It Won't Be Long Now, The Robot Uprising is Nigh

Via io9, researchers at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver have created a tiny battery that could draw power from human blood. The batteries, designed for use in pacemakers and other implantable medical devices, contain a small colony of yeast. The living core of the fuel cell can draw energy from glucose in the blood flowing around it.

io9 goes on to talk about human cyborgs, but doesn't anyone else see the problem here? How long until we go from this:


To this:



I recently had a discussion with a couple of my brother's friends. One of them believes that the robot uprising is imminent, and that behind closed doors, Asimo is really an ass-kicking ninja master bot. Even if that weren't true, once true AI comes around, how long will it take for robots to realize that to enslave humans and turn them into powersources would kill two birds with one stone (nearly limitless source of energy, and freeing up the planet for themselves)?

Somebody better get on the horn to Neo, John Connor and Magnus, Robot Fighter right quick.

Adventures in Parenting Day 901

Last night, it took more than two hours to get terribly two Logan to fall asleep.

He had gotten pretty tired out with two walks to the park and a skipped nap in the afternoon and ended up power napping on the couch while I made dinner. Thus when it was time for bed, he was up and ready to go. But I, foolishly, hoped that he would fall asleep quickly since he didn't sleep that long and he'd been pretty tired. I wanted to try and get him to bed in time to watch LOST (didn't happen, but thankfully Brandi taped it (Yes, I said taped. We don't have a Tivo or DVR or any of that fancy shamncy stuff)).

What did happen was I spent over an hour in his room, first reading to him, then laying next to him in bed, then sitting in the glider while he was in bed, then rocking and singing to him. At his point, I'd had about all I could take and I put him in bed, said goodnight and went downstairs. Begin pissed off crying.

Brandi went up to calm him down and that didn't work, so I went back up and as soon as I entered the room, Logan turned to Brandi and said "bye-bye". I sat in the chair for a few minutes more while he laid quietly in bed and then got up and left. Well he started crying again and pounding on the door and shouting for both of us, first one then the other. At some point he must have hit his little fist on the door too hard because when he hurts himself a little he'll say "okay" in a sad, pathetic voice. Well he hit the door and I heard him say okay a couple times and then he screamed it as loud as he could. It wasn't an "I'm hurt come make it better scream" it was more of a "You bastards locked me in here and now I had to hurt my hand on the door so you better get your ass back in here" kind of scream. It was hard not to laugh then and there.

At about that point we just left him to cry and scream and bang on the door. And eventually, he made his way back to be and fell asleep. My night was shot, cause there were things I wanted to do aside from watch LOST. Then, as I was taking a shower this morning at about 6:15, the door opened and I heard a tentative "Daddie?"

Hopefully he won't be too much of a pill for Brandi today.

Oh, and as a side note, today is my third to last double shift day ever!

Busy Today, Have Some Music

I'm trying to finish up my last article *sniff* a little early so there aren't any issues with it later, and I just can't think of anything I want to blog about today, so have some music.

Going Geek

I picked this meme up from Konstantin's blog. It's very simple to play along, just copy the list and make the stuff you've done bold.

You spent a day watching all of the Lord of the Rings/Star Wars/Star Trek movies.

You spent next two days after watching commentary, outtakes, and behind the scenes footage.

And you bought the soundtrack.

You went to a midnight release of a movie.

You camped in front of the theater for more than 12 hours to get tickets.

Camping did not prevent you from being in costume.

You can have an entire conversation with friends consisting of quotes from your favorite movies.

You own at least three game systems.

-Wii, Xbox, DS, SNES/NES

You have lost weight because you forgot to eat while trying to reach the next level in your game.

-Is that the secret?

You own more than four game controllers (of any kind).

You have existed on three hours of sleep per night so that your "Sims" get eight hours and are refreshed for work.

You upgraded your computer because you wanted to buy a new video game/expansion pack.

You have dressed as your game avatar, or as a npc in that game.

You achieved level 60 on World of Warcraft.

You have played Dungeons and Dragons or any other RPG.

You know what "RPG" stands for.

You dressed as your RPG character would dress.

You own dice with more than six sides.

-At least 6 sets, but it's probably closer to 9 or 10 sets.

