Dune was a neat read.

There was a couple of really interesting things going on with it. 1. The lack of technology 2. Th political stuff going on 3. “The chosen one” 4. Underground societies

The lack of technology

So in the Dune Universe, there used to be robots. We read quite a bit on robots and AI this year, and in this SciFi classic they've been taken out. The AI became too powerful, and tried to take over. So it was a destroyed and banned, and any attempts to make any new robots is punishable by death. But Dune is an interplanetary adventure. How do they deal with having to travel around in space without robots? Well they use Super-humans who have been consuming the special spice found on Arrakis, the sandy planet covered in dunes. The spice is incredibly valuable, and everyone wants it. What rational person wouldn't? With no robots, Frank Herbert can tell a different kind of story He goes back to old timey things like sword fights and some cool concepts like secret societies like the Ben Gesserit. The Bene Gesserit are a group of women who consumed the spice and were going to bring in someone who would change the world, the Kwisatz Haderach, the supreme being. He could see the past present and future. What does such a powerful character do?

The chosen one

Paul acts surprisingly level headed for a 15 year old whose fate is to be the greatest, most supreme being in existence. Paul follows the monomyth, the template story that all great heroes go through.

Check out this thing I didn't make



Political stuff

You know how the prequel star wars films were really lame political sci fi?
This is really cool political sci-fi.
The whole universe changes command, through a massive war that kills a million billion people. This is also somewhat allegorical to the oil wars going on in the middle east. The spice is oil, and everyone wants it because of how powerful it is.

Underground societies

The Benne Gesserit is a powerful woman only club, which is neat. Except they do witchcraft-y stuff and the savior of the universe has to be a male. So I'm not sure what this says about gender stuff. But they have a way to find the Kwisatz Haderach, which is to make him drink the bile of an Arrakis sand worm. Paul does it, and he goes into a 3 week coma. Everyone else who tried it died painfully.

Its time to d-d-d-d-d-d-dune

Dune is an old sci-fi book, like super old. 50 years old, with 5 sequels and nerds at NASA naming features on Titan after things in the book.
The beginning is sooo slow but i heard it gets super cool in the middle, with these plans to destroy a planet by destroying its main export and then a this other cool stuff too.
The main character, Paul, has a condition called "being the chosen one", so now they have to spend the rest of their life saving the world/fulfilling their destiny. Different from "main character syndrome". I would write more but I've been super busy with AP studying and havent had much time to read.
My fancfiction stry is going great though, I did most of it early bc I knew I wouldnt have time. Its a firefly fanfic thats the best one ever written.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA IS THE COOLEST SHOW OF ALL TIME

This was the coolest thing we've seen or read in the class, probably the greatest media I've consumed in my entire life. After we watched that one episode in class I was gripped, and I went to watch some more at home. But I couldn't find it on any websites that didn't give me a free iPhone 5 so after three episodes I had to stop.

The Olypmic Carrier in episode 2 is the greatest thing ever
 The people are being chased by Cylons, and they need to do the jump thing every 33 minutes so that they can stay safe. There's no brakes on the Cylon death train. So for like 4 days they're being chased and hopping through, no sleep or rest, until they finally realize why they were being chased. Another ship, the Olympic carrier, seems to have been compromised. It doesn't respond to calls at all, or something. Its carring about a thousand people, and the Galactica crew has gone for days without rest. The Carrier is starting to get suspicious, especially since they detected nuclear weapons on it. At this point it was kill or be killed. So they killed. Apollo pushes the buttons that end the thousand people and the Carrier, and for the rest of what I saw, he got pretty traumatized from it. Roslin brings up a guy who  sent 15 marines into a mission that went wrong, and  he had a desk where he kept the names of the people who died.  She then takes out a paper from her pocket that says "Olympic carrier" on it. I thought she was going to print out a list with all the names on it so it wasnt a emotional as I thought it was gonna be.

Then in the net episode Boomer starts losing her memory and ending up in weird places so who knows how that turns out.

Also Gaius Baltar is my favorite character in the whole thing, I love how lucky he is, in that he guessed the right guy was the Cylon and that when he needed to inspect the Cylon tech on the ship, and explanation mysteriously showed up for him.

