Fantasist's Scroll

Neal Stephenson is at it again!

He’s written a new book called Quicksilver, which is part of his new Baroque Cycle. It is, in part, about very old cryptography as described by John Wilkins in his book Mercury. What’s interesting to me, though, is that Mr. Stephenson used this old code to run a contest. (The details can be found here.) But, it’s already been solved! What’s more, the person who solved the mystery had never heard about Mercury, John Wilkins, or the cryptography system. Here’s a blow-by-blow account of how he did it.

Nope, it’s not Star Trek science…

Though, I have to admit, when I saw the article, the term “phage” caught my attention. The Phage was a kind of disease or plague that a species of “bad guys” suffered from on Star Trek Voyager.
In this article from Wired News, though, it’s something different. In the real world, it may be a viable alternative to the massive use of antibiotics that we’ve fallen to using everytime someone gets the sniffles. My wife still suffers from a wounded resistance to common colds and flus thanks to an overuse of antibiotics. Though, a far more disturbing trend is strains of bacteria that are more and more resistant to antibiotics. That is what these “phages”, short for “bacteriophage”, are designed to attack. Bacteriophages, or “bacteria eaters”, are designed to destroy one particular bacteria, leaving all the beneficial bacteria alone. Unlike antibiotics.

Okay, now for the science-ficiton bent… Can anyone see how this technology might go horribly wrong?

A notable author noted my website!

Well, he may not be the most well known author, but he’s written some real gems. The author in question is Joe Clifford Faust, author of The Company Man and Ferman’s Devils. He apparently found my other website, Diary of a Network Geek, where I mention him briefly. I have to admit, until I wrote that little entry, I hadn’t thought about The Company Man in a very long time. But, it was a good book, which I still have, and well worth finding, if you haven’t read it. Come to think of it, so is everything else I’ve read by Mr. Faust. So, go buy his books and maybe the old stuff will come back into print.

Anyway, it was a small thrill to be found by a Real Writer and exchange e-mail with him. Always is for me. Writers are my celebrities. God, I’m a geek.

A new kind of lightning has been discovered.

Or, more accurately, lightning in a new level of the stratoshpere has been discovered. All this time, there’s been high altitude lightning and no one has know. How is that possible? How could we have missed it all these years? I’m not sure, but according to this article on Wired News, that’s just what’s been happening. Anyway, it seems like a cool thing and I’m sure there’s some kind of science-fiction plotline in there somewhere…

Well, not really. But they had binary code!

No, really! According to this news story at the Independant, the Incas had a kind of knot code that was very similar to our own binary coding. They seem to have kept fairly detailed messages in a seven-bit binary code knotted into decorative textiles. So, now we know how it was they had such a detailed, complicated society and legal systems without seeming to have a written language! They just had a kind of writing that we never considered.
I guess it was too hard to imagine a “primative” culture capable of creating binary code. And, really, knotting thread is a pretty inventive and creative way of recording information. The tie-closure on a bag could describe its contents and owner. Shoot, it could even have a shipping address included in it! Such a code could have been woven into other textiles as well. Even the simplest of fabrics could have had messges in them.
Obviously, this is pretty exciting to me. The ideas that this spawns for a created culture are almost endless! And, think of how original it would seem to the average reader of fantasy fiction. After all, this has sat in front of experts for ages before they figured it out, so to we who are less experienced in such things it’s nothing short of brilliant and new and, well, fantastic!

Okay, so I’ve been bitten by the Harry Potter bug.

Not too long ago, I read Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone and, now I’m finishing up Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets. Next, of course, I’ll be reading Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, then Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, followed quickly by Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix. That is, if my wife and daughter are done with it! I hate to admit it, but they really got me hooked on this stuff. It’s not hard reading, or even very challenging, but it is fun and nice, light Summer reading. And, while I’m studying for my CNE Update test, it’s a nice diversion.
I think my daughter is getting a little too into the latest book, though. Sunday afternoon, she caught our dog doing something naughty and yelled “Potter!” in a very Snape-like voice. The poor dog, who’s named “Hilda”, didn’t quite know what to do. Especially when we all were suddenly caught up in a fit of laughter. Ah, well, they’re good family fun!

At least, it kills my web pages!

This weekend I got a note from my web host telling me that they had to disable one of my CGI scripts because it was taking up too much processor time and killing the webserver. Specifically, it was the script behind my ConLang Generator. So, I had to do some modifications to it. Hopefully, I’ll maintain its usability while keeping it from killing the server again.
But, if that doesn’t do enough, I’ll have to reduce my datasets some so that fewer words are generated. We’ll see how it goes…
In the mean time, why not check out my other web page? It’s at Tales of Hoffman.

Okay, this is just too cool.

This article from the Guardian talks about the scientists in Taiwan who created genetically modified zebra fish that glow. Apparently, they’ve found a way to incorporate glowing jellyfish genes into these fish and have them breed true. They’re working on more glowing species.
Several groups have spoken out against this, but I think it’s cool. Okay, sure, we’re tampering with genetics and life and no one knows where it will all go and what all the ramifications are. But, if we don’t do a little experimentation, how will we ever know what the ramifications might be? Besides, think of all the science-fiction plots that will be spawned (pardon the pun) by this!