Fantasy and Science Fiction are largely escapist and that means that in some way the characters are meant to represent us allowing us to imagine ourselves as great heroes who save the day and get the girl.
The problem with this is that in order for any of this to work as a story there has to be conflict and trouble and so while many of these characters seem to have exciting lives things aren't as good as they seem.
5. Frodo Baggins
Living his life in peace in the shire until one day he is given the most evil relic in the world, he is forced to leave paradise to travel into the worst place in the world, get nearly eatten by a spider, go hungry, thirsty, and finally have his finger bitten off. Then when he does return he is tormented by the memories and longing for the ring until he is forced
to leave everything behind and travel across the ocean to live with the elves.
On the other hand: he had some good times before he had the weight of the world put on his shoulders, and Lembas bread sounds like it would be good.
4, Yoda
Yoda was the wisest of all the Jedi, yet he was unable to stop the destruction of all his brothern. In addition to living alone in a swamp 
for twenty years Yoda must have had some serious survivor's guilt, and then just as he begins to see a chance to fix things he dies.
On the other hand: He lived 900 years so there were probably some good times before the emperor began to cause problems and he can move things with his mind. That could be useful, unless you're living alone in a swamp.
3. Angel
Immortal and eternally young, Angel is clearly meant to be a tragic figure. He was evil for several hundred years and seemed to enjoy it until he was cursed with a soul, except that if he is ever truly happy he loses it.
He does this, becomes evil and nearly destroys the world, but his soul is returned to him just as the woman he loves is forced to stab him thr
ough the chest with a giant sword.
He is then brought back and forced to attempt to make up for three hundred years of killing something that he knows he can't do, while a group of lawyers try to drive him insane.
On the other hand: He has a second chance.
2. Hercules
If you watch shows about Hercules it's easy to forget the real story because it's far more fun to focus on the slaying of monsters, but this wasn't someone with a happy life. Hercules was abandoned by his father, who's wife, and queen of the gods spent her time trying to ruin him.
She sends snakes to kill him in his crib and he kills them and for a while that seems like it is all over, except that she is actually waiting for
him to become happy. He marries and has children, then the queen of the gods makes him insane and he kills them.
Even though he was insane that defense didn't work in anchient times and he is given 12 impossible tasks to perform instead of being given time to mourn the death of his wife and children.
On the other hand: he went on an interesting boat trip and got to hang out with Jason and Iolaus.
1. The Doctor
Last of the time lords the doctor not only has to deal with a constant stream of enemies who want to destory him, and the earth but do it while hanging around with people who are probably no closer to his inteligence than a dog is to ours.
He of course picks the best of the lot for companions, just as you might pick out a well bred dog from the kennel rather than one of the really stupid ones because at least it can learn a few tricks.
More tragically is the idea that this lord of time and space can go anywhere except the one place he really wants to go which is home to the other time lords. He also has to deal with the memories of not only losing his own race but exterminaning another race.
On the other hand: He has a time machine.
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to leave everything behind and travel across the ocean to live with the elves.
On the other hand: he had some good times before he had the weight of the world put on his shoulders, and Lembas bread sounds like it would be good.
4, Yoda
Yoda was the wisest of all the Jedi, yet he was unable to stop the destruction of all his brothern. In addition to living alone in a swamp for twenty years Yoda must have had some serious survivor's guilt, and then just as he begins to see a chance to fix things he dies.
On the other hand: He lived 900 years so there were probably some good times before the emperor began to cause problems and he can move things with his mind. That could be useful, unless you're living alone in a swamp.
3. Angel
Immortal and eternally young, Angel is clearly meant to be a tragic figure. He was evil for several hundred years and seemed to enjoy it until he was cursed with a soul, except that if he is ever truly happy he loses it.
He does this, becomes evil and nearly destroys the world, but his soul is returned to him just as the woman he loves is forced to stab him through the chest with a giant sword.
He is then brought back and forced to attempt to make up for three hundred years of killing something that he knows he can't do, while a group of lawyers try to drive him insane.
On the other hand: He has a second chance.
2. Hercules
If you watch shows about Hercules it's easy to forget the real story because it's far more fun to focus on the slaying of monsters, but this wasn't someone with a happy life. Hercules was abandoned by his father, who's wife, and queen of the gods spent her time trying to ruin him.
She sends snakes to kill him in his crib and he kills them and for a while that seems like it is all over, except that she is actually waiting for him to become happy. He marries and has children, then the queen of the gods makes him insane and he kills them.
Even though he was insane that defense didn't work in anchient times and he is given 12 impossible tasks to perform instead of being given time to mourn the death of his wife and children.
On the other hand: he went on an interesting boat trip and got to hang out with Jason and Iolaus.
1. The Doctor
Last of the time lords the doctor not only has to deal with a constant stream of enemies who want to destory him, and the earth but do it while hanging around with people who are probably no closer to his inteligence than a dog is to ours.
He of course picks the best of the lot for companions, just as you might pick out a well bred dog from the kennel rather than one of the really stupid ones because at least it can learn a few tricks.
More tragically is the idea that this lord of time and space can go anywhere except the one place he really wants to go which is home to the other time lords. He also has to deal with the memories of not only losing his own race but exterminaning another race.
