Another episode.....
Whoa...it was the mother lode of science fiction booklists, a treasure waiting at the junction of yet another bunny trail of the mind. It started out innocently enough - they all do. Was just going to look up one thing before I posted the stats...and before I knew it, was down the bunny trail hunting a whuffie. Yeah, that's what I said too...what's a whuffie? Whuffie is cultural capital, and it's a term that was invented by Cory Doctorow for his science fiction novel
Down and Out in the Magical Kingdom. Yep, Disneyland. My Wiki resource explains it as:
In the novel
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Industrial-era economic constraints and scarcity-management regimes have been made obsolete by technology: Whuffie has replaced money, providing an esteem- & admiration-rewarding motivation for people to do useful and creative things. A person's Whuffie is a general measurement of his or her overall reputation and is gained (or lost) according to a person's favorable (or unfavorable) actions. Public opinion determines which actions are favorable or unfavorable. The Whuffie of one who rudely pushes past others may suffer, as she falls within the disapprobation of those pushed, or witnesses of the event. A much-loved symphony, on the other hand, continues to earn the composer Whuffie as more people enjoy it. Some judgments contributing to an individual's Whuffie are automatic and require no conscious thought on the part of others, as all possess brain chips. As brain dumps allow machines to carry consciousness, the machines can do the thinking for people and allow them to know the results automatically.
While there are few details in the novel of how this system actually works, it is described in idealistic terms:
"Whuffie recaptured the true essence of money: in the old days, if you were broke but respected, you wouldn't starve; contrariwise, if you were rich and hated, no sum could buy you security and peace. By measuring the thing that money really represented — your personal capital with your friends and neighbors — you more accurately gauged your success".
But wait...there's more. Another author, Tara Hunt, wrote a book called The Whuffie Factor. It tells you how to use social media to grow your business. So we see Whuffie Factor in action every day (even cities are getting in on the action), but who knew what to call it?! Some of our teammates might be well versed in Whuffie.
I digress, as usual. The list of the best science fiction books of the decade (although the decade wasn't over) can be found at
http://io9.com/5423847/20-best-science- ... the-decade
And in the meantime, here's to a high Whuffie score - but keep your cash handy.
Season meters as of 21/365 = 5,167,081 m
Total meters on the day = 156,493 m
Oars in space (participation) = 24 percent
MILESTONES...Bragging Rights...Celebrations:
400 K Ron - another leaderboard frontrunner
400 K bg
50 K Tom M
Thanks, everyone, for rowing with us!
Tony 
m 
(7..8..9..10)
Sarah 4,373 m
Mitch J 4,653 m
Brian C 5,000 m
Richard T 5,000 m
Jeff P 6,405 m
Peter G 6,535 m
Ross 6,542 m
Andrew 7,310 m
Stephen 7,564 m
Peter H 9,195 m
Tom M 9,730 m
Debbie V 10,600 m
Ed 15,000 m
bg 25,033 m
Ron 30,097 m
To the moon mates, to the moon !
Things are looking up! We've had another teammate (Tracy C) check in for the 2014 Rowing Season, and we're headed for a full moon on the 25th! Whoop, whoop and watch out for moon fever! This month's full moon is called the Flower Moon, and sometimes the Milk Moon or Corn-Planting Moon. Hadn't heard of a Milk Moon before, but do know that a glass of chocolate milk is a great post rowing or running or cycling beverage. 
bg 22,091 m
bg gets a phone!
