Smart machines on the horizon?

Artificial intelligence, in all its various forms, has been a standard of science-fiction for quite some time. It intrigues us and frightens us at the same time. The idea that a thing created by mankind could eventually out think us is a bi terrifying, but also somewhat attractive. Seductive, if you will.
Well, we may be on our way. According to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/12.08/robot.html?pg=1&topic=robot&to… article on WiredNews.com</a>, a Welsh scientist has created a simple, but smart, robotic lab assistant. Ross King, a researcher at the University of Wales, has modified some standard equipment in a chemistry lab to build in some basic intelligence. It's an automated testing machine. Put simply, it runs through thousands of variations on a single, simple experiment automatically, so that a human researcher doesn't need to do the "leg work", so to speak. But, that's not the interesting part. Apparently, Professor King has worked up a program that looks at the data along the way and follows the most promising patterns first. The trick is, apparently, getting the details of what "promising" means worked out and into the program. The rest, well, just sort of happens. It's not very smart, but it's a start.

So, now, as a writer, what does that mean? Where will it go? I don't know, but lots of people have written about it for a long time. Read the article and decide for yourself. Then, write!

Freshly added to the <a href="http://www.fantasist.net/wordgen.shtml">conlang word generator</a>.

Yep, that's right, now you can generate words, and names, based on languge files torn from the pages of Michael Moorcock's Elric of Melnibone series. I've very carefully entered in loads of words and proper names from the series by hand from several different sources. The beauty of it is, no one could tell if I'd made any spelling errors! These are some seriously crazy names.
Oh, that reminds me, they're also available in the <a href="http://www.fantasist.net/namegen.shtml">proper name generator</a>, too. And, just because it strikes me as funny, I've also added Melnibonean combined with Latin to both of these. And, I have to admit, it really works fairly well! (Though, the straight Melnibonean occasionally coughs up a little too much data in the name generator. There must be a hidden character somewhere in the file that's messing things up. Oh, well, no one's perfect!)

So, go have fun with them!

Okay, mainly it's just planets....

But, it's still cool! Last week, I mentioned several articles about habitable planets outside our solar system, so it's been on my mind. Well, today, my Friday Fun Link is to a site called <a target="_blank" href="http://www.extrasolar.net/mainframes.html">Extrasolar Visions</a>, which is the home of the artist who did the amazing graphics that are on the Space.com site. He has a gallery there, but the work is mainly small stuff with links to where you can buy prints of the work. But, he also has something called <a target="_blank" href="http://www.extrasolar.net/starmap.asp">Extrasolar Skies</a>, which makes starmaps on the fly. As the name implies, it also lets you choose your viewing location. Very cool. And fun, too!

So, hey, it's Friday, go dream a little!

For pity's sake, READ THE POST!

Okay, now I've gotten a whole bunch of people asking me to help them write out Elvish words or phrases in one of Tolkien's various Elvish scripts. I'm going to say this one more time for you all: I do <b>not</b> know how to write in <b>any</b> elvish script whatsoever! I only care about Tolkien's languages for the fact that he made them himself and used them to create an amazing world about which he wrote wonderful stories. I do not know how to speak or write in any form of Sindarin, Quenya, Tengwar or any other of his langauges. What's more, I have no desire to do so. I will not write them in a box. I will not speak them for a fox!

However, if you do want help, the fine purveyor of many things Elvish at <a target="_blank" href="http://gildor.freepage.gr/">Gildor's Page</a> seems fairly willing to help. You can see some of the work done already at this page:<a target="_blank" href="http://gildor.freepage.gr/tolkien/realteng/"&gt; Tengwar in Reality</a>. So, go ask them!

And, that's all I'm going to mention on that subject again. (I hope!)

VR in spaaaaace!

Well, another theme from recent science-fiction seems to be the next step in actual science. At least, <a target="_blank" href="http://www.space.com/businesstechnology/virtual_astronauts_040901.html"… to this article on Space.com</a>. It seems the journey to another star might prove to be a little stressful on humans, so scientists are proposing to send AI (artificial intelligences) instead of, or in addition to, human astronauts. It could be a good thing, considering that it would make it easier to get a craft further faster, but I saw Star Trek the Motion Picture, so I'm leary of a V'Ger coming home to wipe us out! Seriously, there are still a lot of issues to work out, like the intelligence part of AI, but it's a promising start.

Everyone knows there's only 36 plots.

