I knew I was going to piss of some fans of Blade Runner when I called the Voight-Kampff machine shit. I stand by it, but some of the discussion led me to realize I should make some of the implicit guiding principles of my approach to critique (and which lead me to call it shit) … Continue reading
This is one of those interactions that happens over a few seconds in the movie, but turns out to be quite deep—and broken—on inspection. When Deckard enters his building’s dark, padded elevator, a flat voice announces, “Voice print identification. Your floor number, please.” He presses a dark panel, which lights up in response. He presses … Continue reading
I knew I was going to piss off some fans of Blade Runner when I called the Voight-Kampff machine shit. I stand by it, but some of the discussion led me to realize I should make some of the implicit guiding principles of my approach to critique (and which lead me to call it shit) … Continue reading
In the first post I shared how I built a set of screen sci-fi shows that deal with AI (and I’ve already gotten some nice recommendations on other ones to include in a later update). The second post talked about the tone of those films and the third discussed their provenance. Returning to our central … Continue reading
[This is a one-off request from the most recent readership poll.] Reader wish: I wish there would be more interviews whenever you can get creators to talk about their interfaces, because I’d like to have more context about the story behind them. Sounds good. I like that content, too. I’ve been explicit about the virtues … Continue reading
Talking to Luke Hidden behind a bookshelf console is the family’s other comm device. When they first use it in the show, Malla and Itchy have a quick discussion and approach the console and slide two panels aside. The device is small and rectangular, like an oscilloscope, sitting on a shelf about eye level. It has … Continue reading
After recklessly undocking we see Ibanez using an interface of…an indeterminate nature. Through the front viewport Ibanez can see the cables and some small portion of the docking station. That’s not enough for her backup maneuver. To help her with that, she uses the display in front of her…or at least I think she does. … Continue reading
The taxi panel has one weak moment. When Korben has the taxi in hiding from the police, he wants to lower the taxi shield to check on Leeloo. To lower the shield, he presses on the “DOCKING LOCK” button on the panel, which doesn’t quite make sense. We saw this button used earlier to actually … Continue reading
I’ve had a lot of people ask if they can help by adding their favorite sci-fi shows to the database. I’m committed to building-out the database as long they keep making sci-fi but, of course I’m only one guy, and there’s a big backlog, I’m a dad, and I’ve got day job. So by myself, … Continue reading
The thanatorium is a speculative service for assisted suicide in Soylent Green. Suicide and death are not easy topics and I will do my best to address them seriously. Let me first take a moment to direct anyone who is considering or dealing with suicide to please stop reading this and talk to someone about it. I am … Continue reading