On the other hand: He has a time machine.You have to appreciate someone who doesn't beat around the bush and there is no doubt that Prince Evillo knows exactly who and what he is. The ruler of the planet Tartarus, a perpetually dark world. He rules over it by syphoning off evil and using it to corrupt the innocent.
If all that wasn't enough he created a group of villains called "The Devil's Dozen" which were sent to other worlds to commit crimes. And all this is even more impressive when he uses his bio emitters to grow horns and shoot dark rays out of them.
Though called the Devil's Dozen, Prince Evillo never felt a need to have more than five followers on his raids of other planets to help support his beleaguered population, not wishing to risk more lives than were necessary.
Ultimately the Legion of Superheroes stepped in refusing to allow any aid to be brought to the poor population of Tartarus, and so Prince Evillo was forced to capture lightning lad in a desperate attempt to provide for his people.
Rather than facing him directly though, the cowardly members of the Legion disguised themselves and Star Boy and Dream Girl became Sir Prise and Miss Terious. (It seems that by the year 3000 all the good superhero names have been taken as were any names that made you sound like you were more than 12 years old)
Even death couldn't stop Prince Evillo who came back a final time in Final Crisis:Legion of 3 words #2 as a reanimated corpse. Now that is dedication, the world is coming to and end and you come back for one final chance to attack your enemies.
Think of the courage it takes to wear that costume
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Think of the courage it takes to wear that costumeSo you want to throw the best party ever and aren’t going to let a little death and destruction get in the way of a good time, then it’s time to expand the guest list to a few other species. Not only will they be an excellent source of conversation but they can virtually guarantee that the party won’t be boring.
5. The Nox
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Perhaps not the most exciting race they could be interesting at a p
arty if you happy to like to stay up until four in the morning discussing philosophy but the real reason that you invite the Nox to your party is because with them there the death rate is going to go down considerably and with their ability to create invisibility they can also keep away the riffraff.
4. The Hutts
He may not be the most pleasant of your guests to look at but once you get a few drinks in you the huts seem to know how to have fun. Not only that but as many members of their species are into spice smuggling and they tend to keep a few slaves around so they can cut down dramatically on the cost of the party.
3. The Klingons
They’re loud, they’ll break your stuff, stand too close to you and drink all of your beer but they certainly won’t allow your party to become boring. The Klingons may be fierce warriors on the battlefield but get them into a dank dark room with a barrel of blood wine and they know how to party, just try to remember that making a drunk Klingon warrior angry is a really bad idea.
2. The Centauri
The perfect mixture of regal and fun the Centauri will bring many of the benefits of the other races with a far lower body count. The only real issue with inviting them is that you’ll want to avoid inviting any Narn to your party because while both races can be pleasant enough on their own together they become a real problem.
1. The Betelgeusians
To be fair to the other races most members of the Betelgeusian races probably aren’t all that great at a party, but invite as many as you have to in order to have Zaphod Beeblebrox come to your party. He is the ultimate party alien. President of the Galaxy, and the winner of the worst dressed sentient being in the galaxy seven year in a row. Most important th
ough, he invented the Pan Galactic Gargle Blaster, which as a drink is described as having your brain smashed out by a lemon wrapped around A large gold brick. Now who wouldn’t want to try that at least once?
In retrospect it seems obvious. The Swiss clearly have time travel, and while many of the specifics aren't fully known the evidence is available and should be investigated.
As demonstrated by the find of the ring-watch in this photo, which w
as found in a Chinese tome which had been sealed for over four hundred years. This means they have went back at least four hundred years to manipulate the social evolution of China. Possibly even introducing that song that plays constantly in every Chinese restaurant in the world.
But introducing mildly annoying music is far from their only goal. Think about it. Who else but time travelers could come up with something so clearly superior as the swiss army knife, a knife which would be extremely useful in their time traveling escapades.
They are of course also known for their intricate and perfectly timed watches. This again is clearly because of a mix of future technology and obsession with time, both clear signs of a culture which has mastered time travel.
But it is not only their superior technology which gives away their time travel. How else can you explain their ability to stay out of world war one and world war two. Their neutrality is a cover for the truth that they not only used time travel to manipulate the war, but likely to cause it, sending Europe into 
a ago of chaos to give themselves more time to prepare.
And that is clearly what this is all about. This allegedly neutral country is anything but. Take for example the Swedish bikini team. They may seem harmless but
the truth is that they are really a team of highly trained assassins.
Their ultimate goal is yet unknown, but I suspect it to be nothing less than world domination, but I believe I may have uncovered the means by which they travel through time.
Yodeling. It is the only explanation for this music. They practice for years to modulate their voices to interact with the strange crystalline structure of the rocks found only in the alps allowing those most skilled to break through time.
I submit that the only chance we have is to begin training a squad of marines to yodel and send them as soon as possible to travel into these deadly mountains and begin to fight the Swiss time travelers wherever they may go.
Don't take my word for it though. Check out the story.
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as found in a Chinese tome which had been sealed for over four hundred years. This means they have went back at least four hundred years to manipulate the social evolution of China. Possibly even introducing that song that plays constantly in every Chinese restaurant in the world.
