The Future And You
Ideas and opinion about the future based on verifiable facts of today.
 
The Future And You -- June 29, 2011

Gail Z. Martin, Emillie P. Bush, Jim S. Bernheimer and Theresa Bane are our featured guests.

Topic: Writing for the Web is radically different from writing for print. This episode explores the down and dirty facts of those differences. For example: its immediacy (and the dangers of that immediacy); how it is used, misused, tweaked and manipulated; how it can be promoted and cross promoted; how what is written stays available for years; examples of people who have mastered its power to the benefit of their careers; as well as how to get started and how to get large numbers of people to read what you have written.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 29, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 35 minutes]. This is the first half of a discussion panel recorded before a live audience on June 4, 2011 in Charlotte North Carolina at the SF&F convention ConCarolinas. (The second half will be presented next week.)

News item: Skinbrain (Cerebrodermus Fantastica), your host's new novel, is selling very well and has received its first review. Joseph S. gave it five stars and titled his review: "Great Book." His review reads: "With outstanding attention to detail, Mr. Cobb puts you right in the middle of the action from the beginning. If you're looking to escape into the future for a few hours, and enjoy a great SF read, this book is for you."

Direct download: TFAY_2011_6_29.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

The Future And You -- June 22, 2011

Nancy Kress (award winning science fiction author) is our featured guest.

Topics: how the great ebook stampede going on now within the publishing industry is affecting her and her novels (she is working to get her earlier books up on the Kindle); the anti-vaccination movement; the growing political struggles over fresh water; extending our healthy years; TV cameras in public places and intersections which are leading to a loss of privacy; the future of robots; stem cell research; gene sequencing and synthesis; Small Pox and other plagues; extreme life extension; The Singularity; human augmentation for IQ and for memory recall; the possibility of a new space race because of the Chinese going to the moon; as well as her advice to all young people.

Nancy Kress is a science fiction author who tends to write technically realistic stories set in a fairly near future. Her fiction often involves genetic engineering, and, to a lesser degree, artificial intelligence. She has written more than 20 books and several hundred short stories. Her work has won four Nebula awards and two Hugos. She participated in the 2006 annual meeting of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency in San Diego. And she has appeared on TV shows on Fox and the Discovery Channel concerning the future of the human race.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 22, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 41 minutes].

News item: Ten days ago your host's new novel Skinbrain (Cerebrodermus Fantastica) was released on the Amazon Kindle. Here is a one sentence description of its story: A runaway teenage girl suffers many dangers as she: falls in love with a criminal, becomes part of a murderous gang, makes an enemy of a psychopath, travels to alien worlds, meets aliens of many different types, makes first contact with an unknown alien race, and tries to save one alien from torture and death.

Direct download: TFAY_2011_6_22.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 3:52am EDT

The Future And You -- June 15, 2011

Michael A. Stackpole (New York Times best selling author) is today's featured guest.

Topics: Artificial intelligence verses artificial crazy; the rise of robots and how we will develop relationships and affections for them including romance and love; the possibility that marrying a robot will go through the same controversies we have today concerning gay marriage; extreme human longevity; human augmentation for life extension verses augmentation for improved senses or IQ; authors he knows who write by speaking into voice recognition software instead of tapping on a keyboard; the spreading loss of privacy with video cameras in intersections and public places; the value of taking a vacation from being connected to phones and the Internet; connecting the Internet directly into the human brain; as well as the BBC, Mensa, and the sceptical community. He also mentioned that he does weekly chats with authors inside the virtual world of Second Life.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 15, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 35 minutes].  This is part two of a two hour interview recorded using Skype on May 17, 2011.

Michael A. Stackpole is a science fiction and fantasy author best known for his Star Wars and Battletech books. Begining in 1977, he worked as a designer of role-playing games for various gaming companies. In the 1980s he began designing computer games for Coleco and Interplay Productions, such as Bard's Tale III, Wasteland, Star Trek: 25th Anniversary and Star Trek: Judgment Rites. He also created the role-playing game Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes, which provided the game mechanics for Wasteland. In 1987 he began writing novels set in the BattleTech universe, and became one of the most popular authors in that genre. He was then selected to write a number of novels in the Star Wars universe. He is also a popular podcaster, essayist, speaker and has an asteroid named after him.

