Pixel Scroll 3/15/16 At The Age of 37, She Realized She’d Never Scroll Through Paris With The Warm Pixels In Her Hair

(1) THE MAN WHO WOULD BE WHO. An actor who’s already accumulated a lot of experience traveling in time one day in front of the next has his eye on the prize. Metro News says “Brian Blessed wants to be the next Doctor Who after Peter Capaldi”

The actor, who is fast approaching the ripe old age of 80, has been speaking to Calibre magazine about his desire to be the next Time Lord after Peter Capaldi; he said:

‘I would love to play the Doctor, absolutely!’

Doctor Who fans may remember Blessed as King Ycarnos in 1986’s The Trial Of A Time Lord, where his character went on to marry the Sixth Doctor’s companion, Peri.

If Blessed were to become the next Doctor, he would be the oldest actor to do so, with some twenty years on current TARDIS pilot Capaldi.

(2) BEANS IN SPACE. Whereas the poster for the Australian competition referenced Mad Max: Fury Road, the “2016 Hungarian Aeropress Championship” post goes with a Star Wars icon.

Hungarian aeropress championship COMP

Fast circulating rumours, perhaps with the assistance of a HyperDrive, are suggesting the coffee has been sourced by coffee’s home planet of Alderaan. Unfortunately these rumours have been denied by Ewoks on the forrest moon of Endor who have hand-picked all the rainforest alliance coffee. The variety of the coffee is mostly heirloom, sometimes also know as Degu(bah) and is famous for having very high midi-chorian levels, but low caffeine.  The coffee was fermented and de-pulped in the now re-purposed garbage disposal units on the detention level of the Death Star. That’s enough lame Star Wars references for now i think…

(3) HPL ON THE AUCTION BLOCK. FineBooks & Collections reports “Found: Lovecraft-Houdini Manuscript”.

Whispered about by hopeful collectors and scholars for decades, the manuscript of H.P. Lovecraft’s The Cancer of Superstition, commisssioned and co-written by magician Harry Houdini, has finally come to light. It was rather incredibly “discovered by a private collector among the records of a now-defunct magic shop,” according to Chicago’s Potter & Potter Auctions, which will auction the 31-page typewritten story on April 9.

A brief description of the manuscript is provided in the Potter & Potter auction catalog available for download here [PDF file]. The bidding will open at lucky $13,000….

(4) OCTAVIA BUTLER. From Southern California Public Radio, “The life and legacy of Octavia Butler – and 5 stories you should read”.

It’s been a decade since science fiction writer Octavia Butler passed away.

The California native fell in love with storytelling as a kid at the Pasadena Library, and later grew up to be the only sci-fi writer to receive a MacArthur Genius Fellowship. She was also the first African American woman in the genre to achieve international fame.

According to her friend and fellow writer Steven Barnes, Butler anticipated the challenges of presenting black characters in her stories.

“In her early novels, they would put green people or aliens on the covers of her books,” Barnes said.

“Or blond, white women,” added Tananarive Due, also a friend of Butler’s.

As a teacher and another African American female author, Due knows firsthand how influential Butler’s work is.

“I wish I had discovered Octavia’s work when I was a learning writer,” Due said. “When I wrote my first novel, I had no idea whether or not there would be an audience for speculative fiction — speculative fiction being science fiction, fantasy or horror novel — with black characters, you know, not necessarily intended for black readers.”

(5) JONESING. Everyone who’s still alive in 2019 can see if the iconic star of the Indiana Jones movies can claim the same. The Walt Disney Company announces, “Spielberg and Ford Reunite as Indiana Jones Returns to Theaters July 19, 2019”.

Indiana Jones will return to the big screen on July 19, 2019, for a fifth epic adventure in the blockbuster series. Steven Spielberg, who directed all four previous films, will helm the as-yet-untitled project with star Harrison Ford reprising his iconic role. Franchise veterans Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall will produce.

“Indiana Jones is one of the greatest heroes in cinematic history, and we can’t wait to bring him back to the screen in 2019,” said Alan Horn, Chairman, The Walt Disney Studios. “It’s rare to have such a perfect combination of director, producers, actor and role, and we couldn’t be more excited to embark on this adventure with Harrison and Steven.”

