5 June 2010

[13:45] Eddi Haskell: hi / lol
[13:49] Jago Constantine: Hi, Alyria!
[13:49] Alyria Bovarro: Hey all! how's it going?
[13:49] Eddi Haskell: hola senoira
[13:50] Alyria Bovarro: sorry waiting for everything to load
[13:50] Jago Constantine: It loads a little slow here :)
[13:50] Eddi Haskell: I know. you can have a tooth extraction in the time it takes to load
[13:51] Alyria Bovarro: lol / how are you both today?
[13:52] Jago Constantine: Good thanks :)
[13:52] Eddi Haskell: I'm okay
[13:52] Jago Constantine: How are you?
[13:52] Alyria Bovarro: I'm great, thanks
[13:53] Eddi Haskell: waiting for some cool thunderstorm / we get thunderstorms a lot this time of year
[13:53] Jago Constantine: heh
[13:54] Eddi Haskell: in south Florida / oh goody weather alert / let's see if I have to run for cover lol
[13:55] Jago Constantine: lol
[13:55] Eddi Haskell: nah its 30 miles north
[13:55] Alyria Bovarro: lol wow. I am really jealous. It's just been cold here for months.
[13:55] Eddi Haskell: where r u
[13:56] Alyria Bovarro: canada
[13:56] Eddi Haskell: its cold there ay? / canada day is soon i get to wear my mounty outfit
[13:56] Alyria Bovarro: well, it's about 18C today. So it's getting warmer. But just two days ago it was 7C and before that lik -10C on average / XD / We aren't actually all mounties and we don't live in igloos XD
[13:57] Eddi Haskell: where are you in the Yukin? / lol
[13:57] Alyria Bovarro: yukin?
[13:57] Eddi Haskell: yeah but mounties are hot / Yukon
[13:57] Alyria Bovarro: do you mean Yukon / lol
[13:57] Eddi Haskell: yeah
[13:57] Alyria Bovarro: No, Alberta
[13:57] Eddi Haskell: i went to canada to check out the mounties
[13:57] Alyria Bovarro: it does get warm here in the summer, sometimes hitting 30C. But I wish I lived somewhere warm year round haha / And how'd that go
[13:57] Eddi Haskell: i am trying so hard not to drive people away from the meeting / well we went to niagara falls candada and it was fun!
[13:58] Alyria Bovarro: It's so beautiful there! / Have you been to the rockies?
[13:58] Eddi Haskell: no / i was in Utah
[13:58] Alyria Bovarro: You should go one day.
[13:58] Eddi Haskell: and idaho / i want to go to Banff
[13:58] Alyria Bovarro: haha good times in Idaho
[13:58] Eddi Haskell: to lake louise
[13:58] Alyria Bovarro: I love it there
[13:59] Eddi Haskell: which is more fun / edmonton or calgary
[13:59] Alyria Bovarro: OH boy. Depends what you're looking for. I don't really know the difference to be honest. Edmonton has more artsy stuff I suppose.
[13:59] Eddi Haskell: yeah/ cool / i want to see cowboys
[14:00] Alyria Bovarro: lol then you should go to calgary
[14:00] Eddi Haskell: yeah / cool
[14:00] Alyria Bovarro: afk for a moment
[14:00] Eddi Haskell: there is a movie of me on my stallion Nelson as oh Canada is played around us to fireworks / I can give you the link
[14:00] Jago Constantine: Hi, Mersilkee :)
[14:00] Eddi Haskell: lol / hiya merilkee
[14:01] mersilkee Restless: hi
[14:01] Jago Constantine: We're just about to get started / So if you haven't been before, the way the group works is
[14:02] Alyria Bovarro: back
[14:02] Jago Constantine: we go round the group and take turns discussing what science fiction we've been reading / welcome back, Alyria :) / Eddi ... have you read any sci fi lately?
[14:03] Eddi Haskell: lol / I read a major book review
[14:03] Jago Constantine: oh?
[14:04] Eddi Haskell: it's called is anyone out there / it's collection of works around two theories / of extra terrestrial intelligence / .
