http://dalecoz.gather.com Recent Articles on Gather by Dale C. en-us Copyright Gather Inc 2009 Fri, 01 Jan 2010 18:12:12 GMT 2010-01-01T18:12:12Z en-us Copyright Gather Inc 2009 http://www.gather.com/images/header/logo_gather.gif http://www.gather.com/ http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977953993 It seems to me that life boils down to a process of either turning potential into accomplishments, good memories, and/or support for the next generation or failing to do so.  The average person has . . . Sat, 19 Dec 2009 03:13:31 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977953993 Dale C. 2009-12-19T03:13:31Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977895899 I write science fiction, so world-building is a huge part of writing for me.  In science fiction, the world of the characters--the society and technology they are surrounded by is often almost as . . . Wed, 11 Nov 2009 14:24:55 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977895899 Dale C. 2009-11-11T14:24:55Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977808829 My stepdaughter dated a guy back in high school who seemed like almost the ideal guy: smart, good looking, athletic, and a lot of fun to be around.  With all of that, there had to be a catch, and . . . Fri, 11 Sep 2009 17:51:26 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977808829 Dale C. 2009-09-11T17:51:26Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977718668 I've been following events in Iran as best I can, which isn't particularly well given the censorship and the wild rumors. My take on it is that several factions in the regime are trying to take advantage . . . Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:40:18 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977718668 Dale C. 2009-06-22T22:40:18Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977662311 This past weekend I went to the three and a half day  High Tension Writing Workshop by Donald Maass, a literary agent and author of Writing The Breakout Novel. I'm still kind of processing . . . Tue, 21 Apr 2009 20:00:49 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977662311 Dale C. 2009-04-21T20:00:49Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977651088 Here's an interesting new study on Global Warming.  It doesn't fit neatly into the skeptics versus believers debate, but it does add a significant new perspective. From ScienceDigest" . . . Thu, 09 Apr 2009 12:51:53 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977651088 Dale C. 2009-04-09T12:51:53Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977649028 Back in January I got a nasty computer virus.  I wrote an account of my struggle to get rid of the thing shortly after I got it out of the system.  Apparently this virus is still going around . . . Tue, 07 Apr 2009 12:36:37 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977649028 Dale C. 2009-04-07T12:36:37Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977648758 This is a string of comments that were deleted from a wombat post back in January of 2009.  I saved the thread before it was deleted and figured that for historical reasons it should probably be . . . Tue, 07 Apr 2009 05:26:01 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977648758 Dale C. 2009-04-07T05:26:01Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977629802 You've probably already figured this out if you've looked at the writing market lately, but the market is beyond saturated with new would-be writers.  Agents are getting 200+ novel manuscripts . . . Wed, 18 Mar 2009 22:52:24 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977629802 Dale C. 2009-03-18T22:52:24Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977587701 I'm going to try to do the same thing here that I did in the slushpile contest.   Here are links to all of the entries so far in alphabetical order by title.  As ken posts new entries   . . . Sun, 08 Feb 2009 03:13:32 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977587701 Dale C. 2009-02-08T03:13:32Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977577783 July 18 cont’d I have been told that there 20,000 inhabitants in the valley, The Mormons believe everything that Brigham Young says and will do anything he tells them to. Also, that he is an inspired . . . Wed, 28 Jan 2009 22:01:39 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977577783 Dale C. 2009-01-28T22:01:39Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977577054   Note: There is a brief unfavorable mention of Brigham Young in this section which may be somewhat offensive to Mormons.  Since this is a historical document I left it in of course, but . . . Wed, 28 Jan 2009 05:04:45 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977577054 Dale C. 2009-01-28T05:04:45Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977576552   May 15 : Made about 10 miles today. Followed up the Lou Forded the stream without accident after waiting abo, hour or more to find a shallow place, This stream is about 50 rods wide interspersed . . . Tue, 27 Jan 2009 19:56:25 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977576552 Dale C. 2009-01-27T19:56:25Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977574837 One of my wife's GreatGreat (and probably another couple of Greats) Grandfathers was on a wagon train to California during the gold rush.  He kept a diary of the trip, and copies of it have . . . Mon, 26 Jan 2009 03:45:01 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977574837 Dale C. 2009-01-26T03:45:01Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977572697 Part one looked at how the filters that keep readers from having to sort through a glut of really bad writing are breaking down.  