(6) GAVEL RAPPER. Kevin Standlee says a Business Meeting chair has “No Magic Bullets”. Nor any other kind, to be sure.

A couple of days ago, I got into a conversation on billroper‘s LJ about the “Heckler’s Veto” and that led to me thinking about something that had worried me about running the WSFS Business Meeting. After all, the entire meeting process, and parliamentary procedure itself, assumes that the people gathering actually are willing to play by the rules. If a significant number of the people showing up won’t play by the rules, the meeting will dissolve. It would be like a bunch of football players deciding during a match that they don’t like the rule book and that they can ignore the officials and do anything they want. There’s not a lot the officials can do in that case, other than leave.

I did give a lot of thought to this approaching the 2015 WSFS Business Meeting, what with doomsday scenarios of thousands of people overrunning the meeting and refusing to obey any rules and shouting down anything they didn’t like and generally causing chaos. I concluded that a meeting whose members refuse to follow their own rules is not a meeting, but a mob, and I’m not chairing a mob. Had such a thing happened, I would have ordered the meeting adjourned “at the call of the chair” and turned to the convention for help. The convention would then in turn have had to ask the convention security to clear the area, and potentially even call the police if non-members (including any people who had their memberships revoked) refused to leave on their own accord.

(7) TO HAL WITH IT. 2001 A Space Odyssey: A Look Behind the Future is a 1960s promotional film. The 10-minute color documentary includes production of props, revolving spaceship set, etc.

(8) CURRENT EVENTS. A much more recent sf film will also be the subject of a documentary: Secrets of The Force Awakens: A Cinematic Journey.  It will be a bonus on the movie’s Blu-Ray disc, to be released April 5.

(9) GROWING UP AI. At The Way Finder, Hugh C. Howey says he has observed “The Birth of Artificial Intelligence”.

…This was not the week, however, that AI was born. This was the week that I realized that AI was born quite some time ago…..

It’s in the early years of human development where I think we can see the current state of AI being somewhere post-birth and yet pre-awareness. But the development of strong AI will have incredible advantages over the human acquisition of general intelligence. This arise from the modular nature of intelligence.

Our brains are not one big thinking engine; they are collections of hundreds of individual engines, each of which develop at different rates. What’s amazing about AI is that the learning does not need to be done twice for every module. When we build a chess-playing module, and a Go-playing module, and a Jeopardy-playing module, all of these can be “plugged in” to our general AI. Our baby girl is growing every day, and thousands of people are pouring billions of dollars of research into her education. We, the general public, are contributing with petabytes of data. It is already happening, and we won’t even recognize when our first daughter graduates into strong AI. Every day will be — as parents know — one small miracle added to the last, a succession of amazing little first steps that result in them going off to college and being their own person.

Each headline you read is us — as collective parents — gasping to our spouse at what our baby girl just did for the first time.

Google has already taught our daughter to drive a car. Amazon is doing amazing things with their Alexa device, creating the beginnings of the virtual assistant seen in Her. IBM is building the best medical mind the field has ever known. In the last five years, AI has taken strides that even the optimistic find startling. The next five years will see similar advances. And this progress will only accelerate, because we’re operating in the realm of Moore’s Law. We are building the tools that help us build faster tools, which help us build faster tools.

(10) IRENE LARSEN OBIT. Magic Castle co-founder Irene Larsen died February 25 reports Variety.

Irene Larsen, co-founder of the Academy of Magical Arts and the private clubhouse the Magic Castle, died unexpectedly on Thursday morning at her Los Angeles home. She was 79.

After she assisted her late husband William “Bill” Larsen Jr. in his various magic acts for years, the two launched the Magic Castle together in 1963. Larsen’s dedication to the role of ambassador of magic helped elevate the AMA to an internationally renowned and respected organization within the art’s community.

(11) WRITING WHILE WAITING FOR THE EMERGENCY. Amanda S. Green’s “Putting things into perspective” at Mad Genius Club demonstrates how a professional writer honors her real-life priorities — a friend’s health and her writing commitments .

…One of my oldest and dearest friends is facing a challenge the vast majority of us will only ever read about. She is going to need me with her as she faces this challenge. Even if she hadn’t asked, I would be there for her. Why? Because she has always been there for me and mine.

That’s what friends and family do. You rally around those you care about.

But, when you do, work is impacted.

