Sat 10:00 PM in Crystal Ballroom Two—How the Internet and Texting Have Changed Sexual Mores

Robert Heinlein famously commented that anyone could have predicted the internal combustion engine would revolutionize transportation, but only a science fiction writer could have predicted how it would influence mating habits. Technologies like the internet and “texting” have been doing the same thing. We’ll explore the impact of instant communication and online presence has had on our society.

Sun 10:00 AM in Plaza V (Five)—Universal Gene Testing: Boon, Bane, or Boondoggle?

Catching criminals CSI-style. Finding kidnapped children. Standardized haplotype-profiles for drug prescriptions at the doctor’s office. Screening for chronic, inherited conditions. Is it time for a universal DNA database? What are the costs? What are the dangers to civil liberties?

Laura will be involved with:

Sat 6:00 PM in Plaza III (Three)—The James Webb Space Telescope

When the James Webb Telescope launches in 2018, it will be able to see the first galaxies formed after the Big Bang. The Webb will be the premier observatory of the next decade, serving thousands of astronomers worldwide. It will study every phase in the history of our Universe, ranging from the first luminous glows after the Big Bang, to the formation of solar systems capable of supporting life on planets like Earth, to the evolution of our own Solar System. Laura Burns is a contract engineer with NASA and worked on the James Webb Space Telescope for 11 years. She will talk about the project and its future impact on our view of the Universe.

As always, I will be otherwise hanging about, and will be posting occasional pithy observations. If you are going, I look forward to seeing you there!

The Moon Ranger and I will be headed shortly to Dragon*Con in Atlanta, GA. We will both be attending the Charity Star Party at the Emory University Math & Science Center tomorrow night, and we will both be participating in the Parsec Awards ceremony late Saturday afternoon. In addition, my schedule includes:

• Title: These are the ways the world will end…
  Time: Sat 11:30 am Location: 207 / 206 / 205 – Hilton (Length: 1)
  Description: Our panel tears apart the asteroid apocalypse theory, rips into the latest “world enders”, and answers questions. We’re probably safe (for now).

• Title: XMRV, CFS, and the Internet: How Patient Communities Are Changing Medicine
  Time: Sun 11:30 am Location: 201 – Hilton (Length: 1)
  Description: How the Internet and patient advocacy is changing research and medicine, using the XMRV and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome controversy as a case study.

• Title: KILLER STAPH OF DEADLY DOOM!!!
  Time: Sun 07:00 pm Location: 202 – Hilton (Length: 1)
  Moderator / MC for panel
  Description: Terrifying developments! New strains jumping from livestock to humans! Antibiotics that don’t work! But don’t panic – yet.

Laura will be involved in:

• Title: LandSat – The Origins of Earth Imaging
  Time: Sun 04:00 pm Location: 203 – Hilton (Length: 1)
  Description: Before Google Earth or Mapquest , the LandSat program was delivering images of Earth & it continues to be a valuable scientific resource.

• Title: I Work in the Space Industry, But NOT for NASA!
  Time: Sun 08:30 pm Location: 203 – Hilton (Length: 1)
  Description: You’ve always dreamed of working in the space industry but NASA’s not your thing. We’ve got the people to tell you how.

• Additionally, Laura is assembling a so-fresh-it’s-not-on-the-schedule panel on Friday at 4pm that will spotlight the James Webb Space Telescope, which will focus on the importance of the mission as well as the plethora of reasons why a loss of funding for the project would be both an epic loss to science and an incredibly bad idea. Co-panelists will include Dr. Pamela Gay, and possibly another special guest.

Apart from these, I will be otherwise hanging about the science and podcasting tracks, and possibly be doing some Bad Doctoring for The Secret Lair. As usual, I will be posting occasional pithy observations, and if you are going, I look forward to seeing you there!

I’ll be headed shortly to Renovation, the 69th (In Reno. With brothels. Yes. Ok, it’s out of my system now.) World Science Fiction Convention. Tomorrow, I have the good fortune of participating in a couple of science panels:

• Thu 16:00 – 17:00, Space and the Biological Economy: How does space exploration drive the United States’ biological economy? What do the advances in telemedicine and the biological sciences driven by NASA mean to our nation’s long-term economic and physical health? – David W. Goldman (M), Nick Kanas, H. G. Stratmann, John Cmar, Greg Bear

• Thu 17:00 – 18:00, Infections and Viruses that Could Doom Humankind: What could create the next pandemic? A virus from animals? Food-borne illness? An engineered retrovirus? – John Cmar (M), Vylar Kaftan, Tom Lehmann, Jim Fiscus

Apart from these, I will be otherwise hanging about with the Moon Ranger and other good folk, and possibly be doing some Bad Doctoring for The Secret Lair. As usual, I will be posting occasional pithy observations, and if you are going, I look forward to seeing you there!

