I Do Not Think Success Means What You Think It Means
Most of my artist friends (and here I mean people you probably know of and admire) are broke. Art doesn't pay well for everyone. I do know a couple of folks who make decent livings doing this stuff, but just a couple. I've gone up and down over the years, myself. 2010 and 2011 were years I spent doing nothing but writing, and I generally lived pretty well. Currently, I hold a day job. At some future point, I'll probably be back to just writing again. It's the nature of the business.
So, if you're young and aspiring and hoping to become rich and famous some day, I'll advise you never to stop making that your goal. I'll also advise you never to give up just because you only got one out of two. There will aways be stupid day jobs to get you by.
About a Hundred Habitable Planets Within a 60 Year Journey
More or less. I mean the resources to build an interstellar vessel that could house several generations of humans as they travel to distant stars would be astronomical. No pun intended. Still, if we could get that down, we've got lots of potential fuel sitting around in the form of unused nuclear weapons. Those would get us up to about half the speed of light, then slow us back down again once we're close.
So, a ship like the Project Orion spacecraft could transport a colony 30 light years in about 60 years. By these estimates, that gives us about a hundred possible planets on which to begin our spread into the greater cosmos.
Of course, we have to find those planets first. Then we have to be sure our aim is really, really good. And my personal fear is that the ships' inhabitants would have gone space feral by the time they arrived, so we'd just be sending reavers out into the galaxy.
Just over 16,000 yen
I ride a 1979 Honda C-70. The blue variant. It's just about the best combination of durability, power and efficiency I've found in a bike. Sadly, Honda stopped selling C-70s (later renamed "Passports") in the United States back in the early eighties, so I can't get a newer one.
Now, to add insult to injury, they've given the bike a makeover that achieves more power and gives it a modern look without sacrifing its great handling, turning and fuel efficiency. Further insulting and injuring, they aren't selling the new one in the States either...
The Greater-Output-Than-Input LED Explained
Last week, a new LED made some news for giving out more energy as photons than it took in as electrical energy from the socket. Seems to fly in the face of the Laws of Thermodynamics. It doesn't, though, and this article explains why.
Which is kind of a bummer. When I first heard about it, I envisioned one of two things. Either endless strings of >1:1 efficiency bulbs heating water to turn steam turbines, or one of those April Fools news articles that gets picked up in the middle of the year and passed around Facebook as "so unbelievable, it must be true!"
(Actually, I'm pretty glad it wasn't another of those April Fools things. I hate those.)
I'm Like a Younger, Cooler, Poorer Al Gore
As I remember, something like three weeks out of every month this last winter contained at least one day that was conducive to the safe and comfortable operation of a motorcycle. At least one. Usually more. I live in a state where the riding season has traditionally been closer to 6 (maybe 7) months than it is to 12...
Taken New Years Eve, 2011, just before sunset:
The Value of Literary Awards
I don't win these things. I'm not trying not to, I just happen to not be trying to, either. In order to try, you have to submit yourself for judging, or have an agent do that for you. I just haven't gotten around to that yet.
I also haven't seen Evil Dead 2 yet.
Still, I often wonder what's in it for me if I do. What, aside from bragging rights (which are a prize enough on their own, most days) does winning awards get a fellow? I can't answer that, but my friends Lynne Thomas and Jo Walton join a well-credentialed list of writers who probably can. See what they're saying at SF Signal.