A body of studies promises to explain a lot. In politics, people are willing to believe misinformation that reinforces their beliefs. And correcting misinformation sometimes seems to reinforce it. Examples exist from both major U.S. parties, so let’s pick on the Democrats for a change:
[Yale poli-scientist John] Bullock found a similar effect when it came to misinformation about abuses at the U.S. detention facility at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Volunteers were shown a Newsweek report that suggested a Koran had been flushed down a toilet, followed by a retraction by the magazine. Where 56 percent of Democrats had disapproved of detainee treatment before they were misinformed about the Koran incident, 78 percent disapproved afterward. Upon hearing the refutation, Democratic disapproval dropped back only to 68 percent — showing that misinformation continued to affect the attitudes of Democrats even after they knew the information was false.
Based upon conversations with the WTC survivors, researchers from the Universities of Greenwich, Ulster and Liverpool concluded that more than half of them delayed evacuating because they wanted to gather information about what was happening; those intent on getting more info about the attacks before exiting took between 1.5 and 2.6 times longer to begin evacuating than others; and congestion in stairways was the main cause of delay in getting out, even though the towers were less than one-third occupied that day.
Taken in context, Zawahiri’s latest memos seem to indicate that al-Qaeda’s oft-cited “central front” is a persistent if increasingly difficult management challenge for the movement’s front office.
When I imagine what life will be like in ten, twenty, or thirty years time one of the few things I’m pretty certain of is that every flat surface will eventually turn into a video screen of some kind (and will probably be used to advertise stuff).
To commemorate Esquire’s 75th Anniversary, we have published an experimental limited-edition of the October 2008 issue that features something called electronic ink, with moving words and flashing images … It is available at some major bookstores and newsstands.
The most elegantly-described science fictional use of electronic ink-like display technologies that comes to mind are the “mediatrons” in Neal Stephenson’s Diamond Age. Described here:
…a thin film of nanobar coupled with a layer of rod-logic nanocomputers and light filters to produce a flexible graphic displayer in the form of a piece of paper, a poster or even wallpaper. Cheap and plentiful, with a higher pixel-count than the human can resolve…
Scientists working on the world’s biggest machine are being besieged by phone calls and emails from people who fear the world will end next Wednesday, when the gigantic atom smasher starts up….
Such is the angst that the American Nobel prize winning physicist Frank Wilczek of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has even had death threats, said Prof Brian Cox of Manchester University, adding: “Anyone who thinks the LHC will destroy the world is a t—.”
Fermilab plans a pajama party to celebrate the start of the experiment.
Another month, another inadequate pay-cheque. More empty days and suffocating nights alleviated only by cheap hooch, regrettable takeaways and the occasional all-too-brief orgasm. This is your life… and this is the return of Blasphemous Geometries.
When I first heard the news about Russia’s invasion of Georgia last Friday (not coincidentally via Twitter rather than the mainstream media), my immediate thought was “well, you timed that neatly, didn’t you?”
Listening to this morning’s typically vapid radio news bulletins here in the UK (fifteen seconds on Georgia, two minutes on the Olympics, two minutes on soccer) it appears to be a pretty effective tactic, albeit one that exploits our natural tendency to ignore bad news unless we feel it affects us directly.
The only remotely pleasant side to this line of thought is the possibility that one day wars will be fought entirely through media channels, obviating the need for the death and displacement of thousands of innocent people. Yeah, so I’m a dreamer. Sue me. [image from Wikimedia Commons]
It’s impressive how far new media has come and how important it is becoming in all parts of modern life. In addition to the myriad of blogs, news sites and internet radio stations contributing to the discussion of pretty much anything from politics to skateboarding, we have the emergence of the online video.
Following her great post on the future of speculative fiction magazines and discussions with the editor of Clarkesworld, Erin Hoffman has created a wiki page to accumulate ideas about a new business model. This is a key time where if things are done right we can create an online medium that benefits writers, editors and readers, unlike the horrible DRM-filled Amazon Kindle model. Sooner or later a good method of reading ebooks is going to take off, whether it’s a Sony Reader, an Iphone or something new. Thinking about a new model now means speculative fiction will be in a position of power when that time comes.
