IanS

IanS

  • Commented on Who ordered *that*?
    Andreas, Conventional wells start and ramp very fast (knocking out the bugs), stay on a plateau for a while (maximum production rate possible with the equipment), then decline away over time (geology, pressure), till they are capped (return on costs)....
  • Commented on Who ordered *that*?
    Charlie, You are mistaking YOU seeing the wider system and feedbacks that mean discarding the unemployed is unsustainable with the elite seeing it and acting on it. In contrast they appear very much to be optimising in the short term,...
  • Commented on Monarchy versus the Panopticon
    I'm thinking things will go the Zaffod Beeblebrox route. Firstly, the primary purpose of the royals is figurehead - so give the prols a show and make them luv/trust you. Harry in a Nazi uniform is much more acceptable than...
  • Commented on A Bad Dream
    What was the price of petrol again? Your Adam Curtis like focus on shadowy figures, all with essentially the same agenda (maintaining power) and with the same worldview (economists, lawyers and other paid liars) is fine for understanding a BAU...
  • Commented on Crib Sheet: Glasshouse
    Have you never explored the possibility of having "Glasshouse" turned into a movie? There are several of your books that I would like to see in movie form, but Glasshouse, with it's themes, seemed to be the one that most...
  • Commented on The Northern Wild: How to Save New York?
    Indeed, I can't see New York having a lot of problems. A quick joining up of the barrier islands, a lock or two. The biggest problem would be the greenies and the rich people in the hamptons. In fact, merge...
  • Commented on "Fuck every cause that ends in murder and children crying" — Iain Banks, 1954-2013
    and in doing so managed to write a far-future space operatic universe that sane human beings would actually want to live in (if only it existed). The universe he created was a consequence of his outlook - that things...
  • Commented on In the pulp
    Let's be honest, if you were a book illustrator, would you rather be painting mermaid boobies; or trying to work out how to represent corrupt (presumably robotic) bankers? And if the US book cover is mermaid boobies, I presume the...
  • Commented on The language of alienation
    Well I'm not going to post the postulate that 2023 will potentially be in a chinese headline, for the news that matters, again - though I still think it's distinctly plausible. Instead For 2003: "H7N9 response lowered" Sure the flu...
  • Commented on Crib Sheet: The Atrocity Archive(s)
    It would be Cabinet Office, since coordination of Homeland Security & Resilience type stuff would come under Civil Contingencies - which they tend to lead. Or more realistically, there would probably be and ongoing low level war of empire building...
  • Commented on Books I've written
    Well, I'd suggest something like this. You say every book is 'different', in its writing, genesis, research, reception etc. - and thus deserves a 'making of'. Well first work out what is common and what is unique to each book....
  • Commented on Changing my mind on nuclear disarmament
    Stop and think for a minute or two just how much of that you already have, and how you could deal with the rest......
  • Commented on Changing my mind on nuclear disarmament
    And here is where I leave the pregnant pause with regard to what is considered a chemical weapons capability ... . . . Personally, I'd say the capability to make, understand, optimise, model/predict and incorporate into a doctrine of operations...
  • Commented on Changing my mind on nuclear disarmament
    The point I was making in my original posting is that there really isn't any such thing as disarmament for an existing nuclear weapon producing country, or a G8 type member. Even if you publicly got rid of all weapons,...
  • Commented on Changing my mind on nuclear disarmament
    Question 1) How long does it take to knock up a nuke, if you know how? Answer : Not very long Question 2) How do you now that a former nuclear power doesn't have one hidden away? Answer : You...
  • Commented on PSA: Ignore the news
    Actually it can be frighteningly easy to pick out key factors to make informed speculation. A package on the floor, designed to take out legs with ball-bearing shrapnel sounds very like an anti-personnel IED device against patrols. Would be relatively...
  • Commented on PSA: Ignore the news
    Can't say I necessarily agree with you on some of that Charlie. In general you are correct in that most of the news is there to sell advertising, etc. That's manifest in a whole scree of stories "that say nothing...
  • Commented on Why I Do Self-Publish
    The interesting aspect to me is that if you are self-published, or traditionally published, as a small scale author the discovery bit is up to you - aka marketing. Even our host does quite a bit of the lifting on...
  • Commented on No. Words.
    I don't know about getting him to accept a beer, when I met him he seemed perfectly at home at the bar. I raised a glass of single malt to him last night, when I heard the news. If he...
  • Commented on Press Release: Stross Uncloaks Secret Media Project
    Do you think you could include Fox News deciding to cover actual news for once, and turning up onsite? Bill O'Reilly getting chased down the street before falling down, head first into shot, with a stinger through his chest, and...
  • Commented on Why I don't self-publish
    Charlie, I feel like we've been round these houses too much before - and I quite understand your personal reasons for not wanting to self-publish (don't screw up a good thing). However, as I think you realise, life is change...
  • Commented on Things publishers can't do (yet)
    Charlie, Nice to see you took things and ran with it. Some thoughts, points, etc. 1) In terms of book covers as adverts in the ebook world, they are actually icons of sorts - look to banner ads and icon...
  • Commented on "We're going to need book covers. Lots of book covers!"
    Charlie, Don't think you quite got the idea I was aiming at - which suggests that maybe it is a little bit smarter than I thought. Selling online, particularly eBooks, means the physical print, and it's limitations, don't matter so...
  • Commented on "We're going to need book covers. Lots of book covers!"
    Completely different designs are needed. You'll get no disagreements from me - physical is different from onscreen. If you are designing a poster for a movie or a TV spot you don't use the same designs. Which brings us...
  • Commented on "We're going to need book covers. Lots of book covers!"
    Hmm, well if editors still aren't optimising for how it looks on Amazon, rather how it looks in a mythical (closed) bookstore, then someone needs a slap upside the head. High contrast, high saturation, big fat type seem to be...
  • Commented on Thinking the unthinkable
    You don't see the relevance of my point Charlie? OK, I'll lay it out. In your original posting, you have assumed that the EU, and it's operation are a constant - and that predominately trade impacts of dumping the EU...
  • Commented on Thinking the unthinkable
    Given the actions of the banksters today - re Cyprus - I wonder if anyone here is reconsidering their position with regard to the UK separating itself as much as possible from the EU? Hell, the question has to be...
  • Commented on Thinking the unthinkable
    Re: Location of the EU 'parliament' Can I suggest we take a leaf from Rowling's book, and position them on a platform in the middle of the North Sea. Scaled just big enough for the politicians as a way to...
  • Commented on Thinking the unthinkable
    On the positive side, a vote for dumping the EU would force a UK reexamination of what it was and where it was going. It wouldn't be practical to drift into someone else's scenario any more - there would have...
  • Commented on Me, talking
    The problem with these types of prognostication are they tend to ignore the system interconnections and fixed scenario effects that shape developments. We've rehearsed here in the past that we will be well past peak oil by that point, and...
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