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September 27, 2005

Going to take Medicare Part D? Well run the numbers and find out. Now I have to warn you that this is only my take on this new prescription benefit and is definately not anything official. But, hopefully you will get some idea of how it works. I got my information from AARP Document on Medicare Part D Also, I'll assume there is no other prescription coverage [my mom doesn't have any].

What we want to know is whether it will cost us money to join or will we save money. The first numbers came out simple. Take the premium you pay (about $384/year for 2006) and the benefits and balance them. The benefits don't kick in until you spend a certain amount, it runs $250 in 2006. After that you pay 25% for the next $2000 in prescriptions. Put this all together and the break even amount comes out as $762. That is, if you normally spend more than $762 for prescriptions you will save money with the Medicare part D insurance. If you spend less, it will cost you money to get the insurance.

BUT WAIT! I said the first numbers came out simple - not all of them. The government really wants you to join this program. So, if you don't join during the first joining period (about mid Nov. 2005 to mid May 2006) and then want to join later, you will be penalized. How long can you wait to join before you break even. That depends on how much you pay for prescriptions now, how fast your prescription cost increases, how fast the premiums increase, how long you wait [the penality is 1% per month], and the period of time you are talking about.

Lets assume the prescription costs go up about 10% a year starting with $500, assume the premiums go up by about 5% a year, and consider a time period of 15 years. If you join Jan 1st, 2006 then 15 years later you will have saved about $1400 although it will have cost you $200 the first year. If you wait and have to pay a years penality, then the savings actually go down to about $600. If you wait and have to pay 48 months penality, it will cost you about an addition $1400 as compared to joining immediately.

So, yes, by all means, run the numbers for yourself. But consider the longer term and penality when you do.

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'til next time - DW

September 26, 2005
Since I insist on writing something here every week or so, when I ran across this book "The Technique of Clear Writing" by Robert Gunning I decided to read it. I though I could certainly use some advice since I confuse myself sometimes with the words I write. Now I don't read "technical" books like I do fiction. So it will be a while before I finish the book. However one of the things I've found out so far is that I need to write in shorter sentences. That is actually principle one of ten given in the book. The complete list is

Ten Principles of Clear Writing
from "The Technique of Clear Writing"
by Robert Gunning

Keep Sentences Short

Prefer the Simple to the Complex

Prefer the Familiar Word

Avoid Unnecessary Words

Put Action in Your Verbs

Write Like You Talk

Use Terms Your Reader Can Picture

Tie In with Your Reader's Experience

Make Full Use of Variety

Write to Express Not Impress

It looks like a simple list. Maybe I can start to remember some of the principles when I'm writing and become a better writer. We'll see how long it takes before I can actually say I've improved.

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'til next time - DW

September 14, 2005
Just started reading a new (for me) detective series, by Glen Cook. At first you think Garrett is supposed to be one of the hard boiled types. Later you're not sure. Maybe I'll review it when I'm through. If so, I'll leave a link to it here.

In the meantime while I was fooling around on the web looking at various Roycrofters information, see for example the Roycrafter Campus, I discovered one of the first American detective writers, Anna Katherine "Kitty" (Rohlfs) Green. Actually the link between the two sites had to do with furniture rather than books. Isn't it strange where wandering can lead you? From Charles Rohlfs House

Ms. Green was one of the first American women to write detective novels. During her 45 year career, she wrote 35 novels. Her first novel, The Leavenworth Case, was phenomenally successful, selling half a million copies. She believed that the essentials of a good detective story were a tightly constructed plot with a unique turn of events, a step-by-step revelation of the story line and a climax that did not disappoint the reader.

Ms. Green also created the first female detective, Amelia Butterworth. She wrote 23 short stories, and a volume of poetry. She was known for ingenious touches that made her books inventive and interesting. In both America and England, she was considered one of the best writers of detective fiction. Her fans included President Theodore Roosevelt and Woodrow Wilson, as well as such English masters of mystery as Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In 1912 she and her husband resided at 156 Park St in the Allentown district of Buffalo. Anna died on April 11, 1935 at the age of 88.

