Book review: Iron Council

Back from Taiwan, obviously. More about the trip later I've been awful busy. But I kind of promised that I'd put up a review so here it is!

China Mieville's Iron Council: I found the prose hard to get used to at first. The initial chapters of the book, I found it rather jagged though, the descriptions were hard to understand, possibly because this was my first encounter with the universe the book is set in.

The plot itself is also very chaotic. Following multiple characters and jumping up and down the chronological order of the story makes for a story that unfolds itself at a pace strictly controlled by the author.. you only find out about developments when he wants you to. That would be fine, but the characters don't really interest me that much except the main character, the golem-maker. So that makes for pretty slow reading the rest of the way.

That having been said, the setting itself holds much promise.. New Crobuzon sounds kind of Orwellian and the blending of magic and technology seems pretty good.. I was also told that Perdido Street Station was a better title, so maybe I'll give him another chance and try out that title before I decide whether to read him again.

Crazy businessmen

Well, if crazy, at least admirable. I was speaking to a friend of mine who's about to leave his job to concentrate on his business. He had started up a company and it's doing well so he's going to concentrate on running it full time. That's not why I say crazy though, it's more that when he started up the business, instead of funding it through investors, bank loans, etc, he and his friends went for credit card and cashlines. The business was successful and they've paid off all the loans ( $50k worth!), but boy was it crazy! Still, I've got to admire that courage and self-belief!

Going to Taiwan!! Hahahaha...

Yup yup finally a short holiday out of country!! Going to enjoy and have fun!

Disgustingly stupid article

I first read Plausible Futures when I was reading up about Scenario Planning some time back. The articles seem pretty good, but today I came across this article by Marshall Brain, about his concept of a Vertebrane which will allow people to achieve immortality free of their bodies.

Reading it, I am totally, totally disgusted. He starts off with this spiel about the "great" sci-fi shows and names a few (Star Wars, Star Trek, 2001) and says that these shows and all the favourite sci-fi stories have one thing in common: people remain tied to their bodies despite the incredible advance of technology.

He then goes on to argue that people, and you, the reader, should abandon your body, because it will grow old, it will have disease, you don't have to pee anymore, and by simply installing a "Vertebrane" in your spine, you can discard your body and inhabit the virtual world, where you can have perfect vision, the perfect body, and virtual slaves for your every desire. (Yes, he talks about porn too... ) Oh yes, you can download your brain and store it too.

I mean like, WTF! It's not that I'm against the idea of immortality. It's just that he's so obviously a layman who's so taken with a single idea and wants to promote it.. ( Or worse, he's not a layman yet he can quote such bad examples.)

So let's first look at Sci-fi that suggests this kind of scenario. The Matrix, Ghost in the Shell, Isaac Asimov's Last Question, all kinds of cyberpunk including William Gibson ( this Marshall mentions Neuromancer but fails to note, for instance, that in one of the sequels to Neuromancer, the character Finn gets himself downloaded..), Sixth Day ( well, kind of..). This guys quotes sci-fi to start, but obviously he's not any kind of a sci-fi reader. It's an insult to sci-fi, that he tries to use sci-fi to convince his readers that his idea of a vertebrane is so revolutionary that wow, it's not in the "popular" sci-fi at all..

And then let's look at his extremely one-sided portrayal of the benefits of living in a virtual world. Sounds enticing? Well, remember the theme in the Matrix itself, when the traitor ( forgot his name) was comparing life in a dull real world and the polished enjoyment of the Matrix. Yes, he's saying we should all hurry up and get into the Matrix and stay there. Why should you exercise your imperfect body when you can hide in your virtual world? In fact, he goes one better than the Matrix! You can download yourself into a hard-disk and dump your body in the incinerator. Then you can live forever!

Hmm. what happens if there's a blackout? EMP from a nuclear bomb? Never mind, let's assume you can assure an umlimited uninterrupted power supply. Have you ever watched the Thirteenth Floor? There, people have created a virtual world, and the characters inside, once they realise they're living in a limited virtual world, want out. And you want in? Or have you ever read James Kelly's Think Like a Dinosaur? Like, okay, you downloaded your brain and now you're gonna incinerate the body? So, is the body brain going to willingly die now? Oh, I forgot, the body's on anaesthetic. Just kill the body, it's not murder, is it? Then again, there's this joke sci-fi story I once read, about someone who contracted for a download of his brain and then discovered that X years down the road, he had no power to affect anything when the Service Provider decided to change the Terms and Conditions.

