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Installing Linux on a Dead Badger (and other Oddities)
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Product Description
Product Description
Installing Linux on a Dead Badger (and other Oddities) is a collection of Lucy Snyder's humorous essays, fiction and articles, some culled from places like "Strange Horizons" and "Spacesuits and Six-Guns" and some brand new. This collection of thirteen short stories, articles and essays from Lucy A. Snyder will appeal to any fan of zombies, aliens or installation manuals. Here's what Wikipedia said about Lucy, last time we checked: "Lucy A. Snyder is an American science fiction, fantasy, humor, and nonfiction writer. She grew up in San Angelo, Texas but moved to Bloomington, Indiana for graduate studies at Indiana University and currently lives in Columbus, Ohio with her husband Gary A. Braunbeck. Snyder served as an editor for HMS Beagle, an online bioscience publication produced by Elsevier. She has also contributed technical articles to publications such as Electronic Products."
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Snyder is hilarious. Her use of characters and creatures from myths and legends, to re-depict IT situations by superimposing these beings from a supernatural realm onto real-life computer industry events, describes them in a new light, with tremendous insight and humour. The twelve articles collected here are fun for any Geek on your gift list.
The wit and wisdom displayed in this book are exceptional, with everything from step by step instructions on how to install Linux on a dead badger, to using your dead badger to fight zombies. This book has it all, from stories about IT helpdesks starting to staff with zombies to cut down on cost, to using vampires as supervisors to keep the zombies under control and working, to management having no brains to begin with so the zombies have no interest in eating them anyway.
Pick this book up for yourself, for your geek friends or anyone in IT or computer science; they will ROTFL while reading it.
The wit and wisdom displayed in this book are exceptional, with everything from step by step instructions on how to install Linux on a dead badger, to using your dead badger to fight zombies. This book has it all, from stories about IT helpdesks starting to staff with zombies to cut down on cost, to using vampires as supervisors to keep the zombies under control and working, to management having no brains to begin with so the zombies have no interest in eating them anyway.
Pick this book up for yourself, for your geek friends or anyone in IT or computer science; they will ROTFL while reading it.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
In this book, Snyder succeeds in making zombies (both human and animal) wickedly funny--no matter how jaded you are by cries of 'Braaaaaaaaaaaains!!!' Either this book will make you laugh out loud at least once, or you should consider having yourself checked for signs of death.
Snyder's work first came to my attention when the cover story, 'Installing Linux on a Dead Badger' was submitted to SFF webzine Strange Horizons, where I was then an articles editor. I can't take much credit for discovering her, though--there wasn't any debate in the articles team about whether we should publish Badger. It remains easily my favourite of the articles published during my year at SH. So it's a treat for me to see it appear in print, along with eleven companion stories that also explore ideas surrounding cybermancy, badgers, and the undead.
Throughout the book, Snyder's style is light yet assured. She makes no effort to convince you of the validity of any of her claims, or to justify them, but just writes as if it's all true. The effect is almost to convince you that it is true--that you, too, could install Linux on a badger. Or maybe a wombat. Or even an entire replacement workforce, with all the advantages and strange happenings that would bring. If only you had a Duppy card, and a herb-scented application.
The focus on cyber-zombies does become a little too much at times, especially when one story contains virtually a re-run of the badger installation instructions, so my recommendation would be not to try to read this book at one sitting. Carry it with you--it's neither large nor heavy--and dip into it in a spare moment, on the train, or when you desperately need cheering up. You'll soon find yourself immersed in a whole other world, where vampirism is a career opportunity, and the best way to get an entry-level job is to pretend to be dead.
The book is nicely-presented, and there are small gems everywhere--check out the product disclaimer on the back, for example--but for me the illustrations don't do it justice. They tend towards the grainy or the noticeably photo-shopped, although a notable exception can be found on page 73. It's a shame, as a lot of work has clearly gone into this book, but it might have worked better had the visuals been left to the reader's imagination.
Overall, this book is a winner. It'll amuse you, entertain you, and inspire you to seek out more of Snyder's work, some of which--shameless plug--can be found in GUD.
