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The Perils of Philosophy By Ray Tabler If asked to list dangerous professions, I might choose lumberjack, crab boat crewman, or maybe alligator wrestler. Way down that list, probably not on it at all, would be philosopher. As it turns out, though, philosophers live dangerously. And they die that way…

Confessions of a Pantser By Ray Tabler Hello, my name is Ray, and I’m pantser. Let me enunciate, pant-ser. Not panzer, which is a German armored fighting vehicle. Entirely different than the, mercifully short-lived, middle school pantsing craze of a few years ago. Apparently, that concerned pulling some unfortunate person’s…

Strangers in Strange Lands By Ray Tabler Take a black pebble from a pile of black pebbles. Put it in a pile of white pebbles. Or vice versa. The contrast is stark, and demands contemplation. That’s a literary and dramatic device which has been used numerous times in science fiction….

Otherworldly Music by Ray Tabler It’s well camouflaged, but there’s a distinct strain of science fiction running through jazz and rock & roll music. Fantasy elements too. Because I’ve always read SFF it’s noticeable to me. There are other examples, and I invite you to bring the forward. But this…

FTL, The 3rd Rail of Hard SF By Ray Tabler Definition of terms, right up front: FTL – Faster than light travel (or communications, for that matter). Hard SF – Science fiction which scrupulously adheres to the laws of physics, as we currently understand them. Third rail – The electrified…

3 Wishes By Ray Tabler Djinn, jinn, genies (however you spell the word) are but one example of beings in the supernatural menagerie chronicled by human folklore. An uncommon aspect to djinn behavior (or so the tales tell) is that once summoned, the djinn is obligated to grant wishes to…

Twilight of the Cons By Ray Tabler Anyone else out there ticked off about Pluto’s demotion from planet status? (Bear with me. This is relevant to the topic.) It happened almost 25 years ago, but the injustice echoes still. The way I heard it, a vote was taken on the…

Writing and the Pareto Principle by Ray Tabler The Pareto Principle is a statistical rule of thumb, which many natural processes seem to follow. Also known as the 80/20 rule, or the law of the vital few, it observes that roughly 80 % of outcomes follow from about 20 %…

Robocops By Ray Tabler It is interesting to note that Robocop, from the movie of the same name, is not a robot. Technically, he’s a cyborg, part man, part machine. Robocop is a mechanically-enhanced Frankenstein’s monster. Victor Frankenstein creates his monster in pursuit of science. Knowledge? Because he can? The…