Sarah Connor runs for cover

This terrifying prediction courtesy of the BBC World Service:

Dr Kaku believes robots could become as intelligent as monkeys this century.

Great. On top of everything else I have to look forward to, I can add robomonkeys flinging cyberpoo.

Reliable sources

Pakistani floods, more floods in China, and Russia's heatwave are all due to global warming. They really, really are. The Telegraph can prove it, too. How? By stating that the claim is supported by that sterling trio of unimpeachable authority: the IPCC, the Met Office, and the University of East Anglia.

Next up: Bernie Madoff gives investment advice.

Radio... of the FUTURE!

Via Paleo Future.

I ache, therefore I am

Andrew Brown over at The Guardian hefts a bucket of cold water and points out that, publicity to the contrary, robots don't have emotions. Thank God.

Share and enjoy.

Newspad, PADD, & iPad

Ars technica looks at how Star Trek foresaw the iPad back in 1987.

Maybe so, but Sir Arthur C. Clarke and Stanley Kubrick beat them by 19 years.

Review: The Machine Stops

Another Quill & The Keyboard post is up.

Lord Summerisle, call your service

Mark your calendars, because this Saturday and Sunday it's Weekend Without Oil. Yes, get out your whale oil lamps and beaver pelts and party (please forgive the noun as verb) like it's 1860. Over at Ricochet, James Lileks looks at the 11 "actions" that we're called upon to "commit" in the service of Blessed Gaia to conserve oil to delete the Industrial Revolution... I have no idea what they're doing.

So far, the organisers claim to have pledges to save some 215 barrels of oil. How that's calculated is a mystery. For my part, I plan to do my bit this weekend offsetting the offsets. Diesel locomotive pulls and giant flamethrower competitions, anyone?

Learning from: Reading

New Quill & The Keyboard post is up.

When you're dead, you're screwed

The screw-in coffin; not as undignified as the giant trebuchet to catapult the deceased out to sea, but a pretty darn close second.

Upuaut-2

Somehow I doubt that Sarah Connor is hiding in the Great Pyramid of Giza.

Top Gear USA

It looks as though there's going to be an American version of Top Gear after all. They're adhering to the original format (not surprising, since they had to pay for it), but I still have my doubts about how good it's going to be. The presenters all seem a bit young and are obviously aimed more at the thirtysomething teenager with a "man cave" demographic rather than middle-aged petrolheads who are perfectly aware of how boring they are.

Also, it's going to air on the History Channel, which theses days has about as much to do with history as the Sci-Fi Channel did with science fiction before they had a burst of honesty and changed their name. That sort of identity crisis doesn't help anyone.

Patricia Neal 1926-2010

The actress Patricia Neal passes on at the age of 84. She had a considerable career, but I'll always remember her for two roles:

That of the heroine in The Day the Earth Stood Still; the sci-fi classic about an alien who comes to Earth to hurl abuse at us and urges mankind to embrace the ways of peace or be incinerated by giant killer robots.

And The Fountainhead; the most incredible mixture of cod philosophy and over-wrought sexual fantasy ever to see the light of day.

Brave New World

Aldous Huxley's warning from history.

Aldous Huxley interview (Part 3)

New Quill & The Keyboard post is up.

Undersea Kingdom: Chapter 3 - Arena of Death

Children of the Stones

Aldous Huxley interview (Part 2)

New Quill & The Keyboard post is up.

Where do you get your ideas?

New Quill & The Keyboard post is up; including part two of the Aldous Huxley interview.

The future that never happened

Will Ferrel takes on... the FUTURE!

Here's a sample:

It’s the year 2010: Why hasn’t anyone designed an edible fake beard? I don’t know how many times I’ve arrived late to some high-class function and the kitchen has just closed. Guess what? I’m starving, but there’s nothing to eat. How many time have I thought to myself, “Boy, I wish I could eat my fake beard.” I will admit that on a rare occasion, I have tasted fake beard. Take it from me: terrible. It’s time for someone to invent a delicious, edible fake beard… and make millions.

As the kids say, read the whole thing.

Aldous Huxley interview (Part 1)

New Quill & The Keyboard post is up.