June 14, 2020
One day, maybe sooner than we think, a consideration of the ethics of the treatment of rational, sentient machines might turn out to be more than an abstract academic exercise.
From last June, but still a worthy topic for debate, particularly as the use of robots increases for retirement homes, nursery school programs, hotel reception lobbies… (also the topic of a short story I wrote in 2000 but still haven’t published outside of a grad student journal…)
April 13, 2020
NASA tells Inverse that the payloads will need to measure no more than 100 millimeters by 100 millimeters by 50 millimeters, around the size of a bar of soap. They will also need to weigh no more than 0.4 kilograms (0.88 pounds) and be able to withstand external temperatures between minus 120 degrees Celsius (minus 184 degrees Fahrenheit) and 100 degrees (212 degrees Fahrenheit). These are the maximum limits, but smaller and lighter is preferred.
Yow, that’s wicked tiny. But small price to pay to set up a Lunar Space Base from which humanity can expand into the expanse.
Er, the solar system. I meant the solar system.
March 22, 2020
Both my books on Smashwords (Adam’s Stepsons and Destiny in the Future – actually my mother’s book published posthumously as a tribute) are FREE downloads from now to April 20 as part of the Smashwords Authors Give Back initiative:
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/931869
Formats include .ePub, .mobi, PDF, .txt, and online reader (browser-based).
Take it easy. Deep breaths. No panicking. Let’s get through this thing.
(See https://blog.smashwords.com/…/smashwords-launches-initiativ… for more information and links to other free ebooks as well.)
March 17, 2020
The pub may be closed, but there’s always Trek…
March 16, 2020
😱😱😱
Welp, guess it’s back to ST:TNG and Teen Titans: Go! for a while…
March 14, 2020
Wasp-76b, as it’s known, orbits so close in to its host star, its dayside temperatures exceed 2,400C – hot enough to vaporise metals.
Hmm….this reminds me of…let me think for a minute…wait, I got it…
Yeah, that’s the one. I think.
(Seriously, check it out. Not even the Jedi could possibly handle an actual “inferno” planet.)
March 9, 2020
Another classic actor, gone.
I still remember my favorite line, from The Greatest Story Ever Told:
“Don’t vory, Mary.”
Ah, classic Swedish Jesus.
And the scifi-fantasy list…
What’s your favorite Max von Sydow movie/TV series?
March 1, 2020
Stuck at home all week (or month?) dealing with world-wide panic from a cold virus?
Stock up on discounted and/or free ebooks at Smashwords!
Why not start with Adams’ Stepsons – for FREE??
Destiny in the Future is also HALF OFF until March 7th (all proceeds donated to the American Cancer Society)
February 15, 2020
When I was a kid, I devoured books by Jules Verne, in the Classics Illustrated series vocabulary- and grammar-controlled for younger readers.
20,000 Leagues Under the Sea
Voyage to the Center of the Earth
From the Earth to the Moon
Around the World in Eighty Days
Until I was in college, I didn’t even know that he wrote them in French.
Until a few days ago, I didn’t know they were part of a 54-volume set, complete with 4,000 hand-drawn illustrations that are now available online for free.
How’s that for enduring literary influence?
Check out the link below for more details…
http://www.openculture.com/2020/02/jules-vernes-voyages-extraordinaires.html
February 7, 2020
“I think we’ve got a better chance of having slightly higher forms of life on Europa, perhaps similar to the intelligence of an octopus.”
Hmm. Maybe. It seems more like that any life would be of the microscopic or worm-like variety. But we still have to get out there first to find out…
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