skribeworks

Set roughly two-hundred years in the future, Arthur C. Clarke’s Earthlight is a science-fiction drama set on The Moon during a political crisis, between the Earth-aligned governments and a federation of solar system colonies. What is particularly interesting about Earthlight is that Clarke published this in 1955, fourteen years before humans walked on The Moon (in fact, two years before Sputnik 1 first reached low Earth orbit). And he gets a lot of it right. However, it’s not the scientific vision that is most telling about this novel, but the blind spots Clarke displays, which mar a potentially brilliant story.

I am new at Symfony. I still have a lot to learn. However, one of the things that bugged me for ages was that the docs didn’t describe any means for populating forms when editing an existing record. Yes, it presented a function for editing, and making changes to the database through doctrine, but no way for me to dynamically alter the data in the first place. Well , thanks to some help from other Symfony users, I discovered a way that’s not only simple, but most of the code is from the docs (with a few adjustments). Here’s one way that I found to do it.

Since, this Ottie Pancakes stall was established at the beginning of July, I’ve been very sceptical about their proposed opening date. Not just because it seemed very ambitious for them to install all the necessary equipment, and deliver the ingredients for their product within such a short time. The Noowegian Sushi stall next door took more than two months to set-up. But also, because that particular space seems cursed. Will Ottie Pancakes survive? They have to open first.

Last Friday, my wife and I went night cycling. It’s one of the pleasures of living in Punggol, and it’s something we like to do whenever we can (preferably with the kids). Although we don’t always get the option, mostly due to inclement weather.

We had some books to return to the library, so we used that as an excuse to take a nice relaxing ride down to One Punggol, which is a ‘lifestyle hub’ – according to one web page. Apart from the five-story library, One Punggol boasts a seven-hundred seat hawker centre, lots of activity rooms and halls, a roof-top garden – including a BBQ area – plus much, much more. It really is a wonderful facility.

But, as they saying goes, there’s more. Just next door, they’re building a sports centre, that includes a football stadium, pools, gyms, and lots more.

In Perth, my original home town, those sorts of facilities would be restricted to the city centre, or possibly the western (well-to-do) suburbs. Yet, Punggol is at the furthest reaches of the island (which the locals call ulu).

Why can Singapore build such an elaborate amenity in its outer suburbs, but Perth (and the other Australian capitals) can’t?

So, I did a thing. Actually, I did many things. Some of them were even new. But the main new thing I did was I refreshed the look (and feel) of my blog. It needed it. It hadn’t been updated since 2013, when I originally established the site. Which is an extraordinary long time, especially in internet years.

Positively antediluvian!

Here’s why and how I did it.

Yesterday, we cycled to the Airforce Museum. Actually, we also cycled there on Monday, but this time it was open. We knew it would be closed on Monday, but because the pool we normally swim at has changed its operating times so it’s also shut on Monday (and every Monday) we chose to journey to the museum in preparation for yesterday’s adventure. Yes, it’s complicated.

I am not really much of a comic reader. I like comics, in general, but my standards are very high, especially for graphic novels. Although I had read Phantom, Captain America, and a few other comics before, my first graphic novel was Watchmen. When you start with the best, it’s hard not to feel that everything else is a let down. So it was unsurprising to me that I found Supergirl: Woman of Tomorrow lacking. What was surprising was just how lacking it was.

The Word for World is Forest is a science-fiction novel by Ursula Le Guin, although the science-fiction elements are very much just window-dressing. This story is very much an analogue for the US’ involvement in the Vietnam War.

Unfortunately, the story has all the subtlety of a sledgehammer.

In 2015, my kids were heavily into both Portal games and dinosaurs. So, I wrote a short story featuring elements of the portal games, a pair of tyrannosaurus rexes (which my kids named), and a heap of terrible troodon. It also starred my kids. They loved it, and it was read and re-read aloud for more than a year.

However, my kids have grown up. The Portal games and dinosaurs are still remembered fondly, but they’re no longer their entire world anymore. It’s the same with my story.

I thought, why not put it up on AO3? It’s technically a piece of Portal fanfic. Someone might read it.

A question on Reddit recently caught my attention: what is something that seemed sci-fish but is now mundane, and even boring? There were a whole range of responses. From mobile phones, to the internet, to flat screens, to multiplayer online games, and a whole heap of other technologies.

However, for me there is something even more profound. Yes, it involves technology, but it also only happens thanks to the work of an awful lot of work from a bunch of people, many of whom provide their services for free. It’s something that has changed my life and touched the lives of everyone I know, almost every single day. And it’s so innocuous, not a single person mentioned it in the Reddit thread.