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Introducing SnackReads Bite-size Entertainment
Southwest Cyberport is proud to be a full-service ISP and aspire to be even more. We’ve recently opened adjacent office space as Ideas and Coffee, a coworking facility that’s a friendly alternative to coffee shops for quiet online work or meeting clients and colleagues. And now, SWCP’s getting into the online publishing business with SnackReads. As longtime readers of genre fiction, many staff members have greatly enjoyed shorter works as well as novels. But with the decline of magazines and anthologies, short pieces are getting shafted. They’re becoming harder to find even as ereaders and tablets create more opportunities for enjoying them than ever before. So when Josh Gentry, one of our talented network administrators and now director of the project, came up with the idea of SnackReads, we jumped at the chance. SnackReads are short, enjoyable tales that are perfect for unwinding after a long day or while waiting for an appointment, during breaks, riding the RailRunner, etc. They’re quick, easy fun that won’t keep you up at night, and inexpensive, too – less than $2 each. All are offered in several convenient formats and there’s no DRM: once you buy it, it’s yours. Our goal is not just to help readers but writers, too. There are many great once-published stories now gathering dust in their files that deserve a second chance. So we’re hoping to uncover some real gems. We’ve started off strong with a great space-opera story … Continue reading
Posted in Interesting Items, News, This and That
Tagged Daniel Abraham, DRM, ebooks, fiction, Ideas and Coffee, online publishing, SnackReads, Suzy McKee Charnas
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Albuquerque – Best Spot to View May 20 Eclipse Spectacle
Like many things, astronomical events rarely live up to the advance hype excited enthusiasts promise, but this one should. Late in the afternoon of Sunday, May 20, there will be an annular eclipse of the Sun – and Albuquerque is dead-center along the path of maximum coverage. And the view should be truly awesome as the Sun sets as a burning ring of fire. Solar eclipses are, of course, caused by the Moon passing in front of the Sun. But the Moon’s distance varies, and so those eclipses where the entire Moon is between us and the Sun vary also. Since the Moon was at its closest to Earth recently with the “supermoon” when it was last Full (and therefore opposite the Sun), now on the other side of its orbit it will be at its farthest point from us when it passes in front of the Sun, and will appear smaller. While during a total solar eclipse, the Moon exactly covers the entire solar disk, in an annular eclipse like this, a thin brightly-glowing strip around the edges will still be visible. This means that when the Moon passes before the Sun that afternoon, it will not cover it completely but leave a red burning circle in the sky. Though the sky should not blacken and the stars come out as the flaming atmosphere of our parent star suddenly becomes visible, the view from right here should be pretty … Continue reading
Posted in Events, Interesting Items, This and That
Tagged Albuquerque, astronomy, cool stuff, upcoming events
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