Geek Media Round-Up: February 8, 2010
Art
- Fandomania has posted a gallery of Lost fanart collected from around Deviant Art.
- Giagantor has posted a gallery of Minimalist Star Wars Galaxy Travel Posters.
- Six Revisions has posted a gallery of 30 Beautiful Artworks of Robots.
- Todd Lockwood has posted the amazing cover art for The Ragged Man.
Comics
- Topless Robot picks the The 5 Coolest and 5 Stupidest Superhero Weaknesses.
Free Fiction Round-Up: February 8, 2010
Audio Fiction and Podcasts
- Listen to “Catch ‘Em in the Act” by Terry Bisson at Tor.com.
- Listen to “Kiosk” by Bruce Sterling at Aural Delights (10:30 to 01:55:00).
- Listen to “Knotwork” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman at StarShip Sofa.
- Listen to “A Programic Approach to Perfect Happiness” by Tim Pratt.
- Listen to “Roadside Rescue” by Pat Cadigan at EscapePod.
- Listen to “The Queen’s Triplets” by Israel Zangwill at PodCastle.
- Listen to “Vilcabamba” by Harry Turtledove at Tor.com.
Novels and Preview Chapters
- Download the science fiction novel Haven by Justin Kemppainen in a variety of formats over at Smashwords.
- Paul Haines has released his novella “Wives” on his website. The story originally appeared in the Australian anthology X6.
- Read the first chapter of Black Magic Sanction by Kim Harrison, hitting shelves February 23rd.
This Day in Geek History: February 8
1672
Isaac Newton presents his first paper on the science of optics to the Royal Society in London, England. He was elected a member only the previous month, in recognition of his original design for the first reflecting telescope. The paper is a report regarding his study of the colors produced by prisms entitled “New Theory about Light and Colors.”
1692
A doctor in Salem Village, Massachusetts Bay Colony declares that three teenage girls are under domination of Satan. The declaration will precipitate the Salem witch trials.
1915
The silent film The Birth of a Nation, directed by D. W. Griffith, is released. The film will go on to become the highest-grossing film of the silent film era, but it will be remembered for introducing many innovations to the film industry that will later be considered fundamental film devices, including the close-up, night photography, parallel editing, and telling a story from multiple points of view. However, the film will be one of the most controversial in history due to its crass use of black face, its portrayal of racial violence, and its outright glorification of the Ku Klux Klan. Anticipating the controversy, Griffin screened the film for President Woodrow Wilson, who praised the film, calling it “history written in lightening,” but the film’s release will spark riots in Boston and Philadephia and eventually be banned in eight states, largely thanks to the efforts of the newly founded NAACP.
Read the rest of this entry » » »
Review: Freedom
Book: Freedom (TM)
ISBN-13: 978-0525951575
Author: Daniel Suarez
Series: Sequel to Daemon
Publisher: Dutton Adult
Genre: Cyberpunk / Techno-Thriller
Release: January 7, 2010
Length: 416 pages (Hardcover)
Tagline: “Everything is under control. Everything…”
Rating: A- (95/100)
Verdict
After the sheer brilliance of Daniel Suarez’s explosive debut, it was inevitable that his second book would fail to live up to it’s predecessor, but it’s surprisingly just how close Suarez has come to making lightning strike twice.
If possible, Freedom is actually more cerebral than Daemon, drifting away from the spy-thriller themes into the philosophies and economics of a revolutionary war story. The change provides a nice contrast to the first novel, but it does get a bit preachy at points. The result is that, while this book is an as much of an absolute must-read for computer geeks as its predecessor, the non-geek set is likely going to find this book hard to pallet.
-
Pros: Absolutely stupendous underlying concept. Fast-paced. More tech than a Bond film.
Cons: Cliche villains. Story is too broad in scope. Focus shifts from technology to economics. A touch preachy at time.
Synopsis
In Brief: The botnet set loose at the death of a famous gaming tycoon in the previous book has seized control of corporate networks around the globe. Now, agents recruited by the botnet are launching a second industrial revolution, forming communities with the aim of creating a network of sustainable economies, independent of the decaying capitalist systems of the world around them. But clandestine forces within the government, in collaboration with corrupt corporate interests, are plotting to seize control of the network and turn it to their own purposes.
Read the rest of this entry » » »
Geek Quote of the Day
There is a new science of complexity which says that the link between cause and effect is increasingly difficult to trace; that change (planned or otherwise) unfolds in non-linear ways; that paradoxes and contradictions abound; and that creative solutions arise out of diversity, uncertainty and chaos.
- - What’s Worth Fighting for Out There? by Andy Hargreaves and Michael Fullan, March 1998.
Geek Rant
Why has laser tag never risen to become a professional sport? That’s a sport I could watch. Who wouldn’t?! It would beat the hell out of football.
Geek Rant
You know those lines they chroma key onto the football field to explain the progress of the game? Line of scrimmage or whatever? How long do you think it’s going to be before some industrious television network starts projecting little video advertisements onto the field during the game?
