13 Jun 2006

Die, Big Bird, Die!

posted in: public affairs | 0

They just can’t leave Big Bird alone, can they? This is from last Friday’s Washington Post:

A House subcommittee voted yesterday to sharply reduce the federal government’s financial support for public broadcasting, including eliminating taxpayer funds that help underwrite such popular children’s educational programs as “Sesame Street,” “Reading Rainbow,” “Arthur” and “Postcards From Buster.”

In addition, the subcommittee acted to eliminate within two years all federal money for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — which passes federal funds to public broadcasters — starting with a 25 percent reduction in CPB’s budget for next year, from $400 million to $300 million.

Are they just afraid of large, yellow avian life-forms that talk funny? Or, hmm, you don’t suppose they’re afraid of balanced public-affairs broadcasting, do you? PBS still produces some of the best programming on TV—not just children’s programming and public affairs, but science and the arts as well—and NPR remains the best source of varied and balanced public-affairs talk radio. Here we go around the block again to save Big Bird!

You can read more about it on salon.com, and there’s a petition you can sign at moveon.org.

13 Jun 2006

Cat Chases a Bear Up a Tree, and Other Interesting Stories

posted in: quirky, science | 0

The following items come to me courtesy of other people—I don’t have the time to surf the web and find this stuff!

Cat trees bear…
Our title story is one of the odder ones I’ve heard recently. But the picture sure looks real. In West Medford, NJ, a black bear was treed by a territorial tabby cat named Jack. (If you click on the picture, you can see an enlargement that shows Jack a little more clearly.) Can we trust AP that it’s true? I dunno—it’s too good a story not to be.

Teenagers turn a “teenager-repellent” sound into a ring-tone…
This is from the NY Times: “In that old battle of the wills between young people and their keepers, the young have found a new weapon that could change the balance of power on the cellphone front: a ring tone that many adults cannot hear.” Very handy in classrooms where cell phones are forbidden—a tone inaudible to the teacher, which signals an incoming text message or email.

“The cellphone ring tone that she heard was the offshoot of an invention called the Mosquito, developed last year by a Welsh security company to annoy teenagers and gratify adults, not the other way around… It was marketed as an ultrasonic teenager repellent, an ear-splitting 17-kilohertz buzzer designed to help shopkeepers disperse young people loitering in front of their stores while leaving adults unaffected.”

The Mosquito depended on the fact that most adults have already lost enough high-frequency hearing that they simply wouldn’t hear the sound, while to teenagers it would be an irritant.

We tried it out here. (You can download an MP3 of the sound from the NY Times page.) My wife played it on her Mac laptop, and I couldn’t hear it, while my daughter said, “Sure, I can.” Then I played it on my PC laptop, with the volume all the way up, and I could hear it as a faint, unpleasant keening sound. My daughter said, “Augghhh!” and immediately left the room. (My other daughter said she found it unpleasant, but not enough to work as a dispersant.)

New Careers for Dogs…
This also from the NY Times. Dogs have now been trained to sniff out bedbugs, cancer in people, cows in heat, and potentially pirated DVDs in cargo containers, among other things. Good boy!

Droids on the International Space Station…
Remember the trainer-droid in Star Wars—the little hovering robot that Luke had trouble whipping with his light saber until he finally “used the Force”? Well, from NASA’s Space News comes this:

“Six years ago, MIT engineering Professor David Miller showed the movie Star Wars to his students on their first day of class. There’s a scene Miller is particularly fond of, the one where Luke Skywalker spars with a floating battle droid. Miller stood up and pointed: ‘I want you to build me some of those…’ So they did. With support from the Department of Defense and NASA, Miller’s undergraduates built five working droids. And now, one of them is onboard the International Space Station.”

It doesn’t actually fire little laser beams. But it does maneuver, and they’re working on teaching them to rendezvous in space. Hm, I feel an urge to pit one against my Roomba.

6 Jun 2006

World Wind from NASA

posted in: quirky, space | 0

Okay, enough with the politics for a while. I’ve got something cooler. It’s free software from NASA, and it’s called World Wind.

By now, I expect most of you know about Google Earth. It’s a sort of World Wide Earth browser that lets you see the surface of the Earth from satellite imagery and turn it all around and zoom in close enough and clearly enough that, depending on where you live, you may be able to pick out your own house and tell whether you (or at least your cars) were at home when the photo was taken. In fact, here is a picture of my house, taken from Google Earth.


