primarily due to two factors. First, Tangent Online relaunched from its hiatus near the end of June last year. We began with a bare bones staff and had a lot of catching up to do, the year being half over. The reviewing staff being small, I made the decision to cover only print venues, leaving the ever-growing e-markets alone until the staff grew to a suitable size in order to do these e-markets justice. I did, however, open the list to e-markets, knowing some of the staff read them. Thus, you will find a scattering of stories from various e-markets on the list. The second reason the list is even less complete than I would have liked is due to a major computer lockup that literally vaporized the entire list. Completely. With no hope of recovery. This specific type of snafu had never happened to me before, and still remains one of Life's frustrating mysteries. Be that as it may, I had to start over from scratch, contacting the reviewers for their lists again (those I hadn't saved). In the process, some thirty stories are still missing from the original 200-plus. My apologies to those authors whose stories should have been on this Recommended Reading List for 2009. (The silver lining for those omitted by error is that no one will know who they were, so those not on the list can claim they were one of the thirty.)
That being said, there is yet a wealth of material on the list, those stories we felt should be brought to the attention of a wider audience and given at least some recognition, for the practitioners of the short form are never given enough praise for their efforts. We hope the list in some measure rectifies this in some small degree. And as with all lists, be they a final Hugo or Nebula ballot, or a Best of the Year selection of stories from various editors, opinions and tastes will vary to a great degree, though some consensus can be seen here and there on a fair number of stories.
Following each entry the reviewers have done their best to determine the genre of each story: SF, F, H, DF, or some other admixture of genres they felt appropriate. The list of reviewers contributing to the list is below, and each entry is marked with the initials of the reviewer or reviewers recommending the story. If more than a single reviewer has recommended a story, and one of the reviewers has given it at least one star (*), then the story is placed in the category with the most stars. Thus it is possible to see a story with one or more stars, but not each reviewer recommending the story would necessarily have ranked it as high. It is enough to know that several reviewers liked the story enough to recommend it, and at least one (often more than one) has given it one or more stars.
We welcome any corrections as to the length of stories so that we may place them in their proper categories. Other corrections as to publication dates are also welcome.
[CB=Carla Billinghurst, BB=Bob Blough, NE=Nader Elhefnawy, SF=Steve Fahnestalk, NG=Nathan Goldman, KJG=KJ Greenberg, MJ=Maggie Jamison, CAM=Carole Anne Moleti, CLR= C. L. Rossman, CS=Carl Slaughter, DT=Dave Truesdale, RW=Robert Waters, DW=Daniel Woods)
Short Stories
"Excellence" by Richard A. Lovett (Analog, 1-2/09) SF (DT, NE)
"A Stark and Wormy Night" by Tad Williams (The Dragon Book, 11/09) F (CB)
"Oakland Dragon Blues" by Peter S. Beagle (The Dragon Book, 11/09) F (CB)
"Here There Be Monsters" by Brad Carson (Ages of Wonder, 3/09) F (NE)
"Blood and Soil" by Ceri Young (Ages of Wonder, 3/09) F (NE)
"Immigrant" by Sandra Tayler (Ages of Wonder, 3/09) F (NE)
"Naktong Flow" by Myke Cole (Black Gate #13, Spring 2009) F (DT)
"How Antkind Lost its Soul" by Bill Ward (Kaleidotrope #7, Oct. 2009) F (KJG)
"Damaged On Every Level" by Barbara Ann Wright (Crossed Genres, 10/09) DF (DW)
"In Winter" by Nancy Kilpatrick (Darkness on the Edge, PS Publishing 2009) (CLR)
"The Hungry Heart" by Michael A. Arnazen (Darkness on the Edge, PS Publishing 2009) (CLR)
"Dancing Lessons" by Aaron Polson (Triangulation: Dark Glass, 7/09) SF (NG)
"Perchance to Dream" by D.J. Cockburn (Triangulation: Dark Glass, 7/09) F (NG)
"A Mouse Ran Up the Clock" by A.C. Wise (Electric Velocipede, 10/09) SF (NG)
"Nightlight" by Celia Marsh (Electric Velocipede, 10/09) F (NG)
"Counting Down to the End of the Universe" by Sara Genge (Shimmer #10, Summer 2009) SF (BB)
"The Goat Variations" by Jeff Vandermeer (Other Earths, 4/09) SF (BB)
"Nine Alternate Alternate Stories" by Benjamin Rosenbaum (Other Earths, 4/09) SF (BB)
"The Stickball Witch" by Peter S. Beagle (We Never Talk About My Brother, 3/09) F (BB)
"Atomic Truth" by Chris Beckett (Asimov's, 4-5/09) SF (BB)
"Human Day" by Jack Skillingstead (Asimov's, 4-5/09) SF (BB)
"Exegesis" by Nancy Kress (Asimov's, 4-5/09) SF (DT, BB)
"Going Deep" by James Patrick Kelly (Asimov's, 6/09) SF (BB, DT)
"The Monsters of Morgan Island" by Sandra McDonald (Asimov's, 6/09) F (BB)
"Away From Here" by Lisa Goldstein (Asimov's, 9/09) F (BB)
"SinBad the Sand Sailor" by R Garcia y Robertson (Asimov's, 7/09) SF (NE)
"The Day Before the Day Before" by Steve Rasnic Tem (Asimov's, 9/09) SF (BB)
"Erosion" by Ian Creasey (Asimov's, 10-11/09) SF (BB)
"The Boy Who Sang for Others" by Michael Meddor (F&SF, 1/09) F (DT)
"Catalog" by Eugene Mirabelli (F&SF 2/09) F (BB)
"The Avenger of Love" by Jack Skillingstead (F&SF, 4-5/09) F (DT)
"The Motorman's Coat" by John Kessel (F&SF, 6-7/09) F (BB)
"Illusions of Tranquillity" by Brendan DuBois (F&SF, 12/09) SF (DT)
"The Transmigration of Aishwarya Rai" by Eric Gregory (Interzone #223, 7/09) SF (NE)
"The Festival of Tethsalem" by Chris Butler (Interzone #224, 9-10/09) SF/F (BB)
"A Practical Girl" by Ellen Klages (Eclipse 3, 10/09) F (BB)
"The Visited Man" by Molly Gloss (Eclipse 3, 10/09) F (DT)
"Sleight of Hand" by Peter S. Beagle (Eclipse 3, 10/09) F (BB)
"The Coral Heart" by Jeffrey Ford (Eclipse 3, 10/09) F (BB, DT)
"Escape to Other Worlds with Science Fiction" by Jo Walton (Tor.com 2/6/09) SF (BB)
"The Shangri-La Affair" by Lavie Tidhar (Strange Horizons, 1/19/09) SF (BB)
"Bespoke" by Genvieve Valentine (Strange Horizons, 7/27/09) F/SF (BB)
"Images of Anna" by Nancy Kress (Fantasy, 9/09) F (BB)
"Voice Like a Cello" by Catherine Cheek (Fantasy, 5/4/09) F (BB)
"The Dying World" by Lavie Tidhar (Clarkesworld, 4/09) SF/F (BB)
"Non-Zero Probabilities" by M. K. Jemison (Clarkesworld, 9/09) SF (BB)
"Of Melei, of Ulthor" by Gord Sellar (Clarkesworld, 10/09) F (BB)
"Fragile Fathers, Shattered Sons" by Kurt Kirchmeier (Albedo One, Summer 2009) F (SF)
"The Entire City" by Mike Driscoll (Albedo One, Summer 2009) SF/F (SF)
"The Paper People" by Chris Cox (Electric Velocipede, Spring 2009) F (SF)
"Steve Kendrick's Disease" by Edward W. Robertson (M-Brane SF, 6/09) SF (SF)
"Zara Gets Laid" by Sue Lange (M-Brane SF, 6/09) SF (SF)
"Sails Above Greensea" by Adam Corbin Fusco (Realms of Fantasy, 4/09) F/SF (SF)
Short Stories–One Star
"Slow Stampede" by Sara Genge (Asimov's 3/09) SF* (RW)
"Sleepless in the House of Ye" by Ian McHugh (Asimov's, 7/09) SF* (NE)
"Angels and Moths" by Costi Gurgu (Ages of Wonder, 3/09) F* (NE)
"A Bird in the Hand" by Queenie Tirone (Ages of Wonder, 3/09) F* (NE)
"Cloud Above Water" by Natalie Millman (Ages of Wonder, 3/09) F* (NE)
"The Glass Box" by Bud Sparhawk (So It Begins, Defending the Future Anthology Series Vol. 2) SF* (RW)
"War Movies" by James Chambers (So It Begins, Defending the Future Anthology Series Vol. 2) SF* (RW)
"Bob Choi's Last Job" by Jonathan Stroud (The Dragon Book, 11/09) F* (RW)
"Ungentle Fire" by Sean Williams (The Dragon Book, 11/09) F* (RW)
"Devil's Arcade" by Mark Charan (Darkness on the Edge, PS Publishing 2009) F* (CLR)
"The Red King Sleeps" by Marly Youmans (Enemy of the Good, Postscripts #19, Summer 2009) DF* (MJ)
"The Portrayed Man" by Justin Cartaginese (Enemy of the Good, Postscripts #19, Summer 2009) SF/DF* (MJ)
"The Healer" by David Hoing (Edison's Frankenstein, Postscripts 20-21, 12/09) SF* (SF)
"Edison's Frankenstein" by Chris Roberson (Edison's Frankenstein, Postscripts 20-21, 12/09) SF/F* (SF)
"Black Fragmentaria" by Michael Cobley (Edison's Frankenstein, Postscripts 20-21, 12/09) SF/F* (SF)
"The Fourth Horseman" by Yoon Ha Lee (Electric Velocipede, Spring 2009) F* (SF)
"The Death of Sugar Daddy" by Toiya Kristen Finley (Electric Velocipede, Spring 2009) F* (SF)
"Hells Bells" by Cherie Priest (Grants Pass Anthology, 8/2009) DSF* (MJ)
"Boudha" by K.V. Taylor (Grants Pass Anthology, 8/2009) DSF* (MJ)
"Souls on Display" by Kurt Kirchmeier (Triangulation: Dark Glass, 7/09) F* (NG)
"Guilt By Association" by Peter Orullian (Intelligent Design, 9/09) SF* (NE)
"The President's Book Tour" by M. Rickert (F&SF, 10-11/09) F* (BB)
"Bad Matter" by Alexandra Duncan (F&SF, 12/09) SF* (BB)
"A Road Once Traveled" by Richard Parks (Realms of Fantasy, 12/09) F* (NE)
"Narrative of a Beast's Life" by Cat Rambo (Realms of Fantasy, 12/09) F* (SF)
"Glister" by Dominic Green (Interzone #223, 7/09) SF* (NE)
"Butterfly Bomb" by Dominic Green (Interzone #223, 7/09) SF* (NE)
"Silence and Roses" by Suzanne Palmer (Interzone #223, 7/09) SF* (NE)
"The Godfall's Chemsong" by Jeremiah Tolbert (Interzone #224, 9-10/09) SF* (BB)
"Jerry" by Karl Bunker (Neo-opsis, 4th quarter 2009) SF* (SF)
"The Pelican Bar" by Karen Joy Fowler (Eclipse 3, 10/09) SF/F* (BB)
"Under the Shouting Sky" by Karl Bunker (Cosmos, 8/9/09) SF* (BB)
Short Stories–Two Stars
"The Brother on the Shelf" by Philip Edward Kaldon (Analog, 5/09) SF** (DT)
"The Radio Magician" by James Van Pelt (Realms of Fantasy, 2/09) SF/F** (DT, SF)
"Incarnation in the Delta" by Richard Foss (Abyss & Apex, #29: First Quarter 2009) F** (CAM)
"Ziggurat" by Stephen O'Connor (The New Yorker, 6/09) F** (NG)
"Seeing Is" by Craig Wolf (Triangulation: Dark Glass, 7/09) F** (NG)
"Useless Things" by Maureen F. McHugh (Eclipse 3, 10/09) SF** (BB)
"The Radiant Car Thy Sparrows Drew" by Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld, 8/09) F** (BB)
Short Stories–Three Stars
"The Boy Who Could Bend and Fall" by Ken Scholes (Electric Velocipede, 10/09) F*** (NG)
"Fox 8" by George Saunders (Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern, 12/09) F*** (NG)
"A Painter, a Sheep, and a Boa Constrictor" by Nir Yanov (Shimmer #10, Summer 2009) SF*** (BB)
"Blocked" by Geoff Ryman (F&SF, 10-11/09)SF*** (BB)
"Before My Last Breath" by Robert Reed (Asimov's, 10-11/09) SF*** (BB)
"As Women Fight" by Sara Genge (Asimov's, 12/09) SF*** (BB)
"On the Human Plan" by Jay Lake (Lone Star Stories, 2/1/09) SF*** (BB)
"Steak Tartare and the Cats of Gari Babakin" by Mary Turzillo (Analog, 4/09) SF (DT)
"Evergreen" by Shane Tourtellotte (Analog, 9/09) SF (DT)
"The Way They Wove the Spells in Sippulgar" by Robert Silverberg (F&SF, 10-11/09) F (BB, DT)
"By Moonlight" by Peter S. Beagle (We Never Talk About My Brother, 3/09) F (BB)
"Echoes of Aurora" by Ellen Klages (What Remains, 6/09) F (BB)
