You can find me elsewhere these days.
On Amazon, I'm Sam Robb.
On Twitter, I'm @Samrobb_.
On Substack, I post under Perceptions.
See you there!
"Supernatural Streets" is live!
It's been a long time coming, but I'm really excited it's finally here! A baker's dozen (plus one!) of some really great stories, including mine. If you've ever wondered how a psychopomp makes vacation plans, check out "Fed Ex"... then keep reading!
Supernatural Streets brings together 14 Urban Fantasy authors to explore mysteries with a touch of Magic. The collection includes stories of psychic FBI agents, werewolf detectives, monster hunters, and an ordinary cop just trying to survive when the ritual daggers come out.
The anthology includes work by Dragon Award Finalist Declan Finn, Hugo Award nominated author Cedar Sanderson, best-selling authors Ryk E. Spoor and Julie Frost, and other fan-favorites and rising stars.
Contributors:Brena Bock • Paul Piatt • Bokerah Brumley • J. F. Posthumus • Mickey Dubrow (Allan Kemp) • Rob Reed • Declan Finn • Sam Robb • Julie Frost • Ryk E. Spoor • Amie Gibbons • Cedar Sanderson • A. C. Haskins • Dawn Witzke
Happy Anniversary Baby!
Couple of things going on...
First - you might have heard that I am indeed running for president.
Yes, I am serious.
Yes, I have participated in a number of Libertarian presidential debates.
Check it out.
Second - you might have heard that there is a book in the works.
Well, not an entire book, but a short story in a collection called "Supernatural Streets".
Lots of good folks in this one, so keep on the lookout for the release announcement.
Third and finally - while there may not be a lot of content here any more (curse you, social media!) this old blog is still ticking over. Happy 11th anniversary to the Embedded Theologian. Please consume your favorite dessert today in honor of this momentous occasion, and if anyone gives you grief over it, let them know that some Random Internet Guy Running For President said it's OK ;)
First - you might have heard that I am indeed running for president.
Yes, I am serious.
Yes, I have participated in a number of Libertarian presidential debates.
Check it out.
Second - you might have heard that there is a book in the works.
Well, not an entire book, but a short story in a collection called "Supernatural Streets".
Lots of good folks in this one, so keep on the lookout for the release announcement.
Third and finally - while there may not be a lot of content here any more (curse you, social media!) this old blog is still ticking over. Happy 11th anniversary to the Embedded Theologian. Please consume your favorite dessert today in honor of this momentous occasion, and if anyone gives you grief over it, let them know that some Random Internet Guy Running For President said it's OK ;)
So, I Wrote Something
Well, actually, I've written a lot of things. First short story was released into the wild earlier this week. We'll see if it survives. I've got more things partially written and waiting for completion than a hen has teeth.
... wait. That's not right.
ANYWAYS. In the meantime, in between family and work and the presidential campaign and everything else, I managed to finish editing... THIS.
... wait. That's not right.
ANYWAYS. In the meantime, in between family and work and the presidential campaign and everything else, I managed to finish editing... THIS.
Kids-tested, Dad-approved!
Take a look, buy a copy, help put my kids through college. They've suffered for my art, after all!
Samrobb 2020
Well, since Bernie's announced, I might as well, too. Along with the inevitable GoFundMe campaign.
Some of you may remember that this is not my first time at the rodeo.
A lot has changed in the past couple of years. Not anything in my personal life, mind you. The presidential bar has been lowered like a limbo stick, though, and while I once thought I was - possibly! - Veep material, I now realize that the stars are the limit, and that the old adage is true: ANYBODY can grow up to be President one day.
Anyways. Go ahead and read my policy positions. They haven't changed much at all, except that at this point I think I would whole-heartedly endorse a Constitutional amendment that provides for each member of the House and Senate to receive one one legally-allowed kick inna fork every year from a randomly-selected constituent.
I'm open to discussion on that last point, though. I mean, it could be TWO randomly-selected constituents instead of just one. My mind's not made up yet.
You may note that my previous announcement was tagged "snark".
This one isn't.
Samrobb 2020.Because I'm Not a Complete Frickin' Moron.
Be Mine
I have a few friend who like to post... non-traditional Valentines.
Here's a sample from this year's collection. :)
Here's a sample from this year's collection. :)
Observations on Web Site Data
How compressible is web data? For a recent project of mine...
- 135 GB of web pages downloaded.
- 15 GB of actual data extracted.
- 0.6 GB compressed data archives.
So, about a 25:1 compression ratio for text data.
Derived from the above:
- 15/135 ~= 10%
Sturgeon's Law - ask for it by name!
Well, now.
I recently found myself in the position of needing to convert a chunk of my photos (OVER! NINE! THOUSAND!) that were stored in the Mac Photos app from HEIC format into JPG. All so I could back them up to my Flickr account (which doesn't deal well with HEIC. Come on, guys. Seriously?)
I was about to give up on the idea of it being simple - or automatable - and start looking at how to install ImageMagick on my Mac, when I came across this amazing and wonderful bit of advice that saved my bacon.
Use sips to quickly, easily—and freely—convert image files
Quite often, I find myself with a number of images (screenshots, typically) that I’ll want to convert from one format to another. If you search the Mac App Store, there are probably 300 apps that will let you do this; many are probably free. You could also use Automator, which has some good image conversion abilities, but can’t (for example) specify the quality of a JPEG conversion.
But the best way I’ve ever found is to use a tool that’s been included with every copy of macOS since the release of Mac OS X 10.3 (Panther) in October of 2003: A command line tool called sips. Yes, it requires using Terminal, but it’s quite easy to use. sips can modify one file, or any number of files, converting from one format to another. You can also use sips to resize images, rotate images, and more.
Here's what worked like a peach for me:
# mkdir -p ~/photo_tmp
# cd ~/Pictures/Photos\ Library.photoslibrary
# for f in $(find . -name '*.HEIC'); do \
fname="${file##*/}" ; \
sips -s format jpeg -s formatOptions best \
"${f}" --out "~/photo_tmp/${fname%HEIC}JPG" ; \
done
Following that, open the Photos app and import the generated files. While they will all show as imported today (whenever you do the actual import), Photos is smart enough to pick up the EXIF data in the images and put them in their proper location, chronologically speaking.
I ended up with doubled files as a result - ex, IMG_0001.HEIC and IMG_0001.JPG - but that's fine for me. I can go back and clean up the HEIC files later if I wan to, and in the meantime, I have what I really wanted - JPG versions of those image files that can be uploaded to Flickr.
Love Thy Enemy
“Your enemy is never a villain in his own eyes. Keep this in mind; it may offer a way to make him your friend. If not, you can kill him without hate — and quickly.”
― Robert A. Heinlein
Whoa
Putting together notes on projects for this year...
... I don't even want to think about how many universes I have dancing in my head right now.
... I don't even want to think about how many universes I have dancing in my head right now.
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