Fantasist's Scroll

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.

“Good morning, Mr. Anderton…”

Wow, shades of science-fiction! According to this article at the Register.co.uk, the US is developing passports with so-called smartcards in them. And, they expect to have them out by the end of 2004. Again, wow.
These smartcards are going to hold biometric data about the holder so that, in theory, they’re harder to copy or counterfeit. At least, that’s what the government is hoping. On the other hand, as my opening line alluded to, there are always ways around security, even biometrics. The line is from Minority Report, which is a pretty damn good movie. It’s based on a story by Phillip K. Dick, who is a great science-fiction author who also wrote the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, which is the basis for Blade Runner.
In any case, see the movie and you’ll see how they get around security by messing with biometrics. It’s really fairly obvious, when you think about it.

A build it yourself Gauss gun!

No, really, you can actually make this sucker in your own basement. This website, in Russian and English, shows you how. It takes you through the process, step-by-step, in somewhat broken English. And, it makes a pistol, not a rifle, which is doubly cool. So, this isn’t a “firearm”, per se, is it covered by the same rules? I’d imagine so. It would be, basically, a concealed weapon. It looks pretty effective, too, based on the photos(here and here). And, because it doesn’t use an explosive charge, there’s virtually no sound when it discharges. I see all kinds of applications for this little sucker.
Look out Traveller, here we come!

This is too fascinating to pass up!

According to this article on Scientific American, blue crabs have two skeletal systems. The first, which is familiar to us all, is their shell. But, when they molt, they use another kind of skeletal system which relies on hydrostatic pressure to get around.
This leads me to imagine an intelligent alien that has a second, invisible, “back-up” skeleton, for emergencies. Or perhaps to make them flexible in some way. Imagine a shelled creature that escapes from a jail by shedding its shell and slithering out an air vent. Or, a humanoid wrestler or warrior who’s neck can’t be “broken”. Really, the possibilities are endless.
Just think about them some, then write about them!

The Argos is going to look at sunken ships in the Black Sea.

The Argos is a robot explorer, for anyone who’s not familiar with it. And its owner/operator, Robert Ballard, is going to look at some very well preserved ships from the Byzantine era. According to this article on Wired News, these 1,500 year-old ships are preserved so well due to a lack of oxygen. Apparently, the little beasties that ravage shipwrecks can’t survive in an oxygen-free environment.
So, it looks like scientists are going to get a much better picture of what life was like in the Byzantine era. The researchers are hoping for everything from cargo to documents that might shed some light on the people who were running around at the time the ship sank. They might even be able to prove the “world flood” that seemed to take place and was recorded as the Flood that Noah survived in the Bible. Kind of cool.