Monthly Archives: November 2008

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Will the Phoenix rise again?

NASA's Mars Phoenix Lander - artist's impressionVia pretty much everywhere comes the news that NASA has pronounced the Phoenix Mars Lander “silent, presumed dead”. The Martian winter is settling in, and the resulting cold and darkness have put the plucky robot out of action, though there is a vague hope it might revive itself when the seasons change. [image courtesy NASA]

In addition to finally confirming the water-on-Mars matter, Phoenix has been a real (and much-needed) media success for NASA; they tapped into the right channels to keep the mission in the public consciousness, not just through a regular (but very sexy and content-laden) website, but through Twitter as well. It feels as if now, after two decades of disappointments, disasters and disillusionment, space is something to get excited about again. Let’s hope it stays that way, eh?

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NaNoWriMo advice: Write or Die!

Some of you brave souls who’ve taken on the NanoWriMo challenge this year are struggling with your daily wordcount targets… at least, you are if my Twitter feed is to be believed!

I know where you’re coming from: that intimidating blank screen, the panoply of possibility, the agony of indecision… not to mention the constant self-editing. All of these are major factors in me not having a writing career that makes John Scalzi look like a hobbyist[1].

But help is at hand! The Lifehacker team have discovered the ultimate anti-procrastination app for writers, the aptly named Write or Die:

Set a word count and time you want to write for. Then, set how you want the app to “remind” you if you stop writing—”Gentle” pops up a text box, “Normal” plays a harsh sound file, and “Kamikaze” mode slowly deletes back from your stopping point until you get back to it.

Kamikaze mode sounds thoroughly evil, but I’ll bet it gets you hitting your targets pretty fast. Then there’s just the editing to do…

[ 1 – It must be pointed out that laziness and lack of talent are also major players; even more major than the others, perhaps. ]

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Writing advice from Matthew Cheney

Matthew “The Mumpsimus” Cheney is guest-blogging over at Colleen Lindsay’s site, and he’s decided to do a post entitled “If Only I’d Known: Writing Advice to my Younger Self“. In sharp contrast to the gung-ho you-can-do-it teach-yourself-to-write books, however, he advocates making sure you write for the right reasons:

Publication can be fun, but I don’t think a healthy psyche finds it much more than that. If you haven’t been able to find balance and contentment in your life, publishing won’t help you, and, if anything, it may hurt.

It’s an interesting piece, written with Cheney’s characteristic honesty and heartily recommended for any writerly types in the audience – published or otherwise.

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Yanking on the Long Tail

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Ring-tailed lemurChris Anderson’s ‘Long Tail‘ theory of online economics gained traction with great rapidity, but gathered its fair share of detractors along the way. Hence when a group of economists examined some different data and found a different distribution, there was much snarking:

This really isn’t the upbeat fairy tale message Anderson has spent four years selling on the conference circuit. However, as he took his “message” to Davos and beyond, the Long Tail has gradually developed into a ‘Policy Based Evidence Making’.

Ouch. Anderson’s not giving up just yet, though:

Unfortunately, Page didn’t send me the data or reveal its source, so we may not be able to answer these questions. He’s a good economist, so I’m sure his analysis is excellent. But without knowing where the data came from, we really have no way of knowing whether he’s discovered anything about music demand broadly, or has just been reminded once again that some music markets, such as mobile, don’t work very well.

Anderson also points to a post at Hitwise which suggests that – in the business of search, at least – the Long Tail is alive and well.

So, is the future of business in “selling less of more”? Who knows – as with most predictions about the future, those of us who aren’t economists will just have to wait and see. [image by benoutram]

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A few kind words about Michael Crichton

Because even I have a heart, let the record show that Discover lists The Top 5 “Crazy” Michael Crichton Ideas That Actually Came True.

  1. Talking gorillas (Congo)
  2. Self-replicating robots (Prey)
  3. Superbugs from space (The Andromeda Strain). OK, this sounds like a stretch, but: “…[W]e’ve also discovered that some [microorganism] strains become more virulent when sent into space. (Though fear not: They become far less deadly once they’ve made the journey home.)”
  4. Brain implants (The Terminal Man)
  5. Cloning dead (or even extinct) animals (that novel about dinos, the name of which escapes me):  Maybe overstating a bit, but: “[S]cientists have successfully cloned mice that have been dead and frozen for 16 years.”

Not all these ideas are exactly original to Crichton.  Still, take that, me.

[Tribute to the author by DML East Branch]