AthenaHelivoy

baldur, 4 months ago to random

My neighbour’s cats are climbers. This, for example, is not a patio but my balcony.

AthenaHelivoy, 4 months ago to sciencefiction

Worldcon 2023 took place in Chengdu, PRC. We now find out there was tampering w/ the Hugo #awards: people & works declared ineligible w/o explanation or informing those affected, post-explained as obeying local laws. Those who raised this as a concern at the discussion of the venue bids were dismissed as racists. PRC rates among the worst authoritarian regimes in all watchlists; its bid should have been rejected or have provisos.

https://file770.com/2023-hugo-nomination-report-has-unexplained-ineligibility-rulings-also-reveals-who-declined/

#sciencefiction #fantasy @Princejvstin

AthenaHelivoy, 6 months ago to fantasy

Terrific #review of Melissa Scott's Master of Samar (Renaissance-Venice-tinted #fantasy with unique magic & chosen families) in Interzone #296 along with tons of SFF stories & reviews! Thank you, Gareth & Kelly! @blueterraplane @manyoyo #books #bookstodon #CandlemarkAndGleam

https://interzone.press/iz-296/

AthenaHelivoy, 7 months ago to sciencefiction

I wanted to celebrate #fedibookfair by showcasing my indie press, Candlemark & Gleam: a small but indomitable starship, with a formidable talent lineup & vast dreams of shaping the dark. But for some reason, when I try to link to it from Mastodon, it gives a server error. So I'll do it roundabout, for those who have the patience or curiosity to explore: Candlemarkandgleam dot com #sciencefiction #fantasy #books #writing #bookstodon #CandlemarkAndGleam

AthenaHelivoy, 7 months ago (edited 7 months ago) to technology

VC billionaire Marc Andreessen's "Techno-Optimist Manifesto" is equal parts Ayn Rand & Joseph Campbell: a badly written regurgitation of ultra-libertarian talking points that have repeatedly proved erroneous & harmful to humans. I won't link to it, but will do so for Dave Karpf's informed, incisive response. #technology #futurism #economics #fantasy @davekarpf

https://davekarpf.substack.com/p/why-cant-our-tech-billionaires-learn

baldur, 7 months ago to random

I just published “The Elegiac Hindsight of Intelligent Machines”

It’s essentially the finale to my book, The Intelligence Illusion, extracted into an essay and as such is much more of a personal take on the state of modern software than the rest of the book. https://softwarecrisis.dev/letters/elegiac-hindsight/

AthenaHelivoy, 8 months ago to Futurology

Articulate, informative article about the academic #research process. Katalin Karikó, crucial contributor to the creation of #mRNA #vaccines, went though the same ordeal as Barbara McClintock & Rosalind Franklin. At least Karikó & McClintock got Nobels, if begrudgingly & late. Franklin only had her reputation besmirched until very recently.

https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2023/10/5/23903292/katalin-kariko-drew-weissman-nobel-prize-medicine-mrna-vaccines-covid-coronavirus

#science #academia #biology #NobelPrize #medicine

AthenaHelivoy, 8 months ago to politics

Kathleen Parker of WaPo opines that Drumpf may be bad for the US & humanity but...at least he's a spiffy dresser. Which once again makes parody superfluous.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2023/09/22/senate-dress-code-bad-manners/

#politics #media

baldur, 9 months ago to random

My first attempt at digital photography involved fairly low-end cameras. Despite not being the greatest, they did occasionally do well in good light.

However, all you need to know about these cameras was that out of hundreds, I only found three to be tolerable.

The frozen over pond in Reykjavík city centre
Another by the lake near Egilsstaðir. A house or shed is near the centre of the image.

AthenaHelivoy, 9 months ago to Starwars

I find Nolan films ponderous, dour, manipulative & reactionary despite their visual glitter & mental acrobatics; & I know enough about #Oppenheimer & the Los Alamos endeavor not to be beguiled. If anyone wants an interesting palate-cleansing alternative, try Martin Cruz Smith's Stallion Gate. And here's my discussion of The Dark Knight Rises, with some #StarWars connections.

https://starshipreckless.com/blog/?p=6691

#books #film #movies #physics

AthenaHelivoy, 11 months ago to sciencefiction

No longer #sciencefiction but current reality: Zelazny's Damnation Alley & Markley's Deluge are with us, the result of ignoring, distorting or gaslighting the facts of #climatechange for power & profit. #science

https://www.cnn.com/2023/06/27/business/flight-delays-cancellations-us-storms/index.html

AthenaHelivoy, 11 months ago to Titanic

People are drawing parallels between the implosion of the #OceanGate submersible & the sinking of the #Titanic itself; namely, the insouciance of those in charge about potential dangers. But the closest parallel is the Challenger explosion. In both cases, engineers' safety concerns were ignored & they were belittled or even fired. #disaster #hubris

AthenaHelivoy, 1 year ago to books

The 2023 Pride storybundle is now live till July 1 with 17 riveting works! Among them: In the Deep by Kelly Jennings, sibling of Fault Lines, #sciencefiction #adventure with edge & grit. Thanks to Jason Chen, Melissa Scott & Catherine Lundoff for this journey!

https://storybundle.com/pride

#books #sciencefiction #CandlemarkAndGleam @blueterraplane @Clundoff

AthenaHelivoy, 1 year ago to science

Several studies, including one from Harvard & MIT, have discovered that going into a nap with a problem in #mind helps the #brain find solutions. Extending that, use of a prompting device called Dormio during hypnagogia (the transitional stage between wakefulness & #sleep) increases #creativity & may show a way to prevent nightmares (and maybe finish a long-stuck novel). Shades of Inception!

https://www.media.mit.edu/projects/sleep-creativity/overview/

#biology #science #sciencefiction

baldur, 1 year ago to random

“AI machines aren’t ‘hallucinating’. But their makers are - Naomi Klein”

"Because what we are witnessing is the wealthiest companies in history unilaterally seizing the sum total of human knowledge" https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/may/08/ai-machines-hallucinating-naomi-klein?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other