tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post3976534992348239059..comments2024-03-29T00:39:31.629-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Has 21st Century Science Fiction gone cowardly? Or worse… nostalgic?David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger69125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-76284761839947470902013-10-02T19:51:53.150-07:002013-10-02T19:51:53.150-07:00Simply put, as technology advances and communicati...Simply put, as technology advances and communication brings us all closer, there is more and more content. Generally speaking I would agree the majority of the content, reflects pop culture, and "Hollywood" which is quite void of intelligence and vision. BUT there certainly is a very strong pulse of said work, you just need to feel around a bit longer to find it.<br /><br />Can't say my latest work is very cerebral, but I like to think it's better then a lot of the muckety muck out there :)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.jukepopserials.com/home/read/1210/" rel="nofollow"> Calling All Heroes, Sci-Fi serial </a>Nickhttp://www.jukepopserials.com/home/read/1210/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-92157802871933109572013-02-19T01:29:20.625-08:002013-02-19T01:29:20.625-08:00I never mind reading short stories. But if it has ...I never mind reading short stories. But if it has something to give (an experience, knowledge, information) then I love to go through it twice or may be thrice.<br /><br /><a href="" rel="nofollow">The Equation Book</a><br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10159729733302400611noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-67858211060885617902012-10-27T23:06:54.193-07:002012-10-27T23:06:54.193-07:00Judith Berman's essay, published in 2001, has ...Judith Berman's essay, published in 2001, has long disappeared from her site. But archive.org <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20050311002714/http://home.earthlink.net/~judithberman/fiction/sffuture.html" rel="nofollow">has it</a>.Rosshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16367287655636396603noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-88809273015254745342012-10-22T14:37:00.109-07:002012-10-22T14:37:00.109-07:00Paging Dr. Brin, urgently:
http://www.cell.com/cu...Paging Dr. Brin, urgently:<br /><br />http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822%2812%2901009-3<br /><br />http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20026938<br />"... researchers heard a nine-year-old whale named NOC make sounds octaves below normal, in clipped bursts.<br />...<br />... a diver at the National Marine Mammal Foundation in California surfaced saying, "Who told me to get out?" ...<br />________________________<br /><br />This whale made an effort to produce sounds recognizable to humans -- using body parts in ways completely out of the natural range.<br /><br />This sounds like the effort a human would make to produce sounds recognizable as speech by a Tralfamadorian.<br /><br />And we call it mimicry?Hank Robertshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07521410755553979665noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-45812062998645254642012-10-21T21:19:42.645-07:002012-10-21T21:19:42.645-07:00I am about to post my big blog: "How Republic...<br />I am about to post my big blog: "How Republicans and democrats wage war."<br /><br />Do try to viral it. Along with my previous one about the deficit.<br /><br />onward....<br />David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-56880557083709793832012-10-21T21:09:32.835-07:002012-10-21T21:09:32.835-07:00On the plus side, Virginia officials have decided ...On the plus side, Virginia officials have decided NOT to prosecute <a href="http://wtvr.com/2012/10/20/attorney-general-wont-investigate-worker-arrested-for-dumping-voter-registrations/" rel="nofollow">a guy caught throwing away voter registration forms</a>.<br /><br />The excuse given in the article is that the forms don't seem to list party affiliation, it can't be a partisan act, and if it's not a partisan act, why punish crime?<br /><br />Some may say that tendency toward one party affiliations or another can be guessed at by various means, e.g. race, address, or just asking the voter when filling out the form. But they're missing the point: if we don't punish crimes that don't have a provable partisan motivation, we'll save a lot of money on prison cells. Downsize government!!!rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-57773368689230039872012-10-21T20:47:49.599-07:002012-10-21T20:47:49.599-07:00hyperlink FAIL.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=...hyperlink FAIL. <br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdXW_BT88tE" rel="nofollow">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdXW_BT88tE</a>Political TroubleMakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15534081402379117958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-19527708220365637172012-10-21T20:46:40.640-07:002012-10-21T20:46:40.640-07:00Using my other moniker for a moment. My latest vid...Using my other moniker for a moment. My latest vid, The New McCarthyism, has attracted almost 1500 views, a lot of upvotes, and quite a bit of negative attention from conservative fundamentalists. <br /><br /><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdXW_BT88tE>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdXW_BT88tE</a><br /><br />This is by far my best piece yet. McCarthyism is only my third work, yet I'm really starting to get the hang of using Premiere edit together the pieces of a cogent story. Neutering American Men was an interesting experiment, but from a story-telling standpoint it failed to deliver narrative coherency. <br /><br />David, you were bemoaning the lack of people in your movement capable of visual storytelling to help explain sousveillance as a concept to a wider audience. Well, to be honest I'm not making these videos strictly for that purpose. But I'll give it a try anyway. <br /><br />Regarding your comment on exit polls in the United States, exit polling has been the gold standard for fraud detection throughout the world for decades. That it has been maligned and sidelined over the last decade in the United States ought to give everyone who expects free and fair elections in this country great pause. <br />Political TroubleMakerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15534081402379117958noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-86391357548975845782012-10-21T20:37:16.549-07:002012-10-21T20:37:16.549-07:00A Modest Proposal:
Allocate Electoral Votes among...A Modest Proposal:<br /><br />Allocate Electoral Votes among the states by the proportion that each contributes, net, to the Federal Treasury.<br /><br />This is fair; those states who take from the Treasury more than they give are moochers and freeloaders, robbing the John Galtish states that contribute net wealth to the nation. The looters should gladly cede the difficulty of making political decisions to the creators of wealth.rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-84805461746836851882012-10-21T20:13:41.671-07:002012-10-21T20:13:41.671-07:00Heh Randy. May I suggest turning your novel sugges...Heh Randy. May I suggest turning your novel suggestion on its head and proposing that voters *get* taxed? After all, wasn't the rallying cry no representation without taxation?*<br /><br />*Tumbrels first! Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-26543609554294537912012-10-21T20:11:03.141-07:002012-10-21T20:11:03.141-07:00Perhaps I'll be showing some ignorance here ab...Perhaps I'll be showing some ignorance here about contemporary SF, but after the Cyberpunk movement it seems as though the genre has been ossified by marketing demands into targeting a slided and diced readership by sex, age group, ethnicity, and just about any other way to divide humanity. <br /><br />But this has resulted in boring fiction, where stories are trapped, suspended like a bug in amber, forced into repetitions of motifs and surface characterizations that trade harsh realities in the conflict between technology and human moral limits for bland readership comfort in the easily recognizable.<br /><br />This has happened across all content generation. In music, recent examples would be the absorption by record labels of the punk rock and then hip hop genres. In film one could point to the tremendous burst of independent creativity during the 1970s and contrast that to boring Hollywood today. <br /><br />I don't think the problem is with the authors. I think it's with the publishers. We need a new distribution model. One that's digital and gives authors complete control over their content, marketing requirements be damned.<br /><br />But, of course, I say that not as a serious published author. Perhaps those here earning a living at it might hold a different view. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07149936479083440451noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35360757961429928212012-10-21T19:23:22.224-07:002012-10-21T19:23:22.224-07:00Tacutus2:
The issue with exit polling is that you...Tacutus2:<br /><i><br />The issue with exit polling is that you do not get a complete sample. How many people decline to speak with pollsters and is there an ideological differential between chatters and clams? Unless you have a compelling answer to this question then putting exit polling up as evidence of fraud, either direction, is silly.<br /></i><br /><br />If I was saying that one election was suspect because it didn't match exit polling, then you'd have a point.<br /><br />If, on the other hand, I'm saying that exit polling used to be reliable until electronic voting became a dominant factor, at which point exit polling suddenly became unreliable, then I think <b>I</b> have a point.<br /><br />To explain this your way, you have to posit that the old non-electronic voting was open to cheating by Democrats which just happened to be matched by an equal bias in exit polling, and now the electronic voting machines prevent Democrats from perpetrating their evil voter fraud.<br /><br />To explain this my way, all I have to do is note that one thing changed (the electronic voting machines) and that the results of that change seem to be suspicious as compared to the thing that didn't change (exit polling).<br /><br />Occam's Razor seems to have a liberal bias on this one.