3 ms·

Off topic: Certificate Authorities are a plot point in Vernor Vinge's "Rainbows End". He's really the first novelist to grasp how dramatic revoking a certificat

• e40 15y ago
  Vernor Vinge is also the person that came up with the idea of the singularity. Prescient more than your average author, it seems.
  • AgentConundrum 15y ago
    When I hear of "the singularity", my mind immediately leaps to Ray Kurzweil. After reading your comment, I checked Wikipedia to confirm your statement. I just wanted to thank you for correcting my understanding.
  • pasbesoin 15y ago
    If you read "A Deepness in the Sky" (and, perhaps not necessary but nice for the sake of story (a very good one, with its own ideas) and author's intent, his prior "A Fire Upon the Deep"), you'll encounter several other technological ideas -- e.g. smart "dust", biochemical mind "influence" ("focus"), etc. -- that are currently playing out in practical terms in the contemporary technological and research worlds. What can make scientists with a literary gift so interesting is that their formal position helps them sit on the cusp, looking forward, while their literary skills help them articulate what they see coming.
    • e40 15y ago
      "A Fire Upon the Deep" is one of my favorite books of all time. Ranks up there with "Dune" and the Foundation trilogy.