Fantasist's Scroll

Well, it’s going to be banned in Malaysia.

At least, according to this article on Australia IT, it’s going to be banned. Malaysia is a very Islamic country and, in their religious tradition, a man can divorce his wife by saying “I divorce you” to her three times in a public place. Well, apparently, an Islamic Sharia court ruled that sending a text message via a cell phone counted! Obviously, a number of groups were quite upset by this and that’s what prompted the legislation.
But, it interests me because someone thought to do this in the first place. It seems obvious to me that the intent behind the tradition is to announce to the community that the couple are divorced, but that would be circumvented by using the cell phone. It just goes to show that people will use technology in very unexpected ways for a lot of different reasons.
So, here’s some speculation for you… How does technology effect your world? Would something like divorce via text-messaging be allowed? Would people in your fictional world be offended? I think it’s an interesting aspect of culture that’s worth exploring.

Brian Marsden, apparently.

In this article on Scientific American, he talks about running the Minor Planet Center, which tracks comets, meteors and other near-Earth objects. I’m sure that the job is mainly trigonometry and physics, but it fascinates me that it even exists.
And, what a great bunch of ideas for science-fiction it stirs up. Of course, there’s the ever present idea of a meteor hitting Earth, but that’s been done to death. Or, that the folks who work here make first contact with extra-terrestrials. But, I imagined something more like a galactic air-traffic controller. I mean, if one has lots of space travel, it could become necessary, right? And, think about all the things they’d have to keep track of in three dimensions! Certainly there must be enough tension and action in such a setting to find a story.
Well, something to ponder, anyway.

Kind of creepy, really.

But, I can see how it would be usefull. This article on the Sydney Morning Herald describes a new way to generate power from blood. Sure, the first comparison is to the Matrix, but it’s more likely to be used like the Six Million Dollar Man. This process really doesn’t create much power, so it can only power small devices. In fact, the article speculates that it will only be used to power internal “devices” or “enhancements”.
So, now, imagine a cell-phone implanted into your jaw and mastoid cavity that’s powered by your own blood flow. I can see it in the near future. Fascinating concept, actually. What else might this enable? What enhancements would you want to see installed? The answers to those questions are science-fiction stories ripe for the picking. Go forth and write!

Try reading the news!

This article on MSNBC describes as close to evil as I think mankind is capable of being. Of course, the article is about Saddam Hussein’s infamous sons who were insanely sadistic. In fact, if anything, if one were to use them as the antagonist in fiction, they’d have to be toned down to seem more believable. These two, especially Uday, were so beyond our understanding that it’s hard to get our minds around their evil. In many ways, they’re the Adolf Hitler and Herman Goering and Heinrich Himmler of our generation.
So, when you want to make a villian, nothing you can come up with will top real-life, but maybe that’s a good thing. And, remember, the larger and more horrible your villian, the bigger and better your hero needs to be as well.

I sure do, even though I’ve never gotten one.

Here’s an entry on Slashdot about micropayments. I remember thinking they were a good way to pay for a good website with fun tools. I remember a lot of people who felt the same way, once, too. I wonder what went wrong?

You know, if you’d like to experience micro-payments, you can donate to this site via PayPal:

Or, via The Magus’ Wish List.

All right, all right, my shameless begging is over!

The first movable type Bible available for free.

Gutenberg is widely aknowledged as the first Westerner to use movable type, an achievement that changed our world. His biggest seller was the world’s best selling book, the Holy Bible. Now, thanks to Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center at the University of Texas in Austin, the Gutenberg Bible is available on-line.
It’s worth a look, even if you’re not Christian, just for the historical significance.

Way back before the Comics Code, comics were bad.

Or at least, according to this article on Wired News, that’s what a bunch of people thought. Frankly, when I read this, it reminded me of the whole controversy over explicit song lyrics. But, the funny thing is, nobody seemed to raise the same ruckus over the censoring of comic books. And, today, comics have gotten edgy again. They tell socially relevant messages. They take chances.
Anyway, it’s interesting to see where they’ve come since then. And, it’s an interesting Friday read.

Affirmitive action in comic books?

Okay, I guess I see their point regarding the lack of minorities in comics, but it seems like people spend way too much time thinking about this stuff. But, according to this article on Wired News, it’s a big deal to some folks. I have to admit, the hyper-sexualized women get to be a little much sometimes. I mean, c’mon, don’t these guys get out at all? When was the last time they saw a real, flesh-and-blood woman?
And, where are all the Asian heroes? Afterall, there are a lot more Asian people than there are Caucasian. It’s changing, but very slowly. Look at how long it took to get realistic Black heroes in the comic books. And, even then, they still tend toward stereotypes.
Well, let’s hope the anime craze will help change that some. Maybe the Asian animators will feature more Asian characters. Only time will tell.