Category: Science Fiction

How to Create 10,000 Jobs?

How do you create 10,000 jobs? Train 500 brewers. Originally, I was going to write: Train 10,000 teachers. Despite the overwhelming need for teachers [1], the profession currently is looked down upon in the United States and people don’t understand that if you don’t invest in education, you’re not investing in the future. (Cynically, I […]

30 Things I Did Before Turning 30

In anticipation of my 54th birthday, I answered this question on Quora: What are the 30 things you did before turning 30 in your life? Learned to skateboard ramps and pools. Memorized every ditch and was part of an informal word-of-mouth network that knew when a new ramp appeared in Ventura. Convinced my parents to drive […]

Who Takes iGEM Seriously?

This past week iGEM startup PvP Biologics closed a $35 million round with Takeda. Last year, in June 2016, Ginkgo Bioworks raised $100 million. The company was founded by a team that participated in the first iGEM competitions. The iGEM startup page lists some 19 startups that originated from the competition. While Christopher VanLang is […]

Movie Review: Arrival

Arrival does a good job of showing scientists at work. The movie tells the story of a linguist and a theoretical physicist on deadline to translate the language of an alien species. The aliens arrive in twelve giant, almond-shaped monoliths that float above cities and remote locations across the globe. The US military recruits linguist Louise Banks, played by Amy Adams […]

A Brief, Personal Reading List – Fiction September 2016

I recently shared this reading list with thesalesblog author and sales guru Anthony Iannarino. Anthony’s extremely well read but admitted he didn’t read much fiction. Here’s what I wrote him: I grew up on science fiction and have read a lot of it and admit it’s inspired my career. But I’ve also read a lot […]

Review: Across the Event Horizon

Mercurio D. Rivera’s stories punch you in the stomach with a great idea, toy with your emotions, then leave you gasping for more. In this first collection of short stories, Across the Event Horizon, Rivera’s ideas will initially surprise you. They’ll stay with you for days after you read them. Rivera understands there are infinite possibilities […]

Movie Review: Looper. With An Explanation of Time Travel from Captain Underpants. Action. Pranks. Laffs.

Admittedly, I’m late to seeing Looper. I saw it last night because Argo was sold out and The Cloud Atlas wasn’t for a couple of hours but I really enjoyed it and I’m glad we saw it. The premise: In 2074, time travel has been invented. It’s illegal but is being used by criminal organizations […]

BOOK REVIEW: THE ARCTIC INCIDENT (Artemis Fowl 2 )

Someone’s been selling illegal fairy technology to goblins. The Lower Elements Police Reconnaissance Unit (LEPrecon) suspects Artemis Fowl, a 13-year old criminal mastermind, who previously cost the fairies of the Lower Elements a half-ton of gold and the embarrassment of being outwitted by a human. Goblins, fairies, LEPrecon and a teenage criminal mastermind? For readers […]