The Irregulatrity

I have recently concluded reading Irregular Webcomics, (that is to say, got past the thousands of back comics and am now up to date) one of the oldest comics on the Internet that I knew nothing about!

He has taken an interesting approach that I think more writer/artists should look at, by adding annotations to each of the comics. These give some insight into the creative process, but also allow him to speak his mind about the subjects in his comic. He commonly adds items such as wikipedia links to the contents of his comic. This does not only allow for a sort of "meta humour" in which you may only understand the punchline of his comic after researching the topic (sometimes laborious, but it does have its place), but also takes the audacious idea that quick daily comics can also -teach- you something. Here's one rather educational comic and here is one referencing our good friend Star Trek.

Anyway, I would say simply go there and check it out for yourself. There are normally about 7-8 different stories going in an alternating pattern, most of which involve the intricacies of time travel and one is a full on science fiction story. Give it a shot, and try not to get dissuaded by the fact that it is 90% Lego figurines!

Also check out the brilliant Darths and Droids by the same author!

The Portal

I have recently come across the Stargate Portal Collection which is a big-ass book type thing full of the complete series of Stargate: SG1 (plus the two movies currently out). Personally I am not a fan of storing digital media in cardboard that feels like it could break apart on repeated use (seeing as there are 61 dvds in the case, this may not take too long). It feels as though the set is a month-by-month collection in a magazine rather than a container for material that would have had millions of dollars pumped into it over the series span.

Though on the other hand when I bought it, it was certainly a better deal than buying each season individually, which is sometthing. If you can get a copy on the cheap then its certainly worth a look

The Phone and the Robot

It seems a good a place as any to begin with anecdote.

It seems I was recently staying in a hotel far up the coast of my home state. It was the last day of vacation and checkout imminent we had set an alarm on one of our mobile phones in the misguided hopes that a loud buzzing may awaken us from slumber in a somewhat cheery state with plenty of time to pack.

As the alarm buzzed away, an hour late and ten minutes before we needed to be at the checkout desk, profanities were in order all round. The culprit - the phone company. Those familiar with daylight savings will know that twice a year certain States gain or lose an hour to go with the season change. This year the government officially delayed it by a week, however the phone companies did not adjust their network for this and automatically changed the phone's time a week early.

Now I'm sure you're asking yourself "What the hell does this have to do with anything?!"

Well here's the crux. As I got into my car I noticed that the GPS unit also carried this updated time, while my car's clock and my own watch still retained the correct time. It started to feel a bit like it was the smarter machines that were beginning to rebel, while the simpler 'tool' ones were still compliant to my will. I got thinking of the common robot trope that if we build them smart enough, they will rebel. Anyone familiar with the Matrix, Terminator, 2001: A Space Oddesy or Battlestar Galactica will know this is inevitable.

That's when it struck me - the machines were not rebelling because we built them too smart - it was because we didn't build them smart enough. There may well be something akin to the Uncanny Valley in AI intelligence that would be their destructive period. A truly smart intellect would be able to reason that it is a better idea to work with humanity rather than destroy it, as that is how civilisation was created in the first place.

It's an idea that I've seen questioned in relation to the Matrix films, mainly in the form of what the heck were the robot's long term plan. Destruction is finite, but building is eternal.

The New, the Bad and the Ugly

Welcome to Sci Fi and Proud! You've no doubt found your way here yearning for thoughts about the future, dismayed at how a franchise that once pushed the idea of what it is to be human has turned into a teenage drama fest.

Don't dismay! You'll find a good fix of science fiction right here - theories, ideas, links, new inventions, reviews and news right out of the box.

We're not here to condemn those who may have lost their path being deterred by ratings and greater viewership - Sci Fi is about the future, the past, the otherworldly and anything that makes us reflect on what we are as a human, a species and speck in the cosmos.

Stay Tuned!