tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post2725770432146959477..comments2024-03-28T15:48:48.514-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: The dawn of a "predictive" era?David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger27125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-86416835418829978202013-11-10T14:26:45.834-08:002013-11-10T14:26:45.834-08:00I'll have more on Traincon probably in May….I'll have more on Traincon probably in May….David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-86922329576269473112013-11-10T09:07:29.576-08:002013-11-10T09:07:29.576-08:00Anyone gt more links to the so-called 'train-c...Anyone gt more links to the so-called 'train-con', for people taking Amtrak to the 2015 World Science Fiction Convention in Spokane? Amtrak (whose website is notoriously clunky) has nothing about it, so I was hoping for some extra information. As if I needed another reason to visit that corner of the country!<br /><br />TheMadLibrarian<br />nskesse: planning committee for WorldConsTheMadLibrariannoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-77312877024771997652013-11-10T07:39:02.874-08:002013-11-10T07:39:02.874-08:00A further question about treaties such as the TPP ...A further question about treaties such as the TPP or its Atlantic equivalent. (And I'm really asking the question--I don't know the answer).<br /><br />Why/how does a treaty signed between nations allow trans-national CORPORATIONS to sue over local ordinances? Does (say) Korea sue the state of Illinois or the nation of France on behalf of (ay) Samsung, or does Samsung get to sue cities, states and nations itself? Who is party to the treaty and who is party to the lawsuits?<br /><br />Another question I don't know the answer to: Usually, I think of treaties as an exchange of value between nations. "We'll do this for you and you'll do that for us." Each side gives up a possible advantage in exchange for a different advantage offered by the other side.<br /><br />On the other hand, from alll indications I hear, the TPP sounds like an agreement among nations to give up sovreignty in exchange for...what exactly? What's the upside to ANY of the signatories> Is this supposed to be a treaty or a surrender document?LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-5246894895427394222013-11-10T07:23:05.229-08:002013-11-10T07:23:05.229-08:00@Duncan Cairncross
Yeah, I see what you mean. :)
...@Duncan Cairncross<br /><br />Yeah, I see what you mean. :)<br /><br />I guess that's why I'm using the "Occupy Wall Street" rhetoric about the 99.9% When the proportion of the population which feels itself left out of the political process reaches such near-unanimity, that proportion will INCLUDE most (if not all) of the local authorities. When a corporation sues a state or county over its local environmental or consumer protections and this lawsuit is the FIRST THE LOCALITY HAS HEARD about the fact that they were constrained by a treaty that was snuck into law without their input, which does not benefit them in the least in return for what it forces upon them, there just may be a tendency for the localty to say "Make me!"<br /><br />I'm not sure what would happen after that. We're in interesting times.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-71028369803907883012013-11-09T19:33:10.779-08:002013-11-09T19:33:10.779-08:00I'm talking about revolutionary action,
Forgi... I'm talking about revolutionary action,<br /><br />Forgive me - I don't associate "the local courts and police" with revolutionary actionDuncan Cairncrossnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-57317241385156685532013-11-09T18:01:42.041-08:002013-11-09T18:01:42.041-08:00@Duncan Carincross,
You are talking about busines...@Duncan Carincross,<br /><br />You are talking about business as usual. I'm talking about revolutionary action, when it becomes clear that Parliament (or in my case, Congress) is not responsive to the will of the people and is instead selling us down the river. <br /><br />I'm suggesting a rather bloodless way of not participating in my own ensalvement and murder, should it come to that.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-60484117791143938742013-11-09T17:12:44.219-08:002013-11-09T17:12:44.219-08:00"Such agreements are totally dependent on the..."Such agreements are totally dependent on the local courts and police going along with the game. What reason do those local entities have for doing so?"<br /><br />The best reason in the world - once passed by their Parliaments these become the law of the land<br /><br />I know the USA tends to ignore treaties it has signed but most other countries don't<br /><br />The best way is to get Parliament not to sign Duncan Cairncrossnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-13462523529171753832013-11-09T11:46:49.183-08:002013-11-09T11:46:49.183-08:00Rob:
On the possibility of a Helvetian War...put ...Rob:<br /><i><br />On the possibility of a Helvetian War...put me in the "unlikely" camp. Given that the lion's share of those trillions of dollars exist as electronic bits, not physical gold coins or other such instruments, militarily assaulting the Alps would be a particularly useless (in fact, counterproductive and stupid) way to go about recovering them.<br /></i><br /><br />Which begs an interesting thought experiment. When (say) rogue dictators make off with their nations' wealth and send it to Switzerland or whatever, and that "wealth" consists largely of electronic representations, what exactly is it that they have "made off with"?<br /><br />Seems to me that, despite Randian rhetoric about objective value, what gets moved to an off-shore bank is an illusion that is only real to the extent that the various international banks agree to abide by the representation. The thief is "wealthy" and the native land is "impoverished" only becaue their respective computer systems are all in agreement that this is the case.<br /><br />To me, this suggests a characteristically modern method or revolution. When the 99.9% see that they have no vested interest in adhering to the shared illusion and just stop doing so.<br /><br />This also suggests similar methods of civil disobeience to treaties such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership that allow evil corporations to override local environmental and consumer protections. "Allow" how? Such agreements are totally dependent on the local courts and police going along with the game. What reason do those local entities have for doing so?LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-50421045349015890962013-11-09T10:21:31.349-08:002013-11-09T10:21:31.349-08:00The awful secretive treaty everyone should oppose,...The awful secretive treaty everyone should oppose, vociferously.<br />http://www.laquadrature.net/wiki/TAFTA_leaked_doc_08-07-2013<br /><br />I hope our friends outside the U.S. will help raise hell about it too.Jumperhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11794110173836133321noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-35426943882758346532013-11-09T08:41:36.378-08:002013-11-09T08:41:36.378-08:00Three Scenarios for funding Interstellar Travel
T...<i>Three Scenarios for funding Interstellar Travel</i><br /><br />They all seem like wishful thinking to me, completely ignoring the costs. I am also a little tired on unjustified economic growth projections. The planet will be 1000x richer in a few centuries than now? Not even a suggestion that there may be limits to growth? A world where GDP is 1000x larger means aggregate demand is 1000x larger which means that energy consumption will be much larger and personal consumption will be much larger. Or is it all going to be expensive personal spacecraft?Alex Tolleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01556422553154817988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-75654393762533739512013-11-09T08:04:58.075-08:002013-11-09T08:04:58.075-08:00Speaking of Nazi villains, Dr Brin, I would love t...Speaking of Nazi villains, Dr Brin, I would love to see an on-screen version of your "Thor Meets Captain America". Unfortuanately, in the wake of the big new Marvel films, you'd never get to use that title, and probably could no longer get away with a non-Marvel version of Thor. And independent of all things Marvel, I doubt mainstream Hollywood could do your story without a more cheaply-upbeat ending. Still and all, I'd like to see someone try to bring that story more into the mainstream consciousness.<br /><br />I wonder again whether Robert Harris, author of the alternate-history novel "Fatherland" took any inspiration from your story. While his novel has no supernatural aspects, the backstory for his fictional world of 1964 reminds me of yours in many ways.<br /><br />In fact, I feel a re-read coming on. :)LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-64004228875339603132013-11-09T08:02:29.076-08:002013-11-09T08:02:29.076-08:00Anything touched by Spielberg is gonna be just fin...<i>Anything touched by Spielberg is gonna be just fine, anyway</i><br /><br />Hmm. Maybe as director, but not as just [executive] producer. He has been involved in some absolute turkeys (check out the imdb listings). Arguably he peaked in the the 1990's and it has been mostly downhill since.Alex Tolleyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01556422553154817988noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-20202154044741372732013-11-09T07:56:30.248-08:002013-11-09T07:56:30.248-08:00Hey, it's nice to see so many other people rem...Hey, it's nice to see so many other people remember "Raiders of the Lost Ark" in great detail. I couldn't get enough of it when it came out in '81. I remember literally jumping out of my seat at many of the suspense/action scenes, a roller-coaster ride I doubt I've experienced since then at a movie.