Now you can learn them at <a target="_blank" href="http://www.sff.net/people/julia.west/CALLIHOO/ideagen2.htm">Calihoo Writing Idea Generators</a>! This mildly interactive page brings you through all 36(+1) plots, highlighting the characters, tensions and motivations involved in each one. So, if you're like me and have problems with simple things, like plot, you may just find that this little gem of a site helps you get started on that story you've always wanted to write. Go check it out!

I've always been fascinated with Japanese.

Mainly due to a fascination with the martial arts, but that's a whole other kettle of fish. In any case, I have several links for you fellow Japanophiles. First, there's <a target="_blank" href="http://www.mindspring.com/%7Ekimall/Japanese/index.html">Japanese for the Western Mind</a>. It looks like a good place to start. Of course, I'm biased, I have a Western Mind! And, also there's <a target="_blank" href="http://web.mit.edu/jpnet/articles/JapaneseLanguage.html">The Japanese Language</a>, which is not quite as comprehesnive as it sounds! Though it does look like an excellent second stop for the amateur linguist.
And, lastly, I have a vocabulary builder: <a target="_blank" href="http://pages.prodigy.net/david_wolfe/pmaa/">the Philippi Martial Arts Glossary page</a>. It's actually got more than Japanese terms on it, so it might be usefull to conlangers, as well.

In any case, these looked like fun sites to me, but then I've been sick, so, what the hell, it's Friday! Go check them out!

Been a lot of talk about extrasolar planets lately...

In the past week, Space.com has reported about both <a target="_blank" href="http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/super_earth_040825.html">a "giant Earth"</a> and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/exoplanet_pair_040831.html">two Neptune-sized planets</a> being found. So, there's been a lot of talk about voyages to other planets and finding other Earths lately. I think we'll eventually go, but it'll be in generation ships and things on Earth will have to get really desperate first. After all, that would be a "one-way" trip.
That's nice and all, but I think they're missing the boat in some ways. I mean, why not inhabitable moons? <a target="_blank" href="http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/shadow_moons_021008-1.html">Accor… to Space.com</a>, they could very well exist. In fact, I speculated on that quite some time ago and I even got a physist to back me up! A very nice man by the name of Sheridan Simon, who's also done work for <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ethshar.com/">Lawrence Watt-Evans</a>, did up a whole planetary system for me. I actually based it around Tau Ceti, which he said was a good choice, actually, since it's very similar to our own star. Anyway, he did up a whole system for me. I ought to scan it and make it available on-line... Well, we'll see about that, but it is an interesting line of thought for science-fiction, isn't it?
Read the articles, think, then write! Go on!

Well, I'm making a bit.

After a couple of exchanges on the <a target="_blank" href="http://listserv.brown.edu/archives/conlang.html">Conlang List</a> this week, I realized that I'm growing as a person, and a writer. As the reference to conlanging suggests, I've been thinking about created languages again. I was originall inspired by an article in the Dragon Magazine in the days of my youth. It was a very simplistic article aimed at a simple person, namely me and my kind. It was followed by another article which was much more linguistically challenging and completely over my head. That was almost 20 years ago. Just three years ago, that second article was still over my head.
But, then I started reading. I read the conlang list and several groups on Yahoo. I read <a target="_blank" href="http://www.langmaker.com">LangMaker.com</a&gt; and <a target="_blank" href="http://www.zompist.com/">The Metaverse</a>. More importantly, I got several books on linguistics and read them, too. I reread that article which had flummoxed me so many years ago this weekend and the whole damn thing made sense. I'm finally ready to start conlanging again after 20 years.

Look out, Johnny, here I come!

No, really, you can make your own stamps.

And even use them to send mail. Real, regular, normal, "snail" mail. According to <a target="_blank" href="http://www.wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,64538,00.html">this article on Wired News</a>, the U.S. Postal Service is testing out a personalized stamp program that will let you use your own digital photographs or logos to make stamps that have your own message on them. Hmm, I wonder what they'll censor? And, I wonder how quickly someone will try to make something "naughty"? (Oh, get your mind out of the gutter! I meant something anti-American, you pervert!)

Anyway, it's Friday, so <a target="_blank" href="http://photo.stamps.com/">go have fun</a> with it. <b>Clean</b> fun! (And, yes, this first appeared on <a target="_blank" href="http://www.ryumaou.com/hoffman/netgeek/">my "other" blog</a>.)