But introducing mildly annoying music is far from their only goal. Think about it. Who else but time travelers could come up with something so clearly superior as the swiss army knife, a knife which would be extremely useful in their time traveling escapades.
They are of course also known for their intricate and perfectly timed watches. This again is clearly because of a mix of future technology and obsession with time, both clear signs of a culture which has mastered time travel.
But it is not only their superior technology which gives away their time travel. How else can you explain their ability to stay out of world war one and world war two. Their neutrality is a cover for the truth that they not only used time travel to manipulate the war, but likely to cause it, sending Europe into a ago of chaos to give themselves more time to prepare.
And that is clearly what this is all about. This allegedly neutral country is anything but. Take for example the Swedish bikini team. They may seem harmless but
the truth is that they are really a team of highly trained assassins.
Their ultimate goal is yet unknown, but I suspect it to be nothing less than world domination, but I believe I may have uncovered the means by which they travel through time.
Yodeling. It is the only explanation for this music. They practice for years to modulate their voices to interact with the strange crystalline structure of the rocks found only in the alps allowing those most skilled to break through time.
I submit that the only chance we have is to begin training a squad of marines to yodel and send them as soon as possible to travel into these deadly mountains and begin to fight the Swiss time travelers wherever they may go.
Don't take my word for it though. Check out the story.
The Traditional Pi Pie
I would ask that you all stop what you are doing at 1:59 today and give a moment of silence to the greatest of all irrational numbers and remember all that it has given us.
What has it given us? You may ask, well in addition to our mathematical uses it has done something far more important, it has allowed math teacher to think that they are funny one time a year.
∏ r squared, no pi are round, is by no means funny, but that attempt at a pun has lightened the mood in many math classrooms. It has also helped countless students to recognise that math teachers are in fact not human but robots who are incapable of understanding human humor.
But back to pi day.
You may ask, how do you celebrate pi day in your family? Everyones traditions are different of course but in our family we would get up at 3:14 and begin by a reading of I Kings 7, 23
And he made a molten sea, ten cubits from the one brim to the other: it was round all about, and his height was five cubits: and a line of thirty cubits did compass it about.This early connection to pi in the building of the temple helped remind us of just how long pi has existed. We would then sit in a circle and take turns reciting the numbers of pi to about 1000 or until someone missed one. That person would be flogged with a stick the length of the radius of the circle. Mother would then read one of her favoret pi poems. The one i remember the best is Now I, even I, would celebrate in rhymes inept, the great immortal Syracusan rivall'd nevermore who in his wondrous lore passed on before left men his guidance how to circles mensurate. By A.C. Ore But of course the kids always prefered
Here once was a girl who loved pi I never could quite fathom why To her it's a wonder To me just a number Its beauty revealed by and by So, I will let you get back to the festivities.
Do not confuse
Right-Winger with Left-Winger. Right-Winger is evil in every conceivable way. He hates children and puppies but loves war because it kills children and puppies, while left-winger, his partner, loves peace, puppies and children.
Right-winger started out as a member of the military industrial complex serving four years but finding peace boring, Jerry Johnson, the Right-winger, join the Power Brokers Strength Augmentation Program.
Upon completing this hugely dangerous, expensive and criminal process Right-Winger immediately joined the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation, presumably to help himself train his new found abilities and not because he just liked to wrestle.
After gaining some notoriety as a superhuman wrestler he was recruited to join the Bold Urban Commandos, also called the Buckies. This three man teem all wore variations of the Captain America costume and fought in urban areas boldly.
But before they could boldly fight urban crime they must get rid of the ultimate enemy. Captain America. They did this not by overwhelming him with the spectacular moves that Right-Winger learned during his wrestling career but by pretending to attack John Walker during talk he was giving against Captain America.
This worked and John Walker was named the new Captain America, but John Walker didn't chose the right-winger, or even the loving, kind and nearly perfect Left-winger to become his partner but instead chose Lemar Hoskins because he was the only one of the group willing to be called Bucky. (Later he became unable to withstand the humiliation and changed the name to Battlestar)
Feeling betrayed by John Walker the two partners revealed his identity to the public. This dastardly dead committed by Right-winger, and patriotic stance against masked vigilantes committed by Left-winger led to the death of
John Walker's Parents and drove John Walker into a near mental breakdown.
The two then fought John Walker in an epic battle on an oil tanker which eventually exploded with Right-winger and Left-winger inside.
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Right-Winger with Left-Winger. Right-Winger is evil in every conceivable way. He hates children and puppies but loves war because it kills children and puppies, while left-winger, his partner, loves peace, puppies and children.
Right-winger started out as a member of the military industrial complex serving four years but finding peace boring, Jerry Johnson, the Right-winger, join the Power Brokers Strength Augmentation Program.
Upon completing this hugely dangerous, expensive and criminal process Right-Winger immediately joined the Unlimited Class Wrestling Federation, presumably to help himself train his new found abilities and not because he just liked to wrestle.
After gaining some notoriety as a superhuman wrestler he was recruited to join the Bold Urban Commandos, also called the Buckies. This three man teem all wore variations of the Captain America costume and fought in urban areas boldly.
But before they could boldly fight urban crime they must get rid of the ultimate enemy. Captain America. They did this not by overwhelming him with the spectacular moves that Right-Winger learned during his wrestling career but by pretending to attack John Walker during talk he was giving against Captain America.
