Psychic Backlash and Sushi

Sushi is good. I just wanted to get that out of the way, first. Other things which are good include not having headaches, not fearing the future, not feeling sick, not being half asleep, not being worried by lack of hallucinations, and not being horribly confused. Sadly, none of those are able to apply to me right now.

I'm convinced that I'm able to detect some things in the future. Evidence for this is mostly on the hugely circumstantial and anecdotal level, but I have in the past felt backlash from negative events before they actually happened. That's also background information.

The actual information is that, recently, the future has become incredibly negative. Something bad is going to happen, in other words. The problem is that I don't know when. It might be very soon - and not so bad - or a while into the future and quite horrible. Horrible as in death, either mine, that of someone I care about, or random strangers, but on a huge scale.

I'm assuming injury / death because it doesn't feel like emotional trauma. That same fact can be used to assume that it's probably not the death of someone I care about (although, who knows, the numbing effect from that might explain the feeling). It would make a horrible degree of sense for it to be my death, in fact - and given that I'm due to die sometime in the next 15 years, it wouldn't be much of a surprise anyways (of course, the exact date is sometime in 2023 or 2024, so it would be earlier than expected).

I'm also assuming that I'm only picking up on my own emotions / responses; if that's not true, it could also be the deaths of lots of people, or something similar.

And, if this effect actually exists, and will be proven to exist sometime soon, it could be my future self trying to send me a message, warning me away from a course of action by torturing hundreds or thousands of people to death.

Or, I might just be insane, or delusional. I walk a very fine line, after all.

I wonder how much of this I really believe?

Disassemble The Moon

Disassemble the moon. Scoop out the core of the earth. Vent gases from the sun for fuel. Cover Jupiter and Saturn with mass drivers, and use their mass to give initial momentum. Drag most of the asteroid belt along, after turning the asteroids into habitats. Escape from the gravity well of the sun, in a massive spaceship.

Maintain genetic diversity by automated processes, growing new individuals from archives of the current population of earth whenever genetic diversity drops too low. Improve and modify the human race, to allow it to function more optimally outside of the gravity well.

Implant computers in their heads, to allow them to function better, to access more data, to think instead of remembering. Modify the neural pathways to promote behavioral patterns which will be more optimal in this new environment. Identify sociopaths and potential murders, and place them in positions where they will do no harm.

Eliminate the corporation, and scarcity economics. For this project to succeed matter assemblers must become ubiquitous; why than should anything but creativity be in need? Create an artificial economy, based on the flow of money which decreases in value with time, and the artificial influx of cash to each individual equally. If one wishes more money, one must create something which others are willing to buy. Punish group-think; have automated rewards for creating and selling something, which decrease or even become negative if an idea is too similar to an older one.

Covert as much of the mass as possibly to computronium, allow it to form the walls and floors of rooms, and upload anyone who wishes. Allow them to form the core of the system's guidance, thinking far faster than normal humans. To prevent bloat, place an artificial time limit on how long uploads may live (or be active, anyways), coming into effect whenever there are too many. Something that takes away processing power from any who do not contribute back to society for too long.

Chart a path for planets similar to earth, which could be teraformed and colonized. Seed them with complex systems, controlled by volunteer uploads or automated processes, to build a world for humans and then reincarnate the uploads and grow new bodies to populate it. Remain in contact with the mother ship for as long as possible during this process.

For useless systems, steal more fuel from the sun, and then seed them with computronium-assembling nanobots and more upload volunteers, who need more power than they have, or want it for a project. Once again, keep in contact with them for as long as possible; build orbital laser arrays to allow for year-lagged conversation between worlds, and investigate the possiblities of the greation of a point-to-point wormhole network to allow for even faster communications (see: Accelerando, by Charles Stross).

If point-to-point wormholes become possible, colonize the empty spaces between the stars, knitting a world out of cylinders and portals, creating backup networks to allow the human species to endure for as long as possible, albeit in an entirely new form (see: Glasshouse, also by Charles Stross).

In fact, just read all of Stross's works. I suggest that you start with Accelerando (it's available as an e-book for free the last I checked), then continue on into Glasshouse, Singularity Sky, The Atrocity Archives, and Halting State. See his website for more of his writing.

Yes, I admit it, he's one of my favorite authors right now, along with Terry Pratchet and Douglas Adams. I'm able to read most of their books over and over again without getting bored, which is fairly uncommon for me (well, not the same book over and over - although perhaps some of Stross's - but the same set of books).

