Author: ianrandalstrock

Too Many Passwords

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I’m trying to figure out—or maybe just grumping about—the fact that more and more of the things I have to do online now require me to set up an account and sign in to a web site, all to do this one thing, but then I have no use for the account to do anything else, and forget the password, and then have to ask it for a reminder the next time I’m forced to use that site.

For instance, requesting a vendor table and then paying for it for a science fiction convention. It used to be “complete this form and send it to us, and then send a check.” Then it was “complete this electronic form, and then give us a credit card number.” But now there are some conventions that require three separate “sign-in”s to do that: sign in to Google to complete this form telling us who you are and what you want. Then sign in to the convention web site to confirm who you are and that you really want this table. And then sign in to this other payment site to receive your bill (oh, in some cases, and then sign in to PayPal to pay for the table).

There are also several magazines that take online submissions, and require signing in to an account to do so. But since several of them use the same web site, I have no idea which ones I’ve already created, which passwords I’ve used, so I always have to say “forgot my password; let’s do it again.”

I know Google forms don’t require that sign-in (because I’ve had to complete some Google forms that didn’t require me to sign in). Now I’m wondering what I’m missing, what the conventions get from having me create all these different accounts (the passwords for which I promptly forget, because they aren’t log-ins I’ll need to use ever again, except for next year when, I go through the whole rigmarole again)? Is it another one of those “we do this because we can” things, that really doesn’t have any great benefit? Is there some great hidden benefit to having a database full of these “account” ids and passwords that no one wants or needs?

Reporting differences: science fiction vs Mensa conventions

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Thinking about this weekend’s Mensa convention, and wondering why I don’t post nearly as much about the Mensa weekends as I do about the science fiction weekends. I know part of it is that the costuming at sf conventions is a lot of my posting: pictures of attendees in costume, who are wearing those costumes it in order to be seen, to be noticed, to be on display.

But I think perhaps part of the difference is that science fiction conventions—as much as they are a fun and enjoyable part of my life—are work. I’m there “on the job” (and yes, I’m very lucky that they can be both for me). Mensa conventions, on the other hand, are much more “personal” or “family” time—even though, as an officer, they actually are (to a degree) work (even though it’s unpaid work). Perhaps some of the difference is that there is no “display” at the Mensa conventions: no one is there to be seen, to be noticed. The people who do sometimes wear costumes (whether for a specific event, or simply because they enjoy it) are again (or so it feels to me) doing so simply for “us,” not to be on display.

So, even though in both cases I’m often “on stage,” speaking on panels or giving solo presentations; or I’m “working” (as an editor and publisher at one; as an officer and leader at the other); and there is ample time for me to be not-working, but just enjoying myself as an attendee… still, there is some difference in my mind that says “I take pictures and post about science fiction conventions, but I don’t do so at Mensa conventions.”

So, in short, I had a great time at New Hampshire Mensa’s Regional Gathering this weekend. Got very little sleep, ate poorly (too much yummy food that wasn’t good for me), accomplished the “work” I was intending to, while leaving a lot of time for the fun I expected. Met some great new people, and had wonderful times with all the long-term friends I spent time with. Didn’t have nearly enough time to do everything I wanted to. And now I’m exhausted, but looking forward to return to the regular work week energized from the weekend. Yes, I’ve had two successful conventions on this trip, but I’m really looking forward to (finally) getting back home tomorrow.

Mensa Convention Weekend (second of 2024)

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If you’re looking for me on the road, this weekend I’ll be in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, for New Hampshire Mensa‘s NHRG 2024 – A Blizzard of FUN!
As with most Mensa RG’s, no dealers’ room. But I will be participating in the “Meet the AMC” session 10:30am Saturday in room 293. And Saturday evening, about 7:00 (as dinner is winding down), I’ll be the auctioneer for New Hampshire Mensa’s Scholarship Fund Auction. Come bid on fabulous things you didn’t know you needed, and worthless chazerai you don’t want, but it’s for a good cause. Also, watch as I try to auction off a $5 bill (the last time I tried that, we brought in $142 — I learned from Joe Zanca).
Hope to see you all there!

The decline of news interviews

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As much as I’m annoyed by the double-talking, deflecting, lying politicians, the interviewers aren’t doing much better.

This morning, I watched parts of both NBC’s Meet the Press and CBS’s Face the Nation, and they both share the same problem.

