WisCon 34 Schedule, or, Gods! Money! Artificial Minds!

I’m going to be attending WisCon this year, and have a fairly interesting schedule — two panels and a talk:

Defining God (Panel; Sunday, 1 – 2:15 PM, Room 634)
Moderator: P. C. Hodgell; F. J. Bergmann, Chibi-Evil, Richard S. Russell, Yonatan Zunger

Atheists are often asked, “What would it take to get you to believe in God?” The stock response is “Well, you’d need to start with a good definition, so I’d know what to look for.” OK, let’s get started. What sort of superpowers does it take to rise to the level of godliness? Would a really smart computer qualify? If you just had a creature who could create a whole universe, but was pathetic in many other respects, wouldn’t that still be pretty godlike?

Economics of the Future (Panel; Sunday, 4 – 5:15 PM, Conference 5)
Moderator: Benjamin Rosenbaum; Fred, Christopher Davis, Gayle, Yonatan Zunger

Science fiction has posited a wide range of economic models, from total abundance to mean scarcity, from plutocracy to collectivism. What happens when goods are freely available to all? What happens when long–lasting food rations are worth killing for? Which books actually talk about economics (whether capitalist or socialist or some other sort) without handwaving it all away?

AI’s: The Current Reality, the Future Possibilities (Talk; Monday, 10 – 11:15 AM, Room 629)

AIs have the possibility of being very interesting from a narrative perspective because they can be a fundamentally different kind of intelligence that nevertheless shares a world with us. The basic evolutionary pressures that drove our brains to work the way they do are completely different from those that would act on them. And indeed, the AIs that we’re starting to see in the real world—from search engines that understand our intentions to cars that drive themselves—look very different from the positronic brains we once imagined. In this talk, Yonatan Zunger will discuss the ways in which AIs are developing today and various possibilities for future directions.

I think this should be a really interesting con; the panels look ripe for spirited, and intelligent, discussion, and the talk should be fun. I guarantee mention of BrainPals and of the religious tendencies of artificial intelligences. Because that’s the real future of AI: theologically-minded brain implants.

ETA: Dates, times and rooms are kinda useful information. Added!

Published in: on May 13, 2010 at 14:26  Comments (12)  
Tags:

A complete waste of time!

So a few days ago, I got an amusing idea for an interview question which I realized was totally pointless as an interview question, because it has no practical value whatsoever. So instead, I’m going to post it on my blog, as a way to help waste the time of all my CS friends. There is no prize whatsoever for a correct answer, except for the satisfaction of having avoided work for a while solved an amusing problem.

Here are two really bad ways to sort an array:

  1. Random sort: Repeatedly select a random permutation and apply it to the set. Stop when it becomes sorted.
  2. Brute-force sort: Iterate over the set of all permutations of N elements. Apply each in turn. If the list is now sorted, stop.

The question is: which of the two is less efficient, and (the trickier part) by how much?

(Clarification: For the latter, “how much” in terms of average [mean] time to sort. You can also average over a large number of possible inputs)

Published in: on April 30, 2010 at 10:39  Comments (16)  
Tags:

A note on interface design

While reviewing some code today, a principle of software design somehow distilled itself to clarity in my head.

When designing your system, think of every major system1 upon which your own system directly depends2 as a bug.

By “think of it as a bug,” I mean that sooner or later, you are going to come to truly hate this dependency. It won’t do what you want, or it will turn old and crufty, or it will get outdated, or your system will outgrow it. Perhaps it already stinks. And therefore, think about what you are going to have to do to take it out and replace it with something better, and possibly not even having similar API’s.
Yes, you should have your code sufficiently factored and modular that such a replacement will be minimally invasive. But more importantly: if that replacement requires any change in the API’s3 by which the outside world is using your system, then there is something wrong with your design. Stop and fix that immediately.

1Both external dependencies and major subsystems of your own code. Both will suck in time, I promise you.
2If the systems upon which you directly depend have done this properly, you don’t need to worry about your indirect dependencies. If they haven’t, then you should consider replacing them now, because you are obviously dealing with the work of madmen.
3Or UI’s, if your software is at the top of its software stack. UI’s are just API’s for communicating efficiently with humans. (Or perhaps API’s are just UI’s for communicating with computers?)

Published in: on March 18, 2010 at 20:45  Comments (7)  
Tags: ,

Now that’s hardcore.

Washington DC just legalized gay marriage; the local archdiocese responded by ending all spousal health benefits to its employees.

Now here’s an organization with the courage of its convictions. Rather than let a single gay partner get benefits from them, they will let each and every one of their people’s spouses die. None of this Christian charity bullshit for these guys!

Published in: on March 3, 2010 at 11:52  Comments (6)  
Tags:

A stupid quote

From the Washington Post today:

Authorities and people familiar with the drug trade say violence in Mexico and increased enforcement — symbolized by the Flores case — are having a dramatic effect on Chicago street sales, at least for now. The wholesale price for a kilo of cocaine — about 2.2 pounds — has spiked over the past 18 months, from $18,000 to $29,000 and often more, according to authorities.

I wonder if the unnamed “authorities” in question are being deliberately misleading, or if they simply lack the sense to notice what they just said. The increase in the wholesale price of cocaine ends up, as such increases normally do, in the pockets of the people selling it.

What they have just said is that increased enforcement has increased profits for drug lords dramatically.