You can’t quite see how cracked the driveway is, but I can tell it was taken before we rebuilt the deck, so it must be a few years old. (That faint fuzzy patch to the right of the deck that looks like a giant grey dandelion puff is actually a pretty good sized pin-oak tree.) If they get a little better with it, we could use it to inspect our roofs and chimneys! My office window is high on the end of the house overlooking the deck. You can’t quite see me hard at work.

World Wind from NASA is similar, but different. You can rotate and zoom in, and add all sorts of fancy overlays—but you can do it not just with Earth, but with the Moon, Mars, Venus, and Jupiter. Also the stars. (And someone added a plug-in for the Death Star.) The resolution of Earth isn’t as fine, but I like it better for the planets, anyway. For Mars and Venus, it’ll show you where all the spacecraft have landed. (I was amazed how many there were.) Here are two pix of Mars. You won’t see it here, but if you mouse over the icons, it’ll tell you the spacecraft names and dates. It also has a bunch of scientific overlays if you’re interested.

This second one is the landing site of the Opportunity robot buggy.

The software is Windows only, I’m afraid. And although I found the installation easy, I had to reinstall something called .NET framework from Microsoft before it worked. But the instructions are pretty clear if you speak even pidgeon-geek. Give it a try!*

*But if it breaks your machine (heh-heh), you didn’t hear about it from me!

3 Jun 2006

Read the Comments

posted in: blogging | 0

Since I know lots of people probably skip over the comments, I just want to note that the posts below this one have a number of interesting comments from readers, some of which I have responded to. I invite other readers to contribute, also, lest it become the Jeff/Tim/Marco show—and that invitation goes double to those of you from other countries around the world, who might have different views to offer. We’d like to hear from you.

2 Jun 2006

Bipartisan Sleaze Report

posted in: public affairs | 0

Regular readers of this blog know that I don’t much like the Republican government that’s currently in charge of ruining this country. But today I want to cast aspersions fairly and in a bipartisan manner.

Let’s start, for a change, with stupidity, greed, and ethical blindness on the part of a leading Democrat. Yes, I’m talking about Senator Harry Reid, who “accepted free ringside tickets from the Nevada Athletic Commission to three professional boxing matches while that state agency was trying to influence him on federal regulation of boxing.” (Washington Post) Yes, this leading Democrat who has been assailing the Republicans for ethical lapses thought it was A-OK to take these tickets as a gift, even while working on legislation that could affect the givers. I mean, how stupid can you be? Even if you, personally, thought there was nothing unethical about taking the tickets, wouldn’t you think—just for a moment—that maybe it would look bad for yourself, and especially for the political party you represent? Jeez.

Of course, that’s not as bad as the Congress rolling over and playing dead yet again for Mr. Bush, by confirming Gen. Michael V. Hayden to lead the C.I.A.—yes, the man who as head of the National Security Agency oversaw the illegal, warrantless wiretapping of the phone calls of American citizens. One just has to wonder, will the Congress ever show any spine in defending the rule of constitutional law?

And finally, there’s the new U.S. Embassy going up in
Baghdad, the mother of all embassies. According to MSNBC, “The embassy complex — 21 buildings on 104 acres, according to a U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee report —” will occupy six times the acreage of the UN compound in New York, and will be self-supporting, with a pool and a food court and all the luxuries of home. Now, it’s not that I begrudge U.S. diplomatic officials a decent place to live, but given that most of Iraq is still in shambles, and reconstruction of hospitals and basic infrastructure is way behind schedule, doesn’t it seem just a little off that the one project that’s rumbling along hugely and on-time is the building that will symbolize U.S. presence and influence in Iraq? Of course, we’re not occupiers anymore, so there’s no reason that Iraqis might resent this presence in their country…no no, that would just be paranoia.

Well, one final bit of paranoia-feeding-news comes with the word that Budweiser is buying the Rolling Rock beer company. Man, can’t anything be left alone anymore? Not that Rolling Rock is great beer—it’s decent, a good light summer beer, but hardly a craft beer as this article calls it—but still, I hate it when little brands disappear into the maw of big brands. Don’t even get me started about how the Hershey company bought out Switzer’s Licorice only to put it out of business.

(But…I just learned that heirs to the Switzer company have relaunched the Switzer Licorice company, and made the original Switzer Licorice available again! Hallelujah! Now, if I can just find a store that sells it….)

