Overnight Open Thread (12-11-2013)

Indistinguishable From Magic

As an adolescent, I loved to read the science fiction magazine Analog. One of my favorite Analog stories was "Hindsight" by Harry Turtledove. (I still have my copy of this "special spoof issue," dated mid-December 1984, in my garage.)

In "Hindsight," a 1950s pulp sci-fi writer is startled to discover that an unknown author has published a story that remarkably resembles one he had in the planning stages. He and his editor investigate, eventually discovering a woman who reveals she's a sci-fi writer from the future who has returned to the 1950s-all the way from 1983!-to try to change the world through science fiction.

...But my favorite thing about the story is a scene in which the writer from the future ushers the two men into her back room, where she keeps her future technology. There's a 1980s-era word processor and a dot-matrix printer, charmingly outmoded from the vantage point of 2013 but stunning to the men in the story. And in the corner, a top-loading VCR attached to a small color TV set. She plays Star Wars for the writer, and he's flabbergasted-not just by the color picture, but by a recognizable-yet-aged Alec Guinness as Obi-Wan Kenobi.

...I can't be the only person who thinks about this stuff. (I mean, Marty McFly's Walkman!) So I mentioned it on Twitter and suddenly found myself in a discussion about what Apple device you'd want to take back in time from today to blow away those sci-fi writers in 1956. (If you're interested, I've saved the whole thing on Storify.)

The iPad is probably the right answer, assuming you had time to prepare. (Be sure to bring a charger!) The tablet would be shockingly small, but it has a nice, big screen-big enough for a bunch of dumbstruck 50s denizens to crowd around. It also has the capacity to hold a staggering amount of content.

One of the mental games I play whenever I'm stuck someplace without anything or anybody to occupy me is to imagine that I was suddenly transported back to say 1959 with only what I'm holding and what's in my pockets. How would I be able to prove that I truly was from the future and how much information could clever investigators glean from the few objects on my person?

Well the dates on any coins or bills would be a big clue - and (assuming they aren't clever Commie fakes) would tell them right off the bat that we were still around 50 years later so probably no nuclear WWIII. The tags on my clothes would also be some evidence although I wonder what they would think of all the 'Made in China' labels - did we defeat and occupy China somewhere along the way?

My Jeep car keys with their radio-based remote control would probably impress them - especially the mysterious ICs used in the circuits. The high tech Swiss Army knife I always carry with a laser, pen, and USB stick would probably both amaze and baffle them. And then you have the unusual alloys in my watch and plastic products in my shoes and clothing. I figure all that plus my dental work would be enough to convince them that whatever my story is I'm definitely 'not from around here'.

And if I happen to have my iPhone with me....well then behold and fear my techo-magic all you puny twentieth century humans!!

The Two Kinds of Libertarianism: Calhounian and Heinleinian

Today in America, we see two kinds of libertarianism, which we might call "Calhounian" and "Heinleinian." Both kinds believe in freedom, but they are very different in their emphasis-and in their politics.

The names behind the adjectives are John C. Calhoun (1782-1850), of South Carolina, and Robert A. Heinlein (1907-1988 ), of California. In other words, two different states, two different centuries-and two very different outlooks.

...Finally, the two groups are wired differently. Calhounians are often rooted in place, and feel both constrained and liberated by tradition and belief.

On the other hand, the Heinleinians, tech-oriented as they are, tend to feel emancipated from the past. We might consider one of the central activities of a modern techster: computer coding.

Well Heinleinian libertarianism may be sexier at the moment but the Calhounian version has a stronger Burkean pedigree of existence and is more likely to survive in adverse conditions. After all who doesn't want the most freedom for their own kith and kin?

Name The Anti-Semite

Never have I seen Israel and America's core Arab allies working more in concert to stymie a major foreign policy initiative of a sitting U.S. president, and never have I seen more lawmakers - Democrats and Republicans - more willing to take Israel's side against their own president's. I'm certain this comes less from any careful consideration of the facts and more from a growing tendency by many American lawmakers to do whatever the Israel lobby asks them to do in order to garner Jewish votes and campaign donations.

