M. Thomas Apple's Blog, page 54
October 9, 2019
Winter is coming…well, not quite but
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Sorry I haven’t posted anything in a while. I know it’s been about two months. Summer was filled with fun family activities in Montreal. September was filled with trips to libraries and feeling sorry for myself. Got into a bit of a funk.
Now I’m back in Japan, back to the daily grind, and trying to find time to sort out all the stuff I mailed back from Montreal.
Rest assured, there’s lots of stuff to write about. Some of it even makes sense.
I’ll be writing a few quick posts about various cool science and space things in the upcoming days. Then maybe a couple of longish ones about weird family history. And maybe even an update on my SF novel.
Yeah. I still didn’t finish the first draft. Stuck on 70,000 words. But the end is in sight!
More later…
August 6, 2019
A brief rant about Netflix: No, that’s NOT what “original” means
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This is not a complaint about Netflix in general (well, not necessarily, but anyway). Without Netflix, I might have gone, shall we say, a little…
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…this past winter. I’ve been working temporarily in Montréal, several thousands miles of miles apart from my family, and being able to watch movies and older TV shows has been a great escape from the depressing monotony of single life.
But I feel the need to tell Netflix that I do not appreciate their use of the word “original.”
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Altered Carbon actually is an original series by Netflix, yes. But…
Original is an adjectival noun used to denote the uniqueness of something, particularly a creation (originated, started by, made by, filmed by, created by, broadcast by).
The Frankenstein Chronicles was originally broadcast on ITV in the UK.
Final Space was originally broadcast on TBS in the US (actually, the pilot was on Reddit, and the first couple episodes were online, so Netflix is simply lying its pants off on all accounts with this one).
Knights of Sidonia was originally broadcast on MBS in Japan (and was also taken off Netflix in Canada with NO prior warning at all for NO reason, which is BEYOND irritating).
(I might go on and on, but these three examples are enough, I think. Also, they kind of let you know my viewing preferences…)
NONE of the above are “Netflix originals.”
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WRONG! Final Space is NOT originally by Netflix. This is NOT what the word “original” means. Netflix means “online exclusive.” Although even then they are LYING.
Yes, Netflix actually has original series and movies. Blame! is an actual Netflix original production and broadcast. So is Disenchanted. So is Altered Carbon. So are many others.
But labelling everything an “original” is a misuse of the term and constitutes false advertising.
Netflix, if you haven’t produced something and aren’t the first company to broadcast, it is not an “original.” It might be an “online streaming premiere” or it might be an “exclusive” if it’s only available online in one streaming provider.
But it’s NOT “original.”
Stop screwing around, Netflix. Your false advertising and Orwellian newspeak is not acceptable.
August 3, 2019
Super-Earth! Um. Yay?
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After completing its first year of observations in the southern sky, NASA’s Transiting Exoplanet Survey Satellite has spotted some intriguing new exoplanets only 31 light-years away from Earth.
Um. “Only” 31 light years.
One planet is 22% larger than Earth, has a surface average of around 490ºF, and a year of just under 4 days.
Another is more than 6 times the size of Earth, is a balmy -64ºF, and a year of about 56 days.
But has liquid, and so might have life.
Don’t pack your bags yet….
— Read on www.cnn.com/2019/08/01/world/tess-nearby-super-earth-scn-trnd/index.html
August 2, 2019
The Trappist Family of Planets has a hard core!
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In February of 2017, a team of European astronomers announced the discovery
of a seven-planet system orbiting the nearby star TRAPPIST-1. Aside from
the fact that all seven planets were rocky, there was the added bonus of
three of them orbiting within TRAPPIST-1’s habitable zone. Since that time,
multiple studies have been conducted to determine whether or not any of
these planets could be habitable.
What’s up with the boring names?
I propose we call them Liesl, Friedrich, Louisa, Kurt, Brigitta, Marta, and Gretl. The most habitable is Kurt, because he’s so magnetic.
But the star, of course, is Maria.
Buh-DUM-dum.
