AI takeover

I was listening to the radio the other day, and on the pop stations there is a surprising amount of robot-voice or 'auto tune' or whatever you want to call it. I find it strange that this sound could be appealing to anyone, but it seems to be so. What is interesting to me, is …

150 years old and still kicking

I've been listening to Crime and Punishment, and am amazed how well it holds up. Whenever I open a classic I'm expecting it to be a bit of work, but this one isn't. Somehow, 150 years later, it is still a tense, tight read. How many more years will people still be reading this book? …

Solaris (film)

I watched this, partially on the plane and partially after arriving, and my first thoughts were 'they sure don't make movies like this anymore' and 'music is very overused in modern movies'. This was a very slow, quiet, and subtle movie. There were lots of long, silent shots of scenery, and of characters looking at …

Alternate Worlds: in which empathy is literal

Everyone feels everyone else's pain, hunger, fear, joy, etc, at a level of strength inversely proportional to the distance between them. If there is a hungry person nearby, you feel their hunger. If there is a happy person nearby, you feel their happiness as your own. Would this world be better, or worse? People would …

Alternate Worlds: in which reality is opinion

In this world, augmented reality technology is so advanced, that 'real' is up for debate. Anything you see can be altered to look like anything you want. Anything you feel can be altered to feel however you chose. Any video can be faked, any words anyone says can be altered. The majority  chooses reality, or …