You have been accused of having a "gamer" scent.

You can identify a Black Lotus.

You can identify a Charizard.

You have bought any of the Harry Potter books after standing in line until midnight.

You waited to get your Harry Potter book in costume, quoting favorite lines.

You have attended any function with "con" in the name.

-And going to at least one this summer.

You stood in line at said con for more than four hours to have an item signed.

You spent more than $50 on a costume to wear to a con because you wanted it to be authentic.

You own more than 50 comics.

You collect your comics in longboxes.

You know what a "longbox" is.

You've met and had your comics signed by the creator(s).

You know how many Robins there are.

You know that the portrayal of Rogue in the movie X-Men is completely wrong.

You have chatted online more than in person.

You chatted online enough to learn the time zones.

You think that when the Mythbusters say "Don't try this at home," they really don't mean you.

You have participated in a movie/tv marathon that involved a drinking game.

You can sing along with the Buffy musical episode.

You know Seth Green from more than just the Austin Powers movies.

You can name all eight Kevin Smith-directed movies without referring to IMdb.

You have participated in a Clerks-esque discussion about Star Wars (or any other movie).

You have participated in a Kirk vs. Picard discussion.

You have participated in a Star Wars vs. Star Trek discussion.

You have participated in a Babylon 5 vs. Star Trek: Deep Space Nine discussion.

You know who "jms" is.

You have ever corrected anyone who called you a Trekkie.

You have worn a Star Fleet uniform.

You own a Star Fleet uniform.

You think Twilight is lame because everyone knows that vampires burst into flame in the sunlight.

You have written fanfic.

You have watched Bizzare Foods and thought "I'd try that."

You can pinpoint the moment at which Lost jumped the shark.

You know who Stan Lee is.

You know who Jack Kirby is.

You know who Geoff Johns is.

You have built a website.

You have started a blog.

You maintained a blog for over a year.

You know what the Genie SFRT is.

You have a Twitter account.

You have over 500 followers on Twitter.

You purchased a smartphone just so you could check Twitter on the road.

You forget your family members' birthdays because they aren't your friends on Facebook.

You have given virtual gifts on Facebook.

You have gotten a date through Facebook (and we're not talking dinner and movie with your buddies).

You have broken up with someone/been broken up with through Facebook.

You've reached level 30 or higher in Mafia Wars.

You know what Mafia Wars is.

You participated in more than three social networks.

You've spent more than 200 hours playing the same video game.

You've seen any movie in the theater more than three times.

You can name the episode of MST3K where Joel was replaced by Mike.

You've argued why the comic is way superior to the show/movie when discussing The Tick, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, X-Men, Fantastic Four, Spider-Man, etc.

-Original TMNT kicked ass!

You have the soundtrack for Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog on your MP3 player.

You are willing to defend the Star Wars prequels.

You openly disparage the Star Wars prequels because they don't live up to Empire.

You're openly concerned about the timeline ramifications that J.J. Abram's Star Trek movie presents to the canon.

You own anything written by Neil Gaiman, Alan Moore, or H.P. Lovecraft.

You have a flying spaghetti monster on your car.

You've seen a midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show with live actors in front of the screen.

You know the REAL reason Spider-Man had a black costume.

You know the NCC numbers of at least two starships other than the Enterprise.

You know what "NCC" stands for.

You own an original Star Trek Concordance, Technical Manual, and Blueprints.

-I have Star Wars blueprints, but I guess that doesn't count.

You own at least two medieval weapons.

You have participated in battles with foam-covered swords.

You know who "Major Matt Mason" is.

You have seen bootleg copies of the original Fantastic Four and Justice League movies.

-hours of my life I can't get back.

After having had children you realize there's now more people to costume and relish it.

You've managed to turn four days at Euroquest* into nearly eight because, who needs sleep?

You've spent more than $1000 on your "spot-on" costume (and it's still not quite right...).

You've made a fan film.

Your fan film has been seen by more than your immediate family.

People know you by your online name instead of your mundane name

You know what Pennsic is.

You've camped at Pennsic.

You have/had personalized plates on your car proudly proclaiming your fandom.

Your spouse and/or friends do as well.