• Alien Sex: What Could Go Wrong? – 5/27/11 9:00 PM – No matter what kind of life we find out there, you know someone is going to want to #$%* it. What could go wrong?
• Extending Human Lifespan – 5/28/11 10:00 AM – Panelists discuss scientific advances in expanding human lifespan as well as the ramifications of humans living longer lives.
• Unlikely Disasters to Plan For – 5/28/11 10:00 PM – So much attention is paid to how one might survive the zombie apocalypse or robot uprising. But aren’t there a whole lot of other things we should be planning for? How about mole men? Insect sentience? Or grey goo? Join our panel of possible-apocalypses scholars enumerate the conceivable threats. We might even have time to figure out how to survive one or two! Audience participation encouraged!
• The TRUTH About Adult Content - 5/29/11 3:00 PM – We’ve all seen the signs. “Warning: Adult Content.” “Not Safe For Work.” “Men’s Restroom.” But how many of us know the TRUTH behind these slightly ajar doors of forbidden knowledge? What, if anything, is contained inside an adult? How sexy is danger in the workplace? Does anyone really rest in those rooms? These answers and more will plunged, examined and ultimately ignored as Doctor John Cmar (a real doctor!), Professor Jared Axelrod (not a real professor!) and Commodore Christiana Ellis (up for debate!) bring you the TRUTH about Adult Content.*
• Medical Studies for the Non-medically Trained – 5/29/11 8:00 PM – Looking at the many pitfalls that go into medical research, why doctors can get it wrong, and why most media gets it worse.
• Zombie Survival Plan: Have You Got Yours? – 5/30/11 12:00 PM – “They” are coming. Regardless of when the outbreak occurs, “They” will swiftly take over the planet and destroy civilization as we know it. As any movie or video gaming buff knows, “They” are the zombies, and they want to eat your brains. Will you be prepared when the apocalypse happens? Bring your plan so you can compare it with those of the master zombie survivalists on our panel.

If you want to catch the one thing that I’m most enthusiastic for, then please stop by my solo talk Sunday evening on Medical Studies for the Non-medically Trained. It will be far more interesting than the title might lead you to believe, and I expect that RANTING~! will occur. As to the others, I… really don’t know what to make of the alien sex panel, but it should, at least, be entertaining. As to The TRUTH About Adult Content, well, all I will say is that it is the sequel to the Truth About The Universe panel from last year. If you weren’t there to see it, then the best way to explain it is to show you (many thanks to Chooch for getting this online):

Apart from the events above, I will be generally lurking about and posting random things, as is my want. Additionally, you may find me plotting with Overlord Miller and Commadant Moore from The Secret Lair, who will also be attending. If you happen to be in around, please feel free to track me down by the usual methods, and say hello in person!

Ahem.

I’ll be adding wisdom and snark in equal measure to the following:

• Staying Safe Online (Saturday, 12:00)
• Every Generation Has It’s Own Disease (Saturday, 13:00)
• Life Or Something Like It (Saturday, 20:00)
• All A-Twitter (Sunday, 9:00)
• Writing For Blogs (Sunday, 10:00)
• A TARDIS Full Of Smallpox (Sunday, 13:00)

The Moon Ranger will be contributing to the following, with considerable more grace than I:

• Landsat Data Continuity Mission (Saturday, 14:00)
• All A-Twitter (Sunday, 9:00)

As always, I may telegraph my comments, and feel free to track me down that way as well.

Farpoint 2010 DSC_0113, cc by-nc-nd image by Dan Tabor via Flickr

This weekend, I’ll be stopping in at Farpoint, where I’ll be giving a talk at 1pm on Sunday about emerging infectious diseases entitled, “Those Who Are About To Die, We Salute You!”. I will also be lounging about both the DIY and science tracks as well, particularly the podcasting and blogging roundtables starting at noon on Saturday. If you want to meet up to sample some interesting beverages, or just to have me roundly mock you, hit me up in the usual way.