This worked and John Walker was named the new Captain America, but John Walker didn't chose the right-winger, or even the loving, kind and nearly perfect Left-winger to become his partner but instead chose Lemar Hoskins because he was the only one of the group willing to be called Bucky. (Later he became unable to withstand the humiliation and changed the name to Battlestar)
Feeling betrayed by John Walker the two partners revealed his identity to the public. This dastardly dead committed by Right-winger, and patriotic stance against masked vigilantes committed by Left-winger led to the death of John Walker's Parents and drove John Walker into a near mental breakdown.
The two then fought John Walker in an epic battle on an oil tanker which eventually exploded with Right-winger and Left-winger inside.
One of Spider Man's most dangerous foes the Boss Man is a tactical genius with loyal minions and only a bit of bad luck that allowed Spiderman to once again narrowly escape death.
This highly ranked criminal overload of New York was able to capture Spiderman using nothing but his wit and a Super-steel Spider net.
After capturing Spiderman he locked him in a room with now windows. This room would almost certainly have held the wall crawler forever but for the Boss Man's single miscalculation. Leaving only a single guard to watch the door he did not count on Spider Man having a Hostess Fruit Pie which he was able to bribe the guard with.
This ingenious method of escape proved the single weakness in The Boss Man's organization. While his minions were highly paid and skilled enough to capture the super strongSpiderman they were not giving long enough lunch breaks. This along with the nearly irresistible lure of Hostess Fruit Pies created an inevitable crisis for The Boss Man.
Ironically a short time later A known associate of The Boss Man, Larcenous Lil captured Spiderman with a similar net. Sadly the Boss Man had not been able to come out of hiding long enough to warn the woman that though the net worked perfectly Spiderman was known to carry Hostess Fruit Pies. He once again offered the gun wielding thug a Hostess Fruit Pie and the man freed him from the net.
Check out the previous Villain Spotlights
Villain Spotlight #3 The Lepus
Villain Spotlight #2 Cycle Nurses
Villain Spotlight #1 Rainbow Raider
Filk, or Fan Music has become almost viable as the internet has allowed groups to unite around smaller and smaller things. Perhaps I a few years there will be people who make their livings writing songs about Knight Rider and Mortal Kombat.
A few places where you can find interesting filk songs
The Brobdingnagian Bards - In addition to having cool Filk they are also quite good and have Celtic songs, and have a podcast. If you don't know about Marc and Andrew check out their stuff. Sadly they are currently not active but their stuff is still available.
Filk Archive - An Archive with a wide variety of Filk in both theme and quality. This is a fun place to explore. This site does require you to sign up but it is free and not difficult.
The Geekspin - A Farpoint Media Podcast this show has a theme each episode and plays songs that fit that theme. From Lord of The Rings to Lost there are great and often funny songs. This was my introduction to filk and I still listen to it whenever it comes out.
Jonathon Coulton - I'm not certain if this is technically filk, but its fun music and is certainly aimed towards the same audience as filk. I believe his most popular song is "Re: Your Brains" but he has a lot of other great stuff too.
Eben Brooks - Quite a bit of interesting stuff. His site tends to focus on their, marginally, more mainstream songs while the things they have on youtube tends to be more filk.
A couple songs from youtube
(In an attempt to stir up some controversy I would like to add that written works isn't filk, it's not music until you sing it until then it's just poetry)
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The Brobdingnagian Bards - In addition to having cool Filk they are also quite good and have Celtic songs, and have a podcast. If you don't know about Marc and Andrew check out their stuff. Sadly they are currently not active but their stuff is still available.
Filk Archive - An Archive with a wide variety of Filk in both theme and quality. This is a fun place to explore. This site does require you to sign up but it is free and not difficult.
The Geekspin - A Farpoint Media Podcast this show has a theme each episode and plays songs that fit that theme. From Lord of The Rings to Lost there are great and often funny songs. This was my introduction to filk and I still listen to it whenever it comes out.
Jonathon Coulton - I'm not certain if this is technically filk, but its fun music and is certainly aimed towards the same audience as filk. I believe his most popular song is "Re: Your Brains" but he has a lot of other great stuff too.
Eben Brooks - Quite a bit of interesting stuff. His site tends to focus on their, marginally, more mainstream songs while the things they have on youtube tends to be more filk.
A couple songs from youtube
(In an attempt to stir up some controversy I would like to add that written works isn't filk, it's not music until you sing it until then it's just poetry)
Often technology is shown in science fiction on TV and movies with very little real effect. People can teleport from place to play or cut through walls with laser swords without thinking about the repercussions of how this would effect everyday life. Some of those changes would be good, these are the ones which would be far to dangerous for modern human civilisation.
10. Flying Cars
These are one of the less dangerous of the dangerous inventions on this list because in large part the people who got killed would be killing themselves. Still, if you've been on the road recently you know just how bad of an idea it would be to allow these people a flying car. Also, imagine your parents trying to understand how to program the AI which ran it if we went that way. My
parents still have trouble with the TV remote.
How it could be good - long lines of cars in perfect formation of cars in long rows, floating traffic lights, and getting to work far faster.
