Jackson Allen's Blog, page 14

STL: Giant Freakin Robot’s Scifi Essay Misses the Point

Time to get my rant on – Giant Freakin Robot released a scifi essay that misses the point about ‘what’s wrong with science fiction.’ I guess it’s to be expected – science fiction is in a troubled state – you’d have to be blind not to see it. What bothers me is that GFR projects a ‘mission accomplished’ via a low-information, low-effort essay. Hello?? You’ve spent years contributing to the problem – you don’t get off that easy.

How has GFR and other sites contributed to the problem? Easy. GFR and its parent company Walk Big have a stated focus: “what matters most and driven by a passion for what’s on the next horizon.” Except, what’s next on the horizon and what matters most always seems to be hot takes, culture wars and outrage bait. Big clicks, not big ideas. This isn’t about calling them out, I’m simply using them to validate that famous quote: “He has a right to criticize who has a heart to help.”

Rant On

You haven’t helped – you just stood there and pointed at the problem. You’re the Noam Chomsky of science fiction – articulating the rage, but never actually helping. Good for you, thanks – go sit in the corner and we’ll call you when we’re ready.

This is why I’m bumped about this article. They start out by saying something like: “Modern science fiction, television, and movies have leaned too heavily into the angst and despair of modern society while forgetting that when done right, the genre can act as a guiding light for our future. It’s possible to both reflect today’s socio-political climate while having some fun at the same time.”

Okay, cool  – when have you boosted the scifi projects that actually do that? If anything, sites like GFR (and Scified, Syfy, Io9, and Screenrant …) talk about what everyone else is talking about, which is another way of saying ‘this is what everyone’s being marketed right now.’ Where’s the risk-taking, reputation-staking ‘defense of the new?’ Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t see you doing that.

So then GFR concludes the article with a statement that skips off the point like an earth-grazing meteor off the atmosphere:

There’s a reason modern science fiction series struggle to keep going or catch on in the first place: They refuse to shoot for the moon and defy gravity. There are no risks, no sense of adventure, and worse, there’s no hope or optimism that someday things will get better. Reflecting on our darkness is all good; one of my favorite shows, Battlestar Galactica, did that exceptionally well, but it’s not enough, and we all deserve more.

Um, no.

Sorry, folks but you’re missing the point. Scifi isn’t just a genre, it’s a community, both must cooperate to succeed. Sites like GRF failed to honor those known-but-unspoken rules and made plenty of money doing it. You haven’t talked about ‘what’s next,’ you’ve talked about ‘what’s marketed. You haven’t raised the bar, you’ve lowered the discourse. You’re the CNN of sci-fi news – which is great if that’s what you’re going for. But you can’t pretend that your intentions are noble. They aren’t.

Rant Off

Another thing science fiction does – that you aren’t seeing – is that it discusses everything we’re afraid to talk about. Scifi says what we can’t get away with saying any other way – it’s the ‘court jester’ of literature. That delicate balance of imagination and candor takes maturity and courage.

Scifi is the place where human souls go to escape the algorithms, think about what they aren’t supposed to, feel their feels without judgement. You aren’t displaying either when the balance of your dialogue is ‘lunchroom chatter.’ If I wanted that, I’d be reading USA Today. Don’t give me the USA Today equivalent of science fiction.

Changing science fiction, elevating scifi? That’s work. If you want to change things for scifi, you can’t just be a part of the problem or a part of the scenery. You must be prepared to do the non-sexy, non-revenue-generating labor of building up science fiction. Plenty of scifi takes risks and brings a sense of adventure – my scifi, for one, and projects like The Creator and Passengers. You have to defend the new, and be prepared to take risks.

How to Fix It

I would offer GFR and other sites a simple solution to the problem – stop telling us what to do, and start doing it yourself. Scifi should take risks? Cool, take some risks. Defend something new, stake your reputation on an idea, stand up for SOMETHING. As of now, you’re the Internet equivalent of those ‘join the conversation’ signs in the Kendall Jenner Pepsi commercial and we’re all too old and too ugly to fall for it.

You should pay attention when Giant Freakin Robot posts a scifi essay – it’s everything you shouldn’t do with science fiction. Sad thing is: the answer’s right in front of them, but until they can get out of their own way, they’ll never get there. I guess that’s our job and so I’m using this moment of rant to remind, to inspire, all of the true fans of science fiction. Our job? Escape the algorithms, think about what we aren’t supposed to, and feel our feels without judgement. Then we need to help others do the same.