Published in: on December 30, 2009 at 17:46  Comments (7)  
Tags:

Read this book!

Back from Montreal. No energy to try and write a con report right now… but it was a hell of a Worldcon. Paul Krugman’s two talks were definitely high points, as were several panels, and a great deal of meeting some very interesting people.

But something better than a con report is a book report! Paolo Bacigalupi has a novel out (released just this Friday, Amazon doesn’t seem to realize it yet) called The Windup Girl. This is the best new SF (not fantasy, not spec fic) novel I’ve come across in the past few years. It takes place in an intricately thought-out near-future Bangkok, where the consequences of genetic engineering of crops, climate change, and political shift have all taken their toll. It follows four different protagonists: an American expat working for an agribusiness conglomerate, trying to get access to Thai seed stocks; a Chinese refugee of a Malaysian genocide, working for this American while trying to build a life for himself; a captain of the Thai environmental ministry, which is locked in a complicated war with other factions of the government; and the title character, a genetically engineered “new woman” created to be a personal secretary, now abandoned in Bangkok and living in a brothel.

This book works out the consequences of the SFnal ideas in it as thoroughly as Charles Stross works his out; but what will grab you about this book are the rich characters, their deep and conflicting motivations, the depth of realization of the world. It has one very interesting structural feature: although there are four protagonists, and the chapters cycle points of view, this book doesn’t do the usual (and IMHO, slightly annoying) multi-PoV thing of having four separate stories that one is bounced between. Instead, each chapter leads seamlessly into the next; the camera simply moves to follow one character, and then the next, as they all move through the same (very gripping) plot.

If you’re at all in to serious SF, this is a book worth picking up. It manages to combine the conceptual rigor of the best hard SF with the characterization and writing of… well, of a really damned good book. Go read it.

P.S.: The publisher, Nightshade Books, is putting out a lot of other interesting stuff lately. For example, if you are interested in vampires, or post-apocalypses either with or without zombies, they can set you up.

Published in: on August 11, 2009 at 15:01  Comments (1)  
Tags:

Get out and vote!

America just doesn’t take its elections seriously enough. Our last two elections, we got about 55% of the voting-age population going to the polls, and that was unusually high.

Now take a look at Iran. Why, in some towns, their voter turnout was as high as 141%. Now that’s a country that takes its democracy seriously.

Published in: on June 17, 2009 at 14:56  Comments (6)  
Tags: ,

Fiat 500 coming to America.

The Fiat 500 will soon be sold in the US. (Well, “soon” by auto industry standards, a mere year and a half from now. I have no idea what takes this much lead time.) And they’re planning on reintroducing Alfa Romeos, as well.

But they’ve hastened to reassure people that the new Chrysler acquisition doesn’t mean that we’ll be seeing lots of Fiats; we can keep expecting Chrysler design and engineering:

“Chrysler will not be producing Fiat models, but new Chrysler models based on Fiat technology (platforms, drivetrain, suspension) clothed in a pure Chrysler style,” [Fiat spokesman Richard] Gadeselli explained. Chrysler will design and engineer up to six of its own small or midsize vehicles based on Fiats.

“There is a misconception that Chrysler is going to build cars like the Fiat Bravo and just stick a Chrysler badge on it,” he added. “Actually, the vehicle architectures will be based on our stuff, and there will be some shared powertrains. But the vehicles will be U.S. vehicles, designed for U.S. customers by a U.S. company.”

I’ve seen Chrysler’s design and engineering. I’d rather have a Fiat.

Published in: on June 4, 2009 at 16:13  Comments Off on Fiat 500 coming to America.  

Con report

Back from my first WisCon. Very tired. Happy.

Saw many friends, made several new ones. It is frustrating that I have suddenly met so many cool people who live far away, because I want to hang out with them more.

Several people suggested that I should look in to being on some panels next time. Will consider.

Asked a question at “Not Another Fscking Race Panel” which led to much hilarity, mostly because it led to a prolonged discussion of the varieties of cybernetic genitalia between and . You really can’t start off a con in a much better way than that.

Got an enormous stack of books, two of which I managed to read on the (long) flight home — Ellen Klages’ The Green Glass Sea and Ekaterina Sedia’s The Alchemy of Stone. I highly recommend both and will try to write actual reviews of them at some point soon.

And now… to bed. Real work is starting unfortunately soon, and there are systems which apparently need to be designed in the morning.

But several key thoughts from this weekend: I’m very glad I have a wife that will come with me to SF cons. I may not be a natural part of fandom, but I do seem to fit in quite well with the writers and the people who come to talk more serious subjects, and there are a lot of such people. I’m amazed by how many interesting people I met, and need to figure out good ways to keep in touch with them. And it’s cool that my job is, pretty much, science fiction.

Published in: on May 25, 2009 at 20:08  Comments (5)  
Tags:

Freedom of speech

From the WP: In China, Would-Be Protesters Pay a Price.

Summary of the article: China made a lot of noise during the Olympics about how it would allow peaceful protests in three special zones. A total of 77 applications were made to protest; none were actually approved. Those who didn’t withdraw their petitions quickly enough are now in jails, mental hospitals, and so on.

An interesting, if little-known, fact is that China’s laws guarantee absolute freedom of speech. However, they don’t guarantee freedom after speech.

Published in: on March 10, 2009 at 19:58  Comments Off on Freedom of speech  
Tags:
« Older Entries
Newer Entries »