Topics pertaining to science fiction and/or fantasy, in book, TV show, or movie formats.
This entry could almost have come from Geek Drivel: […] I remember reading a science fiction story about a computer worm that searched for people this way: going from computer to computer, trying to identify a specific individual. I immediately thought of The Adolescence of P-1, one of my teenage favorites, and I was tickled …
Continue reading ‘“Authentication by ‘Cognitive Footprint’”’ »
Considering the poor accuracy of professional science fiction authors even in “near-future” SF, this guy‘s track record is nothing short of amazing. Too bad he can’t be around to enjoy his success, but when you’re making predictions for a century hence, that’s a bit problematic. 🙂
I’m a hard-core geek, but even I am just shaking my head in bafflement.
From this article: […] This is why one of the great contributions of science fiction is its ability to create monsters and technologies from the ether. When they show up out of nowhere, they challenge us to think more broadly and to make new connections. […] That’s one of the things — maybe the main thing …
Continue reading ‘“Locating Change: Science and Technology Controversies”’ »
This sounds like something directly out of science fiction, to me.
The character of Darth Vader, in the original Star Wars trilogy, has long been known to be a fusion of two people: bodybuilder David Prowse for (of course) the body, and the now-iconic James Earl Jones for the voice. But apparently there was a secret third component to this armored villain: sword-master and Hollywood fencing …
Continue reading ‘“Darth Vader dies peacefully in hospital”’ »
That’s not data models, it’s women who model clothing. 🙂 There was a near-future SF novel I read many years ago (I don’t recall which one) that posited that actors would be replaced almost entirely by computer-generated models. We’re already seeing the precursors of it — all the Pixar releases, for instance. And characters in …
Continue reading ‘“H&M Under Fire for Using Fake, Computer-Generated Models”’ »
I have no doubt that it will — but in five years? That seems more than a little overly optimistic. I’d love to be proven wrong though. Oddly enough, this sort of thing rarely appears in science fiction, at least the SF I know of. When people in SF literature deal with computers, it’s almost …
Continue reading ‘“IBM: Mind-Reading Machines Will Change Our Lives”’ »
When I saw the TV ads for the movie 30 Minutes or Less, I thought the plot was interesting but pretty unworkable. A few days ago, I discovered that the basic plot was lifted from real life, nearly verbatim (though the people involved in the movie apparently deny knowing of it). Another case where reality …
Continue reading ‘“The Incredible True Story of the Collar Bomb Heist”’ »
A large metal ball that fell from space into the Namibian grasslands last month is not alien, officials say, but that’s about all they know for certain about the object. […] Uh-oh. Ape #1: Dear me. What are these things coming out of her nose? Ape #2 (looks through binoculars): Spaceballs. Ape #1: Oh, shit. …
Continue reading ‘“Mysterious metal ball from space falls in Namibia”’ »