May 2013 Media Thread

Gueron & Seifert - On the Impossibility of Detecting Virtual Machine Monitors.

Can a program determine whether it is running in a virtualized environment, or in a native machine environment? We prove here that, under a classical VM model, this problem is not decidable.

Ze Frank is amazing. Mostly they're funny and interesting, slightly poetic, takes on life and normality.

"Make Believe" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bta00Hp4gho

"Cholesterol" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBih2DYpno8

"Hack to power, Brian" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnG4dJT3itM

To the Stars - I found this through HP:MoR's author notes so you may have heard of it already, but its awesomeness makes it worth mentioning anyway. It is an enthralling transhumanist, quasi-rationalist, far future sequel to PMMM. It also bears a strong resemblance to the Old Man's War series in the same way that HP:MoR is clearly inspired by Ender's Game. It (generally) stands on its own, but has major spoilers for PMMM and to a lesser extent the cannon spin-off PMOM.

Descending:

• In the Plex: How Google Thinks, Works, and Shapes Our Lives, Levy (review)
• Singularity Rising: Surviving and Thriving in a Smarter, Richer, and More Dangerous World, James Miller (review)
• Heisenberg and the Nazi Atomic Bomb Project, 1939-1945: A Study in German Culture
• Man's Search for Meaning, Frankl
• Dreamland: Travels Inside the Secret World of Roswell and Area 51, Patton
• Buddhist Ethics: A Very Short Introduction, Keown

The Guns Of August - Barbara Tuchman. Tuchman's classic book about the first month of World War I. It's written in a somewhat informal way, and Tuchman seems to be especially interested by the various character's mustaches, for some reason.It's a good introduction into that first month, when the German's got so close to winning, and then... didn't.

Moonwalking with Einstein - Joshua Foer. In short: a book a journalist how writes a story about the US memory competition, then decides to try himself, and wins the next year. While doing so, he discusses the various tricks that 'mental athletes' use (many of which are known since ancient times), the differences with the inborn talents of idiots savants and the little subculture of people taking part in these competitions. I liked the book -- it constantly tries to understand why things work the way they seem to work, leaves room for alternative explanations etc., while keeping the book fascinating.

Feeling Good - David Burns. This book is (mostly) about Behavioral Therapy (BT), a therapy for treating depressions. I happily do not suffer from those, but I was interested in what the field has come up with, a field which still has bit of a proto-scientific smell.

BT is based on the thought that depressions are often based on errors of thinking (such as being too negative, having unrealistic expectations, all-or-nothing thinking and so on), and that patients can be help by systematically exposing these thinking errors, and making them think in more realistic terms. One of the ways to do this is to keep lists of expectations what will be happen in many daily things ('it's going to be a disaster'), and then later adding what actually happened ('it wasn't too bad'). Sounds almost /too/ rational, but apparently it worked. The end of the book also discusses chemical treatments at length, and sees them as something that is sometimes necessary, but always in combination with other therapy. This part interested me less. Overall, I liked Dr. Burn's writing style -- concise, precise and self-critical, and he seems to anticipate this reader's "but what if" responses quite well.

Antifragile - Things That Gain from Disorder - Nassim Taleb. In this book, Taleb discusses antifragility, i.e., the property of flourishing in the face of randomness, rare events, and so one, and he contrasts this with many of the world's systems, which are fragile -- strongly depend on their environment being predictable.

Prime examples of this would be the world economy (fragile) and the human body (gets better at fighting pathogens the more it is exposed to them).

Taleb fills the book with this -- and even more with gratuitously throwing around references to ancient philosophers etc., and shamelessly adding anecdotes with himself being the hero (not just the smartest, but also an impressive weight-lifter 'looks like a body-guard'). If you can overlook that, it's an interesting book.

The Casual Vacancy by J. K. Rowling.

Yes, I picked it up because it's by the Harry Potter lady; but it's hard to imagine how a book could be further away from Harry Potter. This is an ultra-realist novel for adults. By ultra-realist, I mean that not only are there no magical or science fictional elements. There aren't even any implausible elements or plot devices. (OK, maybe one involving some SQL injection, but it at least falls into the realm of the possible.) That is, this is a book about people who behave pretty much exactly like real people do; no heroes or villains here, though there are more and less likeable characters.

