Aliens: How Would Their Existence Effect You?

I can't say that I've thought long and hard about this question before.  This seems somewhat strange to me, since it is a question I would be naturally inclined to think about anyway, both as a giddy supporter of expanding human exploration of space and as a science fiction writer.  That's the way things go, I guess.

In any case, I'd like to take the opportunity here to explore, however briefly, how the proven existence of aliens would affect me.  And then I'd like to know how you would respond to the same question!  Leave a comment.

Aliens!  They're Alive!

Those that know me well enough (or pay attention to my online existence) will also know a few things about me which are relevant to this discussion:

Adventures in Atheism: Absens Communitatis

(Cross-posted from my Google+ account.)

I suspect everyone knows this already, but I'm an atheist.  What does that mean?  I don't believe God or Allah or whatever other deity others subscribe to.  That's pretty much it.  I'm not interesting in preaching about why atheism is the RIGHTEST WAY EVAR or how you should subscribe to my version of morality or why believing in God is just super dumb.  To be honest, I just don't care.  If you believe in God and it works for you, then have at it.  Please.  Worship God.  Go about your business.  Do the religious thing.  Just leave me alone with it.  Don't make laws based solely on your religious tenets and don't look at me like I'm some heathen who will eat your children's souls just because I don't subscribe to your version of a particular religion.  That's pretty much my opinion on religion in public life:  there shouldn't be one.

But that's a much larger discussion.  What bothers me about being an atheist is the lack of community.  When I say that, I'm fully aware that communities exist, but in my experience, those communities are part of the side of atheism that, well, I just don't want to engage in.  My lack of

Dear @Ustream: You Are Forgiven

You'll know from my previous post and Twitter and basically everywhere else that Ustream shut the Hugo Awards live stream down Neil Gaiman's acceptance speech.  The reasoning at the time was "copyright infringement."  Now we know what happened from Ustream's end (granted, I'm late to the party, but I feel obligated to say something after smashing Ustream on Twitter and my blog earlier this week):

This Post is About Asian Americans (or, I Have No Proper Title)

I am currently taking a graduate-level course on Asian-American literature, which includes a considerable amount of theory, criticism, historical documents, and so on.  While reading the preface to Aiiieeeee!, an anthology of Asian-American writers edited by Frank Chin, Jeffery Paul Chan, Lawson Fusao Inada, and Shawn Hsu Wong, I came across the following quote:

Hugo Awards Stream Shut Down / Worldcon Banned (or, Dear #Ustream: Fuck you, Signed Fandom)

If you haven't heard already, Ustream, the serviced used by Worldcon to live stream the Hugo Awards ceremony, pulled the stream and banned Worldcon from its site for terms of service violation.  What violation would that be?  Apparently an awards ceremony is not allowed to play short clips (a la fair use policy) from nominees in film categories.  Doing so in the middle of your ceremony will result in a mid-sentence suspension of the feed and an apparent permanent ban (as of writing this, the folks at Chicon have indicated the Ustream will not bring back the feed, despite mounting public pressure).

One would think pissing off a sea of geeks would be pretty low on one's list.  Not for Ustream.  Apparently it's right at the top of their list of "Things To Do When We're Bored," which is to say they secretly desire what all slightly deranged institutions desire:  a slow, painful death (by crap PR).  And they've got it.  Twitter users have been Tweeting on and off since the take-down of the Worldcon Hugo Awards live stream about the service's pathetic performance (using the #ustream

Hugo Award 2012: The Winners (w/ Brief Commentary)

And the winners are...

(Disclaimer:  Most of the reactions below are "initial" reactions.  Easily offended people will probably be offended.  Such is life.  :P )

Best Novel 

Among Others, Jo Walton (Tor)
A Dance With Dragons, George R. R. Martin (Bantam Spectra)
Deadline, Mira Grant (Orbit)
Embassytown, China Miéville (Macmillan / Del Rey)
Leviathan Wakes, James S. A. Corey (Orbit)

I've heard good and bad things about Among Others.  Personally, I don't have anything against it, but I do think Mieville's work often deserves more recognition from an awards standpoint than it receives.  He's one of the few writers actually experimenting with form / concept / etc. these days.  That, in my mind, keeps the

Video Found: Moon (starring Sam Rockwell; dir. by Duncan Jones)

I'm not going to bother introducing this.  If you haven't seen Moon yet, then you've been missing out.  And now Youtube has the entire movie up for free!

Watch it...now: