The Science Fiction Review – Page 6 – Various reviews related to Science Fiction in books, movies, TV, and games

The Humble Indie Bundle #2The Humble Indie Bundle #2

December 17, 2010| Stettin| 0 Comment| 8:50 pm

Earlier this year I posted about the original Humble Indie Bundle. Well the guys that brought us the first one are back just in time for the holidays! The games this time are Braid, Cortex Command, Machinarium, Osmos, and Revenge of the Titans. I have had Braid for a while and liked it. It’s platformer with time travel. I just got Osmos a couple weeks ago from a friend through a Steam multipack sale. Osmos is a great game if you like physics and casual play. Check out the official sites to try before you buy if you want. Either way, it is a great deal. Help support indie developers and charities this holiday season!

The Humble Indie Bundle #2

The original bundle users got a Steam unlock code in the mail. Check out the Wolfire blog if you missed that email.

-edit-

They just announced you can get Bundle #1 if you donate above the average AND activate both on Steam! All those that donated before the announcement get Bundle #1 regardless of how much they donated. How cool is that?

Sunshine (2007) Directed by Danny BoyleSunshine (2007) Directed by Danny Boyle

December 12, 2010| Stettin| 0 Comments| 3:48 pm

Sunshine is another movie I noticed on a “must watch” Sci-Fi movie list. The premise of the movie is that the Sun is dying, leaving the Earth in a permanent winter. A group of astronauts are riding on the back of a big bomb the equivalent size of Manhattan island. They are supposed to launch the bomb into the sun to kick start it back up to full brightness. Sounds simple enough, right? (more…)

New advances in Nanotechnology, should we be excited or scared?New advances in Nanotechnology, should we be excited or scared?

October 23, 2010| Stettin| 0 Comment| 10:43 am

I have been interested nanotechnology, or nanoscience as this video refers to it, for a very long time. If you have heard about nanotech, but haven’t seen any visuals, I highly recommend this video. It touches on properties at the nano scale both in nature and how we are developing our own new materials. They also touch on the development of nano machines. What worries me is for nanotech to become useful, they will probably have to develop self-replicating machines.

In one of my reviews a few years ago for The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson, he writes about Matter Compilers, usually referred to as an M.C. for short. That’s great right? We can just make whatever we want, any time we want! There are also little battles between autonomous nanobots called mites that break out. If I remember correctly, these massive battles on the nano scale result in a type of dust that pollutes the air and causes respiratory problems. That’s no good! There is a little excerpt on Google books that doesn’t really have any spoilers. It begins on the end of page 59 through page 61. Click through this link for the full text.

I can certainly see something like what Stephenson describes happening within our lifetimes. What do you think?

Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back silent movieStar Wars: The Empire Strikes Back silent movie

September 24, 2010| Stettin| 0 Comment| 8:57 pm

I just was sent this from a friend via StumbleUpon and enjoyed this. If you are a Star Wars fan, you will too.

Moon (2009) directed by Duncan JonesMoon (2009) directed by Duncan Jones

August 28, 2010| Stettin| 0 Comments| 2:01 pm

I remember sometime this year seeing Moon (2009) in a list of “must see” Sci-Fi films that were recently released. I had never heard of it, yet it seems to have had excellent reviews. The premise is that there are moon bases that harvest hydrogen energy and send it back to Earth to provide for 75% of the planet. Most of the operations are automated, however one person is needed to manage a base. I was worried at first because the story started out rather slow. Soon after I started to worry, the mysteries began to unfold and I was hooked. (more…)

Working from home gets a new lookWorking from home gets a new look

July 31, 2010| Stettin| 0 Comments| 5:14 pm

There have been quite a few companies that have explored letting employees work from home part time or even full time. Trevor Blackwell, founder of Anybots, is working on a technology that can make interacting with workers still physically at a building much easier. This seems to me to be an early step to a world like I saw in Surrogates. I’m always fascinated when I see science catching up with Sci-Fi. Check out the company’s promo video at the Anybots homepage.

Timequake by Kurt VonnegutTimequake by Kurt Vonnegut

July 11, 2010| Stettin| 2 Comments| 12:38 pm

This book was my first experience with writing by Kurt Vonnegut. His writing, at least in this book, is very original and unconventional. The “Timequake” according to the dust jacket is an event where on February 13th, 2001, everyone is thrust back to February 17th, 1991. Vonnegut treats this as a contraction of the Universe, not simply time travel in the traditional sense. In many time travel stories, the characters look for ways “to put right what once went wrong,” a la Quantum Leap. Vonnegut doesn’t give the characters in this story that opportunity. Everyone is forced to live their lives on autopilot, doing the exact same things they did before, but with the knowledge of what was to come. (more…)

Contact by Carl SaganContact by Carl Sagan

July 5, 2010| Stettin| 0 Comments| 4:08 pm

If I remember correctly, I saw Contact (the movie) in the theater when it came out. I enjoyed it and always wondered how it compared to the book. It turned out that my future wife owned the book, but I didn’t get around reading it until now. Of course movies rarely ever measure up to the novels they are based on, and this was no exception. Don’t get me wrong, the movie was good, however it just scratched upon the surface of what the novel contains. (more…)

2012 (2009) Directed by Roland Emmerich2012 (2009) Directed by Roland Emmerich

June 6, 2010| Stettin| 4 Comments| 10:04 am

Last weekend my wife and I watched 2012 with a couple of friends. We planned on making some chocolate martinis, and I have to say they definitely improved the movie watching experience. About a quarter of the way through the movie we were wondering when the introduction of new characters was going to end. Most of them are empty with no depth whatsoever. I can’t tell you anything about the main character’s ex-wife other than she divorced him and is now with a plastic surgeon. Don’t bother watching this if you are expecting a gripping story. (more…)

5 indie games, name your price to help developers and charity5 indie games, name your price to help developers and charity

May 7, 2010| Stettin| 0 Comment| 6:40 pm

A while back I came across this game called World of Goo that turned out to be well worth the $20 I paid for it. Now it is part of a special deal with 4 other games where you can name your price. As part of other indie packs, I already own two copies of World of Goo and one of Gish. I’m definitely going to check out the other 3 games. Proceeds go toward developers or charity depending on how you want to split it up. The sale ends 5/10/10

Check it out!

–update–

If you missed the deal, most of the games have now gone open source! Check out Aquaria, Gish, Penumbra, and Lugaru!