Undergrad students deploy applications to geosynchronous satellite 22,236 miles above Earth
For many college students, satellites are faint dots crossing the sky on clear nights. These objects are background details from science fiction to reality, like GPS, satellite radio, and WiFi. ⌘ Read more
A música “My Monkey” de #MarilynManson deveria ser a mais óbvia escolha para esta #musiquinta sobre #macaco - mas desde quando é que temos e ir pelo óbvio? E assim sendo, escolho em vez disso outra música da banda - podia ser a Organ Grinder (que também refere o ‘funny little monkey’ que depois tem a sua própria música), mas em vez disso escolho a “Cruci-fiction In Space”, da mesma banda mas já do seu quarto album, publicado após o massacre de Columbine - sobre o qual o artista foi indevidamente crucificado. De certa forma, parece-me uma escolha adequada para os dias de hoje…
We ate the #burgers and drank the #beers before taking a picture to the #books during the second #BBB (Books, Beers and Burgers) of #2025 in #Lamego - oops!
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A good blog post that makes some good points: Can I ethically use LLMs?
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@prologic@twtxt.net yep for sure. The part about concentrating too much power and reliance on the wealthy elite also resonated with me. Seems a good way to potentially end up in one of those dystopian futures you usually see in fictions where massive corporations have too much power and control over people.
** Of fairies, compost, and computers **
Lately I’ve buried myself in reading fiction. Stand outs from among the crowd are, of course, Middlemarch but also a lot of sort of scholarly fairy fiction; works that follow the scholastic adventures of studious professorial types in vaugely magical settings. Namely Emily Wilde’s Encyclopedia of Faeries’, Heather Fawcett and The Ten Thousand Doors of January, Alix E. Harrow.
I’ve also been working on a handful of personal utility programs. I … ⌘ Read more
On my blog: Short Fiction — Transgender Athlete Bans https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2025/06/22/title-ix-hope.html #fiction #freeculture #lgbtpridemonth #politics
Sci-Fi-Klassiker: Ben Stiller inszeniert Twilight-Zone-Film
Es gab mehrere Serien und einen Kinofilm in den Achtzigerjahren. In nicht allzu ferner Zukunft soll Twilight Zone wieder ins Kino kommen. ( Science-Fiction, Film)
Star Wars: Wie das Imperium den zweiten Todesstern so schnell baute
Andor zeigte, dass das Imperium fast 20 Jahre für den Bau des ersten Todessterns brauchte. Wieso gelang der Bau des zweiten so schnell? ( Star Wars, Science-Fiction)
Doctor Who: Staffel 2 sollte ursprünglich ganz anders enden
Das Finale von Staffel 2 war für viele überraschend - und war gar nicht so geplant. ( Science-Fiction, Disney)
[$] Cory Doctorow on how we lost the internet
Cory Doctorow wears many hats:
digital activist, science-fiction author, journalist, and more. He has
also written many books, both fiction and non-fiction, runs the Pluralistic blog, is a visiting
professor, and is an advisor to the Electronic\
Frontier Foundation (EFF); his Chokepoint Capitalism
co-author, Rebecca Giblin, gave a [2023 keynote\
in Australia](https://lw … ⌘ Read more
10 Evil Religions in Fiction
Religion is a source of comfort and conscience. As people look to their respective gods for guidance, their conclusions inform their values, drive their actions, and give meaning to events. However, that pattern isn’t always a good thing, as some religious practices aren’t so righteous. An ignoble doctrine could be a cheap excuse to set […]
The post 10 Evil Religions in Fiction appeared first on [Listverse](h … ⌘ Read more
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Watched the third installment of Andor for last night. That was some intense story telling. When it finished I was shaking from how much it had brought me into it all. Just wow.
