Not So Fast

Glenn Reynolds on why science fiction needs to get out of the doldrums and start thinking big again. With handy recommendations. I’ve read about half of them and wouldn’t argue with them, though Heinlein isn’t really my bag. I’ve been looking for that sort of thing lately and it is thin on the ground.

That's what I'm talking about

Dave Freer philosophizes on the state of the publishing industry, politics and life.

My own point of view is well, _you_ CAN do it. If you can’t get there by the straightforward brawn, you can get there by brain, and if you can’t do it by simple intellectual bludgeoning, you can do it by finding away around. Whether you’re talking about exceeding lightspeed, overcoming ecological disaster, or publishing… you can. Human’s have, over and over and over again. The only thing that stops them is other humans.

Here’s his books. Some free, some moderately priced, all DRM free. Have I mentioned lately how awesome Baen is. Because they are.

Judge demands an essay from an attorney on the executive branch’s position on judicial oversight. The part that kills me is the three pages, single-spaced, by noon on Thursday. Are they in high school? Protip: use Courier if you need to make up a bit of space.

More.

GE opened a 100 year old time capsule buried in the cornerstone of one of their buildings and found…. light bulbs. And some papers.

It could be that income inequality has many complex causes that are intertwined. But I think we should keep reducing our problems to simple ideas that show up well on a graph.

Neil deGrasse Tyson on America’s faltering aerospace industry and the impact on all our innovation it has.

when I stand in front of eighth-graders I don’t want to have to say to them, “Become an aerospace engineer so that you can build an airplane that’s 20 percent more fuel efficient than the ones your parents flew on.” A laudable goal, for sure. But to attract the best students in the room, what I should be saying is, “Become an aerospace engineer so that you can design the airfoil that will be the first piloted craft in the rarefied atmosphere of Mars.” “Become a biologist because we need people to look for life, not only on Mars but in the subsurface oceans of Jupiter’s moon Europa, and elsewhere in the galaxy.” “Become a chemist because we want to understand more about the elements on the moon and the molecules in space.” You put that vision out there, and my job becomes easy; I just have to invoke the familiar vision, and kids’ ambitions rise up within them. Their engines get lit, and they become self-
propelled on the path to the frontier.