If December 7, 1941, and September 11, 2001, are dates that will live in infamy, then August 15, 1977, is a date that should live as a more positive time, at least among science fiction fans. This is because that was the day that the Big Ear radio observatory at Ohio State University picked up what has become known as the "WOW!" signal. Of all the signals picked up by radio telescopes, this is the one that was most likely to have been broadcast by extraterrestrial alien intelligence.
The "WOW!" signal derived its name from the notation written by graduate student Jerry Ehman who came across the signal on the computer printouts of the Big Ear's scanning of the heavens on August 15, 1977. The signal lasted 72 seconds which was the maximum amount of time that it could be scanned by the radio telescope. The frequency of this signal almost precisely matched the frequency wavelength given off by hydrogen radiation. Since this radiation is so prevalent in space, the consensus among radio astronomers is that aliens may very well use it for radio transmissions.The printouts showed that the signal in question was 30 times stronger than the background noise and was tightly focused just like commercial broadcasts are. It neatly fit almost every criteria set by radio astronomers for what a broadcast sent by extraterrestrial intelligence aka aliens would be like. That being the case, Ehman was so startled by the printout, he wrote "WOW!" on it. Hence the name of the "WOW!" signal.
Of all the signals picked up by radio astronomers, the "WOW!" signal is the only one that has withstood all challenges. You would think that the astronomers at Ohio State University would have held a press conference to announce their discovery. Instead, they opted to publish their findings in 1979 in Cosmic Search, a magazine with such a low circulation, that today there are very few complete sets in existence. Very little has been written about the "WOW!" signal so much so that this writer first learned about it from the March 2015 issue of Astronomy where it ranked 361st out of the 500 Coolest Things About Space.
One might wonder why so little has been made about this discovery. For one thing, the only criteria for determining a signal is from cosmic intelligence that the "WOW!" signal does not meet is that it has never been observed again. This is interesting given how that when we humans on rare occasions deliberately send signals to outer space, we ourselves rarely send the same signal on multiple times to the same area of space. If beings of alien intelligence were to use the same criteria that we humans do, then they would have no reason to believe that there is any intelligent life on Earth.
Another reason why the lack of coverage of the "WOW!" signal in scientific publications is the fact that when you trace out the "WOW!" signal , there are no known stars or planets in the vicinity, This is interesting because science fiction writers as well as leading scientists have long proposed that mankind construct space stations and perhaps space cities. These stations/cities could be placed in interstellar space far away from any planet or even any solar system. If we humans can talk about such ideas, then why could an alien intelligence not have the same ideas? Surely, aliens with technology far more advanced than our own could take a staple of today's science fiction and trun it into reality. Additionally, just because a radio telescope here on Earth picked up a signal does not necessarily mean that signal was deliberately sent to Earth in the first place. The "WOW!" signal could have been a SOS signal from and alien ship or it could have been originally sent by one alien ship to another and reached planet Earth long after the original broadcast was sent.
There are about 80 radio telescopes surveying the heavens located throughout the world. While there are other uses for radio telescopes, their primary mission is to search for evidence of extraterrestrial intelligence. Of necessity, their searches are limited to certain frequencies that are protected by international agreements. These are frequencies that are reserved for astronomers.
The fact that only certain frequencies are available to radio astronomers is a hindrance to the search for extraterrestrial intelligence. If an alien civilization attempted to contact us via AM or FM radio, the end result would simply be an increase in static. There would be no way to determine that the static originated in outer space and that's assuming that there would even be an attempt to discover where that static came from in the first place. Apparently, nobody in official positions have realized that if we humans find certain frequencies such as AM/FM to be conducive to communication, then surely other sentient life forms wold find them useful as well. What is needed is to have satellites in orbit that would pick up transmissions from outer space of frequencies that are in commercial use here on Earth.
