Welcome to another edition of OGWiseman Recommends, your one-stop-shop for the best in sci fi and fantasy on the internet and in the library. Today I have a grab-bag for you: A show, an online tool, and an essay! To begin:
1) OUTER RANGE - Amazon Prime
A creepy sci fi-thriller starring Josh Brolin as an extremely All-American rancher who finds a large, mysterious hole/portal on his property, just in time for all hell to break loose in the simmering Hatfield-McCoy feud between his family and their neighbors. Some of the tropes are a little eye-rolley and coy (e.g. Josh Brolin’s family is good and honorable so they ride horses. The evil neighbors are boorish and evil, so they ride ATVs) but overall it’s a well-made show with a great score, solid acting, and a tone that understands what the concept is trying to deliver.
2) LATEST NEWS IN A.I. DEVELOPMENT
A.I. can do portraits now; the singularity approaches. Here’s a tool where you can remix faces to make more faces:
https://www.artbreeder.com/beta/image/250149ec0b1c049a5c6914d8fbb3
And here’s an article about a woman who used A.I. to do portraits of all the Harry Potter characters based on nothing but their textual descriptions in the original books (which were not flowery or even that specific). They’re amazing!
https://www.buzzfeed.com/alexalisitza/harry-potter-ai?d_id=3436987&ref=bftwbuzzfeed&utm_source=dynamic&utm_campaign=bftwbuzzfeed
3) REALLY FUN ARTICLE ON TIME TRAVEL
https://www.csus.edu/indiv/m/merlinos/paradoxes%20of%20time%20travel.pdf
Written by David Lewis. Author maintains that time travel is possible, or at least that there are no necessary paradoxes involved with time travel. Lots of relevant and fun examples. I thoroughly enjoyed the read.
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Thanks for reading! Hope you found something to pique your interest, and I’ll be back next Sunday with another story!