I personally think that Stars In My Pocket Like Grains Of Sand is one of his finest works, but it's not a light read. If you can breeze through an Iain M. Banks novel without too much trouble, try it.
Note that most editions state that it's the first part of a diptych. Sadly, this is unlikely to ever be completed.
If you haven't read Pratchett's two early SF works, Dark Side of the Sun and Strata, you're missing out. For all Pratchett's fame, I'd count those two works as underappreciated.
And I've often said that Sterling's The Artificial Kid is like reading alternate chapters of an Iain M. Banks novel (so you only get the one story), ten years before Banks really hit the scene.
If you extend that to "... underappreciated by modern audiences", I can think of a few.
There's Keith Laumer, who was huge in his day and then largely forgotten until Eric Flint and David Weber (and friends) re-invigorated his work, particularly the "Bolo" series.
James H. Schmitz wrote some cracking stuff, which has also recently been rediscovered by the Tor crowd.
James Tiptree Jr. (aka Alice Sheldon) is better known, but still fairly obscure to the modern SF reader.
Christopher Priest has also had recently renewed interest, almost entirely due to the film version of The Prestige, but he wrote a bunch of other goddamn weird, dark, depressing books.
Lloyd Biggle Jr. wrote some marvellous gently humorous stuff - his Cultural Survey novels are particularly good.
Clifford D. Simak is another acknowledged master of the genre who seems to get short shrift in modern SF collections.
But my own pick for Most Underappreciated would be Janet Kagan, who wrote a heap of short fiction, two utterly superb standalone works, and a Star Trek TOS novel, and then tragically died in 2008. I personally think she's as good as Lois McMaster Bujold, and had she lived to keep writing, she might be better known.
Addtional: The researchers themselves note something along the lines of what I'm talking about:
The placebo response in this trial (59% on IBS-AR) was substantially higher than typical reported placebo responses of 30–40% in double-blind IBS pharmaceutical studies. [15] This finding seems counterintuitive. We speculate that it is an indication of the credibility of our open-label rationale. Patients in our study accepted that they were receiving an active treatment, albeit not a pharmacological one, whereas patients in double-blind trials understand that they have only a 50% chance of receiving active treatment. It may be that one hundred percent certainty that one is receiving the “treatment of interest” (in this case open-label placebo) is more placebogenic than a fifty percent probability of receiving an inactive control.
Perhaps "implicitly deceptive" is too strong a phrase. My argument is that the phrasing promoted the measurably effective placebo effect, rather than the inert nature of the pills themselves. I'd be interested to see some sort of companion study where the patients were told "These are completely inert sugar pills, they will have no physiological effect on you."
Incidentally, my objection may be beside the point. I read some time ago someone (possibly Ben Goldacre) arguing that one could potentially use placebos ethically in general practice, provided they were delivered with sufficiently careful phrasing. This study seems to be a verification of that idea.
From the actual study, the wording used to present the placebos to the patients seems to have been very carefully chosen to be utterly truthful, yet implicitly deceptive:
...open-label placebo pills presented as “placebo pills made of an inert substance, like sugar pills, that have been shown in clinical studies to produce significant improvement in IBS symptoms through mind-body self-healing processes”
That's the problem with this and every other UV adaptive lens treatment: Glass (like, for example, your windscreen) blocks UV. So, they don't actually work when you're driving.
This is why I always get frames with clip on sunglasses with my glasses. Although, since I always end up losing the sunglasses part within a year, I'm considering just lashing out and getting prescription sunglasses.
I've got a pair that I had a friend bring back from a trip to the US. I love them, but if you're one of the genetic freaks like me who has a longer second toe, they can be a little uncomfortable. Mine have stretched to fit, but it took a while. If you can, I strongly recommend you do a test fitting in a store before buying, as the sizes are not quite the same as standard shoe sizes. The guide on their website is pretty good and worked for me, although this guy thinks it's a bit off.
Also, one of the other toes is coming apart due to some dodgy stitching, but it's past the 90 days return and in the wrong country, so I'm out of luck with that. (I seem to have had a run of bad luck with Vibram - the Vibram soles of my expensive hiking shoes have recently cracked across the middle).
I happen to know Mark Newton, the guy they want to gag.
What, so you're from Adelaide too? (Good old Adelaide Effect, eh?)
And yes, right on all counts. Even a brick might not suffice...
(Incidentally, for those of you who haven't already seen it, Mark has one of the world's hardest email addresses to pass on vocally: "newton at at dot dot dot at dot org". Also, his link to/. says "... before you ask, I got my domain first")
My company often has ant trouble with electronic equipment installed in the far North of Queensland, in Australia. Unless boxes are very tightly sealed, they'll get into the electronics and destroy them - usually by creating shorts or damaging PCB tracks.
We've had a few boards sent back that reeked so strongly of ants that you could smell it through the packaging. Generally, they're too damaged to be worth repairing.
Anecdotally, I've heard of a number of other companies having similar problems with installations in tropical areas. I'm not sure if it's a problem specific to electronics, or if it's just a case of the ants getting into everything, and the electronics being particularly vulnerable.
Slashdot Mirror
I personally think that Stars In My Pocket Like Grains Of Sand is one of his finest works, but it's not a light read. If you can breeze through an Iain M. Banks novel without too much trouble, try it.
Note that most editions state that it's the first part of a diptych. Sadly, this is unlikely to ever be completed.
If you haven't read Pratchett's two early SF works, Dark Side of the Sun and Strata, you're missing out. For all Pratchett's fame, I'd count those two works as underappreciated.
And I've often said that Sterling's The Artificial Kid is like reading alternate chapters of an Iain M. Banks novel (so you only get the one story), ten years before Banks really hit the scene.
