China’s latest venture into space, courtesy of CDM!
Climate Crisis: The Ongoing Case of Big Subsidies
One of the most recurring talking points in the Climate Change debate is the issue of renewable energy. Particularly, those who take issue with proposed changes for dealing with the problem continue to cite how solar, wind and tidal power are not viable replacements at this juncture. While this talking point is a convenient way of dismissing needing reforms, it neglects two self-evident realities.
For one, it ignores the immense amount of progress being made in the fields of renewable energy. Whereas inefficiency and high costs remained as stumbling blocks in previous decades, an exponential drop in costs and a rise in efficiency has made solar increasingly attractive for power companies in recent years. Wind and tidal are in similar situations, with countries like Scotland and the United Arab Emirates leading the way in making them profitable.
Second, it ignores the fact that developed nations continue to stymie growth in renewables by the continued way in which they commit billions to subsidizing oil and coal. According to a new report from the Overseas Development Institute, public subsidies for fossil fuels totaled $523 billion in 2011. That’s six times the level of support for the renewable energy industry, despite those technologies being less mature than oil and coal.
Among richer countries, the top 11 heaviest carbon emitters spent $74 billion in subsidies in 2011, with Russia, the United States, Australia, Germany, and the United Kingdom leading the way. In the U.S., these included a $1 billion fuel tax exemption for farmers, $1 billion for the Strategic Petroleum Reserve, and $500 million for fossil fuel R&D.
In so doing, these governments are:
…shooting themselves in both feet [by subsidizing] the very activities that are pushing the world towards dangerous climate change… [and] creating barriers to investment in low-carbon development.
According to the British think-tank, this works out a spending of $112 per adult in these nations. But of course, the richest nations are not the only offenders, which nations like Pakistan, Egypt, and Indonesia spending more than twice as much on fossil fuel subsidies as on health. The ODI says the poorest 20% of households typically receive just 7% of overall handouts.
But the ODI may be underestimating the true size of the subsidies in the U.S., depending on how you look at it. Earlier this year, the International Monetary Fund calculated subsidies at $502 billion, a figure which includes the true cost of carbon emissions calculated at a price of $25 a ton. By that measure, global subsidies equal $1.9 trillion.
The report also advises that governments should cut handouts to oil and coal as soon as they can and begin looking after the genuinely poor:
Phasing out fossil fuel subsidies would create a win-win scenario. It would eliminate the perverse incentives that drive up carbon emissions, create price signals for investment in a low-carbon transition and reduce pressure on public finances.
A timely and sound recommendation, and one which cuts to the heart of the matter. In order to address the problem of Climate Change, we must not only adopt better methods for meeting our needs, we must acknowledge the truth of the issue. At the same time, we must acknowledge how ending these subsidies, or redistributing them, would alter the current balance of power on the whole issue of energy.
It’s one thing to claim that alternative methods are unviable when the playing field is level, but since it is not, the argument is essentially hypocrisy. By continuing to finance fossil fuels and coal, we are ensuring that clean energy will remain underdeveloped as an alternative, and hence undermining any chance it has at becoming a true alternative.
So the next time someone tells you that solar or other means of renewable energy are at least 50 years away, or that gas and coal are the only economical means of meeting our energy needs, be sure to ask them why we need to spend half a trillion dollars on them annually.
Sources: fastcoexist.com, odi.org.uk
Cyberwars: Stuxnet and Cryptolocker
It’s been quite the year for cybercops, cybercriminals, and all those of us who are caught in between. Between viruses which continue to involve and viruses that target sensitive information in new ways, it seems clear that the information age is fraught with peril. In addition to cyberwars raging between nations, there is also the danger of guerrilla warfare and the digital weapons running amok.
Consider the Stuxnet virus, a piece of programming that made headlines last year by sabotaging the Iranian nuclear enrichment program. At the time, the target – not to mention its source (within the US) – seemed all too convenient to have been unintentional. However, this year, Stuxnet is once again garnering attention thanks to its latest target: the International Space Station.
Apparently, this has been the result of the virus having gone rogue, or at least become too big for its creators to control. In addition to the ISS, the latest reports state that Stuxnet is hitting nuclear plants in countries for which the virus was not originally intended. In one case, the virus even managed to infect an internal network at a Russian power planet that wasn’t even connected to the internet.