 

The post STL: Giant Freakin Robot’s Scifi Essay Misses the Point appeared first on Inkican.

Giant Freakin Robot’s Scifi Essay Misses the Point

Time to get my rant on – Giant Freakin Robot released a scifi essay that misses the point about ‘what’s wrong with science fiction.’ I guess it’s to be expected – science fiction is in a troubled state – you’d have to be blind not to see it. What bothers me is that GFR projects a ‘mission accomplished’ via a low-information, low-effort essay. Hello?? You’ve spent years contributing to the problem – you don’t get off that easy.

How has GFR and other sites contributed to the problem? Easy. GFR and its parent company Walk Big have a stated focus: “what matters most and driven by a passion for what’s on the next horizon.” Except, what’s next on the horizon and what matters most always seems to be hot takes, culture wars and outrage bait. Big clicks, not big ideas. This isn’t about calling them out, I’m simply using them to validate that famous quote: “He has a right to criticize who has a heart to help.”

Rant On

You haven’t helped – you just stood there and pointed at the problem. You’re the Noam Chomsky of science fiction – articulating the rage, but never actually helping. Good for you, thanks – go sit in the corner and we’ll call you when we’re ready.

This is why I’m bumped about this article. They start out by saying something like: “Modern science fiction, television, and movies have leaned too heavily into the angst and despair of modern society while forgetting that when done right, the genre can act as a guiding light for our future. It’s possible to both reflect today’s socio-political climate while having some fun at the same time.”

Okay, cool  – when have you boosted the scifi projects that actually do that? If anything, sites like GFR (and Scified, Syfy, Io9, and Screenrant …) talk about what everyone else is talking about, which is another way of saying ‘this is what everyone’s being marketed right now.’ Where’s the risk-taking, reputation-staking ‘defense of the new?’ Correct me if I’m wrong, but I don’t see you doing that.

So then GFR concludes the article with a statement that skips off the point like an earth-grazing meteor off the atmosphere:

There’s a reason modern science fiction series struggle to keep going or catch on in the first place: They refuse to shoot for the moon and defy gravity. There are no risks, no sense of adventure, and worse, there’s no hope or optimism that someday things will get better. Reflecting on our darkness is all good; one of my favorite shows, Battlestar Galactica, did that exceptionally well, but it’s not enough, and we all deserve more.

Um, no.

Sorry, folks but you’re missing the point. Scifi isn’t just a genre, it’s a community, both must cooperate to succeed. Sites like GRF failed to honor those known-but-unspoken rules and made plenty of money doing it. You haven’t talked about ‘what’s next,’ you’ve talked about ‘what’s marketed. You haven’t raised the bar, you’ve lowered the discourse. You’re the CNN of sci-fi news – which is great if that’s what you’re going for. But you can’t pretend that your intentions are noble. They aren’t.

Rant Off

Another thing science fiction does – that you aren’t seeing – is that it discusses everything we’re afraid to talk about. Scifi says what we can’t get away with saying any other way – it’s the ‘court jester’ of literature. That delicate balance of imagination and candor takes maturity and courage.

Scifi is the place where human souls go to escape the algorithms, think about what they aren’t supposed to, feel their feels without judgement. You aren’t displaying either when the balance of your dialogue is ‘lunchroom chatter.’ If I wanted that, I’d be reading USA Today. Don’t give me the USA Today equivalent of science fiction.

Changing science fiction, elevating scifi? That’s work. If you want to change things for scifi, you can’t just be a part of the problem or a part of the scenery. You must be prepared to do the non-sexy, non-revenue-generating labor of building up science fiction. Plenty of scifi takes risks and brings a sense of adventure – my scifi, for one, and projects like The Creator and Passengers. You have to defend the new, and be prepared to take risks.

How to Fix It

I would offer GFR and other sites a simple solution to the problem – stop telling us what to do, and start doing it yourself. Scifi should take risks? Cool, take some risks. Defend something new, stake your reputation on an idea, stand up for SOMETHING. As of now, you’re the Internet equivalent of those ‘join the conversation’ signs in the Kendall Jenner Pepsi commercial and we’re all too old and too ugly to fall for it.

You should pay attention when Giant Freakin Robot posts a scifi essay – it’s everything you shouldn’t do with science fiction. Sad thing is: the answer’s right in front of them, but until they can get out of their own way, they’ll never get there. I guess that’s our job and so I’m using this moment of rant to remind, to inspire, all of the true fans of science fiction. Our job? Escape the algorithms, think about what we aren’t supposed to, and feel our feels without judgement. Then we need to help others do the same.

