A spectator signs a card. They’re given an undeveloped photograph to hold. The card is lost back in the deck. Before their astonished eyes they watch as the photograph develops into an image of a hand holding their signed card.
Photosynthesis is a powerful way to reveal a word, an image or a signed card.
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Photosynthesis is a utility prop you can use to make startling revelations. It looks like an ordinary undeveloped instant photograph but will reveal anything you like including words, cards, images and even signatures.
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A few months ago the world was shocked to discover that a US company had designed and manufactured the world’s first synthetic living cell. The researchers had written the genetic code on a computer and then, through the aid of some very helpful yeast, assembled a fully man made strand of DNA that was later injected into a living cell. A few moments later, the cell reproduced creating the first fully artificial life form.
What happened was that, for the first time in human history, genes were written in a computer program and a living synthetic organism was manufactured by a corporation. Let’s speculate what a few years might do to this basic technology.
Its the morning after Festivus and little Charlie Darwin has received, under the Aluminium Pole, what he wanted most: Dr Moreau’s do-it-yourself Creature Lab. The small box contains a tiny thumb drive and an authentication code. He runs upstairs to install the software and logs in to the Creative Creatures’ website. Within the kid friendly interface, Charlie designs and previews his creation. Using a GUI full of bubbly shapes and pastel colors he hacks away at designing his own creature. He adds teeth and enlarges the fangs. The texture palette includes scales which he selects and colors them dark green with purple flakes. When Charlie is happy with the wings and tail, he can’t contain his excitement as he clicks CREATE!
Slowly a three dimensional creature gets rendered and displayed. It is a evil looking dragon that writhes and slither’s on the screen . Charlie can spin it and look at it doing several preprogrammed activities like growling and pouncing. Once he is satisfied he clicks ORDER only to find that he needs a parents receipt code to do so. “Aww Man! Daaaaaaad!,” he yells as he races downstairs to fetch his father. Little Judy pops in and gives a little yelp of joy and starts playing with the mouse. She smiles at the screen and gets distracted by a passing ladybug which she chases out of the room.
The father, Erasmus, sits down, looks at the rendering and frowns but goes on with the ordering procedure. “Order Confirmed! Delivery estimated: 45 Days. An email has been sent to your account,” is displayed on the screen. A month and a half goes by and finally on a glorious Saturday morning Charlie runs downstairs to receive the delivery from Created Creatures Inc.
The doorbell wakes up Erasmus and he struggles to sign the deliveryman’s pad and hand over a tip. As he does so he thinks for a second of the potential horror within the crate. Was it right messing with nature like this? Was this creature supposed to live at all? What does life mean when a thing like this can be created by a 10 year old? Was he playing God? He dismisses these thoughts quickly and says to himself “all the kids have them, they are perfectly safe; It will be alright”.
Erasmus has not completed his thought when he heard his son cry out in pain. Liquid fear shoots into his bloodstream.
Speaking of fairies, one was captured by a guava picker outside Guadalajara. Hundreds of residents have now lined up for hours to pay 20 pesos to see the fairy. And when I say a fairy was captured, I mean a plastic toy was placed in a jar.
“Mexican news agencies were quick to show a “real fairy” that was supposedly found the outskirts of Guadalajara, Mexico. The supposed fairy was found by a 22 year old man who claimed to have captured the creature while picking Guavas. His mother gave an emotional testimony to the cameras, claiming to have had experienced some sort of spiritual awakening.”
Who knew these delicate dead faeries were hiding on Etsy all along? This is the handiwork of Weird Things reader Jim Transue who hand makes all of these oddities by hand and sells them for those who really want to get a gift for a man who has everything.
Simone Allyne is the Weird Things eBook reviewer focusing on readily available, affordable Science Fiction and Fantasy. If you have a book you’d like reviewed, please email WeirdThingsMail@Gmail
Have you ever read a book where you are left feeling not sure of what to think? Containment by Christian Cantrell certainly left me feeling that way. I can’t say that I loved it, but I can’t say I hated it either.
Perhaps it was the overwhelming amount of programming dialogue or the concept of the human race consuming our planet, but the depth of the story and the complexity of the characters kept me wanting to read more.
Containment starts with the main character, Arik. He awakens from a surgery as a result of an “accident” and what follows is an account of Arik’s journey to understand the truth of the only life he’s ever known and what it means and how his understanding will ultimately affect the future of his colony.
