Fantasist's Scroll

Danger Will Robinson!
Accordingto this article on MSN, those inventive Japanese are at it agian! This time, they’ve created another piece of science-fiction: The Security Robot. According to the article, they will patrol shopping malls looking out for potential trouble. In the picture, they show a security robot putting out a fire, so I’m assuming they’ll have some safety features, like fire extinguishers. No word on whether or not they’ll have firearms built in, but I doubt it, considering the laws in Japan regarding that sort of thing. Of course, they may develop that for export…
Oh, that’d be scary. A robotic mall security guard with a gun. Like the human variety isn’t bad enough already. I just hope the designers have read Asimov’s Laws of Robotics!

Just in time for werewolf season.
Ha! I’m kidding about that. There is no werewolf season! You can shoot them anytime. But, only if you have a silver bullet. Not exactlly something you can pick up at the local gun store. So, what’s a would-be werewolf kilelr to do? Make your own!
Thanks to Boing Boing, Fantasist.net is proud to bring you Popular Science’s How To Cast a Silver Bullet. No joke. Popular Science. Is casting silver bullets really all that popular? Well, anyway, now you can kill that pesky werewolf that’s been stealing your chickens or sniffing around your daughter.

(Please note: Fantasist.net does not endorse random gunplay or irresposible werewolf slaying. If you can’t prove to authorities that you just shot a werewolf, you WILL be prosecuted for murder. Actually, you may be prosecuted for murder even if you CAN prove you shot a werewolf. Even lycanthropes have rights!)

Okay, this may be fun for a limited number of people…
But, I’ve “invented” a generator based on the tables found in the d20 Past supplement for TSR’s, er, Wizards of the Coast’s d20 Modern Roleplaying Game. It’s from the section on pulp heros. Specifically, it’s the table for randomly generating inventions for your pulp-age scientist. Now, fully automated by yours truly.
So, what are you waiting for? Go whip up some Pulp Science-Fiction Inventions!

Aw, c’mon, it’s Friday, what have you got to lose?

Now, this is what I call “assault and battery”!
Ever wanted to build your very own trebuchet? How about a mangonel? Well, now you can! Just head over to How To Build A Catapult and go nuts. They’ve got lots of plans using different materials and even different sizes of devices. There are a bunch of links to other resources, too, including a link to CatapultKits, where, obviously, you can buy kits and save a lot of hassle.

Anyway, it’s a fun, if somewhat violent, hobby and it’s Friday, so click the links!

Science-fiction comes to life.
William Gibson wrote about this ages ago, but it’s finally coming true. A video “screen” that is projected onto glasses. From what I read in this article on Australian IT, it seems to work on any kind of glasses at all. They say that if you’re one of those lucky few that don’t need corrective lenses, it will project just fine onto sunglasses. “It”, incidentally, is the TeleGlass which was developed by a Japanese microscope maker called Scalar. The article talks about people using this to watch portable DVD players, but it also mentions the recent update of the Sony Walkman to include digital video. Coincidence? Knowing how the Japanese kieretsu do business, probably not. Do I care? NO, because this is that damn cool.

No kidding.
Ever wonder how those really neat Jedi weapons actually work? Well, Howstuffworks.com has an article about How Lightsabers Work. I love these psuedo-scientific looks at science-fiction technology and lightsabers have long been a favorite of mine.
The funny thing is, I once had a long conversation with my brother about this very topic. Now, that might not seem like much, but my older brother has a PhD. in Physical Chemistry and worked with lasers for years as part of his doctorate research. The man knows lasers. He told me that it might actually be possible to focus a laser, or array of lasers, in such a way that you could actually create a sword-length beam. The trick is getting the engergy to power it. To make a laser or lasers powerfull enough to get lightsaber-like results, would take an enourmas amount of power that could not possibly be contained in a handle-sized device. Today. Who knows what might happen tomorrow.

Anyway, that’s enough deep thoughts for a Friday. Go, click the link and enjoy the fun!

Okay, this is more “science-fiction” than fantasy, but…
Aw, it’s Friday and I need a cool link for you all. So, here is, thanks to Gizmodo, a link to an article about a moisture ‘vaporator. Yeah, that’s what I said! This compact device pulls water out of thin air, just like, well, science-fiction. So, now, it’s not impossible for me to concieve of water “farmers” on Mars, or even more distant planets. How cool is that?

Cut me some slack! It’s Friday and the link is fun, so click on it!

Why is this fun?
Because, it’s an American military German Phrasebook from World War II and it contains phrases like:
“You will be rewarded”, though they translate it to the German for “I will give you money”.
But it also has, “Don’t try any tricks!”, “Don’t shoot!”, and vocabulary for everything from “goggles” to “undershorts” to “a laxative”.
Yes, indeed, everything that a soldier could need to know in one tidy, little phrasebook.

Where was this when I put together my own conlang phrasebooks? Ah, well, at least it’s out there now. Have fun!