30 May 2006

Pro Wrestling on the SciFi Channel?!!

posted in: public affairs, science fiction | 0

Reader Tsmacro sent me an article that made my jaw drop. According to Zap2it.com, the SciFi Channel is…oh God, I’ll just quote them, it’s less painful than typing the words myself:

World Wrestling Entertainment and NBC Universal are extending their relationship, bringing the resurrected Extreme Championship Wrestling to the Sci Fi Channel for a summertime run.

Because when you think of pro wrestling, you think of the Sci Fi Channel.

Riiiight. I have a hard time thinking of anything more appropriate to a science fiction network than a run of mindless pseudo-sports whose chief characteristic is appealing to the lowest (and by lowest, I mean worst, not broadest) common denominator.

Now, I know there are those people—one of them is even a friend of mine, but I won’t mention his name—who find this sort of drivel entertaining. But it’s beyond me why. Okay, maybe I’m a little sensitive because I happen to be interested in the actual sport of wrestling, as opposed to the crap that gets actual airtime as alleged wrestling, but still. This is a very, very bad idea. I can only hope that the fans will crucify the network brains that came up with this one.

As a possible antidote to this nonsense, I’ll just pass on a story from the New Scientist. Here it is:

NEWSFLASH: Artificial penis allows rabbits to mate normally.
In a “landmark development” researchers have grown penile tissue that has allowed rabbits with damaged sexual organs to successfully mate.

So, guys, here’s one big worry you can let go of, eh?

26 May 2006

New Friends

posted in: personal news, writing | 0

Before the memory of the Young Writers conference fades, I want to mention a few of the interesting people I met there, and what they’re up to.

Philip Baruth is a novelist and teacher in Vermont. But he’s also a political blogger, and runs a blog called the Vermont Daily Briefing. Though a lot of what he talks about is Vermont politics, some of it is pretty funny even for outsiders. Try this entry about Senate hopeful Rich Tarrant, who chose Bachman Turner Overdrive’s “Taking Care of Business” for a campaign song. It’s hilarious, sort of in the same way Dan Quayle was hilarious.

Marjorie Ryerson is an astoundingly articulate and energetic woman, who walked away from a tenured faculty position because she felt she had more important things to do with her life. (The fact that these other things didn’t necessarily pay was an annoying side effect.) She’s an author, which is enough for many people, but one of the other things she did was found an organization called Water Music, “an international, non-profit project designed to help the earth’s waters” through the arts and music. Her book, Water Music, is a spectacularly beautiful collection of photographs combined with poems and mini-essays by musicians, who are helping the cause by putting on benefit concerts. She’s working with the UN (UNESCO, if I’m remembering correctly), and in addition to trying to raise awareness among Americans of the importance of protecting our water heritage, she’s working overseas to help provide clean drinking water to populations who (unlike many of us) cannot take it for granted.

Doug Wilhelm has written a young adult novel called The Revealers, which deals with bullying in the middle school years. The book has been so successful in raising consciousness about the issue that it’s being used in many middle schools as a resource for focusing attention on the problem of bullying. Doug recently adapted the novel as a play, and that has been successfully put on in several middle schools. (My family is reading it right now, to see if it might be something our local theater group might be interested in trying.) The other thing you should know about Doug is that he’s about 8 feet tall, and you can pick him out of any crowd. (Okay, okay, 6′ 10″ — close enough.)

Finally, the director of the workshop, Matt Dickerson, is not just a teacher of computer science, but a writer of nonfiction literary analysis—his latest book being From Homer to Harry Potter, with another one coming on the subject of Tolkien and environmentalism—and the author of a historical fantasy novel. He also has a son who’s a budding SF writer. He’s also a hell of a nice guy, and he puts on a whopping good conference.

25 May 2006

The End Times Are Coming! The End Times Are Coming!

posted in: public affairs | 0

MoveOn.org and the Christian Coalition are joining forces in the cause of internet freedom! In fact, they’re taking out an ad together, with the headline:

When it comes to protecting the Internet, the Christian Coalition and MoveOn respectfully agree.

Wow, if that doesn’t make you think the world’s shaking at its foundations, nothing will.

In case you haven’t been following (or live outside the U.S., where it might not be in the news), forces in Congress are pushing hard for a law that will allow the big Internet companies like AT&T and Verizon to decide “which websites open most easily for you based on which site pays…more…. Many members of Congress take campaign contributions from these companies, and they don’t think the public are paying attention to this issue.” (Quotes from MoveOn.org.)