"The Lost Princess Man" by John Barnes (The New Space Opera 2, 6/09) SF (BB)
"To Raise a Mutiny Betwixt Yourselves" by Jay Lake (The New Space Opera 2, 6/09) SF (BB)
"From the Heart" by John Meany (The New Space Opera 2, 6/09) SF (BB, DT)
"Cracklegrackle" by Justina Robson (The New Space Opera 2, 6/09) SF (BB)
"Yes We Have No Bananas" by Paul Di Filippo (Eclipse 3, 10/09) SF/F (DT)
"The Long, Cold Goodbye" by Holly Phillips (Asimov's, 3/09) F (BB)
"The Armies of Elfland" by Eileen Gunn & Michael Swanwick (Asimov's, 4-5/09) F (BB)
"Controlled Experiment" by Tom Purdom (Asimov's, 6/09) SF (BB)
"Sails the Morne" by Chris Willrich (Asimov's, 6/09) SF (BB)
"Quickstone" by Marc Laidlaw (F&SF, 3/09) F (DT)
"Shadow-Below" by Robert Reed (F&SF, 3/09) F (DT)
"Adaptogenia" by Wayne Wightman (F&SF, 6-7/09) F (DT)
"A Weeping Czar Beholds the Fallen Moon" by Ken Scholes (Tor.com 2/17/09) F (BB)
"First Flight" by Mary Robinette Kowall (Tor.com 8/25/09) SF (BB)
"Zeppelin City" by Michael Swanwick and Eileen Gunn (Tor.com 10/6/09 ) SF/F (BB)
"Dragon's Teeth" by Alex Irvine (F&SF, 12/09) F (DT, BB)
"The Signature of God" by Michael Hiebert (Intelligent Design, 9/09) SF (NE)
"God, No Matter How You Spell It" by Brendan DuBois (Intelligent Design, 9/09) SF (NE)
Novelettes–One Star
"But It Does Move" by Harry Turtledove (Analog, 6/09) SF* (SF)
"Monuments Of Unageing Intellect" by Howard V. Hendrix (Analog, 6/09) SF* (SF)
"Joan" by John G. Hemry (Analog, 11/09) SF* (RW)
"Formidable Caress" by Stephen Baxter (Analog, 12/09) SF* (SF)
"Lion Walk" by Mary Rosenblum (Asimov's, 1/09) SF* (RW)
"The Qualia Engine" by Damien Broderick (Asimov's, 8/09) SF* (BB, DT)
"Blood Dauber" by Ted Kosmatka & Michael Poore (Asimov's, 10-11/09) SF* (SF, DT, BB)
"Wife-Stealing Time" by R. Garcia y Robertson (Asimov's, 10-11/09) SF* (SF)
"Flotsam" by Elissa Malcohn (Asimov's, 10-11/09) SF* (SF)
"The Bones of Giants" by Yoon Ha Lee (F&SF, 8-9/09) F* (SF, DT)
"Esoteric City" by Bruce Sterling (F&SF, 8-9/09) F* (SF)
"After the Third Kiss" by Bruce Coville (The Dragon Book, 11/09) F* (RW)
"The Dragaman's Bride" by Andy Duncan (The Dragon Book, 11/09) F* (RW, CB)
"Events Preceding the Helvetican Renaissance" by John Kessel (The New Space Opera 2, 6/09) SF* (BB)
"Seventh Fall" by Alex Irvine (Subterranean, Summer 2009) SF* (BB)
Novelettes–Two Stars
"The Island" by Peter Watts (The New Space Opera 2, 6/09) SF** (RW, BB, DT)
"It Takes Two" by Nicola Griffith (Eclipse 3, 10/09) SF** (BB, DT)
"Shadow of the Valley" by Fred Chappell (F&SF, 2/09) F** (DT)
"The Curandero and the Swede" by Daniel Abraham (F&SF, 3/09) F** (DT, BB)
"One Bright Star to Guide Them" by John C. Wright (F&SF, 4-5/09) F** (DT)
"Three Leaves of Aloe" by Rand B. Lee (F&SF, 8-9/09) SF** (DT, BB, SF)
"I Needs Must Part, The Policeman Said" by Richard Bowes (F&SF, 12/09) F** (DT)
"This Wind Blowing, and This Tide" by Damien Broderick (Asimov's, 4-5/09) SF** (BB)
"Flowers of Asphodel" by Damien Broderick (Asimov's, 10-11/09) SF** (BB)
"Philia, Eros, Agape" by Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com, 3/3/09) SF** (BB)
"The Ruined Queen of Harvest World" by Damien Broderick (Tor.com, 8/09) SF** (BB)
Novelettes–Three Stars
"This Peaceable Land, or, The Unbearable Vision of Harriet Beecher Stowe" by Robert Charles Wilson (Other Earths, 4/09) SF*** (BB)
"Utriusque Cosmi" by Robert Charles Wilson (The New Space Opera 2, 6/09) SF*** (RW, BB, DT)
"Another Life" by Charles Oberndorf (F&SF, 10-11/09) F*** (DT)
"Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast" by Eugie Foster (Interzone #220, 2/09) F*** (BB)
"Fletcher's Ghost" by Liz Holliday (Ages of Wonder, 3/09) F*** (NE)
"The Recovery Man's Bargain" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Analog, 1-2/09) SF (NE)
"Gunfight on Farside" by Adam-Troy Castro (Analog, 4/09) SF (DT)
"Dog-Eared Paperback of My Life" by Lucius Shepard (Other Earths, 4/09) F (BB)
"Halloween Town" by Lucius Shepard (F&SF, 10-11/09) F (BB, DT)
"Earth II" by Stephen Baxter (Asimov's, 7/09) SF (DT, BB)
"Broken Windchimes" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (Asimov's, 9/09) SF (BB, DT, NE)
"Gilbert and Edgar on Mars" by Eric Brown (PS Publishing, 10/09) F (SF)
Novellas–One Star
"Act One" by Nancy Kress (Asimov's, 3/09) SF* (DT, RW, BB)
"Delusion's Song" by Alan Smale (Panverse One, 2009) DF* (MJ)
"Cast a Cold Eye" by Derryl Murphy and William Shunn (PS Publishing, 12/09) F* (SF)
"Shaka II" by Mike Resnick (PS Publishing, 12/09) SF* (CS, DT)
"Palimpset" by Charles Stross (Wireless, 7/09) SF* (NE)
Novellas–Two Stars
"Pelago" by Judith Berman (Asimov's, 2/09) SF** (BB)
"Paradiso Lost" by Albert E. Cowdrey (F&SF, 6-7/09) SF** (DT)
"Vishnu at the Cat Circus" by Ian McDonald (Cyberabad Days, 2/09 ) SF** (DT, BB)
"Sublimation Angels" by Jason Sanford (Interzone #224, 09-10/09) SF** (BB, DT)
"Crimes and Glory" by Paul McAuley (Subterranean, Spring 2009) SF** (BB)
Novellas–Three Stars
"The Far End of History" by John C. Wright (The New Space Opera 2, 6/09) SF*** (RW, DT, BB)
As was mentioned at the top, Tangent Online's relaunch after a hiatus of nearly a year and a half and having to gear up from scratch halfway through the year, made it difficult for some of the usual magazine and book publishers to catch up to us once again. Of the specialty or small press publishers who did find us (we'd moved to a new snail mail address and much mail, we discovered recently, wasn't forwarded), we'd like to mention a few of the quality standouts from 2009 among those we did receive.
World Fantasy Award winning Golden Gryphon Press and publisher Gary Turner had another fine year. Specializing in handsomely produced hardcover single author reprint collections, 2009 saw reissues of previous GG offerings with two of Jeffrey Ford's excellent collections, The Fantasy Writer's Assistant (2002) and The Empire of Ice Cream (2006). Collections new to 2009 were Jack Skillingstead's Are You There and Other Stories, and Mike Resnick's Dreamwish Beasts and Snarks. Are You There is rising star Skillingstead's first collection. Introduced by Nancy Kress, these twenty-six emotionally intense stories are best read one or two at a time, for the reader will welcome the break between these often dark, yet at other times richly imagined stories. A solid, representative collection from a fine writer, and once again Golden Gryphon is the first to showcase an up and coming (and needless to say already proven) genre talent.
If you aren't yet a fan of Mike Resnick's work, you soon will be after reading Dreamwish Beasts and Snarks. Those already diehard "Bwana" fans will also delight in this collection of some of his most thoughtful, yet solidly entertaining fictions. Included in this nine-story set is the Hugo and Nebula-nominated story "Hunting the Snark," and despite its somewhat disarmingly lighthearted title it is a tense, action-oriented adventure that also asks serious questions along the way. "Safari: 2103 A.D." forms the basis for, and is a self-contained excerpt from, his much longer 2005 Hugo and Nebula winner "Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge," and is not to be missed. Mike Resnick has won numerous awards (the Hugo and Nebula among many others worldwide) for his masterful storytelling–for he never forgets he's telling a story first and foremost–and this new collection (with a foreword by Kristine Kathryn Rusch) is pure Resnick at his entertaining, page-turning best. At turns thoughtful verging on the philosophical, yet always moving his stories forward with attention to detail and plot, Resnick engages the reader in many ways in this carefully assembled collection. There's some serious fun here, and this one, along with the Skillingstead collection–not to mention the award-winning Ford reprint collections–puts the cap on another excellent year for Gary Turner and Golden Gryphon Press.
For a couple of years now, Paizo Press/Planet Stories and publisher Erik Mona have been turning out affordable ($12.99-$14.99) trade paperbacks of some of Science Fiction and Fantasy's most beloved classics, some long out of print, and focusing on the sub-genres of Planetary Romance, Sword & Sorcery, Science Fantasy, and just plain Planetary Adventure novels and collections. Planet Stories has published the likes of Leigh Brackett's beloved Eric John Stark novels (among several of her other classics such as The Sword of Rhiannon and The Secret of Sinharat), the overlooked S&S of Otis Adelbert Kline (who is ranked by some aficionados as right below Robert E. Howard in some respects), C. L. Moore's groundbreaking stories of Northwest Smith (the complete works, the first published in 1933 in Weird Tales), and the complete Jirel of Joiry stories (Black God's Kiss), Henry Kuttner's The Dark World and his collection Elak of Atlantis, as well as classics of the aforementioned subgenres by Michael Moorcock and Robert E. Howard–all with stunning new cover art. Did I mention they were affordably priced? 2009 saw the publication of Henry Kuttner's classic and fondly remembered Gallagher tales collected in one volume with a reprinted introduction by his collaborator wife C. L. Moore, titled Robots Have No Tails, as well as the influential, early fantasist A. Merritt's marvelous, and richly descriptive The Ship of Ishtar. Planet Stories bills itself as reissuing "Classic Fantasy for a New Era," and they deliver. For those unfamiliar with these classic authors, their works, and the inspiration they have given to many of today's modern fantasists, you don't want to pass these up. They don't come along every day, so grab'em while you can. 2009 was a fine year for Planet Stories, and 2010 promises even more delights, with the release of Manly Wade Wellman's complete Silver John tales (Who Fears the Devil?, originally scheduled for late 2009 release) scheduled for March.
