HN user
"Well, Steve, I think there's more than one way of looking at it. I think it's more like we both had this rich neighbor named Xerox and I broke into his house to steal the TV set and found out that you had already stolen it."
Good points - I'm of the same mind. Thanks for reminding me that I'm not crazy!
Gotcha; good call. Thanks for getting back. :)
As an author, I'm navigating SO many angry people who are enraged at the idea of using AI tools in writing. How are you managing that?
Thanks for doing this - I'm an author, and my working theory is that every author is a one-person startup, so I try to think about lean startup principles when I think about the business of being an author.
How do you think Lean Startup principles could be applied to ordinary families looking to navigate the existing economic stresses we're experiencing?
You're living my dream - congrats! :D
Love from www.inkican.com
Speed Racer unavailable for comment.
So grateful you're okay - this week's been rough enough without hearing of another hero's demise.
I don't wanna brag but this is pretty much the premise behind my soon-to-be-published scifi novel:
Getting my novel published:
A broke kid wins a spot at a high-tech genius school and finds out the “cool” project is really mind control for the whole world. Now he has to out-hack teachers, drones, and a traitor friend using only his brain, his DIY skills, and the outlaw Mesh. Readers get wild gadgets, sneaky pranks, and fast chases—plus the chance to ask what they would do if adults tried to control every thought in their head.
Final edits from the editor are arriving this week - then I'm off to find a lit agent, hopefully get a publishing deal by the end of 2026. More info below.
www.inkican.com
As an author, I dig what this is saying since it resonates so well with my journey as an author. Everything I publish is one more chance to connect with people who are drawn to other people in motion. I'm still learhing how to bring people along and inspiring others to create.
Here's some of my work - it's free until Jan 1. https://inkican.com/smashwords-white-hot-scifi-winter/
Writing the Struggles – Insecurity, vulnerability – these are things my readers don’t talk about. My job as a writer is to talk about the stuff my readers don’t want to discuss. How do you smile when your mom just died? What does it feel like to go to school on an empty stomach? When does it get better when your mom is an illegal immigrant?
Maker culture isn’t just a buzzword—it’s who I am. Creativity, craftsmanship, and curiosity run in my DNA. Mesh celebrates that energy and connects creators who build, invent, and inspire.
In this house we obey the laws of Thermodynamics!
Thumbs up! This low-friction aggregator beats Ground News and other aggregators by a mile for simplicity and easy to read. Nice work!
As an author, I'm working on different stories and projects all the time. Main thing is to keep thinking of new things to do, I've already written and self-published 20+ short stories, and I've written two middle-grade scifi novels.
One thing I've come to understand about the process is that becoming a self-sufficient author is very similar to being a startup - only you're a startup of yourself. Building the product, building your market, building the infrastructure, watching what your other 'startups' are doing - it's all part of the process.
In the past days, I've released one of my stories as a 'Make Your Own Adventure' - https://inkican.com/make-your-own-scifi-adventure-now/
I've also integrated Bluesky into my blog comments: https://inkican.com/test-driving-a-new-comment-platform-blue...
And I've created some free STEM content for K-6 teachers on the future of space elevators: https://inkican.com/space-elevators-getting-to-the-next-leve...
Going to continue with my ideas and I appreciate the chance to tell you about them. Thank you. :)
They consult.
Our challenges of today aren’t an excuse to abandon our tomorrow. Fear of failure isn’t grounds for indifference. Improbable isn’t the same as impossible.
[Written for kids to encourage them to think about the future of space travel]
Space week coming up, so let’s talk about getting to the next level of space elevators. As you know, I’m intensely interested in them as part of my novel Mike.Sierra.Echo.
Scientists still believe this can work and I do, too! That’s why I propose an honest, direct conversation about the challenges of building a space elevator. That way, we can work on it together! Someone is going to crack this code, and I want to be a part of that history.
The point of looking beyond the obvious with art is an expression of faith, hope, and joy to the world. ‘My life is more than what I’m experiencing, and so is yours.’ ‘Here’s what I’m experiencing and what I think it means, please tell me what you think.’ Even if we never find the answers, the fact that we can speak the questions makes us feel seen, heard, and loved. Your art can’t do that unless you’re used to looking beyond the obvious.