Remember when memes looked like this

Firefly

Fireflies are my favorite animals. Who knows how they shine, and why they thought it would be a good idea to evolve something that would catch the attention of something that would eat it. In this blog post, we will be discussing firefly evolution and their way of life.

Haha just kidding. Anyways firefly was a pretty cool show. Every now and then I see people on social media complaining about how it only got one season, and it sucks that the production of it was handled so terribly. The way that the relationship between the characters is affected by the events of the previous episode is great, except for the fact that the previous episode wasn't actually the previous episode. So that may have made it weird for viewers.

I really liked what happened with Jayne and the guy he threw from the plane. Everyone thought he was a hero, but he was a hero on accident, and a bad guy on purpose. And then he takes down the statue, because he knows in his heart of hearts that he doesnt deserve to be praised. But even though hes not a good guy, the kid still jumps in front of the shotgun for him. Maybe its bc it doesn't matter that he was accidentally a hero, but the outcome that matters. Maybe the kids parents almost died but then with the money they got food, and they were saved. 

But you know who wasnt saved? The husband in Spider the Artist. That was a crazy story, I cant believe the ending. 

My longest yeah book ever

Stardate 3/3/2017
This book is really long, but at least its easy-ish to read and has simple names, unlike a certain left appendage of a certain amount of light. I'm a little over 200 pages in, and Terra forming was just approved, which is the worst idea ever. On the ride there, weren't they going on about how they left Earh to avoid earth-like things like politics, and now they're going to do the basic "what makes earth, earth". The idea that "science is about adapting to other planet, adapting them to us" is a big steaming pile of fresh warm doo-doo. First  of all, humans shouldn't even be touching anything because

Or rather, we kill it because thats all were good for. I bet this dude would go to the original Mona Lisa and add on a smile with his crayons since hes so childish he thinks he deserves to mess everything up. This is the kinda guy who adds his watermark to memes he steals.

Also he says that "The beauty of the universe is contained in the consciousness of our intelligent life. ... our job is to spread that around". The firts part is wrong, comparable to the dumb idea that "if a tree falls in the forest it doesn't make any sound because no one hears it". That idea is dumb because it implies that because something isn't observed, it doesn't happen.

The tree will still fall. It wont be standing, it will crush pants near it and new plants will grow from the old trees grave. Just because you close your eyes and yell blah blah blah doesn't mean things arent still occurring. If I close my eyes and say I dont have a test next week, its still going to happen. And so with the guys assertion that "We need human intelligence and consciousness to appreciate the beauty", no we don't. The beauty will be there regardless of an observer being there to appreciate it or not. Plus after were done with it, it wont even be beauty anymore it'll be dead.
"It is just a collection of atoms, no different from anything else in the universe" Ok sure why dont you go drink gasoline instead of water since it's all the same to you you hecking poop.
"Something about it beinga monument to humanity" Humanity doesnt deserve a monument it deserves a slap to the face for being so senselessly stupid.

"Live long and prosper" -The guy who died last year

I've seen like 2 star trek episodes outside of class. One had a Federation guy who took over a country using old Nazi techniques, swastikas and all. The other episode I saw was the one where Q first shows up and the crew is put on trial for humanities crimes. I don't think I finished the episode, but in the end they proved that humans are pretty cool. Fast forward like two seasons and then the Borg completely annihilate them. Good times.

When I watched the trial for humanities crimes episodes, I thought there would be more social commentary stuff by directly referencing human crimes like destroying the planet, but it wasn't as much as I expected.Instead they went on about human nature and how they're persistent and can overcome challenges, and how Q doesn't stay true to his word.

In this photo, we see Q serving up some hot justice in the form of a fair trial he called a fair trial but wasn't actually one. What a guy.

Imagine being Q. You can do anything you want, so what do you decide to do? Mess with a starship. What a guy. I mean, what else s there to do? if you went around soling problems on planets you would be done in like 20 minutes. You could play and hang out with other Qs but you would get bored after a while, especially if you're as old as he is. Plus the Enterprise crew seems like a pretty cool group. I wonder if Q was the reason the Boston Tea Party happened.

beep beep beep transition

What if replicators were real?  Would they be available in stores? Would hey be able to replicate life?

