Various and Sundry

Recommended Reading: The Fate of Google Books

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

The saying goes that you know you’re a book lover when you still get upset thinking about the destruction of the Library of Alexandria. As many as 400,00 scrolls and whatever wisdom they contained have long since been ashes. What to feel then, about a modern day collection of knowledge that not burned, but nevertheless hidden away? James Somers has a long-form article in The Atlantic that tells the tale of Google Books: the catalysts behind its creation…

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Various and Sundry

The Computer has Reached a Verdict

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

When I talk about automation with people, I often like to point out how the scope of automation now appears to encompass what knowledge workers do. Indeed, from what I’ve read, various implementations of automation, algorithms, and artificial intelligence are already coming into play in both the legal and healthcare sectors of the economy. In other words, well beyond traditional notions of automation, which usually involve manufacturing and factory work. While I had heard of algorithms…

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Various and Sundry

The “Efficiency Gap” and Gerrymandering

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

As mentioned in a post last month, I’m very interested in addressing gerrymandering, the political practice of dividing up voting districts in a way that would befuddle the designers of Tetris. Last month, I highlighted Brian Olson’s algorithm to make voting districts more compact. However, in this article by Erica Klarreich, she suggests that a district’s compactness is not the sole criterion for gerrymandering and talks more about ways to address the problem. Hopefully, this…

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Writing

Going Faster than the Speed of Light with Imaginary Numbers

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

For many of us writing science fiction, a common decision point is how hard or soft we should make the world(s) we’re building. A perennial area is whether we allow faster-than-light travel or not (i.e., warping, folding space, entering stargates, traveling through hyperspace, etc.). Scientist and science fiction author Catherine Asaro explains her own journey in coming up with a way to have interstellar ships that can move at the speed of narrative without  willfully ignoring…

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Producing Various and Sundry

Harsh Truths about that Collective Hunch that is Reality

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

Although I’ll frequently list articles worth reading on the blog –such as the changing dynamics of film financing or the automation of work— I rarely do “listicles” not only because they’re usually slick, quick pieces designed as clickbait, but also because they don’t give me too much upon which to reflect. Perhaps it’s the timing, but this Forbes(!) listicle by Jessica Hagy made me reflect about what I know now that I don’t think I understood…

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Various and Sundry

Crisis of Infinite Star Treks: The Naked Greed Time

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

This is the 29th entry in a surprisingly long series of posts about Star Trek’s future and its fandom called Crisis of Infinite Star Treks. Frankly, I though we’d all be done with all things Axanar by now, but since certain Star Trek “fans” continue to try and fleece other fans, I needed to weigh in again. I’ll cut the chase: Axanar Productions (Alec Peters, et al), the folks who crowdfunded about $1.4 million to make a…

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Rants Various and Sundry

Getting Rid of Gerrymandering

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

I have friends and colleagues all over the political spectrum, so their reactions to last Fall’s election was quite varied, though perhaps all of them might agree that our country, post-election, feels more fractured and partisan than ever. In wanting to be more politically engaged, I also wanted to find something that all (or, I guess, most) of said friends and colleagues could rally around as Americans. Surely we can all unite in eliminating gerrymandering. What…

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Various and Sundry

The Continually Evolving Appetites of Worldwide Filmgoers

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

Following the film industry is something I do frequently enough to merit a tag. One article in Wired, by K. M. McFarland, that particularly caught my notice last July noted how the expensive fantasy epic Warcraft did miserably in the United States, yet comfortably in the rest of the world. So now we have an article by Todd VanDerWerff in Vox that also explores that divide between the U.S. and global box office. Look at those lists…

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Various and Sundry

RIP, Robert Osbourne

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

Growing up in the DC area, my dad made full use of all the free film series places like the National Archives, Library of Congress, and East Gallery would provide. And, of course, he’d take us along. It was at these places that I first saw such classics as To Kill a Mockingbird, Fort Apache, and Gone with the Wind. “It was TCM before TCM,” I explained. Earlier this week, the man who epitomized Turner…

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Producing

Meetings and Purposes: Different Types of Meetings

By Bjorn Munson | by Bjorn Munson

If you’ve gone through the trouble of regularly creating a meeting agenda and gone a step further in crafting the agenda so it has an easily understood purpose and objectives, you’ve probably realized a central truth. Not all meetings are created equal. No, I don’t mean that some meetings are an abysmal waste of time and may, in fact, endanger your long-term health. Unfortunately, that may be true. I mean that you’ve probably realized that one…

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