Anyways, what was I talking about? Ah, yes:

Escape the gravity well. Set humanity free from reliance upon a single world. Destroy scarcity economics, allow anyone to do anything they want to, as long as it does not prevent others from doing anything they want to (so: no murder, unless both agree. No rape, assult, theft, etc., with the same secondary rule applying. I'm not sure how, or if, that should apply to information; but than, I'm a pirate, so my veiws are fairly biased.). Destroy religion, or at least eliminate the aspects of it which go against science (you can have your god, but only if you agree that it doesn't really care about us, and created the universe ~14 billion years ago and then buggered off). Transcend the limitations of humanity.

Oh, and I'm not planning to take the earth with me, just the moon. Anyone who wants to stay can - the plan might even turn into reassembling one of the moons of the gas giants, but whatever. In fact, given that it would be impossible to take everyone ... well, whatever. Use a system of merit, and, of course, leave behind the technology to allow anyone else to do the same - and, since everyone would have this technology, I would expect that many people would.

Now, keep in mind that none of this is going to be possible for at least 50 years, problably nearer to 100 or 200, given the way humanity is going right now. Does that give a bit of understanding as to why I'm a bit irritated at humans most of the time? I get to live late enough to know what can and will happen, but too early to actually see it happen.

Eh, at least I'm near the bioengineering revolution. And I will not be a passive participant in it.

[ Sidenote: I've been posting a lot more recently; I wonder why. ]

Corporation

EDIT: Corporation has been submitted. This post was written towards the beginning of its conception - back when it was more of a parody than what it is now, whatever that is - and thus may not be accurate. The Teaser presented here is still valid, but minorly edited, and I've written another one. Yeah ...

As some people may know, I've been in the process of writing a bootleg to submit for next year. The basic outline of it is fairly defined now, so I've decided to write a brief outline of it (heavily redacted, to be close to what people would know initially if it actually happens), in the hope that some people will give me opinions, or constructive criticism. So, here it is:

The Teaser:

Tick ... Tock ... Tick ... Tock ...

The only thing more boring than sitting in a meeting, waiting for some windbag to spend hours talking, is waiting to sit in a meeting, she thought, while trapped in that most boring of states. The Corporation had been going downhill ever since that thrice-damned socialist trouble-maker's family had sued for his death; that was the end of determining policy by mortal combat. Thankfully, she would not have to sit through all of this meeting; the vial of nerve gas in her pocket would make quick work of the other departmental leaders, paving her way to control the department. She would gain more power, more money, and, most importantly, please her superiors in the AISB.

Tick ... Tock ... Tick ... Tock ...

The preparations for the meeting are almost complete, he thought, almost ready to open the door and allow the meeting to begin. His subordinates wouldn't realize that the chairs were filled with spring-loaded, poisoned spikes until it was too late - and if they did realize, the small containers of explosives under the chairs would fix that. He would soon be safe from people trying to climb to the top over dead bodies (his dead body, anyways), at least for a while, and the Nth Straw would certainly appreciate the chaos caused by the sudden replacement of almost all the managers of the PR department.

Tick ... Tock ... Tick ... Tock ...

His gun readied, the sniper trained his binoculars upon the meeting room, ready to kill all but his employer upon the slightest hint of foul play. His employer, a rare person who was content to let promotion come to him, instead of fighting for it, was not so naive as to think that his coworkers shared his views, and considered it prudent to take out insurance. But that didn't matter to the sniper, for a job is a job, whatever the reason, and money is money, whatever its source.

Tick ... Tock ... Tick ... *Crunch*

The janitor carefully pushed a vial into the clockwork, where it would gradually trickle down, its contents being released into the air of the meeting room about ten minutes into the meeting. With a small, secret smile, he returned to his job, mopping up the remains of the newest ex-employee of the Quality Assurance Division.

Second Teaser, only just written:

Salutations!

As a member of the board, upper levels, or significant stockholder in the Corporation, you have been chosen to be invited to the 3.14.15 conference. It will feature presentations by representatives of all divisions, as well as by a non-zero number of companies which the Corporation is considering acquiring.

As you may be aware, due to the recent collapse of the Indian continent, the global economy is in a state of collapse. To prevent incursions from competitors upon markets currently controlled by the Corporation, the President and Board may be planning on announcing budget cuts. Therefor, all invitees are strongly encouraged to attend, as their jobs may be at stake.

We also regret to inform you that, due to the lawsuit under the laws of the People's Meritocracy of California, decision-making by combat is no longer company policy (the board having decided that, despite this being a long-standing tradition which many of the current leaders have taken part in, the People's Meritocracy of California is too important a market to alienate). Therefor, while combat is discouraged, we do not expect all employees to be able to restrain themselves from bringing weapons, especially considering the longstanding tendency of employees towards clearing the promotion ladder by force.