I know that the next few weeks and months will see us waiting for the shoe to drop. In some ways, it will be like those last weeks of pregnancy. A bag will be packed, the gas tank filled and we will all be waiting for the phone to ring to tell us it is time to leave. No, not a bug-out, at least not in a Ringo-esque sort of way. This is the call to get to the hospital within a certain amount of time. The clock is ticking and it is very loud….

It has also meant changing what I have with me at any time. I’ve always had my phone and a small notepad squirreled away in my purse in case I needed to make a note about something. Smart phones are great for being able to use for dictation and look up things, etc. Now, however, the small purse — my preference — has been traded for a larger one. The smartphone and pad have been joined by my Surface Pro 3, stylus and charger. Why? Because the SP3 gives me everything my laptop does but at a fraction of the weight. The screen, while small, is still larger than my Android tablet and the keyboard is much better than the virtual keyboard on the Android. Add in the thumb drive with all my working files and I have my office on the go….

The result has been that I can and have been getting the job done despite the worry that is constantly there right now. I am working hard to not only meet the schedule I set for myself at the beginning of the year but to get ahead. I want that cushion for the day when we get the call telling us it is time to meet my friends at the hospital. I want to be able to be there for them and not worry about falling behind on “work”. I need to know that I am keeping with my schedule so the money can and will keep coming in. I need to know that, no matter what the time of day or day of the week, I am able to continue working without worry about where I happen to be….

(12) COMIC-CON HQ TO LAUNCH. San Diego’s Comic-Con International will brand a video-on-demand service.

The Hollywood Reporter: “Lionsgate, Comic-Con Set Launch Date for Streaming Service”

Lionsgate and Comic-Con International will launch Comic-Con HQ, their newly-named fanboy streamer, on May 7, ahead of an official launch in June. The subscription video-on-demand service will have a soft launch in May, with an official bow to follow in June in the lead up to Comic-Con International: San Diego in July.

Deadline: “Lionsgate & Comic-Con’s SVOD Channel Comic-Con HQ Sets Launch Date”

The ad-free streaming service will feature “an evolving slate of programming including original scripted and unscripted series, recurring daily and weekly entertainment commentary, plus unique access to a growing library of live and archival programming from their world-class events, a highly-curated selection of film and TV genre titles, and behind-the-scenes access and bonus features from genre titles that defy and define pop culture,” per the announcement.

Variety: “Lionsgate to Launch Comic-Con Channel in May”

Monday’s announcement disclosed that gaming personality Adam Sessler, former host of G4’s X-Play, will executive produce programs on comics, science and gaming, along with hosting his own interview series. Other formats being developed include a general pop culture news show, a late-night talk show, a weekly movie talk in partnership with Complex’s Collider and an all-female panel on pop culture from women’s perspectives.

(13) ONCE AROUND THE BLOCK. Mr. Sci-Fi has something to say about the Paramount/CBS suit against the maker of Axanar.

Sci-Fi Writer-Producer Marc Zicree discusses Paramount’s lawsuit against Star Trek Axanar and puts it in context with the long history of science fiction fan fiction and fan films — and suggests several possible win-win strategies for a successful outcome.

 

[Thanks to Will R., Steven Johnson, Andrew Porter, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit goes to File 770 contributing editor of the day Steve Davidson.]

148 thoughts on “Pixel Scroll 3/15/16 At The Age of 37, She Realized She’d Never Scroll Through Paris With The Warm Pixels In Her Hair

  1. First/Fifth!

    (6) GAVEL RAPPER.
    Well quite.It’s like the Peelian Principles innit? The members implicitly consent to be governed by the Business Meeting rules & the Chair. Otherwise…

  2. [ticky]

    Edit: Aw, Snowcrash, I must have hit Enter right after you.

    Fifth and a half.

  3. Aaron: Also, there’s a typo in (10) – “co-founded” should be “co-founder”.

    Confound it!

  4. Joins @Dawn Incognito in a drink to world peace. Pours and passes a drink to @Mike Glyer.

    4) OCTAVIA BUTLER
    More books added to my TBR. If Kindred is anything to go by I’ll need comfort reads afterwards as she is powerful and makes you think which is great but exhausting.