[14:04] Jago Constantine: Welcome, Armand :)
[14:04] Eddi Haskell: that appeared in the sunday times on may 15
[14:05] Armand Saintlouis: hi there
[14:05] Eddi Haskell: hi armand / the first throry was written many years ago by enrico fermi / works like this / if there IS intelligent life elsewhere / then why have we not been able to observe it YET / the emphasis is on the word yet / and the second theorem is by Steven Hawking / who is the subject of much of the book / is there IS intelligent life elsewhere / we need to keep away from it / and not make ourselves noticeable
[14:06] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:06] Eddi Haskell: which makes sense to me
[14:07] Alyria Bovarro: totally
[14:07] Eddi Haskell: i dont think there is intelligent life elsewhere
[14:07] Jago Constantine: so is it fiction or non fiction?
[14:07] Eddi Haskell: i thik its both jago
[14:07] Jago Constantine: ok sounds interesting
[14:07] Eddi Haskell: the fermi paradox / is very important / which can be simply stated as, Where Is Everybody? If there are really millions of star-systems in the universe capable of supporting life, as scientists theorized in the early part of the 20th Century, a large percentage of which may have developed technological civilizations, then why haven't any of those alien civilizations visited us? / ya know / i have to be honest with eveyrone / I am a very big doubter / of intelligent life elsewhere. / i mean / surely / someone would hhave tried to contact us by now in ways in which we canunderstand / and secondly as Hawking says / there are so many ways in which we can be harmed / lets keep hidden / how do you feel / in your gut / about intelligent life elsewhere / i am a firm beleiver in gut dynamics / meaning what you feel is probalby correct / how do you feel Jago
[14:10] Jago Constantine: well I think it's out there
[14:10] Eddi Haskell: why
[14:10] Jago Constantine: but rare / lol gut feeling
[14:10] Eddi Haskell: lol
[14:11] Alyria Bovarro: I don't see why, if we are here, and haven't contacted them, why they can't be there not having contacted us. / They don't have to be any more or less intelligent than we are
[14:11] Eddi Haskell: how would they get here do ya think
[14:11] Alyria Bovarro: and the universe is huge. There is no way that we will ever "see" all of it
[14:11] Jago Constantine: yeah
[14:11] Alyria Bovarro: since it technically, as far as we know, has no boundaries
[14:11] Eddi Haskell: we can only see our own dimension anyway / according the majority of physics departments at major universities today there are other dimensions we cannot observe
[14:12] Alyria Bovarro: exactly. So we will never know if there is another life form if it is not in our dimension
[14:12] Eddi Haskell: maybe they reside there
[14:12] Alyria Bovarro: 11, in fact
[14:12] Eddi Haskell: really?
[14:12] Alyria Bovarro: Yessir
[14:13] Eddi Haskell: is that that string theory is saying????????? / wow / do you know something someone can read about this
[14:14] Alyria Bovarro: Um, not sure about read but if you watch Stephen Hawking's Into The Universe series.
[14:14] mersilkee Restless: I think part of the problem is that the universe is so huge and other intelligent species also would have a hard time getting to us. I read an article about a book describing the probability of a civilization surviving long enough to get to the point that they would have the techonology to go all over the universe and it would be very few.
[14:14] Eddi Haskell: your right / cause / it would take them so long to reach here
[14:14] Alyria Bovarro: Um, and I know another scientists website, hold on I'll try to find it
[14:14] Eddi Haskell: i dont know about Jago / hes the boss / but all this stull really interests me
[14:15] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:15] Eddi Haskell: hes being quiet today lol
[14:15] Jago Constantine: Well its been interesting to listen to :)
[14:15] Eddi Haskell: Alyria / no one i know / can talk intelligentally about string theory dimentions / you can it seems
[14:16] Jago Constantine: Hi, Lucrecia :)
[14:16] Eddi Haskell: are you studied in it?
[14:16] Alyria Bovarro: Only from the reading I've done about it
[14:16] Eddi Haskell: hi lucrecia / i'm super interested / cause / it is eveyrthing / if that can be proben / proven / in fact it related direclty
[14:17] Alyria Bovarro: Indeed, it is. It will open a lot of bolted doors for us
[14:17] Eddi Haskell: into what we are talking about / string theory makes our perception of time and distance irrelevant / thank you for that / now / my mother / who is a very intelligent woman / fiercely beleives in von Dankians theories / that we have been visited by extraterrestials
[14:18] Jago Constantine: lol really?
