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| Karl Gallagher's Journal 20 most recent entries |
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Freed from the Censor's rule, people can read old books. Now they have to decide what to do with them.
The Amish are having many more babies than mainstream culture. Eventually they'll be the only ones left. post a comment
In burial at sea, the body goes away, never to be seen again. In space, anything orbiting comes back. post a comment
Some inventions improve the world. Some make it worse. Possibly much worse. New short story on SubStack. post a comment
This is the journal of author and engineer Karl Gallagher. A captain who’ll take any job if there’s enough money in it.  If you're new here there's some posts I'd like to share. Requirements Kill: How projects can be ruined by the sheer number of requirements on them. Feeds, Seeds, and Gray Goo: Nanotechnological manufacturing will be driven by logistics--and that's what keeps the "gray goo" scenario from being a real danger. Other engineering essays: The issues with engineering as a career, the problems with engineering education, and how to become an engineer if you just can't resist it. The reasons to avoid government projects. Don't be this kind of whistleblower. Why licensing software engineers is a bad idea. Even in fiction it's hard to keep ahead of advancing technology. Analyzing specific spacecraft: Rocketplane's tourist design, the hypothetical Blackstar RLV, and off-equator space elevators. Medical doctrine: I have issues with the childhood vaccination schedule and the innumeracy of medical researchers. They're not all bad though. I've written a few pieces of fanfic and a whole bunch of book reviews. Playing MMOs has gotten me thinking about how we could use one to test changes to our real world and what would be the signs that we're actually living in a simulation. I've written a few things specifically about World of Warcraft. A rant on the brainpower needed for tanks to taunt mobs. A missing piece of backstory on the Defias. A suggestion for monetizing add-ons within the Blizzard rules. Reflections on how much more the Horde storyline focuses on PvP. And a discussion of how the Iliad would look in WoW terms. My opinions on war and politics have been given a blog of their own. 2 comments | post a comment
As the interstellar war draws to a close, a gunnery officer is drawn into deciding what the fate of the enemy will be. post a comment
Scientists who've seen those movies will avoid those mistakes. They'll make their own mistakes. 
Just released: War By Other Means, book 7 in The Fall of the Censor series.  Dozens of worlds have been liberated from the oppression of the Censorate. The only thing they agree on is hating the Censor. Newly appointed ambassador Wynny Landry must convince her neighbors to cooperate—and prevent them from being taken over by a new oppressive regime.
An empire which bans all the good books will find the readers among its subjects eager to break the law. 
Saturn's moon Titan has plenty of hydrocarbons. Exporting them to the rest of the Solar System is . . . difficult.  Hard SF story of maintenance in the outer Solar System. post a comment
Working stiffs far from Earth find something interesting. How are they going to get the right people interested in it? post a comment
New on Substack: 
Lots of kids run away from home. If home is an asteroid, that's tougher. Short story (okay, novelette) on Substack. 2 comments | post a comment
The sentence passed by a judge should be a logical function of the inputs: law and facts in, appropriate punishment out. Is that something we can turn over to a machine? 
My boss at the rocket start-up wanted to sacrifice a LOX valve before doing our first static fire, in hopes that would avert the usual failure. That gave rise to this story. 1 comment | post a comment
Environmental testing is important . . . but sometimes rough on the test subjects. post a comment
Create a medicine which lets people enjoy vigorous exercise. What could go wrong?
Okay, technically a novelette rather than a short story.
Students often surprise professors. One student is hiding a secret Prof. Archambault never imagined.
AIs have the potential to do great things for us. That also puts them in a position to exert subtle control over us. |
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