[OldWOD] ItX scores another one

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Paralysed man sends e-mail by thought
Brain chip reads mind by tapping straight into neurons.
http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041011/full/041011-9.html

Older research in the same vein:
http://www.dobelle.com/

Ah, how my inner geek rejoices...ItX, hook me up! 😀

--
Gieljan
<remove BZZ to reply>

Fate, she hears us - but she doesn't listen very hard.
-- Trans-Siberian Orchestra, "Fate"

 

[william]

Archived from groups: alt.games.whitewolf (More info?)

Gieljan de Vries wrote:

> Paralysed man sends e-mail by thought
> Brain chip reads mind by tapping straight into neurons.
> http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041011/full/041011-9.html
>
> Older research in the same vein:
> http://www.dobelle.com/
>
> Ah, how my inner geek rejoices...ItX, hook me up! 😀
>


I have literally just returned from a conference on Biomedical
Engineering. The number of ideas labelled "fantasy" in media and normal
life that are actually just impractical never ceases to amuse me.
However, the opposite but equally common "it's possible, so it must be
practical" mistake never ceases to piss me off.

One of the reasons I have real problems reading most so-called "science
fiction" nowadays (as opposed to space opera). Seriously, as far as I
know RPGs are the _only_ good science fiction to have come out in the
last five years.

William

 

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In article <2tgcn4F1vqk8rU1@uni-berlin.de>,
William <wilit0613@postoffice.uri.edu> wrote:

> Gieljan de Vries wrote:
>
> > Paralysed man sends e-mail by thought
> > Brain chip reads mind by tapping straight into neurons.
> > http://www.nature.com/news/2004/041011/full/041011-9.html
> >
> > Older research in the same vein:
> > http://www.dobelle.com/
> >
> > Ah, how my inner geek rejoices...ItX, hook me up! 😀
> >
>
>
> I have literally just returned from a conference on Biomedical
> Engineering. The number of ideas labelled "fantasy" in media and normal
> life that are actually just impractical never ceases to amuse me.
> However, the opposite but equally common "it's possible, so it must be
> practical" mistake never ceases to piss me off.
>
> One of the reasons I have real problems reading most so-called "science
> fiction" nowadays (as opposed to space opera). Seriously, as far as I
> know RPGs are the _only_ good science fiction to have come out in the
> last five years.
>
> William

Try "Cosm" by Gregory Benford.

Come to think of it, though, this one is *six* years old...

Anyway, good, fairly hard sci-fi.

mdf

--
remove 'no junk' to reply

 

[william]

Archived from groups: alt.games.whitewolf (More info?)

midefi wrote:
>>
>>I have literally just returned from a conference on Biomedical
>>Engineering. The number of ideas labelled "fantasy" in media and normal
>>life that are actually just impractical never ceases to amuse me.
>>However, the opposite but equally common "it's possible, so it must be
>>practical" mistake never ceases to piss me off.
>>
>>One of the reasons I have real problems reading most so-called "science
>>fiction" nowadays (as opposed to space opera). Seriously, as far as I
>>know RPGs are the _only_ good science fiction to have come out in the
>>last five years.
>>
>>William
>
>
> Try "Cosm" by Gregory Benford.
>
> Come to think of it, though, this one is *six* years old...
>
> Anyway, good, fairly hard sci-fi.
>
> mdf
>

And I should qualify my statement. There have been a few good, fairly
"hard" science fiction TV series the last five years. The one that leaps
to mind right now is _Stand Alone Complex_.

It's only written science fiction that is suffering from an utter lack
of decent futurism. Seriously, _Trinity_ is better futurism than any
recent novel I know of, and when you compare recent writing with
_Transhuman Space_, it's just sad.

William

 

[Guest]

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William <wilit0613@postoffice.uri.edu> wrote:

> It's only written science fiction that is suffering from an utter
> lack of decent futurism. Seriously, _Trinity_ is better futurism
> than any recent novel I know of, and when you compare recent writing
> with _Transhuman Space_, it's just sad.

Charles Stross' _Singularity Sky_ and _Iron Sunrise_. Vernor Vinge's
_A Deepness In The Sky_ (_A Fire Upon The Deep_, to wich _Deepness..._
is a prequel, came out in 1993). Ken MacLeod's Fall Revolution quartet
and Engines Of Light trilogy.

You may simply not have been looking in the right places.

/cd
--
Husband, McCool, Anderson, Brown, Chawla, Clark, Ramon.
Bondarenko, Komarov, Grissom, White, Chaffee, Dobrovolsky, Volkov,
Patsayev, Resnick, Scobee, Smith, McNair, McAuliffe, Jarvis, Onizuka.
These names will be written under other skies. -- Ken MacLeod

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.whitewolf (More info?)

William wrote:

> One of the reasons I have real problems reading most so-called "science
> fiction" nowadays (as opposed to space opera). Seriously, as far as I
> know RPGs are the _only_ good science fiction to have come out in the
> last five years.

Are you familiar with Ian Banks? I'm not sure if you would consider it
space opera or not... I would say it's about as opera-ey as Hyperion.
In any case, some of the best sci-fi I've read in years, having only
recently discovered him myself. If you'd like a teaser of his world,
here's a link a friend sent me, which is Ian Banks discussing various
aspects of The Culture:

http://web.onetel.net.uk/~zakalwe/imb/notes.htm

--

David Cherryholmes

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: alt.games.whitewolf (More info?)

William <wilit0613@postoffice.uri.edu> wrote in message news:<2tgtg5F2068f7U1@uni-berlin.de>...

>
> And I should qualify my statement. There have been a few good, fairly
> "hard" science fiction TV series the last five years. The one that leaps
> to mind right now is _Stand Alone Complex_.
>
Ever watch _Crest of the Stars_? The science may be a little iffy, but
it's got some nice futuristic world-building...

> It's only written science fiction that is suffering from an utter lack
> of decent futurism. Seriously, _Trinity_ is better futurism than any
> recent novel I know of, and when you compare recent writing with
> _Transhuman Space_, it's just sad.
>
Ever read David Zindell's _Neverness_? Again, I'm not sure if this is
considered "Hard", but it's got some fascinating ideas and concepts...

(BTW, got any info on Transhuman Space? I can't find any good sites
about it)

Dex,
who has yet to read the rest of the series...

 

[william]

Archived from groups: alt.games.whitewolf (More info?)

Hand-of-Omega wrote:

>
> Ever read David Zindell's _Neverness_? Again, I'm not sure if this is
> considered "Hard", but it's got some fascinating ideas and concepts...

No, I haven't. I'll look for it at the forum.

>
> (BTW, got any info on Transhuman Space? I can't find any good sites
> about it)
>
> Dex,
> who has yet to read the rest of the series...

There are several sites on Transhuman Space. For instance:

http://www.nels.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/GURPS/THS/Links.html

But all you really need to know about it is that it is hard science
fiction, and it rules so much that it's worth the 35 bucks for the slim
(240 pages) hardcover. Word count may be low, but by concept/dollar it
surpases every other rpg setting I know of.

It doesn't really even matter how you feel about GURPS, since everything
is presented descriptively. I'm eagerly awaiting buying Ex Machina this
weekend so I can port it to a system I actually like.

William