How I imagine it - They have finally worked it out so that the constant fender benders and bad driving don't get me killed in the chaos of the sky where thousands of cars go in thousands of different directions, i get in my car type in my destination and halfway there the engine dies. I plummet to my death. You think it's annoying when you have car trouble now, try it at 10,000 feet.
9. Nanites
Microscopic robots which are already being worked on. They can go inside the human body or create machinery thousands of times smaller than any human could hope to. More importantly they are able to copy themselves so that you don't have to constantly replace them.
How It could be good - People inject themselves with these devices and can heal in seconds, become super strong and smart. aging stops, computers become thousands of times faster thanks to micro circuitry, and nearly anything can be made by these tiny helpers.
How I imagine it - Assuming again that the grey goo scenario in which nanites reproduce until everything on earth is a nanite won't happen I go to the more annoying problem with these, adware, spyware and viruses. You think that pop ups are annoying on your computer then imagine what happens when hackers start to put them into the nanites which are improving your vision, constant popups advertising Viagra which you won't need because the nanites have already made you perfectly health but which they continue to put out because 1/20th of 1% of the population still fall for them.
8. Invisibility
This technology appears to be possible at some point in the future. New tests have found that they can bend light around people. The technology today makes the person inside invisible and isn't completely useful but it's likely to happen at some point.
How it could be good - Everyone gets a great view. You could observe wildlife without interfering with them.
How I imagine it - Security cameras are bad enough when you can see them. Now they are everywhere and you can't see them. No one one has any privacy anymore and every military weapon is completely invisible. You have to go through infrared scanners to get into everything.
7. Weather Control
Since people began to predict the weather they have thought about what it would be like to be able to control it. From the space shuttle being delayed due to weather to thousands of weekends ruined the idea of being able to control the weather is a great idea.
How it would be good - It only rains at night when everyone is asleep, there is never a drought, snow days are planned weeks in advance and no one is ever killed by hurricanes or tornadoes because they are harmlessly routed into empty sections of land.
How I imagine it - No need for wars, we don't even have to use tornadoes lightning. We simply just turn off the water for a few years. People starve to death and the land turns into a desert and that's all assuming that our messing with the weather doesn't cause huge unexpected changes in the weather in other places.
5. Replicators
Push a button and get anything you want. A replicator rearranges matter into anything you want.
How it would be good - No one ever goes hungry and you get what you want every meal. Saves hours a day and you never have to go to the store because you can simply push a button.
How I imagine it - I don't really care that the economy collapses and every Wal-Mart in the country is closed, but you think Americans are fat now imagine what happens when you can eat anything you wand anytime you want and you never have to leave your home.
4. Artificial Gravity
Who knows how gravity really works but at some point it might be possible. this isn't the minor technology that it typically is seen. being able to control gravity could change everything.
How it would be good - those flying cars might not fall out of the sky, we could move huge amounts of cargo with anti gravity hand carts and space travel becomes cheep as we simply turn off gravity and float into the sky and walk around the ships like we're on earth once we get there.
How I imagine it - Want to destroy a building you don't need explosives or planes, simply adjust the gravity on one part of the building. Any technology this revolutionary is going to be used not only by our military and others and that's all assuming that someone doesn't alter the orbit of the earth or rip apart the earth with it.
3. Time Travel
Zipping up and down the time stream is problematic in TV and movies because of how complicated it is so it hardly seems any point in explaining how it would be dangerous which is why it's not higher on the list.
How it would be good - History could be revised to a more correct vision, we could pull people who are about to die out of time into ours to keep them alive without changing anything and collect lost masterpieces.
How I imagine it - We don't need the butterfly effect or time criminals to cause problems. How I see it is that we step into our time machine power up the ten nuclear reactors which power it and jump backwards through time and find ourselves millions of miles from earth because for those entire thousand years the earth has continued to move and even if we solve that the government uses it to spy on not only on what you're doing now but what you've ever done.
2. Teleportation
Orbiting satellites can be used to get from anyplace on earth to anyplace else as well as getting into orbit cheaply.
How it would be good - I've always wanted to visit the pyramids and walk the streets of Jerusalem. Americans would actually begin to understand the rest of the world. Troop moment becomes much faster and cheaper and they can go home at the end of the day.
How I imagine it - You think security is bad now imagine what it would be like when people can teleport in. Concerts, sports even movies become next to impossible to sell tickets to and money disappears out of every bank in the country. Sections of buildings are teleported away collapsing the buildings. Every trouble in the world becomes a local problem so the instability of any place in the world becomes a problem for everyone.
1. Holodeck
The most dangerous technology ever thought of. Step into any world you want, live out your fantasies. Become James Bond or explore the stars without ever leaving your home.
How it would be good - This ends most of the problems of the things on the rest of the list. People don't have wars anymore because they can just go into a world where everything is the way that they want. Every skill can be practiced until you're good at it, doctors become experts without having to learn on the job and people are happy all the time.
How I imagine it - Holodecks become universal and 9 and a half months later
the last human child is born. People never interact with anyone directly. At best they enter into massively multi player online holodecks where they talk to other virtual people. Research stops because you don't need to invent things that actual work when you can program it into your holodeck. No one cares about success they already have everything they want. The human race goes out not with a bang but a whimper, but at least they are happy doing it.
