mssv

  • Retroactive destruction

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    1–2 minutes

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    There are some novels that are truly magnificent, that remain with you for years and at times influence who you are. Most authors, having written such novels, are wise enough to leave their works alone and move on to something else. A few authors will embark on writing a sequel. A few sequels match or…

  • Spiritng Neal Stephenson Away

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    9–13 minutes

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    A review of a lecture by award-winning SF author Neal Stephenson, on ‘Newton/Leibniz’, together with a review of Miyazaki’s film ‘Spirited Away’.

  • Trek Geektitude

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    1–2 minutes

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    A discussion about chainsaws in Star Trek, elicited by a recent Enterprise episode: “Historically, the most often raised Star Trek technology issue has involved bathrooms. Burning questions such as: “How many bathrooms? And where are they located? What are the fixtures like? Did Starfleet adopt the hideous American ‘low flow’ design? Or like most patriots,…

  • Funny Trek?

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    1–2 minutes

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    Continuing the Trek theme (don’t worry, it won’t last forever), here’s a list of funniest Voyager quotes. Believe me, they’re funny! Well, I think so, anyway.

  • Spiriting Stephenson Away

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    1–2 minutes

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    Whee! Next Thursday (24th October) Neal Stephenson, one of my favourite SF authors, will be coming to speak at Trinity College about Newton vs. Leibniz. This would be good enough news on its own, but on the same night Queens College film society will be screening Spirited Away (known in Japan as Sen to Chihiro…

  • Trekkie

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    1–2 minutes

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    Some interesting rumours about the future of the Star Trek franchise. Could Jonathon ‘Riker’ Frakes head a new Star Trek series? Will they cover the Fall of the Federation? Does anyone apart from me care? Find out next week in the astonishing conclusion to…

  • The Mission

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    1–2 minutes

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    Back in the 80s, there was a science fiction series directed by Stephen Spielberg called Amazing Stores. Aside from its intro sequence, which was rather impressive for that time, most episodes were pretty uninspiring and dismal. There was one episode that it seems everyone (including me) remembers: The Mission. ‘The Mission’ was by all accounts…

  • Fast Times at Fairmont High

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    1–2 minutes

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    Ack! Vernor Vinge has done it again! His Hugo award-winning novella Fast Times at Fairmont High is not merely an excellent story (what else would you expect from the Vingester?) but it throws out some wonderful ideas about the future of entertainment and the singularity. The quality of SF writing has increased drastically recently, in…

  • Banks interview

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    1–2 minutes

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    View from the left Banks – another interview with Iain Banks (better than the Guardian one). “He played Civilisation 3 for a month recently, then wiped the files and binned the CD.” Ah, a man of my own heart.

  • The Decline of Metafilter

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    4–6 minutes

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    Once again, Metafilter has me worried. Far be it for me to predict the imminent demise of one of the Internet’s most popular and well-known weblogs when it has confounded the predictions of countless others, but this time I think there’s a real problem.