tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post8446717409262448159..comments2024-03-28T00:36:19.403-07:00Comments on Rocketpunk Manifesto: Darker Than a Thousand SunsRickhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.comBlogger72125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-40279416473538491482017-10-18T11:02:51.807-07:002017-10-18T11:02:51.807-07:00Hey, I'm Diane C. Brown, I have gone through y...Hey, I'm Diane C. Brown, I have gone through your article. WOW! Great sharing. It is very informative for all. World leader no matter how war hungry wants his own cities to turn into a moonscape. Since the end of WWII we see small scale wars, but it has created a long quasi-peace. Not true peace since as the human race I don't believe we can have that, but a peace that does at least keep us from destroying ourselves. http://onedaytop.com/mars-study-gives-clues-origins-life/<br />Diane C. Brownhttp://onedaytop.com/mars-study-gives-clues-origins-life/noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-10044399352224119502017-01-15T12:59:19.134-08:002017-01-15T12:59:19.134-08:00Believe it or not ... a new post:
Trantor: the Bi...Believe it or not ... a new post:<br /><br />Trantor: the Big Town<br /><br />http://www.rocketpunk-manifesto.com/2017/01/trantor-big-town.htmlRickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16932015378213238346noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-54607176601118132232016-10-10T04:48:00.631-07:002016-10-10T04:48:00.631-07:00Hi!
I've started a blog with a similar premis...Hi!<br /><br />I've started a blog with a similar premise to this one, called ToughSF.<br /><br />Some regular commentors from here have started to pop up in my posts. We discuss mostly the same things as here. I'm inviting the rest of you to come over!<br /><br />Toughsf.blogspot.comMatter Beamhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16721504049578296529noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-77609475948567170122016-08-24T18:33:16.697-07:002016-08-24T18:33:16.697-07:00Here's a new topic for you, Rick: building a s...Here's a new topic for you, Rick: building a space infrastructure to support a mission to Proxama b...<br />Ferrellfro1797https://www.blogger.com/profile/00692480930004754654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-73894432566029890052016-01-25T01:20:04.776-08:002016-01-25T01:20:04.776-08:00On a final note, this article was also mentioned a...On a final note, this article was also mentioned as a more balanced counterpoint:<br /><br />https://www.techinasia.com/china-citizen-scores-credit-system-orwellianThom Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03200667235769052060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-22302672865339979832016-01-25T01:18:45.924-08:002016-01-25T01:18:45.924-08:00B:
What in the actual fuck? did you just ignore e...B:<br /><br />What in the actual fuck? did you just ignore everything I wrote? I even admitted there was a proposal from the Central bank (which would require government approval/basically is the government proposal) and it hasn't gone anywhere.<br /><br />If anything, that article basically confirms what I've already said on the topic, which is that A. It's not mandatory to enroll, most of the population isn't, he signed up just to see what it was for Christ's sake and what he'd get with his financial background (read: financial) "entitled" him to. B. there currently is no connection to the Central Bank/Government, we're not speaking of proposals or ideas, the original topic I posted about was that extra credit was full of shit saying all of this was mandatory and fully implemented, and that they were full of shit as usual (and have been on several other occasions, pretty ironic people have no issue when these dipshits lie but the second you point out they are infact lying you get accused as a "defender of the lying eastern media!") and C. by extension, as of now, only Alibaba and Tencent more recently, with some random, much smaller 3rd party businesses are using it currently.<br /><br />For the love of god, It's like you're intentionally trying to put words in my mouth here.<br /><br />Oh, don't worry, the Benevolent US government would never make such a program for use on their own population and the rest of the wo....<br /><br />PRISM_logo.png<br /><br />......Oh.<br /><br />But at least it's a good thing that, unlike those dirty Chinamen who just sit there and be oppressed, US citizens fought against what's perhaps the most Orwellian tool ever created in our day and age and didn't just sit back bitching about it on the internet for a few days then doing a 180 and calling Snowden an unpatriotic traitor who should be hung for high Treason! Western citizens are so much more willful and individualized, how could I forget?Thom Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03200667235769052060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-85626673080525947672016-01-25T01:17:25.371-08:002016-01-25T01:17:25.371-08:00A:
Alright, let's take a look at a wonderful ...A:<br /><br />Alright, let's take a look at a wonderful article by Zheping Huang (a graduate from the University of Hong Kong with a master's degree in journalism).<br /><br />http://qz.com/519737...and-mine-sucks/<br /><br />According to Huang, who writes with a great amount of tongue-in-cheek humor and seems to have a grasp on internet trends in the east and west, these scores are popping up all over the internet. Citizens of the PRC are now actively sharing photos of their scores on social media (but not facebook, because facebook is evil according to China as you well know).<br /><br />According to Huang, the score:<br />•Is maintained partially by an Alibaba-affiliated company that also runs Alipay<br />•Ant Financial claims that it evaluates one’s purchasing and spending habits in order to derive a figure that shows how creditworthy someone is<br />•Passing numerical benchmarks entitles one to certain perks, like small loans or waivers on deposits<br />•The Author's score is quite low<br />•There are financial incentives and other rewards for a higher score<br /><br />Ant Financial told the publication that Sesame Credit is intended to incorporate online and offline data to generate credit scores.<br /><br />Five things factor into your score:<br /><br />The first category takes into account purchases made using Alipay, and looks at purchasing volume<br /><br />The second category involves personal information, like one’s job. Entering information results in a higher score.<br /><br />The third and fourth categories measure timely payments on bills and credit cards, respectively.<br /><br />The fifth: when more friends join Sesame Credit, your score will go up.<br /><br />This lays the foundation for a terrifying social system as outlined by numerous sources. And of course, the system does become mandatory in 2020. And mind you, "Sesame Credit’s release in January followed a government directive last summer calling for the establishment of a “social credit system.”<br /><br />You can see the translated government document here titled "Planning Outline for the Construction of a Social Credit System (2014-2020)".<br /><br />In one of the first paragraphs it says:<br /><br />"...its inherent requirements are establishing the idea of an sincerity culture, and carrying forward sincerity and traditional virtues, it uses encouragement to keep trust and constraints against breaking trust as incentive mechanisms, and its objective is raising the honest mentality..."<br /><br />So, forgive me for referencing this government document/solicitation for exactly what the youtube video laid out.<br /><br />Mind you a little farther down it says:<br /><br />"(3) Guiding ideology and target principles.<br /><br />...ensure that sincerity and trustworthiness become conscious norms of action among all the people."<br /><br />You can read all of this for yourself, and I would suggest you do so (because it is very goddamn scary). It is noteworthy to point out that other goals laid out are<br /><br />(2) Strengthen the construction of a sincerity culture.<br /><br />(1) Build mechanisms to incentivise trust-keeping and punish trust-breaking.<br /><br />Now according to Rogier Creemer, who researches Chinese law and media at the University of Oxford “The government wants to build a platform that leverages things like big data, mobile internet, and cloud computing to measure and evaluate different levels of people’s lives in order to create a gamified nudging for people to behave better. In China, we know that will happen in finance, but the documents also include things like your driving record, and also your professional evaluation, like how good a lawyer your customers think you are.”<br /><br />So do you honestly not see that Sesame Credit could in fact be exactly what the video presents it to be? Because in the government solicitation that calls for the creation of such a system, it clearly lays that out.Thom Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03200667235769052060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-16020196579559847532016-01-25T01:15:51.563-08:002016-01-25T01:15:51.563-08:00A:
And you see the Sesame Credit system as a hoax,...A:<br />And you see the Sesame Credit system as a hoax, despite its existence and mandatory enrollment? This is the country that pays people to post government propaganda crap on the internet.<br /><br />B:<br />Despite It's existence as only with Alibaba for their own use with Tencent being interested, the fact Extra Credit lied about it being linked to the government and the Central bank of China approving it (they never actually did, it was proposed but nothings come of it), and the fact that all of 0.08% of the population are actually enrolled with Alibaba's credit score? Yeah, but yeah I forgot, it's the PRC, So I should just instantly discount all of that because I'm not capable of free thought and need to mindlessly hate on Russia and China like everyone else in the west does no matter the context. But hey, considering the west is fucking retarded enough to believe that 500 people died from a failed Long March 2 launch based solely on the words on an Israeli visitor who never even spoke to anyone at the area and only did a brief driveby of evactuated buildings in the area as evidence for his claim, but just said "YEAH, THAT MANY PEOPLE TOTES DIED, JUST TRUST ME BECAUSE THEY'RE LYING!" even after genuine evidence such as population growth figurers after the accident and population for the area at the time (which was remote as fuck) flat out proved his claims were complete and utter bullshit, So I guess I'm used to this level of cognitive dissonance from western media who hypocritically make fun of eastern media, yeah, Chinese media lies, Western media does it too, the difference is the motivation, in the case of the west it's because fucking with the truth sells better, not exactly a good reason to trust them without question.Thom Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03200667235769052060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-43191428768747392352016-01-25T01:15:40.580-08:002016-01-25T01:15:40.580-08:00This is actually from the private section of a for...This is actually from the private section of a forum, but I feel that the author would be okay with reposting it here. The discussion was being conducted by picking apart long arguments, so I've cut it into comment/response segments for clarity.<br /><br />Warning: salty language ahead...<br /><br />A:<br />And the BBC report was a hoax as well?<br /><br />B:<br />Considering the amount of shit they got wrong, including using alot of "facts" that happened to first appear from EC? Yeah, truly reliable. I forgot Eastern media does nothing but post lies and propaganda but western media would never do such a thing, thank you.<br /><br />A:<br />That is pretty much par for the course when it comes to the Chinese government.<br /><br />B:<br />Yeah, the Chinese government has done many questionable things regarding human rights and social issues over the years, this doesn't mean that literally every poorly researched automatically gets accepted as truth, sorry to tell you.<br /><br />A:<br />Anyways, you know as well as I do that the PRC is almost alien in the way that they do things.<br /><br />B:<br />Yeah, it turns out when the worlds 2 super powers tend to fuck with you constantly for decades over the dumbest shit or constantly backstab you, you tend to become a bit distrusting of outside influence, not exactly shocking.<br /><br />A:<br />The level of oppression that they face on a daily basis (well, what they wouldn't see as oppression) is mind blowing.<br /><br />B:<br />"What they wouldn't see as oppression" are you FUCKING KIDDING ME? have you ever been to China? Please do and actually talk to some of the locals before making such fucking statements, Jesus Christ.<br /><br />A:<br />Hell, I once had a 30 minute argument with a Chinese exchange student who kept yelling at me that the 1989 incident was all a hoax put on by the western media<br /><br />B:<br />Oh, you spoke to 1 exchange student, that clears everything up, Let me pull out Anecdotes of all the people I've met who believe 9/11 was a government inside job, that the moon landing was a hoax, that JFK was killed by the CIA, that Kent State was intentionally done to suppress the Anti Vietnam movement, that FEMA is planning death camps for us all, that the Waco Siege and Fire were lit by the FBI, and that DIA is the secret headquarters of the Illuminati and then present this as evidence as this is what every American believes.<br /><br />A:<br />Social ostracization is common, individuality is discouraged like a motherfucker (although this is hardly unique to China),<br /><br />B:<br />I guess all the Chinese citizens I've met with very different and unique personalities and interests were just the robotic ones then.<br /><br />A:<br />and you constantly hear about bloggers/whoever on social media being punished severely for the most ridiculous things.<br /><br />B:<br />I never said China didn't commit human rights violations, but it makes them an easy target to just make shit up about them.Thom Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03200667235769052060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-75039274008999553662016-01-13T11:56:20.844-08:002016-01-13T11:56:20.844-08:00Thom S, do you have some more complete sources on ...Thom S, do you have some more complete sources on the Sesame Credit system? I'd be very interested to learn more on the subject.