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'til next time - DW

September 7, 2005
We've been "doing books" recently. You see, Mary does the majority of the basic entering of books for us and she has gotten very good at it. In fact so good that we had books to price and add the final touches to all around the place. It got so we couldn't turn around for all the books. So we gave Mary some time off so we could catch up. That's one reason why we've been listing so many books recently - see our Newly Listed Books.

That's not left us much time for other things, but I thought I would just take a few minutes out to add one of my favorite poems by Eugene Field. I hope you enjoy it.

THE DUEL
by Eugene Field

The gingham dog and the calico cat
Side by side on the table sat;
'Twas half-past twelve, and (what do you think!)
Nor one nor t'other had slept a wink!
The old Dutch clock and the Chinese plate
Appeared to know as sure as fate
There was going to be a terrible spat.
(I wasn't there; I simply state
What was told to me by the Chinese plate!)

The gingham dog went " Bow-wow-wow!"
And the calico cat replied "Me-ow!"
The air was littered,an hour or so,
With bits of gingham and calico,
While the old Dutch clock in the chimney place
Up with it hands before its face,
For it always dreaded a family row!
(Now mind: I'm only telling you
What the old Dutch clock declares is true!)

The Chinese plate looked very blue,
And wailed,"Oh dear! What shall we do!"
But the gingham dog and the calico cat
Wallowed this way and tumbled that,
Employing every tooth and claw
In the awfullest way you ever saw-
And oh! how the gingham and calico flew!
(Don't fancy I exaggerate!
I got my news from the Chinese plate!)

Next morning where the two had sat
They found no trace of dog or cat;
And some folks think unto this day
That burglars stole the pair away!
But the truth about the cat and pup
Is this: they ate each other up!
Now what do you really think of that!
(The old Dutch clock, it told me so,
And that is how I came to know.)

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'til next time - DW

September 3, 2005
"Going online to buy the latest bestseller or those photos from summer vacation may be tax free for most people today, but it won't last forever." So starts the article 13 states push effort to collect Internet tax The law right now is generally, you (as a merchant) must collect and pay sales tax only on sales "in your state". For us here at White Unicorn, this takes the shape of "sales tax is included in the purchase price for sales in Texas". We keep track of these sales and send it in when they come due.

One reason why the law is like it is, is because of the widely different tax juristictions and taxable goods (fast food vrs. groceries for example). Apparently these states have tried to simplify the tax code. Now wouldn't that be a change. If (or maybe I should say when) these states can convince the federal government the tax structure is simple enough, it will be required for merchants to collect and pay sales taxes on internet sales. Then watch other states jump on the bandwagon.

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'til next time - DW

September 1, 2005
I started looking around for a charity to donate to for the Katrina relief. What I ran into was intersting, so I though I would share my findings with you.

Contribute to the Katrina Disaster Relief

This list is certainly not all of the Charities collecting for disaster relief, but they are the ones I found in a couple of hours of looking which were, IMO, excellently rated. Notice that no religious charities such as the Salvation Army , Catholic Charities USA, and Episcopal Relief & Development, are on the list. Religious organizations are not rated by the two rating organizations I used because many religious organizations are exempt under Internal Revenue Code from filing the Form 990. As a result of this, the rating organizations lack sufficient data to evaluate their financial health.

The first 4 ratings [CN Program (%), CN Admin (%), CN Total Score, and CN Rating] are from Charity Navigator, and the last (AIP Grade) is from The American Institute of Philanthropy

I've only included part of the Charity Navigator (CN) statistics. Program is the percentage spent on program services, the higher the better. Admin is the percentage spent on administrative costs, the lower the better. Total Score is a weighted score, the higher the better (I think to get 100 the charity would have to spend everything on program services and nothing on administration, raising donations or any other costs. Actually a 60 or better is execellent.) The CN Rating is a number of stars with a maximum of 4 stars.

I couldn't find near as much at The American Institute of Philanthropy (AIP). The only "score" I could find on site "grading scale" A, B, C, D, and F. A + or - was used to indicate a littl better/worse than so that A+ was the best grade and (I assume) F- is the worse. An NA means I couldn't find the rating on their web site, but it may in their Charity Rating Guide, available for $3.00. You can order on site.

Listing order is by CN Total Score.