Pardon, my instinctive revulsion at the ridiculous one-sidedness of his arguments is affecting my ability to give a coherent, well-organised response. There's just too many things wrong with the presentation of his ideas to answer! If I had to put it in two simple paragraphs with a single illustration each:

1) Perfect Virtual Body and Life is better than Real Life? Well, if you're content with a hedonistic life with Virtual Impact rather than Real Impact. How do you change the world and make it a better place? Watch Minority Report, there's a scene in the virtual bar where there's a guy who's buying a virtual experience of everyone praising him. That's the kind of wanker who might find it good.

2) A Downloaded Brain giving immortality and convenience? Well: Immortality's good, maybe. But does the soul transport? I'm not talking about a religious kind of thing. Look at Ghost in the Shell, the movie or tv series. You can tape memories, record the neurons, maybe. But does that give life? Kurosawa says it doesn't. If it does, then downloading your brain is more like reproduction: like an amoeba, except that the new half is immortal (maybe), but you yourself, you're going to die anyway. Mr Brain, when you decide to download yourself, I want to see if you yourself, in your meat body, are really willing to commit suicide.

Urban Dead

I've been playing FUMBBL a while now, on and off. It's a game that's based on Blood Bowl by Games Workshop and is really worth a try! Anyway, if ya interested in Blood Bowl, just hop in there and take a look. My coach name is zimsg, so you can see some of my games as well.

So I used to just use the place as a place to get pick-up games, but recently started reading forums as well. There's a wealth of information there, and I got interested in a regular league there. The next season starts in January, and I'll be hoping to get involved. Time's a bit off, cos it's an Aussie geographical-based league, so when I get back after work it's plus three, or maybe 10 or 11pm for the Eastern coast people. Still, I hope to get a game try at it. Haha.. I'm watching two of the league guys get a game as I type this.

Another thing that I saw is the very weird Urban Dead game. Some of the guys linked it so I got interested, naturally. Still not sure whether it's any good, but just started trying. Anyway it's a low commitment thing.

Reading again

Started reading again! My dear baby Key bought me Robert Jordan's Knife of Dreams (11th in the Wheel of Time) after we saw it at Times at Plaza Singapura. I first started reading the Wheel of Time series when I was in NJC, and there were about 6 books out. It was in the library and I always had to wait for some mysterious other person who was very slowly reading the next book in the series.



Now, I'm aware that it follows many of the worst cliches in the fantasy genre, much the way that Eddings does. Everyone (well, except Lan.. but you'll find out who he is. And maybe Thom Merrilin) is bumbling through life as best as they can, constantly thinking that they're not very accomplished and being very surprised each time they find that the next person is just as lost as they are, even though they thought they were so composed. The three heroes all think that the other two guys know how to handle girls.. the girls are all part-time super-compassionate, super-intelligent heroines and part-time small-minded bimbos.

His prose is also so-so.. It brings you through a story but it's not at all Gibson-like or Tolkien-like. So what keeps me reading? I must confess that partly it's because I just want to see how it all ends up. A major component of the storyline is this concept of the Wheel of Time, of how the far past blends into the far present. For instance, the WoT universe could jolly well be earth. Sometime in the far future, science and magic will merge.. Gene sciences will create new races, and a new form of power will be found which can be manipulated by certain humans who have a talent for it. Some point after that, researchers will tap into a hidden power source which is actually the Dark One locked away in a cell. A war is started which ravages the world, and eventually the good guys lock the bad guys away (temporarily). Partially due to this, there is a great cataclysm and civilisation is shunted into a Dark Age, without much science. After this, civilisation crawls up. Presumably there will be another battle where they lock him up properly, then forget about him and set the stage for the start of everything... It's an interesting idea and I want to see what he has to add to the idea.

Of course, I also like reading about Mat Cauthon and the adventures of the Band of the Red Hand. So this book, I enjoyed more, since much of the focus was on him being a general ( as opposed to being stuck under a stone column, like in a certain book.)

The day after that, I went to Library@Orchard with Key, and decided to borrow a Chine Mieville book. High Browse Online, the NLB blog, had recommended him, so I borrowed Iron Council to try. Haven't finished it yet, (KoD first!) but will review when I'm done!

Tachikoma's song

We're all alive.
It's because we're all alive that we're sad.
When we raise our hands and let the sunlight filter through,
we can see our blood coursing through them a vivid red.
Even earthworms, mole crickets and water striders
are all, all alive and all our friends.

We're all alive
It's because we're all alive that we laugh.
We're all alive
It's because we're all alive that we're glad.
When we raise our hands and let the sunlight filter through,
we can see our blood coursing through them a vivid red.
Even dragonflies, frogs and honey bees
are all, all alive and all our fr...

