Category: Miscellaneous
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“Smart” Cities
First read this article, a summary and critique of some current "smart city" projects. The author unfortunately kind of skates around the main, fundamental problem with most of the projects he describes. They're completely antithetical to the way cities actually grow. Quite simply, you can't build a city. Maybe if your name is Stalin and…
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Mars Cops!
Here's a neat article in (of all places) The Atlantic, about "How Mars Will Be Policed." I wish I'd had this when I was writing GURPS Mars, although it's fun to see that my own wild-ass guesses reasoning pretty much matches the conclusions of experts.
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WorldCon 76 Report: Day 3
Saturday I rose relatively early and had a swim in the hotel pool. Staying at a hotel with a pool makes one feel about three times healthier than otherwise. No back problems from an unfamiliar bed, which means better sleep, which means one isn't living on caffeinated sodas to stay focused. Anyway. Once again the…
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WorldCon 76 Report: Day 1
The Crack Team were already ensconced in the Marriott hotel in downtown San Jose before this year's World Science Fiction Convention even began. We began the day with an expedition to the amazing Winchester Mystery House. We got both the basic tour (90 minutes of hiking around the biggest house in America) and the extended…
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Where to Find Me at WorldCon 76
This coming week the 76th World Science Fiction Convention will be held in hazy San Jose, California, and I'll be one of the participants. If you want to see me, here are my scheduled appearances: THE CULINARY SPECULATIVE: Food in Fiction (Friday, August 17, 12:00 noon in room 210C of the San Jose Convention Center).…
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More Bad Flags
This time it's not me griping about flags, it's a gentleman with the incredibly badass name Roman Mars. The scarlet-faced avenger gave a TED talk about flag design, highlighting some of America's best and worst city flags. He properly cited Chicago's flag as one of the best, and derided New York City's as lackluster. He…
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Revolutionary Thoughts
As one does on July 4th, I was thinking about the American Revolution. Specifically, about the commander of the Continental Army, George Washington himself. From all accounts, Washington was not a quixotic man. He wasn't the sort to throw away his life and his fortune in a doomed cause. (Unlike his admirer and relative by…
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Why I Have Four New Holes
"Gallia est omnis divisa in partes tres . . . " — Caesar A week ago, at about four o'clock in the afternoon, my stomach hurt. The sensation was very precise: a single point, directly under my sternum. I had been out to lunch with my son, so I cleverly deduced the cause. Obviously I had…
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Comic Timing
My talented wife was leaving early this morning on a trip, and I was getting ready to drive her to meet her ride. She glanced outside and said, "Ugh. It's raining." But then she brightened up and added, "At least it isn't snowing." Five minutes later, as we were about to leave, I opened the…
The Cambias Digression 