Science Reality

In the tradition of Neil Postman's masterpiece Amusing Ourselves to Death, Audience of One shows how American media have shaped American society and politics, by interweaving two crucial stories. The first story follows the evolution of television from the three-network era of the 20th century, which joined millions of Americans in a shared monoculture, into today's zillion-channel, internet-atomized universe, which sliced and diced them into fractious, alienated subcultures. The second story is a cultural critique of Donald Trump.

Why live, when dying brings you straight to heaven? The mysterious tech firm Broumgard pioneers a new form of virtual reality that mirrors, even exceeds, real life. Before long, people are dying to escape their humdrum lives for the virtual ecstasy of the Lobby. Literally. When the world discovers that dying while connected to the Lobby might mean an eternity in virtual heaven, people are willing to do anything to get inside.

Digitally reincarnated into the world's most powerful online video game, Clay must now find out what's happening on the outside to save those living in his world. On top of this, he's been pushed into a quest by a young paranoid king, nations are preparing for war, and a malevolent glitch continues its path of destruction.

Every player in Barliona has heard of the Gray Lands - the land of the dead. Few have managed to travel there and speak with the heroes and villains of old. And of this minuscule number, only one bard has managed to bring the souls of the dead back to the world of the living: the Bard of Shadow. Now, it is up to her to determine the future of her race. Shall the Biota race become full-fledged members of Barliona, or will they oppose all that lives?

Laura used to believe in fairy tales and true love. Not after her mom took her own life; the bitter end to a once promising romance. But the arrival of a mysterious guardian proves the fairy tale world does exists, and it needs her help to stop the unholy forces that seek to destroy it. As Laura journeys to find the way home across strange kingdoms of mechanical soldiers, a mad king, a fairy tale prince and more, she soon learns of the mysterious connections between her and the fantasy realm. To survive it, she must face her deepest fears and secrets she never wants to unveil.

Eure schöne neue Welt ist tödlich! Mit einem Schlag endet Vivians sorgenfreies Leben: Ihre Mutter Sofia wurde ermordet! Die erfolgreiche Game-Entwicklerin stand kurz vor dem Release eines bahnbrechenden Computerspiels. "White Maze" wird mit neuartigen Lucent-Kontaktlinsen gespielt - dank ihnen erleben die Spieler virtuelle Game-Welten mit allen Sinnen. Aber warum zerstörte Vivians Mutter kurz vor ihrem Tod die Prototypen der Linsen Zusammen mit dem schulbekannten Hacker Tom will Viv den Mord an Sofia aufklären. Dazu muss Viv selbst Lucent-Linsen einsetzen und tief in die virtuelle Welt eintauchen.

Dazzling, paranoid literary sci-fi for fans of Blake Crouch and Philip K. Dick: Vin, a down-on-his-luck young tech entrepreneur forced out of the software company he started, takes a job house-sitting an ultra-modern Seattle mansion whose owner has gone missing. There he discovers a secret basement lab with an array of computers and three large, smooth caskets. Inside one he finds a woman in a state of suspended animation. When Vin decides to climb into one of the caskets to see what happens, his reality begins to unravel....

Joe's body is failing him. In order to make his last weeks of life more palatable, he goes into full digital immersion. This new process will allow him to play in a virtual environment with a fake but healthy and strong virtual body. As soon as he steps into this new environment he meets his virtual assistant, an Evolving Intelligence (E.I.), who takes the form of someone close to him. But before Joe and Spooky can begin playing the game, they are both summoned to a reality where magic is real.

Now that Malina is the Gatekeeper-in-Training of the underworld, her life is a wee bit different. Instead of spending her days killing innocents, she's protecting them by catching the bad guys who want to drink their blood and steal their souls. Plus, she's immortal, can eat without gaining an ounce, and is damn near hard to kill. Pretty good, right? Unfortunately, not everything is going as smoothly as Malina would like.