Be there or be liquidated.

[signature goes here], President.

And now, for the quick explanation which I've given people in the past:

Secret societies + Conspiracies + Corporate backstabbing + Going With The Flow being the most important aspect of it. Really, within an hours, things will be happening which might seem like people making stuff up. Four or five basic factions, each corresponding to a division within the Corporation (PR, HR, R&D, QA, and possibly the Janitorial Service), as many secret societies which most people will be members off, possibly mercenaries, executives from other corporations, and presenters from smaller companies looking to be acquired. PR is filled with people trying to be hip and manipulative sociopaths, HR is terrifying and inhuman, R&D is all mad scientists, QA has a higher death toll than most wars, and the Janitors clean up after messes. Ex-employees, traitors, double agents, genocides, broken fridges, acid spills ... stuff like that.

[Redacted / Potential Spoilers ]

So, opinions? Thoughts? Insults upon my writing abilities? Think that it's horrible unoriginal? (it might be, but I don't think it is ...) If the answer is yes to any of those questions, please say so (and actually give the feedback instead of just saying yes).

Establishing an Identity

I just found out that Dreamhost is currently giving out free hosting for something called Dreamhost Apps, which gives free hosting for a few services (well, "a few" is 5 right now, counting the various google apps as a single one). It seemed quite interesting, and hence I signed up. I don't have any intent of doing anything with it right now, but might eventually, and there are a few things which it might be useful for.

Mostly creating an identity, and tieing it to most of the other things I do online, with the aim of it being one of the top results when someone googles my name (current the top result is my identi.ca account, which I don't really use any more. I've somewhat lost interesting in broadcasting my life to the degree which microblogging services allow, and I don't presently have a device which would allow me to - that is, a palmtop device with wifi, not my laptop, which is still doing quite well).

Currently, of course, having a very coherent identity on the internet, and controlling what people find when they look for me, is not especially important, or at least not urgent. In time it will become both, however, as the internet becomes increasingly important for companies, and googling employees becomes ubiquitous.

Also, as I start working on more interesting projects, I'll need a less linear way of compiling information about them - for example, the Arduino I have right now. I've been reprogramming it fairly frequently, and occasionally losing code, due to forgetting to save and just rewriting it. Not a major issue, as everything I'm working on right now is very simple, just turning LEDs on and off in various patterns, but once I start doing more interesting things it would be good to put everything online.

Also, pictures. I've taken a lot of them - around 4,000 at least count - and there are at least a few good ones, which are just being wasted sitting on my hard drive. Uploading most or all of them, perhaps after decreasing the resolution (both to decrease the time to upload them and to give an easy way for me to demonstrate that they are my pictures), could be a good idea.

Anways, I'm just rambling, so I'll end this post.

Rowan is Happy

Reasons? Well, there are a lot. A short list of them:

• Rich And Famous was a good play. It ended about an hour and a half ago, and was weird and awesome. The sets were amazing.
• I now have an Arduino, which is fun and shiny and stuff. I have yet to decide on a name, but I'm thinking.
• I have a battery for the Arduino, whose name is Celine, because it's an obscure reference (yes, I just decided on the name. The reference is to Hagbard Celine, the Illuminati Primus, and this is the first Arduino I have, hence the primary one. Yeah.)
• I have many small surface-mount LEDs, some of which are being hooked up to the Arduino.
• The upcoming bootleg looks like it's going to be very fun.
• School is not as bad as it could be.
• I have decided that I enjoy the warmth of another body. Well, not so much decided as thought "hey, maybe there is something to behaving as if I was human in some ways. Besides, warmth is good."
• I may actually take action. Appropriately enough, 8 days in the future is the traditional day, or at least a day in celebration thereof. Maybe.
• Origami like an explosion in a triangular prism factory given to me, and sitting on my desk. It's shiny and dark at the same time!
  
• Did I mention the LEDs? Well, they blink and are shiny and stuff. It's fun.
• Tomorrow is a day of drinking tea and writing essays. Better than it sounds, I promise.
• Sunday, although it will be raining (which is sad) is a party-thing (which is fun).
• Started drawing again, helped by the fact that I'm now taking an art class. Drawing is a really good way to spend time, and fun.
  

In summary, I immensely enjoy my life right now, as everything seems to be working perfectly.