If Rowling's name were not on the cover, I doubt anyone would ever have suspected this book was by her. It really is that different. The language is different. The point of view is different (third person omniscient instead of Harry Potter's less common third person limited omniscient view). The novel is far more character driven than the plot-centric Harry Potter novels. There are no big reversals where you discover the good guy is the bad guy and the bad guy is the good guy. (This would be quite hard to pull off in third person omniscient, in any case.)

However, there is one thing that really stands out; and both connects this novel to Rowling, and distinguishes it from most other fiction including the Harry Potter novels. The children are equally well-drawn as characters, and equally important to the story as the adults. Although this is an adult novel, it is not one that makes the mistake of treating children as set dressing. The children here are real and significant. In LessWrong speak, everyone's a PC. There are no NPCs. Most adult novels ignore children. Most children's novels ignore adults. It is rare to find a novel that treats both children and adults as characters in their own right.

Star Maker, by Olaf Stapledon

Last and First Men, by Olaf Stapledon

Descending:

• Daemon, Suarez (review)
• Shades of Grey, Fforde (review)
• Young Philby, Littell
• Freedom (TM), Suarez (anti-recommendation)

The entire Flashman series. I was pointed at it by a Hitchens piece. It's historical adventure fiction potboilers about the British Army in the Victorian age; pretty lightweight, but the author has gone to some pains to make it as historically accurate as possible, with footnotes. I'm moving house at present and it's a nice diversion between packing boxes, and an easy way to learn a bit of history.

Elantris and The Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson are both very entertaining. Moderately but not explicitly rationalist as the magic is systematic and the main plot revolves around investigation.

Not a recommendation or a discommendation, just a drawing to attention of a novel on LessWrong-relevant themes:

Susan Greenfield, the neuroscientist turned science writer, has written an SF novel, out in July, 2121: A Tale From the Next Century.

I haven't read it, obviously, so I'll just paste the blurb here from Amazon.

In the near future, humanity has experienced a great schism. The larger part is ruled by instinct and pleasure: they are ageless, beautiful yet wholly dependent on technology designed by previous generations to sustain them. Having no social structure or self-consciousness to speak of, to the minority they are simply known as the Others.

But into this unmarked, timeless community walks Fred, the first visitor from a far-off land. His people are the N-Ps, governed by logic, revolted by the mindless, unfettered sollipsism of the Others. In all respects a model N-P, as Fred conducts his studies, he finds himself caught in an awkward relationship with his test subjects.

Fred begins to feel for the childlike members of the Dwelling he observes. Embracing their gaudy, hyperreal life of screens and implants, Fred begins to be changed himself, even as he begins to affect the minds of these Others in ways that may not be to their benefit.

Sounds like Eloi, Morlocks, and Fun Theory.

I also randomly found this interview with her from 2011 that touches on the themes of the book.

Anime; descending:

• Another (review)
• Wasurenagumo
• She and Her Cat
• AMV Hell 6.66

Live-action:

• Die Hard
• Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog
• Obayashi's House
• A Good Day to Die Hard (anti-recommendation)

General doujin; reverse chronological (what can I say? I finally got through listening to most of my Comiket 83 downloads):

• "イデア座の仮面舞踏会" (櫻井アンナ; '不思議の国の音哲樂 まやかし篇' {C83}) rock?
• "you" (Unknown-Dimension; 'GAMES STRINGS EDITION 2' {M3-30}) classical"
• "光" (THB & Kanna Noda; 'Telescope' {M3-30?}) electronica
• "Life Gauge" (M.Zakky; 'ROSE GUNS DAYS SOUND TRACKS2 -23番市の音楽-' {C83}) instrumental rock
• "cheerful" (M.Zakky; 'ROSE GUNS DAYS SOUND TRACKS2 -23番市の音楽-' {C83}) jazz
• "roulette" (M.Zakky; 'ROSE GUNS DAYS SOUND TRACKS2 -23番市の音楽-' {C83}) jazz
• "北風の坂道" (JeetSingh; 'RelaxTime 2' by DDBY {C83}) instrumental
• "Alyssum" (NOAH; 'RelaxTime 2' by DDBY {C83}) instrumental
• "雪のレシピ" (Bizen; 'RelaxTime 2' by DDBY {C83}) instrumental
• "You Gotta Be" (DJ Okawari / Amadori; 'Mirror') Jazz-Hop/Chillout
• "Sweet Light" (DJ Okawari; 'Mirror') instrumental
• "空色のポートリア" (Yohsuke; "Furumachi Sounds II" {M3-30}) classical
• "コレッリ・ラ・フォリア" (Polo Rockers; 'イミテーション (Imitation)' {M3-30}) classical
• "あの小さな星空" (月代彩; on 'AD:60' by Diverse System {M3-30}) instrumental
• "Salve, Terrae Magicae" (k-waves LAB; 'EthnoMagica 「エスノマギカ」' {C83}) Celtic
• "Credens justitiam" (k-waves LAB; 'EthnoMagica 「エスノマギカ」' {C83}) Celtic
• "Sis puella magica!" (k-waves LAB; 'EthnoMagica 「エスノマギカ」' {C83}) Celtic
• "I Feel You" (Teddyloid; 'Electric Alice', {M3-30}) electronic
• "Keep on Groovin'" (P＊Light; 'HARDCORE TANO＊C DJ Noriken vs P＊Light — RADIANCE' {C83})
• "The Ray of Sunlight (2013 Update VIP)" (P*Light; 'HARDCORE TANO＊C DJ Noriken vs P＊Light — RADIANCE' {C83})
• "萌ジャズ Dreamer (BOSSA NOVA ver)" (from '萌 JAZZ')