<br /><br />And Nazi villains are always fun. Especially appropriate today, recalling the 75th anniversary of <i>Krystalnacht</i>, an act of (government) terrorism which <i>also</i> took place on 9/11, albeit "9/11" in the European convention of date/month.<br /><br />To agree/clarify with previous comments about the fate of the Lost Ark: Yes, it was originally to be "flown to Berlin" on the plane that Indy caused to explode (Belloq heard the plane explosion and immediately deduced that Jones had escaped the snake pit). Then it was loaded on a "truck for Cairo" (Indy: "What truck?"), which Indy commandeered, and INDY'S allies actually took the ark on a boat until that boat was intercepted by the Nazi sub. Submarine transport was never part of the Nazi plan for the Ark.<br /><br />Now that we know that, what do we know?<br /><br /> LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-17782538964960503542013-11-08T20:34:53.380-08:002013-11-08T20:34:53.380-08:00does Indy ride a buttoned up U-boat all the way to...does Indy ride a buttoned up U-boat all the way to some Greek island? Dosen't it ever submerge?<br /><br />That was the secret of the WW1 U-Boats, carried over into WW2<br />The Germans realized that a U-Boat was a surface warship that submerged to hide or attack and designed the hull accordingly<br /><br />They had a surface speed about 17knots and a submerged speed of about 7knots and very limited range on the batteries<br /><br />Sometime in WW2 they invented the snorkel so they could use the diesels when just submerged<br /><br />So yes in time of peace for speed they would have remained on the surface<br />BUT they would have had a watch officer in the tower all the time Duncan Cairncrossnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-54055776664470615162013-11-08T20:16:26.705-08:002013-11-08T20:16:26.705-08:00I actually had an odd thought when watching variou...I actually had an odd thought when watching various clips concerning the giant monster movie "Pacific Rim" (which I do recommend for the sheer fun aspect, though it was a film I could watch with the inner scientist still running around active and kibitzing about the film and various elements... and yet loving every moment of it): the general feel of the movie would work very well for ANOTHER distant-future scifi setting, the Warhammer 40K universe. <br /><br />Both PR and 40K suffer from a "used tech" feel and tend toward a gothic aspect to its architecture. And 40K also has the rather silly aspect of giant robots fighting armies and alien robots as well. ;) Though if I were the one to craft a 40K movie, I'd not tell a story about the genetically-engineered Space Marines or even the gigantic Titan war machines (though they might be in the background). Instead, I'd focus on the Imperial Guard. It's humanity in its hopeless yet eternal fight for survival that truly drives a fan's interest.<br /><br />Seriously. Why would anyone care about someone who looks like a football player on steroids who's been brainwashed into a pure killing machine? Outside of a few hardcore fans, the real interest is in the "normal" people who fight because they have to and who prevail despite overwhelming odds.<br /><br />But that's just me.<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-16768146306024086602013-11-08T16:14:45.314-08:002013-11-08T16:14:45.314-08:00Is it just me or does Indy ride a buttoned up U-bo...Is it just me or does Indy ride a buttoned up U-boat all the way to some Greek island? Dosen't it ever submerge?Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-90996715862472918642013-11-08T15:57:35.939-08:002013-11-08T15:57:35.939-08:00I said this to my wife while watching Big Bang The...I said this to my wife while watching Big Bang Theory, and I'll repeat it here: The Ark was supposed to be flown to Berlin, not taken by Sub. Indy blew up the plane, leading to the events on the island. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-166272864649049592013-11-08T14:18:37.346-08:002013-11-08T14:18:37.346-08:00A Helvetian war that actually hit all the good ban...A Helvetian war that actually hit all the good banking havens would have to include the City Of London Corporation, which is protected and in the heart of one of the US's best allies. Never gonna happen.sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-4360353491727668452013-11-08T14:13:28.188-08:002013-11-08T14:13:28.188-08:00As far as where to publish the Avatar essay, I sup...As far as where to publish the Avatar essay, I suppose it depends on whether or not you want to get paid for it. If not, then why not put it up on your own website?Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10719212263455435772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-69004534330224101072013-11-08T14:09:02.018-08:002013-11-08T14:09:02.018-08:00On the possibility of a Helvetian War...put me in ...On the possibility of a Helvetian War...put me in the "unlikely" camp. Given that the lion's share of those trillions of dollars exist as electronic bits, not physical gold coins or other such instruments, militarily assaulting the Alps would be a particularly useless (in fact, counterproductive and stupid) way to go about recovering them. Most likely such a "war" would play out in cyberspace, with the various parties attempting to find a way to secretly transfer those bits into accounts they controlled (probably residing on servers in those same Helvetian institutions). Physically capturing or destroying those servers would at best merely wipe out those accounts, which is not the preferred outcome I'm sure; at worst it would prove wholly fruitless, as backups maintained at remote locations around the world would still retain the allocations of those funds to their original owners' accounts.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10719212263455435772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-84367557486325339642013-11-08T13:56:27.583-08:002013-11-08T13:56:27.583-08:00I've always felt that the only reason the Nazi...I've always felt that the only reason the Nazis stopped to open the Ark was because there was a chance that Indy had found some way to swap it out with a decoy before loading it on the ship, knowing that they would be looking for him, and sending the true Ark via a different route.<br /><br />That, and Belloq was looking for a way to seize the power for himself.Robhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10719212263455435772noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-13450261508703166212013-11-07T18:54:36.550-08:002013-11-07T18:54:36.550-08:00Anon., sounds like flash issues, I don't have ...Anon., sounds like flash issues, I don't have chrome on this mac so can't say for sure, but sounds like you'll want to only look at this page in safari. BTW, safari 7.0 in MacOS 10.9 is much improved, and the price is very right, if your hardware's new enough.Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-84086423847092464252013-11-07T17:41:53.192-08:002013-11-07T17:41:53.192-08:00Something about this web page drinks my computer&#...Something about this web page drinks my computer's blood - or rather it drains its energy by taking up almost 90% of a CPU. The lower part of the page on the right side, starting at "Subscribe to Contrary Brin", twitches up and down by about 3 pixels. There is some kind of instability going on there that taxes my cpu and makes my cooling fan run. Not a pleasant web experience - this is the worst page I have found. Anybody else seeing this? - I'm using Chrome v. 30, but this has been a problem for a long time. The problem does not happen with Safari 5.1 on Mac 10.6.8.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-60220991083447323072013-11-07T15:15:41.804-08:002013-11-07T15:15:41.804-08:00Dr. Brin, the Helvetian War or its equivalent may ...Dr. Brin, the Helvetian War or its equivalent may well be inevitable. Back during the 1990s and part of the 00's, it seemed to be out of a clear blue sky. Or to use a metaphor I like to use, EARTH described the tinder for it admirably, but not the spark that turned it into a forest fire. After 2007, the spark became crystal clear - an economic crash. So, yes. ("We'll hang some banksters from a sour apple tree ... but our debts go marching on. Gory, gory..."Patricia Mathewsnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-27116278292495654312013-11-07T14:56:36.813-08:002013-11-07T14:56:36.813-08:00OK, Mr. Only-Comet-Expert-I-Know, what the hell is...OK, Mr. Only-Comet-Expert-I-Know, what the hell is going on here? <a href="http://hubblesite.org/newscenter/archive/releases/2013/52/full/?cmpid=newscred" rel="nofollow"> NASA's Hubble Sees Asteroid Spout Six Comet-like Tails </a> <br />Seriously, this thing is a scifi short story come to life. Insight?<br /><br />Does the description of "this is just how small asteroids die, we've just never seen it before" hold much weight with you? Anyone else have an opinion that doesn't start with the alien probe has decided to launch its' missiles? Cause that is what my money is on. matthewhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17757867868731829206noreply@blogger.com