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10. Flying Cars
These are one of the less dangerous of the dangerous inventions on this list because in large part the people who got killed would be killing themselves. Still, if you've been on the road recently you know just how bad of an idea it would be to allow these people a flying car. Also, imagine your parents trying to understand how to program the AI which ran it if we went that way. My
parents still have trouble with the TV remote.How it could be good - long lines of cars in perfect formation of cars in long rows, floating traffic lights, and getting to work far faster.
How I imagine it - They have finally worked it out so that the constant fender benders and bad driving don't get me killed in the chaos of the sky where thousands of cars go in thousands of different directions, i get in my car type in my destination and halfway there the engine dies. I plummet to my death. You think it's annoying when you have car trouble now, try it at 10,000 feet.
9. Nanites
Microscopic robots which are already being worked on. They can go inside the human body or create machinery thousands of times smaller than any human could hope to. More importantly they are able to copy themselves so that you don't have to constantly replace them.
How It could be good - People inject themselves with these devices and can heal in seconds, become super strong and smart. aging stops, computers become thousands of times faster thanks to micro circuitry, and nearly anything can be made by these tiny helpers.
How I imagine it - Assuming again that the grey goo scenario in which nanites reproduce until everything on earth is a nanite won't happen I go to the more annoying problem with these, adware, spyware and viruses. You think that pop ups are annoying on your computer then imagine what happens when hackers start to put them into the nanites which are improving your vision, constant popups advertising Viagra which you won't need because the nanites have already made you perfectly health but which they continue to put out because 1/20th of 1% of the population still fall for them.
8. Invisibility
This technology appears to be possible at some point in the future. New tests have found that they can bend light around people. The technology today makes the person inside invisible and isn't completely useful but it's likely to happen at some point.
How it could be good - Everyone gets a great view. You could observe wildlife without interfering with them.
How I imagine it - Security cameras are bad enough when you can see them. Now they are everywhere and you can't see them. No one one has any privacy anymore and every military weapon is completely invisible. You have to go through infrared scanners to get into everything.
7. Weather Control
Since people began to predict the weather they have thought about what it would be like to be able to control it. From the space shuttle being delayed due to weather to thousands of weekends ruined the idea of being able to control the weather is a great idea.
How it would be good - It only rains at night when everyone is asleep, there is never a drought, snow days are planned weeks in advance and no one is ever killed by hurricanes or tornadoes because they are harmlessly routed into empty sections of land.
How I imagine it - No need for wars, we don't even have to use tornadoes lightning. We simply just turn off the water for a few years. People starve to death and the land turns into a desert and that's all assuming that our messing with the weather doesn't cause huge unexpected changes in the weather in other places.
5. Replicators
Push a button and get anything you want. A replicator rearranges matter into anything you want.
How it would be good - No one ever goes hungry and you get what you want every meal. Saves hours a day and you never have to go to the store because you can simply push a button.
How I imagine it - I don't really care that the economy collapses and every Wal-Mart in the country is closed, but you think Americans are fat now imagine what happens when you can eat anything you wand anytime you want and you never have to leave your home.
4. Artificial Gravity
Who knows how gravity really works but at some point it might be possible. this isn't the minor technology that it typically is seen. being able to control gravity could change everything.
How it would be good - those flying cars might not fall out of the sky, we could move huge amounts of cargo with anti gravity hand carts and space travel becomes cheep as we simply turn off gravity and float into the sky and walk around the ships like we're on earth once we get there.
How I imagine it - Want to destroy a building you don't need explosives or planes, simply adjust the gravity on one part of the building. Any technology this revolutionary is going to be used not only by our military and others and that's all assuming that someone doesn't alter the orbit of the earth or rip apart the earth with it.
3. Time Travel
Zipping up and down the time stream is problematic in TV and movies because of how complicated it is so it hardly seems any point in explaining how it would be dangerous which is why it's not higher on the list.
How it would be good - History could be revised to a more correct vision, we could pull people who are about to die out of time into ours to keep them alive without changing anything and collect lost masterpieces.
How I imagine it - We don't need the butterfly effect or time criminals to cause problems. How I see it is that we step into our time machine power up the ten nuclear reactors which power it and jump backwards through time and find ourselves millions of miles from earth because for those entire thousand years the earth has continued to move and even if we solve that the government uses it to spy on not only on what you're doing now but what you've ever done.
2. Teleportation
Orbiting satellites can be used to get from anyplace on earth to anyplace else as well as getting into orbit cheaply.
How it would be good - I've always wanted to visit the pyramids and walk the streets of Jerusalem. Americans would actually begin to understand the rest of the world. Troop moment becomes much faster and cheaper and they can go home at the end of the day.
How I imagine it - You think security is bad now imagine what it would be like when people can teleport in. Concerts, sports even movies become next to impossible to sell tickets to and money disappears out of every bank in the country. Sections of buildings are teleported away collapsing the buildings. Every trouble in the world becomes a local problem so the instability of any place in the world becomes a problem for everyone.
1. Holodeck
The most dangerous technology ever thought of. Step into any world you want, live out your fantasies. Become James Bond or explore the stars without ever leaving your home.