Would they be heavily monitored so that money didn't get messed up? Would we even need money?

What would we fight over if ownership isn't an issue? 

Who will build the roads? 

What d you fight for Mr Anderson, why do you persist? 

Who you gonna call?

has anyone ever been as far as decided to look more like ?

Steins;gate - The chinese cartoon about the dangers of time travel

Steins Gate is an anime from japan about a self titled mad scientist, (even wears a lab coat around all the time) who plays god and does all kinds of crazy things by sending texts messages back in time, and then screwing everything up. He meets friends and foes along the way.

Theres like 3 things I could talk about so here they go

1- Why you shouldn't mess with time
Okabe is the mad scientists, who lives in a shoddy little "lab". He lives with his friend who looks like hes straight outta 4chan, his childhood cute girl best friend(Mayuri), and eventually another scientist lady (Christina) who he falls in love with. One day, he accidentally makes a microwave that can send text messages back in time (and eventually sends him back too), gets involved in a CERN conspiracy, and messes with events. Which is bad, because one day his poor friend is killed. So he goes back in time to save her. But wait, he cant. She's destined to die because he went off the timeline or something, and he needs to undo every thing he changed. So he has to watch her die in front of him like 50 times so the lesson can truly be learned. To make sure he doesnt forget, he needs to undo the first time travel text that he didnt even realize he sent, and if he undoes it, it will cause the girl he fell in love with to die.
Dont mess with time.

2-What is love
Baby dont hurt me, no more. In BloodChild, part of the reason it was so 'ugh' to read was the relationship between the alien (I forgot her name) and Gan. You dont know if it was real love. He doesnt know anything, hes grown up in a cage. I dont think he let himself get impregnated for her, he did it for his sister.  Because thats the only connection he really knows about.
Then in Steins, whenever he undid something, the people involved still had very faint traces of memories from the alternate timelines. He falls in love with Christina, but since none of her memories are 'real', does she reciprocate the feelings? Every time he goes back in time, he meets a new version of her thats not really her. Weird.

3- John Titor
Back in the 2000s, some guy in internet forums said that he was from 2036 and had all kinds of crazy preditions, Turns out it was a prank, but in here they actually meet the guy. Turns out its a girl. Anyways, the girl is from a future where CERN took over the world and theres the classic sci fi rebellion, which leads to the question, how much power should we give ourselves? Okabe and his friends gave themselves the power to mess with timelines and they ended up having to undo everything because it was too powerful. CERN  gave itself to do the power of something or other, and then they basically ruined the future for everyone. This whole series has an underlying message of "dont mess with what you shouldn't". Remember in Bloodchld when we went to a different planet and ended up slaves to a species that lays eggs in us

me too

Crypt of the Neuromancer

I bet no one is gonna get the title

Neuromancer, the tale of AI's, hacking, poison and plot details that get lost because its super hard to read.

Case gets poisoned- This is like the best way to torture someone. You take away what made them happy and gave them a purpose, so now they go around looking at familiar faces, worn out places, and worn out faces. Like a bird with no wings or feet, they sit there until they get run over or a bgger bird eats them. He goes to drugs and suicidal tendencies, but its weird how when he find out they're out to get him he goes out all over the place trying to protect himself.

Case gets the toxin removed, and replaced with the toxin- Nice a of getting someone to do something for you. Armitage for boss of the year. But the boss wasn't Armitage at all, it was me, Wintermute. If theres one thing I've learned fro this, its to not trust your superiors. Corto got hecked up when the govnmet didnt need him anymore, and Wintermute rules everything and I would trust a jenga tower with only one block at the base more than I would Wintermute. Case gets hecked up by his employer, and then he gets fixed, but it still under the threat of the toxin sacs. Then the only guy with the "get out of poison sacs free" card dies. I would say he gets a happy ending butit could b argued that it's not even him getting the ending.
At the same time the book also teaches the value of connections, however awkward they are.
Shoutout to the unused shuriken with millions of dollars worth of sentimental value. We will never forget you. Another shoutout to the very naughty scene that was as dry as a raisin.

