Warning: Spoiler alert! If you haven’t seen 2001: A Space Odyssey, plot spoilers abound in this post. Proceed only if you already know how this film turns out. Let’s take a look at the computing landscape that existed in 1968. It was dominated by the IBM 360, which
So much of what happens vaporizes into nothingness, assuring that most of our history is forgotten and obscured, the classic "mists of history." Some omissions we regret, like what our grandparents' childhood was like or what the names of their parents even were. However, there are those
A genealogical orphan is not someone without parents, but someone whose ancestors left no footprints in the record, leaving their descendants stranded in time. Considering this, I definitely qualify as such an orphan. I know my grandparents well, but after that it gets a bit hazy, since I can only
Monday, February 14, 2203 It has been a running meme for as long as I could remember that artificial intelligence would eventually annihilate the human race. We all anticipated a scenario straight out of Terminator 2, where Skynet goes medieval on every warm-blooded creature in sight. Constant tales of
Bard College has a remarkable summer program called SummerScape. Since 1991, each August the festival has featured a major composer. Not only is his or her music played, but works by other contemporaneous composers are also presented. In addition, each concert features a pre-performance lecture, with expert panel discussions
October had arrived, bringing Halloween and our annual tradition of turning our home into a welcoming stop for the local trick-or-treaters. My wife and I spent the afternoon preparing the treats. We liked to use those little paper bags and load them with treats such as Kit Kats,
A well-known saying is that news is what happens to news reporters. As someone who writes online, I guess this applies to me, too. The "news" in question is what has happened at my local movie theater. Years ago, well before COVID, the parking lot was filled
I had just finished middle school that summer during the 1973 Watergate hearings, and I remember the astonishment at the revelation of the tapes by Alexander Butterfield. But my memory of this event is comically wrong, and if you had asked me what I recalled before I researched this article,
It is a cruel twist of fate to be born at the wrong time. Some individuals are confronted with inspirations that are far ahead of their era (see my satire on Washington's Dream). One well-known example is Charles Babbage (1791–1871). He observed that calculating tables for
Perhaps the most memorable scene from Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol is the arrival of Marley's Ghost. Marley worked alongside Scrooge and passed away years before. Unfortunately for Mr. Marley, he was forced to walk the netherworld constricted by suffocating chains—the spiritual and moral debt
A Top Ten Firm is Frustrated Their Gen Z Staff Don’t Know How to Use Phones to Speak to Other Humans — Going Concern Headline, April 1, 2025 He was a tough guy. About 25 years old, the wiry suspect sat in the interrogation room of the police station, staring
Okay, you’re at a party and someone says to you, "You know, Sherlock Holmes didn’t use deduction; he used induction." You smile courteously because you already know that and politely dismiss it as being overly pedantic. But since you are not at a cocktail party dodging
One thing I always wondered was: if you win the lottery, aren’t you immediately in danger? The whole world knows you won, like, $500 million, so what’s to stop bad actors from showing up and forcibly collecting their share? Nothing, as we see below: * A 2016 winner of
The pandemic was six years ago—a somewhat faded memory, but not forgotten. It was a time of isolation and frustration as governments around the world ordered lockdowns. This hit musicians especially hard. Not only were gigs and concerts canceled, but a means of deeply personal expression was stripped away.
My friend Bill, a retired actuary, invited me to his garage workshop. He was excited about something and wanted me to come right away to see it. “No one in human history has ever done this!” he yelled over the phone. Balding with white hair on both sides of his
I have a special gift: I can read minds. Not only that, but in the right situation, I can sense the hopes and fears of the person I’m talking to, feelings often hidden from view. Yet, these feelings are absolutely clear to me. And the best part is that
Future, the entity who shapes the future for all of us, was having a bit of a crisis. She was worried that the events she set in motion were either too predictable or too far-fetched to be believable. She wanted her creations to hit a sweet spot: predictable enough
In my book “Immortality Is Really Forever,” an undeveloped society is just barely in the agrarian stage. The main character, the immortal Mathew Sella, introduces a cart to shift the burden of transport off human backs, thereby ruining the livelihood of "carriers," those hired to carry cargo: Why
When I first heard of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, I assumed it was over for Ukraine. Clearly, I thought, there was no way Ukraine could fight the Russian bear, and even if they did hold out, Russia would simply overwhelm them with waves and waves of soldiers. And I
Years ago, I attended a job seminar designed to help job seekers find work. After speaking for a while, the presenter made an observation that has always stuck with me: "Of all the things we talked about today, the most important tool you will use is your Rolodex."
Satire is a sort of glass, wherein beholders do generally discover everybody's face but their own; which is the chief reason for that kind of reception it meets in the world, and that so very few are offended with it. – Jonathan Swift, preface to The Battle of the
I hate tailgaters. They are the bane of my existence. I generally stay in the slow lane when I am on the New York State Thruway, ground zero for tailgating. However, even though I drive at a steady, modest pace, there are those who are just too slow. So sometimes
What do we actually mean when we say "elite"? It’s a word bandied about but weakly defined. I would say it’s someone who has status, ensconced fairly high up in one of our many human hierarchies. Money helps, but it isn’t necessary—status within a
People Are Finally Reading The Odyssey—After 3000 Years. Christopher Nolan and Matt Damon got people to do what teachers never could. —Wall Street Journal Headline, July 18, 2026 Things are getting really crazy. That alone is not a news flash, but what is new is that it’s crazy