tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post3511825763971993262..comments2024-03-29T00:39:31.629-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Brin-terviewed on "Virtually Speaking" Thurs 6pm... plus SciFi'ists "come out!"David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger100125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-90622623396899615142010-09-26T19:23:48.835-07:002010-09-26T19:23:48.835-07:00And hitting things with clubs is what we do best!
...<i>And hitting things with clubs is what we do best!</i><br /><br />A jocular parry, courtesy of Neil Gaiman:<br /><br />"And so the crutch came before the club every time"<br /><br />Anansi speaking on how his winning ownership of stories from Tiger got man to thinking about how to think his way through problems.<br /><br />dogonsi: another trickster, responsible for shaggy dog tales.Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-37741348144054976192010-09-26T17:38:58.906-07:002010-09-26T17:38:58.906-07:00Tacitus2 is our Mr. Baseball?
zowee!
Do you reco...Tacitus2 is our Mr. Baseball?<br /><br />zowee!<br /><br />Do you recommend Ken Burns's latest sequel to "Baseball"?<br /><br />As a kid I saw Koufax pitch. Saw Drysdale pitch and hit.<br /><br />I have an unusual reason to call it the "best game." Because it is the most uniquely human! Elephants or dogs could be trained to play soccer. Even rugby. Even most american gridiron, except the spectacular forward passes. Heck a commodore 64 can play Pong.<br /><br />Only Man can throw. And hitting things with clubs is what we do best!<br /><br />...onward...David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1555738174936969732010-09-26T17:27:22.120-07:002010-09-26T17:27:22.120-07:00Finally a topic on which I might speak with a modi...Finally a topic on which I might speak with a modicum of authority. After all, has any other poster here ever been invited to speak at the Baseball Hall of Fame? (True story).<br /><br />There is much dispute on the fastest ever question. Traditionalists would hold out for Walter "Big Train" Johnson, but he pitched before radar guns so this is unprovable.<br /><br />"Bullet" Bob Feller was reputedly clocked at 107 using early radar technology. <br /><br />Various minor leaguers including the model for "Nuke" Laloosh (sorry for the oblique Costnerism) have had extravagant claims.<br /><br />So this recent guy at 105 might have a case..<br /><br />But I have had the honor of shaking Mr. Feller's hand, and he gets my vote.<br /><br />Tacitus2Tacitus2noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-31088548894459762362010-09-26T05:37:16.349-07:002010-09-26T05:37:16.349-07:00An interesting bit, someone imaged a rat, inside a...An interesting bit, someone imaged a rat, inside a python. Like swimming, don't look at this too soon after eating...<br />http://www.asylum.com/2010/07/07/new-imaging-technology-shows-animal-insides-python-digesting-ra/Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-88199690398748108472010-09-25T23:17:09.974-07:002010-09-25T23:17:09.974-07:00It's always amusing at how much acclaim is giv...<i><br />It's always amusing at how much acclaim is given to these ancient philosophers. The thing is... they were working off of a foundation of sand. How much of what they've said has been proven flawed? <br /></i><br /><br />Some famous ancient mathematician...I'm thinking it was Pythagoras but I might be mistaken about that...just did not BELIEVE in irrational numbers. For hundreds of years, it was assumed that numbers such as the square root of 2 could all be expressed as the ratio of integers.<br /><br />I remember when we were both in college, my brother showed me a fairly easy proof that square-root-2 could NOT be a ratio of integers. The proof required very little actual math, and certainly nothing more advanced than things we now learn by fourth grade. Basically, if the square root of two is a ratio of integers, then those integers can't be even and also can't be odd.<br /><br />I remember being astounded that a refusal to "believe" in irrational numbers had stood for hundreds or thousands of years when such a simple proof existed.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-32670250488066739212010-09-25T22:46:13.541-07:002010-09-25T22:46:13.541-07:00Fastest fastball ever hurled!Fastest fastball ever hurled!David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-11633170644744094632010-09-25T22:45:36.279-07:002010-09-25T22:45:36.279-07:00Took my son and his pals to this Padres game today...Took my son and his pals to this Padres game today!<br /><br />http://sports.yahoo.com/mlb/news?slug=sh-redspadres092410David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-45710346591503059082010-09-25T16:47:39.151-07:002010-09-25T16:47:39.151-07:00It's always amusing at how much acclaim is giv...It's always amusing at how much acclaim is given to these ancient philosophers. The thing is... they were working off of a foundation of sand. How much of what they've said has been proven flawed? Thus why are they still held to such high esteem to the point of excluding others who are more correct in their reasoning and philosophies?<br /><br />I understand honoring someone for being the first we know of. But that doesn't mean we should consider flawed knowledge to be the end-all and be-all of philosophic thought.