Monday, May 28, 2018
Saturday, February 6, 2016
Book Review: Role-Playing Mastery by Gary Gygax
Book Review: Role-Playing Mastery
by Gary Gygax
In the world of pro wrestling, there are two kinds of fans: the smarts and the marks. The smarts know that the matches are rigged, but are in it for the fun of it. The marks, on the other hand, really believe that they are watching is honest legitimate athletic competition. Basically, this book, Role-Playing Mastery, is by a mark pretending to be a smart.
Basically, this book is something best suited for beginner role players. If you've been role playing for some time, you won't find this book helpful. There are several stretches where Gygax gets long-winded and preachy and these areas are nor the least bit helpful to anybody.
The title of the book does not live up to the actual contents. Gygax only makes a passing reference to the kind of challenges that a "master player" may face. Instead of being a book that is useful for playing RPG's in general, it is really only good for D&D itself.
Overall, it is not of much use to gamers. There are only a few parts of this book that are useful to the gamer. You get the feeling reading this book that you are being talked down too by someone who considers himself far superior to you. Even worse, is the fact that although it is well known that Dave Arneson deserves most of the credit for creating D&D, Gygax tries to aggrandize most of that credit for himself. To hear him tell it, Arneson hardly had anything to do with it. If you feel you need to read this book, then either find a copy at your local library or get one on interlibrary loan. Don't waste your money on this book since it fails to deliver on what the title promises you.
by Gary Gygax
In the world of pro wrestling, there are two kinds of fans: the smarts and the marks. The smarts know that the matches are rigged, but are in it for the fun of it. The marks, on the other hand, really believe that they are watching is honest legitimate athletic competition. Basically, this book, Role-Playing Mastery, is by a mark pretending to be a smart.
Basically, this book is something best suited for beginner role players. If you've been role playing for some time, you won't find this book helpful. There are several stretches where Gygax gets long-winded and preachy and these areas are nor the least bit helpful to anybody.
The title of the book does not live up to the actual contents. Gygax only makes a passing reference to the kind of challenges that a "master player" may face. Instead of being a book that is useful for playing RPG's in general, it is really only good for D&D itself.
Overall, it is not of much use to gamers. There are only a few parts of this book that are useful to the gamer. You get the feeling reading this book that you are being talked down too by someone who considers himself far superior to you. Even worse, is the fact that although it is well known that Dave Arneson deserves most of the credit for creating D&D, Gygax tries to aggrandize most of that credit for himself. To hear him tell it, Arneson hardly had anything to do with it. If you feel you need to read this book, then either find a copy at your local library or get one on interlibrary loan. Don't waste your money on this book since it fails to deliver on what the title promises you.
Friday, February 5, 2016
Ben Carson/Bernie Sanders Parallel Thoughts
Interesting article about how Carson and Sanders, although from different ends of the ideological spectrum, have similar ideas on a host of subjects.
http://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2015/11/bernie-or-ben-213337
Saturday, January 2, 2016
Western Story Notes
Hi,
I'm planning to run The Killer and the Doctor in the March 2016 issue of Frontier Tales. Because of time pressures, we're no longer creating teasers; instead, we're asking you authors to do that. If you'd care to write up something that might intrigue someone enough to want to read your story (and keep it to 50 words or less), I'd love to have it. If you can't get anything to us before February 22nd we may have to simply list the story title, and that won't be nearly as good. Hope you can get something to us so we don't have to do that.
We'll also run a short bio at the end of the story if you want to supply one. Keep that to 100 words or less, if you can.
As an aside, I recommend you change your email program so that it shows your first and last name instead of the generic Full Name which it currently shows. You'll note I didn't say "Hi John (or Bill or Steve or . . . ) because I don't know your name. More importantly to you, your name does not appear on your story. An unattributed story is something neither of us wants, is it? So, even if you don't fix your email program, would you reply with your name so we can attribute your story properly?
Thanks,
Duke
Duke Pennell
Editor, Frontier Tales
www.FrontierTales.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Full Name [mailto:crector@myway.com]
Sent: Saturday, September 5, 2015 9:55 PM
To: editor@frontiertales.com
Subject: The Killer and the Doctor Revised Version
Sirs:
Here is the revised version of my previously submitted story, "The Killer and the Doctor."
