…If we were to grasp the true nature of nature-if we could comprehend the real meaning of evolution-then we would envision a world in which every living plant, insect, and animal species is changing at every instant, in response to every other living plant, insect, and animal. Whole populations of organisms are rising and falling, shifting and changing. This restless and perpetual change, as inexorable and unstoppable as the waves and tides, implies a world in which all human actions necessarily have uncertain effects. The total system we call the biosphere is so complicated that we cannot...

OK all you techie geeky gadgety types. That cool thing upa therr is the next cool thing. Make way for the Bluetooth Laser Virtual Keyboard. It’s compact, functional, and above all… DAMN COOL! Now all we need is a virtual monitor and displays out of our compact, cell phone-sized computer (complete with 2GB RAM and a 500GB flash drive standard) then we’ll be set. OH! How can I forget about the virtual mouse. Just point at the virtual monitor and move that lil’ finger. Let Bill Withers classic song “Lovely Day” play in the background.

I’ve been running SETI@home for three years. For those who don’t know what SETI@home is, here ya go: SETI@home is a scientific experiment that uses Internet-connected computers in the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI). You can participate by running a free program that downloads and analyzes radio telescope data. I know some of you are chuckling at this. Bah! Party poopers. It’s a small program, doesn’t take up alot of bandwidth or CPU time, and is kind of cool. Besides, you never know. You may be the one that finds out that Elvis is still alive on the...

Dean is most impressed with Ray Kurzweil’s book The Singularity Is Near. Being a journeyman futurist, I have been a big Ray Kurzweil fan for a long time. But The Singularity Is Near is the type of book that transcends the futurist/nerdy niche. And Dean is right on point with these words: I’m continually amused by how many people I encounter who think Ray Kurzweil’s concept of the approaching human singularity as some sort of Rapture for Nerds. This is ridiculous, and is almst entirely coming from people who haven’t read the book and have decided they know what’s...

Someone (a very pompous, arrogant, PhD guy) told me the following yesterday: Your know what your problem is? You are always pretending to look forward when you are really stuck in a dream. All that new wave thinking is rubbish and doesn’t have a leg to stand on against realistic, present day thinking. I guess he was expecting a long, drawn out defense of new wave thinking (whatever that is) and futurism from me. Not I. He’s too wordy to get into a long debate and I wanted to watch Amelie on DVD. So I replied: Amazing how realistic, present day thinking developed new technologies,...

I’ve been involved in numerous discussions, debates, and arguments regarding social change. The biggest sticking point comes when discussing what entities inside a country initiates change. Some of my friends (who are very active politically) insist that the major political parties of a nation always initate the biggest social change. I beg to differ. I believe that the great product can and has already initiated the biggest changes in America and other nations (not to mention the least painful changes). Political entities suffer from too much politics many times to initiate great change....

Looks like I’m ready to open the portion of my brain that houses the futuristic thought. Don’t worry. I won’t be getting all weird on you. Not my style. Besides, being weird only works purely in the weirdo collective. I spent time there, had some great conversations, and returned. And it’s not a very big collective my friends. So I’ll be posting some thoughts and stuff concerning the future. I think you all will get a kick out of it.

Dean Esmay points to an article on GALATICA.TV about “Naturalistic Science Fiction” and the use of that concept in the hit television show Battlestar Galatica. Our goal is nothing less than the reinvention of the science fiction television series. We take as a given the idea that the traditional space opera, with its stock characters, techno-double-talk, bumpy-headed aliens, thespian histrionics, and empty heroics has run its course and a new approach is required. That approach is to introduce realism into what has heretofore been an aggressively unrealistic genre. Call it “Naturalistic...

The concept of space folding - travelling vast distances in the universe by bringing a region of space to the same time and place as the spacecraft - always intrigues me. I know warp speed and theory (Star Trek and Star Wars) is sexy and all but space folding is just mind-boggling. Here’s a damn good article about the concept of space folding, superstring theory, and M-theory. But for anyone that saw the movie Event Horizon with Laurence Fishburne and Sam Neill, space folding opens up some frightening questions: when two points in the universe are both brought to the same time and place...