How it would be good - This ends most of the problems of the things on the rest of the list. People don't have wars anymore because they can just go into a world where everything is the way that they want. Every skill can be practiced until you're good at it, doctors become experts without having to learn on the job and people are happy all the time.
How I imagine it - Holodecks become universal and 9 and a half months later
the last human child is born. People never interact with anyone directly. At best they enter into massively multi player online holodecks where they talk to other virtual people. Research stops because you don't need to invent things that actual work when you can program it into your holodeck. No one cares about success they already have everything they want. The human race goes out not with a bang but a whimper, but at least they are happy doing it.
I love Science Fiction movies and TV, but what really got me into the genre were the Asimov anthologies. Nightfall is still the best short story I've ever read. Here are a few places I've found to read science fiction on the web.
In no order whatsoever
1. Science Fiction Periodic Table
Put together by Michael Swanwick there are a lot of good flash fiction stories here. The theme itself is that each one of them is about one of the elements. This can on occasion be a stretch, there just aren't all that many good flash fiction stories about Xenon. This is a great tool for science teachers or people who just like flash fiction.
2. Diamonds in the Sky - An anthology of science fiction based on Astronomy. This is funded by the National Science Foundation and it looks like it has some good stuff.
3. Free SFreader - No actual stories here, but there are links to a ton. The SFreader has been rating science fiction stories online for a while now. This is a good way to find stories at least one person liked.
4. Podiobooks -- There is something about reading a story yourself which is special, but there is also something about actually having time to read a story which is required to do that. Podiobooks are podcasts of books. Usually sent out a chapter a week this is a great way to get your fiction fix when you're too busy to sit down and read.
5. Baen's Free Library -- Not only are there free books here, but an excellent explanation of why putting free books online is good. He also compares online piracy to brats stealing chewing gum which is about right. It might be illegal but it's really not all that big a deal.
6. Project Gutenberg -- There is a lot more here than science fiction and fantasy. Project Gutenberg is gathering together all kinds of public domain stories, but it still has some of the best science fiction ever written including, Mary Shelly, Mark Twain, Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. A great place to catch up on the classics you avoided reading in high school.
7. Hub A good online magazine with interesting stories.
8. Abyss and Apex - Three good magazines which have tons of stories, editorials and reviews online. Check them all out.
9. Cory Doctorow - Doctorow not only puts up his own fiction, but lists other authors who do the same on his blog. Putting your work online is how things are going to be and he's leading the way.
10. Strange Horizons - Lots of stories, articles and a gallery of art as well.
According to Stuff William Shatner would like to be prime minister of Canada. "As Prime Minister I can lead Canada into even greater exploits."Shatner said. I don't know much about Mr. Shatner's politics but I know something of his acting career and so I like to imagine how some of his characters might run Canada.
Captain James Tiberius Kirk - This is almost to easy but it would certainly be entertaining when he punched one of the foreign ambassadors in the face. He would most likely also find a way to spend time with at least one attractive woman on every foreign visit.
T.J. Hooker - I don't know a lot about T.J. Hooker, but as a long time member of the police force I imagine that he would be tough on crime.
The Big Giant Head - Already King of the galaxy he would likely be more hands off than many other world leaders, demanding only alcohol and women in abundance, which makes him not all that different from many earth politicians.
Denny Crane - A legendary litigator in his prime, Denny Crane claims to be the greatest lawyer in history and to have never lost a case. What he has lost, or so it often appears, is his mind. This isn't necessarily a major deterrent to becoming a political leader as he is still charismatic. He is most certainly a conserve, claiming in the past that "Elevators are for Democrats" and only taking the stairs.
Bob Wilson - there's.. something on the wing of the plane (begins sobbing uncontrollably)
I can only hope that he does become Prime Minister of Canada. It would certainly be entertaining.
On February 22 1980 the Miracle on the Ice occurred, recognized as such because it is the only recorded Miracle which has occurred near ice. Scholars had long debated over whether the crystalline structure of the ice blocked God's powers but in 1980 he proved that his power extends even there proving that the lack of miracles previously was simply because he disliked the cold.
The true miracle events of that day were largely hidden from the general populous by a veil of secrecy and national security. Though there are still those who wish the true makeup of the Russian team to be kept secret it is time for the American people to know.
What is known is that the Russian team was considered unbeatable, having won the gold metal in the last four Olympics each time using the gold in the metals to help fund more nefarious research.
What isn't known is that the make up of the Russian team was far from Orthodox. That research led to the first cybernetic forward in hockey history. Valery Krotov, new to the Russian team not only had a wicked slap shot but had laser beams coming out of his eyes forcing the defence men to wear mirrors to protect themselves.
Even more dangerous though was Vladimir Myshkin, who was actually shape shifting alien come to earth to help the Russians win the cold war. He regularly humiliated hockey players then later dined on the delicate human flesh.
In the end the young American team was able to slip 4 goals past the genetically enhanced octopus which played as the Russian goalie and eek out a victory, but the cry "Do you believe in miracles," was not yelled because of the victory, but in response to the angry Russian team rampaging through the crowd.
The Americans went on to win the gold medals which were used to fund the American Military in the 1980's and led at least in part to the economic collapse of the Soviet Union, while many of the Russian team fell into obscurity. Vladimir Myshkin, humiliated returned to Myshlin prime in disgrace and Valery Krotov had his laser eye res placed with one that sprayed perfume and is now working in a Russian J.C. Penney's.
