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Hedonism and Its Discontents
Never before in human history have so many entertainments been available to so many. If you can read this article, you have Internet access; with the Internet alone you have access to an unlimited amount of games, movies, videos, music, information, cat pictures and other distractions. The modern world offers even more: hard partying and…
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Tired Tropes: It’s Only A Flesh Wound
You’ve seen versions of the scene a hundred times before. Our Hero is engaged in a gunfight with The Villain. The Villain takes a potshot at Our Hero. Our Hero staggers. When his sidekick catches up with Our Hero and asks after him, Our Hero declares, “It’s only a flesh wound”. In the next scene,…
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Can Blockchains Revolutionise Social Welfare Programmes?
Governments contemplating social welfare programmes have to wrestle with two seemingly irreconcilable problems. On one hand, voters demand social welfare programmes to take care of the poor, sick, elderly and marginalized. On the other, governments need to prevent welfare spending from ballooning extravagantly and ensure that recipients spend the money wisely. In this article, I…
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Space Opera is about Opera
Tor launched #SpaceOperaWeek to promote and discusse space opera. In 24 hours, the Pulp Revolution launched a memetic revolution and claimed the hashtag for its own. Now, practically every hashtag and Internet discussion about #SpaceOperaWeek is dominated by the PulpRev folks. This stunning success exposes a hard truth: Tor has no idea what space…
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Book Unreview: The Gatekeepers by Nuraliah Norasid
I try not to review books I don’t finish. But some books are so terrible that they serve as a prime example of how not to write. The Gatekeepers by Nuraliah Norasid was the winner of the 2016 Epigram Books Fiction Prize. The prize ‘promotes contemporary Singapore creative writing and rewards excellence in Singapore literature’…
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Initial Reviews for NO GODS, ONLY DAIMONS
Reviews for NO GODS, ONLY DAIMONS are rolling in, and reader reception has been highly positive. Here are a few samples from Amazon: Ray, May 5, 2017 Great book, that took a surprising twist on the usual mixing of Urban Fantasy and Military cloak and dagger genre, plus a bit of alternate history. I’ll need…