The life that Arik knows is one of confinement to the Venus Colony referred to as V1. He was born and raised in V1 knowing only a life of monitored consumption. Day to day activities of the colony are controlled by an all encompassing computer system. An advanced schoolwork curriculum, and a predetermined place in V1’s society are also tenets of everyday life. However after Arik’s accident, he begins to question if what he has known his entire life is not just an illusion and begins seeking out the truth for himself.
As mentioned before, Containment’s technical details and rich programming dialogs will draw in anyone who has an interest or love of computer programming or engineering. For others this may weigh down the book and make it hard for some readers to enjoy the rest of the story. I felt as if my very basic knowledge of programming was simply not enough to fully encompass what was being discussed about from time to time and that some of the details of the story weren’t being absorbed by me. Maybe after multiple readings, with some supplemental help online or elsewhere, might make some of the concepts described in the book more understandable.
Other then the heavy technical language I still enjoyed Containment. The author takes care to keep the story moving and his attention to detail is commendable. My assessment is that hardcore sci-fi fans will love the story… just make sure you bring your programming books along for the ride!
[Containment is available for .99 cents on Amazon]
It’s 1890 and the citizens of Boston are beginning to go missing in the fog.
The police are confounded. The public is frightened. The city is on the edge of hysteria.
It’s up to the mysterious Smith, inventor and adventurer, to figure out what’s going on with the help of his assistant, April Malone. They’ll have to face off against a secret society, corrupt policemen and a mad psychologist hell-bent on dissecting Smith, in order to solve the mystery of what’s going on and to save the city from an even more sinister threat.
A fast-paced 45,000 word tale of science adventure, this novella is the first story about Smith, a curious man combining elements of Doctor Who, Sherlock Holmes and Tony Stark.
You can have it for only 99¢ on the Amazon Kindle store.
Back in the Victorian era, steam engines were on the bleeding edge and electricity seemed magical and revolutionary. In those times it seemed that all could be solved by technology and in many ways this was true. Inventors like Edison, Tesla, Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace inspired authors like Jules Verne and H.G Wells. These thinkers were setting down what the future would be like in ways that we are only now, in the second decade of the 21st Century are beginning to understand .
In many ways this is literary archaeology. By revisiting the classics with our 2011 minds we recognize gems that others might have passed up in the past century. The following are several inventions from the texts of the greatest Victorian Scientific Fantasy authors.
1899 iPod Touch: HG Wells, in his 1899 short story “When The Sleeper Wakes”, good ol’ George foresaw a device that could be carried on the palm that had the sole purpose of storing and displaying movies and music. As his protagonist fumbles with the device he discovers that:
He pressed this and a rapid clicking began and ceased. He became aware of voices and music, and noticed a play of colour on the smooth front face. He suddenly realised what this might be, and stepped back to regard it.On the flat surface was now a little picture, very vividly coloured, and in this picture were figures that moved. Not only did they move, but they were conversing in clear small voices.
1889 Skype: In his prophetic “In The Year 2889” Verne prognosticates a future with fiber optic communications and video calling ala Skype or Google Hangouts. The motivation is very similar to an Apple’s Facetime app:
Incredible though it seems, in the 10 years since their marriage, this is the first time Mrs. Edith Smith, the professional model, has been so long absent from home; two or three days usually suffice for her frequent trips to Europe. The first thing Mr. Smith does is activate his phonotelephote, the wires of which communicate with his Paris mansion. The telephote! Here is another great triumph of modern science. The transmission of speech is an old story; the transmission of images by means of sensitive mirrors connected by wires is a thing but of yesterday. A valuable invention indeed; Mr. Smith this morning is full of blessings for the inventor, when by its aid he is able distinctly to see [and speak with ] his wife despite her great distance.”
1899 Multi Touch iPad: Wells also delved into portable computers complete with multi touch interphases. Again from “When the Sleeper Wakes” in which the main character sleeps for 250 years and goes to the tailor in the future, the tool the tailor uses to show the sleeper different styles should sound very familiar to us.
“You lived, Sire, in a period essentially cylindrical — the Victorian. With a tendency to the hemisphere in hats. Circular curves always. Now –” He flicked out a little appliance the size and appearance of a keyless watch, whirled the knob, and behold — a little figure in white appeared kinetoscope fashion on the dial, walking and turning. “Trust me,” said the tailor. “My machine follows. What do you think of this?”
