4 July 2009: Walpole

[13:24] Melch Savon: Hey Jago -- early for once
[13:24] Jago Constantine: Hey, Melch /cool outfit
[13:24] Melch Savon: Thanks -- found it wandering around last night
[13:25] Jago Constantine: Where from?
[13:25] Melch Savon: let me check the note in inventory
[13:25] Melch Savon: Blue Galaxy. They make you buy it piecemeal though, so it adds up.
[13:25] Jago Constantine: heh
[13:25] Melch Savon: I think I am wearing about L$1500
[13:26] Jago Constantine: I like the mall at Insilico ... some great things there
[13:26] Melch Savon: Insilico remains one of the coolest places I've seen in SL -- not that I have seen it all by any means, but still
[13:26] Melch Savon: I found a 40 foot tall cross in Golden Gate Park yesterday
[13:26] Jago Constantine: RL?
[13:27] Melch Savon: Apparently it is the site that Francis Drake's minister preached the first sermon in English in North America
[13:27] Melch Savon: Yes, wrapping up a guided tour iPhone app
[13:27] Jago Constantine: wow
[13:27] Melch Savon: Doing the park first -- I spent three hours going around and getting latitude / longitude readings.
[13:27] Jago Constantine: there you go / what were the readings for?
[13:29] Melch Savon: So you can say 'how do I get there from wherever I am right now' and I can map it on Google Maps
[13:29] Jago Constantine: ah
[13:29] Melch Savon: Later I'll make a web site where people can make their own tours, or even games where you only find things out if it is a certain time of day.
[13:29] Jago Constantine: hehe
[13:29] Melch Savon: Then I'll add in overlays to reality / Virtual objects on the iPhone screen which is showing what the camera sees, than sort of thing
[13:30] Jago Constantine: cool project
[13:30] Melch Savon: It's a hobby, but the nice thing about being laid off (the only nice thing) is I can work on my projects
[13:30] Jago Constantine: heh
[13:30] Jago Constantine: a man of leisure
[13:31] Melch Savon: Until I can't pay the bills any longer
[13:31] Jago Constantine: yeah
[13:31] Melch Savon: Which means pretty soon I'll have to leave San Francisco for cheaper locales
[13:31] Jago Constantine: somewhere close?
[13:31] Melch Savon: Luckily I own an empty condo in Phoenix. The tenant had to leave, and there is no mortgage, so living there will be cheap / No, not really close / Nor as cool of a place
[13:32] Jago Constantine: ah ... that will be a cultural change
[13:32] Melch Savon: I lived there 4.5 years. Its not like I can do alot while keeping costs to a minimum anyways
[13:32] Jago Constantine: yeah
[13:32] Melch Savon: I have some contract work leads, hopefully they will pan out as well
[13:32] Jago Constantine: great
[13:33] Melch Savon: Enough about my little world though -- what have you been up to?
[13:33] Jago Constantine: well we're still waiting for this parcel to be swapped for zindra land
[13:34] Jago Constantine: the lindens got like 700 swap requests in the first hour I think
[13:34] Melch Savon: Ouch
[13:34] Jago Constantine: they were being processed in order, and we're 10.07am / lol / I think they did like 5 minutes worth / now they paused for the weekend
[13:35] Melch Savon: It's a big holiday here in the US too. They probably left early yesterday. Most businesses never even opened
[13:35] Melch Savon: A bit after this I am heading off to join the festivities myself
[13:36] Jago Constantine: cool
[13:36] Jago Constantine: fireworks and barbecues>
[13:36] Jago Constantine: ?
[13:36] Melch Savon: Well, assuming I don't let myself get sucked into working on the iphone app. I need to wrap it up to start the next project
[13:37] Jago Constantine: heh
[13:37] Melch Savon: Building a web site with professional quality writers tools. You pay $50 to $100 in the store, with $80 a year in upgrades. I'll sell it as a webservice for $3 a month.