<br /><br />You are right to be afraid from uncaring, abusive megacorps, though I do feel that a centralised government is even more dangerous in that regard, as its functions extend to more of a citizen's life. But then again, Scilla or Charybdis (if not 'and')...Ethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13196257853962186227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-71473221730503490422016-01-12T20:35:38.475-08:002016-01-12T20:35:38.475-08:00Thom S; you're right, that is scary...and wors...Thom S; you're right, that is scary...and worse than '1984'.21 century serfs won't be tied to the land, but their credit scores. <br /><br />Ferrellfro1797https://www.blogger.com/profile/00692480930004754654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-72718667482505893992016-01-12T00:11:34.598-08:002016-01-12T00:11:34.598-08:00I've already hashed this out with folks elsewh...I've already hashed this out with folks elsewhere, but the sesame credit system is (according to the Chinese folk participating) not much more than a credit rating system at this point. Said Chinese folk were also very upset with Extra Credits for making numerous errors and omissions in that piece.<br /><br />What spooks me is the fact that it seems to take no evil government plotting whatsoever for this sort of control to be exerted on people. I mean, my medical aid scheme now does insurance and banking as well, while my bank has gotten into telecoms. All of them, in turn, share the same credit rating services across the banking, insurance, medical aid and telecoms sectors. Going even further, my medical aid now tracks your shopping patterns using a gamified system ("opt-in", of course), then feed the results into your risk profile.<br /><br />Meaning that my life is potentially being monitored on a minute level by a bunch of entities which all have the means and incentive to exert strong social control via my credit rating, insurance premiums and so on. As such, the day is now upon us where an assessor or algorithm hidden inside the vast network of interlinked and interoperated companies notices my age, spending habits, medical history and so on and then preemptively blows up my credit access/insurance premiums/health care because I've been labelled a liability.<br /><br />And the worst of it is that, unlike a large government system of control, I won't have any form of recourse whatsoever. I won't even have enough information to work out what I've been blacklisted for - because all the data and algorithms will be proprietary; hidden behind a maze of legal contracts and intellectual property. I'll just suddenly be unable to get loans at non-usurious rates, afford healthcare or use a phone.<br /><br />This scenario, frankly, scares me a lot more than anything an intrusive state could dream up.Thom Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03200667235769052060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-68035394178005725762015-12-18T16:26:43.312-08:002015-12-18T16:26:43.312-08:00Eth...that was a 21 century update to "1984&q...Eth...that was a 21 century update to "1984"...in the real world...I'm with you, let's move to Mars...I'll gladly grow pumpkins in a dome...<br /><br />Ferrellfro1797https://www.blogger.com/profile/00692480930004754654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-61165107082574713352015-12-18T06:43:40.178-08:002015-12-18T06:43:40.178-08:00I've just found a new, very compelling argumen...I've just found a new, very compelling argument for colonizing the Solar System (and in particular the myriad independent objects of the Belt and further) as fast as possible - and ideally the stars beyond that:<br /><br />https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHcTKWiZ8sI<br /><br />This may be the most terrifying thing I've seen from this century. I don't know about you, but I sure as hell don't like the idea of sharing a (globalized) world with a great power doing that. On today's Earth, efficient ideas are emulated.Ethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13196257853962186227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-78664486001532724972015-11-29T04:02:05.129-08:002015-11-29T04:02:05.129-08:00I bet you the real scientists are praying day and ...I bet you the real scientists are praying day and night for a carpet bombing run on Mars, Europa and Enceladus and a gallery of space based telescopes (IR and visible wavelength) instead of one futile manned mission to Mars that has a 10% chance of ending in catastrophic failure. <br /><br />A manned mission to Mars has nothing to do with science and everything to do with ego.