On Meet the Press, the host/interviewer was talking with Senator J.D. Vance. She asked him, if he had been vice president on January 6, 2021, would he have voted to certify the election, or done what Donald Trump wanted. Each time, he deflected, noting that “it’s you who wants to keep talking about that election. We’re focused on the present and the future, and in the present, we have the massive border crisis,” and the drug crisis, and whatever else usually comes at the end of that litany. A perfect opening to ask “Okay, so as a member of the Senate, what are you doing to address that border crisis, and drug crisis, and all the rest?” But she just let the pitch go by, and went back to “But you might be on Trump’s list for vice president in the next campaign. What would you have done in 2021?”

On Face the Nation, the interviewer was talking with Speaker Mike Johnson. After four rounds of “President Biden doesn’t need any legislation to fix the border crisis,” without a return question of “then what do we need the Congress for?”, she showed several clips from Johnson in 2019 saying “an impeachment should not be a one-party action.” A great intro for the House’s current impeachment activity against Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas. “So why are you moving this impeachment now?” to which he responded, “Mayorkas has broken the laws. We’ve got three committees investigating,” etc. But there was no return question of “you’re going through all the motions, as the Democrats did before you, but it still looks to be a one-party activity.” Or the even easier question: “You say he’s broken the laws. Which laws?” As most interviewers these days do, she ended with “We hope to have you back, because there are so many more things to talk about.” Completely missing the irony of the fact that each question-and-response was repeated four times, so of course they couldn’t get to too many issues.

Mind you, I didn’t watch the entirety of either program, but I did also see that each also had National Security Council Spokesman Jake Sullivan. Meet the Press asked him if, in the ongoing response to the death of the three US soldiers in Jordan, we could expect attacks in Iran itself. He said “I’m not going to comment on our activities and plans on television.” The interviewer’s response to that? “So you’re not ruling it out?” And he responded, “I’m not going to talk about it on television.” Five times they went through that back-and-forth.

Yes, I understand that repeating a question can sometimes get the interviewee to break down, get angry, and snap out an unintended answer. But come on, people, listen to the responses you’re getting. You can follow them to even more interesting questions and non-answers. I’m disappointed in you.

Science Fiction Convention Weekend (second of 2024)

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Next weekend is another science fiction convention weekend. I’ll be at Boskone, once again in the Westin Waterfront in Boston. As always, I’ll be tethered to the Fantastic Books dealer table (Friday, 4–8pm; Saturday, 10am–7pm; Sunday, 10am–3pm).

And you’ll be able to catch me on some fascinating programming, including:

Friday at 5:30pm in Harbor III: “‘Our Air! Our Water!’ Space Independence” with Brett James, Steven Popkes, John Scalzi, Romie Stott, and Erin Underwood

Friday at 8:30pm in Harbor III: “Legal and Actuarial Supernatural Hypotheticals” with R.E. Carr, Jack Cullen, William Fletzer, and Michael Green

Saturday at 2:30pm in Harbor III: “Worldbuilding New Folklore for Fictional Worlds” with Ben Aaronovitch, Sarah Beth Durst, Amelia Leonards, and Emily Hurst Pritchett

Saturday at 8:30pm in Harbor II: “Radical Economics in Speculative Fiction” with R.E. Carr, Vincent Docherty, Will McMahon, and Christie Meierz

Hope to see lots of you there!

Conflicting job qualifications?

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There are a bunch of elections running around my mind these days: national, local, clubs and associations, and historic. In many of them (but not the one in which you’re a candidate, so don’t worry, I’m not talking about you), it seems to me the skill set necessary to be a successful candidate is not only completely different from the skill set necessary to be a good office holder, but sometimes completely at odds with it.

Consider, for example, the presidency of the USA. To be a good candidate for the job, one has to be an incredible fund-raiser, be a glad-hander, be photogenic (with an equally photogenic family, or at least a compelling family story), be able to whip up crowds of enthusiasm, and be able to speak in sound bites. And in the modern era, one also has to be a staunch ideologue, in order to whip up the enthusiasm of the extreme members of one’s own political party. But to be a good president, one has to be able to think deeply about important issues, and then make hard decisions about them; to be able to negotiate with people in equally powerful positions from (perhaps) less powerful countries; be able to keep secrets about the biggest issues that would bring in incredible amounts of publicity; be willing to compromise on almost everything in order to accomplish anything; and be able to inspire people to be selfless and to aspire for greatness.

