Idiots! Here Comes Book Burning

Posted in News, Rant, Technology on August 5th, 2009 by Dr. Warthan
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America’s entire science-fiction history in full of stories warning of a dystopian future where books are outlawed, art is destroyed, and the punishment for reading poetry is death.  Who ever though that having “electronics books” was a good idea?  Not me, and here’s the proof:

Kindle Deleted

Talk about irony. In an Orwellian moment, owners of Amazon’s Kindle discovered that their recently purchased copies of George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm had been deleted by Amazon. Apparently, a third-party retailer who specializes in selling public-domain books used Amazon’s self-service platform to sell copies of two Orwell titles. Unfortunately, those books aren’t public domain in the U.S.A. Read more »

Exponential Times

Posted in InterWebs, News, Technology on May 15th, 2009 by Dr. Warthan
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Fantastic video on the progression of information technology.  Example: It is estimated that a week’s worth of the New Your Times contains more information than a person was likely to come across in a lifetime in the 18th century.  Example: It is estimated that 4 exabytes (4.0×10^19) of unique information will be generated this year, which is more than the previous 5,000 years.

Art with Attention to Detail: Fail

Posted in Art, SteamPunk on April 21st, 2009 by Dr. Warthan
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The robot is interesting, and I like the train.  The double boiler implies a double fire-box, and the catwalk on the side is a nice touch.  But a steam locomotive requires fuel and water, always pulled right behind the engine; I don’t see that here.  Well, I don’t like it.  While nobody is going to question the giant robot, I think most SteamPunk fans have a good idea how a steam train works.  Attention to detail is important to me.  This is a fail, an example of what not to do.  More SteamPunk art.

robot_attacking_train