According to Eugene Kaspersky, famed head of IT security at Kaspersky Labs, the virus can travel through methods other than internet connectivity, such as via optical media or a USB drive. Kaspersky claims that this is apparently how it made its way aboard the ISS, and that it was brought aboard on more than one occasion through infected USB drives.
For the moment, it is unclear how this virus will be taken care of, or whether or not it will continue to grow beyond any single organization’s ability to control it. All that is clear at this point is that this particular virus has returned to its original handlers. For the time being, various nations and multinational corporations are looking to harden their databases and infrastructure against cyber attack, with Stuxnet in mind.
And they are not the only ones who need to be on their guard about protecting against intrusion. Average consumers are only at risk of having their databases being accessed by an unwanted digital visitor, one that goes by the name of Cryptolocker. Designed with aggressive salesmanship – and blackmail – in mind, this virus is bringing fears about personal information being accessed to new heights.
Basically, the Cryptolocker works by finding people’s most important and sensitive files and selling it back to them. After obtaining the files its needs, it then contacts a remote server to create a 2048-bit key pair to encrypt them so they cannot be recovered, and then contacts the owner with an ultimatum. People are told to pay up, or the virus will begin deleting the info.
When the virus first emerged in October of this year, victims were given three days to cough up roughly $200 via BitCoin or MoneyPak currency transfer. If the virus’ authors did not receive payment within 72 hours, they said, a single line would be deleted from a text file on some hidden foreign server, forever erasing the only string of numbers that could ever bring the affected files back from the dead.
Some users responded by simply setting their system’s internal clock back. A temporary measure, to be sure, but one which worked by tricking the virus into thinking the deadline had not expired. In addition, the three-day deadline worked against the viruses makers, since it’s proven restrictive to the types of people who mostly contract a virus like this – i.e. senior citizens and people working on corporate networks.
Such people are more vulnerable to such scams, but seldom have the computer-savvy skills to to set up BitCoin or other such accounts and transfer the money in time. Meanwhile, infecting a corporate server means that a bloated corporate bureaucracies will be responsible for making the decision of whether or not to pay, not an individual who can decide quickly.
So basically, the designers of Cryptolocker were facing a catch-22. They could not extend the deadline on the virus without diminishing the sense of panic that makes many people pay, but would continue to lose money as long as people couldn’t pay. Their solution: If a victim does not pay up in time, the hackers simply raise the ransom – by a factor of 10!
This allows people more time to mull over the loss of sensitive data and make a decision, but by that time – should they decide to pay up – the price tag has gone up to a bloated $2000. Luckily, this has revealed a crucial bluff in the virus’s workings by showing that all the keys to the encrypted files are in fact not deleted after the three day time limit.
As such, the security industry is encouraging people to hold on to the useless, encrypted files and waiting for the criminal server to be someday seized by the authorities. Since any ransom paid is a de-facto encouragement to hackers to write a similar virus again — or indeed to re-infect the same companies twice – people are currently being told to simply hold out and not pay up.
What’s more, regular backups are the key to protecting your database from viruses like Cryptolocker. Regular backups to off-network machines that do not auto-sync will minimize the virus’ potential for damage. The best defense is even simpler: Cryptolocker infects computers via a bogus email attachment disguised as a PDF file, so simple email safety should keep you immune.
Alas, its a world of digital warfare, and there there are no discernible sides. Just millions of perpetrators, dozens of authorities, and billions of people fearing for the safety and integrity of their data. One can only wonder what an age of quantum computers, graphene and nanotube processors will bring. But more on that later!
Sources: extremetech.com, (2), fastcoexist.com
Papa Zulu Proof Ordered!
Step two semi-complete! After finishing my edits on Papa Zulu, I have gone ahead and ordered a proof copy so that my darling wife (i.e. chief editor) can give it a second pass. I’ve also sent the PDF off to my beta readers/other editors, so they too can tell me exactly what’s wrong with it and why I should stick to writing and avoid proofreading.
And while I was working on that, I fashioned a cover for the third book. All this work on book II, as expected, has gotten the ball rolling on book III. And as always, I feel the need to visualize the end product, even before I’ve committed to writing the manuscript. Once again, I’ve gone with a cover image from Shutterstock, which now provides the bulk of my cover art.