 

The post Giant Freakin Robot’s Scifi Essay Misses the Point appeared first on Inkican.

Modest Proposal – Update to Inkican Terms of Service

This just in – a modest proposal as an update to the Inkican Terms of Service. As I’m sure you’re aware, Terms of Service are changing all the time and Inkican doesn’t want to be left behind in this area.

As an author, I didn’t think about this before but my books should have a terms of service, too! We can’t just ‘buy’ things anymore – we subscribe. We don’t ‘own’ things – even if we paid money. I have to guarantee recurring revenue from readers – it’s not enough to simply *write* a story and *publish* it. That’s crazy – we’re leaving money on the table! If we’re subscribers, our relationship might change at any time. I should use this opportunity to re-align my expectations as a successful author so I can maximize value and minimize risk!

For all these reasons – and more, I’m a greedy little cuss, after all – I’m updating the Inkican Terms of Service. Here’s what you should expect from me as an author and here’s what I expect from you as a reader:

1.1 Our Access to Your Stories

As a platform for publishing our sci-fi stories, we may access, view, or listen to your device (defined in section 1.2 below) through both automated and manual methods, but only in limited ways, and only as permitted by law. For example, to provide our books and experiences, we may need to access, view, or listen to your Content to (A) respond to feedback or support requests; (B) detect, prevent, or address issues related to fraud, security, legal matters, or technical problems; and (C) enforce the Terms, as further detailed in Section 1.2.

1.2 Content

“Content” refers to any text, information, communication, or material, including audio files, video files, electronic documents, or images, that you upload, import into, embed for use by, or create using our Services and Software. We reserve the right (but are not obligated) to remove or restrict access to any Content if it violates our Terms. While we do not review all Content uploaded to our Services and Software, we may use technologies, vendors, or manual review to screen for illegal or abusive content.

1.3 Free Account Inactivity

To keep your book active, you must open it and read it periodically. Additionally, you must provide regular positive reviews on our books whenever a new publishing platform is introduced. If your account remains inactive, we reserve the right to assume it is abandoned, and we may permanently delete your books, your reviews or close your account. We will attempt to notify you before taking such actions.

1.4 Notice of Claim and Dispute Resolution Process

If you have a concern or dispute that our Customer Care cannot resolve, you agree to first try to resolve it informally by contacting us and providing a written Notice of Claim to the address in Contact Us (Notice to Inkican). This Notice must include your identity, a description of your claim, and the relief you seek, including any monetary amount. If the dispute is not resolved within 30 days of receipt, legal actions must be resolved through small claims court or binding arbitration. The arbitrator, not any court, will have the exclusive authority to resolve disputes about the interpretation or enforceability of these Terms. Claims related to the Inkican Books or Experiences must be brought within one year of the event causing the Claim, or they will be permanently barred.

There we go – the updates to our Terms of Service – I hope you found these helpful and I appreciate your value as a reader. We at Inkican look forward to delighting you, the annual recurring revenue reader in the months and years to come. Cheers!

Does this sound stupid to you? Good, now you know how I feel about Adobe’s update to Photoshop’s Terms of Service that came out yesterday. I get the need to manage costs, but putting creative professionals’ right to privacy behind a paywall is beyond inappropriate. It’s insane.

Predatory capitalism is killing everything that’s joyous and meaningful to the human experience. I read about this today and the blog post wrote itself. If Adode wants to do this, let’s do a Modest Proposal – Update to Inkican Terms of Service. Everything you read or think as a result of my stories belongs to ME! (Do I need to say that I’m being sarcastic?)

I feel bad for all the artists and creatives directly impacted by this – some part of me was always jealous that I could never afford to purchase an Adobe subscription and I had to make due with an old copy of CS6. Now, I’m not so jealous.

Do better, Adobe. This is *NOT* how you help foster human creativity and aspiration. Putting books and experiences and human dignity shoves us *that much* farther into the boring dystopia we’re desperately trying to avoid. I wrote this Terms of Service and modest proposal to help you see what you look like when I treat you the way you treat us.

 

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Some High Praise From the Master – George Takei

I got an attaboy from none other than George Takei today. How’s your Wednesday going?

