The Early Days of a Better Nation

Friday, December 10, 2010



Two odd visual effects

If you look at uneven snow (heaps thrown aside when clearing pathways is good, but a partially-melted smooth snow surface works too) through a vertical-horizontal grid, such as the fine wire one-centimetre mesh embedded in reinforced glass windows and doors, you may see the lumps and bumps as tilted blocks or pyramids.

If you look with one eye covered at a photograph with vivid colours and strong depth cues you may see it in 3D. The effect is quite unmistakable and was a complete surprise to me when I first noticed it. I was drinking coffee while reading New Scientist, and the raised mug got between the sightline of one eye and a picture on the page, and the picture suddenly sprang into a 3D image. I almost spilled the coffee.

These two effects may be well-known but I've never heard of them.

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Wednesday, December 08, 2010



Notes towards a class analysis of the economic conjuncture



Contains strong language. (Via.)

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Tuesday, December 07, 2010



If the Greenland ice sheet slides into the ocean ...

... as the mystics and statistics say it will, I predict I'll still be laughing at this picture, until I've paid my final power bill.

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Sunday, December 05, 2010



Mark Bukumunhe interviews me at Novacon 40

Photographer, SF fan, and all-round nice guy Mark Bukumunhe interviewed me at Novacon last month, and the results are now here:



Also on Vimeo.

I do in fact lighten up a bit as the interview proceeeds. And in case anyone is wondering, the paperback of The Restoration Game is of course due out in April 2011, not 2010.

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