Before I got a design degree in strategic foresight and innovation, I got my first Master’s with a thesis on Japanese animation, cyborg theory, and fan culture. The connection between these two degrees? Their focus on technology, early adopters, and the changing face of copyright. During my first grad school stint, I was considered a […]
PIPA, Pirates, Profit, and Pop Culture Read More »
I wrote this for a market that I was unaware didn’t pay. I figured that as long as it was written for free, I might as well publish it to my own site: Lately, it seems like everything wants to be a person. Corporations. Blastocysts. Personhood is the new black. So if brainless clusters of
5 New Candidates for Personhood Read More »
The swell chaps at Angry Robot Books (AKA my publishers) have posted the premise of vN: Amy Peterson is a self-replicating humanoid robot. For the past five years, she has been grown slowly as part of a mixed organic/synthetic family. She knows very little about her android mother’s past, so when her grandmother arrives and
The nominations for the Hugo Awards are open, and if you like, you could nominate my work for a couple of things: Best Novelette: The Education of Junior Number 12 Best Fan Writer: For my work at Tor.com Naturally, it goes without saying that I think you should nominate Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism,
If you’re feeling generous… Read More »
This supercut, called “Raiders of the Lost Archives,” details the decades of adventure serials that inspired George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, and Lawrence Kasdan to make Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. On the left side of the frame is the 1981 film, and on the right are clips from various adventure films
The Art of the Indy-pendent Film Read More »
As a person who’s paid to imagine futures based on current trends, I spend a lot of time thinking about those trends. The one that sticks out for me this year is: power outages. Consider the signals: Osama bin Laden. Gaddafi. Kim Jong-Il. Silvio Berlusconi. Dominique Strauss-Kahn. Rupert Murdoch. Julian Assange. Steve Jobs. The men
2011: The year the power went out Read More »
From this piece by Umair Haque in, of all places, The Harvard Business Review: …So consider this: when you fail, and fail big — forgive. Forgive the people around you. Forgive yourself. Examine the past, but don’t let it imprison you. You can dwell on your failure for years, and turn a trauma into a
Words to remember in the New Year Read More »
There must have been something in the tubes last week, because I found three really excellent pieces about gender and feminist concerns that really stuck with me as I procrastinated on finishing the edits to vN. Given that the novel has a female protagonist for much of the story, you can see why I might
Three good pieces on gender Read More »
I apologize for the lack of posts, lately. I’m wrapping up edits on vN, a process that’s been complicated by a 1.5-week-long battle with the flu, bronchitis, and an allergic reaction to meds. (Thankfully, I was well cared-for throughout all of it.) But to make up for it, I have a new story available (for
Story: “The Education of Junior Number 12” Read More »
No, really. It’s not all security, all the time. For example, my latest at Tor.com, on why the Akira adaptation is a big deal. Snip: One of Akira’s distinguishing characteristics is that none of its characters ever gets to be the hero for very long. Kaneda is careless. Tetsuo is weak. The story gives both
I still write about anime, too. Read More »