Ratings of Various Charity Organizations
Name CN Program(%) CN Admin(%) CN Total Score CN Rating AIP Grade

Mercy Corp 92.0 5.3 64.21 **** NA

Volunteers of America 87.7 8.9 61.55 **** NA

World Vision 85.2 5.0 61.02 **** NA

American Red Cross 91.1 5.4 60.36 **** A-

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'til next time - DW

August 23, 2005
We've come up with a new way to stimulate the economy and help our fellow humans at the same time. I say humans, but it really applies to anyone that uses money and believes in the old saying "See a penny, pick it up and all the day you'll have good luck". I say we, but it's really my mom's idea (at least I told her I would say that).

First of all we need about 100 million people to take one penny out of circulation each day. Next, each day drop your penny in a fairly well traveled area (actually, if you get a partner just drop it at an agreed on spot). Now, find a different penny to pick up and take it home and put it in a jar, bowl, or some other container which will hold at least 100 pennys. Now finding the penny shouldn't be too hard, especially if you get a partner and both you and the person who picks up your penny will "all the day have good luck". Thus you have helped your fellow human. At the end of 100 days, take your pennys to the bank and put them in a savings account. That way, every 100 days one million dollars will be added to savings and the M2 and M3 money supply will increase without increasing the M0 and M1 money supply. As some economists will tell you, this is a good thing and continuation of this for a period of time will stimulate the economy.

Don't know if anyone has noticed, but we've gone to a different style for the page. If you've noticed the difference (even if only after haveing it pointed out to you), we would appreciate a vote if you have a preference.

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'til next time - DW

August 18, 2005
I can remember back when I used to frequent the book stores around where I lived, I was always glad that a couple of them had a "new books" section. Those were generally the new arrivals within the last few weeks. You see, I had been in the stores so much that I practically knew their stock by heart - at least that part of it that I was interested in. So I didn't have to look through all of the "old" familiar stock, but I could just look through the new book section. Well, if I liked it then, I though maybe our customers would like that in our store, so I've actually got one started. I will try to keep the page updated at least weekly. Right now, the list is broken down into six sections with four of the sections covering June 30 to July 27 "archived". I'll try to keep the lists in alphabetical order by author within each set. So, if you are interested, see our Newly Listed Books .

BTW: do you like classical music? IMO, WRR 101.1 FM is the classical music station in Dallas. Just though I would mention that they are having a "WRR Top 40 Classical Countdown" where you can vote for your five favorite pieces. They have a fairly long list including some of my favorites - Appalachian Spring, Bolero, Sorcerer's Apprentice, and several others. Of course I'm just one of those guys that only "knows what he likes" and not much else about classical music. If you like it why don't you start listening to WRR and go Vote for the Top 40

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'til next time - DW

August 13, 2005
It has certainly been a bit since I've added anything to this page. All I can do is plead busyness. We went looking through some boxes of books - it turns out there were about 500 of them - to buy. The reason we had to look through all of them is that there were some that weren't for sale [they were from a special collection]. Also quite a few had to be reboxed. Some were just junk - in fact we wrote trash on some of these boxes of junk. But part of the reason for the bargin we got was because we were also taking away the trash. We finally got the books moved to storage just this past Thursday. Look for some good books coming up in the near feature.

I actually had this (almost) ready before we went out to look at the books, so I'll just finish it up rather than saving it for later. If you've read over these ramblings, you've probably noticed the review of "A Pocket Guide to the Identification of First Editions" which is easily carried around in a shirt pocket. This book is used quite a bit by booksellers but is by no means the only guide to first editions used. Another book used about as often by us is "FIRST EDITIONS: A GUIDE TO IDENTIFICATION" by Edward N. Zempel and Linda A. Verkler. In fact, it is generally just referred to as "Zempel and Verkler" or even "Z & V". The latest edition (I believe the fourth) contains the actual statements of selected North American, British Commonwealth, and Irish publishers on their methods of designating first editions (over 4,200 trade and academic publishers and publishers' imprints). Contrast this to the condensed verison of the statements found in the Pocket Guide. Although there is some overlap, they don't both cover the same set of publishers. If you are really going to be serious about trying to identify first editions, I suggest you have a copy of both. The cost of the new Zempel and Verkler is around $60 - sorry, we don't have any for sale. You might try Spoon River Press for some more information and to buy a copy.