<br /><br />As we get used to robots and unmanned systems in our own society (drones, reapers, self driving cars, robot aged care helpers etc etc etc) my guess is a future generation will view our desire to personally send some dude to Mars (he'll be driving around in a "robotic" rover anyway) as a quaint curiosity of a similar magnitude as trying to build a cannon to shoot some poor SOB to the Moon.Lockihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08689365707645882401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-12709471213266522252015-11-28T07:37:25.747-08:002015-11-28T07:37:25.747-08:00Well, if cost were the only factor, I'd agree ...Well, if cost were the only factor, I'd agree with you, but we have to deal with politicians and their motives are like plastic sacks blowing in the wind...<br /><br />So maybe there is hope; if some of these privately funded missions have even modest success, (or even the appearance of success), then maybe a large scale manned exploration of Mars might happen. I'm not going to hold my breath, but stranger things have happened.<br /><br />Ferrellfro1797https://www.blogger.com/profile/00692480930004754654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-45176179943420228332015-11-27T20:58:54.197-08:002015-11-27T20:58:54.197-08:00The fact that it is an order of magnitude cheaper ...The fact that it is an order of magnitude cheaper to send a robot makes this argument a bit moot, unfortunately.<br /><br />Just to give you an idea of the scale of the disparity here, a manned mission to mars is projected to cost something like $100 - 500 billion. Curiosity, on the other hand, was costed at $2.5 billion once all was said and done.<br /><br />This means that, for a single flags-and-footprints mission, you could launch between 40 and 200 rovers (a veritable fleet!) to do science on the red planet.Thom Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03200667235769052060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-9186415009657410402015-11-27T10:22:17.659-08:002015-11-27T10:22:17.659-08:00If there is enough water on Mars for there to be s...If there is enough water on Mars for there to be subsurface flows, there should be enough to support a large, permanent outpost. The technology of tail-sitter rockets is cool and I hope it works out. Anything to reduce costs in rocketry is good. As far as robots vs people goes in planetary exploration, robots tend to lead to new robots to do more experiments that the scientists have discovered they need to do. If a scientist were on site, then they wouldn't have to wait years, or decades to do the next experiment, and would be able to follow more leads with the data they find. Plus, they could do research that robots aren't equipped to do. That would be one reason to build a permanently manned base on Mars and the other worlds.<br /><br />Ferrellfro1797https://www.blogger.com/profile/00692480930004754654noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-87873086133281434062015-11-26T23:05:02.632-08:002015-11-26T23:05:02.632-08:00Since it's been a while (read: years) since I ...Since it's been a while (read: years) since I last commented, can I mention that the post system here seems very... uh... "retro", now that I've gotten used to having a full text editing panel when I post.<br /><br />Are there plans to update/migrate? Or should I relearn HTML tags? Thom Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03200667235769052060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-9933100745243988342015-11-26T23:02:20.802-08:002015-11-26T23:02:20.802-08:00"And Tony drives away another commenter!"..."And Tony drives away another commenter!"<br /><br />Luckily, for every one who falls three more will take his place :)<br /><br />"I know its a bit odd for a rocketpunk blog but the whole idea of manned spaceflight has lost its lustre for me. I'm finding the discoveries of our robots much more fascinating from a science point of view. The contributions of Hubble, Cassini-Hyugens, New Horizons, the upcoming James Webb telescope and a myriad of other satellites and probes has providing a treasure-trove of information that will keep our scientists busy for decades.<br /><br />In comparison I can't think of anything really concrete the ISS has contributed. Even the moon landings, whilst a magnificent feat and one of the USA's finest achievements, really didn't contribute anything a good probe wouldn't have. All that money to prove the moon was mostly silicone and almost certainly had a giant impact terrestrial origin."<br /><br />Just to add to this, I think it has become very apparent that people just aren't well built for space travel. With improvements in robotics and the prospect that we'll have a lot more control over biology* in the next century than we do now, it may seem almost hilariously anachronistic to talk about "manned" spaceflight at all - a bit like imagining cars that inexplicably have a horse shoved in somewhere.<br /><br /><br />*Not to mention the fact that the two seriously begin to bleed into each other at some point.Thom Shttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03200667235769052060noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-720042090135224252015-11-25T15:27:43.823-08:002015-11-25T15:27:43.823-08:00I don't like Musk, I don't like Bezos, I d...I don't like Musk, I don't like Bezos, I don't like Amazon and I don't much like Tesla either. I find their hubris and social media image insulting to the dedicated engineers and scientists who came before them.