What do you think? Too much green going on here? I really like this cover template because of the solid front cover, the watermarked back, and the balance created by the text boxes, images, and quote section. Can’t wait to get moving on that one too! I hope to augment as time goes on with more favorable reviews, which is what I did with the jacket for book II.
Good luck to all us indie writers! May the sales be plentiful, the reviews favorable, and the inspiration unending!
The Future of Transit: (More) Robotaxis and Podcars!
In the course of the past century, science fiction has provided us with many interesting visions of what the future of transportation will look like. And whereas not long ago, many of these seemed like hopeless fantasy – such as the failure of flying cars or robotic automated vehicles to become a reality by 2000 – recent years and developments have seen reality slowly catching up.
Case in point, last year, the European company named “2GetThere” installed a small fleet of automated podcars (aka. robotaxis) in the eco-friendly community of Masdar City. Similarly, the town of San Jose began work on the Personal Rapid Transit System – a series of on-call, point to point transit cars designed to replace the town’s system of taxis and buses, providing an environmentally friendly alternative to traditional mass transit.
And most recently, the town of Milton Keynes – a sleepy city north of London – that is planning on conducting a podcar system trial run by 2015. Similar to the system at Heathrow Airport, which uses 21 on-call podcars on a 4 km (2.5 mile) stretch of track, the system will consist of a series of pods that will be able to carry two passengers, plus baggage, from the town’s train station to its downtown offices and the shopping district.
Milton Keynes’ plans is much more ambitious, calling for a fleet of 100 vehicles that will travel with far ore independently, albeit in a designated lane with curbs. The trial will assess safety and how people (and animals) react to them. The pods travel at up to 19 km/h (12 mph) and will contain GPS, cameras, and sensors to ensure they don’t crash into anything.
And if all goes well, the system will be adopted by 2017 and residents will pay little more than a bus fare ($3.20) to travel in automated luxury. Purpose-built in the 1960s, Milton Keynes has an unusual grid layout that makes it an ideal testing ground for a plan that other British cities are seriously considering. Given the dual issues of congestion and pollution in British cities, a system of robotaxis seems like the perfect solution.
In fact, such a solution is ideal when it comes to all major cities around the world. The state of robotics, automation, centralized grids, and the reduced impact electrical transit has compared to gasoline-powered cars and buses, we could be looking at a world where every major city has its own system of robotaxis in the near future.
And I imagine a massive grid of Hyperoops lines will be connecting every major city… The future is likely to be mighty cool! In the meantime, enjoy this video of Heathrow’s podcar system in action:
Sources: fastcoexist.com, heathrowairport.com
Papa Zulu: Edits Complete!
Well, it’s finally finished. After months of being behind on getting Whiskey Delta‘s sequel ready for publication, I am finally finished with my edits. And now, I turn it over to my betas and those who’ve selflessly volunteered to take this book on with me. I sincerely hope I got all the typos and errors out in that first run.
Probably not, but it’s nice to think that the next round of edits will be mercifully brief so I can get this book out before the holidays. Fans of the first book specifically requested a sequel, and people shouldn’t have to wait for a year to get one. You hear that George RR Martin?
Another reason I need to get this book out is because of my progress on the third, or rather lack thereof. Twice now I’ve tried to get the ball rolling on that story, only to find myself backtracking a few weeks later and deleting everything I wrote.
I know why too, I can feel in my heart that I’m overreaching. Until such time as I can get book II out and get some feedback on the story, I know I won’t feel confident plotting out the third one. I imagine there are plenty of people out there who know what I’m talking about 😉
In any case, look for it soon. Papa Zulu, second book in the Whiskey Delta series!
Cassini, MESSENGER, and MOM: A Space Probe Odyssey
It had has been a big month in the field of space probes and satellites. Whether they are in orbit around Mercury, on their way to Mars, or floating in the outer Solar System, there’s been no shortage of news and inspirational footage to be had. And it is a testament to the age we live in, where space news is accessible and can instantly be shared with millions of people around the world.
