Proto-Hypertext Memory Expander
Here’s a scarf woven from data representing the genome of talented sf writer and good guy Jay Lake, who died of cancer this week. Last summer, Jay’s friends raised funds to sequence his genome in the hopes of finding a targeted cure. Astrid Bear used the data to weave the scarf, focusing on the 143 pairs of chromosome 18, which was the identified culprit in Jay’s cancer. The scarf itself is a thing of beauty, and Jay loved it.
Nebula Award winning writer/editor Eugie Foster has aggressive cancer in her sinuses, and while she’s insured, her insurance sucks. She’s asking her friends and colleagues to help her make ends meet. She’s got a ton of books and ebooks for sale — or you can PayPal her at [email protected].
Continue reading “Help Nebula Award winning author Eugie Foster meet her cancer bills”
When Iain Banks announced in April that he was dying of gall bladder cancer, he said that his forthcoming novel The Quarry would be his last. I’ve just read it, and though I came to it with high expectations, I find that I was still surprised by just how good this novel is, and how it revisits so many of the motifs from Banks’s earlier novels, and what a spectacular blend of emotions it carries.
The people have spoken. I offered to have my head 3D-scanned while making a ridiculous face originated by John “Rubberface” Scalzi if enough was donated to Jay Lake’s cancer treatment fundraiser. After an exhaustive poll, the Internet chose this face. I’ve started practicing already.
Dear Cory Doctorow: The Masses Have Decided That This is the Face You Shall Have Made Into a 3D Scan
Elizabeth Stark sez,
Friend of Boing Boing Amit Gupta was recently diagnosed with cancer, and he needs help finding a bone marrow donor match. In fact, for someone of South Asian descent, the odds of finding a donor are currently only 1 in 20,000. But we can change that.
A few ways to help:
1. If you’re South Asian, get a free test by mail. You rub your cheeks with a cotton swab and mail it back. It’s easy.
2. If you’re in NYC, you can go to this event organized by friends of Amit. Or organize a donor drive near you (the most helpful thing you could possibly do!) email [email protected]. They’ll send you kits, flyers, tell you what to say, and make the whole process easy cheesy.
3. If you know any South Asians (India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Nepal, Bhutan, Maldives, or Sri Lanka), please point ’em to the links above. Thank you.
RIP, Jack Layton, former Toronto councillor and present head of Canada’s New Democratic Party. He was as good a politician as Canada ever had, and better than anyone who’s been on any of the ballots I’ve been allowed to tick for many, many years. Layton died from cancer; he announced his prostate cancer diagnosis in February 2010, and stepped down in July. He was 61.
Layton died at his home in Toronto early on Monday surrounded by his wife and children, his family said in a statement.
His left-leaning New Democratic Party (NDP) surged to become the official opposition for the first time in May’s elections.
Jack Layton, Canadian opposition leader, dies aged 61
(Image: Jack Layton, Leaders Tour – Tournée du Chef – Jack Layton, a Creative Commons Attribution (2.0) image from mattjiggins’s photostream)