Stephen Haffner and his Haffner Press is doing the SF community a great service by reprinting in hardcover the works of Jack Williamson, Leigh Brackett, and Edmond Hamilton (and now beginning on the works of Henry Kuttner in 2009). I could go on forever about the various volumes he has painstakingly assembled over the past several years. Each and every one are collector's items. Put together with the finest quality paper and bindings, they aren't cheap, running to an average of forty dollars or thereabouts, depending on the volume (which volumes routinely run to six or seven hundred pages and weigh several pounds apiece). They have been praised by readers, fans, reviewers, critics, and collectors far and wide, including yours truly. Each volume is replete with introductions by renowned SF scholars or authors with intimate knowledge of each author's work, and many include original magazine art (both original covers and interior illustrations from the pulp magazines from their original appearances), and through exhaustive research from original sources some offer original correspondence between the author and the various pulp magazine editors. The packaging is superb and designed to last a lifetime. This is top shelf stuff, friends, and worth every penny for those who know what they like and can afford the best. Craftsmanship and the love of craft is paramount with Haffner Press books. 2009 was yet another stellar year for this small press publishing house (long overlooked for an award win for the valuable niche it is filling, and its invaluable contribution to the SF field). 2009 saw the publication of a near handful of gorgeous books, foremost among them the trio of Edmond Hamilton volumes: The Collected Edmond Hamilton, Volume One: The Metal Giants and Others (with an introduction by Robert Weinberg); The Collected Edmond Hamilton, Volume Two: The Star-Stealers–The Complete Tales of the Interstellar Patrol (with an introduction by Walter Jon Williams); and The Collected Captain Future, Volume One (with an introduction by Richard A. Lupoff). My recommendation for Haffner Press volumes comes with unreserved praise and admiration for their efforts, and 2009 was no exception.
Late in 2009 we received a large package from Night Shade Books containing Eclipse 3 and several of their fine themed reprint collections. What we were surprised and ecstatic to find included, however, were two volumes of the collected works of William Hope Hodgson. Night Shade has been reprinting the collected works of Hodgson for about six or seven years now, and 2009 saw the final volume, number five, released in May. I received volumes two and five; two in its second printing (from 2004), and five a first edition. Volumes three and four are sold out, which is testament to Hodgson's (and these specific volumes') popularity. Like the aforementioned Haffner Press editions, these Night Shade editions are somewhat pricey, coming in at $35 apiece, but like the Haffner tomes, these too are worth every penny, being carefully crafted for the collector and/or aficionado of Hodgson's work. Running around 450 pages each (with introductions and source notations), the covers are black-leather bound (sans dust jackets) and are embossed/inlaid/stamped in silver (the covers are intricately drawn and beautifully detailed and identical save for the title and volume numbering; the cover above doesn't do the real item justice). Handsome and impressive to be sure, and quality merchandise to be cherished by the diehard Hodgson lover. Of which I am one. I've long known of William Hope Hodgson and his history and influence on generations of fantasists, but had read relatively little of his work aside from The House on the Borderland, The Night Land, and the occasional short piece in some arcane collection or two over the years. So it was with great pleasure that I've begun sifting through these two volumes, beginning with the 2009 release of the final volume, The Dream of X and other Fantastic Visions. Hodgson (1877-1918), as I'm forever reminded from my interview with Ed Hamilton when he remarked that Hodgson "had the most supreme imagination," was the inspiration for many writing a certain type of fantasy today, including Michael Moorcock, Fritz Leiber, and even China Mieville. Leiber wrote of Hodgson, "This outstanding ability of Hodgson, to plunge into a dream world and stay there for a book-length sojourn, fits with his seriousness and lends to his tale a straightforward, desperate convincingness." And Mieville is quoted in the introduction to the fifth volume, "…if you have so much as a splinter of wonder in you, you read Hodgson, and you know without question he is a master." One of the seminal fantasists of the early 20th century, much of his work has been long out of print. Kudos to Night Shade Books for taking the time and effort to bring his complete works back into print in such grand and elegant fashion. Now if they'd only print second editions of volumes three and four like they have done with volume two, I would be eternally grateful. For lovers of the rare specialty item, and those who appreciate the history of the fantasy genre–not to mention Hodgson fans–these books are long lost treasure newly discovered.
2009 saw Tachyon Publications publisher Jacob Weisman bequeath to the world The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction–Sixtieth Anniversary Anthology. Each year as far back as I can remember there have been any number of variously themed reprint collections offered to the buying public, as well as an ever increasing number of single author reprint collections. They run the gamut from atrocious to quite good, if the themed collections hold truly classic or forgotten stories on any given theme, or if the single author collections are from writers with a demonstrable track record, and aren't just cobbled together from a newcomer's first double handful of stories from obscure publications with maybe a single sale to a major magazine, which seems to be the case in too many single author collections these days. Be that as it may, and taking into account every reprint collection of whatever stripe or quality to appear in 2009, The Very Best of Fantasy & Science Fiction is, hands down, and without doubt or equivocation, absolutely the best reprint collection of 2009.
I hyperbolize not in the least. As every writer worth his salt learns very quickly in this business, showing trumps telling. So of the twenty-three stories included here, dating from 1951 to a very recent 2007 entry, I will show you a selection of the stories contained within this landmark collection.
"Of Time and Third Avenue" by Alfred Bester
"All Summer in a Day" by Ray Bradbury
"One Ordinary Day, with Peanuts" by Shirley Jackson
"A Touch of Strange" by Theodore Sturgeon
"Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes (arguably the greatest single story in SF history)
"Harrison Bergeron" by Kurt Vonnegut
"The Deathbird" by Harlan Ellison
"The Women Men Don't See" by James Tiptree, Jr.
"I See You" by Damon Knight
"The Gunslinger" by Stephen King
"Solitude" by Ursula K. Le Guin
"Two Hearts" by Peter S. Beagle
"The Merchant and the Alchemist's Gate" by Ted Chiang
And that's only half the book. There's also a William Tenn story, a Zelazny, a Philip K. Dick, a Swanwick, a Bisson, a Jeffrey Ford, and a Gaiman, and we're still not done. F&SF founders Anthony Boucher and J. Francis McComas had a vision way back in 1949 of what they wanted to see in the pages of their fledgling magazine. Through sixty years and a handful-plus of editors who have each striven to share and to the best of their ability maintain that vision–that high standard of literary quality in a magazine devoted to the fantastic, each editor–including such as Avram Davidson, Robert P. Mills, and Ed Ferman–has lent his own personal fingerprint to that vision, and the stories included in this must-have collection reflect that original vision. And this vision is carried forth via those stories originally purchased by the current editor, who has been at the editorial helm since 1996–longer than the legendary Boucher himself. Indeed, a third of the stories–some already classics and a few nearly so–reflect not only Gordon Van Gelder's personal taste, but his intuitive understanding of the original founders' dream as well as a keen knowledge of the history of–now his–magazine. As testament to his astute editorial acumen I quote from the rear cover of the book: "Van Gelder has received the Hugo and World Fantasy Awards, and under his leadership F&SF has won the Locus Award for eight consecutive years." It's obvious he must be doing something right. It's tough to get published in one of the top tier professional magazines. Always has been. Still is. Especially to The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.
Ten years ago (dating from last year, 2009, which is what we're about here), F&SF turned 50. I was then beginning my tenure as editor of the SFWA Bulletin. I decided to do a special "F&SF 50th Anniversary" issue. Along with specially commissioned articles from former editor Kristine Kathryn Rusch, long time book reviewer Algis Budrys, current editor GVG, and a rare piece by former publisher and long time editor Ed Ferman, I girded my editorial loins and called Harlan Ellison, promising that if he would write five hundred words or thereabouts for F&SF's 50th Anniversary I would give him the entire inside rear cover–full-color, slick paper, and all. Oh, and with a color photo of Himself as well. I relate this story to emphasize how tough it was, and still is, to get published in F&SF, and how high were, and still are, its standards. I wish I could reprint the entire article, but the following opening paragraph pretty much makes the point.
Harlan: "When the world was summat younger, and so was I, you'd best believe I would have made a deal with the most redolent, vomitous, duplicitous, scumbag of a minor demon; would have indentured myself to the Mob, the Men in Black, the Church, or the Scientologists; would have whacked or chilled or sanctioned with extreme prejudice, anyone or anything; would have…to have sold a story to The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. When I was 16 in 1950, I'd have razed nations, slaughtered babies, drunk worms' blood, sung "How Much is that Doggie in the Window" on street corners, just to have sold a short story, an anecdote, a quatrain, anydamnthing to Tony Boucher and Mick McComas at F&SF." —SFWA Bulletin #144, Winter 1999
Just to get anything published in F&SF was Harlan's dream. He is now represented by one of the very best twenty-three stories in F&SF's long and storied history. The standards are high at F&SF, and this collection more than proves it. This truly is the very best reprint collection of any sort you are likely to see in a very long time, much less from 2009. Jacob Weisman and Gordon Van Gelder have outdone themselves, though it might be interesting to see a "best of" collection from F&SF with selections from each of its various editor's reigns. An F&SF editorial time capsule as it were. An intriguing idea, but who would do the choosing?
Well, and so. There you have it. Tangent Online's Recommended Reading List for 2009 (primarily print stories, computer crashes, 30 missing stories and all). It is not intended to be a definitive Best Of list of any sort, only a list of those stories a dedicated group of those who actually read the stories liked in varying measure, with wildly different perspectives and tastes. We are readers, just like you. Incomplete as it may be, we hope it serves to illuminate many of the stories worthy of notice from last year, and provides possible memory jogs, or reminders, for Hugo or World Fantasy Award consideration later this year. We will work harder this year to make our list more comprehensive next year, but hope you find some value in this one.