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Sage Scifi: Heroes, Cowards, and Science Fiction

What is cowardice? Would you recognize a coward if you saw one? What’s the difference between a hero and a coward, between cowardice and heroism? Does our modern science fiction unlock our inner heroes or is it enabling our cowardice? I wrestled with those questions over the three-day weekend. Now I’m jotting down some notes on the topic of cowardice and science fiction for future discussion.

Okay, so – cowardice – something I arrived at out of desperation. How can close personal relationships be so disappointing? Maybe this has happened to you, moments in your adult life where you need to advocate for yourself, fix a problem, address a topic. You need support from a friend to make it happen. Just like that, they refuse to defend you, start making excuses why they can’t or won’t help. If you woulda, they say. If only things were, they say. Self-respect, the sense of safety and trust you *thought* you were building with them, gone like water off a duck’s back. Ouch.

This wasn’t the first time. No, not the first, the second, or even the fifty-fifth time I’ve been through this with others. I keep running up to social moments like Charlie Brown kicking the football, only to be disappointed in both other people and in myself. How could I have been so stupid?

 

Please don’t diagnose my problems. That’s a ‘me’ thing. I’ll handle it. Instead, let’s focus on the idea of cowardice. Now that I see it, I can’t unsee it. Cowardice as a cultural phenomenon, especially as it relates to science fiction. We’re all used to the idea that protagonists are heroes and heroes always win but, guess what? We’re not seeing heroic behavior in our modern scifi anymore. If anything, we’re seeing science fiction enable acts of cowardice and justifying anti-heroic behavior at almost every level.

Don’t believe me? Look at Star Trek and Star Wars – they collectively torpedoed their cultural scifi authority with endless reboots, leaning on nostalgia versus exploring new themes. The overwhelming ‘good guys can win’ of ‘A New Hope’ died on the vine with Andor’s gritty realization that the good guys can only succeed when a bad guy’s pulling strings behind the scenes.

Examples of Scifi Cultural Cowardice

Star Trek stopped exploring new galaxies and started focusing on the fact that four hundred years in the future, humans are just as selfish as they ever were. The philosophical challenges of the original series? Dead as a doornail.

90% of the Tobey McGuire Spiderverse movies came down to ‘I’m too much of a coward to tell the truth.’ Kid glides through Manhattan like Superman, but he’s too chicken to tell Mary Jane he’s in love with her? Get outta here.

Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets’ storyline was so underwhelming it made ‘The Fifth Element’ look like Lord of the Rings. Jurassic World’s entire franchise boils down to ‘We didn’t learn the first time, or the second, or the fourth …’ 

Fan service (Ready Player One, anyone?), reluctance to tackle important social issues (Hello, Gattaca!), shallow exploration of the impact of technology, playing it safe with thematic stereotypes. I could go on, but you get the point.

Innovation, shallow exploration of technology’s impact, insisting on playing it safe. These are all examples of cultural cowardice. I’m not even sure we can get out of it now, if we want to. Part of me really wants to believe that Metropolis will be Coppola’s official act of ‘anti-cowardice,’ but I also have an emotional crisis plan in case it doesn’t work out.

What Does It All Mean?

I see it now, and I can’t unsee it. Cowardice is eating at the heart of science fiction. It’s turning our beloved genre into a timid and disappointing minefield of underwhelming enterprise. We’re not dealing with heroes in the 21st century, we’re dealing with a situation of fear and the craven cowards who exploit it. We cannot defeat an army of cowards through anything but courage and heart and valor.

And what does that mean – to show courage? Does it mean to shout louder than the angry shouts? Does it mean to duel endlessly with online opponents? No. We don’t shout our courage into existence any more than a lion roars respect into the sheep. Our courage comes from values and values come from honesty. Who are we? Who do we want people to know us to be? When we know the answers to those questions, and we show it by our choices – our authority naturally arrives.

But that’s like, vision-related. We didn’t get here through a sudden shortage of vision and rhetoric. Anyone can point at the problem – how do we fix it? How do *we* encourage courage, discourage cowardice, in our science fiction? What will it take so that we’re living our values, encouraging better natures? Sometimes courage requires sacrifice – like Father Octavian in the 2010 episode of Dr. Who ‘Flesh and Stone’:

: You’ll die.

: I will die in the knowledge that my courage did not desert me at the end. For that I thank God, and bless the path that takes you to safety.

: I wish I’d known you better.

: I think, sir, you know me at my best.