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— Read on www.universal-sci.com/headlines/2018/5/5/one-of-the-trappist-1-planets-has-an-iron-core
July 24, 2019
Farewell, Roy Baty
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All those moments have been lost.
Like tears in rain.
Entering eternity.
July 20, 2019
One small step for (a) man…
Fifty years ago, human beings first stepped on the Moon.
It’s past time we went back. And stayed for good.
July 3, 2019
12 Times SFF Characters Trained Their Own Duplicates
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My award-winning SF novella Adam’s Stepsons featured clones, which as some reviewers noted came a little after the peak of clones (although I wonder if we have yet to hit the “peak,” given scientific progress).
So as I was scouring the net for summer reads, I came across a lot of books about clones and ethical dilemmas (or lack thereof).
The main article I’ve linked here is from Tor.com, which often posts great stuff about SF (Note to Google: SF does NOT mean “San Francisco” all the time”! I mean, come on, already. The abbreviation has been used for over half a century now).
The problem is that the Tor article only considers characters from movies and TV shows (and doesn’t give anywhere near a complete list, of course).
I’m also not keen on some of their choices…the Harry Potter portraits are clones? Come on…
So here are a few more links to articles with books featuring clones (there are a few duplicates…of course…)
5 Thought-provoking books about human cloning
https://bookriot.com/2018/07/30/science-fiction-books-about-human-cloning/
– Are the characters in Brave New World actually clones?
12 Memorable Times Science Fiction Books Sent in the Clones
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/12-times-sff-sent-in-the-clones/
Boo, your pun is predictable but the list does contain some good (newer) books (and of course a few duplicates…)
19 Best Science Fiction Books about Clones
Note to B & N: Jurassic Park is not a book about human clones. Also, a hybrid human is not really a clone. Also also, Cloud Atlas doesn’t belong on this list. But anyway kudos for including older books.
Still confused? Here’s Your Guide to the Types of Clones in Science Fiction and Fantasy.
(And, yes, I am still trying to finish the first draft of my new SF novel. Closing in on 70,000 words. But it’s summer…”
June 27, 2019
No, the “golden asteroid” will NOT make you rich
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I wrote about this a couple of days ago (based on an article from two weeks prior), but it’s interesting to see random websites suddenly jumping on the “we’ll all get rich!” asteroid mining band wagon. Hey, everybody, let’s copy-paste stuff and not use our brains!
A new article by rt.com even includes two click-bait links to “how gold was formed” that have nothing whatsoever to do with NASA’s probe to (16) Psyche. Of course, we shouldn’t expect any less from an obvious Russian “news” distributor. But in the interests of calling out the bad reporting in this and similar “news” articles spread online recently, let’s give this a hearty smack-down.
What’s new? Not much
For starters, the idea of mining asteroids is not new. Companies have been suggesting this for a few years now. It just hasn’t actually happened yet (because it’s, ah, astronomically expensive to start up such a mining operation).
Second, none of the information in the most recent articles are new. The basic information is published by NASA, itself (so why not just read their articles? – maybe because they aren’t terribly good at PR). Some of the quotations date from two years ago and are from companies that have really very little idea about how to mine an asteroid (or even how to get to one in the first place).
As for the asteroid itself, it was initially identified and named in 1852. The radar observations hypothesizing its formation were published in 1985 and later confirmed in 1999. Even the concept of sending a probe to Psyche was first proposed over five years ago. So much for “new” information, internet.
What’s false?
The basic premise of recent click-bait articles about asteroid mining is that you, the reader, will personally benefit. Hey, look at all the gold in space! You could get rich! Invest! Click here! Click here! Again!
The kicker is (brace yourself) you won’t get rich. Surprised?
There are NO asteroids literally filled with gold. (16) Psyche is “nearly pure” iron-nickel. The rt.com article (stolen verbatim from oilprice.com) repeats the unproven, unreferenced claim that “The massive quantities of gold, iron and nickel contained in this asteroid are mind-blowing.”