    11) WRITING WHILE WAITING FOR THE EMERGENCY
    I think this applies to life. Many salaried jobs have deadlines and require doing many of the same things.

    Since the gallbladder “emergency” was discovered I take a hospital bag everywhere. Some things are kept in it all the time. Others are added right before I leave the house.

    12) COMIC-CON HQ TO LAUNCH
    Wonder if this was behind all the “Comic-con” lawsuits over the last year or two?

  5. *glug*

    Tasha Turner: Wonder if this was behind all the “Comic-con” lawsuits over the last year or two?

    Excellent question.

  6. 1) Best. Idea. Ever. Won’t happen though. Sigh.

    3) I’m surprised that Houdini and Lovecraft were able to get along given HPL’s issues.

  7. Too late/tired – much read scroll later, sorry. FYI there’s a trailer for a Miss Peregrin’s Home for Peculiar Children movie. My other half called to ask me to get the book, which looks a bit different to me, but I haven’t read it yet. I ordered it.

    Does the trailer look anything like the book, people-who-have-read-it? (The trailer looks delicious, BTW.)

  8. (7) TO HAL WITH IT
    Great find! Never knew this existed. Since 2001 is officially (sorta) Filers’ second mostest fave movie evah, maybe we should apopt this documentary in some fashion (of which I have no ideas or suggestions).

    It was cool how many advances they came close to getting correct, though. Space shuttle, ISS, wireless communication, etc.

    (8) CURRENT EVENTS
    I need to get this documentary, too. I like “how it was made” docs, sometimes better than the “it”!

    (11) WRITING…EMERGENCY
    Sorry that her friend is going through this, sounds really serious. Best wishes to Green and her friend.

    I understand having to meet some obligations, but it can be incredibly stressful and best laid plans…I was stuck here waiting for reps from Boeing while my father was dying (20+ years ago, so not recent pain.) I had come back from leave for this one meeting after seeing Dad through his surgery. We thought he had several weeks left, but it didn’t work out that way. What really burned was that Boeing cancelled the meeting the morning of and I couldn’t get a flight back in time to be with him and help support Mom.

    ::godstalk::

  9. 9) Howey appears to be suffering from a particularly virulent form of the proud parent syndrome: I comfort myself with the reflection that at least he hasn’t got photos

    11) I’m very sorry to read that one of Amanda S Green’s dearest friends has a fatal condition, and glad that Amanda has been able to come up with a way to honour all of her commitments. My best wishes to all those involved.

    Tasha

    I too have a hospital case, though I don’t cart it around with me; it’s far too heavy. Ten nightdresses/pyjamas, plus all the other stuff I need, accounts for the weight, so the suitcase sits next to my front door.

    I very much hope you will not need your case until your planned surgery.

  10. Anyone watch Limitless* last night? A much discussed SFF author was a key plot element.

    * I’m really enjoying the show. It’s the standard really bright guy solves crimes procedural (like The Mentalist, Sherlock, Elementary, etc.) but the really bright guy is a bit of a schlub who is only temporarily a really bright guy.

  11. Martian Fifth!

    One of my fragmentary recollections of Iguanacon is of being a gopher for Margaret Hildebrand, and being temporarily loaned out to Octavia Butler for an event she was at. I don’t recall if “A Room of Our Own” was the venue or the event. I sat politely by. I don’t have any great anecdotes, but she seemed like a nice person in the brief time I was around her.

  12. Iggy was a long, strange trip. I didn’t get a lot of sleep, none of it in a proper bed, and I only learned after I was there that all my Phoenix friends had split into two factions that were actively working against each other. I researched it before posting, just in case I was hallucinating the incident, but I’m fairly sure I confirmed that she was there. Knock wood.

  13. #9. Meh.

    In almost every instance, what Howey is referring to as “AI” is really nothing more than very sophisticated “expert systems”. They’re bounded by their tasks, be it autonomously driving a car or playing a particular game.

    What Hugh is alluding to would be akin to Google’s autonomous car software suddenly deciding to play GO instead of driving down the road, or medical diagnostic software deciding to take over one of Boston Dynamics robots so it could go play golf.

    Not. Gonna. Happen.

    The “intuition” of the GO playing “AI” is only “intuition” within the realm of the game GO. Some of the techniques will make their way out of that program and into other “learning” systems, but they will continue to lack an all important capability of overall generalization. And they will continue to be unable to view themselves as an entity, interacting with an external environment.