In May 1887, Patrick Runde was feeling pretty full of himself. He had killed his father without anyone in law enforcement suspecting him. Now he was going to inherit the ranch that his father had built up and with it the wealth and social standing that came with it. His friend, the local political power boss, had always said that he'd make a great state senator since he'd always vote the party line. Now that his father, who abhorred politics and politicians, were out of the way, there was nothing or nobody standing in the way of his ambitions.
Runde sat contentedly at the table eating the porterhouse steak that the family cook had prepared for him. By the plate was the bottle of whiskey that he had selected for this private celebration. Life was good.
Just then Doctor Paul Walther stepped into the dining room. "I hope I'm not disturbing you," the doctor said with his hat in hand along with his bag.
"Not at all," said Runde, "kind of surprised you're here though. I thought you had left for Phoenix."
"I was on my way, but I turned back. Got a lot of things on my mind that I want to talk to you," said the doctor.
Runde replied, "Why don't you sit down and make yourself comfortable. I'll get the help to get you something to eat and drink."
After a servant came with a bottle of whiskey, Doctor Walther took a swig of it and remarked, "I needed that. All that time in the hot desert."
Runde looked at the doctor and asked, "What's on your mind, Paul?"
"You."
"Me?"
"I've gotten to thinking about your father and how he met his untimely death. .There are some things that point to you as a killer," the doctor said gravely.
Pat exclaimed, "Me a killer? You're crazy!"
The doctor replied, "Don't deny it. Given our past relationship, I really did not want to believe it. However, after I got to riding to Tucson, I got to thinking about the strange fact that your father died so soon after your mother. While its clear to me that your mother died of natural causes, I just cannot get over the fact that your father died so soon after her and so oddly."
"So are you accusing me or something?"
Doc Walther leaned forward in his chair and said, "We need to talk about this," now if you don't mind"
"All right" said Runde, "Let's talk about your suspicions."
Doc Walther placed his black bag in his lap and started talking, "Did you know that I have been a doctor right here in the Arizona Territory for 21 years? And before that, I served in the medical service in the U.S. Army for 20 years before that?"
Pat Runde responded, "Of course doc, its all you ever talk about it seems like."
The doctor narrowed his gaze at the new ranch owner and said, "You always were an insolent brat. Your parents sure spoiled you rotten and ruined you."
"Gee doc, you sure know how to praise a guy," Runde said sarcastically.
"You know, in all my years as what the injuns call a medicine man," the doctor went on, "I've handled all the problems that a frontier doctor can expect to handle as well as some completely unexpected situations."
"Are you trying to audition as a filibustering U.S. senator on my time?" Pat Runde was getting exasperated. "Please doc get on with your suspicions before I die of old age," the heir to the Runde ranch said.
"Your father died just a few days later in a strange way," Doc Walther said.
"You said his heart gave out."
"That seemed to make sense at first. You had said that he had been suffering chest pains . However, when I examined him, I found something in his throat that should not have been there. I got it out, but did not say anything about it because I wanted to believe you," the doctor said.
Runde started to feel agitated, "What did you find in his throat?"
"A feather."
"A feather?"
"A feather, you know the kind you find in a pillow. A feather that had no reason to be in your father's throat," replied the doctor.
"That's weird," replied Runde, "perhaps he got it in her throat while he was thrashing around in the bed."
"That's odd," replied Doctor Paul Walther, "you said that he died as peaceful as a lamb. That's your exact words."
"I might have been mistaken," Runde replied. "You are insulting my very honor insinuating that I could kill my beloved father like that."
"And there's something else. There's beentalk that you father had been messing around with the widow Faherty. She's got kids and if your father married her, you could lose your entire inheritance. You obviously have a motive for murder." Doc Walther just sat there for a bit contemplating the scene. Finally, he said, " I'm going to bring this to the attention of Sheriff Mark Edgette and see what he intends to do about it."
Upon hearing this, Patrick Runde decided that he had to eliminate this threat to him and his ill-gotten wealth. He stood up and tried to pull out his gun to shoot the doctor. However, the doctor pulled his gun out of his leather bag and shot Runde first.
