The online virtual reality experience that almost every tech giant today wishes to commercially exploit may not catch onIn the 1992 sci-fi dystopia Snow Crash, the author Neal Stephenson imagined a bleak 21st century where the collapse of the global economy had seen governments fall and their power replaced by a few giant businesses. The book is notable for prescience, anticipating the adoption of what was then seen as outlandish technologies like the wireless internet, cryptocurrencies and smartphones, as well as the rise of the gig economy. But it is the book’s prophetic vision of “the metaverse” that has revived interest in the work.That is because Stephenson described the online virtual reality experience that almost every tech giant today wishes to commercially exploit. Last October, Microsoft announced that users of its Teams online meetings app would be able to turn themselves into avatars – the term Stephenson popularised in Snow Crash – to encourage users into virtual interaction. Days later Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s founder, rebranded his company as Meta, with a focus on the potential for virtual worlds. Continue reading... Continue reading at 'The Guardian'
[ The Guardian | 2022-02-07 19:11:48 UTC ]
The Wall Street Journal published a bombshell story on Tuesday about what reporters Kirsten Grind and Deepa Seetharaman call “the messy, expensive split between Facebook and WhatsApp’s founders.” The dishy piece makes for great reading. (Do the multi-billionaire founders of global communications... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2018-06-06 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Four Tor authors—Charlie Jane Anders, Seth Dickinson, S.L. Huang, and V.E. Schwab—discuss identity, characters, and worldbuilding in science fiction and fantasy. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Amazon Publishing’s science fiction and fantasy imprint, 47North, has signed a new series of books from author James Maxwell. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-05-31 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The novelist Margaret Atwood recently caused a stir when, during an interview with Variety, she said that the 9/11 hijackers “got the idea” to fly planes into buildings from watching “Star Wars.” Atwood, the author of “The Handmaid’s Tale” and other dystopian classics, did not have the facts... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-05-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mark Zuckerberg is over it. Yes, Facebook allowed the data of more than 80 million users to land in the hands of a partisan political consulting firm during an obscenely contentious presidential election, but that's all in the distant past. You know,... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2018-05-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The 25-year-old imprint at Penguin Random House’s DK division has adopted a hybrid publishing model to evolve along with the video game industry. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-04-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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OUP president Niko Pfund told PW that after Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony on Capitol Hill, it became clear that Siva Vaidhyanathan's book, originall scheduled for fall, "needed to be part of the conversation" now taking place. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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After two days of testimony on Capitol Hill, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg wants you to know: He’s sorry — really, really sorry — about that Cambridge Analytica thing, and he’s open to some degree of internet regulation. Is he really sorry? If contrition is measured in a willingness to put on a suit... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-04-12 00:00:00 UTC ]
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In an interview released for the first time today, the Facebook CEO discussed privacy with Freaknonomics Radio last summer. It was a simpler time. Last summer, months before Mark Zuckerberg was feeling the intense pressure of the Cambridge Analytica data scandal, the Facebook CEO said he knew... Continue reading at Fast Company
[ Fast Company | 2018-04-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mark Zuckerberg's terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad 2018 keeps getting worse. As people have begun downloading their Facebook data, they've found something unsettling: videos they recorded, but never published on the site. Recently, a Select/All... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2018-03-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Federal Trade Commission confirmed Monday that it opened an investigation of Facebook and the Senate Judiciary Committee called on the company’s chief executive, Mark Zuckerberg, to testify as scrutiny mounts over the social media giant’s handling of user data. The unfolding crisis at... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2018-03-27 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Among this week's headlines: Despite another blizzard, librarians make it to PLA in Philadelphia; Mark Zuckerberg is sorry; And Congress passes a bill that critics say will harm free speech online. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-03-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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George R R Martin is funding a new annual scholarship at a science fiction and fantasy six-week course to “help the next great fantasist on the long journey ahead”. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2018-01-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Given her incredible skill at narrative economy, Ursula K. Le Guin could probably do a much better job of summing up her own achievements as a writer than I could. Then again, Le Guin could do most things better than most writers. An undisputed master of science fiction and fantasy, she also... Continue reading at Slate
[ Slate | 2018-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The prolific and profoundly influential writer, who brought a literary and feminist touch to works of science fiction and fantasy for children and adults, died at her home in Portland, Ore., on January 22. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-24 00:00:00 UTC ]
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ReedPOP has unveiled a lineup of science fiction, mystery and thriller authors for BookCon 2018, which includes such authors as David Baldacci, Sandra Brown, Brad Meltzer, and Walter Mosley. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2018-01-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Mark Zuckerberg has issued his annual New Year challenge to himself, and it's a big one: Fixing Facebook.The hoodie-wearing CEO, who has previously taken on learning Mandarin, reading books and visiting new parts of the country, is setting a less concrete goal in focusing on fixing important... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2018-01-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Facebook defends itselfWhen companies place job ads on Facebook and target them to younger users, is that ageist? Non-profit news organization ProPublica and The New York Times just raised concerns about the issue, adding that Amazon, Verizon, Goldman Sachs and Facebook itself use that practice;... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2017-12-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Lies have become alternative facts and truth irrelevant in the face of power, while we all give up our privacyIn Book 8 of The Odyssey we read that the gods weave misfortune so that later generations have something to sing about. It wasn’t a god but a conman who now leads me to describe how –... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2017-10-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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'Trying to achieve change through something like science fiction seems like a pipe dream,' Adams says. 'But it also feels like the only thing that writers can hope to do.' Continue reading at The Christian Science Monitor
[ The Christian Science Monitor | 2017-10-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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