Keep Calm and Carry On

I’ve been watching the relentless histrionics of the News outlets coverage of the stricken Fukushima reactor with a mixture of bewilderment and annoyance.  Finally, after being subjected to a news story that said, “Radiation from Fukushima reaches Britain!” followed by an almost whispered aside telling everyone not to worry because it will have no effect on us.

I thought, “What the fuck?”

Let’s recap.  Off the coast of Japan there is an earthquake, this causes some damage to the mainland but Japan is ready – so no biggie.  This earthquake is then followed by a huge Tsunami which swamps the east coast in a deluge of biblical proportions.  Japan is not as prepared for this but swings into action nonetheless.  All looks good despite the scale of the damage and casualties. Japans economy gutters and stops (though this is entirely a sideshow).

Then word gets out that a couple of Japan’s reactors are struggling.  Immediately the news outlets forget the thousands of deaths, the catastrophic damage, the efficiency of Japan’s preparedness.  Instead we get a steady stream of wildly over the top End is Nigh stories appear.  We’re told that reactors will explode, there will be another bigger Chernobyl or maybe the dreaded China Syndrome.  All the while the talking head experts trotted out are anti-nuclear and decidedly anti-science.  None of it is true and all it is the usual misinformation and scaremongering that further erodes the public’s trust in Science and rationalism.

And is it just me or is the real story the enormous loss of life caused by the awesome power of nature herself?

I’m tired of it.

Here’s a sober summary from the Register.

In the meantime do as the poster says Keep Calm and Carry On.

To Lendle… or not.

Edit:

For those not in the know, Lendling is using the Lendle site to get hold of free books using the Kindle’s built in lending service. Lendling is thus one of those composite words made up of Lend and Kindle.  Is it wrong that everytime I hear the word I think of Ivan Lendl?

Well well, in hardly surprising news Amazon has shuttered the new Lendle store/place/thing.  They have revoked it’s API license on the grounds that they were not following Amazon’s dictum that

“…  Lendle was built from the ground up to ensure that it would be beneficial to authors, publishers and Amazon.”

That last clause is interesting roll it around in your head and Amazon.  Maybe you want to speak it out loud.  It has an interesting sound doesn’t it?  I can see why Amazon enabled the practice in the first place, after all it’s a common criticism that when you buy software you buy the license and not the item itself.  This is a fundamental departure from the owning a physical object.  Of course people think these are books and want the same ability so I totally understand why Amazon gave the Kindle this ability.  But I don’t know if it’s just me but the end result was  I thought the result was more than a tad  obvious?

Del Toro doesn’t get to do AtMoM… meh

The interwebs are abuzz with the news that Guillermo Del Toro isn’t getting to do his version of At the Mountains of Madness.  I say meh.  There are two reasons.

• Tom Cruise had signed on.
• Del Toro was going to do it in 3D

Of the to 3D was the deal breaker and I just wouldn’t have gone to see it if there was no 2D option.  I hate 3D films that much.

I think having Cruise onboard would have run the risk of his presence turning the film into a “Cruise” film though I think that if anyone could manage it, it would be Del Toro.

Which is a pity because I think that Del Toro has the ability to make the sort of eery horror that Lovecraft wrote.

But not in 3D.  Can this 3D phase please come to an end.