"Doc.....you shot me," Runde said with his last gasp.
Doctor Paul Walther got up and looked down upon Patrick Runde in a disapproving way and said, "I suppose I'm wasting my time telling you this, but I'm not really who you thought I was. You thought that since I was a man of medicine, I was a man of peace and as such an easy make. Actually, before I became a doctor, I was in the U.S. Army for twenty years and that's where I got my medical training. All that time on the frontier fighting the injuns helped my learn the fine art of the quick draw in close combat. The simple fact is that you never had a chance against me."
THE END
I'm planning to run The Killer and the Doctor in the March 2016 issue of Frontier Tales. Because of time pressures, we're no longer creating teasers; instead, we're asking you authors to do that. If you'd care to write up something that might intrigue someone enough to want to read your story (and keep it to 50 words or less), I'd love to have it. If you can't get anything to us before February 22nd we may have to simply list the story title, and that won't be nearly as good. Hope you can get something to us so we don't have to do that.
We'll also run a short bio at the end of the story if you want to supply one. Keep that to 100 words or less, if you can.
As an aside, I recommend you change your email program so that it shows your first and last name instead of the generic Full Name which it currently shows. You'll note I didn't say "Hi John (or Bill or Steve or . . . ) because I don't know your name. More importantly to you, your name does not appear on your story. An unattributed story is something neither of us wants, is it? So, even if you don't fix your email program, would you reply with your name so we can attribute your story properly?
Thanks,
Duke
Duke Pennell
Editor, Frontier Tales
www.FrontierTales.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Full Name [mailto:crector@myway.com]
Sent: Saturday, September 5, 2015 9:55 PM
To: editor@frontiertales.com
Subject: The Killer and the Doctor Revised Version
Sirs:
Here is the revised version of my previously submitted story, "The Killer and the Doctor."
In May 1887, Patrick Runde was feeling pretty full of himself. He had killed his father without anyone in law enforcement suspecting him. Now he was going to inherit the ranch that his father had built up and with it the wealth and social standing that came with it. His friend, the local political power boss, had always said that he'd make a great state senator since he'd always vote the party line. Now that his father, who abhorred politics and politicians, were out of the way, there was nothing or nobody standing in the way of his ambitions.
Runde sat contentedly at the table eating the porterhouse steak that the family cook had prepared for him. By the plate was the bottle of whiskey that he had selected for this private celebration. Life was good.
Just then Doctor Paul Walther stepped into the dining room. "I hope I'm not disturbing you," the doctor said with his hat in hand along with his bag.
"Not at all," said Runde, "kind of surprised you're here though. I thought you had left for Phoenix."
"I was on my way, but I turned back. Got a lot of things on my mind that I want to talk to you," said the doctor.
Runde replied, "Why don't you sit down and make yourself comfortable. I'll get the help to get you something to eat and drink."
After a servant came with a bottle of whiskey, Doctor Walther took a swig of it and remarked, "I needed that. All that time in the hot desert."
Runde looked at the doctor and asked, "What's on your mind, Paul?"
"You."
"Me?"
"I've gotten to thinking about your father and how he met his untimely death. .There are some things that point to you as a killer," the doctor said gravely.
Pat exclaimed, "Me a killer? You're crazy!"
The doctor replied, "Don't deny it. Given our past relationship, I really did not want to believe it. However, after I got to riding to Tucson, I got to thinking about the strange fact that your father died so soon after your mother. While its clear to me that your mother died of natural causes, I just cannot get over the fact that your father died so soon after her and so oddly."
"So are you accusing me or something?"
Doc Walther leaned forward in his chair and said, "We need to talk about this," now if you don't mind"
"All right" said Runde, "Let's talk about your suspicions."
Doc Walther placed his black bag in his lap and started talking, "Did you know that I have been a doctor right here in the Arizona Territory for 21 years? And before that, I served in the medical service in the U.S. Army for 20 years before that?"