[14:18] Eddi Haskell: yep
[14:18] Jago Constantine: hmm
[14:18] Eddi Haskell: because there is too much evidence / in the bible / other ancient cultures
[14:18] Alyria Bovarro: Isn't it von Daniken?
[14:18] Jago Constantine: yes
[14:18] Alyria Bovarro: Ok haha
[14:19] Eddi Haskell: yes / like if you read the Bible / it's freaky / if you are looking for extraterrestial stuff / the burning bush
[14:19] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:19] Eddi Haskell: the fire that appeared at night guilding the people in the exodus / the pillar of smoke at day / its all so UFO / Jago thinks im crazy but i beleive in ghosts / i can see em somtimes / lol / why not ufos / ok / i am still getting over RSI
[14:20] Jago Constantine: ok eddi
[14:21] Eddi Haskell: lol
[14:21] Jago Constantine: Alyria have you read any sci fi lately?
[14:21] Alyria Bovarro: Yes, actually. The new-ish series by Robert Sawyer lol / Really really interesting
[14:22] Jago Constantine: Cool what's it called?
[14:23] Alyria Bovarro: WWW: Wake and his new one is WWW: Watch / The third comes out next spring ish
[14:24] Jago Constantine: so they're about the world wide web?
[14:24] Alyria Bovarro: kind of...an intelligent entity that has suddenly emerged inside the world wide web...you'd have to read it lol I don't want to give it all away
[14:25] Jago Constantine: heh ok
[14:25] Alyria Bovarro: basically a Japanese scientist finds a way to make a blind girl see, and something happened to make this entity emerge
[14:25] Eddi Haskell: the semantic web
[14:25] mersilkee Restless: what is the url to find those books or any discussion about them?
[14:26] Eddi Haskell: I've written alot about the intelligent web in fl / rl
[14:26] Jago Constantine: you could google them / Robert Sawyer WWW
[14:26] Alyria Bovarro: yeah, I believe its on the front page of his website as well
[14:26] Jago Constantine: Hi, Brekka :)
[14:26] Brekka Sveiss: hello
[14:26] Alyria Bovarro: hey
[14:27] Eddi Haskell: hi Brekka
[14:27] Brekka Sveiss: hi just thought I'd stop by
[14:27] Jago Constantine: thanks :) / I'm not sure if WWW makes sense for a series about artificial intelligence / isn't the web just the hypertext component of the internet?
[14:28] Eddi Haskell: to me it makes sense / the current iteration of the web / is so primitive / in terms of what i could be
[14:28] Alyria Bovarro: You'd have to read it and find out...Its not on the actual internet, its in the "space" between the net.
[14:28] Jago Constantine: heh yeah I thought so
[14:29] Eddi Haskell: I can bore people but the most important standard is called RDF or resource description framework / that is going to make the web intelligent
[14:29] Jago Constantine: LOL that does sound boring :P / j/k
[14:29] Eddi Haskell: I wont talk about it its about information / lol
[14:30] Jago Constantine: So I guess you'd recommend Robert Sawyer's WWW series alyria?
[14:30] Alyria Bovarro: Definitely. A very easy read, but well written and informative regardless of the fact that its fiction / Very well done
[14:30] Jago Constantine: he wrote Flash Forward didn't he? I liked that one
[14:31] Alyria Bovarro: yeah, he is a very good author
[14:32] Jago Constantine: Thanks, Alyria :) ... Mersilkee, do you have any sci fi to discuss?
[14:34] mersilkee Restless: no, I haven't been able to do any reading lately. I've been writing but I have enjoyed two readings in Sl recently, Beyond an Open Window and last night Wanda the Robot
[14:35] Eddi Haskell: Where are these readings / I love readings
[14:35] Jago Constantine: cool
[14:36] Alyria Bovarro: I think I've heard Wanda the Robot. It rings a bell. Hm. / What's it about?
[14:36] mersilkee Restless: Oh I think it is Beside an open Window. Unfortunately, Hux who readBeyond an open window just finished his last chapter. I don't remember the full name of the author last night but his name was Harvey and it was here on book island. / It is about a robot who stays with a family over many generations. The first chapter was Wanda talking about herself. The author did a voice sim to sound like a robot. It was quite entertaining.
[14:38] Jago Constantine: cool
[14:38] Alyria Bovarro: awesome :)
[14:38] Jago Constantine: There are a few stories about faithful robots like that
[14:38] Eddi Haskell: Like Rosie in the Jetsons
[14:38] Jago Constantine: lol not what I was thinking of
[14:38] mersilkee Restless: yes indeed.