First up, there’s the recent release of Cassini’s magnificent image of Saturn’s rings shining in all their glory. Back in July, Cassini got a good look back at Earth from about 1.5 billion kilometers (932 million miles) away. Known as
“The Day The Earth Smiled”, NASA has spent the past few months cobbling together this picture from numerous shots taken during Cassini’s circuitous orbit around Saturn.
Cassini has always been able to take impressive pictures in Earth’s general direction, but this picture was special since it used the enormous bulk of Saturn to block the usually confounding brightness of the Sun. Cassini, which was launched to survey the outer planets in 1997, captured an absolutely incredible image of both the Earth as a pale blue dot, and of Saturn as a striking, luminous apparition.
As part of NASA’s latest awareness campaign, which tried to get everyday citizens to smile at the sky for the first posed interplanetary photo most of us have ever experienced, the photo captured the halo effect that makes our sixth planet look truly breathtaking. In the annotated version (pictured above), you can also see Venus, Mars, and some of Saturn’s moons.
Next up, there’s the MESSENGER probe, which managed to capture these impressive new videos of Mercury’s surface. As part of the NASA Advisory Council (NAC) ride-along imaging campaign, these videos were captured using the Mercury Dual Imaging System (MDIS). Even though the original high-res images were captured four seconds apart, these videos have been sped up to a rate of 15 images per second.
The views in each video are around 144-178 km (90-110 miles) across. The large crater visible in the beginning of the second video is the 191-km (118-mile) wide Schubert basin. In related news, there are new maps of Mercury available on the US Geological Survey website! Thanks to MESSENGER we now have the entirety of the first planet from the Sun imaged and mapped.
MESSENGER launched from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station back in August of 2004 and established orbit around Mercury on March 18th, 2011. It was the first man-made spacecraft ever to do so, and has provided the most comprehensive mapping of Mercury to date, not to mention evidence of ice, organic molecules, and detailed conditions on the surface.
And last, but not least, there was the recent launch of the Indian Space Research Organization’s (ISRO) new Mars Orbiter Mission (aka. MOM). The launch took place on Tuesday, November 5th from the Indian space port located on a small island in the Bay of Bengal. As the nation’s first attempt to reach the Red Planet, the aim of the $70 million mission goes beyond mere research.
In addition to gathering information that might indicate if life has ever existed or could exist on Mars, the mission is also meant to showcase India’s growing prowess in the field of space and to jump ahead of its regional rival (China) in the big interplanetary march. As Pallava Bagla, one of India’s best known science commentators, put it:
In the last century the space race meant the US against the Soviets. In the 21st century it means India against China. There is a lot of national pride involved in this.
In addition, there has been quite a bit of speculation that the missionw as designed to stimulate national pride in the midst of an ongoing economic crisis. In recent years, a plunging currency, ailing economy and the state’s seeming inability to deliver basic services have led many Indians to question whether their nation is quite as close to becoming a global superpower as it seemed in the last decade.
MOM is expected to arrive in the vicinity of Mars on September 24th, 2014 where it will assume an elliptical orbit around the planet and begin conducting atmospheric surveys. If all continues to goes well, India will the elite club of only four nations that have launched probes which successfully investigated the Red Planet from orbit or the surface – following the Soviet Union, the United States and the European Space Agency (ESA).
MOM was also the first of two new Mars orbiter science probes that left Earth and began heading for Mars this November. The second was NASA’s $671 million MAVEN orbiter, which launched on November 18th atop an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral in Florida. MAVEN is slated to arrive just two days before MOM, and research efforts will be coordinated between the two agencies.
Much like MAVEN, MOM’s goal is to study the Martian atmosphere , unlock the mysteries of its current state and determine how, why and when the atmosphere and liquid water were lost – and how this transformed Mars climate into its cold, desiccated state it is in today. In addition to aiding our scientific understanding of the world, it may help us to transform the planet into a liveable environment once again.
For many people, these developments are an indication of things to come. If humanity ever intends to become an interplanetary species, an expanding knowledge of our Solar System is an absolute prerequisite. And in many respects, making other planets our home may be the only way we can survive as a species, given our current rate of population growth and consumption.
