Author: Justin

Feeling lazy today, so no mammoth research project. Just a short pointer to a lost treasure of science fiction. Aristoi, by Walter Jon Williams. Have you ever tried to daydream a perfect world? I know I have. What Williams portrays so vividly in this novel is precisely that, a world where things have started to…

The End of Affluence was published in 1974. A dark time for the Republic. Darker than many younger people, today, might credit. The reality was quite bad enough, but life is never so challenging that a little panic mongering can?t help the zeitgeist along. And what the zeitgeist back then said was that America was…

Solar power looks poised for a breakout over the next few years. Over on Futurepundit, Randall Parker has provided an excellant roundup of recent news in this post. Apparently, while all our backs were turned, the fellas in the lab have figured out a whole new paradigm for collector structure. Instead of relying on rigid,…

I’m told Vernor Vinge has just released a new short story,” Synthetic Serendipity”. It’s a companion piece to his 2002 short ,”Fast Times at Fairmont High”. If you liked one, you’ll probably like the other. The cheat sheet version can be found here. The story deals with good, fun stuff like ubiquitous computing, consensus reality,…

Hello all. Back with another episode of the wit and wisdom of Jeremy Rifkin. Before I begin though, perhaps I should address a question Eric raised. Who the hell is Jeremy Rifkin and why should you care? To be honest, I’ve been following his career so long, I had forgotten that he might lack the…

We here at Classical Values try to move product on a daily basis. When we don’t, management has harsh words for us. I have been ordered to blog, and today, dammit! Well okay then. I have a dauntingly gigantic Rifkin post in the works, but it’s not…quite…ready. You may be sorry when it is. Till…

Good News for Modern Man! The ever amusing Jeremy Rifkin is about to produce another work of comedic genius. I will, of course, wait for the paperback edition,and urge all other readers to do likewise. I should note that Mr. Rifkin, a longtime favorite of mine, has managed to reinvent himself yet another time. Our…