And so they chose to die so that others might live. Happy little creatures, cheerful even in their sacrifice. I cried, and I was sad, and I was glad...

Go watch 2nd Gig now!!

Interesting Article on ID vs Evolution

There's a flame war going on out at Tomorrow.. Something about some forum letter writer who was saying that evolution is not proven and therefore should not be shown on TV documentaries and such.

Most of the war is pretty silly, very lopsided arguments one way or the other, which is how these things normally go. One of the more balanced guys actually had an interesting link to an Times (UK) article on some Roman Catholic statement on compatibility of Darwinism and religion. That was pretty cool, and puts a context on this whole Intelligent Design debate as being something originating from the US.

I guess as an intellectual and a nominal Christian, I've always just kind of let the two slide along. Or, as my pastor Glen Davis at XA Stanford used to tell us, there are many many scientists who study science and revere God.. like the chap who led the Human Genome Project. These guys are intellectuals and they don't have a problem with either side, so there must be something there.

Most importantly, I think that there's this very strange thing going on with the whole ID debate. See, it's not really a matter of whether evolution is proven, it's more like a work in progress. It's just that many people think that what's taught in school is really 100% true, like 1+1 = 2. When actually, a lot of it is either simplified or still a very well thought-out, but nevertheless unproven theory. For instance, the idea of atoms being these solid balls of neutrons and protons and little electron balls flying around, when actually that's just the model of it. Or my personal favourite, from Glen's collection: "Someone who thinks the world is wrong, and someone who thinks the world is round is wrong, (it's more like an ovoid I think?) but someone who thinks that both are equally wrong is the wrongest of them all!" (Well, he said it much nicer, but he's a much better speaker and thinks these things through more thoroughly than me!)

So what's being in taught in schools (at least in Science) tends to be models or theories that help us think. But because we kids can't differentiate it properly, it's taught to us as 100% truth! I know I couldn't tell the difference for a very long time, possibly until I was in late university. And without being arrogant about it, I was probably one of the brighter kids, just not very independent-minded. It's not the teachers' fault -- try teaching your 3 year old niece the real reason why they shouldn't associate their feet with their food!

Unfortunately, most people go their whole lives without distinguishing the difference. I still mix it up regularly until I stop to think about it. And here's where I think the ID people are being either duplicitous or dumb. When they make all these arguments that evolution is not proven, they're basically saying it's not proven in mostly the same way that the Big Bang is not proven ( okay ) or the way that the earth is not round ( hmmmm... ) or (the biggest stretch but the most controversial too) that the link between smoking and cancer is not proven.

Yes, you can't prove that smoking causes cancer. Even though smokers disproportionately represent lung cancer victims, there could be a hidden third factor. In fact, there's an infinite number of possible hidden factors.

And that's what makes me just a little angry with the "Evolution is not proven" people. They're generally intellectuals of some kind or the other (else they're parroting some website, or someone they admire). And there are two broad possibilities.

1) They don't realise that lots and lots of stuff is not proven or is not stated rigourously. (possibly, more forgivably, because of their own built in biases) Some of this stuff is taught in school, some of it they say all the time ( smoking causes cancer, drugs make you addicted) for the good of their own children, and some of it they accept all the time without questioning it in the same way.

2) They actually realise this, and are taking advantage of everyone else.

And (2) is what really really makes me mad. If you want to present a "whole truth" argument, you'd better present it all the way.. I'd want to hear you tell your kid the next time you want them to take their rather bitter fever medicine, "Well, it's not proven that this medicine will cure your fever. It's likely to, but there's a lot of interactions that are still not understood, and in any case, if your fever is viral .." and so on. Not planning to do it? Then why force this degree of intellectual rigour on everyone else, even when they don't want it?

Mom's ill...

Mom's ill.. Going to work from home tomorrow to make sure she's okay. Thanks Wei Shyong!

(As an aside, WS talking abt golf today made me feel a little like learning. Plus I won some golf balls. Is that a sign? But I don't have any time.. sigh.)

7 Habits

Doing a 7 Habits Course now. I've never done this before! Never read the book either. Well, anyway, it's a so-so course. The mission statement thing is quite fun though, doing it now.. Maybe can share soon!

Had dinner with Junx and his gf yesterday.. damn, it was good just meeting up again. I need to spend more time catching up with friends. Heh, got to include that in my mission statement too! Friends!

