Interesting Links for 26-09-2016

[andrewducker]

Programming Language Inventor or Serial Killer? (tags: programming psychopath quiz ) Experimental stem cell therapy helps paralyzed man regain use of arms and hands (tags: healthcare health stem_cells ) Forget VR. The Future of Roller Coasters Is About Maglev (tags: fun Technology magnets ) Japanese Can Soon Pay Utility Bills with Bitcoin (tags

Comments

[bart_calendar]

"Every day, for 10 minutes, the couple should talk alone about something other than work, the family and children, the household, the relationship."

People have to be told to do this?

Jesus Christ Rome Girl spends at least a half hour a day talking about some weird shit she heard on one of the 10 podcasts a day she listens to while working and I'm sure I spend even more time discussing some weird nerd shit I read on The Mary Sue or on werido fan forums. And we spend at least 10 minutes a day talking about whatever new thing our cat is into (generally whether it might kill her and if so how to stop it, or if it's just a safe new weirdness.' This is to not even mention when we finish a book (we generally read the same books, me on dead trees, her on Kindle) and we argue about whether it was a piece of s hit or not. Those conversations can take hours.

[andrewducker]

I feel much the same way - I want a partner at least partially because I like talking to them!

But apparently, for a chunk of people...

[bart_calendar]

Also the inclusion of A.I. completely invalidates that list.

Also, I hate, hate, hate how these lists always completely ignore the horror genre. The Babadook has more to say about what a struggle life can be than half the films on that list, Coherence is a work of staggering genius, The Others is wonderful, It Follows has a lot to say about slut shaming and American Mary is about destroying the male gaze and exposing rape culture for exactly what it is.

[andrewducker]

Yeah, loads of film critics just ignore horror movies, which is completely unfair.

[bart_calendar]

I don't get it. They are often the most interesting films of the year.

[andrewducker]

Oh, and yeah, AI annoyed the hell out of me more than any film I'd seen in ages. Up there with Inception and Prometheus.

[bart_calendar]

Finally, I've never understood this desire to let other planets know we are out there.

"Hey, we are a planet with a ton of oil, coal, uranium, other types of fuel and energy sources and water! Why not come here and steal our shit!"

[andrewducker]

I think that if you've got the tech to travel those distances then you can also spot that kind of thing from a looong way away, and don't need it.

A bit like Pacific islanders not building bonfires in case they attract the British Navy who might want to run off with it. Sure, if they turned up wanting it, you'd be completely fucked, but they aren't coming for any of the stuff you care about.

[danieldwilliam]

I've always thought that any alien that can get Here from There has pretty much won already.

they are unlikely to need any thing we have here. If they can get here easily and cheaply they don't need our coal or our planet to live on. If they can't get here easily and cheaply then all the stuff we have is unlikely to pass a simple Net Present Value calculation.

So I'm left thinking that their only reasons for coming are to deliver a Message of Universal Comradeship and Peace or to do unpleasant things to us for a variety either to stop us before we stop them or for "religious" reasons. But again, if they can get here we probably can't do much to stop them. Our first and last act in an inter-stellar war right now might be to wonder why there was a suspiciously high number of large asteroids on collision course with Earth.

[theweaselking]

The generation ship from proxima centauri, full of religious zealots who embarked centuries-and-generations ago, looking to produce the first extra-centaurian colony on faith that of the two habitable-zone planets they spotted around Sol, one would probably be life-supporting?

Those guys could be a problem.

(This is the Nauvoo from The Expanse, in reverse)

"Reasons to be cheerful" - a short story about happines

[cartesiandaemon]

I enjoy that story.

Have you read, well, all of Greg Egan's short stories? I found almost all of his short stories really interesting, and all fairly easy to read (even if half are kinda depressing).

RE: "Reasons to be cheerful" - a short story about happines

[andrewducker]

Yeah. Loads of the short stories, and several of his books.

I find the books a bit more variable, even within them. I loved the first half of Diaspora, while the ending didn't really work for me. Still good overall though, and so many ideas.

RE: "Reasons to be cheerful" - a short story about happines

[cartesiandaemon]

Yeah, I feel the same about his novels -- lots of really interesting ideas, but hit and miss how well they work in practice.

RE: "Reasons to be cheerful" - a short story about happines

[newandrewhickey]

Yeah, his short story collections are some of my favourite books of all time -- I don't think he's capable of writing a bad story at that length.
His novels are more variable -- Permutation City, Distress, and Quarantine are all absolutely wonderful, the Orthoganal trilogy is very good, and the rest I mostly found readable but forgettable. But his best work is among the very best the genre has to offer.
(For those who don't know, you can read a lot of his short stories for free at http://www.gregegan.net/BIBLIOGRAPHY/Online.html )

[davesmusictank]

I liked the reasons to be cheerful link.

[andrewducker]

I recommend other short stories by Greg Egan. The collection "Axiomatic" is really good, and thought provoking.