Views From The Breezeway
Thursday, August 07, 2003
posted by Phy @ 10:47 AM
Well, somebody hacked the box that contains the instagiber.com forums, and that means that the Phy's Place writing forums are down, too.
While I hope there was a backup and that my notes aren't gone, I'm more concerned for Bluto.
He's lost his clan, he's been essentially driven out of BFGN by somebody that didn't appreciate him or take the time to understand him, and one of his best friends has gone AWOL when he needed him the most.
He's clearly going through the Valley of the Shadow right now, and I wish I could do more to help him find his way. Unfortunately, if it appears that God himself cannot reveal that he is by his side through that experience, then I cannot, either. He has to go it alone, and all I can do is reassure him that normal people exist on both sides of the Valley and that it's worth pressing on. It is a frustrating thing because the natural inclination is to come along side your suffering brother.
If there is any hope to give in the midst of uniformly bad news, it is this - the Valley is deep and dark and cuts off all outside communication, but it *is* finite. It is a crucible that everyone must pass through at some time or another. The question is always the same - will you come out stronger, or will you shrink back from the (inconvenient, inconsoleable) challenge.
I don't know who administers The Valley, but it's a daunting experience and I don't wish it on anyone. Step forward, Bluto - you'll make it, and your true friends will be there waiting at the other side.
While I hope there was a backup and that my notes aren't gone, I'm more concerned for Bluto.
He's lost his clan, he's been essentially driven out of BFGN by somebody that didn't appreciate him or take the time to understand him, and one of his best friends has gone AWOL when he needed him the most.
He's clearly going through the Valley of the Shadow right now, and I wish I could do more to help him find his way. Unfortunately, if it appears that God himself cannot reveal that he is by his side through that experience, then I cannot, either. He has to go it alone, and all I can do is reassure him that normal people exist on both sides of the Valley and that it's worth pressing on. It is a frustrating thing because the natural inclination is to come along side your suffering brother.
If there is any hope to give in the midst of uniformly bad news, it is this - the Valley is deep and dark and cuts off all outside communication, but it *is* finite. It is a crucible that everyone must pass through at some time or another. The question is always the same - will you come out stronger, or will you shrink back from the (inconvenient, inconsoleable) challenge.
I don't know who administers The Valley, but it's a daunting experience and I don't wish it on anyone. Step forward, Bluto - you'll make it, and your true friends will be there waiting at the other side.
Tuesday, August 05, 2003
posted by Phy @ 11:59 AM
...or, What is it with rich men and rockets? (Jeff Bezos, Blue Origin, and a Neal Stephenson sighting.)
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_medical/story.jsp?story=430664
Caltech was courting Bezos because it was looking for financial sponsors for its new, ground-based telescope. After a tour of some of JPL's research projects, the party sat down to lunch. Bezos had brought along a few of his employees from Blue Origin, as well as the science-fiction writer Neal Stephenson, a close friend and confidant of the internet billionaire.
http://news.independent.co.uk/world/science_medical/story.jsp?story=430664
Caltech was courting Bezos because it was looking for financial sponsors for its new, ground-based telescope. After a tour of some of JPL's research projects, the party sat down to lunch. Bezos had brought along a few of his employees from Blue Origin, as well as the science-fiction writer Neal Stephenson, a close friend and confidant of the internet billionaire.
Monday, August 04, 2003
posted by Phy @ 3:06 PM
http://www.3dgpu.com/modules/news/article.php?storyid=229
Last week, I related a set of related stories in my blog about Science Fiction author Neal Stephenson's realization that he's a flaming introvert, one of a percentage of personalities that require dedicated quiet time to think, create, and simply breathe.
This story goes in the opposite direction, realizing that the era of "continuous partial attention" is upon us in full. With that said, today's kids have an unexpected weapon to help sharpen them and prepare them to be well-adjusted and effective in this new world of lightning-quick bombardment: videogames.
An article by Henry Jenkins reported in the MIT Technology Review paints an interesting picture about the "intersection of games, attention, and learning".
The article suggests that games, regardless of their content, actually perform a service for our children. As our lives speed up, gaming helps equip people not just to survive the social and information acceleration, it helps us to thrive in it:
Our classic notions of literacy assume uninterrupted contemplation in relative social isolation, a single task at a time. Some have characterized the younger generation as having limited attention spans. But these young people have also developed new competencies at rapidly processing information, forming new connections between separate spheres of knowledge, and filtering a complex field to discern those elements that demand immediate attention. Stone argues that for better or worse, this is the way we are all currently living. Therefore, she claims, we had better design our technologies to accommodate continuous partial attention, and we had better evolve forms of etiquette that allow us to smooth over the social disruptions such behavior can cause.