Otherwise, I’ve determined which conventions and conferences I’ll be attending this year:

• Ravencon 2011 (April, Richmond, VA)
• 2011 APDIM Spring Conference (April, Las Vegas, NV)
• Balticon 45 (May, Baltimore, MD)
• Comic-Con International: San Diego 2011 (July, San Diego, CA)
• Renovation, the 69th Worldcon (August, Reno, NV)
• Dragoncon 2011 (September, Atlanta, GA)

These are a few additional possibilities that are “maybes” at this point, given the limitations of time, energy, money, and madness:

• 51st ICAAC (September, Chicago, IL)
• Con on the Cob (October, Hudson, OH)
• 2011 APDIM Fall Conference (October, Anaheim, CA)
• 49th Annual Meeting of the IDSA (October, Boston, MA)
• Philcon 2011 (November, Cherry Hill, NJ)

A crazy list, perhaps, but it’s a crazy I will own. What con events are you looking forward to this year?

Timing, cc by-nc-nd image from hdeb89 on Flickr

Yeah, pretty much like that.

It so happens that this weekend is brimming with things to do, and I’ll be hitting up each of the below events at some point to be festive and decompress. If you happen to be in the Baltimore area, I heartily suggest you join in as well:

• The Family Game Store’s Fifth Birthday Extravaganza – Our FLGS is the best on the planet, and is celebrating its fifth year, and we were among the first of its customers, and our presence is therefore mandated, so we will be participating in the revels with them on Saturday evening, October 23. There will be games and cake. It shall be a brilliant time.

• The USA Science and Engineering Festival Grand Finale Expo – The “largest science festival in the nation” concludes this weekend with a massive free event on Saturday and Sunday from 10am – 5:30pm on the National Mall in DC. Laura will be helping out with space-related activities at Discovering the Universe (booth 435) on Sunday, while I will be pondering what mad mischief I can get into with the American Society of Microbiology (booths 1141 and 1143, also MWA HA HA HA).

• Capclave 2010 – The regional science-fiction literary convention Capclave is this weekend in Rockville, MD. Laura and I have been twice before, and have found the experience somewhat underwhelming – both times it felt a bit like showing up to the meeting of a club you don’t belong to, rather than a welcoming fan community. That noted, this year’s guest of honor are the awesome Connie Willis and the VanderMeers, which makes it worth finding out if the third time is a charm. That, and hunting down a fanzine panel to attend. Heh.

The Miskatonic University 2010 Australian Expedition has returned. I was not mind-jacked by Yithians. I did have a scare in which I was sure I was being attacked by flying polyps, but they were merely birds – friendly, if a bit aggressive:

more birds, image via jvsquare on Flickr

The trip was a blast, while the post trip jetlag was less so. Autopsy reports, of course, will be forthcoming.

How was your September?

I have never been to Oz before, but I am put in mind of Lovecraft’s The Shadow Out Of Time, and so I am constantly on guard against flying polyp attacks and body jacking attempts by Yithians. Fortunately, thanks to the tireless efforts of Propnomicon, I am well-equipped for the Miskatonic University 2010 Australian Expedition.

Aussiecon 4 is running from September 2-6, 2010, in the Melbourne Convention and Exhibition Centre and associated hotels in Melbourne, Australia. As always, I will be tweeting the goings-on (and flying polyp attacks), and please stop and say hello if you happen to be in the hemisphere! ]]> http://saintnickanuck.com/blog/2010/08/31/aussiecon-4-incoming/feed/ 0 http://saintnickanuck.com/blog/2010/08/21/reconstruction-post-mortem/ http://saintnickanuck.com/blog/2010/08/21/reconstruction-post-mortem/#comments Sun, 22 Aug 2010 01:00:33 +0000 Cmaaarrr http://saintnickanuck.com/blog/?p=627

• Things were rather… desolate in terms of attendance. Usually, most Worldcons run in the neighborhood of 2,000-6,000+ people, and while NASFiCs tend to be smaller, attendance is somewhere in the 1,000-3,000+ range. I was told unofficially that there were less than 800 registered people, which seems about right, based on my observations. In the huge convention center space, this number of people made it feel like a ghost town. There were likely many factors at play, not the least of which were location and challenging economic times. That noted, it also forces me to wonder about the often-discussed idea that the traditional “pure” literary SF&F convention model is less appealing to younger generations of fans, and may die off (quite literally, as the older generation of fans who started said cons and who still make up the bulk of the attendees march onward through time) over next couple of decades unless their content is adjusted for broader appeal. One data point does not itself make a trend, but this was quite the interesting data point.

you can almost see the tumbleweeds, cc by-nc-sa image from John Cmar on Flickr

• Science Which We All Know Is Wrong ended up being enjoyable, although in a trend that would persist for many panels at the con, suffered for not having a focused topic and for being given too much time (90 minutes). I shared the panel with two people with space science/physics backgrounds and one with a chemistry background. This led to a far-ranging discussion that included practical science and physics myths (ala Mythbusters territory), various space and physics theoretical topics, medical woo such as homeopathy and the marketing of “natural/organic” products, and critical thinking v. belief. The whole thing ended with an extended thought experiment in relativistic physics that involved a jet-assisted titanium phone pole traveling at near light speeds along teflon-coated pavement towards a small hole in the street. Which seems somehow appropriate.