Mirror Eyed Molly-

Thanks Jaden

The AIs-

The Neuromancer- AI's are hecking crazy. I like how they're always different in each of the stories we've read/watched. In Star Wars, they're helpful dudes who go around with messages. In 2001, Hal tries to kill everyone. In the I Robot story, "Reason", he goes around being rebellious no believing his creators. Here we have AIs who are like... Holograms and all powerful but only in their realm. The facts that he can bring a being that is basically a new copy of a person is awesome.

Finally, you know how when people try to hack AIs they go boink because of how crazy complicated it is? The book is an AI and we're the daring cowboys, who are lost in complexity.

How memes will change the future

What is the change?
Memes have changed the world. The harmless internet frog, Pepe, was turned into a political force in the past election. Memes have evolved from random cute pictures of cats to representing the ideas of millions of people and communicating their experiences.

Why and how does this change arise?

This change arises naturally, through the use of social media. Memes develop almost monthly, and people spread them all over until they die out and they come up with a new meme. Even advertising companies use them on their social media. Bagel bites being one dank example. 

 

What do you see in the world to make you think this change might be coming?

Memes have been banned in certain schools and even countries, some schools banning the mighty pepe and other things, Russia has banned memes that depict a public figure in a negative way, and a Mexican lawmaker proposed a ban on memes that mock Mexican lifestyle. I don't know how it went over in Russia (thousands of meme makers were probably found dead next to their body pillow waifus), but in Mexico it was met with laughter and memes being made of the persons how proposed it.

Im gonna put links so the power of memes can be seen

Spain moves to ban memes:

Russia:

Mexico:

Everyone knows memes. You show someone a rage comic, they'll be confused as to why you're showing them a meme from 2009. Everyone knows bad memes like damn daniel, or Joe Biden memes. Many people will call dogs “doggos”, the meme term for them. And by people, I mean younger people. Like really young, first half of your twenties young. Older people have no idea how memes work, and then you get cringy moments like Hillary Clinton dabbing or saying the Pokemon “go to the polls” thing. People won't get it because they didn't grow up with it. maybe this is a good thing. You wont get the government using memes to control us or something, because everyone there is too old.

Is this largely beneficial, or detrimental for human beings? Who benefits, who is hurt?

I think it depends on the way that they are used. They could be used to spread propaganda, or be harmless. Memes can take the form of internet rumors and hoaxes. For example, we have the many 4chan pranks. We have #cancelFathersDay, convincing people to drop their phones, microwave their phones,and rick rolling people.But a meme itself isnt that powerful until it is given power (like pepe). Never forget the time he became the center of attention in the election.

How likely do you think this is to actually happen?

I don't think you're gonna get scifi stories about a guy who makes memes or something. But we have scifi like Necromancer, a guy who goes around hacking. I'm on the part with the panther guys, so I'm not that far in. But memes like pepe (I've mentioned pepe like 20 times) become a rallying force for people. Once the whole pepe-nazi-symbol thing started, people went wild from
a) confusion as to why he was being labeled a hate symbol even though the year before people were posting "rare pepes"

b) laughter bc they thought it was silly

c) even more confusion because they didnt know what a meme was

Another example would be Harambe. The gorilla that died and then went on to live in meme kingdom. Over the summer you saw Harambe all over the place, and then when the meme died you saw "this meme is dead all over the place. So due to the flexibility that memes have to be symbols and spreaders of ideas, it is very likely that memes wil coninue to have a deep impact in our lives.

Who wore it better

The running of the blades

I feel like Blade Runner could the the title to a movie about ice skating

Anyways, onto the post.
I've seen Blade Runner before in American Film and the thing that gets me the most is the setting. It just makes me feel so weird. In the beginning, there was always smoke in the air and it was never clear. Everything was dark, and the whole city feels like a dark alley. The neon lights instead make the whole thing creepier rather than brighter, and the whole movie just seems gloomy.

Animal Planet
I didn't know this until we read the paper we got at the end but apparently animals are super rare. I wonder how the dove got there, and how it managed to stay clean. Maybe it was a fake one that escaped. Who knows

The "kiss"
Yo what the heck was that he just forced himself on her
Then she just rolls with it like what the heck
Then they fall in love
80s man

The ending
So he was a replicant the whole time. What a twist. Did they know that when they hired him to be a blade runner, can only blade runners beat other blade runners.