The April 25th issue of New Scientist has an article discussing a computer that can read from a speaker’s lips what language he/she is speaking. This reminded me of something I came across stating that people in southern Russia had a characteristic face shape that was thought to be due to the heavy bread that was their staple – the intense and persistent chewing required, bulked up certain face muscles. I would suggest that what is true for chewing could well be true for speaking – that one language will use certain facial muscles more than another. The consequence would then be that a French speaker would tend towards a particular facial configuration – a speaker of Mandarin Chinese would tend to another… so that the language you speak determines, to some extent, what your face looks like…
language and the human face…
Tags: china, humans, linguistics, newscientist
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amazon problems…?
some people have been complaining to me that amazon.co.uk does not seem to be carrying The Third God… I’m a tad confused about this… since it definitely seem to be here… Do please let me know if you have encountered this problem yourself…
on the radio…
on my way back from Eastercon 2009 (which I will be writing about soon) I did an interview for BBC Radio Scotland on the convention and with a little bit of chat about the Stone Dance. Nothing particularly startling, but it might be of interest nevertheless… I think this link is likely to be good only for a few more days…
Tags: bbc, eastercons, media, stonedance
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radio interview…
I am appearing on the Book Café at 13:15 on Monday 13th of April where I will be talking about Eastercon and about the Stone Dance. This will be a live show, but I imagine it will be available through iPlayer for a few days after broadcast… Unfortunately, this is going to clash with one of the panels I was on at Eastercon – Terraforming vs Pantropy. I am disappointed about this and should have seen it coming…
details for hearing the programme are:
Mon 13 Apr 2009
13:15
BBC Radio Scotland
FM: 92.4-94.7 MHz
MW: 810 kHz
DAB
Freeview: 719 (Scotland Only)
Freesat: 712
Sky: 0116
Virgin Media: 930
should be available for listening for 7 days, here.
Tags: #events, bbc, media, stonedance
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Eastercon – panels and launch…
The following are the panels I will be on during my visit to Eastercon 2009… So you can listen to me waffle on all these subjects. I don’t know what I will be doing at my launch… but there is free wine… and you can chat to me. In fact, if you’re around, and you spot me (I look much the same as the picture above) do PLEASE say hello… I am VERY friendly :)
Researching your world
Fri 20:00
“Do you research first or do you invent it all? Does it give you more
freedom or constraints? Do you feel free to ignore scientific or
historical accuracy? Is building your alternate timeline, is it as
complex as building an alternate world?”
Ricardo Pinto (moderator)
Oisin McGann
Cory Doctorow
Charlie Stross
Jon Courtenay Grimwood
Ian MacLeod
Mapping the mysterious
Sat 12:30
An epic story needs an epic setting. Find out what you need to do when
desiging your world. Then create your own maps.
Ralph Horsely (moderator)
David Angus
Ricardo Pinto
Liam Sharp
Music of the Spheres
Sat 14:00
“How music and our understanding of the universe have developed, hand in hand.”
Ricardo Pinto (moderator)
Doug Fazzani
Emma J. King
Nicholas Jackson
Gary Lloyd
Andrew Patton
“SF, technology and games”
Sat 17:00
“Almost every SF trend, from artificial intelligence to virtual
reality was embraced by the gaming industry first (or at least that?s
what some gamers like to think). But what has the gaming world really
been like over these last few decades? How did it compare to what SFi
promised us it would be? Which are the noteworthy games in this
regard, past and future? And where is the industry really heading to?
”
Ricardo Pinto (moderator)
Chris Wooding
John Coxon
Alison Scott
Are role-players authors?
Sat 22:00
“Role-players often describe role-playing as a collaborative process a
creative outlet for interactive stories. Can the stories we weave
around the gaming table or online be compared to those written by
authors consciously working to create plot and characterization to
stimulate and entertain others? Do we want them to compare? Do
role-players create novels, and are they any good?”
Ricardo Pinto (moderator)
Kari
Max
Amanda Kear
Jonny Nexus
Music as Universal Communication
Sun 10:00
“Given its mathematical base, perhaps music would make an ideal
universal language?”
Liam Proven (moderator)
Ricardo Pinto
Sparks
Ricardo Pinto Book Launch
Sun 19:00
Ricardo Pinto launches his new book from Transworld
Ricardo Pinto post@ricardopinto.com
World-building with Music
Mon 10:00 Tech required for this item
“The power of music to inspire imagination & world-building, including
Tolkien’s Middle Earth books (Tolkien’ s universe was sung into
existence as part of the wider creation myth in The Silmarillion),
Wagner’s Ring Cycle (and the concept of Leitmotif), Narnia, Marianne
L’Engle. H. Beam Piper (Omnilingual), Piers Anthony, Greer Gilman…”
Valerie Housden (moderator)
Ricardo Pinto
Vince Docherty
John Clute
Unfortunately, because this clashes with a radio interview I agreed to do for the BBC, I will not longer be attending the following panel:
Terraforming vs Pantropy
Mon 12:30
“If we ever make it to other solar systems, we’ll find that we need a
place to live. Discuss concepts for colonizing away from Mother Earth
- biospheres, terraforming, and more.”
Colin Harvey (moderator)
David Angus
Nik Whitehead
Ricardo Pinto
Tags: #events, eastercons, launches, mother earth, stonedance
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