News Item: This week my latest novel was released on the Amazon Kindle. Skinbrain (Cerebrodermus Fantastica) is a hard science fiction story which incorporates most of the topics we have discussed on The Future And You during the last five years. 

You need not have a Kindle to read Skinbrain. A free app is offered for nearly every type of smart phone which allows that phone to mimic a Kindle.  Likewise a free downloadable program allows any computer to mimic a Kindle. Additionally, the Kindle allows the first thousand words or so of every novel to be read for free. So, if you would, please take a look at the opening scene of Skinbrain. Thank you.

Direct download: TFAY_2011_6_15.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:00am EDT

The Future And You -- June 7, 2011

Nine diverse interviews from ConCarolinas 2011.

Gathered from locations scattered throughout the Hilton Hotel in Charlotte NC during the weekend of ConCarolinas, these interviews provide trends and insight into what is happening behind the scenes in a wide variety of professions, interests, enthusiasms and fields. This collection is partly intended give you a sense of what is likely to come in the future, but also to provide you with a feel for the flavor of the annual convention.

Our guests today (with their topics) in the order in which they appear: 

David H. Lawrence XVII (of the TV show Heroes) decribes trends in acting and voice acting based on his personal expereinces. He also mentions two online services where voice actors can get jobs and those who need voice actors can hire them (voice123 and voices.com).

Addy Miller (an eleven year old actress) played the young Dakota Fanning in the movie The Secret Life of Bees;and the "Little Girl Zombie" on the new TV series The Walking Dead; and a murdered pageant girl who returns to haunt the paranormal investigators in the TV show Ghost Trek. She describes behind the scenes aspects of her work.

Nigel Sade (a professional fine artist) talks about trends in fine art, art collecting, artistic training and in the art profession.

Culio Defavio, Johannes Presley and John Martin (who were at the ConCarolinas Scavenger Hunt table) talk about trends in fandom, conventions, comicbooks and popular culture.

Scott Messer (of Empire Games) talks about trends in his industry--card games, board games and role playing games.

Jason "Spanky" Davis (a former radio audio engineer) talks about trends in commercial radio and TV. 

Djinn the Nytechylde (a beautiful costumer dressed as a drow--a dark elf--in bikini armor) describes trends in steampunk, vampires, and her work in Purgatory for Single Cell Productions

Warren Buff and Yair Goldberg (two con organizers promoting their two cons: Illogicon and StellarCon) cover trends in fandom, webcomics, cons, filk and popular culture.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 7, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 96 minutes].

ConCarolinas is a multi-genre multi-media convention which covers all manner of speculative fiction: science fiction, fantasy and horror. It hosts a variety of fandom related events and guests, including gaming, discussion panels, costume events, music events like Klingon Karaoke, a charity auction, SCA events, fan groups like the 501st Stormtroopers, Starfleet, and Klingon Assault Group, and something different every year.

Direct download: TFAY_2011_6_7.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 1:08am EDT

The Future And You -- June 1, 2011

Nancy Kress (award winning science fiction author) is our featured guest.

Topics: how genetic engineering is used as a fake issue to manipulate international trade and promote French isolationism; why she disagrees with Greenpeace on genetic engineering; and the massive life-saving achieved by producing insulin far more cheaply through genetic engineering than was possible using the former method of extraction from the pancreas of slaughtered animals. Also: her involvement in Sigma (the science fiction think tank); her years at an advertising agency; and her secret identity (and why she has one). 

Nancy Kress is a science fiction author who tends to write technically realistic stories set in a fairly near future. Her fiction often involves genetic engineering, and, to a lesser degree, artificial intelligence. She has written more than 20 books and several hundred short stories. Her work has won four Nebula awards and two Hugos. She participated in the 2006 annual meeting of the Defense Advanced Research Project Agency in San Diego. And she has appeared on TV shows on Fox and the Discovery Channel concerning the future of the human race.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 1, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 43 minutes].

Direct download: TFAY_2011_6_1.mp3
Category:podcasts -- posted at: 12:25am EDT