Mind you, the same dichotomy (although on a much smaller scale) seems to obtain for most any office that is elected: mayor, congressman, club official, you name it.

Having grumbled about this state of affairs — which is the same state we’ve been in for a very long time — I can’t see that there’s any better way to choose who we want to elect to office. But I sure wish there was a better way.

One caucus is enough, right?

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We’ve spent nearly a year in this incredibly lengthened election season, started early because Donald Trump tried to forestall his criminal indictments. We still have more than nine months to go before election day. And all along, we’ve heard the politicians and pundits telling us the only thing that matters is the votes on November 5 (plus all the early voting and absentee ballots).

But now, as a dozen Republicans have already decided they have no chance, we’re hearing so many saying Nikki Haley, too, should quit, because she has no chance to beat Trump for the nomination.

Mind you, today is just the first primary (in New Hampshire), and the only voters who’ve already expressed their opinions were the 110,272 who participated in the Iowa caucuses. Those 110,272 represent just 0.07% of the 158 million who cast votes in 2020—that is, a rounding error. They don’t even represent a majority of Iowa voters (1,690,871 voted in 2020). Indeed, they’re only 14.6% of the registered Republicans in the state. We’ve spent a year waiting to see the outcome of the primaries, but just as they’re starting, we’re told the rest of them don’t matter, because one in fourteen Republicans in Iowa (56,243) expressed a preference for Trump.

Major news outlets stopped reporting election results while the polls were still open after 1980, when there was great consternation that doing so might have suppressed the vote in the western states. But now we’re told that we don’t even have to wait for the polls to open in the other 99+% of the country: the few Iowans who cared to join the caucuses are enough. No, just no. I say, let ’em run until the end.

Convention Weekend – Mensa mixed with sf

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It’s another convention weekend, the second in a row (definitely kicking off the new year with a bang). This time, it’s a Mensa event: Northern New Jersey Mensa’s Blast! Regional Gathering, in Newark, New Jersey.

Echoing the proper “enjoyment” of it at science fiction conventions, I’ll be leading a talk/reading of the “classic” story “The Eye of Argon” at 10:30 Friday night in Boardroom C.

A slightly more prosaic appearance: I’ll be participating in the “Meet the AMC and Members Who are Willing to Run for Office” event Saturday at 1:00pm, also in Boardroom C.

Other than that, I’ll be around, enjoying the weekend. They put on a great event last year, and with one year’s experience, they’re bound to do even better this time! So I hope to see all you Mensans there!

Don’t pay any attention to logic

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I find it ironic that Donald Trump keeps pushing for “complete and total presidential immunity” to block his forthcoming trials for orchestrating an attempted coup (see, for example, this article). Follow it through logically: if a president has complete and total immunity, wouldn’t President Biden ordered Trump’s immediate imprisonment, probably in a supermax prison or a deep hole in the ground? “For the national good,” of course. But even if he shouldn’t do it, well, complete and total presidential immunity.

In other presidential news, last night I spoke to Central Texas Mensa about the presidents. My talk, “Hail to the Chiefs! (and their Vice Presidents, and First Ladies…)” was very well received, and I was thrilled with the audience. I’m available to speak to your group, as well.

Science Fiction Convention Weekend

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This weekend is my first science fiction convention of the calendar year. I’ll be at Arisia in Boston. If you’re looking for me (hiding behind my mask, because the convention has a policy which I think is doing something to be seen to be doing something, rather than something that might actually be effective), I’ll be at the Fantastic Books table in the Dealers’ Room: Friday, 5–9pm; Saturday and Sunday, 10am–1pm and 2–7pm; Monday 10am–2:30pm.

I’ll also be on several panels, including:

Friday at 8:30pm in Marina 4: “Mythology for Fictional Worlds” with Elizabeth Birdsall, Rob Cameron, Andrea Hairston, and Chris Lester

Sunday at 2:30pm in Marina 4: “Fascinating Timelines of History” with E.C. Ambrose, Allison Neff, Daniel Neff, and Elijah Kinch Spector

Sunday at 8:30pm in Faneuil: “Embracing the Alien: Writing Believable ETs” with Sara Cordair, Kristin Janz, and W.A. Thomasson

And yes, I do see a conflict with the Friday night panel starting before the dealers’ room closes. I’ll figure it out at the convention (may just close the table half an hour early). Hope to be able to see you there!