When it comes to storytelling and suspension of disbelief, I’m a fan of Ogden Nash’s advice. Wanna hear it? Here you go: Here’s a good rule of thumb; too clever is dumb. The art of storytelling – especially science fiction – must contain some suspension of disbelief (SoD). Otherwise you’ll have idiots in the theater going ‘wait, why did Iron Man punch the Hulk? They’re supposed to be friends. Worst movie eVar!!’
But too much SoD ruins the story. Take for example, the movie Arrival by Denis Villeneuve from 2016. The entire plot (Spoiler alert) hinges on a suspension of disbelief on our part that human beings can alter time simply by changing their perception of it. In the last act of the film, the protagonist learns the alien language alters humans’ linear perception of time, allowing them to experience memories of future events. Banks’s visions of her daughter are revealed to be premonitions; her daughter will not be born until sometime in the future.
That never sat well with me as the audience – like, all this time all we had to do was ‘change our perception?’ That seemed awfully familiar, but I couldn’t figure out why. Then it hit me – ‘Arrival’ has the same plot as ‘Somewhere in Time.’
Sitting around on a Sunday morning – started thinking about solarpunk and Andrew Carnegie. Wealth inequality and the problems it causes dominates our headlines. Common media topics include re-enacting the French Revolution or ‘eating the rich,’ but is there a better way? Are we doomed to repeat the failed hatreds and phyrric victories of the past?
Not necessarily. You know, some ultra-rich people decided to use their wealth to make others’ lives better. Modern examples of wealthy philanthropists include people like Taylor Swift, Dolly Parton, and MacKenzie Scott come to mind, as do Chuck Feeney, Gordon and Betty Moore, and Barron Hilton. These are great, but they all remind me of one historical figure – Andrew Carnegie.
Where current events lead us to believe that apathy and cynicism are expected, average behavior – it’s more important than ever to remember that being mean isn’t normal. Kindness is normal. Even if the world makes being kind feel weird, it doesn’t matter. Kindness matters. Kindness is normal.
What if you're an author and the products you launch are short stories. Can I participate?
QModem was my first modem program and I can still hear the sound of that little DOS-based 2400 BPS modem ringing in my ears. My best to you and your family and I'm so sorry for your lost.
'may be' ...
Meanwhile, climate change is definitely impeding our long-term survival. Yes, we’ve got a planet-sized problem in climate change. 21st Century malcontents aren’t helping us figure out how to solve climate change or champion solarpunk solutions. If you aren’t prepared, or willing to do that, then please do us all a favor and shut up. The world has enough misery due to malcontents. Don’t be part of the problem.
I was preparing my usual Tesla Weekly until Aaron Greenspan dropped his explosive filing on Wednesday against Musk and Tesla, which highlighted loads of details from the “Tesla Files” on their egregious accounting frauds.
Lots of topics to cover this week aside from the headline story, but here is the breakdown for today’s Tesla Weekly:
Bombshell Complaint Filed Against Musk & Tesla—The Main Story Of This Report: An amended complaint in the Greenspan v. Musk et al trial was filed on Wednesday with damning internal data from Tesla highlighting a vast array of accounting fraud. It’s an explosive report, which is why it is the focus of today’s Tesla Weekly.
Trading Thoughts: Tesla is down 6.4% on the week through yesterday on lower-than-average volumes. Break outs to the upside were swiftly sold down, but there was an effort to keep the stock above $203, its 200-day moving average.
China Weekly Sales Suddenly Dropped Last Week: Despite 0% loans from Tesla and $2,800 incentives from the PRC, Tesla’s sales last week dropped by 17% YoY. This is odd given the low hurdle from Q3 2023.
That doesn't make a lot of sense to me - how could an avalanche travel that far without running out of kinetic energy?
The first challenge, for High School students, is to develop and design an “intermediate space settlement” on the Space Elevator’s Apex Anchor to house over 10,000 individuals. This will act as a “waystation” for missions to the Cosmos. You will need to consider what the design, missions, structure, organization, architecture, life support, etc., at such a waystation would be like. How big would it need to be? What would be the optimal size? How will it take advantage of the massive lift capabilities of the Space Elevator providing a Green Road to Space?