You yell at your kids when they try to open a toy/book/comic/figure/etc. that you're collecting.

Your kids have broken your Hallmark collectible Star Trek/Star Wars, etc., ornament.

You've traveled more than 500 miles to attend a con.

You have a tattoo related to your fandom of choice.

You met your spouse at a fan-related event or con.

You got engaged (to be married!) at a sci-fi convention.

You are publicly willing to defend Dollhouse, because Joss Whedon must be trusted.

Ah, pretty geeky. But there's no big surprise there.

So Much To Do, So Little Time

To be done this weekend:

-Finish laying down floor in dining room
-Re-install 1/4 round in dining room
-Clean house before my mother comes over Sunday
-Clean up the play area in the basement

To get in the way of that, there's watching a two-year old, working an 8-hour shift tomorrow, lunch with friends on Sunday, and any other little thing that might pop up.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

Big things going on here at TTBC. I think most of my regular readers will know what I’m talking about, but for the rest of you here’s the scoop. Last week I talked about waiting, and now the wait is over.

First off. My lovely wife is pregnant again! She’s due on September 30, give or take, and while we had a couple scares early on, everything appears to be ok. The last doctor visit showed everything to be on track and there was no cause for concern with the initial screenings. For purely nerdy reasons, I’m hoping the baby’s born on September 28, because then we’d have a birthday exactly every two weeks for a month and a half. It really doesn’t matter to me when the baby’s born as long as it’s healthy, but I think we’d have a good rhythm established if it turned out that way.

Secondly, I got a new job! This is such a relief to Brandi and myself. I’ll be working full-time at the library now, and while I’m supposed to work 40 hours a week, I was warned that for managers it’s more like 50, which is still 10 less than I’m working now. The call came yesterday after I’d gotten home, and I told my boss this morning. She didn’t want to see me go, but took the news well and wished me luck. I’ve still got a couple weeks to finish up here, finish my assignments and tie up loose ends, but I’m looking forward to the new opportunity.

I hope everything’s going well for all of you.

The Secrets of Getting Published with Marcus Sakey

Last Wednesday I went to "The Secrets of Getting Published" Seminar with Marcus Sakey at the Des Plaines Public Library, and because I'm a lazy blogger, I'm just getting around to writing about it now.

For those of you who don't know, Sakey is a Chicago-based crime/suspense novelist who has four novels out now with another one on the way this year. I read his second book, At the City's Edge, after seeing it on one of John Scalzi's Big Idea pieces. I really enjoyed the book.

So, Sakey came to tell us all about the process of getting published. He outlined the process which, according to him, goes like this:

1. Write the book
2. After the book is finished, put it aside and give it time to let it cool.
3. Give it to friends and family to read, at least 5
4. Read it through yourself, all in one sitting if possible
5. Mark it up A LOT
6. Remember it's not going to be perfect
7. There should be tension and conflict on every page
8. Get an agent
9. Agents get 5-50 quesry letters a day, so make sure there's no reason to disqualify you
10. While you're waiting for agents to respond, get going on the next book.

Aside from that, he said the most important rule for beginning rules is "Butt in chair, fingers on keyboard." The process of writing must be treated as a job. He recommended 1,000 words per day, five days a week, which unfortunately, I haven't been able to do lately. He said one way to get an agent is to look at the acknowledgements of the books of the authors you like to build up a list of agents to send to. He also equated self-publishing to the kiss of death.

Then he opened it up to Q&A for about an hour. I took a recording of the event, but haven't checked to see how well it came out yet. Maybe I'll transcribe it (don't hold your breath). One of the most interesting things that night, aside from the talk, was that about half the room appeared to be made up of retirees. One gentleman, 75, sitting in front of me had spent five years writing a young adult novel, and was going to have it self-published because he was "too old to wait around for the whole publishing process." Another gentleman, who looked even older, said he has a 360,000-word autobiography of his time in WWII. When the guy said 360,000 words, Sakey's jaw just about hit the floor. You're average novel, you see, is about 85,000 to 100,000 words.

I'm glad I went, and afterward, Sakey signed the copy of his book I brought with me and gave me some encouraging words. Aside from what I've shared here, he also has some documents for writers on his website that are worth checking out.