[13:37] Jago Constantine: cool
[13:38] Melch Savon: A friend of mine just left the board of a screenwriters association -- if I make a version that formats for screenwriters, he says he'll push it in his group
[13:38] Melch Savon: For a revenue split of course
[13:38] Jago Constantine: hehe
[13:38] Melch Savon: Yeah, there's lots of cool stuff that can be done out there
[13:38] Jago Constantine: indeed
[13:40] Melch Savon: oh, and I continue to fight the urge to learn to build in SL. I just don't think I have as much hope of making $ there.
[13:41] Melch Savon pauses ... he does too much at once, doesn't he?
[13:41] Jago Constantine: heh ... I have a lot of things going on too :P / I think it's achievable to break even with SL
[13:42] Melch Savon: Sure -- but make a living? Some people do, but I think the odds are against you
[13:42] Jago Constantine: well if you make a good product ...
[13:43] Jago Constantine: I mean, I sell t-shirts with national flags on them
[13:43] Jago Constantine: they're not too great, but I sell 1 a day for L$50
[13:43] Melch Savon: Hmm .. . I have never tried, so I have to go with your experience here
[13:43] Jago Constantine: lol / with no marketing
[13:43] Melch Savon: That's pretty nice actually
[13:43] Jago Constantine: they just keep going out through xstreetsl
[13:44] Jago Constantine: and I don't even have a US flag :P
[13:44] Jago Constantine: I sold a bunch for canada day this week
[13:44] Jago Constantine: this is papua new guinea
[13:44] Melch Savon: Should have done the US. We celebrate being a country today
[13:45] Jago Constantine: yeah lol
[13:45] Melch Savon: I'm sure lots of people were looking for it
[13:45] Jago Constantine: I'll have it done for next year / Because it's more of a hobby (I plan to have all the flags eventually) / I'm not fussed about doing the US first :P
[13:46] Melch Savon: It would have been a product of opportunity anyways. No one would buy it tomorrow
[13:46] Melch Savon: THat is a really nicely done shirt though
[13:46] Jago Constantine: Hey, Cache, welcome
[13:46] Melch Savon: Hello there Cache
[13:46] Cache Forster: Greetings Folks :)
[13:46] Jago Constantine: Cool avatar ... you remind me of teddy roosevelt
[13:47] Melch Savon starts thinking of the puns ... cache fault ... cache hit ... cache miss ...
[13:47] Cache Forster: this avatar "Has been rode hard .....and put up wet"
[13:48] Jago Constantine: lol / have a look around the ship if you want / the meeting is in 10 minutes or so
[13:48] Cache Forster: Thank you
[13:49] Jago Constantine: I'm running a promotions group for zindra residents
[13:49] Jago Constantine: even though I haven't moved yet :P
[13:50] Jago Constantine: we had a big zindrapendence day party last night
[13:50] Melch Savon: Zindrapendence?
[13:50] Jago Constantine: heh independence day/opening of zindra
[13:51] Melch Savon: No, I got it -- I just thought it was funny
[13:51] Jago Constantine: heh / we had about 30+ people on the sim for 4 hours dancing / great dj / SO, Cache, do you always wear that shape?
[13:58] Cache Forster: is this on the continent of Ursala ?
[13:58] Jago Constantine: No, it's not
[13:58] Jago Constantine: I'm waiting for a land swap for my museum upstairs
[13:59] Jago Constantine: Hi, Groove, welcome
[13:59] Jago Constantine: :)
[13:59] Groove Dagger: hello / wow it's hard to get in here
[13:59] Jago Constantine: sorry, did you miss the landmark giver?
