those who ignore history…

What is it with flying cars? They feature in every retro-future you ever saw. And the “prediction” that they will come to market is repeated at ever-diminishing intervals. Latest such comes from Sir Clive Sinclair, who is a bit retro himself, I suppose.
Once again, I feel myself reaching toward to the J. G. Ballard shelf [...]

Numbers are good

One strong prejudice which has been reinforced by wading through a tiny fraction of the material around on decarbonising energy is that numbers are good. Not ultra-precise ones, just reasonable estimates, with all the right reasons included.
David J Mackay at Cambridge shares that view, as a rather excitable post at The Register describes at length. [...]

Climate change – present and future?

Explaining to people why it is hard writing about climate change and energy supply in the Rough Guide drafts, I find myself saying that whenever I seem to have a useful thought (not that often…) it seems to be immediately overtaken by events.                         [...]

Daring to dream

Those professional optimists at the Global Business Network are trying to help everyone else be more optimistic by working with the Sci-Fi Channel. The first fruits of their work is a report, Dare to Dream, available here.                                     [...]

A day in the future…

I keep reading that science fiction is harder to write than it used to be because… you know, we’re living in the future now.
And this is how it is. The other day I wheeled my bike out of my comfortable Victorian house, pedalled down to Bristol’s handsome old central library and got a [...]

Singularity update

Haven’t done much linking to new stuff, but must do it for the excellent IEEE Spectrum’s special on the singularity, here,
an excellent roundup of enthusiasts, sceptics and middle of the roaders discussing what is, I suppose, the ultimate prediction – in the sense that nothing which might happen after can be predicted, by definition. [...]