Mind-Bomb! Issue #1

Welcome to the first installment of Mind-Bomb, a semi-regular collection of news, events and other items I'm reading about. During the course of my day I try to absorb as much news and (educated) opinion as I can. This will be my attempt to share some of what I find interesting with you.

The Thundercats movie is looking to be in good hands. I have high hopes.

Nootropics are going to be a VERY big deal in the coming years, and I think we should have a good set of legal ones we can take alongside our vitamins. What do you think?

It's not the final season yet, but a Battlestar Galactica freak like me can't ignore this fraking awesome content. Maybe a movement should be started to get "frak" used more often in EVE.

As far as indie comics go, I'm really only reading Atomic Robo, which rocks. I should get the guys at One Million Comix to get this in.

Ignatieff should have won this before Dion had a chance to fuck up an already fucked-up party. Let's see where he goes from here. And FYI, suspending parliament to avoid a vote is just as undemocratic as forming a coalition right after an election.

Troy Dixon (T-Bag) from Pure Pwnage died in a car crash last Saturday. I really liked his character and I think it added a lot to the show. I had the good fortune to be in his premiere episode. My heart goes out to his friends, family and fans. R.I.P. Troy.

07

A different kind of change.

Today is a day for change. Changing the way the world does business. Changing the way we see ourselves as a civilization. Changing the way we see ourselves.

Change is something that sci-fi fans are not just familiar with, but comfortable with. We constantly challenge ourselves to see the world we live in and how we can make it better, or prevent its ruin. One popular mode of thought that has come out of sci-fi in recent decades and has gained much momentum in recent years is called Transhumanism. I won't explain the concept because you're more than smart enough to google it yourself (and if you're not, please stop reading my blog. You may infect my other readers with your noobness).

EVEers have more experience with these concepts then they would think. "Boosters" fall into a category of pharmaceuticals called Nootropics, while implants, man-machine interfaces (pods), cloning, transmitted consciousness and general cybernetics are some of the core concepts of Transhumanism and Posthumanism.

I came across a new online magazine called H+. H+ (Humanity Plus) is a term for the transhumanist movement. So far it reminds me of publications like Wired, Popular Science/Mechanics and certain scientific journals. I urge you to support this free publication simply by downloading it via the link. Hopefully it will spur discussion, which I would be more than happy to facilitate.

In other news, the wife and I are healing nicely and my mood is beginning to improve. Thank you to those in the EVE Blogger in-game chat (Shae and BC) for extending kind words. It's nice to know I'm part of a real community.

Details of Quantum Rise came out today and are posted on the official feature page. It's all what we expected, though some may be surprised by how soon it will be deployed. Funny, November 11th is the night of the Toronto EVE-meet so it should be an interesting night. Iron Will V finished last night, and I estimate all my learning skills will be ready (rank 1s @V and rank 3s @IV) in about 3 weeks. I should really run it through EVEMon and set up a schedule.

Tonight I'll be watching the United States Presidential elections, along with an estimated 95% of all other Canadians. I hope Obama wins, otherwise things are going to get really bad. I watched the SNL election special and read some Doonesbury last night, as I enjoy my politics with intelligent humor, because intelligent politics is such a huge oxymoron that extended thought on the concept has been known to cause aneurysms. I'll probably stick to the CBC coverage and periodically flip towards CNN for brief shots of American media propaganda (hehe... being jaded is fun).

Ja.

My life in Eve - Part 3

I managed to make the 30-jump journey back to Hakeri thanks to some scouting by Jayseven. I dumped everything I had in CL into the corp hanger, including a few ships and plenty of ammo and modules. I flew a stripped Rifter back, though I should have just found myself a shuttle and left the Rifter. As soon as I got back to Hak I started going over what skills I needed to purchase and went on a small spending spree, which will continue tonight. I plan to hold onto 100 million in savings and not spend it on anything from now on unless it's unavoidable. That means at present I have about 35 million in "investment funds" (I tried to find the right financial term for that but I came up dry).

My directives now are to bust my ass on missions to make as much standings and isk as possible, while being very diligent about my skill training. I'm not sure how long it will be until I can send a jump clone back to CL, but I'll do my best to make it as soon as possible. Hopefully my new +2 implants will help speed me along.

My blog was mentioned on MicroWarpCast ep.2 and I couldn't be happier to be part of such a great community. CrazyKinux said "...another good site." which is a pretty good endorsement from such a well-respected blogger. His blog, as well as MWC are pretty awesome, in fact it's probably my favorite podcast, due to the entertaining banter and commentary.

After listening to it, it occurs to me that people don't really know what my handle means. 'Psyche' (most people forget to pronounce the "e", making it seem like I'm a prankster) represents a person's persona. 'Diver' is going to take a little explaining, as I derived it from some unique sources. The reason people say "web-surfing" is because the Internet is a vast ocean of information, and the word 'surfing' entails skimming along its surface at high-speed and having fun. 'Diving' in that same context is coined often in cyberpunk works as removing the safety of the 'board' (which could represent yourself, your computer or both) and fully immersing yourself on pure information. Anime like 'Ghost in The Shell' or 'Serial Experiments Lain' are good examples of this that would offer a gateway into the world of cyberpunk. 'PsycheDiver' not only refers to my interests in cyberpunk and transhumanism, but also my latent empathic/telepathic abilities, as well as my interest in psychology, mysticism and many other "fringe" fields. I'll talk about those other topics on occasion.

I posted my 8th chapter on the alliance forums last night as promised, and I'll be posting the 2nd chapter on the EVE forums tonight and here tomorrow. Chapter 9 is going to be the hardest to write, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to get it done until early November. I'll give it my best shot and hope for a flash of insight, in which I can usually bust out a chapter and a then some.

Ja.

And so it begins, again and for the first time.

This isn't my first attempt at maintaining a blog.

First it was Livejournal @ psychediver.livejournal.com. That was during my media studies at Humber College.

Then it was blogs.ign.com/psychediver. I still thought I had a future as a journalist.

This will be different. I don't think this will net me a writing job in the future nor will I try to stick to one topic. Everything I am, I will try and post, and I will do it frequently.

Life, love, comics, anime, video games, movies, TV, novels, politics, science, technology, philosophy, sex, gadgets, etc...

I hope to build a readership, but at this point I have no idea how to attract people other than to write a LOT. So I will.

Stay tuned. It should be interesting.