[13:59] Melch Savon: Hey Groove
[14:00] Groove Dagger: yeah... first the event teleported me to ground level
[14:00] Jago Constantine: ah strange
[14:00] Cache Forster: soory I am not ignoring your question of trying to be terse -
[14:00] Jago Constantine: Well, it's gone 2pm, so if you would like to sit down we can start :) / Basically for you newcomers, we go round the group and talk about the last science fiction we read / you're welcome to just sit in and audit if you want to
[14:01] Groove Dagger: oh right, i just found out this event a couple hours ago, so i haven't exactly prepared
[14:01] Jago Constantine: No worries :) / You might feel more comfortable when you've heard the rest of us :)
[14:02] Groove Dagger: alrighty then ㋡
[14:02] Jago Constantine: Anyway, I've been re-reading Douglas Adams' 'Mostly Harmless'
[14:03] Jago Constantine: book 5 of his Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy
[14:03] Jago Constantine: :P
[14:03] Jago Constantine: It's as funny as the other ones, but it has a slightly more cynical or melancholy tone to it
[14:04] Melch Savon: Eddi!
[14:04] Groove Dagger: hello eddi
[14:04] Jago Constantine: Hi, Eddi :)
[14:04] Jago Constantine: we just started
[14:04] Eddi Haskell: hi / rezzing
[14:04] Jago Constantine: Sure
[14:04] Jago Constantine: Anyway there's one hilarious sequence in the novel where Arthur Dent, the hapless protagonist of the series
[14:05] Eddi Haskell: how is everyone
[14:05] Jago Constantine: ends up on a prehistoric planet
[14:05] Jago Constantine: there's an old trope in sci fi about people travelling to primitive times or worlds and introducing technology
[14:06] Jago Constantine: well arthur realises, like many people in the modern world, that he doesn't know much about making things
[14:06] Jago Constantine: so he ends up introducing the one invention he can reliably make
[14:06] Jago Constantine: the sandwich :P
[14:07] Bryce Galbraith: Hi all.
[14:07] Eddi Haskell: hi bryce
[14:07] Groove Dagger: hello bryce
[14:07] Melch Savon waves
[14:07] Jago Constantine: Hi, bryce, welcome
[14:08] Bryce Galbraith: Been a while since I've been able to come by here.
[14:08] Melch Savon: Arthur invents beer?
[14:08] Jago Constantine: heh no ... just the sandwich
[14:08] Melch Savon: The towel?
[14:09] Groove Dagger: i remember that book
[14:09] Melch Savon: *sigh* Civilization must start somewhere I guess
[14:09] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:09] Groove Dagger: i read a single compilation of all 5 (6?) back to back
[14:10] Groove Dagger: the ending was a bit of a downer
[14:10] Jago Constantine: oh did we lose Cache?
[14:10] Jago Constantine: yeah it was
[14:10] Groove Dagger: douglas said that he was depressed when he wrote that one, and he regreted it later
[14:10] Jago Constantine: yeah... that comes across
[14:10] Bryce Galbraith: Are you talking about the last books in the Hitchhiker's series?
[14:11] Groove Dagger: so he was sorta thinking about a 6th book where everyone ends up in the afterlife or something ㋡
[14:11] Jago Constantine: Mostly Harmless
[14:11] Bryce Galbraith: I came in mid-conversation...sorry.
[14:11] Jago Constantine: no worries :)
[14:12] Bryce Galbraith: Yeah, I read the Hitchhiker's series and sometimes give the first three a re-read, but I thought 'So Long and Thanks for All the Fish' and definitely 'Mostly Harmless' kinda went awry.
[14:12] Groove Dagger: yeah fish was a bit strange, a lot of pointless flying...
[14:13] Groove Dagger: i finally saw the tv version, it was all over youtube ㋡ pretty cool
[14:13] Jago Constantine: yeah I like the tv version
[14:14] Jago Constantine: many don't :P
[14:14] Bryce Galbraith: Yeah, I thought the tv version was rather more true to the books. The movie went off into something unrecognizable.
[14:14] Bryce Galbraith: I never heard the radio version though.
[14:14] Groove Dagger: i had the radio version. i dont remember if i finished it
[14:15] Melch Savon: I relistened to it 2 weeks ago -- I still think the radio version is the best
[14:15] Groove Dagger: tv is better, probably. the voice acting is almost the same
[14:16] Groove Dagger: but the radio one is more "complete"
[14:16] Bryce Galbraith: I guess the radio version was really the original and the books came later.