    Now it certainly is true that you could take all of that software, package it together and have a suite of expert systems under one roof – but they’d still only be capable of performing the individual (trained) tasks and, unless you wrote a whole mess of additional code (that’s probably uncharitable at this juncture) to allow those different systems to communicate in a meaningful way and program in a way for that system to learn to generalize, you’ve just got a pretty package wrapped around microsoft office. Not “artificial intelligence”.

    We still remain hung up on a couple of key questions: the big one being self-awareness, which, among other things, allows us to realize that we’re autonomous beings living in a space where things happen that can affect us just as we can affect them.

    (Personally, I’m still betting that it’s all an illusion and that our vaunted self-awareness and intelligence is nothing but the result of some extremely sophisticated yet simple rules that basically come down to nothing more than hard-wired reactions to various inputs.)

    We’re also hung up on perfection – AI intelligences are being taught to always find the “right” answer (we learn far more from our mistakes) and we’re constructing these things in a digital environment that can not 100% accurately replicate the analog world. These, I believe, are insurmountable obstacles. Sure, we’ll have ambulatory robots that can interact with people a couple of orders of magnitude beyond Siri, but they won’t be individual, self-aware, thinking beings.

  14. @Jack Lint

    I’m sure it is on my DVR waiting for my next binge session. Looking forward to it.

    Limitless will be on my ballot this year. I think they’ve done some very interesting things with respect to characters and plot.


    Regards,
    Dann

  15. A few days back I mentioned the Behistun Inscription and its key role in deciphering cuneiform. The subject has been on my mind a bit since then and I’ve been re-browsing some of my documents on the subject. I have the Complete National Geographic DVD set, which contains scans of every page of National Geographic magazine (the edition I have has 121 years, from 1888 to 2008) and I have long been extracting images from the articles that interest me and converting them to PDFs. There is a really nice National Geographic article about the BI I thought I’d share, since some of you are likely to be interested. It is “Darius Carved History on Ageless Rock” from December 1950. A 20 page article about the Behistun Inscription, its history, and the difficulties with deciphering it (including rock climbing, rickety ladders, rappelling, and the risk of reath—uh, death.)

    Also uploaded is “Ancient Mesopotamia—A Light That Did Not Fail” from the January 1951 National Geographic. While not directly about the Behistun Inscription, it is a 66-page article on the history of Mesopotamia with 24 full-page color paintings by H.M. Herget that draws strongly (along with other archaeological finds) on texts that the BI allowed to be readable.

    A bonus, arguably companion article—“Daily Life in Ancient Egypt” from October 1941. This one is 99 pages and has 32 paintings by H.M. Herget.

    (Articles reproduced without express written permission of the National Geographic Society—if you read them you are a horrible, horrible person and owe Rupert Murdock a personal apology.)

  16. I happened upon this little movie about some guys making a true scale model of the Solar System and its orbits, on a stretch of Nevada desert, with the Earth a literal blue marble. Gotta say, paintings didn’t do it justice.

    (The video wanted to die a couple of times, but refreshing the page got me farther. It was worth it.)

  17. “Artificial Intelligence” seems to be one of those terms that can mean pretty much anything you want it to mean. What Howey’s describing I would call “artificial skill” (just now coined the term, may not stick with it), not artificial intelligence. Watson and chess/go playing computers are pretty powerful expert systems/Chinese rooms, but I’m not yet willing to call them “intelligent.” (Never mind that there is no consensus agreement defining intelligence in humans.)

    FYI there’s a trailer for a Miss Peregrin’s Home for Peculiar Children movie. My other half called to ask me to get the book, which looks a bit different to me, but I haven’t read it yet. I ordered it.

    Are you/your SO aware that there is a sequel book available, too?

    The most interesting aspect of Peregrin’s to me is the use of “found photos”–a subject that interests me greatly. Who knows how many billions of photos are out there of people who once were cared about enough / interesting enough to have a photograph taken of them, but where everyone involved is now dead and the person will remain forever nameless. I have a few of those myself, inherited from my (deceased) parents and grandparents, some more than 100 years old, where I have no idea who is in the photos. One in particular that is probably from no more recently than the early 1890s includes more than 50 of my (presumed) relatives, and I can absolutely identify only one, my great-great-great-grandmother. It is possible–I suppose–that that there are scattered distant cousins still alive that would be able to identify some of the other people in the photo, but for all practical purposes, I think the faces will always remain nameless.