text: Plans to erect a Confederate monument near Martin Luther King Jr. Drive in Orange, complete with fluttering battle flag visible from Interstate 10, have provoked bitter disapproval from residents, who have complained of its insensitivity even as its sponsors insist they don't want to stir the pot. Promoters of the monument, which will honor Confederate veterans, say it will attract people to the region. The Sons of Confederate Veterans-Texas Division, which intends to begin construction when weather permits, says the monuments preserve the true history of the South for future generations. [poll id="517″]

subset: commoncrawl


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Swedish studio Ghost Games has been given control over all future titles in the Need For Speed series, studio head Marcus Nilsson has revealed - just a year after Need For Speed: Most Wanted developer Criterion announced that they had taken ownership.
Speaking to VideoGamer.com about the future of the racing series at Gamescom, Nilsson said that he believes "Need For Speed needs continuity", and that EA is "now thinking about the brand as Ghost owns it".
"It cannot go from black to white between Black Box and Criterion, and that's why we're now thinking about the brand as Ghost owns it," he said. "We're going to build it, we're going to build it on Frostbite 3, [and] people will see something they are familiar with every time we release the game. And I think that is the core basis of building a brand; that people know what to expect."
Nilsson, who previously served as executive producer on Shift 2: Unleashed, believes that the series needs to remain consistent with each release in order to avoid "confusion" and "lose credibility", with pursuits, online open worlds and a narrative forming a key part of the Need For Speed experience.
"When you go from a Shift experience to The Run experience to a Hot Pursuit experience, then it loses credibility," Nilsson continued. "I think we now have the work of re-establishing that credibility with building the brand. You know, it's still a really strong brand, absolutely. We just need to make sure people know what to expect when they get it, and Rivals is absolutely the first step toward that.
"Need For Speed is not going to go away, right? It's not the final or last step of that. But what you see in Rivals, a lot of those things will carry on going forward and myself and Rivals will be involved in shaping that."
Criterion is heavily involved in the development of Rivals, but how long the studio stays associated with the series remains to be seen.
Asked whether future games in the series would alternate between Ghost and Criterion year-on-year, Nilsson replied: "No, you're not going to see that."
He also suggested that Ghost could make a sequel to Need For Speed: Underground if there was enough demand.
But with Ghost now in control of Need For Speed, where does that leave Criterion?
"There's a small part of Criterion working on something else," Nilsson says. "Criterion is absolutely helping us out a lot on this game and would we make something next year or whenever we do it, it's going to be something that is ultimately driven from Ghost."
Though Criterion's next project has yet to be announced, creative director Alex Ward has suggested that it may not be a racing game.
"Here is what I want folks to know," he tweeted. "Some folks are eternally disappointed. Nothing I can do about that. So many tweets asking for new Burnout. Equally many tweets asking for a new NFS game from us. Also Road Rash.
"Whilst I love all of those games, I am personally not doing any. After over a decade of making racing games it's time to make something new. It is early days thus I have nothing to 'announce' or talk about."
VideoGamer.com checked in with EA yesterday to confirm that Ghost had been given full responsibility over Need For Speed and whether Criterion would remain involved with the series beyond Rivals, and was told by the publisher that it "had nothing further to add as [Marcus] has answered your questions accurately".
Need For Speed Rivals launches on Xbox 360, PlayStation 3 and PC on November 22. Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions have yet to be dated.


