Tobias S. Buckell's Blog, page 48

BajanReporter interviews me about Hurricane Fever

While I was in Barbados, Ian Bourne from Bajan Reporter interviewed me about Hurricane Fever, and how a part of the book is set on Barbados (part of the research day trip I took while down there was to see if I could better firm up some details in the latter part of the novel so as to get things right).

A note: I grew up in Grenada, with a British received pronunciation accent while at home and often at school (because teachers let me get away with more if I used it) and sometimes an accent wh...

Worldcon 2013 is over… I walked into a wall of exhaustion. Literally.

I’m so exhausted.

I don’t even.

First I spent a week in Barbados meeting fans, signing books, seeing some cool things that’ll be folded into Hurricane Fever (the book that will be out in summer 2014). I was tired, exhausted, and happy after that.

Then I flew to San Antonio and tried to rest up for Worldcon 2013, a major gathering of readers, authors, fans of all various types. This year I got to experience San Antonio’s amazing Riverwalk, glimpse The Alamo, and do my best to stay out of the heat...

More data on road reconfiguring to allow non-car transportation access shows positive benefits

The pattern is getting stale. Bike additions and more multi-use road patterns are proposed, people go *nuts* about how it will slow down cars and create chaos and fire off nasty emails full anti-bike rage.

And then it turns out the roads don’t slow traffic down hardly and the whole area’s vibe is much improved and less dangerous.

“The ‘road diet’ on Fauntleroy Way in West Seattle was controversial when it was introduced, to say the least: Drivers, used to being able to speed along four general-...

AnimeKon 2013 is over! Shout outs! Happiness!

Exhausted. But happy. Lightning has struck twice. AnimeKon Expo was the most amazing experience of support and the most I’ve ever been embraced by readers at a single event before, and now it has happened again. I think we sold 50% more books this year than 2011. But that isn’t the only measure of success. It was fulfilling to meet so many readers coming up for more books who were first time buyers last time. Fantastic to meet so many Bajan creators (comic book artists, writers, dreamers, poe...

US Energy Department claims solar power costs will Fall 75% by 2020

The realization is starting to spread about where solar development is poised to take us. Even as just two years ago I wasn’t understanding what a shake up was going on there:

“Not one to shy away from overstatement, Ambrose Evans-Pritchard is not a writer we would normally quote extensively; well-renowned as the Telegraph newspaper is, for which he frequently writes in the Business section, but his article last week on solar power trumping shale gas even had us sitting up and taking notice.

Tr...

Almost drowning in outer space

This is terrifying to read. The astronaut’s own write up of what it was like to almost drown in outer space:

“As I move back along my route towards the airlock, I become more and more certain that the water is increasing. I feel it covering the sponge on my earphones and I wonder whether I’ll lose audio contact. The water has also almost completely covered the front of my visor, sticking to it and obscuring my vision. I realise that to get over one of the antennae on my route I will have to mo...

11th grader helps explain classroom technology to WaPo readers

“Based on my year away from traditional school, I think we’re looking at a new method too narrowly. Classroom education is not a relic. And online learning isn’t a pale imitation of ‘real’ education, a dumbed-down version that endangers quality and excellence. The reality lies where it usually does — somewhere in between.”

(Via Why I spent 10th grade online – The Washington Post.)

I found the article thoughtful. It calls for looking for things that MOOCs can do better and using them there, but...

My Worldcon Schedule (mostly) plus a request for help in screening a short film

As noted in ‘Appearances’ I’ll be at Worldcon this year in San Antonio, starting this Wednesday. Here’s my schedule (it’s also here with more details at Worldcon’s very slick online programming search query interface)

Friday:

13:00: Autographing: Tobias Buckell, David Kyle, Kay Kenyon, Django WexlerAutographing (Convention Center)

15:00: Colossus, Skynet, or the Culture?006A (Convention Center)

19:00: Near-Future Energy007B (Convention Center)

Saturday, 31 August

13:00: Kaffeeklatsch: Tobia Buckell...

Having arrived at AnimeKon Expo in Barbados

Have arrived in Barbados for AnimeKon Expo and am being treated so amazingly by everyone. A thoughtful gift basket includes tamarind balls (a favorite), some real hot sauce, plantain chips… etc. Right off the plane and whisked to get rhoti (happy) and sorrel. Ready to die happy. Already spoken to some of my readers who are looking forward to the weekend and the panel I’ll be giving.

The last time I came I was blown away to find how many readers I had in Barbados who’d been following my career...

Will the ISS really last beyond 2020?

There was a lot more hinting about letting private companies run experiments to see if they could find out things in microgravity that would lead to more reasons to keep it up there, but that never quite materialized. I can see why the Russians want to do one of their own.

I’d be curious to see what could be done with Bigelow Aerospace, SpaceX and NASA, which is why I’ll be paying close attention to what Bigelow’s module does once NASA mounts it on the ISS for a test.

“The debate over how long...