The Sci Fi Catholic: New Samsung Techwin SGR-A1 Killer Robot and Abortion Petition

Wednesday, April 25, 2007

New Samsung Techwin SGR-A1 Killer Robot and Abortion Petition

Samsung has announced the development of a new robot designed to patrol dangerous borders and shoot bad guys. A brief though well-written article on the ethical issues related to the development of such robots is available at MSN. It is getting to the point where science is moving ahead so rapidly the science fiction writers are behind. Perhaps that's why fantasy is doing so well these days.

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Currently Reading

D.G.D.: Sanderson, who I'm pleased to learn is a local author, depicts a fantasy world where the evil overlord actually won and took over the world, and now a thousand years later a band of brigands attempts to pull a caper to topple him. Creative magical system involving the ingestion of metals, which can be "burned" for certain magic powers mostly resembling wire-fu. Likeable characters and very readable.

D.G.D.: No, it's not a phony occult text designed to part gullible Wiccans and Neo-Pagans from their money. It's a thick compendium of H. P. Lovecraft's most important stories, including the complete Cthulhu Mythos. A big fat book that makes people double-take when you read it in public. You want to borrow it? Ha! You will never retrieve the Necronomicon!

D.G.D.: What with the idea of dragons and snakes as universal symbols of evil being popular among some Catholics, and with my dragon lore being hopelessly out of date, I thought to get current with Charlesworth's extensive study of snakes in ancient Near Eastern mythology and iconography. He spends a lot of time doing rather haphazard interpretation of archaeological artifacts, but has an interesting description of the Asclepian cult. Would be better with higher-quality illustrations and prose that could stay on target and more clearly separate the facts from the author's speculations and guesses.

Snuffles: An old-school manga from the 1970s, now in its first English-language edition. A little dated, perhaps, but a good old-fashioned soap-operatic work of skiffy nonetheless.

Snuffles: Okay, I admit it. I love this saccharine, overwritten, overwrought, melodramatic, adolescent garbage. Though I couldn't summarize the story without inducing retching, it manages to have quite a few genuinely emotional moments. It mostly follows the formula of every other shoujo manga ever, but it pulls an unexpected twist or two and sometimes shows real grit. Major gimmick is the protagonist's mondo cooking skill and her ability to bake her way out of trouble. Each chapter comes with a recipe and cooking tips so the kids can play along at home. Major question you're not supposed to ask: How do the characters eat such massive amounts and stay model-thin?