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Views: 229
Replies are closed for this discussion.
I have a question for you. What are you referring to when you say "Traffic". Is this the visitors to your site? or the business being closed?
Well - as far as I can tell......you're company is not a recruiting company. You're a mobile recruiting software company. So when you say traffic is down - and then want to tie that into the seasonality of mobile recruiting - the two have nothing to do with each other.
Nice way to get traffic to your mobile recruiting software site though. :()
I would say no to the season effecting your traffic. Mobile in recruitment is relevant but only if you are in the right places and have something that people want. What is the draw that you are providing people to come to your site?
I see Jerry's point below and agree that recruiters etc. are not going to come to the site simply for info on how to work with the company. There needs to be a consistent flow of fresh educational content that is relevant.
Sylvester Simon Pascal said:
Thanks for the reply Ryan, What I meant was visitors to our site. I understand its only 5 days into the new month, but when we compare the first week with November we see the graph falling down. We were just wondering if seasonality had anything to do with this.
Ryan - I was really just pointing out how this guy is not even in recruiting - so why would he ask about this? Just to get us to follow the link to his recruiting software site.
If he is a vendor here, please accept my sincere apology. I must have missed the introduction. :)


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Discussion in 'Search Engine Optimization (SEO)' started by ellenwillss, Mar 30, 2011.
Hi SEO master please tell me what is Search term popularity?
How popular is the keyword among users.
This is the term related to competition of a phrase/keyword that using for searching sites or data.:crazy:
The search term mean high competition between different webmasters or high amount of traffic and a lot of people search for keywords.
mean how much is the searching of your keyword and depend upon competition.
Search term is what most users search for on search engines. The more a word is used, the more that word has search Term Popularity.
Separate names with a comma.


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Dell Cloud service targets retailers
- 15 January, 2013 17:08
Dell has released a trial version of public cloud computing services aimed specifically at the retail industry, joining a handful of companies that are attempting to position their products and services to serve specific vertical niches in the cloud computing market.
Dell's Cloud Client Computing for Retail is an end-to-end service that pairs cloud-hosted applications, such as point-of-sale software, with end-point device management. Combined with Dell servers, Dell Wyse thin clients and Dell's public cloud resources, the company is hoping it can make a compelling case for retailers to migrate their in-house hardware and outsourced applications to Dell.
MORE DELL: Just what is Dell's cloud strategy?
NEWS: IBM: Steampunk frenzy to erupt in next two years
Dell is not the only company that is attempting to capture business by focusing products and services on a specific vertical industry. Amazon Web Services and Terremark -- Verizon's cloud computing division -- have offerings specifically for federal government agencies. Terremark has an entire division dedicated to government cloud computing. AWS's GovCloud is a separate region that only hosts government clients and is completely isolated form its other regions. Having that logical and physical separation allows organizations, like AWS and Terremark, to receive compliance certifications, such as the federal government's Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA).
Other companies have public cloud computing services for specific industries. HP has marketed certain services within its cloud as being aimed specifically for communications service providers and airlines. A variety of cloud computing companies, particularly those in the New York area, have low-latency, high performance compute resources available for financial service customers. Some have predicted that public cloud computing services for niche industries would catch on -- some have even dubbed the term "community clouds" to describe the process.
Dell isn't even alone in targeting the retail market either. NetSuite and others have retail-focused cloud computing offerings, but Dell is attempting some of that market share.
RELATED: More retailers turn to cloud-based e-commerce
Dell's Cloud Client Computing for retail combines management of end point devices, cloud storage, application hosting and a variety of management tools geared specifically for the retail sector, such as point-of-sale (POS) and inventory tracking software. Retailers can also combine other Dell technologies for on-premise hardware to be used in the system, such as Dell Wyse thin clients, PowerEdge Servers and PowerVault storage. Dell is accepting beta customers for the service and plans to roll it out in phases this year, with the full release available in the fall of 2013.
Network World staff writer Brandon Butler covers cloud computing and social collaboration. He can be reached at firstname.lastname@example.com and found on Twitter at @BButlerNWW.


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Thomas Davis injured his knee during the second game of the season. An MRI would later reveal his third ACL tear on the same knee. Despite his ultimately unsuccessful attempts to come back from ACL reconstruction on two prior occasions, Davis thinks he is going to make history.
Dr. James Andrews performed his most recent surgery and instead of using tendons from the apparently broken down knee, "Andrews took the patellar tendon from Davis' left knee to rebuild his right ACL. The knee is solid as a rock," Davis said. "Those were (Andrews') words."
According to the Panthers' trainer, Ryan Vermillion, no player has ever returned from three ACL reconstructions to the same knee. Davis is using the challenge to motivate himself as he rehabs. Also motivating him is the likelihood that the Panthers cut him before he is due an $8 million bonus on March 14. "The popular thinking is the Panthers will cut Davis rather than pay the bonus, and bring him back on a deal with much less guaranteed money."
This is just one of many similar stories in the NFL. While the specific details change from the player to player, the theme is constant. A player perpetually runs the risk of not only physical injury but unemployment—or at least in this case—receiving much, much less money than initially agreed upon. It's a difficult balance to achieve when the one commodity owners and fans depend on can be rendered useless so easily without a moment's notice. Football is the one sport where it simultaneously makes no sense and all the sense in the world that contracts are not guaranteed.
[Charlotte Observer; via PFT]


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I was invited by TED to present the Rap Research Lab to 400 middle & high School students.
TEDYouth is a day-long event for middle and high school students, with live speakers, hands-on activities and great conversations. Scientists, designers, technologists, explorers, artists, performers (and more!) share short talks on what they do best, serving both as a source of knowledge and inspiration for youth around the globe.
Picasso, Baby. is a network graph that visualises the connections between rappers and the modern & contemporary painters they name drop in their rhymes.
Spanning 1979 – 2014 the graph gives a glimpse of the historical relationship that rappers have to the artistic mastery of Pablo Picasso, the perceived archetypal divisiveness of Yoko Ono, the ever present Jay-Z factor and the recent increasing popularity of Jean-Michel Basquiat.
Gallery quality Giclée print on natural white, matte, ultra smooth, 100% cotton rag, acid and lignin free archival paper using archival inks.
The interactive version of the graph is here
Rap Geeks can submit a correction here
Rap Fans can pre-order the poster here


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- Bisphenol A free. Made from polypropylene plastic.
- Please note the PP plastic used has a slightly milky appearence.
- First Choice bottles have an extra wide neck to make it even easier to make the feed and clean.
- The sealing disc and screw ring guarantee leak-proof transport.
- The First Choice teat has the special orthodontic NUK shape and an extra wide lip support to simulate breast feeding as closely as possible.
- The NUK Air System within the teat allows air to flow into the bottle though a vent. As the baby sucks, this ensures that no air is swallowed during feeding, thus helping to prevent colic.
- The NUK orthodontic shape and Air System have both been approved by the British Dental Health Foundation.
- The silicone teat on the bottle is size 2 (6-18 months), medium feed hole suitable for breast milk or formula feed.
To help with the birthing process, all babies are born with under-developed jaws. The mouth, tongue and jaw muscles are then developed by the natural sucking action used in breast-feeding, which makes the baby 'work' for his feed. By developing these muscles correctly, there will be sufficient space for correct development of the teeth.
It is this natural sucking action that the NUK teat mimics, so feeding from a NUK teat will encourage healthy oral development – which is why the NUK teats are approved by the British Dental Health Foundation. And because the NUK teat is based on the shape of a mother's nipple, it will also make switching between breast and bottle easy.
This special shape is also found on all our NUK soothers. This is because all babies are actually born with a natural instinct to suck. Some even suck their fingers or thumbs in the womb. NUK soothers are therefore designed specifically to satisfy the natural needs of babies and ensure the correct healthy oral development of their teeth and jaws.
Given the choice every mother would breast feed her baby, however life isn't always that simple; so to ensure that feeding by bottle replicates breast feeding as closely as possible, NUK took a mothers breast as their model when designing the NUK orthodontic shape.
The unique NUK orthodontic shape was developed over 50 years ago after intensive research by two German orthodontists, Professor Dr. W Balters and Dr. med. dent. A Muller. Their research found that prolonged use of conventional round teats and soothers could cause oral abnormalities like open bite. They therefore decided to develop a teat that is based on the shape of a mother's nipple during breast-feeding. By closely mimicking the sucking action of breast-feeding, NUK teats and soothers encourage the correct oral development for your baby1.
Because of our experience and expertise, NUK teats are used in many maternity and neonatal wards throughout the UK. In fact, NUK is currently used in over 200 hospitals, including Great Ormond Street, Alder Hey and Birmingham Children's Hospital. The NUK orthodontic teat is recommended by 93% of paediatricians and 87% of midwives2 and is the only teat approved by the British Dental Health Foundation.
|Order Value (£)
|Delivery Charge (£)
|£0.00 to £49.99
|£50.00 to £74.99
|£75.00 +
- Orders for the Scottish Highlands, the Channel Islands (Jersey and Guernsey), the Isle of Man or Ireland will all be charged at £9.95.
- We are able to deliver to European destinations and other parts of the world. Please refer our Delivery tab (at top) for more details.
- Learn more about NUK
- Read about Our Guide to Baby Bottles
- Read more about Premature Feeding Equipment
- Read about Moving from Bottle to Cup


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A guide to the waterfalls near Vancouver, Squamish, Whistler, the Fraser Valley and throughout Southwest British Columbia.
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Technically this is called the JohnNXT 5, though even Steve Guttenberg's minority friend won't be fooled that this isn't the real Johnny Five. LEGO fan Daniele Benedettelli built this entire thing out of LEGO Mindstorm NXT parts, which if our calculations are correct, means this probably costs as much as an actual robot to make.
If you want to build your own (who wouldn't), check out the materials list to get started.
Project Page [Danielle via MAKE]