Other times, courage requires a quiet determination – the idea that you’re not giving up today, and you’re making the most of tomorrow. Any of this making sense? I’m just a lowly scifi author, but I often look at what’s going on with scifi and asking myself: Are we meeting the moment with courage, or cowardice?

Are we meeting the moment with courage, or cowardice?

The devil’s in the details. A community’s cultural courage is like one big Jenga tower, built a piece at a time. It’s real easy for some loud-mouth sucker to come in and knock it over when your back is turned. Know what I mean?

The price of freedom is vigilance and courage. We can’t afford cowardice anymore. I’m pleased to see that Disney’s drawing a line in the sand when it comes to The Acolyte. I mean, I have no idea if we’ll like the show but at least they’re putting their foot down. We cannot afford to tolerate bullies anymore, nor the cowardly appeasement of fan service.

I’m still thinking about this topic. Science fiction needs brave people, people with heart, grit, and valor. When our most vulnerable members can breathe in safety, confident that disagreement won’t lead to dismemberment, we’ll have passed through the storm. Until then, hands on the rudder and eyes on the horizon. We must be heroes – not cowards – for the culture and genre and community of science fiction.

 

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Sci-Friday #210 – BBS Door Games – Scifi @ 2400bps

This Sci Friday is long-overdue – it’s time to celebrate scifi @ 2400bps, BBS Door Games were mobile app games before there were mobile app games. Come take a deep dive into the arcane, 90s-era social gaming adventures!

Door games were called ‘door games’ for a simple reason: “They’re called “doors” because they were separate programs that would run on the BBS host. Since machines didn’t necessarily have multitasking capabilities, the main BBS program would “shell out” and start up the door program, which would then communicate with the user. When the door exited, the BBS software would start back up. Hence a door — an excursion from the BBS to the outside world.”

Once activated, a text-based GUI would fire up and you could play scifi-based games with people all over the world, 10 years before LAN parties! Here’s an example of playing Trade Wars 2002 that you can watch on YouTube:

I loved playing Trade Wars. It was ‘a series of online space-strategy games loosely based on the Star Trek realm,’ and now that I think about it – I don’t understand how they didn’t receive a cease-and-desist letter from a lawyer. Ah, the 90s.

BBS Door games provided the stepping stone of interactive scifi games we needed in the late 80s and early 90s before LAN parties, mobile games, and MMPORGs. I hope you enjoyed this dive through scifi game history. Please feel welcomed to dive down the rabbit hole of every other Sci-Friday I’ve published in the past couple years. Have a great weekend!

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Famous Hot Takes Are a Zero-Sum Game Part II – Harrison Butker

The Harrison Butker bruhaha seems to have died down, but I take this moment to remind you that Famous Hot Takes Are a Zero-Sum Game. Scott Adams made a fool of himself last year. Now, Harrison Butker does himself no favors – famous people waxing poetic about social issues? Yeah, just like a forward pass – three things can happen and two of them are bad. Either your words will be accepted and supported (maybe), or they won’t (more likely), or you’ll get dragged.

“I don’t see what the big crime is, I really don’t.” Uh, don’t you? “Harrison Butker, thank you for your courage. Don’t change, we need you.” Uh, do we? “Never settle for what is easy.” Uh, is that what he did?

Are we getting the hint yet? Some things shouldn’t be left to the experts, but when it comes to social issues – are you an expert? Is it the TRUTH? Is it FAIR to all concerned? Is it BENEFICIAL to all concerned?  Will it build GOODWILL and BETTER FRIENDSHIPS? Yeah, subjecting your hot takes to the Rotarian Four-Way test can go a long way in avoiding a self-induced public humiliation.

The Professional Opinion Industry is A Lawless Place

And look, I get it. Some of us aren’t trained public speakers and it’s hard for others to tell their story because of past trauma. Don’t believe me? Look at this Shunned Amish woman talk on Soft White Underbelly:

I’m saying all this to make a point: there are important things going on in the world, but sometimes you aren’t the guy to say it. Butker is ‘standing up for what he believes in,’ and I guess he believes believing in something is the same thing as making speeches. Hey, I believe in all kinds of things – I don’t need to make a speech to prove it.

No, Butker’s mistake – and yes, it was a mistake – was inserting himself into a conversation that no one invited him into. He didn’t have to make that speech, he didn’t have to make a speeches with that level of rhetoric. Just for funsies, he made a speech with similar themes last year at Georgia Tech, BTW, and nobody reported on it, so he doubled-down in 2024 with his Benedictine College commencement speech and woo-woo it’s viral!