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'til next time - DW

August 2, 2005
Ferdinand Feghoot is the creation of the late Reginald Bretnor (writing as Grendel Briarton) and ran as vignettes in the magazine Fantasy & Science Fiction. There were some 70 of them published between 1962 and 1970. Through Time and Space with Ferdinand Feghoot and that he's the hero in a series of shaggy-dog stories, each one ending with a pun strong enough that you should be a groan-up to read them.

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'til next time - DW

August 1, 2005
I was reading the introduction to Alfred Bester's Hobson's Choice in Star Light, Star Bright and got caught up in his "leaving 'em hanging" with where he talks about leaving unanswered questions in a story if they are not vital to the story. He compares it to Lewis's "Why is a raven like a writing desk?" in Alice in Wonderland. I had seen several answers to the question before but my favorite was "Because there is a B in both and an N in neither." attributed to Aldous Huxley. That is until I went toodleing around the internet with the question and got back "Because you cannot ride either one of them like a bicycle." -- Anonymous. See A Straight Dope Classic from Cecil's storehouse of human knowledge

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'til next time - DW

July 25, 2005
Another change in format - sort of. I've decided to go back to individual days instead of puting up the week. I just won't worry about the days anymore and write something when I get to it. [I would have said when I get a round to it, but round tuits are so hard to find].

I had just finished reading the SFBC edition of Four Frontiers which collects four stories by Robert Heinlein when we got a book in called Starswarm by Jerry Pournell. Sad to say, I hadn't read the Pournelle book so I took the opportunity to do so. In the introduction I ran across a phrase I had seen before in reference to some of Heinlein's philosphopy [Pay It Forward]. The idea is that it is seldom that the lion gets a thorn in its paw so conveniently as to let the mouse repay the lions generosity. Or, to put it another way, one can seldom really repay a favor. However, you can help someone else in turn. That is you can Pay It Forward. Now this idea has been around for quite a while, even way before the movie of the same name and before the book by Catherine Ryan Hyde from which the movie was taken. In fact, it may even have been around before Heinlein introduced it in July 1941 in his Guest of Honor speech, given at the World Science Fiction conference.

Heinlein, IMO, had some ideas that would seem strange to many of us. One of them was that, just like in the movie, Pay It Forward was an idea which could change the world. It was something he practiced and he asked others to practice the same idea - in the introduction to Starswarm, Jerry Pournelle says "When I finally decided .... and try my hand at writing. Mr. Heinlein was enormously helpful. Years later, when I was an established writer, I asked him how I could pay him back. 'You can't,' he said. 'You don't pay back, you pay forward.'" Many other people have this same idea and have devoted a site to it - see The Heinlein Society an organization dedicated to Paying it Forward. As Ginny Heinlein has said "The Heinlein Society is full of people who... really believe, and really understand what he is trying to accomplish philosophically. They are a serious-minded group of individuals who are out to change the world for the better." You can help when you Contribute to The Heinlein Society (a tax deductable donation). Or you can Join The Heinlein Society. Dues (at the present time) are in two classes, regular and supporting; for regular members, the dues will be $35 a year, and for supporting members, $15 a year. It might even be possible to get a copy of the recording of that July 1941 speech if you join.

BTW: The 2005 Heinlein Award will be presented to Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle at the annual Heinlein Society Dinner Sunday, September 4, 2005. You can still make reservations at Reservations for the 2005 Heinlein Award Dinner

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'til next time - DW

7/22/2005
We received a want from a customer. I'm stumped at the moment and sure could use some help. The want involves identifying a book:
A science fiction paperback published prior to 1997 and with the following description:

The start of the story is: a handful of modern day scientists are picked to do research/live/work in a state of the art bio-dome in the southwest USA somewhere (in contact with other domes across the world) - the bio-dome is a test model for possible future use on other planets I think if I remember correctly. Anyways, the group of scientists are locked in for a period of time like a few months or something but then something happens outside in the real world (a disease?) resulting in the scientists having to take a stab at actually living in the bio-dome indefinitely or something like that. It also focuses on a few diffrent families living in other areas of the globe, (Up north, Africa) who are not affected by the disease(?)-it leads you to beleive that the 'native' blood in people keeps them alive. Eventually the scientists in the dome have children, grow up, etc. One boy/man is part native american- his father is on the outside/mom on inside- and he decideds to try his luck on the outside and doesn't make it.

