Tim McCormack

Comment Threads

• Charlie Stross commented on The myth of the starship
  Paul @186: The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the light into the peace and safety of a new dark age. Are you channeling H. P. Lovecraft intentionally, or do you think AGI is intrinsically likely to make people start going "Ph'nglui mglw'nafh Cthulhu R'lyeh wgah'nagl fhtagn!" on sight? SoV @189: you're misinterpreting me: given what we know about...
• Charlie Stross commented on The myth of the starship
  SoV: it doesn't matter how we use the energy from the Pu -- for the sake of argument: stick it in MOX reactors, maximize energy extraction (around 35-40% -- Carnot applies) and figure out how to use it in a 100% effective (handwavium, I know) laser to power a light sail. It still gives us a rough benchmark for the money-to-power ratio we can get from nukes (via a weapons-oriented program, admittedly). The interesting factoid is that the total world nuclear weapons stockpile is only enough to power our regular electricity cycle for on the order of a year (give...
• Charlie Stross commented on Your name in lights
  Robin @11: tough as this may sound, I reserve the right to say "here's your money back -- now fuck off". Luckily it's a very cost-ineffective way to send spam ......
• Charlie Stross commented on Your name in lights
  The auction's over: it went for $510, which is the same as Cory's winning bid (and a bit more than the winning bid for David Brin -- hah!). I'm now waiting to hear back from the winner about which work of fiction he wants to be in; "Rule 34" only has vacancies for villains, so he may want to wait for the next Laundry novel ......
• Charlie Stross commented on The myth of the starship
  Nigel: I'm surprised that no-one has commented that there is no limit on the subjective speed of travel. Haven't read "Saturn's Children", have we?...