A Policy Initiative July 24, 2016
Posted by stuffilikenet in Brilliant words, Uncategorizable.add a comment
Stuffilike.net has always been devoted to stuff I actually like, from Hello Kitty sex toys and other strange ironies to octopodes and current technologies I first saw in the original Star Trek show which are now, if not commonplace, at least no longer utterly fictional (still no flying cars, though).
One of the consequences of this relentlessly cheerful editorial policy is the self-limiting nature of the work. Some days I don’t like things very much, and must fight the urge to say so loudly and clearly through the megaphone of the web. For instance, I take no joy in remarking upon electoral politics as the choices available fill me with ennui for more money machine politics at best (Hillary) and World War Three Holocaust at worst (The Donald). And what erudition is to be had there, anyway? People who think and people who won’t instinctively recognize each other and can’t communicate across the gulf of sentience between them.
I hate shouting across the Grand Canyon–just makes me hoarse.
All this explains (perhaps) why there is little output here. That and the black depression from the loss of my father, my wife’s father, my job, acquiring pneumonia, acquiring sciatica and a motorcycle racer’s recent suicidal crash into the back of my van have made me less cheerful and unlikely to take delight and inspiration from the beauty in the world around me.
OK, that’s a little bleak. Here’s a cat picture.
That’s better. Not sure she is filed correctly, though.
Look, wonderful things have been happening in our world. Research in mixed graphene substrates have opened up some exciting avenues for development of smaller, faster, more powerful (and less power-consuming) electronics. Computer controls are cheaper and more sophisticated than ever, and people are starting to do the theoretical heavy lifting about communications security to make the world’s devices more flexible in response, data more analyzable and who knows what kind of benefits neural network analysis thereof will derive? Augmented reality is in a nascent phase, the infrastructure of AR-ware barely beginning to coalesce from a dark void of ignorance to saleable products, when Real Money will push research to actual utility. Powered exoskeletons are already entering clinical trials for muscle-wasting conditions, and soon will be available for grandmothers, too. The James Webb telescope will soon make Hubble look like a spyglass. And right here in front of me is a box that lets me communicate with anyone in the world, if I’m smart enough to get them to answer. Even if they don’t, so much of the world’s information is now available to me through this box I may not need their answer…if I’m smart enough to get one myself. And my magic box is smaller than this:
Well, that seems better. What? Our time is up?
Thank you, doctor. See you next week, then?
Aerosmith Could be Better Without Aerosmith July 22, 2016
Posted by stuffilikenet in Awesome, Music, Video.add a comment
The Water Knife, by Paolo Bacigalupi July 17, 2016
Posted by stuffilikenet in Books, Brilliant words.add a comment
The Water Knife, by Paolo Bacigalupi, is one scary piece of fiction featuring all the violence, desperation and hopelessness that any person should ever be exposed to in fiction. This tale of the possible future (not actually science fiction, I hasten to point out, just speculating on what happens with the logical extension of our attitude towards water, land, money and each other) where the Colorado continues to dry up and states fight for water rights—to the point of excluding US citizens from moving from one state to another (using guns. Did I mention the guns?) is pure Bacigalupi in its stark descriptions of privation, threats, torture and murder for profit on a large scale. Very much not safe for children, as there are gruesome depictions of torture, murder and fairly explicit depictions of sex…and foul language.
That said, the characters are detailed and believable, the action scenes are briskly paced, the villains are monsters and a lot of people fall into the gray areas of morality, mostly driven by fear. Fear is the main character in this book, touching the lives of everyone except the worst monster (no spoilers).
I like and recommend The Water Knife. It’s gripping, if you can stand the horror of the world Paolo Bacigalupi creates. More terrible than The Windup Girl for sure, but no less fascinating.
Link above goes to Amazon, but it should be in your local library or borrowable therefrom by inter-library loan (ask your librarian).
The Daedalus Incident, by Michael Martinez July 8, 2016
Posted by stuffilikenet in Books, Uncategorizable.add a comment
The Daedalus Incident, by Michael Martinez is a strange mixture of steampunk and, uh, standard science fiction.1 A series of quakes on tectonically-dead Mars has led a number of scientists to risk their lives to understand what is really going on. “The only clues they have stem from the emissions of a mysterious blue radiation, and a 300-year-old journal that is writing itself.”–from Amazon’s site. As a science geek I have to say I’m pleasantly surprised to find Cherenkov radiation featured as a clue.