Part two looked at how authors and readers can adapt to a world where . . . Fri, 23 Jan 2009 20:03:58 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977572697 Dale C. 2009-01-23T20:03:58Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977572652 Part one looked at how the filters that keep readers from having to sort through a glut of really bad writing are breaking down.  This section will look at how authors and readers can adapt to a . . . Fri, 23 Jan 2009 19:15:00 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977572652 Dale C. 2009-01-23T19:15:00Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977567493   If you’ve been around aspiring writers much you know that a good percentage of them produce the writing equivalent of really bad karaoke. You also know that there are undiscovered gems out there. . . . Mon, 19 Jan 2009 02:27:25 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977567493 Dale C. 2009-01-19T02:27:25Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977543353 Here is a list of alternate energy/solar news sites and blogs that should tell you more than you can possibly want to know about what's happening in the world of alternate energy.  If you know . . . Tue, 23 Dec 2008 13:25:23 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977543353 Dale C. 2008-12-23T13:25:23Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977541954   This is a brief excerpt from my Nanowrimo novel.  For those of you who aren't familiar with NaNoWriMo, it's a challenge to write 50,000 words in the month of November.  I . . . Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:40:45 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977541954 Dale C. 2008-12-21T21:40:45Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977537730   What if the Allies had not invaded Sicily? The US saw the Mediterranean as a distraction from the real path to victory, which they figured was a thrust through northern France into Germany. . . . Wed, 17 Dec 2008 05:11:03 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977537730 Dale C. 2008-12-17T05:11:03Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977537324   When it comes right down to it, the history of solar energy for the last 30 years boils down to two trends: (1) A slow steady decline in prices for traditional crystalline solar cells, and . . . Tue, 16 Dec 2008 20:44:46 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977537324 Dale C. 2008-12-16T20:44:46Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977535186 You've stepped into a time machine and zapped yourself 11.5 years into the future.  You still want to be a writer.  What kind of marketplace do you find? Which genres are hot? Which genres . . . Sun, 14 Dec 2008 17:49:00 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977535186 Dale C. 2008-12-14T17:49:00Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977471835 Yet another entry into the “Roosevelt provoked the Japs and knew about Pearl Harbor in advance” genre.   It differs from many of the earlier books in that genre in that it says that Roosevelt’s . . . Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:24:16 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977471835 Dale C. 2008-10-08T19:24:16Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977471830 Very short entry on this scenario for this issue.   I’m still trying to work out how several things would play out.   Hopefully more next time.   The period from July to September . . . Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:20:15 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977471830 Dale C. 2008-10-08T19:20:15Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977471826 What Actually Happened : After World War I, the US was in a position to quickly displace the British Royal Navy as the strongest naval power in the world.   The US had enough powerful modern . . . Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:15:29 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977471826 Dale C. 2008-10-08T19:15:29Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977366938 The era of battleships overlapped the era of biplanes from shortly before World War I until maybe early1942, when all of the major combatants except to some extent Italy had phased out biplanes, and battleships . . . Wed, 03 Sep 2008 19:01:04 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977366938 Dale C. 2008-09-03T19:01:04Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977438058 A lot of people think solar power is an option for the future; something that's still down the road 5 or 10 years.  For some applications that may be true.  For a surprising number of applications . . . Wed, 03 Sep 2008 14:28:30 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977438058 Dale C. 2008-09-03T14:28:30Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977396254 I'm not going to link the details for anyone but the top ten to specific entries, but several people have expressed an interest in the statistics for the rest of the field.  Something to keep . . . Sat, 12 Jul 2008 17:48:51 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977396254 Dale C. 2008-07-12T17:48:51Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977395821 Announcing the top ten entries in the Writing Wombat Slushpile Simulator Contest.  And our winner is: Points John L. (springycom) Today.02 86 Jamie . . . Sat, 12 Jul 2008 01:01:50 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977395821 Dale C. 2008-07-12T01:01:50Z http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977393334 Here is a list of the authors who  have entered the Writing Wombat Slushpile Simulator Contest.  Authors are listed by Gather screen name.  If an author is listed more than once that means . . . Wed, 09 Jul 2008 05:09:54 GMT http://www.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474977393334 Dale C. 2008-07-09T05:09:54Z