Movin' Meat (Free subscription) | 11/25/2009
TAPPED Archive | The American Prospect Which Party Is Best Prepared to Save Us From the Robot Apocalypse? Arthur C. Clarke famously said, “Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” But if science fiction has taught us anything, it’s that any sufficiently advanced technology will inevitably rise up to enslave us. So if you want to get ready for the day...
Doug Mahugh (Free subscription) | 11/25/2009
Arthur C. Clarke famously wrote that “any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” Another characteristic of advanced technologies is that they often contain intellectual property (IP) that may be covered by patents. When such a technology becomes standardized, though, implementers need to feel comfortable that they have access to the technology on a non discriminatory...
Planet Intertwingly (Free subscription) | 11/24/2009
A really interesting issue, despite the useless-in-isolation second part of Vernor Vinge's "Marooned in Realtime". First, there's Timothy "I'd Rather Be Writing Star Wars Tie-In Novels" Zahn, with an enjoyable space opera piece, "The Evidence of Things Not Seen". Geoffrey A. Landis has the funny "Stroboscope", in which a guy cryogenically freezes himself as a...
Sam Harrelson (Free subscription) | 11/23/2009
Arthur C. Clarke would be proud… Astronaut Self-Portrait – Astronaut self-portrait – Gizmodo: “Some time during a six-hour space walk last week, astronaut Robert Satcher managed to capture this shot of himself…via himself.” I should write a short story based on this pic. Hmmm…
The Guardian (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009
Would we have had Alien, Planet of the Apes and The Time Machine if it weren't for a certain bearded Victorian? Darwin, Evolution and the Movies is a one-off festival of film and live comedy to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin's On the Origin of Species on 24 November 1859. Over this weekend the festival is running at three separate venues across London. Classic films you...
Fast Company (Free subscription) | 11/20/2009
You know those neat mind-control toys ? Well, Intel has some grand plans for mind control that go far beyond their limited power. By 2020, the company's researchers plan to have chips that let you control computers with your thoughts. But here's the scary part: To read your brain waves, Intel's not planning on having you wear some kind of skull-cap--the solution venerable sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke...
Earth and other unlikely worlds (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
A few years ago, Jonathan Lethem published an essay in The Village Voice, ‘Close Encounters: The Squandered Promise of Science Fiction’, in which he decried the close-mindedness of the genre and sketched an alternate history in which Thomas Pynchon’s Gravity’s Rainbow won the Nebula instead of Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendezvous With Rama in 1973, leading to a reconciliation...
The Guardian Books Blog (Free subscription) | 11/19/2009
Speculative fiction has produced some of the most intriguing story titles ever. But which are the best of the best? You should never judge a book by its cover, but should you judge a story by its title? If the recent success of Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is anything to go by, then for many readers today the answer is yes. Seth Grahame-Smith's bestselling mash-up of Jane Austen and George A Romero...
PhotoReflect (Free subscription) | 11/18/2009
click photo to enlarge I have said elsewhere in this blog that I think I could have been a futurologist. It's a job with little responsibility - I mean, honestly, how many people really believe your predictions? Moreover, you know for a fact that much of what you foresee will never come to pass, so failure in your job is a given. However, it would definitely be great fun (for a while at least) to get...
Okazu (Free subscription) | 11/13/2009
Every week, I save To Aru Kagaku no Railgun for last. Yes, I am definitely the kind of person who saves the best for last. ( Sasamekikoto isn't on the same queue as Railgun , in case you wondered.) I know that Railgun is a side story from To Aru Majutsu , a series about which I know nothing and care not at all. (This does not mean I don't like it, or I am implying in *any* way that liking it is bad....
New Jersey as an Impossible Object (Free subscription) | 11/11/2009
Just out, Zack Pieper, Erica Kaufman, and I celebrate old home day in the Kelly Writers House over Notley's I, The People . Whether the home was Milwaukee (where we all have lived), Pennsylvania (I can go toe-to-toe with Al Filreis on Action News trivia), 10 & A, or another virtual or metaphorical "home" is uncertain. I've been thinking about one of my comments that, left on the cutting...
The Martian Chronicles (Free subscription) | 11/11/2009
In case you were wondering, the title of this post is the name of a short story by Arthur C Clarke in which solar sail-powered spaceships race each other around the moon. Ok, that’s cool, but why do I bring this up? Because the Planetary Society is going to be launching a solar sail spacecraft in [...]
thinkbeta.com (Free subscription) | 11/10/2009
Arthur C. Clarke’s famous statement“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic.” certainly applies to Microsoft’s Project Natal presented last Thursday by Team 10 in my 9am ENTR200 class as a cool new thing. If indeed it comes to pass with even a fraction of what the video shown below provides, I’m going to [...]
Free Documentaries Online (Free subscription) | 11/10/2009
Yet another classic documentary about fractals, infinity and the Mandelbrot set, but this time presented by science fiction -and science fact- author Arthur C. Clarke. The Mandelbrot set is one of the most beautiful and remarkable discoveries in the entire history of mathematics. It was discovered in 1980. The invention of the silicon chip in the 1970's created a revolution in computers and communication,...
Midas Oracle .ORG (Free subscription) | 11/09/2009
Jean Michel Jarre’s Oxygene 2 Quite good. Watch. http://www.jeanmicheljarre.com/ http://www.jeanmicheljarre.com/tour-2010 Sir Arthur C. Clarke, futurist, cult science fiction author of “2001″ and “2010″: “I listened to all of Jean Michel Jarre’s albums obsessively, to the point of knowing every note by heart. His music accompanied me as I wrote ‘2010...
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