Sources: extremetech.com, nasa.gov, universetoday.com, planetarynames.wr.usgs.gov, theguardian.com, www.isro.org
3-D Printing Martian and Lunar Housing
For enthusiasts of 3-D printing and its many possibilities, a man like Berokh Khoshnevis needs no introduction. As for the rest of us, he is the USC’s Director of Manufacturing Engineering, and has spent the last decade working on a new direction for this emerging technology. Back in 2012, he gave a lecture at TEDxTalks where he proposed that automated printing and custom software could revolutionize construction as we know it.
Intrinsic to this vision are a number of technologies that have emerged in recent years. These include Computer-Assisted Design/Computer-Assisted Manufacturing (CAD/CAM), robotics, and “contour crafting” (i.e. automated construction). By combining design software with a large, crane-sized 3-D printing machine, Khoshnevis proposes a process where homes can be built in just 20 hours.
Khoshnevis started working on the idea when he realized the gigantic opportunity in introducing more speed and affordability into construction. All of the technology was already in place, all that was required was to custom make the hardware and software to carry it all out. Since that time, he and his staff have worked tirelessly to perfect the process and vary up the materials used.
Working through USC’s Center for Rapid Automated Fabrication Technologies, Khoshnevis and his students have made major progress with their designs and prototypes. His robotic construction system has now printed entire six-foot tall sections of homes in his lab, using concrete, gypsum, wood chips, and epoxy, to create layered walls sections of floor.
The system uses robotic arms and extrusion nozzles that are controlled by a computerized gantry system which moves a nozzle back and forth. Cement, or other desired materials, are placed down layer by layer to form different sections of the structure. Though the range of applications are currently limited to things like emergency and temporary shelters, Khoshnevis thinks it will someday be able to build a 2,500-square-foot home in 20 hours.
As he describes the process:
It’s the last frontier of automation. Everything else is made by machines except buildings. Your shoes, your car, your appliances. You don’t have to buy anything that is made by hand.
As Khoshnevis explained during his 2012 lecture at TEDx, the greatest intended market for this technology is housing construction in the developing world. In such places of the world, this low-cost method of creating housing could lead to the elimination of slums as well as all the unhealthy conditions and socioeconomic baggage that comes with them.
But in the developed world, he also envisions how contour crafting machines could allow homes to be built more cheaply by reducing labor and material costs. As he pointed out in his lecture, construction is one of the most inefficient, dirty and dangerous industries there is, more so than even mining and oil drilling. Given a method that wastes far less material and uses less energy, this would reduce our impact on the natural environment.
But of course, what would this all be without some serious, science fiction-like applications? For some time now, NASA and the ESA has been looking at additive manufacturing and robotics to create extra-terrestrial settlement. Looking farther afield, NASA has given Khoshnevis a grant to work on building lunar structures on the moon or other planets that humans could one day colonize.
According to NASA’s website, the construction project would involve:
Elements suggested to be built and tested include landing pads and aprons, roads, blast walls and shade walls, thermal and micrometeorite protection shields and dust-free platforms as well as other structures and objects utilizing the well known in-situ-resource utilization (ISRU) strategy.
Many existing technologies would also be employed, such as the Lunar Electric Rover, the unpressurized Chariot rover, the versatile light-weight crane and Tri-Athlete cargo transporter as well some new concepts that are currently in testing. These include some habitat mockups and new generations of spacesuits that are currently undergoing tests at NASA’s Desert Research And Technological Studies (D-RATS).
Many of the details of this arrangement are shrouded in secrecy, but I think I can imagine what would be involved. Basically, the current research and development paradigm is focusing on combining additive manufacturing and sintering technology, using microwaves to turn powder into molten material, which then hardens as it is printed out.
To give you an idea of what they would look like, picture a crane-like robot taking in Moon regolith or Martian dust, bombarding it with microwaves to create a hot glue-like material, and then printing it out, layer by layer, to create contoured modules as hard as ceramic. These modules, once complete, would be pressurized and have multiple sections – for research, storage, recreation, and whatever else the colonists plan on getting up to.
Pretty cool huh? Extra-terrestrial colonies, and a cheaper, safer, and more environmentally friendly construction industry here on Earth. Not a bad way to step into the future! And in the meantime, be sure to enjoy this video of contour crafting at work, courtesy of USC’s Center for Rapid Automated Fabrication Technologies:
Sources: fastcoexist.com, nasa.gov
The Walking Dead – Season 4, Episode 7
And we’re back with episode seven from Season Four of AMC’s The Walking Dead; or as I choose to call it, “episode the second of a former Governor’s story”. As anyone who’s been following this season knows, the show has taken a bit of a detour ever since the Governor was reintroduced at the end of episode 5. Basically, they’ve chosen to double back to cover everything that happened since he snapped and went AWOL from the show.
