Tobias S. Buckell's Blog, page 47

…The Biggest Sucker Was The News Cycle…

I think this is just about right:

“I reflected on the montage at 3:40 and what that means for the future of seriousness. I think that notion is totally worthy of upping. I suggest you watch the whole video for the full effect of where our society is going, though. I mean — honestly.”

(Via Jimmy Kimmel Duped The Entire World — And The Biggest Sucker Was The News Cycle.)

I stopped ‘watching’ news in any real sense after reading this book. I do read curated news, but news cycle is not news. If I fe...

Speech And Consequences article at Popehat a must read

This makes me wish I had a functioning RSS reader going so I could subscribe to the site. Maybe I’ll go old school and create a tab with sites to check in on frequently, since Google Reader went belly up I’ve just been letting twitter function as a stochastic link awareness feed, but I’d like some specifics to always be on there, because stuff like this is gold:

“the First Amendment prevents the government from punishing us for most speech.

Private consequences are something else. Speech is des...

New Dragon 9 gets ready for launch [pic]

A brooding picture of the all new Dragon 9.1, which is being shipped for a launch later this month.

The lower stage will attempt to control its descent and hover right before hitting the ocean. Something Musk says they have a ’10% chance’ of achieving this first time.

But it’s another step forward…

Space Farming: The Final Frontier

I’m very curious about this, and hope to see more space farming happening. Also, Diary of a Space Zucchini!

“Growing food in space helps solve one of the biggest issues in space travel: the price of eating. It costs roughly $10,000 a pound to send food to the ISS, according to Howard Levine, project scientist for NASA’s International Space Station and Spacecraft Processing Directorate. There’s a premium on densely caloric foods with long shelf lives. Supply shuttles carry such limited fresh pr...

I’m to be Guest of Honor at Chattacon (Chattanooga, TN) this January

I’m totally honored and delighted to report that I’ve been asked to be the Guest of Honor this January for Chattacon, the Chattanooga Tennessee convention held at the historic Chatanooga Choo Choo hotel.

If you’re a reader in the Tennessee area, I hope to get to meet you this January 24-26!

My thanks to the organizers of Chattacon for inviting me down. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone!

I’ve updated my appearances page accordingly.

Toy Planes to be reprinted in Twenty-First Century Science Fiction

Proud to have my short story ‘Toy Planes’ as a story in this awesome collection:

“Edited by David G. Hartwell and me, a 576-page reprint anthology, coming from Tor on November 5, 2013, and in the UK, from Constable & Robinson on November 21.

‘A bumper crop of 34 stories from authors who first came to prominence in the 21st century, compiled by two of the most highly respected editors in the business….Grab this book. Whether newcomer or old hand, the reader will not be disappointed.’

—Kirkus Revi...

Interview up at the The Skiffy and Fanty Show

I did an interview with the Skiffy and Fanty show at Worldcon:

“Tobias S. Buckell, author of too many amazing novels to list here, joined us at Worldcon to talk about his convention experiences, AnimeKon, his upcoming book,Hurricane Fever (sequel toArctic Rising — our interview about that book here), his upcoming writing, and much more.

We hope you enjoy the episode!”

(Via 163. Tobias Buckell (a.k.a. Captain Planet) at Worldcon (An Interview) | The Skiffy and Fanty Show.)

How Tipping Actually Works

Read the below (snagged via Madeline Ashby on twitter), then re-read my notes about the Tipless Restaurant. I got a lot of angry ‘tipping creates a direct incentive for better service nyar nyar’ emails/twitters when I last posted about this.

This shit still don’t make sense, man:

“Many restaurants allot payout via a points system, in which tips are pooled, then distributed at the end of the night. Think that the extra amount you’re penciling in goes into the pocket of helpful waitress Lauren or...

New drug mimics the beneficial effects of exercise

Okay, as someone prohibited from intense exercise due to my heart defect, color me intrigued:

“A drug known as SR9009, which is currently under development at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI), increases the level of metabolic activity in skeletal muscles of mice. Treated mice become lean, develop larger muscles and can run much longer distances simply by taking SR9009, which mimics the effects of aerobic exercise. If similar effects can be obtained in people, the reversal of obesity, meta...

Conventions and authors

If you read my summary of the last Worldcon you’ll notice that most of my pictures and summaries recount tales of me hanging out with other authors. There are a lot of Worldcon summaries worrying about the aging of Worldcon, or how accepting it is, and to be honest, I can’t speak to those things very well. Madeline Ashby, I think, does an exceptional post about market demographics here when she says:

“YA is what Clayton Christensen would call a ‘disruptive innovation,’ a product that addresses...