Snyder's work first came to my attention when the cover story, 'Installing Linux on a Dead Badger' was submitted to SFF webzine Strange Horizons, where I was then an articles editor. I can't take much credit for discovering her, though--there wasn't any debate in the articles team about whether we should publish Badger. It remains easily my favourite of the articles published during my year at SH. So it's a treat for me to see it appear in print, along with eleven companion stories that also explore ideas surrounding cybermancy, badgers, and the undead.
Throughout the book, Snyder's style is light yet assured. She makes no effort to convince you of the validity of any of her claims, or to justify them, but just writes as if it's all true. The effect is almost to convince you that it is true--that you, too, could install Linux on a badger. Or maybe a wombat. Or even an entire replacement workforce, with all the advantages and strange happenings that would bring. If only you had a Duppy card, and a herb-scented application.
The focus on cyber-zombies does become a little too much at times, especially when one story contains virtually a re-run of the badger installation instructions, so my recommendation would be not to try to read this book at one sitting. Carry it with you--it's neither large nor heavy--and dip into it in a spare moment, on the train, or when you desperately need cheering up. You'll soon find yourself immersed in a whole other world, where vampirism is a career opportunity, and the best way to get an entry-level job is to pretend to be dead.
The book is nicely-presented, and there are small gems everywhere--check out the product disclaimer on the back, for example--but for me the illustrations don't do it justice. They tend towards the grainy or the noticeably photo-shopped, although a notable exception can be found on page 73. It's a shame, as a lot of work has clearly gone into this book, but it might have worked better had the visuals been left to the reader's imagination.
Overall, this book is a winner. It'll amuse you, entertain you, and inspire you to seek out more of Snyder's work, some of which--shameless plug--can be found in GUD.
Format:Kindle Edition
Although each of the short stories or essays in "Installing Linux" stands alone, you'll find a few common themes. Most touch on technology. Many have mythical creatures: zombies, fairies, trolls, and such. Some may have a dark side, but all are humorous, with many satirizing something or someone in the process.
The title story gives directions for installing the Linux operating system on a badger. When you're done you'll have a zombie badger that can be operated like a robot. Doesn't that sound like fun? This piece satirizes computer installation manuals.
Multiple stories imagine a future where reanimated corpses or zombies provide a cheap workforce for corporations. This example passage is the response of the owner of a fast food restaurant, addressing concerns that his "zombloyees" (zombie employees) present a health risk, and clearly satirizes a typical corporate spokesperson putting a positive spin on a situation for good public relations:
"There's still this perception that they're these oozing corpses dropping parts everywhere, but that's completely outdated. When properly plasticized, our zombloyees are cleaner than our regular employees - all you do is wipe them down with orange cleaner every shift to get the grease residue off."
Of course this brave new world isn't good for everyone. We also get to meet the IT employee injured while trying to exterminate trolls from his company's computer network and the unemployed worker who masquerades as a zombie to get a low paying job in a call center. Overall, I found "Installing Linux" to be a quick (just shy of 20,000 words) and fun read.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
The title story gives directions for installing the Linux operating system on a badger. When you're done you'll have a zombie badger that can be operated like a robot. Doesn't that sound like fun? This piece satirizes computer installation manuals.
Multiple stories imagine a future where reanimated corpses or zombies provide a cheap workforce for corporations. This example passage is the response of the owner of a fast food restaurant, addressing concerns that his "zombloyees" (zombie employees) present a health risk, and clearly satirizes a typical corporate spokesperson putting a positive spin on a situation for good public relations:
"There's still this perception that they're these oozing corpses dropping parts everywhere, but that's completely outdated. When properly plasticized, our zombloyees are cleaner than our regular employees - all you do is wipe them down with orange cleaner every shift to get the grease residue off."
Of course this brave new world isn't good for everyone. We also get to meet the IT employee injured while trying to exterminate trolls from his company's computer network and the unemployed worker who masquerades as a zombie to get a low paying job in a call center. Overall, I found "Installing Linux" to be a quick (just shy of 20,000 words) and fun read.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
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