Repeat. There is no gold. If the term “golden” was used in the earliest articles about 16-Psyche, it was used metaphorically, not literally. Smh.
And as for the “$700 quintillion [is this even a real number?] in precious heavy metals [you mean, iron is a precious metal now?]”…companies can’t simply mine (16) Psyche and sell all the iron and nickel at once. If a company mined the Psyche asteroid and tried to sell all the metals therein, the dumping of massive amounts of metal supply into the global market would render iron, platinum, and so forth completely worthless.
It’s basic supply-demand. The more of something there is, the cheaper it becomes. There’s a reason why countries have gold and oil “reserves.” If they were to dump all their natural resources into the global market, the sheer volume would tank the selling price and companies would go bankrupt around the world. And that, my friends, is what we call “bad.”
So who cares about “full metal” (16) Psyche?
NASA does plan to send a probe to “full metal” Psyche, to arrive by 2026. So why? What the articles about gold and oil don’t tell you is that the presence of mineable metals in space possibly points the way for construction of space stations and exoplanetary habitats.
How?
It’s incredibly expensive to send predesigned structures into space because of the size and weight involved. The heavier an object is, the more energy is needed to break Earth’s gravity.
If robots and 3D printers could be designed to create structures on the Moon or Mars (or eventually elsewhere, such as Triton, etc.) using materials already in space, a whole lot of rocket fuel won’t have to be used. Companies that mine the metals for these structures could set up processing factories and charge countries and other corporations that build habitats and space station facilities.
After all, how else are we going to get all the materials in space to make the USS Enterprise?
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Now that’s the space race we should be talking about. Not this “we’ll all get rich” nonsense. (Also, who is this “we,” anyway? Not you and me, Bub.)
June 26, 2019
Indie writers, Amazon is not your friend
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As if writers hadn’t already figured this out, Amazon really couldn’t care less about the books of yours they sell.
Notice I didn’t write “the books they sell for you.” Because they’re obviously not interested in you making any money. Not when they can allow random “companies” to download your manuscript, slap on their own label, and market it again as a “third party.”
Amazon takes a hands-off approach to what goes on in its bookstore, never checking the authenticity, much less the quality, of what it sells. It does not oversee the sellers who have flocked to its site in any organized way.
Naturally, the reason is that Amazon can’t be bothered policing illegal copies and illegal sales, since, in their minds, all’s fair in the Wild West of the Net.
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Even the technically legal copies that are for sale are often copies acquired from people who received copies for review. Which is why I no longer give out books for review (also, services like Goodreads started charging for the privilege of random strangers to steal your book and sell it to a third party).
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NONE of these “companies” wrote my book, and I did not give permission to ANY of them to resell my book. So why do they get to sell it for up to four times the price I set? Because Amazon doesn’t bother and couldn’t care less.
I used to wonder why my books often appeared in the “available from a third party” menu, with prices varying from twice to even five times the original amount. And why none of the “sales” from these copies showed up in my account. The answer is, of course, Amazon doesn’t really care who gets the royalty as long as they get their cut of the sale.
But we’re trapped, aren’t we? We can scream “fake!” and “unfair!” until we’re blue in the face. In the end, Amazon has grown in power to the extent that the entire world relies on it as a global distributor of, well, pretty much everything.
Except, of course, Amazon, itself, can’t be bothered shipping its own products these days. (More on that in a later post.)
Which is why I’ve started to port my books into other platforms such as Smashwords — but they’re all digital. It’s a shame, because I enjoy (and prefer) reading paper copies of books. But I know I will never be able to stop the Amazon Pirates from stealing my work and my friends’ work.
Shame on Amazon. And shame on all of us for going along with the system.
www.nytimes.com/2019/06/23/technology/amazon-domination-bookstore-books.html
June 24, 2019
Full Metal Asteroid! Um. Maybe.
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“Final planning stages” usually translates into “we have no idea when, if ever, this thing will work.”
Psyche!
Yes, actually.
Let’s hope NASA doesn’t resort to this:
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