Also, the book cover was predominantly blue in color and it had a picture of the silver/ steel looking bio-dome on it with an native indian camp and a river going by both.
Be the first to identify the book and get a $5 credit on an order at our site. Just e-mail us the particulars. It is not:
It is not:

Mother Grimm by Catherine Wells

Quarantine by Greg Egan

Hole in the Sky by Pete Hautman

Desert Eden by J.M. Morgan

Blakely's Ark by Ian MacMillan

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'til next time - DW

7/18 - 7/21 2005
Although, in one sense we lost him a while back when he quit writing novels for publication, at least he was still among the living and we could pick up some news about maybe a sequel to "Hello Summer Goodbye", but Michael Coney is suffering from terminal cancer and we will probably lose him soon. As a farewell gift to his fans he has released three unpublished novels on his website: "I Remember Palahaxi", a science fiction novel, the long-awaited sequel to Hello Summer Goodbye a.k.a. Rax; "Foul Play at Duffy's Marina", a thrilling murder myster; and "Flower of Goronwy", a science fiction novel. They are in PDF and are absolutely free for download. The website is at Michael Coney e-books. If you do not have the Adobe reader, it may be obtained through a link at the site. Mr. Coney has this to say about "I Remember Palahaxi"
One morning long ago, at a time when I had about seven novels under my belt, I awakened from a vivid dream. I'd been standing on the quayside at Brixham in South Devon and the lines mooring a nearby fish boat to the quay were hanging just clear of the water. But the water that dripped from these ropes was no ordinary water. It was thick and slow-dripping like a heavy motor oil. And I knew, in my dream, that this was a seasonal phenomenon. Instead of tides ebbing and flowing, in my dream the sea alternated between thick and thin.

The book took me three weeks to write, which was quick by my standards. I have a poor memory and am apt to forget what happened three chapters back, so I like to hurry things along. Hello Summer, Goodbye was born, known in the US as Rax and in Canada as Pallahaxi Tide. The book did well by my modest standards and appeared in a number of languages. Over the years it also generated a surprising amount of fan mail, and if I am to believe what read on http//www.bsfa.co.uk/bestbrit.htm, it was the best British book of the 70's. Needless to say, I'm tempted to assume that the Internet never lies.

I had no thought of writing a sequel because I thought I'd said all there was to say about the heroes, Drove and Browneyes. But a common thread running through the fan mail was just such a request, so many years later I wrote it. It has never been published, partly because it was written long after I'd retired from novel writing and publishers didn't want to re-launch me and partly, I suspect, because my writing was never in the mainstream of popularity in any case. Even Hello Summer Goodbye was never reprinted.

So here is I Remember Pallahaxi, free to download. I hope you enjoy it, I really do.

Michael Coney
He has published 18 science fiction & fantasy novels and over 60 short stories, novellas & novelettes. His Novel Brontomek won the British Science Fiction Award in 1977 and his story Tea and Hamsters was nominated for the Best Novelette Nebula Award in 1995. A bibliograph is available at Michael Coney bibliography

Something else that came up today (monday): I found out about PeanutButterWiki. Somewhat earlier [June 2,2005], I had discussed the wiki encylopedia at Wikipedia.org. PeanutButterWiki or pbwiki is a commercial wiki farm run by David Weekly. Free, ad-free, password-protected wikis can be set up in about as much time as it takes to make a sandwich, hence the name. Wikis can be made in all kinds of flavors: public, but not publicly editable; private; editable by a select few [those the owner of the website select], etc. You can create your own wiki here. Just click on the link, make up a name for your wiki, give your e-mail address and start your own page. The first beta of Peanut Butter Wiki was launched on Tuesday, 31 May 2005 [1].

On a different subject, we received a want from a customer. I'm stumped at the moment and sure could use some help. The want involves identifying a book:
A science fiction paperback published prior to 1997 and with the following description:

The start of the story is: a handful of modern day scientists are picked to do research/live/work in a state of the art bio-dome in the southwest USA somewhere (in contact with other domes across the world) - the bio-dome is a test model for possible future use on other planets I think if I remember correctly. Anyways, the group of scientists are locked in for a period of time like a few months or something but then something happens outside in the real world (a disease?) resulting in the scientists having to take a stab at actually living in the bio-dome indefinitely or something like that. It also focuses on a few diffrent families living in other areas of the globe, (Up north, Africa) who are not affected by the disease(?)-it leads you to beleive that the 'native' blood in people keeps them alive. Eventually the scientists in the dome have children, grow up, etc. One boy/man is part native american- his father is on the outside/mom on inside- and he decideds to try his luck on the outside and doesn't make it.