“What is that?” asked the man from the nineteenth century. “In your days they showed you a fashion-plate,” said the tailor, “but this is our modern development. See here.” The little figure repeated its evolutions, but in a different costume. “Or this,” and with a click another small figure in a more voluminous type of robe marched on to the dial. The tailor was very quick in his movements, and glanced twice towards the lift as he did these things.”
1889 Podcasting: Yes, we all know he also came up with the submarine, moonshot, airplane et. al. But this jewel was long forgten until recently. In between eating crepes zussette and buying baguettes, Jules proposed that in the future news would be consumed via telephone like contraptions conected to recording devices in his 1889 story, “In the Year 2889” . Even the concept of subscribing to podcasts is mentioned. You can imagine a Steampunk version of Scott Johnson or Tom Merritt speaking to the masses through their wired conections to the brass and wood Apple portable phonographs. Here is an excerpt:
“Instead of being printed, the Earth Chronicle is every morning spoken to subscribers, who, from interesting conversations with reporters, statesmen and scientists, learn the news of the day. Furthermore, each subscriber owns a phonograph, and to this instrument he leaves the task of gathering the news whenever he happens not to be in a mood to listen directly himself.”
Recently there have been great deal of discussions over who invented what technology and who came up with this idea or that one. The fact is that the far thinking Victorians foresaw even the information age back in the 19th. So you see, there is prior art in everything and we are indeed living in the Victorian equivalent of technological paradise. So who knows what else is posible from cavorite to the flugurator all manner of wonders prognosticated by the visionaries from the Steam Age might be coming soon. I guess there is something to donning hats with goggles after all.
How’d you like to never pay for a drink again? How about having complete strangers pay for your meals? What if you always had a few tricks up your sleeve to break the ice at parties or get the girl’s phone number?
“Cheats, Cons, Swindles and Tricks” is full of 57 of the very best bar scams and tricks, picked up in Brian Brushwood’s 12 years of worldwide travel. As seen on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno (twice!) as well as 2 dozen other TV programs, Brian’s now the host of the popular online series “Scam School,” (downloaded over 1 million times a month, and named by iTunes as a “top video podcast” of 2008 and 2009).
…And THIS is the book that started it all.
With 57 killer tricks (and 8 bonus scams), any one of these tricks could win you the cost of a free drink or more… and yet your investment will be LESS THAN 2 CENTS PER TRICK!
Short enough to digest in an evening, yet powerful enough to score you free drinks for the rest of your life… “Cheats, Cons, Swindles and Tricks” could be the single best investment of 99 cents you’ll ever make.
Simone Allyne is the Weird Things eBook reviewer focusing on readily available, affordable Science Fiction and Fantasy. If you have a book you’d like reviewed, please email WeirdThingsMail@Gmail
“Could she murder the others to save the human race? Could she live with that for the rest of her life too?”
I absolutely loved Torment: A Novel of Dark Terror by Jeremy Bishop! Torment was a fast read, a little heavy, but still very enjoyable! I found myself wrapped up in the story from the very first chapter. I was convinced that this was going to be a story about an alien invasion, but was pleasantly surprised to watch as it turned into a tale of human survival in a post apocalyptic world.
Small town reporter, Mia Durante, finds herself having brunch with the President of the United States on the day civilization comes to an end. Survivors of a different sort greet those who lived. What follows leaves Durante and nine other survivors on the run and they find themselves fighting for survival in a world in which only torment remains and where death is the only escape.
What would you do to stay alive? That is the question that Torment had me pondering. By pondering I mean I had to ask everyone I came into contact with how far they would be willing to go to stay alive; just to make sure I wasn’t the only person who would be willing to do what Mia Durante does in hopes of surviving or at the very least being able to stay dead
The book also doesn’t explain every tiny detail of how something happened and allows the reader to think more for themselves and invites them to draw their own conclusions. This is most evident in the question as to what caused the mutation of the human race to begin with.
Torment is a social science fiction novel; meaning it is concerned less with technology and space opera type themes and deals more with sociological speculation about human society and beliefs. The religious undercurrent helps flesh out the characters and allows you to see their differing opinions of god, and what life really means.
Readers may find the ending unexpected and personally it wasn’t an ending I had hoped for. That is not to say that it was a bad end to this gripping story, but I wanted so much more for Mia and wanted her to understand that she wasn’t a bad person, no matter what decisions she made.
Despite my hope for a different ending, I really enjoyed reading Torment; it was very easy to visualize what the characters where seeing and going through. And again I enjoyed being able to draw my conclusions about the mutated beings.
