io9 
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San Francisco, 4:01 PM
Tue Dec 8
27 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/12/09
11/13/09
11/12/09
I was pretty disappointed. I couldn't stand how Ren was sloppily retconned into Jimmie's life. (actually, the whole character of Ren was annoying) I could see involving Glenn with the Gardeners and exploring how their their ideas (the waterless flood) would have influenced his decision to, you know, destroy humanity, but Atwood shied away from that and instead focused on Ren's inexplicable lifelong crush on Jimmie.
In the end, I finished it just to finish it. I didn't really care about any of these characters and the end was a little to "neat" for me (hey, welcome to the end of the world, how convenient that we all know each other). Which is a shame because Oryx and Crake is one of my favorite books and I'm a huge Atwood fan, Cat's Eye and The Blind Assassin are also favorites. #yearoftheflood
11/12/09
11/12/09
I also agree about not really connecting with the characters. I didn't find them all that engaging and I wasn't invested in what would happen to them. #yearoftheflood
11/12/09
11/12/09
And to call the science in a work of science-fiction "fanciful at best" seems weirdly derogatory? Unless there is some definite template on what exactly a lion/lamb hybrid would look like? I mean, what other option is there but to imagine the science of the future? #yearoftheflood
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11/12/09
@Pope John Peeps II: I'm thinking a lion/lamb hybrid would be sort of like this... #yearoftheflood
11/12/09
11/12/09
"Please don't make the mistake of thinking that Oryx and Crake is anti-science. Science is a way of knowing, and a tool. Like all ways of knowing and tools, it can be turned to bad uses. And it can be bought and sold, and it often is. But it is not in itself bad. Like electricity, it's neutral."
That said, I didn't feel this book has the impact of Oryx and Crake, which is one of my favorites. Spoiler alert: the ambiguity at the end of Oryx and Crake was very powerful, and while this new novel ends similarly, I didn't like what it did to the first book's ending. #yearoftheflood
11/12/09
11/13/09
10/28/09
Ahem... Blood Car. #dystopia
10/28/09
The upside: to paraphrase one scientist on the project, "I don't believe in peak oil, only peak technology."
The downside: it's not cheap, and no, you can't make it viable for $1.50 a gallon.
The other upside: the fact that you can't do it cheap will (hopefully) make other forms of energy seem more attractive.
This idea that we'll wake up one morning to find the oil tap has run dry is an easy myth to scare ourselves into action, but reality will be much more complicated than Mad Max. (Though probably not as bad-ass.) #dystopia
10/28/09
If peak oil was imminent, they'd be hoarding and price-gouging. You can really, really, count on it. The only reason not to hoard and price-gouge is if you think there's still too much lead-time before the prime hoard/gouge era, and you don't want to make alternatives economically feasible too soon.
Besides, Peak Oil being a "crisis" is pretty much 100% myth. It'll hurt the economy some, and that's about it. There's still plenty of coal around (no, really, centuries worth). Coal can not only be used for many of the fuel/energy purposes of petroleum, it can also be made into petroleum. The process become economically viable around $4-$5 per gallon. We already know that gasoline prices like that don't cause the end of civilization, since Europe pays a lot more, and all it means is that only rich people can have cars that aren't crappy little shitboxes.
So, no end of civilization, no end of plastics feedstocks, no need to worry, really.
If you're really desperate to worry about Peak Oil, about the only rational way is to worry about environmental impact. Regular oil is way cleaner than coal and synthetic oil.
-Kle. #dystopia
10/27/09
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10/28/09
Tens of millions of suburbanites in this country are in the same situation. #dystopia
10/27/09
I is confus-ed. #dystopia
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11/02/09
10/27/09
[www.technologyreview.com] (There's much more to be discovered offshore in the Gulf, BTW)
You may remember Boone Picken's proposal to switch to a natural gas economy last year. The US could be self-sufficient with a combination of natural gas, nuclear and renewable resources in fairly short order. Then, if you're willing to clean up coal...
Remind me of this energy provoked social break down again in 100 years or so.
(PS, oil prices are ticking up due to the dollar is taking it in the shorts -- those staggering deficits remember? -- rather than any sudden change in availability.) #dystopia
10/27/09
Again you have made me unleash my dogs of war.
Look at what remains of your gallant scouts. Why? Because you're selfish! You hoard your gasoline.
Now, my prisoners say you plan to take your gasoline out of the Wasteland. You sent them out this morning to find a vehicle. A rig big enough to haul that fat tank of gas.
What a puny plan! #dystopia
10/27/09