2005-10-16 14:52:32
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How to Build a Universe That Doesn't Fall Apart Two Days Later

Science fiction writers, I am sorry to say, really do not know anything. We can't talk about science, because our knowledge of it is limited and unofficial, and usually our fiction is dreadful. A few years ago, no college or university would ever have considered inviting one of us to speak. We were mercifully confined to lurid pulp magazines, impressing no one. In those days, friends would say me, "But are you writing anything serious?" meaning "Are you writing anything other than science fiction?" We longed to be accepted. We yearned to be noticed. Then, suddenly, the academic world noticed us, we were invited to give speeches and appear on panels and immediately we made idiots of ourselves. The problem is simply this: What does a science fiction writer know about? On what topic is he an authority?
Phillip K. Dick, um dos maiores escritores de ficção científica do mundo, autor dos contos e histórias que deram origem a filmes como Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report, Paycheck, entre outros, fala sobre o ofício. Vale a pena conferir.
2005-09-22 23:12:42
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Smart Mobs: How do we hear music?

Mary Farbood,a Ph.D. student at the MIT Media Lab,and Josh McDermott,a Ph.D. student in MIT's Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department,have been at work for the past year on a study designed to measure the degree to which perceptions of music vary from culture to culture, MIT news reports.
2005-07-28 11:40:38
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Boing Boing: New way to read on Mobile Devices

When I first tried RSVP reading, I felt overwhelmed. The words flashed on the screen to the beat of an unheard drum. I felt out of control. I couldn\'t pause and reflect after reading a sentence. But after five minutes or so, I got used to the ocular assault, and my mind seemed to shift into a different gear. By letting go, the words started flowing smoothly into my head. Because my eyes weren\'t shifting back and forth as they normally do when reading, everything but the words themselves faded away, and I found that I was actually enjoying the experience.