Star Trek

I just saw the new Star Trek last weekend and thought it was pretty decent. I liked the special effects a good amount. I have never seen anything else Star Trek related, but wanted to know what Star Trek fans thought of the movie?

Confirmation

Just to be sure, the syllabus says our final papers are due on Friday (exam week friday). However, for some reason I have the strongest feeling that they were due exam week wednesday. So, just to be sure, are we following the syllabus for paper due date or was the date changed?

A legit post: Kubrick fans unite!

Okay, here is something I'm not confused about. While doing research for my final paper, I came across a really good Stanley Kubrick website. It's called the Kubrick Corner. All fans of Stan the Man should check it out.

Do we have posts this week?

Again, I am confused. I don't see any posts. Do we have any this week? What's going on?!

Class today?

Do we have class today? I checked the syllabus, and it said that we do. Although I thought we were just watching Dr. Who or something, and the syllabus said something different. I'm so confused.

Online evaluation form

Thanks to the five of you who already have filed an online evaluation form for our class, for a 42 percent response rate, five out of 12. (I can't see who the evaluators are, nor the evals themselves, only the response rate.)

I'd like the response rate to approach 100 percent, as I would love to encourage the university to keep doing evals this way. Online evals are more efficient and environmentally friendly, and how they work this semester in the test classes (including ours) will help determine whether the program expands in future semesters.

So when you get a chance, do that by the deadline of Friday, Dec. 4, please. I've appended the university how-to boilerplate below. I'll remind you of this when I see you in person Wednesday, Dec. 2. I look forward to it. Happy Thanksgiving.

==

PLEASE SHARE THE FOLLOWING WITH YOUR STUDENTS
This course will be using a new online system for collecting the end-of-semester Student Opinions of Instruction questionnaires instead of in-class paper forms. Your response is very important and is used to assess curricular and instructional quality, as well as to identify opportunities for improvement. Your responses are confidential; only a summary of all student responses without individual identifiers will be provided to me and college administrators.

The new online system enables you to:

complete the questionnaire anytime, anywhere, at your own pace allowing for more thoughtful and constructive responses; and

save and return later, as well as review and edit completed questionnaires prior to the end of the collection period.

Beginning November 15, 2009, most Student Opinions of Instruction questionnaires will be available. The questionnaires for Nursing courses will be available on November 22, 2009. You may access them in either of two ways:

Login to myBama then select the Student Opinions of Instruction channel on either the Academics or Student tabs. Once in the system, you will see a list of courses you are being asked to evaluate.

An email invitation and up to 2 reminders will include a link to the online system; reminders will only be sent to those who have not submitted all questionnaires.

Meow

IBM has designed a supercomputer that accurately replicates the cerebral cortex of a cat...onward to Skynet!

article here

paper topic

ehhh.. I forgot to post a new topic instead of commenting thrice

My topic concerns the thesis for The Baum Plan for Financial Independence (novel, not short story)

I don't know what the thesis of the novel is. However, I know it specifically identifies two things: the constructed nature of gender and the human desire to tap into an infinite resource.

If anyone has some ideas as to what the thesis might be, please post for discussion.

Paper Topic

I am really struggling trying to find a good topic for our paper. Right now I am leaning towards apocalypses and peoples' reaction to them

My paper topic

For my second SF paper, I want to examine the integration of renewable energy sources or devices in SF stories. I can examine the fundamental theories the authors used to come up with these new SF idea, and also what are the fallacies in the plans right now that keeps each idea as a SF idea and not viable in the real world.

Some of the SF ideas I was considering to use are the Zero Point Energy concept in River of Gods and the Faulelt Engine in Powerless. I am also considering looking at the fabrikator in Kiosk and the QSNA in The Juniper Tree.

What do y'all think? Are these SF ideas we have read about good ideas to write about? Is there any better examples out there, especially in the Lunar Quartet we read?

And now for something completely different...

Kidding, just another paper topic idea.

I was considering doing a paper on the roles of children within science fiction. It seems as if children usually fill some sort of mystical, supernatural, or super human role within science fiction stories, such as Ender in Ender's Game and the Brahmins in River of Gods, and I think it be interesting to examine different instances of this phenomenon as well as why it exists.

Thoughts? Questions? Concerns?

Potential paper topic

It's pretty simple. I think I'll just do a paper comparing and contrasting the roles technology plays in WALL-E and Stanley Kubrick's 2001. I think I mentioned this some time a while back, and I still like the idea. Any thoughts/ suggestions for things you think I should mention?

My Potential Topic

There were several topics that I kept toying with in my head, but the one that I can't seem to stray from is the exploration of how the future is imagined in science fiction. I'm thinking about looking at science fiction from the past and seeing how wrong or right they were about today's setting, as well as what perhaps motivated them in making that prediction. I would also look at today's science fiction (using the material from class) and compare/contrast its depiction with past science fiction. And finally, I might try to imagine how the genre will evolve in the years coming concerning its depiction of the future.

Thoughts? Opinions? I'm not in love with it, but I've just had a hard time wrapping my head around anything else about which I could write 2000 words.

A bunch of random stuff

Firstly, I almost forgot to post this week. Remembered at the last minute. =)

Secondly, I think I'd like to write my paper using Kessel's Stories for Men and/or Sunlight or Rock. I've got a few different ideas but most likely it'll center on Erno (just because his character fascinated me)

Thirdly, in my Anthropology class today, we talked about the third gendered( as in neither male nor female) caste group in India (known as the Hijra). Reminded me of the Nutes in River of Gods.

And Lastly, Does anyone else notice that the more advanced a group (mostly an alien group if you're watching scifi) is, the more arrogant they are? Seriously, I always find it frustrating to hear some advanced alien say "But that's impossible" You'd think they'd be advanced enough to think outside the box. Apparently it's hard to advance beyond arrogance.

Paper Topic

I think I'm going to write my paper on how the title "Pride and Prometheus" relates to the story. I'm going to focus on the story of Prometheus, how pride affected the characters and their decisions, and similarities between this story and "Pride and Prejudice". It sounds odd, I know, but they have some similar elements to them.

As far as a paper goes...

I'm heading in a direction where I believe I'd like to explore the possibility that "artificial intelligence" is the next evolutionary step of for humans and what that would mean for our suddenly obsolete species. What would happen if we really did reach the singularity? If A.I. is alive and cognizant wouldn't it act in the way any living thing would and fight tooth an nail to preserve its existence and propagate its species? I know I would....

Paper Topics

Ok, so what I am currently batting around are a couple ideas. Neither are fully furnished yet.

1) Comparison of humans vs robots vs androids and the blurry line that exists between them. Also maybe analyzing/looking at why this line exists primarily due to human fear of being bested/defeated

2) Human fear driving sci-fi. Many stories in SciFi are crafted out of the things humans fear. Supreme aliens with exceptionally better technology coming and destroying us all and/or conquering the world; the world being destroyed by some event (like an asteroid); human technology getting out of hand and thus destroying us all (robots, AI, weapons, etc).

I just woke up with this one this morning, so it is really uncrafted and unfinished.

Anyone got some comments or ideas for either of these?

Potential Paper Topic

I was thinking about writing about Kessel's three lunar stories about the Utopian/dystopian feminist colonies. I guess analyzing them from a feminist perspective, any thoughts?

Not too late to start watching Fringe

Tonight at 7 eastern time Fringe returns to Fox. Awesome SF show that is worth a viewing.

Together At Last! Dinocroc Vs. Supergator!

I thought this was too hilarious not to post Click here