I get it, Butker’s looking toward his post-football career – professional opinion givers make a lot of money these days. But still, is it the truth? Is it fair? Is it beneficial to all concerned? Will it build goodwill and friendships? Butker – from his perspective – can only maybe say ‘yes’ to one of those questions and yes, he’ll pay a deserved price.

Nothing Good Comes from Having Nothing Good to Say

Harrison Butker played a long gamble with his speeches and his public comments about social issues. He’s letting Main Character Syndrome drive his decisions. Maybe it works for him? Maybe it turns his wildly-successful career into a gold-plated example of what not to do. We’ll see.

The lessons for us in general and me in particular remains the same: Nobody needs to know what I think about everything all the time.  Media attention feels good for a while, but eventually all that attention comes back around – especially when there are garbage parts of your personality that are better kept out of the limelight.We don’t have to give hot takes. We don’t have to open our mouths. ‘Keep your words soft and sweet, you never know which ones you’ll have to eat,’ right? Never skip an opportunity to shut up.

All we need to provide is what we’re here to provide – our best work, our best love, our best gifts. Anything else is a waste of time. Famous Hot Takes are a Zero Sum Game – just ask Scott Adams, and maybe Harrison Butker this time next year.

 

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Alex Winter – Unlikely Mesh Supporter

Woke up this morning to an EFF podcast and the realization that Alex “Bill S. Preston Esq. from ‘Bill & Ted'” Winter is an unlikely supporter for my novel Mesh. That’s an awesome way to kick off the second half of any week! It all begins and ends with EFF’s ‘Fixing the Internet’ podcast, so strap in and lets take a deep dive into Alex Winter and what makes him a supporter of Mesh, even if he doesn’t realize it.

I have varied opinions of the EFF but I can respect the effort. They want to fix the Internet and although I agree the Internet can and should be better, we disagree on fundamental ways that it could be improved. Besides which, fixing the Internet isn’t my business – my business is storytelling. I just happen to tell stories where the Internet becomes something that people fix and that’s the springboard into adventure.

The Convergence

But we agree on some interesting points. Winter points out (correctly) that one of the Internet’s core values is its ability to create communities that would otherwise not exist. Additionally, the agenda-based rhetoric on future technology harms the necessary civil discourse on what our futures should become. Alex Winter is absolutely right: “They convince the public that this is all beyond them, and they should … leave it to the experts.” We can’t afford not to look at the Internet and the handful of people who run it, scrutinize them for agendas, motives, affiliation, and orientation.

The good news is that people inherently despise being boxed in, and that’s something we’ve been marching toward over the past 30 years. Meanwhile, people break off to form their own communities and that’s a great thing, too! “[T]hey don’t have to just use one place that the internet is filled with little communities that they could go to to talk to their friends.”

All of this is why I think Alex Winter and the EFF would love Mesh.

The Confluence

One of Mesh’s inciting ideas took what Winter said about media and digital literacy, and went a step further. What would a true cultural revolution look like in the 21st Century? What if you decided – just like people are doing with Twitter and Reddit – to move off the Internet entirely? We don’t have to be here, people!

Enter the entire Mesh premise: Roman’s visit home turns into a life-or-death race. Initially, Miramar Technical High School seemed like a geek’s paradise with cutting-edge tech and a promising future. However, Roman and his friends uncover that their secret project is part of their principal’s plan for global domination, forcing them into a high-stakes battle using retro spy tech to save the world.

It’s not just fiction. Young people have changed the world many times before and they still can. The next generation could decide – looking at the dusty tech going to waste we have floating around – to build their own network, make their own rules, and escape the ecto-dystopic ruin that our current Internet has become. Imagine what a shot across the bow that would be to the bloated status quo of oligarchic tech companies, 21st century robber barons, and techbro carpetbaggers.

Of course, it’ll take a special kind of kid to take on that challenge. They’ll have to realize that power doesn’t come from a superpower, that change first must come from inside, and that ‘Stars in a Jar’ need the right level of support to achieve. They will also need to realize that their energy can harm, as well as help – so they need assistance to choose wisely.

I’m glad to know that Alex Winter is that kind of person. Admittedly, I’ve been sleeping on his work but I’m happy to see that he’s just as much an ardent supporter of a kind, human, rational future as I am. Even though we disagree on certain points, the connections are more powerful than the nodes – just like any other network in existence.

