Windycon Science Fiction Convention 2013

Once again I'll be attending the Windycon Science Fiction Convention, which is this coming weekend. My schedule is light this year: three panels and no presentations. That means I'll have abundant time to attend other programming – although in the past my luck has been such that the programming I most want to see is at the same time as one of the programs I'm participating in.

Here is my programming schedule for Windycon.

Title:	Digital Art: The Art for Everyone
Description:	Can't afford a Rembrandt? Don't have room for the Moore? Well, if you have room for a computer or a laptop, you've got art. Art that doesn't really physically exist (yet). Art galleries everyone with wi-fi can access. Democratic art in a way fine art never was and never will be. Hear our panelists discuss the pros and cons of art for everyone all the time.
Panelists:	Brenton Harper-Murray, Robert Jackson, Steven Vincent Johnson, J. Plaxco(Moderator)
Comment	This should be a most interesting panel. Computer technologies have done more to democratize art than any other technology. This extends not just to the ability to share finished works of art but also to greatly expanding the number of people involved in the creation of art. And for those people, like myself, who write their own art-creating programs, there is the ability to share source code so that what one digital artist creates can be shared with others who can then modify that art and so on down through successive generations. With respect to the pros of digital art, they are abundant and I'm sure we'll spend much time discussing them. As to the cons, they are few and do not detract from the value of the computer as a tool for the creation of art.
Title:	Colonizing Space
Description:	Will space travel ever be safe enough and cheap enough to really colonize other planets? Can a moon or Mars colony really work? Will space colonization be government sponsored or private citizens? What happens if we can't leave Earth?
Panelists:	Steve Collins, Phyllis Eisenstein, Bill Higgins (M), Jim Plaxco, Catherine Shaffer
Comment	Here are my first thought answers to the questions asked. Will space travel ever be safe enough and cheap enough? Yes – if the space industry is allowed to develop and if the natural economic incentives are allowed to operate. Can a moon or Mars colony really work? Yes – again given the right operating environment and economic incentives. Will space colonization be government sponsored or private citizens? The only way for space colonization to have a chance of really working is if it is freely undertaken by private citizens employing Adam Smith's invisible hand. And what happens if we are forever bound to the surface of the Earth? Then I fear that as a species we will one day go the way of the dinosaurs.
Title:	The Future of Private Space Exploration
Description:	Now that NASA is out of the space business private developers are stepping in. Can private space exploration really give us the future sf predicts? How can we help get there?
Panelists:	Bill Higgins, Ross Martinek, Jim Plaxco, W. A. (Bill) Thomasson (M)
Comment	This is a subject I am particularly passionate about. In fact I have articles in both the previous and next issues of Ad Astra magazine covering this subject. Plus I have a presentation on the subject of newSpace. No, you won't find it on my lectures and presentations page because it is not related to art. My newSpace talk is a lecture I give as President of the Chicago Society for Space Studies. My next venue for this talk is Nov 18 for a meeting of The Nineteenth Century Charitable Association.

I haven't yet checked on what other programming Windycon is offering that I may have an interest in attending but if you stop by the Windycon Art Show be sure to check out my art as I will have several pieces in the show.

See you at the con.

| Return to the Blog Index | This entry was posted on Wednesday, November 6th, 2013 at 3:22 pm and is filed under Presentations, SF Cons.