Pat Runde responded, "Of course doc, its all you ever talk about it seems like."
The doctor narrowed his gaze at the new ranch owner and said, "You always were an insolent brat. Your parents sure spoiled you rotten and ruined you."
"Gee doc, you sure know how to praise a guy," Runde said sarcastically.
"You know, in all my years as what the injuns call a medicine man," the doctor went on, "I've handled all the problems that a frontier doctor can expect to handle as well as some completely unexpected situations."
"Are you trying to audition as a filibustering U.S. senator on my time?" Pat Runde was getting exasperated. "Please doc get on with your suspicions before I die of old age," the heir to the Runde ranch said.
"Your father died just a few days later in a strange way," Doc Walther said.
"You said his heart gave out."
"That seemed to make sense at first. You had said that he had been suffering chest pains . However, when I examined him, I found something in his throat that should not have been there. I got it out, but did not say anything about it because I wanted to believe you," the doctor said.
Runde started to feel agitated, "What did you find in his throat?"
"A feather."
"A feather?"
"A feather, you know the kind you find in a pillow. A feather that had no reason to be in your father's throat," replied the doctor.
"That's weird," replied Runde, "perhaps he got it in her throat while he was thrashing around in the bed."
"That's odd," replied Doctor Paul Walther, "you said that he died as peaceful as a lamb. That's your exact words."
"I might have been mistaken," Runde replied. "You are insulting my very honor insinuating that I could kill my beloved father like that."
"And there's something else. There's beentalk that you father had been messing around with the widow Faherty. She's got kids and if your father married her, you could lose your entire inheritance. You obviously have a motive for murder." Doc Walther just sat there for a bit contemplating the scene. Finally, he said, " I'm going to bring this to the attention of Sheriff Mark Edgette and see what he intends to do about it."
Upon hearing this, Patrick Runde decided that he had to eliminate this threat to him and his ill-gotten wealth. He stood up and tried to pull out his gun to shoot the doctor. However, the doctor pulled his gun out of his leather bag and shot Runde first.
"Doc.....you shot me," Runde said with his last gasp.
Doctor Paul Walther got up and looked down upon Patrick Runde in a disapproving way and said, "I suppose I'm wasting my time telling you this, but I'm not really who you thought I was. You thought that since I was a man of medicine, I was a man of peace and as such an easy make. Actually, before I became a doctor, I was in the U.S. Army for twenty years and that's where I got my medical training. All that time on the frontier fighting the injuns helped my learn the fine art of the quick draw in close combat. The simple fact is that you never had a chance against me."
THE END
Monday, December 14, 2015
Sunday, December 13, 2015
Facebook Fraud
One thing that I discovered today on Facebook is a button labelled "Friend Requests." Naturally, I assumed that these were all friend requests that other folks had made of myself. So, I clicked on the button and discovered hundreds of what were represented as friend requests involving folks who I have never met or even heard of. Of the people involved that I had actually encountered, they were all from individuals who I just barely knew. There was not a single friend request from anyone who I knew even halfway well. All of these people were represented as being friends of folks who I had already friended (is that a word?) or individuals who were friends of other persons who had friend requests in.
After looking over the list, I picked out a couple individuals to approve and clicked on one of them. To my great surprise, instead of saying something like, "Friend Request Approved," it instead said, "Friend Request Sent." In other words, all these so-called friends requests were not made by actual persons, but instead by some kind of weird algorithm of persons who Facebook feels ought to be my friends.
If that isn't completely fraudulent, then I don't know what is. What's even worse is that I don't have the slightest idea just why they would do this in the first place.
After looking over the list, I picked out a couple individuals to approve and clicked on one of them. To my great surprise, instead of saying something like, "Friend Request Approved," it instead said, "Friend Request Sent." In other words, all these so-called friends requests were not made by actual persons, but instead by some kind of weird algorithm of persons who Facebook feels ought to be my friends.
If that isn't completely fraudulent, then I don't know what is. What's even worse is that I don't have the slightest idea just why they would do this in the first place.
Thursday, December 10, 2015
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