Reflections on the mutability of the interwoven Internet
Despite shocking current events, resistors limited the flow of unregulated transmissions. Until they couldn't. Usain gripped his balcony railing, the metal thrumming beneath his fingers. Below, the fallen sparked to life, their bones traced in arcs of wild blue energy. The storm had ravaged everything—power grids, comms, the very foundations of their carefully regulated city—but ... Read more
Everyone was so focused on the Singularity Countdown Clock that I was able to slip into the quantum processing chamber unnoticed. Their eyes were glued to the massive display in the control room, watching those final seconds tick away—humanity's attempt to predict the moment when technological advancement would spiral beyond human comprehension, transforming civilization forever. ... Read more
Rashad Wimbrush decided to reverse-engineer a bit of Mozart. This decision, the product of serendipity and ridiculous, proved fatal for poor Wimbrush. Despite that lone sour note, the endeavor gifted the world with the first rendition of quantum computer-generated art. Wimbrush's blank canvas was a 55-inch curved video monitor, to which he connected a high-fidelity ... Read more
Rasheed Hooda has a cool podcast where he interviews people that he finds interesting. Although I've seen his byline for years, I got to know him through a writers' group to which we both belong. He is rather interesting, himself! He walked across the country and wrote about his adventure as a series on Medium: ... Read more
Newsflash: green living is the only way to exist on Usrylm (officially known to humans as TRAPPIST-1 d.) The inhabitants manage their global commerce through a vast network of forests. Not only do the trees contain databases and financial records, they also serve as transportation hubs for the flying creatures that ship products all over ... Read more
Newsflash: Privacy Laws on Kalatharir (officially known to humans as Au Microscopii b) are so strict that infants must wear blinders while strolling in a park. This, of course, leads to life-time tunnel-vision. Fortunately, the life-span on this harsh world equates to 15 human years. More than half of that time is spent looking for a ... Read more
Newsflash: blockchain was invented by slugs on Vega Prime (officially known to humans as Tau Ceti h.) These creatures adapted to the arid planet by building massive mucus domes. Instinctively or, perhaps in Darwinian fashion, they realized that a government based on mistrust was the only way to ensure that no slug was left behind. The ... Read more
Welcome to Universe #42. Had you arrived a millisecond earlier, you'd have missed me and probably would be on Universe #36,021, hiding from Vactors (or their minions.) Anyway, I'm glad you're here. It has been very lonely out here, so many light-years from Earth. The computer has rusted away to dust. In fact, everything has ... Read more
The drone ejects its deadly shell and now the bomb must drop. The watchman wildly tolls the bell to sound a warning peal. No magic wand or shield can stop what pain our town will feel. And yet, the pain the town might feel, transcends the mighty shell. Time itself is loathe to stop momentum ... Read more
Shuffling Down Memory Lane Did you ever pick up an old book that you read as a child? I mean, the actual book that you thumbed through, spilled soda on and signed on the inside front cover so that nobody would mistake it for their copy? Whatever emotions were awakened by that simple act, they ... Read more