Benjamin Rosenbaum's "Feature Development for Social Networking" (short story, free): A look at trending on social networks

This looks at trending on a social network when a new hot topic presents itself - from the point of view of both the users of it & of the software developers maintaining it. Hot topic in question is a new fast spreading contagious disease.

Fact sheet.

First published: Tor.com, 13 November 2013.
Download full text from publisher's site.
Rating: B.
Related: Stories of Benjamin Rosenbaum.

Benjamin Rosenbaum & Ethan Ham (Eds)' "Tumbarumba": An anthology as a Firefox plugin (a sort of treasure hunt game)!

"Tumbarumba hides stories—twelve new stories ...—where you least expect to find them, turning your everyday web browsing into a strange journey."

"The browser add-on will occasionally insert a story fragment into a web page as it loads it. The result is a disorienting surreal sentence that sometimes is nonsensical and sometimes amusingly close making sense. If the reader spots the fragment, they can interact with it in a way that will cause the full story to appear".

Authors represented: Haddayr Copley-Woods, Greg van Eekhout, Stephen Gaskell, James Patrick Kelly, Mary Anne Mohanraj, David Moles, John Phillip Olsen, Tim Pratt, Kiini Ibura Salaam, David J. Schwartz, Heather Shaw, Jeff Spock.

Disclaimer: I've not installed it. I don't like distractions during work, & am way too conservative when it comes to installing new software.

[via Boing Boing & GalleyCat]

Related: Collections & anthologies; stories of Benjamin Rosenbaum.

Benjamin Rosenbaum's "A Siege of Cranes": A witches tale, or a terrorists' one

I have only myself to blame for picking it up - knowing full well it was a World Fantasy Award 2007 nominee. That is generally not my genre.

It's a well told story. Literally about a bad witch, her exploits, & some good magical creatures who help Marish, the human hero. I have no idea what author had in mind when writing it, but I could also read it as a terrorist story. Neither of which is quite my kind.

Full text of this story can be downloaded here.

Fact sheet.
A Siege of Cranes, short story, review
First published: "Twenty Epics", edited by David Moles and Susan Marie Groppi. 2006.
Rating: C
World Fantasy Award 2007 nominee in Short Fiction category

Benjamin Rosenbaum's "The House Beyond Your Sky": Tedious story on religion

This story has too much religion & jargon for my taste. But may appeal to more devout souls - if you can withstand its contrived paths!

Full text of this story is available online.

Story summary.
I wish I could summarize it! This is about a computer simulation, plus Hindu mythology of creation, presented in the style you find towards the end of Gentry Lee & Arthur Clarke's "Rama Revealed" - only it is far more complex. The story is of Creation - where we came from, & a wish to discover who created us.

There was one intriguing point in the story that made me ponder: God as a pattern embedded in one of the hidden dimensions of every particle in the Universe. I have heard the notion that God is to be found in every particle - sentient or not - for as long as I remember, but I have never read a description this concrete!

Fact sheet.
The House Beyond Your Sky, short story, review
Rating: C
First published: Strange Horizons, 4 September 2006
Nominated for Hugo Awards 2007 in short story category

See also.

1. All Hugo Award stories.
2. All stories with religion as a theme.