I like the idea of tipjars on stories, or using a Radiohead-style pay what you like subscription model. Magazines available bimonthly for a $2 minimum with the option to give more, for example. Having discussions about stories with the author, tuckerisation and bonus stories are all ways of making the purchase more appealing but there are more options out there.
There will be a sweet spot of pricing that makes a short story or a magazine an impulse buy, much like a 99c mp3. Making the fiction freely available in multiple formats with no DRM is vital. A Last.fm style chart or a facebook ebook application where people could display and read their favourite stories might be a success - people love to show off to their peers what they’re into.
Having sold VoIP stalwart Skype to Google Ebay (and being paid more than they should have for it), founders Niklas Zennstrom and Janus Friis have been quietly working away on Joost, an online television program. This week the program went free to all interested downloaders (previously you had to be invited to the beta). The content available depends on the region but the UK gets a great selection of films from Paramount including Star Trek Insurrection and the absolute classic Chinatown, which I think has one of the best screenplays of all time. There’s also content from Aardman Animation, Happy Tree Friends, CSI and scifi show Lexx, among others.
I think what confuses some people is the fact that Science Fiction isn’t really a distinct genre unto itself anymore. It’s mutated into dozens of sub-genres and movements, liberally exchanged genetic material with Fantasy and social satirism and burrowed into the internet in the form of hundreds of thousands of scifi and fantasy-oriented blogs, galleries, fanzines, vlogs, podcasts and short story webzines.
Given that you read Futurismic (which is a paying market for fiction, and will continue to be one just as soon as we can get the site aesthetics fixed up so as to present the stories the way they deserve), it’s an easy to assume that you’re in alignment with that opinion. But maybe not - what do you think? Is there still a definable body to science fiction, or is it more of a conceptual bundle that various forms of entertainment partake of in varying degrees? [Image by Hiro Sheridan]
Of course, I’m not suggesting that bloggers are inherently less prone to sensationalising a subject … but I’m increasingly finding the web is a better news source, precisely because I can get a broad selection of angles on a story with ease. How about you?
February’s story is now available; Chris Nakashima-Brown spins us a near-future post-mediapocalyptic mind-bender about celebrity, freedom, America and meaning in “R.P.M.”.
R.P.M.
by Chris Nakashima-Brown
The 1994 Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS hurtles south down Cahuenga after midnight, jury-rigged engine exhaling the throaty rasp of an emphysemic Olympian. Urban interceptor, an abandoned rental reclaimed as instrument of revolution.
Or at least that’s what 0z0 said the night before as he drilled holes in the muffler to amplify the effect.
Carrie Vaughn’s “Real City” is a modern Hollywood fable set in a post-post-modern future.
Real City
by Carrie Vaughn
Stalking around the party without her referencing link flashing names and stats at her felt a little like being drunk. It was Cass’s way of making an adventure for herself. Off-balance, senses muffled, she indulged in self-induced paranoia. Smiling faces, links hooked to their ears, nodded in greeting as she passed. They all knew who she was, thanks to their links, and she hadn’t a damn clue about two-thirds of the people here. She was working blind and stupid, and it made her giddy, along with the glass of wine she’d had.
It seemed like most of Hollywood had shown up for the RealCity Productions launch party. Probably because they all wanted to be able to say they’d been here and known the company was doomed from the start.
Vim had said they had to have a party to manufacture hype.
“We don’t have the money for that kind of party,” she’d told him.
NEW FICTION: THE RIGHT PEOPLE by Adam Rakunas: So, it’s Wednesday after school, delivery time, and we’re doing the usual: I’m checking invoices on my cell, and G.R.’s violating the safety parameters of our merchandise.
“Gene,” he says, gripping the pickup’s wheel with one sweaty hand and his cell in the other, “check this out.” G.R. thumbs the keypad until his torso makes
A body of studies promises to explain a lot. In politics, people are willing to believe misinformation that reinforces their beliefs. And correcting misinformation sometimes seems to reinforce it. Examples exist from both major U.S. parties, so let’s pick on the Democrats for a change:
Imagine trying to exit a burning building.
It’s not quite pitchfork-bearing mobs, 
When I first heard the news about Russia’s invasion of Georgia last Friday (not coincidentally via Twitter rather than the mainstream media), my immediate thought was “well, you timed that neatly, didn’t you?”
Via a number of places (though I saw it at 
An article on the Business Week website suggests that 