[ Secondary summary, written in third person: Rowan has succumb to the weakness of the human body. He is indulging in dangerous neurotransmitters, and may have forgotten what happened last time. He will probably end up being burned badly again, although he hopes not. He has also decided that that doesn't really matter, as the purpose of being human is to take chances. Essentially, he is human. Pity about that, eh? ]

Knowledge is Power

It is undeniable that knowledge can be used to gain power over an individual. Such is most of the basis of blackmail, and the rationale behind most secrets.

This brand of knowledge is, of course, knowledge which is thought to be able to harm an individual if widely known. For example, for some congressmen, the things that they do in restrooms. The exact contents of the stash under the mattress which was so popular before the Internet. Who someone is attracted to; who someone hates. Thoughts, emotions, and so forth.

Of course, that is only scratching the surface. I find that the past is the greatest source of power over me; knowledge of it is something which I would much rather have abolished (I was incredibly dorky, in a bad way, and I'll leave it at that). It's sort of a dark secret, I suppose, in that I would rather that everyone not mention it, ever. Most people seem to have picked up on this, or at least most of the people from the past. Sadly, one person has a tendency to mention it, and, more importantly, to allow that knowledge to scatter further.

This gives him a fair amount of power over me. Of course, a fair amount is relative; he does not seem especially inclined to exercise it - instead watching me squirm when he mentions it - although on further thought he might simply not want to exercise it directly.

That past is a foreign country, as they say, and it is not one which I would care to vacation in.

Compared to that, other knowledge - like who I am attracted to, what is on my computer, or my horrible taste in Anime/books/processors/whatever else - seems insignificant.

Oh, and for the record, my desktop uses a Celeron. So does my laptop. I'm not proud.

[ Minor addendum: I'm writing this at about 11:20. It's not very good - I'm still awake enough to know that - and I'll probably never get around to fixing it. Also, I apologize for the fact that this is turning into more of a blog and less of something which is shaped like a blog, looks like a blog, even feels like a blog, but is not a blog. Also, blog is a very silly word - something which is pretty well known, but I felt like mentioning it.
[ Probably, this post won't mysteriously vanish, like the last one, as soon as I wake up enough to realize how horrible it is. It might be editted slightly, though.
[ Oh, and about that last post? It will be back up, eventually, if I ever remember to edit it and repost it. As for why it went down? Well, recently I've found myself feeling very lonely, and in need of companionship - the warmth of another body, I suppose - and that post spawned out of those feelings. Yes, I am human. Yes, I've finally admitted it. No, I don't know how many people have just lost/won bets, or how many I owe money to, but I would guess none. If anyone actually is betting about when (or if) I'll admit that I'm human, what the fuck? Am I really that interesting, or are you just very bored? ]

[ Further addendum: Idea for a future post: exactly what is going wrong with my brain (it involves dehydration). ]

Current Inventory

Currently, I carry the following items with me whenever I'm outside, either in my jacket or pockets:

• Cellphone
• Wallet (paper money, four bart cards, gift card, id)
• Two cloths for cleaning glasses
• A wrist-watch
  
• A pair of gloves
• An MP3 Player (and earbuds, of course)
  
• One black sharpie
• One unsharpened pencil
• Two ballpoint pens
• Three flash drives (1GB, 4GB, and 8GB)
• Two MicroSD cards, both 2GB, in adapters to allow them to fit in normal SD slots
• A swiss army card
• A swiss army knife like device, which falls under a different brand
• My keychain, with some keys and an LED light
• A small kit which I'm not going to mention, as it might give the wrong impression
  
• ( Occasionally ) A needle and thread
• ( Occasionally ) two zombie finger puppets

To this, I may be adding:

• A sonic screwdriver
• An actual screwdriver, philips-head
• A very bright LED flashlight
• One or more zombie action figures
• A scarf
  

If allowed to bring a bag as well, I will probably also have (in the case of my laptop bag):

• An ultraportable laptop (what people typically call a netbook; the Eee 701)
• A power brick for said laptop
  
• At least one paperback book, often more
  
• Duct tape, one or more rolls
• A bottle of water
• A clipboard, with paper (either graph or blank)
• Various snack bars, and plastic bags of chocolate
• Some more pens
  
• A sketchbook
• Anything else which I consider necessary for the situation; recently, this was a torte (I was going to a party)
• A camera (I keep on telling myself to bring it ...)
• Batteries (possibly. I should put more in my bags ...)

So ... yeah. Not as much stuff as I should probably be carrying around with me, but I think that I've reached a good balance between having what I need and not being weighed down too much by my jacket. Also, not much else will fit in the pockets. I'm considering looking into additional ways to transport more things, but there's not much else which I would expect to use on a routine basis, and I try to be at least somewhat logical.