Have I watched it? Uh...
...me getting up at 4:30am for anything short of a nuclear disaster or a vacation flight is not going to happen. It's on the DVR, though. My wish for them is simple.
A better marriage than that of William's parents.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Timey wimey stuff
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/04/110427-time-travel-not-possible-physics-big-bang-space-science/
Read it. Get a headache.
I would like to know how they think they can extrapolate their 'toy' big bang to the real thing. But the idea of local entropy being reversed is intriguing. Although I'd note one thing. Is our perception of time a product of our own aging? If entropy was reversed, would we really notice? They talk about the old science fiction cliche of time turning around and people aging younger. I don't see how that could be possible.
It's like matter and anti-matter. Anti-matter is whichever one you aren't.
Read it. Get a headache.
I would like to know how they think they can extrapolate their 'toy' big bang to the real thing. But the idea of local entropy being reversed is intriguing. Although I'd note one thing. Is our perception of time a product of our own aging? If entropy was reversed, would we really notice? They talk about the old science fiction cliche of time turning around and people aging younger. I don't see how that could be possible.
It's like matter and anti-matter. Anti-matter is whichever one you aren't.
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
So, how about psychohistory?
Asimov himself stated, if I recall correctly, that psychohistory was a dramatic device. But can we really predict human behavior?
The answer may be...better than Asimov predicted. Anyone not living under a rock is likely aware of the iPhone and Android privacy flack. Yes, your smartphone can accurately track your movements and, with the right software, your social interactions. Measurements of movement taken by the smartphone's internal motion sensor (the same mechanism that allows the screen to switch from portrait to landscape mode and is used in some smartphone games) have even diagnosed the flu...before any symptoms become obvious (likely, there will be an app for that soon...)
Belgium has a political crisis and can't choose a government. Smartphone data gathered by researchers using volunteers clearly show that this could have been predicted. Cell phone companies can use calling data to predict who is most likely to bail for another carrier and target them with ads and promotions. And you may recall another flack, a couple of years ago, when somebody wrote an app that allowed a smartphone to determine whether its holder was actively working at a manual job or...slacking off.
In Asimov's version of psychohistory, predicting the behavior of individuals was impossible. In a way which is disconcerting even to an unashamed advocate of technological progress such as myself, the real version may be able to...at least for those of us who have our treasured habits and routines.
Here's one frightening cyberpunk possibility. Why have people vote...when their phone data predicts who they will vote for?
Original story here.
The answer may be...better than Asimov predicted. Anyone not living under a rock is likely aware of the iPhone and Android privacy flack. Yes, your smartphone can accurately track your movements and, with the right software, your social interactions. Measurements of movement taken by the smartphone's internal motion sensor (the same mechanism that allows the screen to switch from portrait to landscape mode and is used in some smartphone games) have even diagnosed the flu...before any symptoms become obvious (likely, there will be an app for that soon...)
Belgium has a political crisis and can't choose a government. Smartphone data gathered by researchers using volunteers clearly show that this could have been predicted. Cell phone companies can use calling data to predict who is most likely to bail for another carrier and target them with ads and promotions. And you may recall another flack, a couple of years ago, when somebody wrote an app that allowed a smartphone to determine whether its holder was actively working at a manual job or...slacking off.
In Asimov's version of psychohistory, predicting the behavior of individuals was impossible. In a way which is disconcerting even to an unashamed advocate of technological progress such as myself, the real version may be able to...at least for those of us who have our treasured habits and routines.
Here's one frightening cyberpunk possibility. Why have people vote...when their phone data predicts who they will vote for?
Original story here.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Chernobyl and Fukushima
25 years later...and looking at it might teach us lessons, even now, about nuclear safety.
The entombed reactor is still dangerously 'hot', and the concrete sarcophagus is crumbling. It will cost over a billion dollars to replace it and maintaining the site still requires active attention...and will for decades. 350,000 people were permanently relocated. A no-go zone of 1,500 square miles is returning to nature.
What about long term health? People who were children or adolescents at the time and lived close to the plant have a greatly increased risk of thyroid cancer. (The thyroid gland tends to concentrate radiation, hence why iodine tablets are useful in cases of radiation exposure). Workers who actively assisted in controlling the fire have double the risk of leukemia.
What has not happened, though, is the true radiation bugbear. There is absolutely no indication that there has been an increase in mutations and congenital deformities amongst humans exposed to Chernobyl. As bad as it was...it may have proved that long term, germ line effects are unlikely in the extreme.
Now we have Fukushima. And this will be used as evidence to retrench further from building nuclear plants. True. Fission is dangerous. But the health risks of being close to a nuclear plant, most of the time, are less than associated with coal burning (itself reduced by modern safety measures).
And what everyone seems to be forgetting is that Japan has fourteen other actively operating nuclear plants...none of which had any problems after the magnitude 9.0 quake. In some ways, this reminds me of all the fuss about airline disasters. Flying is the safest means of transport, but because one accident can take so many lives, it is perceived as dangerous.
(Just to compare, 48 coal miners died in 2010 in the United States. China, where mine safety standards are far laxer had over two and a half thousand fatalities in 2009...whilst only sixty deaths are so far recorded from radiation exposure associated with Chernobyl).
The entombed reactor is still dangerously 'hot', and the concrete sarcophagus is crumbling. It will cost over a billion dollars to replace it and maintaining the site still requires active attention...and will for decades. 350,000 people were permanently relocated. A no-go zone of 1,500 square miles is returning to nature.
What about long term health? People who were children or adolescents at the time and lived close to the plant have a greatly increased risk of thyroid cancer. (The thyroid gland tends to concentrate radiation, hence why iodine tablets are useful in cases of radiation exposure). Workers who actively assisted in controlling the fire have double the risk of leukemia.
What has not happened, though, is the true radiation bugbear. There is absolutely no indication that there has been an increase in mutations and congenital deformities amongst humans exposed to Chernobyl. As bad as it was...it may have proved that long term, germ line effects are unlikely in the extreme.
Now we have Fukushima. And this will be used as evidence to retrench further from building nuclear plants. True. Fission is dangerous. But the health risks of being close to a nuclear plant, most of the time, are less than associated with coal burning (itself reduced by modern safety measures).
And what everyone seems to be forgetting is that Japan has fourteen other actively operating nuclear plants...none of which had any problems after the magnitude 9.0 quake. In some ways, this reminds me of all the fuss about airline disasters. Flying is the safest means of transport, but because one accident can take so many lives, it is perceived as dangerous.
(Just to compare, 48 coal miners died in 2010 in the United States. China, where mine safety standards are far laxer had over two and a half thousand fatalities in 2009...whilst only sixty deaths are so far recorded from radiation exposure associated with Chernobyl).
Monday, April 25, 2011
Grr...
...why are people's emails bouncing left, right, and center today? Ah well. Nothing I can do but resend it later.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Zombiality ebook!
Now available!
http://www.amazon.com/Zombiality-Queer-Zombie-Fiction-ebook/dp/B004WOYVAU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1303409759&sr=8-2
Kindle and Kindle app only, I'm afraid. But a reasonable price...if you don't have your copy already, go get it.
(End of shameless pimp)
http://www.amazon.com/Zombiality-Queer-Zombie-Fiction-ebook/dp/B004WOYVAU/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1303409759&sr=8-2
Kindle and Kindle app only, I'm afraid. But a reasonable price...if you don't have your copy already, go get it.
(End of shameless pimp)
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Another one.
Two in one week! Library of Horror Press purchased Splinter for their 'Made You Flinch - Again!' anthology. I'm on a roll here.
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