Adopted by Brahma Corp's Assassin Guild and raised as one of their own, Malina Hayes is about to make her 50th kill. After bringing down 49 of London's worst criminals, this latest job shouldn't be a big deal. But if Malina is successful, she'll receive her first milestone mark. Ascension in the ranks, better pay, and a swanky flat in Soho all sound like very good reasons to make this kill count. But fate and destiny have different plans for Malina. Seconds away from receiving the coveted milestone mark, Malina is torn away from the world she knows.

On a secret military base tucked in a remote desert mountain, a dangerous machine lies hidden from the American public. Known as the Actuator, this machine is capable of transforming entire communities into alternate realities. In theory, these often terrifying realities are reversible. The scientists in charge of this machine employ operatives called Machine Monks, who attune their minds to manifest single ideas from the realms of fantasy and science fiction.

Orson Reid: college freshman, gamer, and quite possibly the legendary boogeyman of the magical world. And you thought your life was weird. It all started the night Orson kissed his best friend, Elyse, and she kissed him back. Yes, the kiss was life changing, but in ways Orson never could have imagined. It seems he contracted a "virus" that is making him taller, faster, and stronger. But his life doesn't go completely off the rails until the night Elyse shows up at his house, strips out of her clothes, and shape-shifts into a giant cat - a panther, to be exact.

The familiar world collapsed overnight. As the Transformation progressed, disasters occurred throughout the Earth. Materials changed their properties, new species of flora and fauna appeared. The Game converted our world into a huge dungeon, completely replacing the previous civilization. However, the alien plans for Earth began to go awry from the very beginning. The conversion was less successful than expected. An ordinary young man stole the bonus for the first gaming action, depriving the invaders of their perk.

Life doesn't pick winners and losers. That's for the corporations to decide. And they picked Liam Argyle for a carefree life of fame and fortune as host of the world's most popular reality show competition. After two seasons of parading about the world's biggest victims on The Grass Is Greener, he's been forced to put a happy face on one tragedy too many - and he won't turn a blind eye to the horrors of the corporate dystopian world of the 2070s any longer. Now, Liam is out to destroy the very people who made him a star.

What human beings have been endowed with, and children exhibit in its purest form, is every person’s constant companion through life: The flexibility and resilience to face an uncertain future and a world full of surprises. Put another way: Every human being has been endowed with the creative genius - yes, “genius”, as no other word would be adequate to describe the magnitude of the task and of the achievement - to construct frameworks for the purpose of understanding the world in which they reside.

Mike Hagen, an American nicknamed "Crybaby", became one of those chosen to be given an augmented reality interface. However, his favorite game was an MMA fighter - possibly, for the reason that he'd never fought in real life, and the interface adapted itself to him.

The future of experience is digital...even in death. No one knows this better than Ray Garret. In a world where the human brain can connect directly to the Internet, human beings become the target of a mass-murdering computer virus. Ray's an Antivii agent in charge of tracking down the source of digi-human viruses. When a recorded experience from his dead wife is left for him, Ray has no choice but to play the file, changing his life forever.

When big tech announced their metaverse projects, it seemed like just another market aimed at consumer satisfaction. The metaverse then appeared to be another business venture reserved for the big shots. However, this is nowhere near what the metaverse is. The metaverse can be very confusing to understand, especially because it is a concept that keeps expanding on a daily basis. The jargon does not make it easier, either, which might be why many people are lost when it comes to what the metaverse is and how to benefit from it.

Is Present Realty: The Super-Science of the Transcendental Value investigates our reality as an entity who has the power to shape the present and be the light that affirms our presence in the eternal future. The transcendental value of the past is immanent within the present. The present becomes the subject of scientific investigation.

You've definitely heard of the metaverse by now, but I'll explain why everyone will soon log in and out of this new three-dimensional virtual reality as they do with Instagram, TikTok, and other social media platforms today. What will assure you and your family a wealthy future is understanding how the metaverse will work and what the technologies are at its core. What actually is it? How did it come to be? What technologies are at work? Why do we need cryptocurrency for it? All of these questions are answered using real-life examples and comparisons. Plus a lot more!