Gritty science fiction/western comes to life when T.R. Westwood is called to hunt down a mysterious creature murdering villagers on the outskirts of a world technology forgot. Andrew Mayne’s first novella The Grendel’s Shadow has garnered praise from Amazon readers and consistently ranked among the science fiction charts, find out why when you pick it up via the Kindle store for only .99.
When an unknown animal starts killing off settlers on a backwater planet run on coal and steam power, there’s only person who can help stop the slaughter; T.R. Westwood. A distinguished professor of biology and the galaxy’s greatest hunter, he’s the man to go to when the local wildlife needs to be reminded who is the galaxy’s top predator.
In a galaxy filled with millions of worlds, his specialty is evening the odds for the ones with technological restrictions. Rocks and spears or shotguns and canons, he’ll use whatever is allowed to get the job done.
The Grendel’s Shadow is 35,000 word novella mixing elements of post singularity science fiction, steampunk, horror and western.
If you’ve enjoyed Andrew’s other books including Public Enemy Zero or Chronological Man, you will love The Grendel’s Shadow.
We’ve talked about them on the Weird Things podcast and they ended every episode of Weird Things TV, but if you’re curious about the history of number stations (the creepy repetitive voices, transmitted on low power radio that repeat the same codes over and over and over) then here is a great 50 minute lecture about them.
Thank to reader Ben from Norway for passing this along.
The orange goo off the coast of the remote Alaskan town of Kivalina is a mystery that could turn ugly. Not only do residents have no idea what the substance is, if it turns out to be harmful to the fishing, hunting or agriculture industries it could be dangerous. Towns like Kivalina are nearly 100% self-sufficient since travel can be so hazardous during winter time.
As of now experts can only rule out that the goo is a petroleum based or man-made chemical. The world is also still out on if it’s a sentient race of alien.
Simone Allyne is the Weird Things eBook reviewer focusing on readily available, affordable Science Fiction and Fantasy. If you have a book you’d like reviewed, please email WeirdThingsMail@Gmail
“The girl laid her hand on the table, palm up. Madame Vorchka grasped the delicate fingers. Dark, vile images assaulted her. Cold evil wound itself around her spine. Blood, insatiable longing, dark laughter. She dropped the hand, pictured it dripping with gore for a moment.”
I enjoyed Laura Eno’s Deadly Intent very much and it was really hard for me to put it down because you can so easily get caught up in the events of the town and it’s people. You always feel that you need to know what is going to happen to them.
Deadly Intent is a story with emotionally driven characters that are very easy to relate too. You can’t help but feel for Jonathon and sympathize with his granddaughter Abbie as they both fight for what they hold dear.
In the small idyllic town of Wood Park, California a mysterious virus is causing the ordinarily law abiding citizens to act out their most primal desires. Add to that an amnesiac stranger with a nasty criminal past and you have Deadly Intent by Laura Eno.
The trouble in Wood Park begins with a torrential down pour accompanied by a lightening storm that wreaks havoc on the town and continues to do so even after the CDC arrives to “help” the town folk of Wood Park.
Jonathon Brier, sheriff of Wood Park, is pushed to his breaking point while trying to figure out what is happening to friends and family. As you read, you can really feel Jonathon’s stress, sadness, and confusion while he tries to fix the problems in his town.
The only contention I had was that Deadly Intent flipped between perspectives a lot and at times and it wasn’t always clear who’s point of view I was reading from. But other then that, Deadly Intent is a great read filled with all the trimmings that make Sci-fi such a wonderful genre to read!
Time travel has been a staple of science fiction since its inception. As early as 1895 HG Wells, arguably the father of modern SciFi, wrote about time travel and its implications in “The Time Machine” . Now a days we get at least one time travel movie every year, mostly centered around paradoxes. Paradox is the term physicists use for the illogical effects of a careless time travelers. The most famous is one in which a time traveler kills his ancestor in the past. If this happens there is no logical way for the time traveler to be alive to kill the ancestor. This is called the Grandfather Paradox.
In modern times, experimenters have observed time reversal in particles and theorized how to use moving wormholes to build time loops. Physicists have recently even shown how a time machine can be constructed. Of course, if such a device is possible, even in the far future, care should be taken to prevent possible universe destroying paradoxes. The following is a simple guide on how to keep yourself, and the universe, safe, should you decide to take that vacation to the Precambrian Era.
