What I’m Reading Now: Hero of Ages

Book 3 of the of Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn series finds the protagonists Vin and Eland deal with an evil they inadvertently unleashed upon the world. Mistborn’s notable for its unique magic system, in which “Allomancers” ingest, and then “burn” metals in order to use telekinetic and empathic powers. The Hero of Ages is part of … Read more

Coffee Break Podcast for June 2013

Courtney and I managed to get out a new episode of the ITS Coffee Break in June, which is impressive given how many trips and vacations we had. Episode #76 looks at Google Loon, File Sender, summer reading lists, and technology teaching grants, CLAMP Recognition Awards, and much more. Get the podcast.

What I’m Reading: Trading in Danger

Trading in Danger

Kylara Vatta’s dreams of a brilliant military career were ruined by one well-intentioned wrong decision; instead she goes to work for her family’s shipping company. Her first mission: captain a ship destined for the scrapyard. Of course, it’s not that easy as Vatta decides to try and turn a profit of her own using the … Read more

What I’m Reading: The Bowl of Heaven

The Bowl of Heaven

The Bowl of Heaven is a “tremendous object in space” novel, similar in scope to Niven’s original Ringworld books. Like Ringworld, it involves a massive construct — in this case a hemisphere — that has several million times the surface area of earth. A crew of human explorers comes across the hemisphere and sends an away mission to investigate. … Read more

New ITS Coffee Breaks

The ITS Coffee Break is back! After an extended hiatus Courtney Bentley and I have started recording new podcasts on a bimonthly basis. Check out the most recent shows: ITS Coffee Break #70: Mobile Web, Smart Watches, MOOCs, Faculty Technology Grants ITS Coffee Break #71:WordPress, IT Security Training, Google Reader Retired ITS Coffee Break #72: … Read more