[14:16] Bryce Galbraith: .. and then the tv version after that.
[14:16] Groove Dagger: i'm not sure of that
[14:16] Groove Dagger: i had the order written down somewhere
[14:16] Bryce Galbraith: Did any of you read the 'Dirk Gently' books?
[14:16] Melch Savon: Years ago, yeah.
[14:16] Jago Constantine: yes, I really like them
[14:17] Groove Dagger: oh you're right, radio, book then tv. at least the beginning
[14:17] Jago Constantine: yeah I think thats the order
[14:17] Jago Constantine: and there was a text based computer game
[14:18] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:18] Groove Dagger: oh i have that game memorized
[14:18] Groove Dagger: i played it when it came out on my c-64
[14:18] Bryce Galbraith: Yeah, that's right... from Infocom. I had that :)
[14:18] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:18] Bryce Galbraith: That was actually pretty funny to play... as a text-based game it worked well actually.
[14:18] Groove Dagger: i even had the box and all, with the plastic bag containing a microscopic space fleet :D
[14:18] Bryce Galbraith: Yep! :)
[14:18] Jago Constantine: wow
[14:18] Groove Dagger: and peril sensitive glasses
[14:19] Bryce Galbraith: and the fluff... and I think a 'Don't Panic' button maybe.
[14:19] Groove Dagger: i can play it end to end without reloading, haha
[14:19] Groove Dagger: there's a flash version on the BBC site.
[14:19] Jago Constantine: oh that's cool
[14:20] Groove Dagger: with fan art graphics
[14:20] Groove Dagger: oh also someone found and old hard disk of infocom, with the sequel
[14:20] Jago Constantine: Hi, celt, welcome!
[14:20] Groove Dagger: but it was mostly a draft with two incomplete rooms :D
[14:20] Bryce Galbraith: Hi Celt
[14:20] Groove Dagger: hi celt
[14:21] Jago Constantine: awesome avatar
[14:21] Celt Faith: hello
[14:21] Eddi Haskell: oh lord i thought it was my older sister for a second
[14:21] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:21] Eddi Haskell: hi there penguin
[14:21] Bryce Galbraith: Yes, very nice av...
[14:21] Celt Faith: ty
[14:21] Groove Dagger: great avie... i need to find how to do that
[14:21] Celt Faith: so what did I miss
[14:22] Jago Constantine: we've been discussing douglas adms
[14:22] Jago Constantine: adams
[14:22] Jago Constantine: I re-read Mostly Harmless
[14:22] Jago Constantine: this week
[14:22] Celt Faith: I have heard the name but I hvae not read anything that he has done
[14:22] Jago Constantine: Ok ... he's a very funny and clever writer
[14:22] Groove Dagger: i played starship titanic also
[14:22] Jago Constantine: he was
[14:22] Celt Faith: starship titanic, there is a new one for me
[14:23] Bryce Galbraith: I'd say Douglas Adams and the Hitchhiker's series was a pretty significant part of my education growing up :) That and Monty Python....
[14:23] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:23] Groove Dagger: lately i've got most of my british humour from PTerry.
[14:24] Jago Constantine: yes, I like his early books better :)
[14:24] Groove Dagger: me too, they're a bit more substance
[14:25] Jago Constantine: Ok, Bryce... read anything good this week?
[14:25] Groove Dagger: adams was a bit more gag-based, but still pretty good
[14:26] Bryce Galbraith: Unfortunately I haven't.... been really busy with work this past week to the exclusion of most everything else :(
[14:26] Jago Constantine: no worries :)
[14:26] Jago Constantine: how about since you were with us last?
[14:27] Bryce Galbraith: I did pick up Vernor Vinge's 'Rainbows End' but I haven't had a chance to get into that yet.
[14:27] Jago Constantine: ok ... that's a good read ... anything of vinge's is :)
[14:28] Bryce Galbraith: I was already reading Stephen Baxter's 'Evolution', which is interesting but fairly long...