Much as earlier civilizations used play to sharpen their hunting skills, we use computer games to exercise and enhance our information processing capabilities. All of this research points in the same direction. Leaving aside questions of content, video games are good for kids—within limits—because game play helps them to adapt to the demands of the new information environment.
The article makes the fascinating suggestion that the younger you are when you start to ramp up to speed, the better your chances for thriving under the new rules.
These multitasking skills will be most developed in those who have had access to games from an early age. Our sons and daughters will be the natives of the new media environment; others will be immigrants.
Bottom line, "playing computer games doesn’t shorten kids' attention spans—it helps them to manage competing demands in the new era of 'continuous partial attention'."
Like anything else, there has to be a sense of balance. While life is speeding up, it makes taking time to stop and think all that more valuable. The healthy people will be ones who can multitask but can also contemplate, who play games but also read books, who can identify 12 different kinds of roses but also stop and smell them, too.
Last week, I related a set of related stories in my blog about Science Fiction author Neal Stephenson's realization that he's a flaming introvert, one of a percentage of personalities that require dedicated quiet time to think, create, and simply breathe.
This story goes in the opposite direction, realizing that the era of "continuous partial attention" is upon us in full. With that said, today's kids have an unexpected weapon to help sharpen them and prepare them to be well-adjusted and effective in this new world of lightning-quick bombardment: videogames.
An article by Henry Jenkins reported in the MIT Technology Review paints an interesting picture about the "intersection of games, attention, and learning".
The article suggests that games, regardless of their content, actually perform a service for our children. As our lives speed up, gaming helps equip people not just to survive the social and information acceleration, it helps us to thrive in it:
Our classic notions of literacy assume uninterrupted contemplation in relative social isolation, a single task at a time. Some have characterized the younger generation as having limited attention spans. But these young people have also developed new competencies at rapidly processing information, forming new connections between separate spheres of knowledge, and filtering a complex field to discern those elements that demand immediate attention. Stone argues that for better or worse, this is the way we are all currently living. Therefore, she claims, we had better design our technologies to accommodate continuous partial attention, and we had better evolve forms of etiquette that allow us to smooth over the social disruptions such behavior can cause.
Much as earlier civilizations used play to sharpen their hunting skills, we use computer games to exercise and enhance our information processing capabilities. All of this research points in the same direction. Leaving aside questions of content, video games are good for kids—within limits—because game play helps them to adapt to the demands of the new information environment.
The article makes the fascinating suggestion that the younger you are when you start to ramp up to speed, the better your chances for thriving under the new rules.
These multitasking skills will be most developed in those who have had access to games from an early age. Our sons and daughters will be the natives of the new media environment; others will be immigrants.
Bottom line, "playing computer games doesn’t shorten kids' attention spans—it helps them to manage competing demands in the new era of 'continuous partial attention'."
Like anything else, there has to be a sense of balance. While life is speeding up, it makes taking time to stop and think all that more valuable. The healthy people will be ones who can multitask but can also contemplate, who play games but also read books, who can identify 12 different kinds of roses but also stop and smell them, too.
posted by Phy @ 12:05 PM
I can't contain my excitement! The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester is my favorite Sci Fi book of all time, and is the winner of the very first Hugo award. Alfred Bester was a brilliant writer and this is one of my favorite books from my Dad's library when I was growing up. This could very well be Blade Runner for the paranormal if handled correctly.
Andrew Dominik (Chopper) has come aboard to develop and direct Paramount Pictures' The Demolished Man.
Based on the late science-fiction author Alfred Bester's best-selling book of the same name, the project is about a future society where telepaths are a recognized group of society and often used to detect crimes before they happen. Because of their existence, crime is at an all-time low, and there hasn't been a murder in more than 70 years. When a wealthy businessman decides to murder his rival, bribing a high-ranking telepath to help him cover his tracks, a telepathic cop is brought in to investigate. Figuring out who committed the crime is easy, proving the businessman's guilt is more problematic and a battle of wits ensues between the two.
No writers or producers are attached to the project as of yet. Dominik will oversee the development of the script.
Andrew Dominik (Chopper) has come aboard to develop and direct Paramount Pictures' The Demolished Man.
Based on the late science-fiction author Alfred Bester's best-selling book of the same name, the project is about a future society where telepaths are a recognized group of society and often used to detect crimes before they happen. Because of their existence, crime is at an all-time low, and there hasn't been a murder in more than 70 years. When a wealthy businessman decides to murder his rival, bribing a high-ranking telepath to help him cover his tracks, a telepathic cop is brought in to investigate. Figuring out who committed the crime is easy, proving the businessman's guilt is more problematic and a battle of wits ensues between the two.
No writers or producers are attached to the project as of yet. Dominik will oversee the development of the script.