Well, the steampunk part is that a parallel universe is bumping up against ours produces Cherenkov radiation..you can see where that could lead. In the parallel universe, alchemy is used to float wooden ships through the Void between worlds (all inhabited) in a Victorian era that seems to have lasted well into the 21st century. This puts me in mind of an hilarious game that I never purchased for myself in 1989 when I damned sure should have, Space:1889. And, I swear the whole plot setup in Daedalus Incident is predicated on this ridiculous game, substituting alchemy for Edison’s aether propeller.
Well, there is action and romance in both universes, with villains and heroes (and damsels who take up fencing), loss and redemption—standard action/adventure stuff, the bubblegum of the mind.
Link goes to Amazon, but this is at sfpl.org as well as are the follow-on novels (I think there are four right now).
____________
1 Is there such a thing?
The Red, by Linda Nagata July 7, 2016
Posted by stuffilikenet in Books, Brilliant words.add a comment
The Red, by Linda Nagata held my interest well enough that I also listened to The Trials, the concluding (?) book in this story. Of the two, I think I liked The Red better, since the story arc seemed more complete and satisfying in and of itself.
Lieutenant James Shelley, US Army is part of a Linked Combat Squad which is just what it sounds like: an Army unit with excellent communications in three forms: a radio linkage to each other (GenCom), a video linkage to an overhead drone (an Angel), and a linkage to a handler (Control). The individual soldier is also equipped with armor and an exoskeleton (either referred to as “armor and bones” or “dead sister”) and an “emotional prosthesis”, a skullcap which keeps mood swings in check.
Nice killing machines, you think? Not so much. Our hero and his squaddies seem to be nice folks, just regular Joes (and Janes) in a rough business. There’s a bit of backstory for our hero but much less for the other characters, which does keep the narrative as tight as it needs to be, since this is an action tale after all.
This is probably interesting enough setup for several novels-worth of tales, but this particular one deals with a third sci-fi trope that is really interesting. Shelley is infrequently given to having strong feelings in tactical situations that seem entirely incongruous with known operational parameters—he has hunches, and plays them.
And they are always right.
The source of these hunches are the crux of this novel. I must say I found the idea which explains it in the book is the most whimsical possibility I could have imagined, and brings me great delight when I think of it.
Good action, fair character development and a breezy pace (considering) make a good audiobook, competently read.
Exciting update: This is part of a trilogy. Great; now I have to listen to another one.
The Road to Hell July 6, 2016
Posted by stuffilikenet in Awesome, Brilliant words.add a comment
“Intentions are now the most widely used technology for creating unintended consequences, having disrupted older technologies like madness and stupidity.”—from a lovely essay by Venkatesh Rao.
The Short Drop, by Matthew FitzSimmons July 1, 2016
Posted by stuffilikenet in Books, Uncategorizable.add a comment
The Short Drop is a chilling little novella about corruption, featuring all the violence and evil you could ever want in an audiobook. The lives wrecked by (other’s) corruption are offered redemption at a fearful price: knowledge of the whole, sordid story. The learning is, of course, a horror story itself involving all manner of evil including a Army sniper turned serial killer, a corrupt vice-president of the USA, old money with older ambitions and a pair of very good hackers in a duel.
Good characterizations of people with very bad problems written in a lively tone, but painful to see the realization of evil marching toward the denouement. It’s like a whole Greek chorus coming to your house to sing you a lullaby that lasts all night.
Ouch.
Good actioner, with some very likeable characters.1 The main bad guy is surprisingly uninteresting, though; it seems that the love of power is so common in both history and current events that I find the bad guy really repulsive…and dull.
Donald Trump will not get my votes2, for sure.
OK, this is pretty depressing. Here is a consoling kitten (mine). Notice the cute paws: 
1Besides the evil guys. Hey, what can I say? I like well-written bad guys.
2Vote early, and vote often.
Nexus, Crux and Apex, by Ramez Naam July 1, 2016
Posted by stuffilikenet in Awesome, Books, Brilliant words, Geek Stuff, Star Trek Technology.add a comment
These three novels are among the most interesting science fiction novels I have come across in some time..Lovingly detailed descriptions of the brain-nanoparticle operating system (Nexus) that allow people to hack their own brains, regulating mood, compelling actions and desires and enabling communication mind-to-mind seem plausible (after you swallow the sufficiently-advanced-technology bits) enough to support a tale of personal discovery by the author of the OS as he winds between the US government, Chinese spies, Thai drug lords and showdowns with the US government and a singularity’s intelligence. A good actioner, the story will compel your attention through all three books and make you wish for a different ending to the last one, for sure.
Highly recommended. The links above go to Amazon, but are available at sfpl.org.
Stuffilike.net 