[14:29] Bryce Galbraith: Especially earlier in the book when he's more or less writing about different critters running around and all... it gets more interesting later though when humans emerge.
[14:29] Jago Constantine: yes ... I didn't get into that one from memory
[14:31] Bryce Galbraith: I have to say though it's sort of interesting in that there really aren't any 'main' characters really. Oh yeah, there's a couple of characters in the beginning that then pop up later, but they are really there as just a couple of anchoring points for telling a story stretching millions of years.
[14:31] Jago Constantine: yeah
[14:32] Bryce Galbraith: It's fairly ambitious and I have to give Baxter credit for attempting it. I don't think it winds up being the same kind of read as other novels though.
[14:32] Jago Constantine: Baxter is nothing if not ambitious :)
[14:33] Jago Constantine: he usually writes cosmologically or conceptually interesting stuff
[14:33] Bryce Galbraith: That's true... sometimes you have an author that, after you read something of theirs, you just want a simple comic book!
[14:33] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:33] Bryce Galbraith: Yeah, I think my favorite book by Baxter is 'The TIme Ships', which is kind of a sequel to Wells' 'The Time Machine
[14:34] Jago Constantine: I'm not sure what mine is ... maybe Anti-Ice
[14:34] Bryce Galbraith: I love your ship here, btw.
[14:34] Jago Constantine: thanks ... eddi got it as a gift from a designer he photographed for his magazine
[14:34] Eddi Haskell: well i would like ot give all of you and issue of july vr style, it is the steampunk issue, I am creative direcvtor, i reviewed this
[14:35] Jago Constantine: see?
[14:35] Jago Constantine: :P
[14:35] Eddi Haskell: you might recognize the guy on the cover
[14:35] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:35] Melch Savon: Thanks Eddi!
[14:35] Groove Dagger: nice
[14:35] Eddi Haskell: sure!
[14:35] Bryce Galbraith: Cool, thanks Eddi :)
[14:36] Eddi Haskell: sure
[14:36] Groove Dagger: an UI magazine, clever :D
[14:36] Eddi Haskell: ui?
[14:36] Groove Dagger: i'm a bit of a noob, hehe
[14:36] Jago Constantine: HUD magazine
[14:36] Jago Constantine: user interface
[14:36] Groove Dagger: HUD yes
[14:36] Eddi Haskell: yah butu can rex it
[14:36] Eddi Haskell: rez ir
[14:36] Eddi Haskell: im a bit out of it to type now lol
[14:36] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:37] Groove Dagger: i only started SL yesterday
[14:37] Jago Constantine: Oh, wow - welcome!
[14:37] Eddi Haskell: you have a nice name
[14:37] Melch Savon: Wow, welcome Groove!
[14:37] Eddi Haskell: congrats
[14:37] Groove Dagger: thanks
[14:37] Eddi Haskell: if you need clothes let me kknow
[14:37] Groove Dagger: okay i will ㋡
[14:37] Jago Constantine: you've had an account since 2007 tho?
[14:37] Groove Dagger: i got a bunch of freebies from machienenerk or wossname
[14:38] Melch Savon: Hello Marcel
[14:38] Jago Constantine: Hi, Marcel, welcome
[14:38] Marcel Rydell: hi
[14:38] Bryce Galbraith: Hi Marcel
[14:38] Groove Dagger: yes, i installed, got a torch and a chainmail, then got lost and quitted
[14:38] Eddi Haskell: hi marcel!
[14:38] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:38] Groove Dagger: probably lasted 30 minutes, lol
[14:38] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:38] Bryce Galbraith: Well hopefully you'll have a more interesting time this time around :)
[14:39] Groove Dagger: i think so, it seems a bit more streamlined. windows go click and stuff
[14:39] Bryce Galbraith: I remember my first WoW experience....mostly consisting of dying repeatedly.
