Ray Bradbury

Ray Bradbury Allows Fahrenheit 451 to be Published Digitally

by Max Eddy | 2:39 pm, November 29th

Publisher Simon & Schuster has announced that Ray Bradbury has relented and his classic Fahrenheit 451 will be released today as an eBook. Well, it’s about time, Ray. Yeah, I know that it’s spooky that a book about the decline of reading and book burning is being released as an eBook, the format that directly competes with the printed word. And, yes, Bradbury has been a longtime proponent of written books and has, according to the WaPo, referred to the Internet as “a big distraction,” but that doesn’t mean he can’t get with the times! Besides there’s, nothing sinister about reading Fahrenheit 451 on my Kindle.

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Geekolinks

Geekolinks: 8/22

by Susana Polo | 5:00 pm, August 22nd

TIL A New Word: Nurdle (Reuters)

Happy Birthday, Ray Bradbury! (GeekDad)

The Cosplay of Gamescom (Kotaku)

Adrien Brody as Mr. Fantastic? (ScreenRant)

DJ Hero 2 Dated (GameRant)

2,000 Year Old Hellenistic Paintings Discovered (The Guardian)

Somebody Made a Wacom for the Wii? (Joystiq)

(image via Reddit.)

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Geekolinks

Geekolinks: 8/18

by Susana Polo | 5:11 pm, August 18th

Everybody Gets New Body Parts, Except… (Erica Henderson)

Joseph Gordon-Levitt Sings Natural Woman (Underwire)

Close Encounters of the Punk Kind (iwantmyTVNOW)

The LA Times Talks to Ray Bradbury (LA Times)

Celebrities Who Are Geeks Now (Geeks are Sexy)

What the Book You’re Reading Says About You (FlavorWire)

Critique Scott Pilgrim, Not His Audience (NPR)

(picture via Half-Assed Commitment.)

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Ray Bradbury: “We’ve Got too Many Internets.”

by Robert Quigley | 3:15 pm, August 16th

“We have too many cellphones. We’ve got too many Internets. We have got to get rid of those machines. We have too many machines now.”

…I was approached three times during the last year by Internet companies wanting to put my books” on an electronic reading device, he said. “I said to Yahoo, ‘Prick up your ears and go to hell.’”

–Legendary sci-fi author Ray Bradbury, who will turn 90 years old on August 22nd, on the state of the modern world. Bradbury is also pissed that we’ve basically given up on space exploration.

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Essay

Why Scientists Should Read Science Fiction

by Hannah Waters | 12:40 pm, July 21st

I write this post going into science fiction as a fan, but also unaware of how most scientists think about it. I can imagine two central viewpoints: (1) scientists who enjoy it (like myself), simultaneously as entertainment and a bit of critical thinking and (2) scientists who dislike it due to its tendency to portray “evil scientists” and/or science and technology gone awry, destroying the world.

I didn’t really grow up reading science fiction. Sure, I was (and am) completely obsessed with some fantasy novels (e.g. Lord of the Rings) but never made the leap to becoming a true sci-fi nerd. It wasn’t until I started studying science more fully that I developed an interest in speculative science fiction. Many of the stories do deal with technology taking over civilization – but embedded within this framework is a great deal of excitement, along with some deserved anxiety.

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14 of the Best Geekiest Beers

Given beer's pervasive place in human history, it's not surprising that the geeky pastimes of drinkers would eventually rub off on the beers themselves. The result is a veritable cornucopia of nerdy beers, 14 of which are right here.

Tweetosystem

Eric Limer I'm trying to come up with a control scheme where I can use my xbox 360 controller for leisurely web surfing. It's....interesting.
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James Plafke For a show about a sport I don't really dig, Friday Night Lights is an alright show.
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Eric Limer Just spent a few hours playing Kyntt. Stunning, cute little game. Highly recommended.
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Max Wanna create work flows, wanna make it all work work work.
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James Plafke I am jealous Elmo got to make out with Kristin Chenoweth.
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Eric Limer I swear under my breath A LOT. This must make people near by me very uncomfortable. That being said, I have no intentions of stopping.
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Max Court is now in session at the Burp Castle.
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Eric Limer I don't look at my finances as often as I should which is the main reason why I don't often want to look at my finances.
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Max Desert PolyBus: The game where you drive to Reno and then die.
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Eric Limer If I wrote a webcomic, every strip would be titled "Get it? GET IT?!"
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Max Got chili oil on my hands and face. It hurts. A lot.
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Eric Limer Suddenly I remember what I hate about PC gaming. Mainly never having a computer that can actually do it.
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James Plafke The halftime show taught me that football-watching men drinking beer who love seeing muscular men beat each other up really like to vogue.
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Max Pestering your friends at 8am is how you show you care, right? #hopeso
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Eric Limer Twitter is like RiffTrax for EVERYTHING.
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James Plafke I know global warming is scary, but not having a winter was pretty cool. I didn't have to spend money on shoes for the snow.
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Eric Limer I hereby apologize to all persons --past, present and future-- who have the misfortune of hearing me "sing" dubstep songs.
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Max Even Facebook's Timeline thinks I could have done more with my life.
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Max I did that thing where Facebook turns your Timeline into a movie. Mine had pictures of ducks and foliage set to really dramatic music.
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Max "But I don't wanna go to the dog show!"
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