Also, the book cover was predominantly blue in color and it had a picture of the silver/ steel looking bio-dome on it with an native indian camp and a river going by both.
Be the first to identify the book and get a $5 credit on an order at our site. Just e-mail us the particulars. It is not:

Mother Grimm by Catherine Wells

Quarantine by Greg Egan

Hole in the Sky by Pete Hautman

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'til next time - DW

7/11 - 7/17 2005
Something I though you might enjoy, the following (or items simular) has been credited to many people, among them Isaac Asimov.

BOOK: Introducing the new B io- O ptic O rganized K nowledge device - the BOOK(©). BOOK is a revolutionary breakthrough in technology; no wires, no electronic circuits, no batteries, nothing to be connected or switched on. It's so easy to use, even a child can operate it. Compact and portable, it can be used anywhere - even sitting in an armchair by the fire or under an umbrella at the beach - yet it is powerful enough to hold as much information as a CD-R disc.

Here's how it works: BOOK is constructed of sequentially numbered sheets of paper (recyclable), each capable of holding thousands of bits of information. The pages are locked together with a custom-fit device called a binder (or spine) which maintains the sheets in their correct sequence. O paque P aper T echnology (OPT) allows manufacturers to use both sides of each page, thus doubling information density and cutting costs. Experts are divided on the prospects for future increases in information density; for now, BOOKS with more information simply use more pages. However, experiments with different types of F ormulaic O ptical N uanced T echnology S ystems (FONTS) have led to promising results.

Each BOOK sheet is scanned optically, registering information directly into the users brain. A flick of the finger takes you to the next sheet. Moving about within the BOOK data file is just as easy. The "browse" feature allows users to move instantly to any sheet, both forward and backward. Many come with an "index" feature, which pinpoints the exact location of any selected material for instant retrieval. BOOK may be taken up at any time and used merely by opening it. BOOK never crashes or requires rebooting. However, like other devices, it can become damaged if coffee or other liquids are spilled on it and it may become unusable if dropped too often onto hard surfaces.

A M anually A ccessed R etrieval K nickknack (MARK) allows users to open BOOK to the exact place they left off in a previous session - even if BOOK has been closed. These peripheral devices fit universal design standards; thus a single BOOKMARK can be used in BOOKs by various manufacturers. Conversely, numerous BOOKMARKs can be used in a single book, provided the user desires to save numerous views within the device. Users can also make personal notes next to and within BOOK text entries with optional programming tools such as P ortable E rasable N ib C ryptic I ntercommunication L anguage S tylis (PENCILS).

Portable, durable, and affordable, BOOK is being hailed as a precursor of a new entertainment and educational wave. BOOK's appeal seems so certain that thousands of content creators have committed to the platform and investors are reportedly flocking to invest. Look for a flood of new titles soon.

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'til next time - DW

7/4 - 7/10 2005

Democracy: A government by the people, exercised either directly or through elected representatives. That's how it is now, but it started out as a govenrment by some of the people. The word comes from the Greek and was coined in ancient Athens in the 5th century BC. At that time only a minority had the right to vote and, as in the beginning in the USA, women, slaves, and foreigners were excluded from the vote.

Democracy has undergone radical changes since its inception and these days, people would probably deny that the original democracy as practiced in Athens or as was practiced for the first 50 to 100 years in the USA is, indeed, democracy. The history of democracy is available though some interesting books such as The People, Maybe: Seeking Democracy In America by Karl A. Lamb or Freedom In The Western World From The Dark Ages To The Rise Of Democracy by Herbert J. Muller. Or even a book one would never had though would exist some 40 years age; Growing Pains - Russion Democracy And The Election Of 1993 by Timothy J. Colton and Jerry F. Hough (Eds).

Have a happy and safe Fourth.

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'til next time - DW