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@xuu@txt.sour.is a Star Wars series, eh? Never been a fan. I am Trekkie instead; it comes across as more science fiction, less fantasy. Still, I would see it if only we had Disney+. 😩
10 Real Ways Scientists Think Humans Could Evolve Next
Human evolution didn’t stop when we stood upright or invented cities. In fact, it’s still happening—just under new pressures. As technology, climate, medicine, and global lifestyles reshape how we live and reproduce, scientists ask: what’s next? These aren’t science fiction fantasies but real hypotheses based on current evolutionary pressures and long-term trends. Here are 10 […]
The post [10 Real Ways Scientists Think Hum … ⌘ Read more
10 Fictional Species Designed for Battle
War is generally not something to aspire to. It’s a desperate measure to resolve one’s differences when all other options fail. Fighting forgoes people’s evolutionary intelligence and reduces them to their baser instincts. Such barbarism leaves both sides licking their wounds, coping with the pain and death that their actions have wrought. Granted, combat is […]
The post [10 Fictional Species Designed for Battle](https://listverse.com/2025/04/26/10-f … ⌘ Read more
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Anyone watching/watched Black Mirror Season 7? 😵💫😵 I've been watching the first episode and a couple of minutes into the third act then I was like ... Oh boy, I need a break! They're just so Fu__ing good, I'll give them that!
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@aelaraji@aelaraji.com I’ve only seen the first two episodes so far. S7E01 was just barely watchable for me, it’s way too realistic. This is supposed to be fiction, not a documentary! 😂
10 Pop Culture Figures Who Actually Existed
From Darth Vader to Mary Poppins, pop culture icons can excite, enrage, or inspire us. And though most characters tend to be wholly fictional in nature, some famous ones are actually based on real-life people. Here’s our list of 10 pop culture figures who existed IRL. Related: Top 10 Underrated Minor Characters from Pop Culture […]
The post [10 Pop Culture Figures Who Actually Existed](https://listverse.com/2025/04/21/10-pop-culture-figures-who … ⌘ Read more
White House Adviser Peter Navarro Calls Fictional Alter Ego An ‘Inside Joke’
Scott Horsley, Chief Economics Correspondent - npr
Stephan: Here is the proof that both the media and psychopath “emperor” Trump have known for years that Peter Navarro is a fraud and pseudo-economist. Yet how many Americans do you think know anything about this? Why isn’t it mentioned every time Navarro’s name comes up?
 from the world of fiction have dreamt up a gamut of outlandish predictions. Some paint 2025 […]
The post [Ten Extraordinary Predictions for 2025 from Fiction](https://listverse.com/2025/02/10/ten-extraordinary-predictions … ⌘ Read more
10 Strange Yet True Historical Events
History is full of weird and wild things that most people go their entire lives without reading about. Stories about cat-related military operations or entire wars fought over pigs and emu. Here are 10 strange yet true historical events that are stranger than fiction. Related: 10 Bizarre Events in the Age of Reason That Defied […]
The post 10 Strange Yet True Historical Events appea … ⌘ Read more
Apple Continues Promoting Severance Ahead of Season 2 Premiere
The second season of hit television show Severance is set to be available to stream starting tomorrow, and Apple is continuing to promote the show. The company’s main Apple.com website now has a section dedicated to Lumon Industries, the fictional business that “innies” work for in Severance.
On Tuesday, several key Severance actors a … ⌘ Read more
Science Fiction’s Ten Coolest Spaceships
Science fiction is undoubtedly one of the world’s most widely appreciated entertainment mediums, and spaceships are one of the genre’s key aspects. Space exploration wouldn’t be possible without vehicles of some sort. Whether transport ships, warships, or ships of exploration, spaceships make it all possible. Most of them are pretty cool-looking and do some pretty […]
The post [Science Fiction’s Ten Coolest Spaceships](https://listverse.com/2025/01/12/s … ⌘ Read more
On my blog: Christmas Every Day https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2024/12/22/christmas-every-day.html #fiction #christmas #holiday
[ANN] Phantom Circuit: Introduction
Phantom Circuit is a fictional short story generated entirely by AI. It was inspired by a Darknet Diaries podcast episode [..] I also managed to work in some mention of Monero…
Link: https://cyberspace.dad/book/
j@cyberspace.dad (XMPP) ⌘ Read more
The Uniform
[Based on a story I wrote during upper-secondary school based on real
events. I translated it recently from Swedish and edited some of it. I
removed most (all?) elements of fiction.
Not a typical night, since it’s at an event in another city, but it
gives a taste of what partying in, say, 1989(?) was like. And yes, I
really usually drank two bottles of wine during a pre-party in those
days. Not unusual in the crowd I was hanging out with, I’m afraid.]
I was maybe 17 or 18. I was going to Härnösand, two train sto … ⌘ Read more
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@wbknl are you still in Russia? It could be hard mailing anything to there these days. I read your "russia is eternally cold", and became curious. Patagonia is the only place I know on South America that it has rounded mountains, though they can be anywhere. Originally from Chile, or Argentina? My curiosity doesn't need feeding, by the way. It's all good if it doesn't. :-)
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I realise now that the referred post might just be fiction. I am slow Ferengi these days. LOL.