If you extend that to "... underappreciated by modern audiences", I can think of a few.
There's Keith Laumer, who was huge in his day and then largely forgotten until Eric Flint and David Weber (and friends) re-invigorated his work, particularly the "Bolo" series.
James H. Schmitz wrote some cracking stuff, which has also recently been rediscovered by the Tor crowd.
James Tiptree Jr. (aka Alice Sheldon) is better known, but still fairly obscure to the modern SF reader.
Christopher Priest has also had recently renewed interest, almost entirely due to the film version of The Prestige, but he wrote a bunch of other goddamn weird, dark, depressing books.
Lloyd Biggle Jr. wrote some marvellous gently humorous stuff - his Cultural Survey novels are particularly good.
Clifford D. Simak is another acknowledged master of the genre who seems to get short shrift in modern SF collections.
But my own pick for Most Underappreciated would be Janet Kagan, who wrote a heap of short fiction, two utterly superb standalone works, and a Star Trek TOS novel, and then tragically died in 2008. I personally think she's as good as Lois McMaster Bujold, and had she lived to keep writing, she might be better known.
Well, for one thing, they'll charge you $285 for the privilege.
Addtional: The researchers themselves note something along the lines of what I'm talking about:
Perhaps "implicitly deceptive" is too strong a phrase. My argument is that the phrasing promoted the measurably effective placebo effect, rather than the inert nature of the pills themselves. I'd be interested to see some sort of companion study where the patients were told "These are completely inert sugar pills, they will have no physiological effect on you."
Incidentally, my objection may be beside the point. I read some time ago someone (possibly Ben Goldacre) arguing that one could potentially use placebos ethically in general practice, provided they were delivered with sufficiently careful phrasing. This study seems to be a verification of that idea.
From the actual study, the wording used to present the placebos to the patients seems to have been very carefully chosen to be utterly truthful, yet implicitly deceptive:
Note that this is "may" in the sense of "is permitted to," rather than "might."
Okay, you can ignore my previous comment - he's fixed it now.
(Guess which feature was added just before he went to bed?)
That edit link is broken - I think it may be a problem with the site. Does it work for you?
I've already emailed the site's creator to alert him to the potential problem.
... usually while driving.
That's the problem with this and every other UV adaptive lens treatment: Glass (like, for example, your windscreen) blocks UV.
So, they don't actually work when you're driving.
This is why I always get frames with clip on sunglasses with my glasses. Although, since I always end up losing the sunglasses part within a year, I'm considering just lashing out and getting prescription sunglasses.
I've got a pair that I had a friend bring back from a trip to the US. I love them, but if you're one of the genetic freaks like me who has a longer second toe, they can be a little uncomfortable. Mine have stretched to fit, but it took a while.
If you can, I strongly recommend you do a test fitting in a store before buying, as the sizes are not quite the same as standard shoe sizes. The guide on their website is pretty good and worked for me, although this guy thinks it's a bit off.
Also, one of the other toes is coming apart due to some dodgy stitching, but it's past the 90 days return and in the wrong country, so I'm out of luck with that.
(I seem to have had a run of bad luck with Vibram - the Vibram soles of my expensive hiking shoes have recently cracked across the middle).
I imagine everyone here knows New Voyages already.
I didn't, but I'm now downloading the first couple for later viewing.
Thank you for pointing this out - I've no idea how I've managed to miss it for this long.
Congratulations ... you are now officially old. How does it feel?
I might tell you when you GET OFF MY LAWN.
He's an Aussie. They nickname almost everything and have some killer slang that takes some getting used to.
Yes we do, but I think most of us would still consider "chillax" to be a bloody stupid term.
I happen to know Mark Newton, the guy they want to gag.
What, so you're from Adelaide too?
(Good old Adelaide Effect, eh?)
And yes, right on all counts. Even a brick might not suffice...
(Incidentally, for those of you who haven't already seen it, Mark has one of the world's hardest email addresses to pass on vocally: /. says "... before you ask, I got my domain first")
"newton at at dot dot dot at dot org". Also, his link to
Not in the US myself, but I have also heard that a starter pistol works.
He's moved to sourceforge svn, but (still) hasn't updated the website.
More info in the forums.
They fully endorse the open source Firefly Media Server for use with their nifty Soundbridge devices.
Runs on FreeBSD/Linux. Integrates with iTunes (if you must). What more do you want?
Not entirely IT related, but I like both the Hubble Deep Field and the EM Spectrum posters.
Both are testaments to the achievements of science, and look really neat.
There's also the Universal Heritage and Solar System Chart, although neither look as arty.
My company often has ant trouble with electronic equipment installed in the far North of Queensland, in Australia.
Unless boxes are very tightly sealed, they'll get into the electronics and destroy them - usually by creating shorts or damaging PCB tracks.
We've had a few boards sent back that reeked so strongly of ants that you could smell it through the packaging. Generally, they're too damaged to be worth repairing.
Anecdotally, I've heard of a number of other companies having similar problems with installations in tropical areas. I'm not sure if it's a problem specific to electronics, or if it's just a case of the ants getting into everything, and the electronics being particularly vulnerable.
If you're going to watch the video, let it load, then skip to about 3 minutes in, then stop watching once you've seen the machine do its thing.
The rest is padding.
Given the title, "Thou Hast Been Punk'd" had been running for a century or two by 1798.
Seriously, does anyone think that Captain James Cook said "hast" instead of "have"?
Given that I introduced my boss to Wikipedia less than a month ago, I don't think he's heard of
I guess this is the last time I'll be posting from my (Australian) work computer.