MachineMachine /stream - tagged with story http://machinemachine.net/stream/feed en-us http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Sweetcron text@machinemachine.net Who Goes There by John W. Campbell http://www.scaryforkids.com/who-goes-there-by-john-w-campbell/ Who Goes There? is a science fiction novella by John W. Campbell, Jr. under the pen name Don A. Stuart, published August 1938 in Astounding Stories. In 1973, the story was voted by the Science Fiction Writers of America as one of the finest science fiction novellas ever written, and published with the other top vote-getters in The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Volume Two. The novella has twice been adapted as a motion picture: firstly in 1951 as The Thing from Another World and later in 1982 as The Thing. ]]> Fri, 16 Jul 2010 03:46:00 -0700 http://www.scaryforkids.com/who-goes-there-by-john-w-campbell/ The Ship Argo http://www.flickr.com/photos/huge-entity/4593039926/in/set-72157624025953884/

Mr. Daniel posted a photo:

The Ship Argo

Extract from 'Roland Barthes by Roland Barthes', page 46

]]> Sun, 09 May 2010 12:37:00 -0700 http://www.flickr.com/photos/huge-entity/4593039926/in/set-72157624025953884/ The Wall and the Books http://southerncrossreview.org/54/borges-muralla.htm by Jorge Luis Borges I read, in past days, that the man who ordered the construction of the nearly infinite Wall of China was that First Emperor, Shih Huang Ti, who likewise ordered the burning of all the books before him. That the two gigantic operations—the five or six hundred leagues of stone to oppose the barbarians, the rigorous abolition of history, that is of the past—issued from one person and were in a certain sense his attributes, inexplicably satisfied me and, at the same time, disturbed me. The object of this note is to investigate the reasons for that… ]]> Sun, 13 Dec 2009 16:17:00 -0700 http://southerncrossreview.org/54/borges-muralla.htm The Tinkerer http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2009/08/the-tinkerer.html

This is an extract from a work in progress... a short story, perhaps. Let me know what you Think.

Tinkering with his iron fragments the stooping figure beads in sweat so as this heat won’t extinguish him. Seven steps astride him pink-lipped petals set the wind a moving; seeds at depth force Earth versus its sky; a honey coloured beetle arranges its deathbed, a future in revolt against the flowers. These meadows offer little for the tinkerer, since not a war’s been fought amongst them for such an age as all that’s left is ruby rust. Still, he cricks…

]]> Sun, 09 Aug 2009 21:10:00 -0700 http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2009/08/the-tinkerer.html What do Amnesia, Immortality, and Mind Control have to do with Game Design, Immersion, and Suspension of Disbelief? http://eis-blog.ucsc.edu/2009/07/what-do-amnesia-immortality-and-mind-control-have-to-do-with-game-design-immersion-and-suspension-of-disbelief/ What breaks your sense of presence in a story? The culture of video game playing has developed a tolerance for the common practices and limitations in designing and producing games. We’ve stopped asking “why?” and have come to expect the typical input arrangements, the impermanence of death, and restrictions of our own free will. Although much of the work in the EIS lab is focused on investigating new practices in creating and playing games, I’ve found, in my personal “research” of popular games, that despite the predictability, certain innovations in narrative are notably novel. If we break down a game… ]]> Sat, 11 Jul 2009 06:53:00 -0700 http://eis-blog.ucsc.edu/2009/07/what-do-amnesia-immortality-and-mind-control-have-to-do-with-game-design-immersion-and-suspension-of-disbelief/