[14:39] Groove Dagger: i'm actually good at this software stuff... just that SL back then was like trying to fight with MS excel
[14:39] Bryce Galbraith: I think that innoculated me somewhat so I haven't tried WoW since... I just don't think I have the requisite time to invest in that!
[14:39] Jago Constantine: I think with WoW you have to pick your battles
[14:40] Groove Dagger: i started playing CoH a while ago, it was funner than most mmo's i've played
[14:40] Jago Constantine: Anyway ... Eddi hasn't read anything this week, so Melch, how about you?
[14:40] Melch Savon: Yes, but we spoke about it before. I finally read Doctorow's Little Brother
[14:40] Jago Constantine: oh great ... how did you like it?
[14:41] Melch Savon: As always, Cory had an amazing message. I answered some of my own questions from our previous talks, and learnde some new stuff
[14:41] Melch Savon: I think he cheated on getting most internet traffic to being encrypted though
[14:41] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:42] Jago Constantine: I'll take your word on that one
[14:42] Melch Savon: That leads me to think that smart programmers today will encrypt the network traffic for their own programs, so that private conversations won't stand out like they do now
[14:42] Melch Savon: So I put encrypted communications in my current app, though I don't really need them
[14:43] Melch Savon: Beyond that, great book. Also too likely to happen
[14:43] Melch Savon: Americans are much too ready to give up freedom for the illusion of security
[14:43] Groove Dagger: reminds me of the stuff i read at techdirt
[14:43] Melch Savon: techdirt?
[14:43] Groove Dagger: every day about how corporations ban people from whistling on copyrighted tunes
[14:43] Groove Dagger: yes a blog
[14:44] Eddi Haskell: yeh i keep on getting my videos in you tube tagged for content stuff
[14:44] Jago Constantine: heh
[14:44] Groove Dagger: hehe
[14:44] Eddi Haskell: that guy on the cover is jago
[14:45] Melch Savon: Lessig wrote a book, Free Culture, a few years ago addressing that and how it came about
[14:45] Melch Savon: Basically code can find and enforce publishers version of product rights, regardless of the law
[14:45] Jago Constantine: I haven't read that
[14:45] Jago Constantine: good point
[14:46] Melch Savon: So, for example, Alice in Wonderland is clearly out of copright. But Sony Readers don't let you copy its text to a clipboard, or let the reader read it outloud
[14:46] Melch Savon: They are defining the use of cultural public domain to their own ends
[14:46] Melch Savon: interesting stuff
[14:46] Jago Constantine: very
[14:46] Bryce Galbraith: wow
[14:46] Groove Dagger: yes that's exactly the kind of thing the blog covers
[14:47] Bryce Galbraith: what is the blog again?
[14:47] Groove Dagger: techdirt.com
[14:47] Melch Savon: with the DMCA, which makes it illegal to try to circumvent copyright code, fair use no longer applies. The DMCA does not recognize fair use
[14:47] Melch Savon: Yes, just bookmarked it
[14:47] Groove Dagger: i didn't even know it until i randomly started using igoogle, hehe
[14:47] Bryce Galbraith: Thanks for the link....
[14:48] Melch Savon: So essentially companies are now trying to enforce, with code, how the products of the culture are being used, not for the common good, but for their profits
[14:48] Melch Savon: The original purpose of copyright law is totally twisted
[14:48] Jago Constantine: yes
[14:48] Groove Dagger: also, newspapers are trying to copyright news and facts
[14:49] Melch Savon: Exactly -- amazing stuff
[14:49] Jago Constantine: and of course copyright extension
[14:49] Melch Savon: Not many people seem to care either -- which really wierds me out. I talk to them, and they say 'so'?
