Please create an account to participate in the Slashdot moderation system

 



Forgot your password?
typodupeerror
×
Sci-Fi

Video Sci-fi Predictions, True and False (Video 1) 139

Science fiction is the domain of predicting future technology. But we rarely stop to account for which predictions come true, which don't, and which are fulfilled in... unexpected ways. A panel at the recent science fiction convention in Detroit explored this subject in depth, from Star Trek's communicators to nanotech and cloning. Panelists include writer and forensic science expert Jen Haeger; professor and generally fascinating guy Brian Gray; and expert in Aeronautical Management and 20-year veteran of the Air Force Douglas Johnson. In this video, they run down a list of science fiction predictions, both successful and unsuccessful, and evaluate how realistic or far-fetched each now seems.

Comment Re:Defense attorneys (Score 1) 124

Or a more vague description and question. Like "Officer, how exactly did you know the location and contents of my client's cell phone data?" Somehow I don't think many courts will accept "Officer Y told me" (hearsay evidence, inadmissible) or "I can't answer because I signed an NDA with the FBI" (secret police don't often go over very well with American jury).

Comment Re:Traffic is up? (Score 1) 144

Wait, what? Since when are retailers supposed to ask for your identity when using a credit card? My understanding was that they were actively discouraged from doing so by credit card companies. In fact, I remember they used to have a toll free number you could call to report a retailer if they refused to accept your VISA without giving them ID.

Comment Re:Traffic is up? (Score 1) 144

That's what I thought had happened. I remember TPB selling themselves to a software company for like ten million bucks with plans to turn into a "legitimate tracker of licensed/contracted content". Everyone went nuts over it. Then they all switched to private trackers.

I've actually always been highly suspect of TPB. Not because of those behind it, but because it is such a high value target, compared to other trackers that you could use (especially private, obviously -- though then there are situations like Demonoid and others that become really iffy due to certain events).

Comment Re:In lost the will to live ... (Score 1) 795

"No arheist is so stupid" was the claim. The link refutes the absolutist "no atheist", but perhaps I misread the misspelling, and you meant something else?

Still, I should have read further back in the conversation and posted this instead:
http://www.science20.com/writer_on_the_edge/blog/scientists_discover_that_atheists_might_not_exist_and_thats_not_a_joke-139982

Slashdot Top Deals

"Gravitation cannot be held responsible for people falling in love." -- Albert Einstein

Working...