Beginning last week with a romp in the wilderness followed by some coupling with a new family, things have since picked up with the discovery that the Governor’s former henchman, Caesar Martinez, went off and created a community of his own after leaving him alone in the wilderness to die. With that the Governor and his new family now in their care, the stage seemed set for some interesting developments.
All of which took place in this week’s episode known as…
Dead Weight:
The episode begins where the last left off, with Martinez and the Governor in a stand off after finding each other in the woods. After a few tense minutes, Martinez agrees to take them in, provided they understand that a) he is in charge, and b) that everyone contributes or is cast out, no exceptions – i.e. no “dead weight”.
In between, he get scenes of “Brian” and Meghan playing chess and admitting that they both had abusive fathers. Meghan also asks Brian is she is good, and he assures her that they are going to be okay, though he doesn’t seem so sure of that. We then get a shot of their new digs, a camper that is parked next to an abandoned M60 tank.
The Governor begin contributing by going out on a supply run while Lilly establishes a nurses station. They come across a body tied to a tree with a sign that says “Liar” on it. As the move on, they find more bodies, one with a sign that reads “Rapist” and another inside a cabin who shot himself and has a sign that reads “Murderer”. Each are wearing military uniforms.
When they move inside the cabin to look for supplies and hear something bumping around. A Walker attacks their group and find the heads of the decapitated men still alive on the floor. The Governor manages to take them all out and saves one Martinez’s people (Pete) in the process. They make camp for the night, collect the supplies, and talk about how things have changed for all of them.
Apparently, all of Martinez’s people were once army, hence their weapons and vehicles. Back at camp, Lilly and the others begin to meet with the rest of the camp – which includes the army soldier Alisha, whom Tara takes a shine to. When the Governor and Martinez return home, they share a meal with Lilly and her family, and the subject of their old camp (Woodbury) comes up again.
Afterwards, Martinez and him play a round of camper rooftop golf. He tells the Governor that Shumpert, another one of his former henchmen, never came back after Woodbury and died. Martinez talks about sharing responsibility for keeping the place safe. The Governor responds by hitting him in the head with a golf club and tossing him into one of the Walker pits.
The next day, the camp is told of Martinez’s death, and it is assumed that it was an accident. Pete assumes command for the time being, though the camp demands a vote. Pete invites the Governor out on a hunting run and asks for his help. They come upon another camp in the woods. Mitch recommends they take their supplies but Pete disagrees.
After finding very little, they double back and find the camp was overrun and their supplies gone. One survivor remains, and Mitch stabs him in the head. They return, and Brian tells Lilly that it isn’t safe there anymore and they have to leave. On the road that night, they come a herd of Walkers stuck waist deep in the mud. With the road out, they return to the camp.
In the morning, the Governor murders Pete and holds Mitch at gunpoint in his camper. He tells Mitch that he was right about the other camp, that he is running things now, and offers him the chance to join him. Henceforth, he says, no one will worry about doing the right thing, because they will be doing “the only thing”. Mitch agrees, and they cover up Pete’s death by telling people he died heroically.
In the coming days, everything appears to be running smoothly now that the Governor is in charge. But of course, things get dicey as Meghan runs into a Walker inside the camp while playing hide and seek and the Governor narrowly. He then goes off to stare at the pond and reflect, and in the water, the reanimated corpse of Pete is shown chained to the bottom and reaching up at him. The old Governor is back!
He then drives off to the prison and watches Rick and Carl from the tree line. He contemplates shooting the, but instead walks a distance and spots Hershel and Michonne talking by the side of a dirt road. He takes aim right before the credits roll!
Summary:
Well, suffice to say, some things have been made abundantly clear now, things I myself have been wondering about for some time. Now that the two episode detour is over and we are back to the main plot, it is clear that the way Season Three ended was more of a temporary detour from the original plot rather than a major divergence.