Wrapping Up

Yes, ‘the building blocks of proper internet literacy are being set.’ That means we are traveling toward a future where bias and manufactured outrage as means of control no longer exist. In order to get there, we’re going to have to work together. I’m grateful that other people see the challenge and the opportunity, too. Until we get there, like Winters says at the end of the interview: ‘we just have to kind of keep chipping away at it.’

Like the How to Fix the Internet podcast, I’m grateful to Alex Winter and I think he might be an unlikely Mesh supporter. That’s a good thing! I’m grateful for anyone using his skills, talents, and platforms to lift up ordinary people with online communities. This is how we’ll move into the future. Bravo!

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Scifi Author Interview: Jim Bowering and Green Comet

Cool another scifi author interview – let’s meet Jim Bowering! One cool thing you’ll notice in our interview is that Jim’s had a storied career as a firefighter and air traffic controller before turning his attention to scifi stories. Jim has an unusual approach to publication that I think you’ll find insightful. Come along for the ride as we interview Jim Bowering – scifi author:

Who are you?

My name is Jim Bowering – I’ve fought forest fires and controlled traffic in the air and on the sea. Now I write stories.

That’s interesting – I know very little about being an air traffic controller. What was that like?

I’ll tell you a couple of things. First, testosterone. There was so much testosterone in the air that it practically condensed on the windows. 

Here’s a little story about a Christmas party for us controllers. We’re standing around with drinks in our hands when someone – probably me – brought up the question of how to preserve one’s night vision on a nocturnal trip to the bathroom. There were two essential considerations. 

One wants to make sure that one’s stream is all contained within the bowl. One also does not want to stub one’s toe on the return to bed. You need light to hit the bowl, but you need your night vision to safely navigate your return. There were some suggestions like, turning on the light but closing one eye to use for getting back to bed. Or, Giving the lights a quick flash and then working off of the persistent vision of the location of things. They were good suggestions.

Then one of the women at the party, wives and girlfriends, asked, “Why don’t you just sit down?” There was a silence, then we all laughed at the absurdity. Testosterone does not sit.

The other thing is the sense of space and time and traffic that builds up in one’s mind while controlling air traffic. You get a sense of distance. Of traffic coming and going over the curvature of the earth. Of airplanes connecting distant points. The same thing happens with vessel traffic except the distances are greater and the speeds are slower. I wonder if a person with aphantasia could be an air traffic controller.

What would you like to promote?

The Green Comet trilogy

Description: As Elgin wakes from a centuries-long sleep, it’s to the memory of danger and loss. Even in the confusion of re-animation, he wonders if this time she’ll be there. But then he remembers the mysterious Visitor and the perilous mission that took Frances from him, and darkness closes in again. Even so, there’s always the hope that this time will be different, that they will have found a way. It was always like this. Hope would always rise again, no matter how often it was struck down.

What got you into writing sci-fi?

I read a lot of science fiction, especially when I was young. It seemed natural to create something similar when I started writing my first novel. Success was finishing that first novel, and it’s finishing all the others I’ve written. I wouldn’t turn down fame and fortune if it seeks me out, but so far no one has showed up at my door with a briefcase full of money. I don’t have the stomach to chase it. Success is also writing stories that people like to read, and people keep telling me they do. I do wish more people would find them because that would mean that more people have got to enjoy them. 

Creative Commons makes publishing and distribution relatively friction-free, and it frees people of any guilt they might feel at not paying me.

How do you make up cool worlds for your stories?

It’s where my characters would be, so I had to create a complete and cohesive setting. It’s simple. Imagine what a comet has to be like for people to survive and thrive on it, and solve each problem as it shows itself to you. That’s one of the beauties of SF: you can create your own reality. But since it’s SCIENCE fiction, you can’t ignore physics. You’ll find very little pixie dust in my stories.

Do you have a favorite character you’ve written?

Everybody loves Buzzard and so do I. Just wait ’til you meet him. You won’t be able to help yourself.-)

What lessons or messages do you try to share through your stories?

I don’t self-consciously insert messages. I just want people to have a nice, fun, colorful story to read. I’m sure there are “messages” embedded in there, though. It’s the author’s job to write the story. It’s the reader’s job to get any meaning from it. I’m sure there are all sorts of meanings in there that I’m not aware of.

What cool inventions do you think might become real someday?

Nanotools to work inside the body. In the story, the nanotools work in the hibernating body, fixing damage and correcting errors. This makes for a kind of conditional longevity. Two-way elements in screens so the cameras can be in people’s pupils.  The two-way elements in the communication screens allow people to talk to each other while looking naturally into their eyes.