  18. 3) I’m surprised that Houdini and Lovecraft were able to get along given HPL’s issues.

    They only met in person once, when Houdini was passing through Providence and invited Lovecraft to dinner. It’s not like Lovecraft couldn’t go two hours without mentioning the superiority of the Nordic races over the rest of humanity.

    Mainly Houdini knew Lovecraft from the story “Imprisoned with the Pharaohs,” which Lovecraft had ghostwritten for him and impressed him enough that he wanted Lovecraft to write an entire book on skepticism in his name. Sadly Houdini died before anything became of it. (Keep in mind, Lovecraft’s biggest source of income in the 1920s was ghostwriting books for a Norman Vincent Peale wannabe.)

  19. @Stevie & hospital bag
    US culture and a little exaggeration strikes again. My hospital bag goes from the house to the car and into doctor offices. I only leave home right now to see doctors frequently with husband along to carry bag, take notes, help make decisions. I never go anywhere without my bag = bag is in car if I leave the house.

    Bag contains a couple pairs of warm socks with sticky feet, chargers for electronics, surge protector/power cord, long underwear to sneak in under the stupid hospital wear, basic grooming stuff, stuffed animal, hearing aid batteries, medical journal/history.

    Goes in last minute: kindle, iPad, smartphone, hearing aid control, insulated water bottle, hearing aid case, eye glass case, hearing aid control charger, possibly a second stuffed animal, and various vitamin supplements*, lactaid**, and Xanax*** I need to hide from hospital personnel so I and my body don’t fall apart while hospitalized.

    * it’s taken years to get my various digestive problems under control a few days off a specific brand of supplements and it can take 6 months to get back to normal. Since its supplements not prescription a number of hospitals won’t let me take or switch me to what they have in house

    ** Due to dairy issues in 80%+ of my medication which there are no good Prescription substitutes and hospitals are PITAs about giving you lactase pills with your prescription pills I need my own available

    *** waiting up to 3 hours for your anxiety meds when having a panic attack is unacceptable IMHO. Plus my psychiatrist and I have different rules for my use than are actually on the bottle (1-3 a day). I take when I need which means I can go weeks without taking to taking 6 in a single day. Not 3 times a day on some stupid schedule – that leads to addiction and doesn’t help when I’m having a panic attack.

    I’m a special snowflake until our medical care finds a way to catch up to treating patients as human beings with brains and works with us to find solutions to our individual circumstances. I understand liability. We need to fix that part of the system also.

  20. Jack Lint on March 16, 2016 at 5:20 am said:
    Anyone watch Limitless* last night? A much discussed SFF author was a key plot element.

    It was amusing. Too bad they couldn’t actually have him speak ….

  21. It’s not like Lovecraft couldn’t go two hours without mentioning the superiority of the Nordic races over the rest of humanity.

    Three hours, now, that would have been pushing it.

  22. @Tasha:

    *** waiting up to 3 hours for your anxiety meds when having a panic attack is unacceptable IMHO.

    Wow, agreed. I’m currently in the stage of therapy that is asking me to ride out my anxiety, but that’s in a safe environment and I’m allowed to stop when it gets to be overwhelming. Any anti-anxiety meds I’ve had have been as-needed, which makes the most sense to me. I’m sorry you have to go through all that runaround.

    (It sucks that it’s not even the fault of the staff so persuasion would do no good. I’m sure the nurses would like to be accommodating, but doing so would get them fired.)

  23. Oh, I HATE hospitals taking over prescription meds.

    When Wife was in hospital for a mere three days, they wouldn’t give her her diabetes medicine. Insisted on taking blood sugar tests at, as far as I could tell, random intervals, then injecting insulin as needed. Into her abdomen. Huge bruises. Plus, she’s NOT TYPE 1. Then they didn’t give her ANY insulin at all on her discharge day, despite high blood sugar readings and a late afternoon discharge. It took weeks to get her sugars back under control.

    Then they didn’t send her home with the $300 inhaler–charged us for it; but then threw it away with 27 doses still in it.