[14:39] Alyria Bovarro: lol!
[14:39] Jago Constantine: maybe Bicentennial Man / Asimov
[14:40] Eddi Haskell: hi kacy
[14:40] Jago Constantine: Or Simak's book City
[14:40] mersilkee Restless: the other book where I had listened to several readings took place in a Metaverse where dead people had had their brains scanned and lived ther.
[14:40] Alyria Bovarro: Oh Asimov
[14:40] Jago Constantine: oh thats interesting / some people would love to be scanned into second life lol
[14:41] Eddi Haskell: scanned? / I think it would be great not to have to go to the dentist
[14:41] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:42] mersilkee Restless: or to the doctor or not to be in constant pain. that would be wonderful. The Metaverse Fiction reminds me those books about The River, can't think of the titles
[14:43] Alyria Bovarro: Haha that would be awesome
[14:43] Jago Constantine: hmm not sure about the river books / Thanks, Mersilkee :) / Ok I've just finished reading Red Claw, by Philip Palmer
[14:44] Alyria Bovarro: Hi Sublim / What's that about?
[14:44] Jago Constantine: Hi, Sublim :)
[14:44] Sublim Selona: Hi All
[14:44] Jago Constantine: It's an action science fiction novel with a kind of ecological bent / It reminded me a bit of Avatar the movie
[14:45] Eddi Haskell: hi Sublim
[14:45] Jago Constantine: Basically humans have come to an alien world / with a fascinating but deadly ecology
[14:45] Sublim Selona: Hello Eddi
[14:45] Jago Constantine: the humans are in two factions - scientists and military / The scientists are studying the ecology of the planet before it gets destroyed for human colonisation
[14:46] Alyria Bovarro: Oh neat. Will have to look into this one.
[14:46] Jago Constantine: It seems pretty much the general outline of Avatar lol
[14:46] Eddi Haskell: that's very interesting and pertinent
[14:47] Jago Constantine: The book has a lot of action in it, mainly fights with rogue robots and weird monsters / but there's a funny sub theme in which we have diary entries about taxonomy from one of the scientists / which I found entertaining lol
[14:48] Alyria Bovarro: lol no doubt / sounds very interesting
[14:49] Jago Constantine: It is, it made me think there should be a word for novels / in which the ecosystem of a planet is almost a character / such as Brian Aldiss' Hothouse / hmm I can't think of other examples offhand / ecopunk maybe, although the punk isn't really relevant
[14:50] Alyria Bovarro: ecosim?
[14:50] ALE2009 Neutron: OLÁ
[14:50] Jago Constantine: Hi, ALE :)
[14:50] Alyria Bovarro: Hi ALE
[14:51] ALE2009 Neutron: Que lugar é este?
[14:51] Jago Constantine: Anyway, I recommend it ... Red Claw, by Philip Palmer / The title is a reference to the Tennyson line / Nature, red in tooth and claw / With ravine, shriek'd against his creed
[14:52] Alyria Bovarro: I love Tennyson. haha
[14:52] Jago Constantine: Hehe / Anyway, that's all of us ... / next week we'll be listening to a podcast story again / We do that every second week.
[14:53] Alyria Bovarro: darn, I work every second week
[14:53] Jago Constantine: Aw thats a shame / At the moment the story will be 'The Love Quest of Smidgen the Snack Cake' by Robert T. Jeschonek / It's told from the point of view of a snack cake ...
[14:54] Alyria Bovarro: LOL
[14:54] mersilkee Restless: Interesting.
[14:55] Jago Constantine: ... and it IS science fiction, not fantasy :)
[14:55] Alyria Bovarro: :)
[14:55] Jago Constantine: A transcript of today's meeting will be up soon at http://sciencefictiondiscussion.blogspot.com/ / Do either of you want invites to the science fiction discussion group, Alyria and mersilkee?
[14:56] Alyria Bovarro: Sure / Thanks :)
[14:57] Jago Constantine: Ok ... so same time next week or the week after / hope you can make it!
[14:57] Alyria Bovarro: Thanks guys!
[14:57] Eddi Haskell: bye all see you next week
[14:57] Jago Constantine: Thanks for coming!