How I would vote now: 1953 Hugo (Best Novel)

The Nominees The Demolished Man by Alfred Bester The Actual Results How I Would Have Voted Explanation I didn’t hate this book—I did finish it, after all—but I had some issues with it, especially the ending. It’s basically a futuristic murder mystery / true crime piece, where the protagonist is a telepathic detective who figures… Continue reading How I would vote now: 1953 Hugo (Best Novel)

Our world makes a lot more sense…

…when you realize that the internet is a factory for creating cults, and that social media and smart devices are force multipliers for this effect. Before the internet, your “community” was a geographically bound group of people, who were diverse enough (that’s “diverse” with a lower-case d) to give you an interesting variety of perspectives… Continue reading Our world makes a lot more sense…

How I would vote now: 2022 Hugo Award (Best Novel)

The Nominees Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki The Galaxy and the Ground Within by Becky Chambers A Master of Djinn by P. Djeli Clark A Desolation Called Peace by Arkady Martine She Who Became the Sun by Shelley Parker-Chan Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir The Actual Results How I Would Have Voted… Continue reading How I would vote now: 2022 Hugo Award (Best Novel)

Why Nick Cave is wrong about human creativity and generative AI

First of all, I don’t think that Nick Cave is entirely wrong. Laying aside how ChatGPT is just one of the many LLMs that are publicly available, and that using it as a stand-in for all of generative AI is like saying “AOL Online” when you mean “the internet,” he does make a fair point… Continue reading Why Nick Cave is wrong about human creativity and generative AI

How I would vote now: 1955 Hugo Award (Best Novel)

The Nominees They’d Rather Be Right by Mark Clifton and Frank Riley (also published as The Forever Machine) The Actual Results How I Would Have Voted Explanation Things worked a little differently back in 1955. This was only the second time the Hugo Awards were given out (the first was in 1953), though it was… Continue reading How I would vote now: 1955 Hugo Award (Best Novel)