    ARGH.

  24. So to change the topic LOL – Mike if you are doing a full page on this move my comments over if they belong there instead. 😉

    Preliminary Code of Conduct for Valley Forge 2017 NASFiC bid
    http://www.valleyforge2017.org/codeofconduct
    Version 1.0

    I’ve read it a couple times now. A few quotes which caught my eye. I highly recommend reading the whole policy before commenting on my quotes so you have full context. It only takes a couple of minutes and leads to a better discussion. I’m biased against this group due to past interaction.

    We are aware that there has never been a system that someone hasn’t tried to hack, be it jurisprudence, firewall security or Dungeons and Dragons. Any attempts to circumvent the intention or spirit of this code of conduct will be considered a violation of this code of conduct. 

    Ok, but why include this in your CoC?

    We do not anticipate that anyone will intentionally violate these guidelines, but we are also prepared to handle whatever situation may arise. We promise to evaluate situations covered by this code to the best of our judgement and resources. Keep in mind that this evaluation is not a jurisprudential procedure. “Beyond a reasonable doubt” does not apply here.

    This immediately follows the previous statement. Feels out of place. We also have years of experience within fandom of missing stairs. This feels to me like a denial of the very problem a CoC is for. If the CoC is denying a problem how much faith can there be in follow through.

    Silence is not consent. Cosplay is not consent. In order to give consent, a person should be a legal adult and not of impaired judgement. Judgement may be impaired by many things, such as intoxication or other physical states. 

    Other physical states?

    In the middle of the harassment definitions and actions they might/can take is this:

    We believe that it is possible to discuss controversial or sensitive issues critically without resorting to disparagement or vulgarity. We are also aware that sometimes this line can be blurry, and different people may have different ideas about what constitutes disparaging or vulgar language. When in doubt, we recommend compassion in word and deed.

    Is this meant to be preemptive? Compassion from whom? I’ve seen this language used many times to silence the victims. This may not be the intent here. This is a tricky line to walk.

    Notwithstanding the above, we will not prohibit anyone with a valid Pennsylvania concealed carry permit from carrying a firearm in accordance with all relevant laws and statutes, so long as you keep the weapon concealed. If you brandish, flash, or otherwise display your firearm, you will be in violation of this code of conduct. We may ask law enforcement to become involved.

    Oh goody armed congoers. I’m dying to attend cons with armed attendees. /sarcasm

    Codes of Conduct are for the safety of current attendees. It’s not about punishment of the ones who harm people. The bid committee/comcon writing the policy need to have that as their focus and goal while creating CoC and procedures for follow through. Does this CoC read that way?

  25. re (6)

    I’m glad they have a plan for this; Kansas City is not quite Nut Country, but it’s Nut Country adjacent.

  26. Howie makes the mistake a lot of people do of assuming that an AI continues to learn once it’s deployed. The truth is that training an AI takes a long time (weeks or more) and uses a colossal amount of processing power. Learning only occurs in the factory–it doesn’t happen in the field. (Apparent exceptions to this [e.g. enrolling a speech recognizer for a specific user] turn out to involve tricks rather than relearning.)

    As Steve Davidson pointed out above, each application is narrowly focused on a single task. None is able to generalize itself to more tasks, nor has there been any breakthrough to make that possible in the future. But even if there were, it would still be something that ran in the factory–AIs at home would only “evolve” when they received software updates.

  27. @TheYoungPretender

    I’m glad they have a plan for this; Kansas City is not quite Nut Country, but it’s Nut Country adjacent.

    Is that “wingnut” country then? 😉

  28. @Greg

    It is. I use “Nut Country” because it’s a quote that stuck in my head. The quote was “We’re heading into Nut Country, now”, uttered by a U.S. President getting off a plane one morning in a city where flyers had been put up a weekend before. These flyers had that President’s face in cross hairs, with the legend “Wanted for Treason.”

    Using the quote is an excellent reminder than anyone who blames it all on Trump is willfully blind. And would be even if President Kennedy had left Dallas in the state he arrived in it.

  29. @Tasha Turner – When I knew I was hospital bound, I hastily assembled a similar bag to yours. It was amazingly helpful. Now that I have been discharged (hooray!), it sits by the door, just in case.

    In a similar vein, how goes the gall bladder?

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