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UCONN FOOTBALL: Huskies get six Connecticut players in recruiting class
EAST HARTFORD >> When Paul Pasqualoni was hired at UConn, he had the backing of the state's high school football coaches.
The belief was he would be more proactive in securing commitments from in-state student-athletes.
While the won-loss record has not been what UConn backers have been looking for, Pasqualoni's staff has made an impact on recruiting in Connecticut. Six of the 24 members of the latest Huskies recruiting class hail from Connecticut.
"I am obviously very excited about several things today," Pasqualoni said at a Wednesday afternoon press conference announcing the class. "First off, we signed six players from the state of Connecticut. Obviously I'm extremely excited.
"We can't thank them enough for keeping the door open and giving them a chance to come in and recruit, being supportive of us and giving us a chance to really work recruiting in the state. They are a big part of this certainly."
Former Xavier quarterback Tim Boyle was the first player Pasqualoni mentioned when running down the list of his newest recruits. Cheshire Academy linebacker Cory Jasudowich, Hand fullback Matt Walsh, Coventry tight end Tommy Myers, Windsor defensive end Cole Ormsby and St. Luke's receiver Noel Thomas are the other Nutmeg State products signing with UConn. Thomas actually signed in December and is enrolled now.
"A lot of people say it is the best class they have ever had," Walsh said after signing his national letter of intent on Wednesday morning. "We are up to 20-something commits, six in-state and a lot of three/four star recruits, even though that doesn't matter when we get up there. Everybody is working really hard to come in there and make an impact as best we can."
Pasqualoni didn't limit his praise for the six Connecticut products.
Among the other players Pasqualoni went out of his way to mention were:
?Jordan Fuchs, a tight end out of Christ the King in Middle Village, N.Y., who drew Division I recruiting interest as a basketball player.
?Brian Lemelle, who is the all-time leading receiver in Pennsylvania high school football history.
?Offensive lineman Kyle Schafenacker, who led Florida powerhouse St. Thomas Aquinas to the 7A state title and resisted the recruiting advances from South Florida.
?Defensive ends Sha-ki Holines and Jalen Stevens, who have the height to add enough bulk to either play defensive end or get on the field as outside linebackers.
"What we are trying to do in building the program, and it is hard to do it overnight, we are trying to recruit pro-type-size guys," Pasqualoni said. "We'd like to have a big, athletic, smart tough football team here, so the size factors are a big part of what we are doing."
There were some surprises. Highly touted quarterback Richard Lagow out of Plano, Texas, did not sign a letter of intent. Pasqualoni is not allowed to comment on players who have yet to sign, but he did not rule out adding another quarterback to the class.
"I can't comment on the player," Pasqualoni said. "I won't know the answer to (whether Lagow could be added to the class) until probably tomorrow."
Orange (N.J.) defensive back Jamar Summers and Reading (Pa.) defensive back Jalan Branford also did not sign. Sources indicate they could head to UConn next year after spending a year in prep school.
The newest additions to UConn's commitment list were Dunmore (Pa.) defensive tackle Michael Boland and Kivon Taylor, a quarterback from Atlanta.


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Challenging assumptions about optimization
Michael is a developer at RAD Games Tools and author of several legendary programming books, including Graphics Programming Black Book. He can be contacted at michael_abrashhotmail.com.
For the first time in a while, I recently happened to leaf through my Graphics Programming Black Book (http://www.ddj.com/downloads/premium/abrash/), where one of the first things I noticed was the phrase "Assume Nothing." And that made me think that maybe I should follow my own programming advice more often...
You see, a couple of months ago, Jeff Roberts (my boss at RAD Game Tools) asked me to take a look at the low-level MP3 filter code in the Miles Sound System, an SDK that handles all aspects of sound3D audio, digital audio, digital decompression, interactive MIDI, and the like. This code was performance critical, so much so that it was written entirely in assembly language. Nonetheless, Jeff wanted me to see if I could find a way to speed it up further. In particular, he thought perhaps the code would benefit from Streaming SIMD Extension (SSE), the instruction set Intel introduced with the Pentium III.
It had been a while since I had had a crack at pedal-to-the-metal x86 optimization (I've been working on PlayStation2) and I happily dove into the code. It is complex and intricate, and not obviously amenable to the four-way parallelism of SSE, but eventually I figured out a way to bring SSE to bear. With a day of coding, I managed to speed up the entire MP3 test application by about 10 percent.
As it turned out, that 10 percent speedup was more impressive than it seems. When I finally got around to profiling, the low-level filter code turned out to have taken only about one-third of the total time before my optimizations, meaning that I had succeeded in speeding the low-level filter up by about 1.5 times. Not bad.
However, profiling also revealed that an unrelated C routine was taking 40 percent of the time, considerably more than the filter code. Obviously, my assumption that the code in assembly was the most performance critical had caused me to start optimizing in the wrong place. Worse yet, most of the time in the C routine was taken by a tiny block of code, which did nothing more than call the library pow() function with integer exponents between 0 and 15. Worst of all, though, it turned out that the exponent was on most of the time. It didn't take a whole lot of research or deep thinking to figure out a faster way to raise a number to the first power than calling pow()!
I converted this bit of code over to using a switch() statement to handle the various cases directly with multiplication (and to handle an exponent of one by doing nothing), all of which took about five minutes. In return, I got an overall speedup in the MP3 test of about 1.4×four times what I had gotten from my heroic assembly language optimizations.
"Assume Nothing" is probably the oldest, simplest, and least-specific optimization principle I've ever come up with. Every so often, however, I am reminded yet again that I ignore it at my peril. So as I examine a variety of optimization techniques in this article, remember that any technique is only as good as the assumptionsor, preferably, knowledgethat you base it on.
In this three-part article, I discuss the process of optimizing Pixomatic, an x86 3D software rasterizer for Windows and Linux written by Mike Sartain and myself for RAD Game Tools (http://www .radgametools.com/). Pixomatic was perhaps the greatest performance challenge I've ever encountered, certainly right up there with Quake. When we started on Pixomatic, we weren't even sure we'd be able to get DirectX 6 (DX6) features and performance, the minimum for a viable rasterizer. (DirectX is a set of low-level Windows multimedia APIs that provide access to graphics and audio cards.) I'm pleased to report that we succeeded. On a 3-GHz Pentium 4, Pixomatic can run Unreal Tournament 2004 at 640×480, with bilinear filtering enabled. On slower processors, performance is of course lower, but by rendering at 320×240 and stretching up to 640×480, then drawing the heads-up display (HUD) at full resolution, Unreal Tournament 2004 runs adequately well, even on a 733-MHz Pentium III.
In the end, we exceeded our design goals. With Version 2.0, Pixomatic has a high-end DX7-class feature set (except it doesn't support cubemaps) and low-end DX7-class performance, with peak 3-GHz Pentium 4 performance of more than 100 megapixels and nearly 5 million triangles a second. In this three-part article, I describe how we've managed to push Pixomatic as far as we have.
While I won't be talking about Pixomatic as a product, there is one product issue that I'd like to address. People keep asking: "Why would anyone want to use a software rasterizer nowadays?" (Actually, I believe the exact words they often use are: "Are you nuts?" But I'll just go with the first version of the question.) It's a good question, with a simple answer: Because Pixomatic is utterly reliable. There are no dependencies on APIs, drivers, or chips, so you can be absolutely certain that Pixomatic will work on any Windows or Linux machine with Intel's Multimedia Extensions (MMX). The potential market is bigger, tech support is simpler, and returns are reduced.
Ad Astra Per Aspera
A good place to start is the story of how Pixomatic came to be a DX7-class rasterizer, and a good place to start with that is to digress a bit to discuss Norton Juster's wonderful children's book The Phantom Tollbooth. In it, Milo travels through the Kingdom of Wisdom, having many adventures and surviving many dangers to rescue the princesses Rhyme and Reason. As he does so, people keep telling him, "There's just one thing about your quest," but they won't tell him what that thing is. Finally, after he has succeeded, a parade is held in his honor, and while riding in it, he asks the Kings exactly what that thing no one would discuss with him was. They inform him of the truth: His quest was impossible.
The Kings add: "But if we'd told you then, you might not have goneand, as you've discovered, so many things are possible just as long as you don't know they're impossible."
If only we'd had the Kings to guide us when we started to design Pixomatic! We weren't sure whether we'd be able to get adequate performance, and after back-of-the-envelope calculations, we figured we'd have to cut features to the bone to keep performance up. In addition, once we'd determined that we'd have to compile code on the fly, we were convinced that the overhead and complexity of supporting a lot of features would be too much. Consequently, we aimed for a DX6-class pipeline, with little more than two textures and Gouraud shading, and with modulation as the only operation. That was Pixomatic 1.0, and if its features were a little limited and didn't map ideally to most current games, its performance was certainly good enough.
Then customers started asking for DX7-class features and we started patching new capabilities into Pixomatic. Naturally, because there wasn't any overall design to these additions, they started to get messy and complicated. And then, one day, I realized that the problem was that I had assumed that a DX7-class feature set was impossible, and I hadn't even taken a shot at it to find out if that was really true. It turned out that it was actually easier to refactor the code to a full, orthogonal DX7-class feature set than to patch in random features. Moreover, the performance was just as good as in Pixomatic 1.0. Everything worked great for Pixomatic 2.0; the only way it could have been better would have been if we had designed for DX7-class features from the start. (Clearly, for Pixomatic 3.0, all I have to tell myself is that a DX9-class software rasterizer isn't impossible!) In short, everything worked out fine, and Pixomatic wound up with a nice, big, clean feature set.
In 1995-97, I wrote a series of Dr. Dobb's Sourcebook articles describing all the revelations and false starts we went through in designing and implementing Quake at Id Software. I'd love to do the same for Pixomatic, but the truth is it wasn't that kind of project. This was at least the fourth 3D rasterizer I'd written, so there wasn't a whole lot of aha! in the process; it was more a matter of matching our knowledge of the 3D pipeline to Pentium III and Pentium 4 hardware as efficiently as possible. Of course, that's not to say it was easy, or that there weren't any mistakes or learning experiences. There were plenty of both, as you'll see, which isn't surprising in a product with well over 1030 valid pixel-processing configurations. Still, it was a relatively linear development process, at least compared to Quake.
By the way, a number like 1030 may make you wonder how we managed to test Pixomatic. We constructed a testbed that implemented the pixel pipeline in C, along with a very-long-period random-number generator and the ability to run random configurations through both the C and Pixomatic pipelines and compare the results. Then we started it up and left it running for days at a time, churning through tens of billions of configurations a day. But obviously, it's impossible to test every single possible configuration.
C, Assembly, and More
Pixomatic is implemented in several ways, as appropriate for the performance needs of various parts of the rasterizer. Most of the code outside the pixel pipeline is in pure C, with inline assembly used in key places. For example, backface culling is done with inline assembly, among other reasons because, in C, there is no way to prevent gradient values from getting stored to memory before the backface test is performed, even though they only need to be stored if the backface test passes.
The span generator emits perspective-correct horizontal spans 1 to 16 pixels long to the pixel pipeline and exists in three versions. The first is an all-C x87 version. The second is a part C, part inline assembly version that uses MMX and 3DNow (a set of MMX-like multimedia extensions that AMD has added to its processors). The third and fastest is an all-inline assembly version that uses SSE and MMX.
The use of inline assembly improved performance by 20-45 percent in various scenariosand that's overall performance, including time spent in the pixel pipeline, which I will discuss shortly.
In addition to C and inline assembly, Pixomatic contains a fair amount of code that's neither C nor inline assembly. The reason for this is the tremendous number of configurations Pixomatic has to support.
For example, Pixomatic has to handle a huge number of possible pixel pipelines, as mentioned earlier; consider the number of available stage operations, sources, and scalings for both alpha and RGB, and then multiply by three stages. Or consider the number of possible vertex formats. Moreover, it's not enough to process all these configurations correctly; they also have to be handled efficiently, which rules out using lots of tests and branches. When we started to design Pixomatic, it wasn't obvious how best to get both complete feature coverage and high performance.
One approach we used was to write a custom preprocessor to simply expand out all the permutations; for example, this is how the various 2D blts Pixomatic supports are implemented. Our overall experience with this approach was mixed; the preprocessor made it easy to generate permutations, but that code was then hard to debug because we had to work with the preprocessor output in the debugger. Worse, though, was that the preprocessor made it easy to generate a huge amount of code. Since the pixel pipeline involves a vast number of possible configurations, it was clear early on that the preprocessor wasn't going to do the trick there. When we tried using the preprocessor to implement the relatively limited pipeline of Pixomatic 1.0, it generated several megabytes of code (that's executable codethe source was even larger), way over our design target. (For comparison, the entire Pixomatic 2.0 DLL is about 250 KB in size.)
A technique I had used back in the x486 and Pentium days was to thread together span processors that each performed one pixel processing operation; for example, one span processor to load the texels for a span into a temporary buffer, another to Gouraud shade them in the buffer, yet another to handle specular shading, and so on. However, my experience was that the loop overhead for each pass was fairly expensive even then; given how costly mispredicted branches are now and that at least one branch per pass is likely to mispredict, this did not seem like the right direction.
The obvious next thought was to compile an optimized pixel pipeline on the fly, one that contained no extraneous instructions or overhead at all. There were two concerns with this.
The first concern was whether the code would run slowly as a result of the CPU synchronizing its caches for the modifications. After all, code compiled on the fly is close to self-modifying code, which Intel specifically warns against as a performance hazard. However, tests showed that the time between the drawing primitive call (when compilation happens) and the pixel pipeline (when the modified code starts to execute) is more than long enough for the new code to propagate to the code cache, what with transformation, projection, clipping, culling, gradient calculation, and span construction all happening in that interval.
The second concern was whether the overhead of compiling the code would be so large as to offset the benefits. Certainly, it would take some time to do the compiling, and that cost would be multiplied by the number of times rendering state changes forced a recompilation of the pixel pipeline. Initially, we assumed we would have to implement some kind of cache for compiled pixel pipelines, and we even exposed APIs to enable applications to do so if they wanted, but all this proved to be unnecessary for three reasons.
- State changes are expensive with 3D hardware as well as with Pixomatic, so 3D apps are already written to minimize state changes.
- We designed Pixomatic to batch up state changes until a triangle actually needed to be drawn, so we recompiled only when it was actually needed, rather than whenever a state changed.
- We designed Pixomatic's pixel pipeline so that the selection of a new texture doesn't require recompilation.
This last point is critical because while textures change frequently (often every few triangles with mipmaps), the remainder of the rendering state tends to remain in effect for dozens or even hundreds of triangles.
Of course, none of this would have mattered unless the code could be compiled very quickly, so full-blown traditional compilers were out of the question. Instead, we wrote a streamlined compiler custom designed for the task, which we call the "welder."
Next Month
In the next installment of this article, I'll delve into welder and, among other topics, introduce an optimization tool dubbed "Speedboy."


