Fantasist's Scroll

Speaking of drugs…

Okay, no, it’s not the crazy hydroponics ads from High Times! Though, it’s pretty close. According to this article on Wired News, there’s an underground garden in Indiana somewhere that’s going to let researchers grow their pharmacologically enhanced plants without worring about contaminating the general populace. First, I think it’s a good idea to isolate the plants being tested. We have no idea what might happen if these things get loose in the wild, and I’d rather not find out. Second, I also think it’s great that someone has found a way to keep the research going, because it’s important.

Anyway, it’s a great article, so check it out.

“He’s go the whole blog, in his hands!”

My darling wife sent me a link to the World as a Blog, which is as fun a site as I’ve seen. It shows you a map of the world and, as registered blogs update, it pops up those updates in little windows! How cool!
So, if you sit and watch, you can see what bloggers all around the world are posting about. In real time! I haven’t signed up for this, yet, but you can bet I will!

Yes, this appeared on my other blog last week.
Now, it’s Friday, go have fun!

Okay, this is kind of self-referential, but…

According to this article on AustralianIT, the fine people who make the Opera web browser, are making a blog browser. Sort of an interesting idea, I thought, considering how popular blogs are getting these days.
But, when I read the details it turns out that what they’re doing is incorporating Really Simple Syndication, or RSS, into their web browser so that users can have new items from blog RSS feeds that they subscribe to come in as individual messages in Opera’s mail client, which is packaged with the browser. Which is still not a bad idea. Interesting article, anyway.

(And, yes, this first appeared at my other blog!)

Now, this strikes me as really interesting.

The estate of author of the Sherlock Holmes mysteries, Arthur Conan Doyle went up for sale recently. Mainly it was a lot of his story notes and personal papers. For a biographer, or publisher, it could be a really big deal to get, but it’s a fairly specialized area of interest.
What really struck me about the article on MSNBC was the “mysterious death” of one of the people associated with the sale. Apparently, he was quite an afficiando of all things Conan Doyle, and wanted the papers to stay together and available to the public for research. He was found strangled and surrounded by stuffed animals. The death, however, was ruled a suicide. Sounds like a Sherlockian mystery if I ever heard one!

A different kind of fun…

Once I remember reading that William Gibson said that he didn’t need to make up science-fiction, he just had to describe down-town Tokyo, or something to that effect. Well, imagine my excitement then, when I found this Tokyo MoBlog! (A moblog, by the way, is a MObile weBLOG, get it?) So, here’s a whole bunch of inspiration for science-ficiton: random pictures of Tokyo.

All joking aside, some of these are really lovely pictures of a city that I may never visit. Tokyo, and Japan, is as close to an alien society as a Westerner like me can get in our lifetime. It’s as alien to me as anything in Star Wars, but it’s right here on Earth.

Anyway, have fun with the pictures….

Cool article at Wizards…

At least, if you’re into the new d20 Modern game. The article is about “crossing over” from a fantasy world to “real” world and all the problems that might be encountered. Very cool and well thought out.
The article addresses things like getting ID when one is from another reality. Dealing with the “locals”. How to make money, or otherwise deal with the harsh realities of life. Written by one of the veteran gamers who actually wrote the d20 Modern rules, the article is both insightful and thought-provoking.

It’s also useful to an author who may be interested in writing about some of the same issues. How would an elf who’s found themselves alone in the big city react? What would be their first goal? What kinds of challenges would they face? All excellent material for a story.

Yes, it really does exist!

And, some of it is pretty good. What, you don’t believe me? Well, there’s a website dedicated to that very subject, Adherents.com. They list pretty much all the big hitters, both in science-fiction and religion. You can search here based on author, religious affiliation, and title. It’s really fascinating to see what some of my favorite authors think about religion and how it fits into their work. Or, doesn’t, as the case may be.

I did find it interesting that two notables were apparently left out. First, there was Single Combat by Dean Ing, which has numerous references to the Mormons/Latter-Day Saints. Second, there was The Man of Gold, Flamesong, and the rest by M.A.R. Barker. These don’t reference any particular existing religion, but religion is a central theme in all his books and his created religions are influenced by the Mayan, Incan, and East Indian religions. In fact, Professor Barker has written at least one article about the role religion plays in fantastic fiction and role-playing games. Fascinating stuff!

In any case, it struck me as an interesting website. Well worth a look.

No, really!

At least, according to this article on Wired News, they’re investing in some technology that really sounds like science-fiction. Specifically, it’s the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts, or NIAC, for short, who invest in some rather “odd” technology that might pay off with big results one day. Among the projects being funded are: shape-shifting space suits, antimatter-powered probes to Alpha Centauri, a robotic armada to destroy incoming asteroids, and my old favorite, weather control. Of course, my favorite part about the article is that the person behind the “weather control” system is a Hoffman. (Gotta’ watch out for them Hoffmans!)
Fun stuff here and all of it great fodder for science-fiction stories. Check it out!