Gahmen Bloggers Meetup, GBM

Well, it happened!
Hmm. I actually felt super inexperienced at the gathering. Here was this whole bunch of people who were super experienced and super well read about other blogs and about blog technology.. Gone for BlogAsia and seen each other at various blog events.. hahaha.. I'm just some amateur blogger who had an evening free to go to the meeting. Still, if there's one thing that came out good it's that I got exposed to see more of the blogging world.

The interactions between the people were very interesting. The topic that generated more discussion was how government can use blogs to spread information. See, if a group, not necessarily government, could be a Madison Ave firm wants to advertise a product, wants to spread an idea through the blogosphere, what can it do?

Without going into the other models, I'll just share what I carried away from the session. This isn't what was agreed on ( don't think there was any agreement. Like any good meeting, there were techies, bureaucrats, cynics, visionaries, and facilitators present. Precisely the ingredients to end up back at square 1).

Use the democracy of the blogs. There's no need to generate alot of content yourself. Instead, find people who are already writing the content you want on their own. Link them up through a metablog, ask them to link you. As you continue to do so, more resources become available, and anyone who stumbles into one of these will also be able to find more resources through your linkage.

It's like Google actually. It ranks a site based on who it links, and who it's linked by. When a whole bunch of sites link each other, it's a sign that all these sites think each other relevant to a particular topic. And searchers who go to one of these sites can quickly navigate to a whole bunch of others. Basically, what you do with your metablog is to link up a whole set of sites around a central idea (like Uniquely Singapore or Hush Puppies) and make the whole lot more powerful at once.

Come to think of it, Google should write a filter for IE and Firefox. You google a topic, get a bunch of sites, and visit one of them. There's links there right? The filter color codes the links for their rankings under your previous Google search, so that you can see which of the links are most relevant.

Such a klutz

I was at Macs for a quick dinner today. Not very sure what to order, but the counter staff was like, "Do you want a chicken foldover meal?" With no decision in mind yet, I just agreed. Got one of those scratch and win cards. I think they must be promoting it quite hard, cos the girl seemed pretty pleased with herself. Commission sales perhaps?

Anyway, I went to a seat and munched away on my fries. Soon enough, my foldover arrived and I happily took it out to eat. Definitely rushing a little, cos I thought I was late for the gahmen bloggers' meet (which I was, just that I was not as late as most other people!) And it's only the second time I've eaten a foldover, so I opened up the colorful packet, reached in, and took out my foldover, whereupon I noticed:
1) My foldover was falling apart in my hands;
2) There's this paper wrapper inside which is supposed to hold it together.

Ditz that I am, pulled it out, and tried to stuff my foldover back in. Ended up spraying lettuce all over the floor. Anyway, after that I started eating, but soon enough one of the mac stuff came over with a whole bunch of serviettes and placed them on my table. "In case you need." And a short while after, the original lady who'd served me the chicken foldover came by and swept up the lettuce. She must have been regretting selling me the foldover! I'm such a klutz! I tried to apologise but she just ignored me...

Law school quotas?

This is really weird. Today I was talking to a colleague who said that she was rejected from law school because they had quotas for gender and minorities. As in, she got excluded because she was female and a minority. Is that strange or what?

No work and not feeling good about it..

I just completed a paper and suddenly I've got no papers coming up anymore. Should be a good thing right? But I'm worried... I'm worried that I'm not getting work because the boss doesn't trust me to do a good job of it, in some sense. I guess I subscribe to a belief in valued weapons: if a weapon is good you'll keep using it. When you don't use a sword in an RPG, it's mostly because it's lousy.. or it's a high level weapon and you're trying to level everything else, but that analogy doesn't apply to me.

Part of it is also that I don't get a chance to show my worth either, if I don't have work. Hmm.. Am I thinking far too much?

Maybe tomorrow will bring some heads to crack..

Working.. sigh

It only just struck me today that I'm now a working adult.
Yes, it's silly considering that I've been working for almost 3 months now.
But you know, it only really hit me today. I'm working. No more skipping class, no more allowance without responsiblity. No more playing till late the next morning without having to worry: "Do I have to work tomorrow?" (Previously, even if I had classes, at most skip!)

And I'm not ready! Guess I haven't had a smooth transition to a life of responsibility. Haven't even transited yet. Am I the only one feeling this? Maybe all my working adult friends who are going out and happily spending their earnings on toys and gadgets are just like me but haven't realized it yet. Maybe they realized it and don't care. Or maybe I'm the only one who's looking at a lifetime of having to be responsible for myself and my family and freaking out..

(to chuipz: no, this not a reaction to what you said about unreflective blog posts)