[AFH] [2.5c+/word] Fiction writer
I can help you turn your ideas and story beats into an engaging and fun piece of written fiction.
Link: https://xmrbazaar.com/listing/iB5g/
ClaraB (XMRBazaar) ⌘ Read more
Recent #fiction #scifi #reading:
The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa. Lovely writing. Very understated; reminded me of Kazuo Ishiguro. Sort of like Nineteen Eighty-Four but not. (I first heard it recommended in comparison to that work.)
Subcutanean by Aaron Reed; https://subcutanean.textories.com/ . Every copy of the book is different, which is a cool idea. I read two of them (one from the library, actually not different from the other printed copies, and one personalized e-book). I don’t read much horror so managed to be a little creeped out by it, which was fun.
The Wind from Nowhere, a 1962 novel by J. G. Ballard. A random pick from the sci-fi section; I think I picked it up because it made me imagine some weird 4-dimensional effect (“from nowhere” meaning not in a normal direction) but actually (spoiler) it was just about a lot of wind for no reason. The book was moderately entertaining but there was nothing special about it.
Currently reading Scale by Greg Egan and Inversion by Aric McBay.
On my blog: Chosen https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2024/09/15/chosen.html #fiction #freeculture
Play the Classic Sci-Fi Shooter “Marathon Infinity” Free on Steam
The classic science fiction FPS (First Person Shooter) game “Marathon Infinity” is now available to play for free from Steam, for Mac and Windows. Marathon Infinity, originally released in 1996, is the third game in the Marathon series, and continues the theme of battling hostile aliens in unusual settings. Marathon Infinity introduced some intriguing and … [Read More](https://osxdaily.com/202 … ⌘ Read more
Sam Whited: Luddism in Becky Chambers’ Monk & Robot Series
Without use of constructs, you will unravel few mysteries.
Without knowledge of mysteries, your constructs will fail.
Find the strength to pursue both, for these are our prayers.
And to that end, welcome comfort, for without it, you cannot stay strong.
Becky Chambers has always been known for her political science fiction.
Whether it’s criticisms of the overly-bureaucratic and often classist, but
ultimately well-mea … ⌘ Read more
** Dithering the Shire **
In my last post I said that
I’ve had a few ideas for other personal experiments I wanna build on those walks, but haven’t actually wanted to do much programming — maybe this fall or winter will be a good time for that?
Welp, it wasn’t even an idea when I wrote that, but I made another implementation of pico cam, this time using swift for iOS. I won’t release it to the App Store because I d … ⌘ Read more
** I wrote some APL at work and I like historical fiction **
This summer my oldest kid — 8 years old — asked to learn more about programming. They’ve already got about a full time job’s worth of experience with Minecraft’s red stone, Super Mario Maker 2, Logo, and Scratch so I knew we weren’t starting from nil, but, despite having done a bit of teaching about programming with kids in the past, I hemmed and hawed. After hemming and hawing for a bit, though, I realized that I was hemming and hawing abou … ⌘ Read more
Hello twtxt! I’m James (or @falsifian@www.falsifian.org). I live in Toronto. Recent interests include space complexity, simple software, and science fiction.
On my blog: Please Come Back… https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2024/06/23/customer-retention.html #fiction #freeculture
On my blog: Short Fiction — ‘Neath a Sunless Sky https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2024/04/14/sunless-sky.html #fiction #freeculture
On my blog: Ernest Hemingway’s Visit from Saint Nicholas https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2023/12/24/visit.html #fiction #christmas #holiday
Dans les coulisses d’OpenAI
Il y a de cela à peine plus d’un an, le monde découvrait ChatGPT, offrant un nouveau sujet de discussion à quelques utilisateurs fascinés pendant les repas de fêtes : enfin, l’intelligence artificielle commençait à ressembler à ce que nous vendait la science-fiction depuis des décennies. Bien sûr, il n’a pas fallu longtemps pour que les […] ⌘ Read more
the Wrong Stuff
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Book Podcasts
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** week notes **
Last year I set out to rekindle my reading habit. That went well. This year’s reading has been enjoyable, but I’m not cozy with the ratio of non-fiction to fiction I’ve read this year…non-fiction (especially of the computing persuasion) far out balances the fiction I’ve read. I think this is mostly because I’ve been mired amidst a fiction book that I’ve found to be a slog…but enjoyable, too. I’d have abandoned it and moved on, elsewise. Onward!