There are always rumors flying around the Internet, and sometimes they even turn out to be true, but often the most interesting are those that have no basis in reality at all, yet they still serve a purpose as a starting point for interesting conversations and new ways of thinking. Here are a few rumors that I just made up in hopes of starting an Internet wide conversation.
5. Scifi's Flash Gordan to get big screen adaption
Though Flash Gordan was unable to gather an audience on the Scifi channel executives believe that it is the perfect vehicle for them to make the jump to producing big budget theatrical releases. Other possibilities which were considered were Mansquito and Chupracabra.
4. George Lu
cas to make cameo appearance in new J.J Abrams Star Trek Movie
Though rumors are being denied several have reported seeing George Lucas on the set of the new Star Trek movie wearing a red Star Fleet uniform with a large black scorch mark on the front. Neither J.J. Abrams or George Lucas were available for comment.
3. Kevin Sorbo to play Spiderman in Spiderman 4
After negotiations with Spiderman star Tobey Maquire fell through a few days ago names began to be circulated to replace him in the superhero franchise. Those names included, Orlando Bloom, Ben Afleck, and Jean Claude Van Damme but executives have seemingly come to the decision to use Kevin Sorbo, best known for playing Herculie's, as the Webcrawler.
Check here for more.
2. Wonder Woman Revealed to be a Robot
In an attempt to draw more readers to the Wonder Woman comics D.C. writers have decided to reveal in an upcoming issue that Princess Diana is, and always was, A robot. This shock to comic book fans is said to have been foreshadowed by William Moulton Marston as early as 1943.
"I'm very excited to be the one D.C. decided to be the one to reveal this longtime secret," said Dennis O'Neil current writer of Princess Diana: Wonder Woman.
D.C. has not yet said if the title of the upcoming books will be changed to Pricness Dianan: Wonder Robot.
1. Uwi Boll to write and direct next Batman Movie
"We believe that this award winning director deserves a chance to direct higher profile movies," one executive at Warner Brothers said.
Uwi is reported to be excited about the chance to put his own special spin on the Batman franchise and is already soliciting funds from contacts in Germany.
(The really sad part is someone thought of this first. I found it while finishing this post)
Read More
5. Scifi's Flash Gordan to get big screen adaption
Though Flash Gordan was unable to gather an audience on the Scifi channel executives believe that it is the perfect vehicle for them to make the jump to producing big budget theatrical releases. Other possibilities which were considered were Mansquito and Chupracabra.
4. George Lu
cas to make cameo appearance in new J.J Abrams Star Trek MovieThough rumors are being denied several have reported seeing George Lucas on the set of the new Star Trek movie wearing a red Star Fleet uniform with a large black scorch mark on the front. Neither J.J. Abrams or George Lucas were available for comment.
3. Kevin Sorbo to play Spiderman in Spiderman 4
After negotiations with Spiderman star Tobey Maquire fell through a few days ago names began to be circulated to replace him in the superhero franchise. Those names included, Orlando Bloom, Ben Afleck, and Jean Claude Van Damme but executives have seemingly come to the decision to use Kevin Sorbo, best known for playing Herculie's, as the Webcrawler.
Check here for more.
2. Wonder Woman Revealed to be a Robot
In an attempt to draw more readers to the Wonder Woman comics D.C. writers have decided to reveal in an upcoming issue that Princess Diana is, and always was, A robot. This shock to comic book fans is said to have been foreshadowed by William Moulton Marston as early as 1943.
"I'm very excited to be the one D.C. decided to be the one to reveal this longtime secret," said Dennis O'Neil current writer of Princess Diana: Wonder Woman.
D.C. has not yet said if the title of the upcoming books will be changed to Pricness Dianan: Wonder Robot.
1. Uwi Boll to write and direct next Batman Movie
"We believe that this award winning director deserves a chance to direct higher profile movies," one executive at Warner Brothers said.
Uwi is reported to be excited about the chance to put his own special spin on the Batman franchise and is already soliciting funds from contacts in Germany.
(The really sad part is someone thought of this first. I found it while finishing this post)
As everyone knows nurses are the most dangerous members of the medical establishment, a fact that Johnny Blaze discovered in Ghost Rider #20.
After kidnapping Lucas Collier from the hospital the Brimstone Biker attempted to escape, but he hadn't counted on the Cycle Nurses fought him with guns, blades and anything else they could get, nearly defeating the spirit of vengeance as they chased him through the back roads of Montana.
Eventually the cowardly kidnapper led the nurses onto highway 18. The nurses, likely knowing the danger but willing to risk everything for the child, fought both the Ghostrider and the cannibalistic specters getting killed.
The young kidnapped boy even got into the fight showing clear signs of Stockholm syndrome helped to kill the angel which came to liberate him from Johnny Blaze.
The so called hero of this story then went on to find the innocent descendant of one of the killers of the cannibalistic specters and fed him to the ghosts, but that's another story.
The lesson of the Cycle Nurses is clear. You must never underestimate the dedication and strength of a hospital nursing staff, especially one which has allied itself with a rebel angel of vengeance who wants to overthrow God.
