HUPOMNEMATA

today in the bus, I was reading the excellent “American Science Fiction And The Cold War” by David Seed.

the book

I was beginning the chapter dedicated to Robert Heinlein(definitively more to say about him). Back home, a Google search has lead me to a quiz that pictures your profile as an Heinlein characters.
The result:

You belong in Starship Troopers. Your idea of a
good time is bouncing across an alien
battlefield blasting the foes of humanity into
extinction.

Which Heinlein Book Should You Have Been A Character In?
brought to you by Quizilla

Code, clouds, opening a NES cartridge

How the noise of a Romulan ship leads to interesting meditation over enhanced reality :

“So it occurred to me (while watching some dumb sci-fi TV series set in space) that maybe spaceships that make noise in a vacuum isn’t such a dumb idea after all. I mean, obviously they wouldn’t (couldn’t) make any noise, but there would be all kinds of reasons why it would be in the best interest of neighbouring ships to simulate the sensation. After all, noise can convey all kinds of useful information – different guns make different noises, different engines make different noises, you can tell the location – perhaps even the speed – of an object by pure noise alone. If we were to assume that – in space – the computers and sensors on ships would most likely be taking in much more information than a human could easily assimilate through a visual interface, then it makes total sense that you’d try to deliver some of it through sound. In fact it seems astonishing that you wouldn’t!”

read the rest in the wonderful Plastic Bag.