[14:49] Jago Constantine: mickey mouse and friends
[14:49] Groove Dagger: it's amazing how many people comment on that blog insulting the author and defending the poor widdle corporations
[14:49] Jago Constantine: that's purely for corporate profits
[14:50] Melch Savon: Well, profits are good, but there is a point where it harms the common good
[14:50] Jago Constantine: sure
[14:50] Groove Dagger: yeah
[14:50] Melch Savon: English law in the 1700s recognized that, which is part of why copyright was orginally 17 years with only one etension possible
[14:50] Groove Dagger: then came mickey mouse, lol
[14:51] Jago Constantine: maybe that was related to author lifespan :P
[14:51] Groove Dagger: they turned it to the lifespan, + x years. and kept upping it
[14:51] Melch Savon: It did not cover parodies either -- which is how Disney could take the Steamboat Willile concept from Buster Keaton, and later make it to Mickey Mouse, without paying a dime
[14:51] Groove Dagger: originally, it was more like how pharmaceuticals work: you get n years of exclusivity, then it goes public, whether you are alive or not
[14:51] Melch Savon: Well now it is what, 90 years infinitely renewable in the US?
[14:52] Melch Savon: Groove, exactly
[14:52] Groove Dagger: right now, is author death plus 70 years or so
[14:52] Groove Dagger: which is ridiculous
[14:52] Eddi Haskell: group has an iq of like 150 on average lsitening to you
[14:52] Melch Savon: Law is horribly behind the technology, and lobbyists have put in on a different course
[14:52] Jago Constantine: and if we ever succeed in life extension technology ... it could potentially be centuries even without the +70 years
[14:52] Bryce Galbraith: completely. the patent system is out of control too.
[14:52] Melch Savon: Bull.
[14:53] Jago Constantine: bull what?
[14:53] Melch Savon: 10 to 20 years is plenty to benefit the creator I think. If they want more, create more. How much can one make in 10 years off a popular work?
[14:53] Groove Dagger: an interesting point is that, before copyright, every one of the great works of literature would be infringing it
[14:53] Melch Savon: sorry -- the whole idea of extended like + 70 years
[14:53] Groove Dagger: every single author would be sued by the author before him
[14:54] Groove Dagger: becayse he "copied his idea"
[14:54] Jago Constantine: I hope to read that novel Pride and Prejudice and Zombies soon
[14:54] Bryce Galbraith: Yeah, I have that on my list too....looks interesting.
[14:54] Groove Dagger: that sounds like a great title :D
[14:54] Melch Savon: It's another example of how we should toss the current forms of government and try again. They are becoming enemies of the public good -- and that is really scary
[14:54] Jago Constantine: I wonder if the author's schtick can sustain a whole novel
[14:55] Jago Constantine: it's really just a modified version of pride and prejudice
[14:55] Bryce Galbraith: Yeah... it could be cool or it might just not work too.
[14:55] Groove Dagger: it has good reviews apparently
[14:56] Jago Constantine: Groove, do you want to talk about anything you read recently?
[14:56] Groove Dagger: sure
[14:56] Jago Constantine: I knew you'd come round :P
[14:56] Groove Dagger: well, there are two sci-fi series that are fresh in memory
[14:56] Groove Dagger: the latest i've read, and would at best be pulp sci-fi, is the books of John Carter of Mars
[14:57] Jago Constantine: oh nice
[14:57] Groove Dagger: which btw is in the public domain
[14:57] Jago Constantine: yes
[14:57] Groove Dagger: for anyone who wants to download 'em in guttenberg
[14:57] Jago Constantine: you'd think there'd be a Second Life version of that
[14:57] Jago Constantine: it wouldn't face the problems that the Dune sims did
[14:57] Groove Dagger: the interesting thing about them, is to consider how silly was the whole space-thing considered back in the ... 30s? 40s?can't remember
[14:58] Jago Constantine: maybe 30s
[14:58] Groove Dagger: the science is really whack
[14:58] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:58] Groove Dagger: for instance, it turns out the martians have discovered that light spectrum doesn't have 7 "rays", but 9. and one of those can make giant airships fly
[14:58] Jago Constantine: lol
[14:59] Jago Constantine: yes I remember that
[14:59] Groove Dagger: but it's a fun read. it's very low-tech, with some crazy stuff
[14:59] Groove Dagger: it reminded me of a short story i read in some old compilations of the magazine of Science Fiction and fantasy
[14:59] Bryce Galbraith: Sounds fun... never read the series but I'd like to sometime.