<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-58525350840903595652010-09-25T03:48:41.411-07:002010-09-25T03:48:41.411-07:00The explanation exposed the author's view of s...<i>The explanation exposed the author's view of scientists as people who come up with BS hypotheses and then never test them, or indeed, ever think about the subject again. It was an interesting and insulting look into the mind of a fundamentalist.</i><br /><br />This may merely be making an implicit point of yours explicit, but...<br /><br />The Disastrous Duo of LaHaye and Jenkins don't just think of scientists this way because they despise scientists. They portray them this way (perhaps subconsciously) because <i>that's what they would do in the scientists' shoes</i>. It's the way they think, the way they were <i>trained</i> to think, as many theologians have been trained for millennia. They don't criticize science for what it is because they think of it as <i>a competing religion</i>. (Being dispensationalist Christianists, this automatically means that they-- <b>we</b>-- are servants, witting or unwitting, of the Evil One; but the point is independent of their Manicheanism and is common to all fundamentalists of all religions.) <br /><br />But to truly understand the underpinnings of their mistake, one must recognize that this exact same nodus operandi was formulated, used, and promulgated by another famous fundamentalist. One whom you all know well.<br /><br />His name was Plato.Catfish N. Codnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-60626837711116775512010-09-24T18:21:58.558-07:002010-09-24T18:21:58.558-07:00Look at the LAPELS of a modern man's suit jack...Look at the LAPELS of a modern man's suit jacket. You can see the vestigial traces of total pragmatism. The collar lifts UP to envelope the neck, except in front where the tie or cravate provides coverage, then the lapels fold overlap on each other and there is even a FAKE button hole, where a functional one used to be... to firmly cover the chest, up to the neck. In fact, this can still happen with some jackets, though never efficiently or well.<br /><br />This is a case where style and fashion DO have an objective grounding. Those versions of the man's jacket that veer closer to this functionality are "right" and those that drift away are "wrong."<br /><br />Now we know what lapels are for.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-42269403291319427702010-09-24T15:23:56.159-07:002010-09-24T15:23:56.159-07:00@Illithi - The bra-gasmask concept could be extend...@Illithi - The bra-gasmask concept could be extended to other wearable items. The thong-gasmask will probably never catch on, but ... Ruff collars anyone?<br /><br />@Robert - it's not paranoia if there really are people out to infect your system.<br /><br />@ Dr Brin - your Latin suspicious are most likely correct. I can't find the origin of the proverb but it applies in so many areas.<br /><br />===<br /><br />When I get too worried about the seemingly-inevitable triumph of post <i>Citizens United</i> corporate persons over humanity (their current championing of the near-insane to public office gets big press, but more important in the long term is the normalization of corporate domination of our political process), I comfort myself with the thought that demographics may yet be on the side of humanity. While hatred and madness (...and global warming denial may now be classed with evolution denial as being just nutty...) are noisy and get most of the publicity, they don't seem very popular among our increasingly diverse and tolerant younger generation; and several of the emerging power centers of our planet seem to be relatively resistant to the worst excesses of organizational lifeforms. Perhaps our great nation is doomed to be consumed by this new form of life we spawned and let slip the leash, but our earlier children (e.g. concepts of liberty and democracy) are flourishing in Europe and South America, and may yet save us in our dotage. It's nearly mythic.rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-5972193919291332962010-09-24T11:30:21.831-07:002010-09-24T11:30:21.831-07:00And now, for something completely unrelated: Bras ...And now, for something completely unrelated: <a href="http://www.salon.com/life/broadsheet/index.html?story=/mwt/broadsheet/2010/09/24/bra_mask" rel="nofollow">Bras are now gasmasks.</a>Ilithi Dragonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10300247936272572280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-79884809045759292112010-09-24T08:59:19.947-07:002010-09-24T08:59:19.947-07:00If there were a smidgen of a chance that the anony...If there were a smidgen of a chance that the anonymous indignation junkie were capable of self-critique, I'd point to:<br /><br />http://www.davidbrin.com/addiction.htm<br /><br />The aim of the neocon madness is to make 30% of the country hate and fear all intelligent and educated people... with the excuse that "being smart doesn't make you wise."<br /><br />Well, our anonymous friend proves THAT truism!<br /><br />Problem is, the neocons then co on to imply that "smart people are automatically unwise."<br /><br />Sorry, our anon brother may be a nasty and confused smart person. But some of us are smart AND grownups.