Between what happened in this week’s episode and what has been previewed for next week’s midseason finale, it looks like the show really is following the comic after all, albeit in their usual, prolonged way. And I have to say, I suspected as much when I saw that big tank in this episode and heard all that talk about how Martinez’s new community was made up of several former army people.
Somehow, the scene in Volume 8: Made to Suffer where the Governor arrives at the prison in force popped into my head and made me think. It was at that point that I considered that maybe the abortive assault on the prison at the end of Season Three was meant to allude to the way the Governor’s initial attack in the comics failed, followed by the heavier, deadlier one.
And it was a pleasant surprise to see that this is indeed the way are doing things. From what was shown in the preview, the Governor now plans to return to his new community, tell them about the prison, and mobilize them to assault it. And apparently, some people are going to die. In short, we’re in for a mid-season climax that actually resembles what happened in the comic.
If I have any complaints, they would be that this week’s episode was predictable. Even before it aired, I was of the mind that everything would revolve around the Governor going back to his old ways and taking control of the camp (most likely over Martinez’s body) before he rediscovered the prison and began screwing with them again.
But since all that led to a setup directly from the original comic, those sentiments are fighting uphill against genuine anticipation. As we head into “the Governor versus the Prison crew, Part Two”, I can honestly say that from here on out, I will likely be watching out of genuine interest rather than a sense of obligation or mild curiosity.
Congratulations, AMC’s The Walking Dead, you just became interesting to me again! And while I anticipate that the second half of the season is also going to drag on like the previous ones, I remain pleased that they are finally back on track with the plot. The REAL plot!
News From Space: UrtheCast Cameras Blast Off!
Two High-Definition cameras designed to stream detailed views of Earth from the International Space Station blasted off into space yesterday. The cameras are the work of UrtheCast, a Vancouver-based company that distributes operational software for publicly accessibly HD cameras and broadcasts. Once installed, they will provide a view of Earth that is usually reserved for astronauts.
The cameras – one still and one video camera – launched at 3:52 p.m. ET from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazahkstan on an unmanned Russian Progress spacecraft aboard a Soyuz rocket. The two cameras will be attached to a platform on the underside of the space station that was brought up by a previous Progress flight in July and installed by Russian cosmonauts during a spacewalk.
The cameras will be able to view a large band of the Earth between the latitudes of 51 degrees north and 51 degrees south, covering everything from the Canadian Prairies and the southern tip of Chile and Argentina. What’s more, their resolution will be high enough that people will be able to see things as small as cars, boats, their own homes, and even small groups of people.
The company stressed though that individual people would not be discernible as the resolution is simply not high enough to make out facial features. The fixed, still camera will take a continuous video panorama of Earth 50 kilometres wide as the space station orbits Earth 16 times each day. Meanwhile, the other camera will be pointable and able to be directed at specific points on the globe.
And while many of the images they take will be available free online just a few hours after they were captured, customers will also have access to specific footage captured by the second, pointed camera. So for a small fee, people will be able to take part in what the company likes to call the “world’s first near-live HD video feed of Earth.”
The company expects customers to include governments, non-governmental organizations and corporations that would like particular types of live and archival images for purposes such as monitoring the environment. As Chris Carter, director of wealth management for ScotiaMcLeod and CBC Radio’s Vancouver business columnist, claims that this expectation is valid since UrtheCast’s business model allows it avoid a major hurdle.
Basically, the greatest impediment to providing space-based footage of the Earth is the astronomical (no pun!) cost of getting cameras into space. UrtheCast has gotten around this hurdle by partnering with Roscosmos, the Russian Space Agency, who transported their cameras in exchange for free access to images that it might otherwise have to pay for.
According to a statement made by the company earlier this month, as of Sept. 30, the company – which trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange – had annual purchase commitments worth $21 million:
Although these purchase commitments cannot be considered binding prior to the cameras being installed on the ISS, UrtheCast has already begun the process of converting these purchase commitments into binding commercial agreements.
The democratic space age is looming, people. Between regular updates on social media and webcasts from NASA rovers and space satellites, to live feeds from publicly-accessible cameras, we are entering an age where exploration and research are accessible like never before. Add to this the dream of telexploration, and we could be looking at a future where astronauts do NOT get to have all the fun!
Sources: cbc.ca, urthecast.com
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