The smell of e-books!

[Paul Whybrow]

A great joke product, along the lines of bottled air:

Smell of Books

I wonder how long it will be before someone comes up with an app to produce book mites crawling across the screen of your Kindle....

 

[Richard Sutton]

or the smell of those old first editions you keep in the box in the basement...

 

[Paul Whybrow]

I'm going to get some, to use as deodorant—perhaps suggest a new aroma, like Frustration for Writers.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

A great joke product, along the lines of bottled air:

Smell of Books

I wonder how long it will be before someone comes up with an app to produce book mites crawling across the screen of your Kindle....

I find that the book lice like electronic devices--no need for an app--they're all over my Kindle and my computer.

 

[Paul Whybrow]

I find that the book lice like electronic devices--no need for an app--they're all over my Kindle and my computer.

Are they attracted by the electrical field—even using it, in some way?

In my WIP, a murder victim was given psilocybin or magic mushroom tea shortly before she was attacked; the mind-altering effects made her vulnerable. The detective, investigating the case, notices that slugs and snails in the area have been grazing on the mushrooms, which makes him wonder if slimy gastropods get high. I had to check if they could, and it's thought that they don't have sufficient brain power to have hallucinations.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I think it's more likely they're attracted to the heat, and the dust that settles so preferentially on electronic equipment--they graze on moulds and pollen, and I imagine there are a fair number of mould spores and pollen grains in the dust I'm forever wiping off my devices.

Re: the magic mushrooms. My husband is a soil ecologist who specialises in mycorrhizal fungi. One of his big research areas is how introduced plants, animals, and fungi help each other invade native ecosystems...which of course means he's got great motion sensor camera footage of introduced deer and possums seeking out and eating mushrooms--including hallucinogenic ones. Other mammals, at least, enjoy the effects...

 

[Paul Whybrow]

I think it's more likely they're attracted to the heat, and the dust that settles so preferentially on electronic equipment--they graze on moulds and pollen, and I imagine there are a fair number of mould spores and pollen grains in the dust I'm forever wiping off my devices.

Re: the magic mushrooms. My husband is a soil ecologist who specialises in mycorrhizal fungi. One of his big research areas is how introduced plants, animals, and fungi help each other invade native ecosystems...which of course means he's got great motion sensor camera footage of introduced deer and possums seeking out and eating mushrooms--including hallucinogenic ones. Other mammals, at least, enjoy the effects...

I've been reading about the new Predator Free NZ campaign, to wipe out introduced pest species such as stoats, rats and possums. It's notable that they're not mentioning the hunt for feral cats quite so much—which would cause more of an outcry. Interestingly, I see New Zealanders have more cats per capita than any other country.

 

[Robinne Weiss]

I've been reading about the new Predator Free NZ campaign, to wipe out introduced pest species such as stoats, rats and possums. It's notable that they're not mentioning the hunt for feral cats quite so much—which would cause more of an outcry. Interestingly, I see New Zealanders have more cats per capita than any other country.

Yes, they're keeping the cats very quiet at the moment. At some point, someone in the media is going to cotton on that cats will need to go, too...Then the shit will hit the fan. I'm a cat owner, but I agree the cats have to be dealt with. And to be honest about it, the pets have to go, too, not just the feral ones. They've really glossed over entirely how they're going to deal with the urban areas--it's easy to set your traps and spread poison and whatnot on public land, but how are they going to convince every homeowner to eliminate predators from their own property? It will certainly be interesting to see how it all proceeds. I'm all in favour of the effort, but it is woefully underfunded and faces some serious obstacles.