Spring is quickly making way to summer h … ⌘ Read more
Fact and Fiction of Health and Wellness with Dr. Nick Tiller & Neil deGrasse Tyson ⌘ Read more
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Started with
Media
a concept sketch of a full body end-time factory worker on a distant planet, cyberpunk light brown suite, (badass), looking up at the viewer, 2d, line drawing, (pencil sketch:0.3), (caricature:0.2), watercolor city sketch,
Negative prompt: EasyNegativ, bad-hands-5, 3d, photo, naked, sexy, disproportionate, ugly
Steps: 20, Sampler: Euler a, CFG scale: 7, Seed: 2479087078, Face restoration: GFPGAN, Size: 512x768, Model hash: 2ee2a2bf90, Model: mimic_v10, Denoising strength: 0.7, Hires upscale: 1.5, Hires upscaler: Latent
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Art is not the medium.
The medium can be material or conceptual, permanent or fleating, truthful or fictional, of human, animal, or artificial origin.
Art is the reconveyance of human emotion or experience to another via some medium.
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Started with
Media
a concept sketch of a full body end-time factory worker on a distant planet, cyberpunk light brown suite, (badass), looking up at the viewer, 2d, line drawing, (pencil sketch:0.3), (caricature:0.2), watercolor city sketch,
Negative prompt: EasyNegativ, bad-hands-5, 3d, photo, naked, sexy, disproportionate, ugly
Steps: 20, Sampler: Euler a, CFG scale: 7, Seed: 2479087078, Face restoration: GFPGAN, Size: 512x768, Model hash: 2ee2a2bf90, Model: mimic_v10, Denoising strength: 0.7, Hires upscale: 1.5, Hires upscaler: Latent
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Art is not the medium.
The medium can be material or conceptual, permanent or fleating, truthful or fictional, of human, animal, or artificial origin.
Art is the reconveyance of human emotion or experience to another via some medium.
On my blog: Fiction — Bank on It https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2023/03/19/banks.html #freeculture #politics #scifi #fiction
On my blog: Developer Diary, National Science Fiction Day https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2023/01/02/scifi.html #programming #project #devjournal
RT by @mind_booster: Happy #PublicDomain Day 2023 – Classic & Golden Age Crime Fiction Edition https://paulasimoesblog.wordpress.com/2023/01/01/happy-publicdomain-day-2023-classic-golden-age-crime-fiction-edition/
Happy #PublicDomain Day 2023 – Classic & Golden Age Crime Fiction Edition paulasimoesblog.wordpress.co…
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On the blog: Short Fiction — All Quiet on the Vernal Front https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2021/12/05/war.html #fiction #christmas #holiday
Fiction vs Nonfiction
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On the blog: Short Fiction — The Gevkahahal https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2021/10/31/gevkahahal.html #freeculture #creativecommons #fiction #horror
🙌 Liked: Interactive Fiction: The Computer Storygame “Adventure” : Mary Ann Buckles : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive ⌘ Read more
🙌 Liked: Jett: The Far Shore’s fictional language started life as gibberish choral music | Rock Paper Shotgun ⌘ Read more
Zachary Quinto on Science Fiction, Star Trek, and Playing Spock ⌘ Read more…
On the blog: Calafia, Queen of California https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2021/03/28/calafia.html #fiction #publicdomain
On the blog: Asian Women in Fiction https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2021/03/21/asian.html #politics #harm #media
I may or may not have become involved in yet another blogging type thing, only this time it’s for writing fiction. Links will soon follow everywhere.