First of all, the basics. We don’t really know what kind of time traveling the universe allows. There has been many scientific papers on the mechanics of possible universes. Both Science and Fiction have narrowed down the possibilities for us:
Type I: The Back to The Future Universe, in which there is a single timeline that can be altered and produces paradox opportunities galore.
Type II: The Time Cop universe, in which every trip produces a myriad of splinter universes with different colored Statues of Liberty, etc. JanClaude Van Damme lives in all of them.
Type III: The Doctor Who Universe in which time travel is possible but the universe itself prevents and corrects inconsistencies. This is the currently accepted scientific standard but things change often in this field .
Regardless of which universe we inhabit we have a few simple rules that will keep you from fading away and keep the time space continuum running like a Canton Hegemony built chronometer:
Brian wonders if a bizarre method to get high is real or fake when the boys get word of a new FBI directive. Andrew reveals just how cheaply we can get to Mars and how the budgets of several legitimately terrible movies could help us get there. Justin, via his new alter ego Blowfellow, attempts to solve mysterious case in the woods while his sketchy cyborg partner and dirty informant complicate his questioning.
Support the show by purchasing Andrew’s new book The Chronological Man: The Monster In The Mist for only 99¢ at Amazon.com by clicking the image below!
Simone Allyne is the Weird Things eBook reviewer focusing on readily available, affordable Science Fiction and Fantasy. If you have a book you’d like reviewed, please email WeirdThingsMail@Gmail
Ever wonder what it is like to be a girl genius running the Interdisciplinary Departmental Investigation Of Technomagic? Freakshow, a short story by Richard E.D. Jones, takes you inside the Interdisciplinary Departmental Investigation Of Technomagic or as it’s more fondly called “The Freakshow.”
The description of the Freakshow lab reminds me of the survival horror game Nocturne in which the main character works for a government organization called Spookhouse that operated like the FBI for all things supernatural.
Freakshow gives you a glimpse into the life of Natalie Harper, girl genius, who runs the Interdisciplinary Departmental Investigation Of Technomagic. While working insider her lab, we get to see a typical day for Natalie, if it can be called typical when she is asked questions like “Where should I put the head, Dr. Harper?” But after all she does have a hand for an assistant!
Jones creates a world of horrible wonder with Frankenstein heads in boxes, mysterious eggs, and an otherworldly beautiful man that is hell bent on tempting Natalie to join him and his nefarious ends.
I found Freakshow to be very refreshing because of the strong female lead character, but also found her assistant Vincent was an unexpected and enjoyable twist. Natalie herself is beyond smart, personable and easy to relate too. This, along with the fantastic world she portrays, makes this short story a good read for the female Sci-fi enthusiasts but is not exclusive to women… so don’t be afraid boys!
One downside to Freakshow is that it had the makings of a full-length novel and could have easily been expanded to a full series, diving into more of Natalie’s adventures while working at Freakshow. And that is my only point of contention with this story.
If you’re looking for a fast, and I do mean very fast, read and something that is on the lighter side of Science Fiction, but still an amazing story that you should definitely read!
Photosynthesis is a utility prop you can use to make startling revelations. It looks like an ordinary undeveloped instant photograph but will reveal anything you like including words, cards, images and even signatures.
A few months ago the world was shocked to discover that 
A Tale of Scientific Adventure…
1889 Skype: In his prophetic “In The Year 2889” Verne prognosticates a future with fiber optic communications and video calling ala Skype or Google Hangouts. The motivation is very similar to an Apple’s Facetime app:
1899 Multi Touch iPad: Wells also delved into portable computers complete with multi touch interphases. Again from “When the Sleeper Wakes” in which the main character sleeps for 250 years and goes to the tailor in the future, the tool the tailor uses to show the sleeper different styles should sound very familiar to us.
1889 Podcasting: Yes, we all know he also came up with the submarine, moonshot, airplane et. al. But this jewel was long forgten until recently. In between eating crepes zussette and buying baguettes, Jules proposed that in the future news would be consumed via telephone like contraptions conected to recording devices in his 1889 story, “In the Year 2889” . Even the concept of subscribing to podcasts is mentioned. You can imagine a Steampunk version of Scott Johnson or Tom Merritt speaking to the masses through their wired conections to the brass and wood Apple portable phonographs. Here is an excerpt:
Ever wonder what it is like to be a girl genius running the Interdisciplinary Departmental Investigation Of Technomagic? Freakshow, a short story by Richard E.D. Jones, takes you inside the Interdisciplinary Departmental Investigation Of Technomagic or as it’s more fondly called “The Freakshow.”