I have to travel a lot more these days (which is usually fun) which also means occasionally sitting and waiting for hours on end (not as much fun). But no matter where I am, there is one phrase that always brings a little joy to my day: “Careful. The beverage you’re about to enjoy is extremely hot” You know it. You’ve seen it on countless disposable coffee cups and the like. Perhaps it makes you…
I’ve been following various articles about basic income (or Universal Basic Income – UBI) as I find it an intriguing potential solution as we trundle towards ever-greater automation in every aspect of the economy. Matthew Yglesias over at Vox writes about how UBI could tackle poverty — and indeed for some conservative and libertarian proponents of UBI, its potential to tackle poverty and related ills more efficiently than other social programs is one of its appeals. Ezra Klein…
A week or so ago, I linked to an article in Vox about the self-driving car and how its wide use will change transportation as we know it. This article, also from Vox, goes into how three different “disruptors” to transportation will really shake up Detroit. As the title suggests, it’s more focusing on Silicon Valley/tech companies shaking up Detroit/car companies, but it follows on some of the same themes, especially where self-driving cars are…
This is the 22nd entry in a surprisingly long series of posts about Star Trek’s future and its fandom called Crisis of Infinite Star Treks. So, with the last post all about fan film guidelines, I know many of you were probably thinking, “What about Axanar’s counterclaim and that stuff?” As I hoped, Janet Gershen-Siegel over at the G and T Show did a detailed overview of Axanar’s counterclaim which, if you want to want to…
This is the 21st entry in a surprisingly long series of posts about Star Trek’s future and its fandom called Crisis of Infinite Star Treks. In April, Marc Perton over at Newsweek wrote a really good article about the Axanar lawsuit which, as much as anything, led me down the rabbit hole because that’s where I first learned of discord within the Star Trek fan and fan film community. Then things got depressing. Suffice to say, I…
If you’re anything like me, you’ve always wondered how the non-sequitur typeface Wing Dings came to exist. The answer proves to be as charming as Wing Dings itself, as this Vox video shows.
Mark Evanier has had an ongoing series about writers and rejection some of whose columns apply very well to actors and other creatives. The most recent one, however, goes deeper into the notion of writing for pay and how one might go about it from his experience. Check it out.
So, one of the things I obsess about, when my synapses are not otherwise engaged is what the future of TV looks like and how TV programs are being made. So I was very interested in a pair of articles I read this past January about the idea of “Peak TV” as well as one earlier this month about the potential production pipeline problem HBO may have with new shows. And of course, I enjoyed…
One of the reasons I’ve become more interested in learning about basic income and future potential economic models has been what appears to be the growing automation of everything. In other words, we’ve moved beyond automating factory and manufacturing processes (though we still automate that and refine that automation), and into automating service and analytical processes. Nowhere is this more evident than in the race to implement the self-driving car, because when the self-driving car…
This is the 20th entry in a surprisingly long series of posts about Star Trek’s future and its fandom called Crisis of Infinite Star Treks. So, after Sunday’s somewhat somber, but cathartic post, I wanted to get back to the fun part of Star Trek. I mean, eventually, we’ll have to end the whole Crisis series. Right? Right? Yes, I know Axanar Productions responded to CBS/Paramount’s complaint yesterday which they talk about here and you can read…