Current Events

 

So the AI can’t write a decent poem?

good, gives us humans a bit of hope.

Our technology is a mere reflection of us.

Flawed and bumbling, yet it sometimes reaches

new heights and raises our morale.

Then failures follow successes,

dashing the same encouragement,

leaving us bereft, and forced to start again.

Hasn’t that been our story since we

came down from the trees and stood up?

We win some, find new foods, hurrah

in our successes until nature and chance

rub our noses in the dirt, and break our bones.

If we do manage to up-evolve to a new

machine intelligence and overcome

the limitations of space and time –

Then we’ll do a virtual head-shake together,

and wonder how we ever made it through those

dark, awful days of the early 21^st century.

Maybe by then our AI intellects will figure out

how to write a poem.

Maybe.

#/> end program.

Offline Hacks

 

When everything else is humming along fine,

plans unfolding as they should in real time.

Obstacles encountered are easily surmounted,

Frustrations endured or forgotten or flouted.

The blessings get counted and feelings are fine,

occasional good surprises are truly sublime.

Conversations with friends work out alright,

house and yard maintained to prevent blight.

Until all of a sudden early one night,

Internet connection drops with a fright.

That Smart TV is now deaf and dumb;

no more emails, surveys or social media fun.

This is when things turn unpleasant and surreal,

resourcefulness kicks into high gear to appease

those cravings with over the air TV and real books,

temporary inconvenience survived, angst overlooked.

After an hour it came back on, and the information stream

was interfaced with, thus returned to an AI-infused dream.

The Fall is Falling

 

Fall is falling like it promised,

trees dropping pretense and baring their souls.

Squirrels are scrambling and collecting food,

Preparing nests for the white bitterness ahead.

Temperatures tease us with warmth and breezes,

lure us into complacence before those inevitable drops.

No matter, we Midwesterners know to prepare;

and at times pause to take in the color and beauty.

Markets rise and fall with the temperatures,

raising some spirits before dashing our hopes.

The only thing we can count on is the

weather – we know it will change a lot.

We will fall into our usual holiday rotation,

giving thanks, presents and toasts to a new year.

Making promises we know we will not keep,

but smiling and happy nevertheless –

for a while anyway.

Bundle up – here it comes!

Rondeau play

 A Game of When

It takes so long, this exploration game.

Every new mission it’s always the same.

Years of preparation and repeated testing,

discarding or tweaking or endless vetting.

Looking towards novel discovery and fame.

Mishap or disaster invites new blame,

error discovery explanations seem lame.

Newscasters engage in some digressing,

it takes so long to succeed in this game.

We want to find new territory to claim,

despite past treaties warning refrains.

Repeated failure can be distressing,

hard to keep taxpayers from denigrating!

It takes so long to cement new gains.

Parade of Data Machines

 

Parading images go past in memory,

Wondrous devices of the past, now passed.

IBM electromechanical marvels

Selectric typewriters, Chain and train printers,

higher speed behemoths eating ink and paper,

spitting out data in reports on continuous forms.

DEC VAX multitasking monsters,

many students could message and network.

User-friendly Internet precursors on CRT screens,

nothing but black background and blinking cursor.

Huge rooms full of iron frames and blue or red boxes,

Clattering printers, hum of disk drives and fans,

Halon signs and Big Red Buttons for emergency shutdown.

So impressive in the 1960’s and 1970’s,

so obsolete now they are all scrapped.

Fun to put my phone on “do not disturb,”

and look back at the days of yore on Youtube.

Remember what was and what we had to endure.

But back then we thought it was the ultimate...

Many things are different in this day and age,

but one thing remains constant:

Human addiction to war and killing,

with the innocents suffering the most.

Technology explodes – in more ways than one!

That Galactic Arm Called America

 In the Washingtonian system we reside,

The capital of the (American) human tide. Alpha Centauri, now Cincinnati's realm, With factories and industry, overwhelm.

New York's the financial heart, shining bright, Entertainment, business in its starry light. Broadway, a planet, endless theater's grace, Asteroids, Jazz, Hiphop, Electronica's space.

Pittsburg's domain, where molten metals meld, Smelting, ingots, major industry to be held. Trade flows abound in the Lakes System's space, Duluth, Milwaukee, Green Bay, they embrace.

Southwest worlds, in the desert they gleam, Palm Springs and Vegas, a vibrant dream. Entertainments galore, endless delight, Elvis and Marilyn androids frolic day and night.

In the Pac Northwest, waters do flow, Seafood harvested, edibles trade grows. Seattle's the center, mega in its might, Trans-shipping seafood at the speed of light.

Alaska's ice worlds, a frozen domain, Harvesting, hunting, asteroids they gain. Eco-tourism thrives, enjoying the pristine views, In the Alaska System, a virginal nature debut.

Colorado's mountains, adventure's true call, Skiing, rafting, hiking and scaling for all. Party places on slopes, joyous and grand, In the Colorado System, a galactic wonderland.

New Orleans, a party that never does cease, Non-stop, year-round, a city to please. Clothing-optional, where spirits are free, Planet Redlight to enjoy sensual ecstasy.

Yet in this galactic arm, America's hold, Conflict and rivalry abound, a tale quite old. For peace to prevail is a challenging feat, Perhaps galactic tourists should take a backseat!

(With thanks to the mighty GPT 4 for help with this one.)

Future Clean Gone

 

A better future sits incubating in

warehouses and labs around the world.

Some will enable lighter cars that never

run out of power, fed by the roadways.

Others promise new, cheaper batteries

made of abundant substances like iron.

One can read about or see news on

the wondrous new tech and get hopeful.

Maybe we won’t go down the tubes

after we squeeze that last drop of oil out,

or pollute our air so bad the planet will end us.

And then war breaks out all over the place,

spoiling the beatific visions outright.

We are so clever and good at inventing things,

including ways to eliminate ourselves altogether.

The coin of human survival is tumbling in the air,

we never know which side it will land on,

and whether our luck will finally run out.

Heads or tails?

Colony Football

 

    When we start building colonies on the Moon, and eventually Mars, the subject of sports will soon come up. Although early colonists will probably have little spare time, eventually they will need some recreation in their lives. So some games and sports will be introduced. But regular football and baseball, etc, may not work so well on the Moon due to space limitations. So someone will have to come up with games better suited to low gravity and more confined spaces, at least initially. Arena football is a possibility, or Pickleball. Table tennis, perhaps, able to be played in a smaller space. Smaller games that can be played in a common area.

    It may be that paddles for game can also be used for another purpose, making them more justifiable as cargo in a long flight to Mars. While computer games can certainly make the flight, a few board games might be enjoyable to be played among the crew as well, just for the physical sensation of moving pieces on a board. Computer displays can do a lot, but they don’t easily replace the excitement of competitive physical movements. Some compact physical competition games on a colony can add to people’s sense of well-being and contentedness.