Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate…

“Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing … Continue reading »

The power of punctuation

The power of punctuation

An English professor wrote on the board: A woman without her man is nothing. The class was then asked to punctuate the sentence. The men wrote: “A woman, without her man, is nothing.” The women wrote: “A woman: without her, man is nothing.” Eats, Shoots and Leaves If you are at all interested in punctuation, then this … Continue reading »

Better then Dickens?

Omar Khayyam “The Moving Finger writes: and, having writ, Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line, Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.” (Fitzgerald’s quatrain 51 in his 1st edition) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rubaiyat_of_Omar_Khayyam I have known this for more years than I can remember, … Continue reading »

Living in a Quantum World: Scientific American

Living in a Quantum World: Scientific American

Those who are not shocked when they first come across quantum theory cannot possibly have understood it. Niels Bohr Quantum mechanics is commonly said to be a theory of microscopic things: molecules, atoms, subatomic particles. Nearly all physicists, though, think it applies to everything, no matter what the size. via Living in a Quantum World: … Continue reading »

Star Trek and Leadership

Star Trek and Leadership

Alex Knapp at Forbeshas come up with five leadership lessons from Star Trek’s Captain Kirk. I’ve summarised them here, but really you need to read the whole piece:  www.forbes.com/…/james-t-kirk/ 1. Never Stop Learning “You know the greatest danger facing us is ourselves, an irrational fear of the unknown. But there’s no such thing as the unknown– only things … Continue reading »

Space elevators & Alastair Reynolds

Space elevators & Alastair Reynolds

Not so much a review and a rave A great piece of SF writing in the tradition of Arthur C Clarke and Isaac Asimov. Actually the second in the Revelation Space series though a good place to start if you’re not too sure. Specifically this book has a detailed description of what would happen to a space elevator if someone … Continue reading »

This land doesn’t know a real hero.

This land doesn’t know a real hero.

Hero This has a cast that is virtually a who’s who: Jet Li, Tony Leung, Maggie Cheung, Ziyi Zhang. And then it is directed by Zhang Yimou and ‘presented’ by one Quentin Tarantino. After that it will either be a great disappointment or heroic. For me it is definitely the latter. The colour, the scope, the story with its twists and … Continue reading »

Silent Running

Silent Running

Silent Running Early 70′s environmental movie. It stars a young Bruce Dern, though the real stars are the three robot helpers: Huey, Dewey and Louie. One for both the science fiction fan and the lover of good films. The interplay between Dern and the robots is in turns funny and poignant.

Seekers after truth and beauty

Seekers after truth and beauty

He who seeks truth shall find beauty. He who seeks beauty shall find vanity. He who seeks order, shall find gratification. He who seeks gratification, shall be disappointed. He who considers himself the servant of his fellow beings shall find the joy of self-expression. He who seeks self-expression, shall fall into the pit of arrogance. … Continue reading »