An interesting comparison between a text that was translated into Chinese and then translated back into English..and what the original text said.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 02:31 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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How a navigator aboard a US Coast Guard cutter used the "primitive" navigation techniques of the Polynesians to traverse the distance from Hawaii to Alaska (Adobe Acrobat file). Amazing stuff!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 02:30 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I am listening to a piece called Les Preludes (Symphonic Poem) by Franz Liszt.

Quick! What's the connection with science fiction?

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 02:28 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I was recently in our local (to where I work) Big Box Book Store and noticed a couple of changes. For one, jackhammers were at work (behind curtins), apparently tearing out the Starbucks that dominated the center of the bookstore. Whether it will be replaced by another chain or by the Big Box's own effort, I do not know. more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 02:27 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Until I came across this site completely by accident, I had completely forgotten how much I loved the tales of Augustus S. F. X. Van Dusen, Ph.D.,LL.D., F.R.S., M.D., M.D.S., a.k.a., The Thinking Machine. The site mentions a collection (edited and introduced by Harlan Ellison!) which I'll have to hunt down. In the meantime, you can try the tales yourself. See if you can solve the riddle of The Problem of Cell 13!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 02:21 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Graham Sleight (writing at Locus Online) takes a look back at two Alfred Bester classics (printed in the June 2006 issue).

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 02:20 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Bill Baldwin has a website! And...The Helmsman Series returns, thanks to Timberwolf Press, in a series of "director's cut" editions!

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 02:13 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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One of my favorite space artists has a spiffy website.

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 02:12 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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I've been doing a lot more reading than blogging recently. But that just means I've got lots of fresh material to write about.

Here's what I've read since my last report:

Old Man's War, John Scalzi (Excellent old-school SF! I wouldn't say he's derivative of Heinlein, but definitely writes in the same fine tradition. If you're reading me, you probably know that John Scalzi keeps a great blog, too).

The Stars My Destination, Alfred Bester (I'm surprised this one hasn't been made into a movie yet. [Wait - I wonder?])

The Years of Rice and Salt, Kim Stanley Robinson

The Measure of a Man: A Spiritual Autobiography, Sidney Poitier

In progress:

The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins

I Am a Strange Loop, Douglas Hofstadter

The Accidental Mind: How Brain Evolution Has Given Us Love, Memory, Dreams, and God, David J. Linden

On deck:

1776, David McCullough (Yeah, I know it's been waiting on the "to read" list for 3 months now. Best intentions and all that...)

Breaking the Spell: Religion as a Natural Phenomenon, Daniel C. Dennett

The Varieties of Scientific Experience: A Personal View of the Search for God, Carl Sagan (edited by Ann Druyan)

more...

Posted by: JohnL at 12:20 PM | No Comments | Add Comment
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Am not going to argue whether a machine can "really" be alive, "really" be self-aware. Is a virus self-aware? Nyet! How about oyster? I doubt it. A cat? Almost certainly. A human? Don't know about you tovarishch, but I am. Somewhere along evolutionary chain from macromolecule to human brain self-awareness crept in. Psychologists assert it happens automatically whenever a brain acquires certain very high number of associational paths. Can't see it matters whether paths are protein or platinum.

("Soul?" Does dog have a soul? How about cockroach?"

(The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, Part 1, That Dinkum Thinkum, Chapter 1) more...

Posted by: Fred Kiesche at 06:40 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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"Am not going to argue whether a machine can 'really' be alive, 'really' be self-aware. Is a virus self-aware? Nyet. How about oyster? I doubt it. A cat? Almost certainly. A human? Don't know about you, tovarishch, but I am."

- Manny Garcia O'Kelly in The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.

Posted by: JohnL at 12:06 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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