<br /><br />But I'm still amazed they landed that rocket vertically. Maybe they are finally learning to walk the walk.<br /><br />Liquid water on Mars is fascinating from my point of view because it raises the tantalising prospect of "proving' life beyond earth within our lifetime.<br /><br />I know its a bit odd for a rocketpunk blog but the whole idea of manned spaceflight has lost its lustre for me. I'm finding the discoveries of our robots much more fascinating from a science point of view. The contributions of Hubble, Cassini-Hyugens, New Horizons, the upcoming James Webb telescope and a myriad of other satellites and probes has providing a treasure-trove of information that will keep our scientists busy for decades.<br /><br />In comparison I can't think of anything really concrete the ISS has contributed. Even the moon landings, whilst a magnificent feat and one of the USA's finest achievements, really didn't contribute anything a good probe wouldn't have. All that money to prove the moon was mostly silicone and almost certainly had a giant impact terrestrial origin.Lockihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08689365707645882401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-86506346781836056442015-11-25T12:39:40.180-08:002015-11-25T12:39:40.180-08:00This comment has been removed by the author.Ethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13196257853962186227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-22179503483847612892015-11-25T12:39:39.719-08:002015-11-25T12:39:39.719-08:00A tiny run of extremely ephemeral, hard to purify ...A tiny run of extremely ephemeral, hard to purify water on Mars, so it's not Canals 2: Rising Tide. But there is water ice if humans do go long term there. And who knows, if there is some subterranean water on a semi-regular basis, maybe something of the primitive life that could have appeared when Mars was a nicer place could have survived...<br />So yeah, that's a big deal.<br />And kudos to NASA's PR team for the timing, let's hope it will give them a bit more of the budget they need.<br /><br />I don't like Bezos. I don't like Amazon. At all. But we have to recognize the guy's and company's talents, and that can only be good for the space industry - either with a new strong player, or at least with added motivations for the giants to move faster!<br />Let's remember that it was a sounding rocket, not an orbiter. A reusable first stage for an orbiter is a harder proposition, so SpaceX still have the lead there, IMHO.<br />I still think the Adeline team got the best solution so far (though whether the rest of Arianespace can actually use it at its full potential remains to be seen - it's a big, slow company), but then again I have an exaggerated fondness for European aerospace. (Now if this Sabre thingy actually works, I'll take the exaggerated back.)<br /><br />Also, as far as the first episode goes, the Expanse looks great. It also looks pretty close to the book, and the hardest high-SF I've since in a show since... since ever, in fact. Magical torch drives, fantastic heat sinks (and lack of radiators) and conspicuous lack of visible fuel tanks, but meh, even 2001 didn't have those last two.<br />Damn it, I hate to watch a show (or at least a season) that is not over instead of taking it at my own pace.<br />Though I do have a minor problem with the books, where obvious solutions to problems somehow take hours or days for the characters to figure out. Mark Watney they aren't...<br /><br />And I really, really wish this is actually the beginning of a Golden Age of hard-SF on the screen.Ethhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13196257853962186227noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-28742279478522712382015-11-24T15:34:56.536-08:002015-11-24T15:34:56.536-08:00A reuseable rocket lands vertically! (commercially...A reuseable rocket lands vertically! (commercially funded no less).<br /><br />Liquid water discovered on Mars?<br /><br />And no posts or comments from one of my favourite sci-fi blogs on the topic?<br /><br />These are two of the most extraordinary events we have seen in space exploration in years. I'd love to hear people's thoughtsLockihttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08689365707645882401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7494544263897150929.post-56262157525687617912015-10-25T19:57:51.263-07:002015-10-25T19:57:51.263-07:00Truth be told, you drove me off for a while once, ...Truth be told, <i><b>you</b></i> drove me off for a while once, a few years ago. The only difference is that (if Geoffrey is truly gone) I'm not going to tell myself "good riddance".Tonynoreply@blogger.com