Shit Cosmo Says

How to Be a Man

Fairly good advice and even the 'douchey' ones are more right than wrong.

People are tired of you being the funny, drunk guy.

When in doubt, always kiss the girl.

Always carry cash.  Keep some in your front pocket.

Never stay out after midnight three nights in a row. Unless something really good comes up on the third night.

It's better if old men cut your hair.  Ask for Sammy at the Mandarin Oriental Barbershop in Hong Kong.  He can share his experiences of the Japanese occupation, or just give you a copy of Playboy.

There's always another level. Just be content knowing that you are still better off than most who have ever lived.

You can get away with a lot more if you're the one buying the drinks.

How Muggers Size Up Your Walk

Like all predators muggers consistently choose victims who are the most vulnerable even if the muggers can't say exactly why.

A small number of criminals commit most of the crimes, and the crimes they commit are spread unevenly over the population: some unfortunate individuals seem to be picked out repeatedly by those intent on violent assault. Back in the 1980s, two psychologists from New York, Betty Grayson and Morris Stein, set out to find out what criminals look for in potential victims. They filmed short clips of members of the public walking along New York's streets, and then took those clips to a large East Coast prison. They showed the tapes to 53 violent inmates with convictions for crimes on strangers, ranging from assault to murder, and asked them how easy each person would be to attack.

The prisoners made very different judgements about these notional victims. Some were consistently rated as easier to attack, as an "easy rip-off". There were some expected differences, in that women were rated as easier to attack than men, on average, and older people as easier targets than the young. But even among those you'd expect to be least easy to assault, the subgroup of young men, there were some individuals who over half the prisoners rated at the top end of the "ease of assault" scale (a 1, 2 or 3, on the 10 point scale).

5 Reasons the English Language Makes No Freaking Sense

I blame the French and academics with a Latin fetish.

Over the last 500 years, there's been a continuing effort to standardize all spelling -- and a lot of the stuffy academic types making the rules made a real mess of it. In the 16th century, the people putting together dictionaries decided to insert a "b" into "debt" and "doubt" to remind everyone that they had evolved from the Latin word "debitum" -- even though the preferred spellings, "dette" and "doute," made way more sense. But hey, at least the common man would forever be reminded of precious Latin, thus ensuring that it would never become a dead langua- oh wait, no, it died more completely than an engineer on the away team, didn't it? The academics did the exact same thing with "receipt" (then spelled "receit," but drawn from the Latin word "recepta" ) and smugly smirked down at generations of dyslexics accidentally writing "recipe."

Syrian al-Qaeda & FSA Rebels Bicker Over Walkie Talkie

Over who hates infidels more and who is less rapey.

Muslims Attack Protesters Calling For An End To Islamic Violence

The Great Islamophobia Myth

But with the annual release of the FBI's hate crime numbers, statistical proof is once again available for those who are interested in the real answer as to which groups are subjected to the most attacks. This year's numbers, like those of every other previous year since they began compiling such statistics, are clear: Jews remain the No. 1 target of hate crimes in America and no other group comes even close. Incidents involving Muslims, who are, according to the unchallenged meme that is central to every story or broadcast about the subject, the prime targets actually suffer only a fraction as much as Jews. Is it too much to ask reporters who regurgitate the same tired, unproven story lines about Muslims in the coming year to take these facts into account?

The actual number of hate crimes involving a muslim victim per year: 130. Which is miniscule compared to the population of the US and on par with the number of reported anti-Muslim hate crimes pre-9/11.

Teh Tweet!

Le AoSHQ groupe de Yahoo. Ooh la la!

Tonight's post brought to you by 1982:

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posted by Maetenloch at 10:47 PM

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