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-55447261444875864592012-10-21T19:07:02.174-07:002012-10-21T19:07:02.174-07:00It is so interesting to me that Venezuela has mana...It is so interesting to me that Venezuela has managed to perfect its voting process, yet we do not have the political will to do so also -- of course, it would mean no more stolen elections and, therefore, an honest-to-god democratic electoral process (well, except for the Electoral College, but that is a whole other discussion).<br /><br />Here is a link to the Carter Center's examination and discussion of the Venezuelan election:<br /><br />http://www.cepr.net/index.php/blogs/the-americas-blog/carter-center-affirms-a-clean-electoral-process-and-secret-ballot-in-venezuela-us-media-offers-a-contrasting-view-without-evidence<br />the hanged manhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13908513776709889563noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-32079522706605979582012-10-21T18:18:41.116-07:002012-10-21T18:18:41.116-07:00@Tony Fisk - if we voted as often as we shopped, I...@Tony Fisk - if we voted as often as we shopped, I could see the convenience argument.<br />But we don't. Few are those who vote more than twice a year, which is not enough to make the costs of figuring out the voting website worth the trouble, compared to traditional paper ballot. If is very difficult to find a more convenient system than mail-in paper ballots.<br />Now, if the goal is to increase voting, the answer is simple: give a tax break to those who vote. Who could be against cutting taxes?rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-15408164203452674612012-10-21T18:03:47.729-07:002012-10-21T18:03:47.729-07:00The issue with exit polling is that you do not get...The issue with exit polling is that you do not get a complete sample. How many people decline to speak with pollsters and is there an ideological differential between chatters and clams? Unless you have a compelling answer to this question then putting exit polling up as evidence of fraud, either direction, is silly.<br /><br />I am assuming that conservatives are less likely to talk to pollsters. I sure wouldn't.<br /><br />And interesting side questions...would the differential be similar in a 50:50 split precinct as in a 90:1? Is there an ethnic factor in refusing to answer? Does gender race or age of the questioner as it correlates to the voter have a difference? <br /><br />I have tried to peruse the available data, but of course pollsters are rather cagey about their stats. It is said that there was a 2.5% differential favoring the Dem side in Clinton/HW Bush calculations. And Mitofsky who "invented" exit polling indicated his belief that 56 democrats responded for every 50 republicans. <br /><br />If this is a static percentage you can of course steep and simmer your stats a bit to adjust for it. But is it static? <br /><br />I think conservative distrust of pollsters is greater now than in times past. Like so many facets of our political system, exit polling is in flux.<br /><br />Tacitus<br /><br /> Tacitushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17007086196578740689noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-20109285911168509952012-10-21T17:56:44.178-07:002012-10-21T17:56:44.178-07:00Internet Voting (read, online voting) decreases in...Internet Voting (read, online voting) decreases inconvenience to the voter. The procedure should be as easy as online shopping. If the procedure is that easy, then how much more engaged would people become?<br /><br />Or is a half an hour say in the running of a country every four years or so enough for everyone? (At this stage of the electoral cycle, I think I know what the knee-jerk response will be! Think beyond that)Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-86807666589406338492012-10-21T16:55:57.747-07:002012-10-21T16:55:57.747-07:00Actually, the link I just offered is a bit of a me...Actually, the link I just offered is a bit of a mess.<br /><br />Read this:<br /><br />http://www.richardcharnin.com/ToBelieveBushWon2007.htm<br /><br />Like I said, don't just say "It's biased, hurf durf!"<br /><br />As I've said elsewhere, conspiracies are real, they do happen, that's how guys like Stalin end up running countries. There's no magic force field keeping evil power-hungry men out of America; we have them here just like anywhere else. If people try to warn you about genuine evil, labeling them 'conspiracy theorists' merely helps the evil to thrive.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-53516792442508705882012-10-21T16:49:11.763-07:002012-10-21T16:49:11.763-07:00Internet Voting solves no problems at all, except ...Internet Voting solves no problems at all, except perhaps for the small number of people who don't have access to the mails.<br /><br />I just mailed in my paper ballot. I'd have been happier if the authentication were a thumbprint instead of my signature, but there's no evidence we have an authentication problem and if anyone is suspicious, the clerks can contact me.<br /><br />So long at the election comes down to a few counties in Ohio, instead of every town in America, we'll be prone to gamesmanship. In a way, my vision of the best outcome at the Presidential level would be for Obama to win Ohio and the Electoral College, while Romney wins the popular vote. THEN and only then might we see some bipartisan moves toward a more democratic (small "d") system.