Joe Konrath, who we’ve written about numerous times, and Barry Eisler (who we haven’t…), contacted me late last week to pass on the fascinating news that Eisler, who has been a NY Times Best Selling author of a variety of thrillers, has turned down a $500,000 publishing deal from a mainstream publisher, in order to self-publish his next book. That’s a lot of money to give up. The link is to a (long, but fascinating) dialog between Konrath and Eisler, discussing the thinking behind passing up that kind of money to go the self-publishing route. The key takeaway: the $500,000 comes with strings (as does any publishing deal), and in this case, Eisler feels he’s likely to be better off on his own — via redwolf.newsvine.com
our show will continue after a small break — via deviantART
Cthulhu is watching you! Best to keep the blinds closed and any secrets covered, for the Old One is at the window. Don’t turn your back to this Peeping Cthulhu, a cute and colorful plush that proves that even the Great Cthulhu himself has a voyeuristic side. Whether looking inside your house, through your shower door, outside your bedroom, or just staring down drivers in the cars behind you with his evil gaze, this 7? tall suction-cup plush will produce many smiles. So, suck it up and get yourself one of these Cthulhu plush toys! — via GeekAlerts
The cute factor in this adorable crochet hat from Linda Permann in Petitie Purls is about ten million.
Whether you’re a crochet-curious knitter or a seasoned hooker, you’ll love the results of this quick and easy pattern. It includes four sizes, from baby to adult, so you can make one for each of the
sistersin your life.
An Iron Age gold hoard found near Stirling by an amateur treasure hunter has been secured for the nation after a fundraising campaign — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Nearly 222 years after the French Revolution, a desk made by royal cabinetmaker Jean-Henri Riesener is back in the Versailles Palace after being acquired by the French state for 6.75 million euros ($9.5 million) — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Councils will struggle to police new dog breeding laws aimed at improving animal welfare unless they are given extra money, leaders warn — via redwolf.newsvine.com
An investigation is underway after two transplant patients got cancer from the same donor.
The recipients were each given a kidney from a woman with a rare form of blood cancer which was not picked up in routine safety checks.
The disease was detected too late in a post-mortem examination.
NHS Blood and Transplant (NHSBT), the agency responsible for transplant safety, said research would determine the scale of the problem nationally — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Reddit member captaincripple lost a leg in a motorcycle accident a year ago. He asked the forum for design suggestions for his prosthetic, and decided to go with a Terminator theme. He unveiled the finished leg today. The artwork is by Stuart Vimpani of Brisbane, Australia — via Neatorama
CSIRO will attempt to smash its current top speeds with its new Wi-Fi TV antenna technology, connecting up to 12 users on one 7MHz TV spectrum band at 50Mbps — instead of the old 12Mbps — via redwolf.newsvine.com
While Internet Explorer 9 will not support Microsoft’s Windows XP, Firefox 4 supports the still-popular OS as well as Windows 2000. Microsoft said IE9 dropped Windows XP to utilize the graphics processor. Mozilla’s Firefox 4 provides partial acceleration in Windows XP — via redwolf.newsvine.com
This print advertisement for Toyo tires cleverly uses octopus to go with their slogan Griping Performance
— via Creative Ad Awards
Untitled Motorcycles are three guys working out of a workshop in Camden, London, building motorcycles for everyday use with great individual styling and quality mechanics
. They’re on a mission to resurrect old and unloved motorcycles—and in a way, recycle them into classics. Untitled started in 2010 with a BMW R80/7 as their first project, and have just released two more bikes for sale—including the silver machine shown here, the Scrambler UM-2
— via Bike EXIF
Temption is one of my favorite boutique German watch brands, and will release this new version of their CGK collection soon. The CGK205 is the follow up to the CGK204 based on the CGK203. The collection houses a decorated Swiss ETA Valjoux 7751 automatic movement (a 7750 with an annual calendar, moon phase, and synced 24 hour hand), and lays out the dial info really nicely. For the CGK205 Temption refines the design a bit and ads a new metal bracelet option — via A Blog to Read
The design of this home [Popov Bass Architects] has grown from the constraints and opportunities offered by its beautiful but challenging site. The site is an irregular shape that drops vertically three storeys from the street edge and enjoys views to the harbour to the east and north-east. The neighbouring dwelling was designed by Burley Griffin, with typical organic details — via ArchDaily
The worst of times sometimes brings out the best in people, even in Japan’s losers
aka the Japanese mafia, the yakuza.
Hours after the first shock waves hit, two of the largest crime groups went into action, opening their offices to those stranded in Tokyo, and shipping food, water, and blankets to the devastated areas in two-ton trucks and whatever vehicles they could get moving — via redwolf.newsvine.com
Dude, really. I don’t say this to be cruel, but you’ve got to shape up, okay? I mean, they’re talking about you in the boardroom, and not in a good way — via Woot
This is the Harbormaster Spinnaker
from newcomer Stolas Watches.
The Harbormaster is their first watch, available in three models: Genoa, Spinnaker and Gennaker. Different colors, bands and dials, with all sharing the other details. In common are the 44mm, stainless steel case, sapphire crystal, lumed bezel, lightning seconds hand, 200m water resistance, screwdown crown and bezel. The more expensive Genoa model adds applied hour markers, silver embossed dial and ETA 2824 movement; the movements in the others are Shanghai (SMC) 2824 clones — via A Blog to Read
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