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Snowmobiler rescued from deep crevasse in Alaska
An Alaska man who fell about 80 feet after his snowmobile plunged into a crevasse on a glacier said he had just decided to turn around because of concern about avalanche danger.
Tom Douglas, 41, of Fairbanks, landed unhurt on his feet on a ledge Thursday, with his snowmobile wedged in a narrow space about 30 feet above him.
"The area I was on, it was like, man this just doesn't feel right," he told the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner ( https://is.gd/mKegew ) on Friday. "I turned to get out of there and, boom, I fell through the air."
Douglas and his machine fell through a snow bridge as he led a group of snowmobilers who were conducting ice and snow tests around Jarvis Glacier in Alaska's interior. The other members of the group determined Douglas was unhurt and left to seek help.
The Rescue Coordination Center dispatched Alaska Air National Guard crews, including a helicopter team that lowered a harness and climbing tools to Douglas. He spent about eight hours in the crevasse before he was rescued.
Rescuers believe the snowmobiler escaped injury because the crevasse was narrow and slowed his fall, Guard spokesman Maj. Guy Hayes said.
Douglas blamed himself for the mishap, saying he's spent a lot of time on the glacier and made the mistake of going into an area he didn't know was safe.
Had he gotten that bad feeling just 300 feet earlier, he said, "I probably would have saved a whole lot of hassle for a whole lot of people."
Information from: Fairbanks (Alaska) Daily News-Miner, https://www.newsminer.com