Jim, as a Scifi Author – can you tell us about how you write your stories?

If I can come up with a good first sentence, then I’m good for the day. Then it’s a matter of writing each page and chapter until it becomes a book. 

When I was writing Green Comet I aimed for 300 pages, thinking that would be a reasonable size for a novel. But I also thought pages were 400 words long, and then I even ran over that. After writing that novel I had no intention of writing another. 

My only goal was to write one to see if I could do it. It turned out that the people I showed it to thought it was pretty good, and I was still having ideas about the Green Comet universe, so I wrote an extension to it. I invited everyone else to add their own stories using those characters. 

Creative Commons is supposed to be good for that. Nobody chipped in, but they liked my extension and they wanted more, so I wrote some more. Eventually it turned into writing another novel – Parasite Puppeteers. There was still more to say so I decided to make it a trilogy with The Francesians. 

I very deliberately said that it wouldn’t grow beyond that. I didn’t want to be one of those writers who end up making their trilogies seven books long. Writing extensions led to me writing my novels in parts, which I still do now. My novels are shorter now, roughly half the size of those first three.

Who are your favorite sci-fi writers?

My current favorite author is Louise Penny. Her Gamache novels show ordinary people learning how to be human.

What do you think the future of sci-fi looks like?

I don’t know, but there seem to be a lot of post-apocalypse stories out there. 

If you could visit any world from your books, where would you go?

The comets.

Authors often have weird experiences with fans, publishing companies, authors, or other famous people. What’s your ‘weird author story?’

I think it’s funny when people learn that I write novels and I can tell that I’ve been enshrouded in an aura of mystique. Pupils dilate and they get a reverent expression … they’re in the presence of an AUTHOR. I try to bring them to their senses in a humorous way.

What else would you like to tell us?I suppose I could mention that I decided to license the books Creative Commons because I was inspired by Nina Paley and her animated movie, Sita Sings the Blues, which she originally licensed CC-BY-SA Nina Paley didn’t make me think differently because I wasn’t thinking about publishing at that stage anyway. Her example just made me see the possibility. You could read my posts on her and her movie if you like. Creative Commons frees creators, their creations and the people who experience them. An example of this can be found on my website where I’m recording people’s CC licensed stories and making them available. You can imagine the obstacles that would get in the way of doing that with things under absolute copyright.

Thanks for doing this Jim – it was great to meet another scifi author along with Buzzard, and the Green Comet series! I hope you feel welcomed to read other author interviews for inspiration and insight.

Write on!

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Sci-Friday #209 – The Making of Tron – Scifi Movies

Enjoy some Sci-Friday with this discussion of old-school scifi movies in ‘The Making of Tron.’ This homage to imagination and innovation is nothing short of remarkable – enjoy!



Here are some more fun facts about Tron:

The film was disqualified from receiving an Academy Award nomination for special effects, because the Academy felt at the time that using computer generated effects was “cheating”.The state-of-the-art computer used for the film’s key special effects had only 2MB of memory and 330MB of storage.The MCP’s original form is shown using an Oliveri typewriter – most likely a model 3, produced from 1902-1907.Although apparently it’s a minor detail in the plot, (at around 25 mins) MCP reveals to Dillinger that it was planning a coup d’état against Pentagon and Kremlin for the next week, because “I’m bored with corporations” in MCP’s words. It alleges not only that it’s 2415 times more intelligent after Dillinger created it, but that it would be 900 to 1,200 times more efficient that any human being. It implies that when (at around 1h 26 mins) Flynn jumps into MCP to give Tron the chance to defeat it, they not only beat it, but save the world from what would have been the first cyber-terrorist attack.

One more interesting takeaway that I want you kiddies to focus on: digital VFX hasn’t lowered the cost of filmmaking. The original Tron cost $17M in 1982 ($55M in 2024 dollars) compared to $170M to make Tron:Legacy in 2010 ($244M in 2024 dollars)!

Remember what I said earlier, about ‘too much of a good thing?’ There you go – the original Tron was and still is a ground-breaking scifi film whereas Tron 3 … yeah, who knows.

So yes, I love Tron – if that wasn’t obvious already. I hope you enjoyed this dive through scifi movie history. Please feel welcomed to dive down the rabbit hole of every other Sci-Friday I’ve published in the past couple years. Have a great weekend!

 

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