Mark Zuckerberg changed Facebook’s name to Meta last week – and launched a vision for his company that he claims will transform the way we interact with the internet and each other. So what exactly is the metaverse? And will it ever leave the realm of science fiction?When Facebook scheduled a major announcement for last week, news quickly got out that Mark Zuckerberg was planning to change the company’s name – and that he would explain how Facebook would move towards its next incarnation, the “metaverse”. But few expected he would set out a vision with such far-off ambitions – and show so little evidence of what it is doing today to get there. Zuckerberg’s presentation was derided in some quarters as wooden, narcissistic, dystopian, and unintentionally hilarious. But it was also a vastly ambitious and risky pitch for how the company will leave its present-day brand and focus behind to re-emerge as the leading player in a version of the internet that doesn’t exist today.So what exactly is the metaverse? What is the business case for Facebook’s pivot to such an undeveloped and complex technology? And how much was the decision to rebrand as Meta driven by the toxification of Facebook’s brand by months of damaging leaks from the US whistleblower Frances Haugen? In this episode, Nosheen Iqbal is joined by the Guardian’s UK technology editor, Alex Hern, who explains what we already know about the metaverse, its origins in science fiction stories, and its likely real-world... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2021-11-04 03:00:23 UTC ]
THE WORMWOOD PLANT is ornamental and used as an ingredient in absinthe. The plant is enticing to smell and adamantly bitter to taste. It will refuse to leave your tongue even after you try to chase it away with sweeter flavors. It will stay with you, like a curse. The science fiction Wormwood... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-02-29 20:00:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this
EPIC IS THE WAY: "The Mandalorian" has proven to be a big hit for Disney and its streaming service, Disney+ – and a Cary company helps make the magic come to life on the screen. Epic Games is helping Lucasfilm produce what design, tech and science fiction site Gizmodo called "real-time digital... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal
[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2020-02-24 18:26:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Congratulations to the finalists for the annual Nebula Awards! Presented by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America, these awards have been celebrating writers working in the genres for the past fifty-five years. (Past recipients include N. K. Jemisin and Jeff VanderMeer.) This year’s... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-20 20:54:28 UTC ]
More news stories like this
This month, science fiction fans and Solaris lovers everywhere have cause to celebrate: six newly-illustrated editions of work by the late Polish author Stanisław Lem (1921-2006) are being published by The MIT Press. Lem’s influence on science fiction has been compared to that of authors like... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-20 16:57:37 UTC ]
More news stories like this
It’s an exciting year for the Los Angeles Times Book Prizes! This will be its 40th year of celebrating the literary community. The Times announced their 2019 Book Prize finalists today; the winners will be announced at a ceremony in Los Angeles on April 17th. Additionally, bestselling crime... Continue reading at Literrary Hub
[ Literrary Hub | 2020-02-19 17:41:26 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Psychologists have stigmatised science fiction fans as losers who retreat into fantasy worlds. This is unfair. Continue reading at The Conversation
[ The Conversation | 2020-02-18 10:26:09 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A reader new to science fiction and fantasy embraces the genre and explores some of the great new works of SFF on shelves now. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-02-17 11:40:18 UTC ]
More news stories like this
20 of the best audiobooks narrated by black women, including fiction, classics, science fiction and fantasy, memoir, essays, and poetry. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-02-14 11:38:06 UTC ]
More news stories like this
‘Do You Compute?’ investigates how technology went from being written off as science fiction to something we engage with every day. In the years following the end of World War II, computers were just starting to make their way into the public consciousness. The intimidatingly technical devices... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2020-01-27 09:00:47 UTC ]
More news stories like this
WILLIAM GIBSON NOTICES THINGS others miss. While his science fiction novels are often described as prescient, what defines Gibson’s body of work is the extraordinary refinement of his focus on the present. When everyone is talking about the features of the latest Silicon Valley gadget, he might... Continue reading at Los Angeles Review of Books
[ Los Angeles Review of Books | 2020-01-25 13:30:33 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Decades of science fiction assured us all that, yes, one day we'd be able to control the immensely complex gadgetry around us with just our voices. It was right, mostly. The rise of the virtual assistant, built atop still other developments in cloud... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2020-01-23 16:30:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Christopher Tolkien helped edit and publish much of J.R.R. Tolkien's work after the science fiction and fantasy writer died in 1973. Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2020-01-17 19:03:20 UTC ]
More news stories like this
A young writer wrote a controversial bit of military science fiction about sexual politics. The fallout was nuclear. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2020-01-17 14:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
We're in a new golden age of science fiction, especially science fiction short stories. These are some of the best stories you can read right now online. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-01-09 11:35:44 UTC ]
More news stories like this
“Alternate history, in my opinion, is a more demanding game,” says the author of “Agency” and other science fiction novels, “if only because conventional historical fiction, like history, is itself highly speculative.” Continue reading at The New York Times
[ The New York Times | 2020-01-09 10:00:07 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Yes, much of it looks at how we will survive the apocalypse. But we also have the more hopeful genre of solarpunk Continue reading at The Washington Post
[ The Washington Post | 2020-01-06 23:50:02 UTC ]
More news stories like this
If you're in the mood for a ragtag spaceship crew or queer superheroes living their best lives, check out this list of the best LGBT science fiction books. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-01-06 11:39:51 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Get your science fiction and fantasy fix in short form with these excellent novellas -- perfect for the 2020 Read Harder challenge. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-01-03 11:32:42 UTC ]
More news stories like this
This is a big year. Not just in the symmetry of the number – 2020, the futuristic subject period for so many science fiction writers – but in what we already know will happen. A presidential election, prefaced by a likely Senate impeachment trial, will add new layers to an already murky... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal
[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2020-01-03 11:00:00 UTC ]
More news stories like this
Since I did a lot of camping in the last year, I've been noticing camping in sci-fi and fantasy all over the place! Let's take a tour. Continue reading at Book Riot
[ Book Riot | 2020-01-02 11:37:49 UTC ]
More news stories like this