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VBA interoperability project is a joint Novell & Sun incubator project whose aim is to deliver a way to run Excel and Word macros natively in imported documents.
- Noel Power ( co-lead )
- Andreas Breagas ( co-lead )
Visual Basic for Applications (VBA) is an implementation of Microsoft's Visual Basic which is built into all Microsoft Office applications.
- 1 Latest news
- 2 Terminology
- 3 Dashboard
- 4 How to enable the VBA model
- 5 How to disable the VBA model
- 6 How can I help you?
- 7 Porting Objects from the HelperApi
- 8 Understanding the VBA usage patterns
- 9 Implementation
- 10 Testing
- 11 Accessing the VBA API from other languages
Latest news
- Update Wiki Page with latest info
- Novell and Sun to work together on the VBA incubator project
- I am delighted that Andreas Bregas now joins me to co-lead the vba incubator project
- cws npower6 will contain the initial code drop
- helperapi - The compatibility API generously donated by Sun that was part of their migration toolkit
- oovbaapi - the ooo-build vba interoperability solution originally implemented by Novell + object implementations from the helperapi. Note: Ooo-build contains the latest VBA model and patches which allows you to run macros from your Microsoft Office documents. This model is under heavy development by Novell and others and the changes are continuously ported to openoffice. It is expected that many macros won't run for now.
Task queue and status ( in order of priority )
|Issue #
|Planned cws
|Milestone integrated
|migrate ooo-build code
|suck in the mountain of idl and implementation code from ooo-buils
|import vba code
|conditionally import ( uncommented ) vba code and set appropriate module options
|vba constants
|adjust basic runtime to be 'conditionally' aware of the vba constants defined in oovbaapi module
|support dim of vba object
|adjust basic runtime to be 'conditionally' allow a vba compatibilty api object to be used like Dim r1 as Range
|compatible erase array
|in vba compatibility mode erase does not behave as expected
|null variant behaviour
|in vba compatibility mode operations on null variant objects behave differently
|new 'Like' operator for basic
|Module scope variable
|in vba module scope variables lifetime is tied to the document containing the macro
|array of array indexing
|in vba array of array indexing is very common, e.g. myArray(1)(2)
|toolbox control event support
|these controls support a loose binding where the presence of a macro event handler of the form controlname_xxx e.g. controlname_click results in the appropriate macro getting called when the associated action takes place
|toolbox control event support
|these controls support a loose binding where the presence of a macro event handler of the form controlname_xxx e.g. controlname_click results in the appropriate macro getting called when the associated action takes place
Broader scope tasks that need more investigation ( and splitting into smaller tasks )
How to enable the VBA model
The VBA model is enabled by default in the current ooo-build. It's enough to get, build, install, and be able to run it.
If you are using upstream OpenOffice.org and wish to play with this feature then check out and build the cws npower6 which contains the initial code drop for the oovbaapi
How to disable the VBA model
Depending on how your version of OpenOffice.org delivers the VBA feature to you, there are a number of ways to disable it.
If you have an Openoffice.org built by a linux distro ( or a windows one from Novell ) that has the vba interop feature then all you need do is navigate to the 'Tools.Options.Load/Save.VBAProperties' page and uncheck the 'Load Excelbasic code to edit' option.
If you are using an own build ( incorporating ) cws-npower6 the above method will always work. But if you built the vba interop feature as an office extension then you can of course disable or delete the vbaapi.oxt extension using the Extension Manager.
How can I help you?
We need help in a couple of areas, porting objects from the helperapi, understanding the VBA usage patterns, implementation and testing; see below.
Porting Objects from the HelperApi
What is the helperapi?
Have a look at the porting notes
Have a look at a porting example
Understanding the VBA usage patterns
VBA model is huge and we need help in understanding the VBA usage patterns for prioritizing as we progress. It's important to receive as many Microsoft Office documents with macros as possible for analysis. We are interested in documents from developers and regular people too.
Dumping the VBA from your MS Office documents
If you're worried about the sheet data you can use test-msvba from the libgsf. Download the latest test-msvba.c file and compile it with the following command:
gcc `pkg-config --libs --cflags libgsf-1` -o test-msvba test-msvba.c
Note: you need to have libgsf-devel package installed.
Now, you can dump the VBA from your documents with the following command:
find -name '*.xls' -exec sh -c 'test-msvba {} >> ~/excel-vba-stream-for-noel.bas' \;
Or you can use POLE with GUI. POLE is a portable C++ library to access structured storage. It is designed to be compatible with Microsoft structured storage, also sometimes known as OLE Compound Document.
Exporting modules from the Microsoft Excel
Open your document and edit associated macros. You can see list of modules on the left side of your screen. Use the right mouse button and select Export from the context menu. The whole module will be saved as one huge *.bas.
Where to send
If you are going to send pure VBA streams, send them directly to [Noel dot Power at Novell dot com].
The desired sequence
Add an extension to the IDL
The IDL lives in oovbaapi/org/openoffice/*, the IDL syntax can easily be gleaned from a few other IDL files. Two things are worth bearing in mind:
- it's important that the argument names are correct, so that the MsgBox title:="hello" syntax works correctly.
- for optional arguments, or variant types you need to use the any type
Having edited the IDL extension you need to:
- run: build && deliver in oovbaapi (perhaps remove types.db first),
Add the extension to the implementation
The impl. code lives in sc/source/ui/vba/ - find the right header & source files. Add the method (with the correct prototype) to the header - often it's easiest to cut/paste that from the compiled C++ headers in sc/unxlngixxx/inc/org/openoffice/vba/
Then implement the method itself in the .cxx file. Run build debug=true
Running it
You did use [linkoo] right ? - in which case - just re-run soffice.bin (killall -9 soffice.bin first to ensure there is no lurking factory process).
Now of course - you want to add a new test to exercise it to ooo-build/test/macro/*. And of course loop back to the beginning. Once you've got something you want to share - a simple cvs diff -u | tee /tmp/foo.diff in ooo-build/scratch will yield a patch you can mail to Noel / the ooo-build mailing list to get your code folded in. NB. it's important you sign the JCA first.
TestingIt's extremely important to test the work which is already done. You can use test cases from the ooo-build/test/macro directory, you can extend them or you can write your own test cases.
It's a good idea to write test cases directly in the Microsoft Excel?
Accessing the VBA API from other languages
The VBA API is implemented by an UNO service, the service is accessible via a singleton. As such it is possible to use the API from any language that has an UNO binding. The main entry points to the API are certain global variables { Application, ActiveWorkbook and ActiveSheet } or methods { WorkSheets, WorkBooks } exported by the service. Using these globals as a starting point the rest of the api can be accessed.
NOTE: Beaware the idl is not ( nor won't be for the forseeable future be 'published' ) it WILL change, so if you are using a language that has a binary dependency on the interface ( like c++ & java ) then consider yourselves warned.
vba = uno.getComponentContext().getByName("/singletons/org.openoffice.vba.theGlobals") sheet = vba.ActiveSheet book = vba.ActiveWorkbook
import org.openoffice.vba.*; " // getComponentCtxFromSomewhere is a fictional // routine representing acquisition of the component context // from e.g. remote ServiceManage if the code is a remote client // or from the XScriptContext if this were a java ScriptingFramework script XComponentContext ctx = getComponentCtxFromSomewhere(); Object oGlobs = ctx.getValueByName( "/singletons/org.openoffice.vba.theGlobals"); XGlobals xGlobs = AnyConverter.toObject( new Type(XGlobals.class), oGlobs); XWorkBook xWBook = xGlobs.getActiveWorkbook(); XWorkSheet xSheet = xGlobs.getActiveWorkSheet();
OO Basic
Basic allows access to the global variables automatically just like VBA does, there is no need to create any services or access any singletons to use the API
msgbox "Name of the current document is " & ActiveWorkbook.Path


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Reviewed By Gwyn W (Hazel Green, AL) Reviewed for a 1965 Chevy Impala —8/23/2017 6:00 AM
Several years ago we bought our first cover for my 68 Camaro followed by a second when we purchased the 442. It was only logical to come back and purchase one for our Impala. Excellent quality, durable, tough but gentle on the cars. HIGHLY recommend this cover, worth every penny.


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The $800 million requested to build one highway -- the Intercounty Connector in Montgomery County -- is greater than the sum of all mass transit projects sought throughout the state, $662 million. The state pledged to request more transit money when exact project costs can be determined.
"We want to strike a balance between roads, highways and mass transit -- and we believe we have done so," said Gov. Robert L. Ehrlich Jr. in announcing what he called a "wish list" of two dozen state transportation projects.
There is no guarantee any of them will be built. The projects first must be included by Congress in its six-year transportation bill in the fall, then compete with hundreds of projects from across the country for federal funding.
The state wants $15 million to plan the Baltimore Region Transit Plan -- what local officials used to call a "rail plan." But Transportation Secretary Robert L. Flanagan wants to take a close look at "bus-rapid transit," huge buses that run in special lanes. Such systems are far less expensive than light rail and subways.
"We ought to consider the fact we might be able to get more bang for our buck -- and maybe do one or two more projects -- if we consider bus-rapid transit instead of light rail," Flanagan said. A rapid bus costs about $1.2 million, while a rail car costs $3 million.
Once funding to plan Baltimore's system is secured, Flanagan expects to seek more money -- he does not know how much -- to start construction of the Red Line, a light rail or rapid bus line from Woodlawn to .
While elected officials expressed some wariness over rapid buses and the lane space that would be devoted to them, they were pleased the state is prepared to ask Congress for money to build -- not just plan -- some form of new transit in Baltimore. Exactly what that will be, buses or rail, will be decided in two years.
"I'm glad they reconsidered, and now the battle moves to Washington," said Baltimore Mayor Martin O'Malley. "This is a win for the region and it's a win for Maryland. We need to build on this momentum."
The Ehrlich administration had said that Baltimore's transit plan was not advanced enough in its planning to compete for federal construction money. That sparked an outcry from local officials who did not want to delay a plan they say is key to the city's future.
The administration now says it could seek construction money in about five years. Several congressmen said they would push the governor to do that even sooner, and that they would make the transit plan their top priority. "We're in much better shape than we were one week ago," said Rep. Benjamin L. Cardin, a Baltimore Democrat.
"One of the things we urged the governor to do is to allow us to go out there and fight," he said. "And we're going to fight to get this authorized."
The 10.4-mile segment of the Red Line is seen as the first step in building an integrated transit system for Baltimore and its suburbs. The plan calls for six light rail or subway lines to be built over the next 20 to 40 years at a cost of $12 billion.
Flanagan is also considering rapid buses for the Purple Line extension of the Washington Metro system. He is changing the name of the project to the Bi-County Transitway to keep the bus option open and to get beyond the fight over the route in Montgomery County.
Advocates for transit and the environment were relieved yesterday that the state's $2 billion transportation plan includes the possibility of seeking construction money for three major transit projects, but they were dismayed that highways get the lion's share.
"If we took that $800 million [for the ICC] and applied it to transit, think how many cars we could get off the road, how much cleaner the air would be and much better off the Chesapeake Bay would be," said Dru Schmidt-Perkins, executive director of 1,000 Friends of Maryland.
She noted that the plan calls for a bevy of bridges and bypasses to be built across the state, along with a number of new highway interchanges and widening projects. Included is $219 million to widen the Baltimore Beltway's inner loop on the north side and outer loop on the west side.
The request to Congress also calls for $250 million to expand the Maryland Rail Commuter service by buying new train cars and building parking garages. And it seeks $80 million to complete the double-tracking of Baltimore's light rail line.
The Washington suburbs continue to outpace the Baltimore region in transportation funding under the Ehrlich plan. It requests $1.1 billion for projects in Montgomery and Prince George's counties compared with $336 million for Baltimore and Anne Arundel, Baltimore, Harford and Howard counties, excluding the MARC expansion.
But area lawmakers say they should take the blame for that. "We dropped the ball on transit in the Baltimore region," Cardin said. "Washington moved more aggressively than we did. That was not a bias of the state."
Rep. Elijah E. Cummings of Baltimore hopes the transit plan will help make up the difference. A member of the House transportation and infrastructure committee, Cummings said he would give "every ounce of power I've got" to secure funding for the plan.
Del. Maggie L. McIntosh, an outspoken proponent of the transit plan, said she and the transportation secretary have a philosophical difference about priorities -- mass transit or highways -- but she embraces the administration's latest proposal.
"He and I do differ on the mix, but the important thing is on this first important step, the administration listened to those of us who want to have more rail in Baltimore City," McIntosh said.