On the blog: Short Fiction — Instant Podcast https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2020/09/27/podcast.html #fiction #freeculture #humor
On the blog: Fiction — Grandfathers, Butterflies, and Patient Minus-One https://john.colagioia.net/blog/2020/08/16/butterfly.html #freeculture #creativecommons #politics
Grether Archive https://themanofstone.com/random/science_fiction_generator
Interactive Fiction https://www.eblong.com/zarf/if.html
Science Fiction | Flickr https://www.flickr.com/photos/mickythepixel/sets/72157616819585543
Robert Heinlein and the Harsh Politics of Science Fiction | Leaping Robot Blog | Patrick McCray http://www.patrickmccray.com/2013/09/12/robert-heinlein-and-the-harsh-politics-of-science-fiction/
I wrote an essay about folk horror as seen as a subgenre of speculative fiction, on May Day of 2017: https://modernmythology.net/folk-horror-as-speculative-sociology-c1e24d0c106?source=friends_link&sk=1573bafd20abaf410c71c44a472c1d85
Lessons learned: writing really long fiction - Charlie’s Diary http://www.antipope.org/charlie/blog-static/2019/03/lessons-learned-writing-really.html
“Before it was a particular kind of story or plot, science fiction was a way of thinking about and interacting with emerging media.” https://manifold.umn.edu/read/the-perversity-of-things-hugo-gernsback-on-media-tinkering-and-scientifiction/section/71ba6e6b-b4b2-40a2-bdb1-af133fc6b93b
It looks like OpenAI has announced their marginal progress on the coherence problem in narrative prose generation in the most clickbaity possible way again: https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-47249163 https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/feb/14/elon-musk-backed-ai-writes-convincing-news-fiction
Masters of Science Fiction is actually pretty good if you can get over the extremely post-9/11 vibe, the use of the Star Trek Voyager font everywhere, & the ‘hosting’ being somebody using the Hawking synth to speak a line after every episode
List of vampire traits in folklore and fiction - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_vampire_traits_in_folklore_and_fiction
Interactive Fiction http://electronicbookreview.com/essay/interactive-fiction/
Making Interactive Fiction: Branching Choices - sub-Q Magazine https://sub-q.com/making-interactive-fiction-branching-choices/
Hopepunk can’t fix our broken science fiction. https://slate.com/technology/2019/01/hopepunk-cyberpunk-solarpunk-science-fiction-broken.html
Telling the China Story: The Rise and Rise of Chinese Science Fiction | FactorDaily https://factordaily.com/china-science-fiction/
Paris Review - Don DeLillo, The Art of Fiction No. 135 https://www.theparisreview.org/interviews/1887/don-delillo-the-art-of-fiction-no-135-don-delillo
Fan fiction site AO3 is dealing with a free speech debate of its own - The Verge https://www.theverge.com/2018/11/8/18072622/fanfic-ao3-free-speech-censorship-fandom
Truth as a Vehicle for Enhancing Fiction, Fiction as a Vehicle for Discovering Truth | http://dreamcafe.com/2018/11/19/truth-as-a-vehicle-for-enhancing-fiction-fiction-as-a-vehicle-for-discovering-truth/
William Gibson: Technology, Science Fiction & the Apocalypse - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4dlvle5YBv4
Sole and Despotic Dominion: Fiction - Reason.com https://reason.com/archives/2018/11/17/sole-and-despotic-dominion
Hot take: science fiction movies are extremely rare. Most films that are sold as science fiction are actually action-adventure with fantasy elements that are coded as scientistic.
Curveship: Interactive Fiction + Interactive Narrating https://curveship.com/
Science Fiction Is Not Social Reality - Motherboard https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/43pxjd/science-fiction-is-not-social-reality
How to Teach Computer Ethics through Science Fiction | August 2018 | Communications of the ACM https://cacm.acm.org/magazines/2018/8/229765-how-to-teach-computer-ethics-through-science-fiction/fulltext
“The Daemon Lover” by Shirley Jackson | Literary Fictions https://literaryfictions.com/fiction-1/the-daemon-lover-by-shirley-jackson/
Why You Should Read Fiction http://nautil.us/issue/65/in-plain-sight/why-doesnt-ancient-fiction-talk-about-feelings-rp
Neal Stephenson demonstrated that people will read (and love) infodumps so long as they’re funny or fun to read. In other words: infodumps in fiction are fine so long as the author is also an essayist.
Maybe I should start doing writing exercises. You know, write a pastiche of an M.R. James story, and then one in Gibson’s style, a Stephenson version, a Lovecraft, etc. Fiction is pretty hard.
Who Are the Forgotten Greats of Science Fiction? | Tor.com https://www.tor.com/2018/09/04/who-are-the-forgotten-greats-of-science-fiction/
Escaping the Default Future When Writing Science Fiction | Tor.com https://www.tor.com/2018/08/16/escaping-the-default-future-when-writing-science-fiction/