<br /><br />It might have been helpful for someone reliable on the Internet to do real-time factchecking during the televised debates, with the Truth-o-meter posted in front of the podiums. And pyrotechnics ready for pants-on-fire lying. As it is, Mitt got his points out and looked like a leader compared to the thoughtful Obama, who was obviously unprepared for barefaced lying; it reminds me just a little too much of Reagan's win ... the only difference being that Romney's not in the pay of billionaire tax cheats, he *is* a billionaire tax cheat.rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-70368815937917535732012-10-21T16:41:39.787-07:002012-10-21T16:41:39.787-07:00anon. the scenario you refer to would require a wi...anon. the scenario you refer to would require a widespread culture of many overbearing bosses to have a significant effect. If that is the case, democracy's dead (which it isn't)Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-83106029306734086942012-10-21T16:40:51.541-07:002012-10-21T16:40:51.541-07:00Ian said: "Yeah, 2004 also coincides with muc...Ian said: "Yeah, 2004 also coincides with much of the Republican base deciding that the Lamestream Media were traitors who Wanted The Terrorists To Win.<br /><br />So is it that surprising they'd declien to take part in exit polls?"<br /><br />Exit polling is never wrong by more than a percent or so, since it involves polling people who just now voted. If it differs noticeably from the official tally, the official tally has some explaining to do.<br /><br />The GOP party line in 2004 and after, in order to explain the mathematically impossible results in Ohio that year, has spread the lie that exit polls are untrustworthy. One "explanation" they have spread is that Bush voters were "embarrassed" to talk to the pollsters; I am not aware of any evidence that this is true, unless you count the overbearing insistence of guys like Karl Rove that it is so. Oh, please.<br /><br />In truth, Bush could not win in 2004 unless a lot of his 2000 supporters returned from the dead! As Ian is an Australian, I don't expect him to know that the Dems were ITCHING to show up at the polls in 2004 and show Bush the door, and he was already losing supporters from four years earlier. And as he didn't even win that one, how, indeed, could he do better the second time?<br /><br />A miracle? Pfft.<br /><br />The evidence that he stole Ohio is plentiful, it's merely that it's taboo to talk of it in the very same Lamestream Media that supposedly is SO UNFAIR to conservatives.<br /><br />Read this and don't just dismiss it as biased. Actually give yourself a chance to be persuaded.<br /><br />http://organikrecords.com/corporatenewslies/beginner_v2.htm<br /><br />P.S. you can have Murdoch back anytime.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-66534830193961222082012-10-21T16:33:25.462-07:002012-10-21T16:33:25.462-07:00Great things also happen if we combine this with I...<i> Great things also happen if we combine this with Internet Voting.</i><br /><br />A big problem I have with Internet Voting (other than security) is that it does away with secrecy. Sure, you <em>can</em> vote secretly, but you can also show your buddies, the chap paying you some money, your boss, and/or the controlling head of your household how you voted.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-13719894414002807632012-10-21T15:50:19.558-07:002012-10-21T15:50:19.558-07:00@ Larry, I agree with essentially everything you s...@ Larry, I agree with essentially everything you say. I just disagree with the Tagg romney conspiracy theory.<br /><br />From an Australian persepctive, the solution seems obvious. Set up an independent state level body funded by the state government to supervise elections and ensure that theres' a consistent voting method across the whole state.Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739671401151990700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-70060858286858530562012-10-21T15:34:46.683-07:002012-10-21T15:34:46.683-07:00Yeah, 2004 also coincides with much of the Republi...Yeah, 2004 also coincides with much of the Republican base deciding that the Lamestream Media were traitors who Wanted The Terrorists To Win.<br /><br />So is it that surprising they'd declien to take part in exit polls?Ianhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01739671401151990700noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-39075231241406124362012-10-21T15:11:12.810-07:002012-10-21T15:11:12.810-07:00Am currently retrieving jaw from where it rolled u...Am currently retrieving jaw from where it rolled under the desk...<br /><br /><a href="http://t.co/YAz7YTrx" rel="nofollow">Minnesota bans Coursera</a><br /><br />(Actually citing legislation requiring universities to obtain permission to operate. Even so... shall something like Wikipedia be deemed to fall into the same category?)Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-73372454995455093232012-10-21T14:12:07.079-07:002012-10-21T14:12:07.079-07:00 Spent money and time on the EXISTENCE trailer and... Spent money and time on the EXISTENCE trailer and it has barely budged. (tell folks!)<br /><br />But THIS 14 second YouTube Haiku is verged on goinf viral!<br /><br />http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFCvJBS-R58<br /><br />Spread word!David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.com