Opponents of this law are working hard to keep the Internet free and neutral, “So Amazon doesn’t have to outbid Barnes & Noble for the right to work more properly on your computer.”

The coalition SavetheInternet.com includes the Christian Coalition, MoveOn, Gun Owners of America, the ACLU, Craig from Craigslist, Free Press, small businesses, consumer advocates and musicians including Moby, R.E.M., the Indigo Girls, and the Dixie Chicks. (List of the coalition members.)

Update: a news flash on SavetheInternet’s web site says that “a bipartisan majority of the House Judiciary Committee passed the ‘Internet Freedom and Nondiscrimination Act of 2006’ — a bill that offers meaningful protections for Network Neutrality,” just today. Good news!

23 May 2006

Fabulous Writing Conference for Young People!

posted in: writing | 0

I’ve just returned from four days at the Bread Loaf, Vermont campus of Middlebury College, where I was one of twenty-two writers teaching at the New England Young Writers Conference. It was my first time at this annual event, and it was an amazing experience, working with talented high-school-aged writers from all over New England. I can’t remember the last time I had so much fun in a gathering with other writers, or felt so humbled by the talent around me (and I’m referring as much to the students as to the professionals).

It was also the nicest, most welcoming bunch of people I’ve met in years. It rained the whole time I was there, but I didn’t see a frown all weekend. Though I was the only science fiction writer among poets, nonfiction writers, and young adult and mainstream fiction writers, I felt completely at home—more at home than I sometimes feel at SF gatherings. I’ll remember with pleasure both the adult friends I made and the group of kids I worked with, and for that matter the girls who came over at the dance and asked me to join their group on the dance floor, “because only the kids are dancing, and if you dance with us, maybe the other adults will join in.” And they were right—all the grups in the place heaved themselves up and we danced the night away.

I was invited to bring my family along, and my younger daughter came with me, diving right into the workshops and making friends with other kids, despite being a couple of years younger than most of them. They’re already emailing each other back and forth. And though older daughter didn’t come*, one of her friends from school turned out to be there.

One reason I’m going on about this is that I want to get the word out that this is a terrific event. If you’re a high-school aged writer or know one or teach one, check it out at http://community.middlebury.edu/~neywc/. (The web site is a bit pedestrian, but it’s maintained by the college, not the conference staff. It doesn’t do the event justice.)

*Older daughter opted to stay home to go to the prom, taking the opportunity to get her hair cut in a Mohawk. Oy. I’ll say, though—after looking at the prom pictures of her friends in wild and colorful hair styles, and noting that most of the kids didn’t bother with dates but just went with friends—that they seemed to have a much better idea of how to have fun than I did at that age.

13 May 2006

Roswell Film Explained?

posted in: science fiction | 0

Remember Roswell, New Mexico, where an alien spacecraft supposedly crashed in 1947, and the Air Force made off with the wreckage and hid it? (Of course you do.) Remember the movie Alien Autopsy that came out a while back, purporting to show grainy, black-and-white footage of government scientists dissecting the alien bodies found in the wreckage? (Sure you do—if you don’t, you haven’t been reading enough junk journalism.) I think I watched about five minutes of it once when it was airing on TV. Or maybe I saw five minutes of a show about the movie. Whatever. In any event, a report in The Times of London says:

“THE creator of Max Headroom, a 1980s television cyber-presenter, has claimed he was one of the hoaxers behind the Roswell film…. John Humphreys, a sculptor and consultant on Alien Autopsy who has also worked on special effects for Doctor Who, said it was he who made the models for the alien dissected in the original fake footage…. He said he spent four weeks fashioning the models from latex using clay sculptures.

“Rather than being shot in 1947 near Roswell in the New Mexico desert as previously claimed, the film was actually made at a flat in Camden, north London, in 1995.”

There’s something oddly appropriate about this coming from a guy who helped create Max Headroom, one of my favorite off-beat SF shows of the 1980s. Lending even greater synchronicity to this story is the fact that I just recently started watching the old Max shows from digitally archived VHS recordings. (It holds up quite nicely.)

Also funny, in an odd sort of way, is that according to an old report on eonline.com the Fox network, which first released the Alien Autopsy film in the U.S., later released another “documentary” which exposed the film as a fraud. What’s their byline—”Fair and Balanced”? Heh, heh. Yep.

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