Arthur C. Clarke has just died. The short story by Vinge above is strangely appropriate. He wrote tons of science fiction, and was credited with coming up with a number of technological developments well before their time in his works, such as geo-synchronous satellite orbits. [In fact, I'm sure at some point I read an entire book by him where he congratulated himself for being such a visionary. It was a very disappointing read. Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the thing, and am having trouble tracking it down - any ideas?]

Apparently he did this by grounding his fiction in realisable scientific principles, unlike, say, Jules Verne.

“Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic”
- Arthur C. Clarke

He famously wrote a 10-word story for Wired.com. They asked for 6 words, but he refused to lower the word-count:

“God said, ‘Cancel Program GENESIS.’ The universe ceased to exist.”

There are a number of examples of proper 6-word fiction stories (some that actually tell a story) at Wired.com, and a handful of graphics.

Some of my favourites:

Computer, did we bring batteries? Computer?

- Eileen Gunn

Automobile warranty expires. So does engine.

- Stan Lee

Machine. Unexpectedly, I’d invented a time

- Alan Moore

And, ever the quirky systematic nerd:

Tick tock tick tock tick tick.
- Neal Stephenson

Calvin reading… check.

Hebrew translation… check.

Greek translation… check (well almost, but will be by tomorrow).

Time for a holiday. See you all in a week.

I just came across an epic battle of wills, wits, and penmanship.

The Superest is a battle between artists where one player draws a character with a superpower, who is then responded to by another character with a power that cancels out the first.

It’s fun, and whilst some of the links are a little tenuous, in the main it is very clever.

Make sure you start at the bottom, as the page is set up with the most recent post at the top.

On newsstands now. Get your copy today.

One of my friends has just written a new book. I’ve read his work before, and generally it’s of high standard. It’s been sent off to the publisher, and will be available for purchase soon from Koorong, Amazon, and your local mega-church book stall.

If you would like to pre-order your copy, fill out your details in the box below, hit Submit, and one will be reserved for you.

I’ve just started reading Mark Driscoll’s The Radical Reformission.

It’s an interesting read. Mark is at once insightful, blunt, and engaging. Here’s a sample that illustrates all three:

“My problem was that I thought sin was something you do, not understanding that sin is something you are, like being French Canadian.” (p12)

Nice.

As yet I haven’t read much. It’ll be interesting to see how it pans out over the course of the book.