Time Recursion

A science fiction novel, written by Neal Stephenson in 1992, features a hypothetical near future, taking place in the early 21st century. During this time, United States of America are no longer controlling all of their territory, but a rather small and unimportant portion of it, whether all the other land is “occupied” by various  private organizations and individuals, resulting in high crime rates, a flourishing drug market, and less effective and numerous incompatible security systems. At the same time, there exists another world, which is until now undisturbed, and a virtual paradise and replacement for the one on Earth, the Metaverse.

The Metaverse is an enhanced version of the internet, an actual visual representation of everything that happens online today and even more. Each person has his own avatar, with which he is able to interact online, walk along the Street and even own buildings.

The story of the novel concentrates around Hiro Protagonist, a hacker and world’s best sword fighter and Y.T., a fifteen year old Kourier, who try to track down the creator of the Snow Crash, a virtual drug, that is able to crash the computer and your brain system simultaneously. (continue reading…)

With the advent of cheap digital cameras and various image editing programs, the possibilities a casual photographer has, to give a final touch or to simply play around with his photographic masterpieces have exponentially increased. Nowadays you don’t need an expert with a secret underground laboratory, or some expensive software that makes you glad the burglar stole your car, instead of that ugly piece of code, for which you were putting your money aside those last ten years. Today you can correct red eyes, adjust the lighting or draw a moustache on the photo of your neighbor yourself, and what’s more, without spending a cent!

But of course, for someone that exhibits his extraordinary image editing skills only on special occasions, even that free software doesn’t look too appealing, and those 10 minutes of installing usually take a whole lifetime to finish. That’s why we’re glad there’s Mr Flash.

(continue reading…)