Touhou:

• "Undefined Future Mystics" (foo; 'N' by Yuugen-ya 「幽幻屋」 {C83}) prog rock
• "第七楽章 Luna Forest"+"第三楽章 Timeless Mind" (Morrigan; WAVE; from '-夢幻交響詩 福寿草-' & '-幻葬鎮魂歌 紫御殿-')

Vocaloid:

• "Windy Tokyo" (Gumi/Piko/Gackpoid; by KTG)
• "Juvenile" (Miku; by ryuryu; [subs])

I've been on a post-rock binge. My favorite bands along this line are Godspeed You! Black Emperor, World's End Girlfriend, and, of course, Explosions in the Sky. I don't expect this music appeals to everyone though.

Going Down by Jake Chudnow-- medium high energy electronic music in 7/8, very pleasant and has space exploration video track.

Enormous quantities of obscure old disco from Burning The Ground, most of it terrible but some of it really amazingly good.

"Hallelujah 2000", however, is still holding the prize for worst record I've heard this year. I lasted until the banjo solo.

No-one has to die is a short online game with an emphasis on its story. I don't want to spoiler you, so just play if you want to (takes about 30 minutes), and you may find a few interesting topics in there.

Magical Diary -- it has puzzles, although they're only a small part of the game. Ellen reminded me of Less Wrong fairly quickly; I later found out that TV Tropes lists her subplot as a shout-out to Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality.

Journey Walkthrough-- this is a walkthrough of a remarkably pretty and peaceful game. Cloaked non-human needs to collect glowy coupons to add to his scarf so that he can leap on to the the higher places and eventually get to a mountain on the horizon.

The landscapes are open, and the running through sand is delightful, if implausible. So is the no-equipment skiing down sand dunes.

The narrator has a tone of peaceful, interested delight at the various events.

The walkthrough is more calming than any amount of New Age music with landscapes that I've seen. I've only watched three out of seven(?) episodes, but I'm expecting to like the rest.

Ingress is a fun alternate reality game played on android devices. Basically two teams battle for control of various real world landmarks as part of an ongoing plot-line. Good for encouraging exercise and exploration. Very clever use of the device's capabilities, I think we'll see more like it in the future.

Its technically in a closed beta, but its pretty easy to get invites online. PM me your email address if you're having trouble.

Thanks for posting recommendations. It would be great if you used the category threads, though -- they help people find the stuff that they're interested in more easily.

Thanks for posting recommendations. It would be great if you used the category threads, though -- they help people find the stuff that they're interested in more easily.

I've seen a few episodes; 'sentimental' is a word that was meant for Call The Midwife.

Podcasts got their own thread barely (10 votes in favor, 8 votes against) in last month's poll. I think however than 10 subthreads are enough, so if we create new ones for other types of media from now on, I suggest we should also be examining which existing categories can be dropped or merged.

How about a category for video games (there are already two in this month's thread)?

I don't have any recommendations on the subject just yet, but I would like to start talking about textbooks at some point in the near future. I don't know if the monthly media thread is the best place for this, so I thought I'd throw the subject out in meta and see what came back.

Podcasts got their own thread barely (10 votes in favor, 8 votes against) in last month's poll. I think however that 10 subthreads are enough, so if we create new ones for other types of media from now on, I suggest we should also be examining which existing categories can be dropped or merged.