Comments for Future Tense - Production Notes

Comment on More of what you have to say by Tim Martin

Tim Martin — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 00:23:24 +0000

Science fiction is alive and well, for example the film industry has embraced the genre with many big budget films being SF. However, I believe we need more.
As a civilisation we are badly damaging our environment. Perhaps as a civilisation we can deal with the environmental challenges successfully but this is very uncertain. If we value the survival of our species we should be getting off this single planet and learning to live elsewhere in our solar system too. SF is our inspiration for this, a pull factor whereas overpopulation, climate change, etc are push factors. SF may be the inspiration that saves human kind from itself.

I own a science fiction bookshop so have a vested interest, but the above is a non trivial argument.

Comment on Sci-fi start to the new year… by John

John — Wed, 26 Jan 2011 23:11:55 +0000

It was interesting to hear Annalee’s comments about the possibility of a centralize computer controlling traffic having a software fault. The internet distributes computing to provide redundancy. A self organizing distributed system could be used to control traffic, however it’s behavior might be hard to predict under all conditions. I think there are also more sinister problems, such as EMF pulses from nuclear explosions or solar winds (?) as featured on Catalyst that could knock out electronic devices. The more dependent we are on electronic devices to control our infrastructure the more vulnerable we are to such attacks or natural events.

Comment on Sci-fi start to the new year… by Niall

Niall — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 01:12:08 +0000

well, seeing as my voice is apparently going to be aired, I think it’s a champion idea I’ll be interested to see how the whole gig unfolds.

Comment on This might be the new Future Tense theme… by Niall

Niall — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 01:09:43 +0000

I’d give it a #4, but seriously, why do ppl stress over ‘themes’?

Comment on This might be the new Future Tense theme… by James Dellow

James Dellow — Mon, 22 Nov 2010 01:07:25 +0000

You need to get these guys to help you!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3iysSJ51sRc

Comment on Sci-fi start to the new year… by James Dellow

James Dellow — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 01:35:42 +0000

Kevin Grazier sounds interesting.

However, can I put a vote in now for you to interview William Gibson and Iain Banks?

Banks is interesting, because in his books there is a concept of a society that free of resource constraints (the Culture). Could be something in that around science fiction that is based on lack of resources vs that where there are no constraints.

Also, with Gibson – interesting quote here: “Gibson isn’t writing about the future anymore, as he did in Neuromancer. He is writing about the present as if it were the future — as if he were a time traveler to whom everything seems fresh and new and strange. (Or as if he were a shy, orphaned kid from a tiny town in the Appalachians.) This, more than an ability to make educated guesses about the future, is his gift. He’s the first to point out what he got wrong in Neuromancer: nobody in the book has a cell phone, for example. And cyberspace hasn’t turned out to be much of a space at all — it remains stubbornly two-dimensional, trapped in the flat plane of the browser. If anything, it has entered our space, via mobile devices and augmented reality, rather than the other way round.” http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2015775,00.html

Comment on This might be the new Future Tense theme… by RNFutureTense

RNFutureTense — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 01:28:28 +0000

Yes, well at least that’s on the decent side of the ledger (just). James I have to tell you some of the alternatives sounded like the soundtrack to ‘Boogie Nights’.(Antony)

Comment on This might be the new Future Tense theme… by James Dellow

James Dellow — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 01:25:08 +0000

Hmm. Might just scrape in at a 4 right now. Can you speed it up?

Comment on Sci-fi start to the new year… by RNFutureTense

RNFutureTense — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 22:51:36 +0000

Thanks James and Daniel. Some great suggestions. Like you James, we’re interested in the second option as well. Just thought it would be good to look at sci-fi as a predicter of trends and its link to real science. Did a great interview yesterday with a fellow named Kevin Grazier who works for NASA on the Casinni Mission and was also the science advisor to Battlestar Galactica. (Antony)

Comment on Sci-fi start to the new year… by Daniel

Daniel — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 11:08:36 +0000

Not sure what slant you are going to take, but probably worth tracking down Steve Eley and the Escape Pod audio podcast.. been doing some pretty good things for scifi short stories for a few years now..