[14:59] Jago Constantine: well they're on gutenberg, so any time :)
[14:59] Groove Dagger: you should, they can be downloaded for free
[15:00] Groove Dagger: i think the last 3 or so books are still copyrighted, but taht still leaves like a dozen free
[15:00] Groove Dagger: this story was incredible: it's the story of Martian astronauts that arrive to Earth
[15:00] Jago Constantine: http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/62
[15:00] Groove Dagger: and guess, they discovered that Earth is devoid of life and made up of blue sand
[15:01] Jago Constantine: hmm
[15:01] Groove Dagger: and other silliness. so it's like, 30's pulp martian sci-fi
[15:01] Jago Constantine: so what was the explanation for that?
[15:01] Groove Dagger: the explanation? that's what Martians thought so they made silly sci-fi about earth and blue sand
[15:02] Jago Constantine: ahhhh
[15:02] Groove Dagger: plus, you could grow a money tree if you planted money in the sand
[15:02] Jago Constantine: lol
[15:02] Bryce Galbraith: oh now that would be nice!
[15:02] Groove Dagger: lol
[15:02] Jago Constantine: I get it ... it's like an inverse of our seeing 'seas' on mars
[15:02] Groove Dagger: exactly
[15:03] Jago Constantine: the martians, without seas, imagine blue deserts
[15:03] Groove Dagger: brb
[15:03] Jago Constantine: ok
[15:03] Bryce Galbraith: That does sound kind of cool though -- blue deserts...
[15:03] Jago Constantine: yeah
[15:03] Groove Dagger: back
[15:03] Groove Dagger: the other stuff i've read that i remember is all the neuromancer stuff
[15:03] Jago Constantine: cool, gibson
[15:04] Groove Dagger: i only read it about a couple of years ago
[15:04] Groove Dagger: i don't have many thoughts on that, right now, tho :D
[15:04] Jago Constantine: no worries
[15:04] Groove Dagger: except that it was cool stuff. Gibson said
[15:04] Jago Constantine: the hour is up and it's time for breakfast for me :)
[15:04] Jago Constantine: go on, groove
[15:04] Groove Dagger: hehe
[15:04] Groove Dagger: "had i know anything about computers, i wouldn't have written it"
[15:04] Jago Constantine: lol
[15:05] Jago Constantine: he will be the edgar rice burroughs of cyberpunk :P
[15:05] Groove Dagger: yeah
[15:05] Groove Dagger: funny, he pretty much invented cyberpunk, and most computer fans try to emulate him
[15:05] Jago Constantine: yes, it's huge
[15:05] Jago Constantine: I will try to get a venue in Insilico next saturday
[15:06] Groove Dagger: he made more realistic stuff later, something called the Bridge series iirc
[15:06] Groove Dagger: ok
[15:06] Bryce Galbraith: Yeah, I should head out and get on with some other things I need to work on. Nice talking with you all!
[15:06] Jago Constantine: hopefully I'll have got this land swapped for a parcel in zindra by then
[15:06] Groove Dagger: it was nice talking
[15:06] Melch Savon: bye al
[15:06] Eddi Haskell: would anyone want to write about sci fi in sl in the magazine?
[15:06] Jago Constantine: thanks for coming :)
[15:06] Groove Dagger: cool runnings
[15:06] Bryce Galbraith: Thanks for hosting :)
[15:06] Bryce Galbraith: Bye all
[15:06] Eddi Haskell: bye!
[15:06] Jago Constantine: bye, bryce
[15:07] Eddi Haskell: see you next time groove!
[15:07] Jago Constantine: thanks for joining the group, groove :)
[15:07] Groove Dagger: see yous
[15:07] Groove Dagger: ㋡
[15:07] Eddi Haskell: jago im heading out now
[15:07] Jago Constantine: cya!