Wh-wh-what's yo' fanta-ta-sy?

Friends,

In some parts of our great country the weather is still cold and snowy. In other parts, it's above freezing, slushy and wet. But, in the sunny locales of southern Florida and the ninety mile strip of highway that connects Tucson to Phoenix, the last few days have brought the aroma of oil on aged and dry flesh, the sight of delightfully carved long, hard, wooden shafts cracking against red-accented, white-as-a-sheet, virgin balls, the delicious aural pleasure of said balls smacking against freshly-lubed leather.

No, I'm not talking about your favorite S&M fantasy. I'm talking a fantasy of the baseball variety. More specifically: Fantasy Baseball!

Pitchers and catchers have reported for every team except for the Florida Marlins (they've already given up hope, apparently...). Only the Marlins and Will Kruesi's White Sox have yet to have an official workout (maybe they've given up hope, too?). This, compadres, means that spring training is well under way. As spring training goes by, fans of all shapes, colors, sizes, and affiliations are, by birthright, given reason for optimism. It's spring after all! Bunny rabbits hop gleefully through the prairie, flip flops are busted out, we can drink beer outside! For many fans, this optimism quickly dissipates as pitcher X requires Tommy John surgery, infielder Y breaks his foot, and outfielder Z cracks his rib. But, at least during the beginning of spring training, we can all say "Maybe this is our year!"

The shrewdest of fans will also assess their fantasy options with the utmost scrutiny throughout this optimistic time. Some of us will probably draft with loyalty to our favorite team. Nonberg will likely sit in the corner with a beer box on his head and covet the players already drafted. Past years have made it clear that any strategy is viable. Whatever your strategy, fantasy baseball is upon us!

Who's in?


NOTE: Ted volunteered to organize, as in years past, but he does not know this yet.

The Coming Robot Apacolypse, Pt. 2: Watson

I wasn't planning on following the poll up with anything, but after finding this I feel I must. Actually I think I might do a part 3 at some point now too.

Artificial intelligence is a fascinating and at thrilling field. So far, some of the most notable achievements are an unbeatable checkers player, and a chess world champion (though technically not unbeatable). But most of the achievements still don't really feel like intelligence, at least in the form that humans have. I'm not saying that they aren't impressive, but they lack the kind of nuance that the human brain is so remarkably good at.

3D Printing

This newly developing technology was featured in this week's edition of The Economist, and I think it's absolutely fascinating. Essentially, you can take a blueprint or model of a 3D object on your computer and "print" it out. The printers use plastics, resins, and metals to build up an object (known as "additive" engineering because objects are built up, versus "subtractive" engineering, or bashing metal into shape, which is the most prevalent form of engineering today). This is either done by a nozzle spreading the material into shape or a sifter solidifying the material into shape one layer at a time. These printers can make anything, violins, airplane parts, clocks...

This form of production has the potential to make large-scale production obsolete because it is just as cheap per unit and wastes much less material. It also makes the issue of music piracy look like small-scale vandalism, what happens when blueprints for the latest Rolex or even smart phones are released online? The intellectual property ramifications are monstrous. It can also completely change the definition of art: does sculpture have to be hand-made, or just human-designed?

I, for one, think this is perhaps the largest step in the grand equalizing of mankind that has been occurring since the invention of the printing press and has been accelerating in the age of the modern computer and the Internet. This might not have been the revolution that Marx envisioned when he wrote his Communist Manifesto, but this technological revolution has more potential to bring the means of production to the hands of the working class than any other innovation or event in human history.