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-29306670838983531212010-09-24T08:20:02.040-07:002010-09-24T08:20:02.040-07:00Is it paranoid and ignorant and stupid to lock the...Is it paranoid and ignorant and stupid to lock the doors of your car or your house to prevent their theft? Is it paranoid and ignorant and stupid to put trigger locks on guns (or at the very least put them in a gun safe and keeping the safe closed) to prevent your children from possibly hurting themselves with the firearms? Is it paranoid and ignorant and stupid to research the political candidates that are out there and determine which one is best suited for your beliefs and ideals?<br /><br />Then call me ignorant, stupid, and paranoid. Especially seeing that I keep getting e-mails from a friend's dead e-mail address that was hacked and which keeps sending me links. Fortunately, I DO keep Javascript disabled on my primary computer at home, so I likely avoided being infected (at least, nothing was detected) when I first did click a link thinking it safe.<br /><br />And that's a link from a friend's e-mail address. Why the hell should I trust a link that has no identifying features from someone who posts through anonymity and doesn't even mention what the site is about? Oh wait, I'm being paranoid, stupid, and ignorant here.<br /><br />Rob H., who finds it amusing that possessing the capability to think and be careful is now attributed to ignorance, paranoia, and stupidity... unlike voting the Republican Party Line and blindly accepting everything they state as fact even when they lie through their teeth consistently.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-92116899465187799552010-09-24T07:48:53.404-07:002010-09-24T07:48:53.404-07:00never go anywhere you haven't gone before, nev...<i>never go anywhere you haven't gone before, never take the chance of encountering new information.</i><br /><br />I might think that way if my brain were vulnerable to javascript exploits.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17774230311169357530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-69438645981693901822010-09-24T06:58:17.610-07:002010-09-24T06:58:17.610-07:00I can't figure out Michael Crichton. I thought...I can't figure out Michael Crichton. I thought The Andromeda Strain was an excellent piece of hard sci-fi, but I've noticed mistakes in other books that would be hard for a scientifically-minded person to miss.<br /><br />For instance, in the second Jurassic Park book, he describes a poisonous dart gun whose neurotoxin works so fast that the dinosaur dies before its nerves can signal to its brain that it has been hit.<br /><br />It jolted me right out of the book. A neurotoxin that works faster than nerve impulses is an obvious contradiction in terms. A medical doctor should have known that in his gut. Nothing to do with MC's status-quo themes. It's just my independent gripe.<br /><br />The worst insult to the scientific reader I've ever read comes from (wait for it!) Tim LaHaye's "Left Behind." I worked at a bookstore when that came out, and we sold about twenty per day, so I decided to see what it was all about. The tone was smug, as I'd expected, but what finally made me close the book in the middle was when "scientists" explained away the disappearances by saying they were because of gamma radiation from outer space that only destroyed the tissue of certain kinds of people. Oh, and every kind of fetus.<br /><br />His scientists never asked:<br /><br />1. What was different about the people who were dissolved by gamma radiation?<br /><br />2. Why people and not animals?<br /><br />3. Why all fetuses, but not all people?<br /><br />4. Where did the matter go that all these people were composed of?<br /><br />You don't have to be a scientist to ask those questions. The explanation exposed the author's view of scientists as people who come up with BS hypotheses and then never test them, or indeed, ever think about the subject again. It was an interesting and insulting look into the mind of a fundamentalist.Unknownhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17774230311169357530noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-55605471764463521092010-09-24T05:52:58.248-07:002010-09-24T05:52:58.248-07:00Dr Brin:
I recommend that all writing students cr...Dr Brin:<br /><i><br />I recommend that all writing students create a murder mystery, to learn plotting. <br /></i><br /><br />And to learn how NOT to be George Lucas! In other words, if the big reveal in Chapter 20 is that the killer is Colonel Mustard, but in Chapter 3, the evidence shows it couldn't have been him, the writer does NOT have the option of re-writing Chapter 3 in future editions of the book.<br /><br /><i><br />But maintaining the status quo is a vile obsession, most manically pursued by Michael Crichton, proving him NOT to have been an sf writer. At the end of each MC book, everything is always put back as it was... except the dead... and sometimes even them.<br /></i><br /><br />That's the writing style of most superhero comic books, and in fact of most serial newspaper comic strips.<br /><br />Such writing has its place, but a novel isn't that place.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-68239362254436131812010-09-24T05:50:16.772-07:002010-09-24T05:50:16.772-07:00I think my point stands. Given the state of the In...I think my point stands. Given the state of the Internet these days along with revelations that the stuxnet worm that has been ravaging Iran is likely the first salvo of deliberate Internet Warfare, should we be viewing anonymous links from anonymous people? Especially considering virus prevention software has been proving less and less effective in stopping attacks and infestations?