• As evidenced by the image above, the dealer’s room was rather small, and made to look even tinier by it’s placement in an otherwise barren convention hall. The best thing in the room, bar none, was the Bull Spec table, enthusiastically showcasing Durham’s excellent Bull Spec magazine as well as books by regional authors. They were busy throughout the whole con, and that pleases me greatly. While wandering through the dealer’s room on the first day, I stumbled across the freshly released Voltron: Defenders of the Universe miniatures battle game, which uses the Monsterpocalypse rules. I have never played Monsterpocalypse, but for the love of Azathoth’s 42nd ethereal nipple, IT’S A VOLTRON GAME… and it is now MINE.

Voltron: Defender of the Universe, cc by-nc-sa image from john Cmar on Flickr

• What Podcasting Can Do For You was an interesting experience, to say the least. We ended up covering the usual ground in terms of what podcasting is, what motivates people to do it, it’s role in people’s lives and careers, etc… All was well and good until one of the audience members (who, it is important to note, was quit pleasant), instigated a back and forth discussion for the last 20 minutes of the panel that was both antagonistic and confusing. The upshot seemed to be that she was offended that in us talking about the effort and work that goes into making a good audio podcast, we were somehow insulting the old-school fannish tradition of printed fanzines. While we, kind of obviously, were not, she persisted with gently offensive comments that quickly seemed to be less about the subject at hand and more about her “brand” of fan community dying out. There’s a rant in here, but I’ll save it for after Aussiecon, for better perspective.

• Doctor Osborn’s Balloons of Doom was in full force all weekend, which kept many kids (and some adults) highly entertained. Princess Scientist collected quite a menagerie from him, and sucked me into an intermittent balloon creature LARP. Good times. For whatever it’s worth, Doctor Osborn is even better than Vlad:

• Health and Today’s Fandom was about what you might expect – how to lose weight, tips on globally increase our health, etc… I attempted to inject something different at the end in discussing a paper (relevantly enough to Worldcon this year, about a survey study done at Aussiecon 3) looking at the mental health benefits of science fiction fandom, but I got the feeling that flew like a concrete donkey. Still, it was a pleasant discussion.

• I partied with Skeeve. Hard. Twice. There was much fist-pumping, off-key crooning, and libations flowed liberally. That dude’s crazy… and I don’t need to remind you, skeevy too. Also, Mary Robinette Kowal’s launch party for Shades of Milk and Honey was a great time: Mur was introduced by Someone of Note to Someone of Note in a way I cannot repeat but was glorious, Davey (I did a dramatic reading of his Wikipedia page to him, in which we discovered that it is mostly wrong in a hilarious kind of way) considered and passed on his “Hitler moment,” and seeing Mary’s father Ken Harrison do a handsaw concert at the end was strange and wonderful.

Ken Harrison amazes with the handsaw, cc by-nc-sa image from John Cmar on Flickr

• Devo Spice rocked the house, as he always does.

Devo Spice rocks ReConStruction, cc by-nc-sa image from John Cmar on Flickr

• Where Are The Next Mad Scientists went to where I expected it would, namely lamenting the current deficiencies in encouraging general science eduction and critical thinking skills. The discussion was pleasant, but everyone breathed a sigh of relief when we cut the panel off at 60 minutes, instead of it’s scheduled 90.

• Having never been to the Raleigh Convention Center, I was pleased to discover great food nearby. After an epic sushi quest that proved Google Maps on both the iPhone and the Andriod to be full of LIES when it comes to accurate restaurant searches, we were rewarded with excellent sushi at Sushi Sono. The Oxford Gastro Pub has some odd and amazing food, as well as some good beer. Shish Kabob contained a magical man with a fez, who summoned forth delicious kabobs for our gustatory delight.

the be-fezzed master of kabobs, cc by-nc-sa image from John Cmar on Flickr

So ends this post-mortem evaluation – end of dictation.