The Curse of Fandom

The Curse of Fandom

There are those who describe the fandom phenomenon as the circuses part of the bread and circuses of our age. That's not entirely accurate. Ancient Roman plebs didn't worship the gladiators sent out to distract them from their empire's fall. In the crumbling American Empire, geek culture has been deployed…
March 29, 201921 Comments
Quintessential Boomerism

Quintessential Boomerism

Honestly, I didn't think people who still thought this way were real, but a recent brush with pure quill Boomerism on Twitter opened my eyes to the sobering truth that some people really are this out of touch. Here are expanded versions of both graphs: Dear Baby Boomers, Millennials may…
March 28, 201934 Comments
Sweden Destroys the Internet

Sweden Destroys the Internet

Back in September I passed along Mister Metokur's dire warning that the EU was about to destroy the internet. Now, his dread prophecy has come to pass. By a 74-vote margin, the EU parliament has approved the Directive 11 link tax and Directive 13 upload filter. Adding extra large squeaky…
March 27, 20195 Comments
Bloodlines 2

Bloodlines 2

Late last week, Paradox Interactive "leaked" news that cult hit action-RPG Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines was getting a sequel following a fifteen-year hiatus. Many fans of the original Bloodlines found the news surprising to say the least. After all, the first game flopped due to the publisher flubbing the launch,…
March 26, 201913 Comments
‘Member Moral Relativism?

‘Member Moral Relativism?

Any Christian old enough to have debated social issues with Leftists in the 90s and early aughts probably needs an abacus to count how often he heard a basic college Lefty say, "That's just your opinion, man!" That old moral relativist chestnut shared the 90s Left's affections with such vapid…
March 25, 20194 Comments
Combat Frame Data: Harvester

Combat Frame Data: Harvester

Harvester    Technical Data Model number: N/A Code name: Harvester Nickname: Space Tick, Space Ape Classification: transformable resource extraction combat frame Manufacturer: Unknown Operator: Unknown First deployment: Unknown, before CY -2000 Crew: 1 pilot in central cockpit Length: main body 15 meters; with railgun turret, 18 meters Weight: 85 metric tons Armor type: Synthetic diamond armor Powerplant: cold fusion reactor, max output…
March 22, 20197 Comments
Practical to a Fault, Reprise

Practical to a Fault, Reprise

As a follow up to Monday's post on the arts, and in light of KameCon folding on Vic Mignogna, here's a guest post from the vaults by author Rawle Nyanzi about the Conservative tendency to dismiss art as somehow "not real". Rawle Nyanzi picks up from my previous post on…
March 21, 201920 Comments
Yes, Fire Your Agent

Yes, Fire Your Agent

For any authors who didn't think I was serious last time, a reader provides another case study in why you need to fire your literary agent. Or better yet, never hire one in the first place. We push forward a decade to 2002 when I have sold my own dramatic…
March 20, 201911 Comments
A Digital Tammany Hall

A Digital Tammany Hall

Having been subjected to Twitter's shadow bans myself, I was gladdened to hear of Devin Nunes' $250 million lawsuit against what his attorney calls a, "Modern day Tammany Hall." California GOP Rep. Devin Nunes filed a major lawsuit seeking $250 million in compensatory damages and $350,000 in punitive damages against…
March 19, 20197 Comments
Ars Longa

Ars Longa

Hang out around science fiction authors long enough, and you get the sense that they're all crazy. John Scalzi claims that Donald Trump and the weather conspired to give him writer's block. Patrick Rothfuss and George R. R. Martin have cited similarly temperamental reasons for not finishing their popular series.…
March 18, 201930 Comments