Thomas and Sam discuss titles, office spaces, new jobs, being unplugged from the hive mind during the work day, and everyday carries (along with some deep philosophical ideas you’ll have to stick around for).
“But I thought you were a superhero?” Elisabeth and Merianna talk about that moment when someone you know discovers that you have flaws and how that impacts your relationship. This is why it is important to make sure your characters have flaws as well. Even superheroes have their kryptonite.
Thomas and Sam, along with guest host Roshan Abraham, discuss Jonah’s presumptive bisexuality, Classics’ past present and future, Ephesus as the ancient 4chan, roles of the public intellectual, autobiographical memories, textuality, authority, and Bernie vs. Hillary sexism.
“But that could never happen!” Elisabeth and Merianna talk about world building, especially in regards to changing technology. What should you include? What will make your story seem outdated and irrelevant? How do some authors get away with having outdated technology, but still have avid readers?
Most Christians are Republicans and a few liberal ones are Democrats (or something like that). That’s been the conventional thinking for the past few decades, especially with the rise of the Moral Majority and Evangelical movement going back to the late 60’s and early 70’s. However, the election of 2016 is pointing to a possible shift in perception of this old adage. Are we seeing a role reversal where the Democratic Party becomes the party of patriotism, American Exceptionalism, and faith while the Republican Party becomes the party of angst, cynicism, and Russian influence? We discuss the last two weeks of both parties’ conventions and why that role reversal might just be the case.
But Marsbot is important for other reasons, too. She represents a different kind of bot than the ones you see in Facebook Messenger — one that’s proactive rather than passive. She’s not a chatbot, but an interruptive bot. Crowley says that most other bots are in the model of Aladdin’s lamp: you invoke them and the genie appears. Marsbot is more in the Jiminy Cricket mode, hanging over your shoulder and chiming in when needed.
I’ve been testing out Marsbot the last few days, and I’m seriously impressed. I’ve been using the Ozlo bot for my random food suggestions based on location, time, preferences etc… and I’ve been happy with Ozlo.
However, Marsbot has something unique going on… it’s not a bot that waits for you. Rather, it’s proactive. If you’ve seen Her, you know immediately what I’m talking about.
Plus, it’s based on Foursquare’s accumulated data over the years, which is immense. Plus, it works in your text messaging app (iMessage if on Apple) where you’re used to getting personal updates or messages rather than going into another app on your device.