On Writing Near Future SF

I think you can paraphrase this blog from Charlie Stross as: Writing Near-Future Science Fiction is bloody hard because the near future can be so bloody unpredictable.

Why People Are Wrong

A Visual Study Guide to Cognitive Biases

Cognitive biases are psychological tendencies that cause the human brain to draw incorrect conclusions.

I shall be printing this out and commiting it all to memory just to be even more aggravating when you are arguing with me...

Ah, Dunning-Kruger where would my superiority be without you?

Via Boing Boing

Update: Edited to correct a spelling mistake. Obviously I think my spelling is much better than it is and didn't bother to proof-read my article.

Chevrolet performed by the Roadzters

One of my brother's many and varied bands have got a new video on youtube. I like it and I think you will too.

Ps. Word has it that my bad Losenstein gig produced some very good photos. More news when I have it!

Fans?

There's probably a law somewhere. But I've found my love of something can find it difficult to survive meeting other fans of that something.

A case in point is new Who. Thanks to finally embracing torrents I can enjoy Doctor Who the way it's meant to be enjoyed, in weekly installments. I feel that this has been a great start to a new season and Matt Smith already seems very comfortable with the role. Possibly thanks to some great writing and plotting. The stories have been brisk and exciting while leaving plenty of room for character development. And yet...

And yet if you pop over to SFX you'll find what looks to be a totally disgruntled bunch. It's been said that this last two-parter is the Aliens to Blink's Alien. It even steals the structure, long slow set-up and then sprint to the denoument. Where before you had a small number of statues against unarmed and inexperienced kids now you have a large number against well armed "clerics". Apparently this has defanged them.

I'm not sure whether these people should grow up or give in to their inner child, because I found the whole thing genuinely tense from start to finish. This might be because I was watching the story being told rather than trying to find inconsistencies in the behaviour of a bunch of made up creatures.