<br /><br />I mean, there's paranoid, and there's playing it safe.<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-258677179666944292010-09-23T17:25:09.345-07:002010-09-23T17:25:09.345-07:00#3 would be good, if they'd do it for everyone...#3 would be good, if they'd do it for everyone.<br />But there was something more interesting in Pournelle's mail, a 1.4 million year old fossil bed in southern California.<br />http://www.physorg.com/news204262507.htmlTim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-88862586045554688272010-09-23T16:27:50.661-07:002010-09-23T16:27:50.661-07:001&2 they are good at... for the rich. They do...1&2 they are good at... for the rich. They do nothing else and never have. <br /><br /> The 94-2006 Congress was the laziest in history. <br /><br />With all three branches in their hands, did they reduce one abortion? eliminate one agency? <br /><br />De regulate anything other than accountability?David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-22158597274348749942010-09-23T15:57:29.519-07:002010-09-23T15:57:29.519-07:00In 'A Pledge to America' Republicans have ...In 'A Pledge to America' Republicans have the following Economic plan.<br /><br />1) Stop Tax Breaks from going away.<br />2) Create Tax Breaks<br />3) Deregulate (Red Tape Removal)<br />4) Repeal Healthcare mandates on Small Business.<br /><br />They also intend to stop deficit spending. Someone should tell them that Tax Breaks are counter productive to that end.Jacobhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03773076186367856200noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-43307295875243986032010-09-23T15:08:18.884-07:002010-09-23T15:08:18.884-07:00There's nothing wrong with using the status qu...There's nothing wrong with using the status quo in writing. To be honest, I've used this with fanfiction I've done in the past, primarily because I like to try and tie those stories into continuity so that it could be envisioned as actually happening. Of course, for my own unique writing, I tend to avoid status quo and instead work toward character growth and plot advancement (and consequences - damn but I hate stories without consequences, which status quo stories often tend to lack). But I can understand why some writers tend toward this.<br /><br />Status quo can also be used as a visual aspect - for instance, political thrillers where the political power outwardly appears the same, but strings behind the scenes have shifted so that subtle changes have occurred. In this situation you have the change as something internal or behind-the scenes. Status quo remains outwardly viable, but it is in fact an illusion.<br /><br />Not everything is change, after all. ;)<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-83165696821098293782010-09-23T14:22:07.461-07:002010-09-23T14:22:07.461-07:00Jonathan's right. I recommend that all writing...Jonathan's right. I recommend that all writing students create a murder mystery, to learn plotting. But maintaining the status quo is a vile obsession, most manically pursued by Michael Crichton, proving him NOT to have been an sf writer. At the end of each MC book, everything is always put back as it was... except the dead... and sometimes even them.<br /><br />Thomas, see Fred Pohl's AGE OF THE PUSSYFOOT for the one novel that predicted the cell phone filled with an array of every AI ap.<br /><br /><br />LH: I tie in also the plots of FOUNDATION'S EDGE and the tales of the robot Giskard... also tiny bits from CURRENTS OF SPACE, THE STARS LIKE DUST, PEBBLE IN THE SKY and THE CAVES OF STEEL!<br /><br />Rewinn, don't be shy about the Latin. If my guess is right....<br /><br />Rewinn re the GOP's call to post bills online 3 days before voting." I have no doubt that this is merely a political ploy, but so what? Using the politics of jiu jitsu, hurriedly get together Democratic votes and vote this reform in!<br /><br />The political opportunity is golden. It lets you proclaim: "See? Whenever the GOP proposes something sensible, we rush to meet them, more than halfway!" By doing this, it give credibility to your basic point - that they seldom make any sense. (Indeed, most of the "reforms" in Gingrich's Contract With America were betrayed by the GOP.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-13476173576518197692010-09-23T13:23:13.444-07:002010-09-23T13:23:13.444-07:00Dr. Brin, I do believe that Mr. Kurman has just gi...Dr. Brin, I do believe that Mr. Kurman has just given you a fancy feather to put in your spiffy cap. Cool!Ilithi Dragonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10300247936272572280noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-73460882240710776592010-09-23T11:54:14.729-07:002010-09-23T11:54:14.729-07:00Guess who gets mention for accuracy of science in ...Guess who gets mention for accuracy of science in SF? Oh, come on, guess!<br /><br /><a href="http://io9.com/5644435/five-scientists-tell-us-about-the-most-accurate-science-fiction-in-their-fields" rel="nofollow">Accurate Science Fiction</a>John Kurmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04607323621206823686noreply@blogger.com