Episode 532: Horizontal Gene Transfer
Science Faction Podcast
Real Life Devon shared about their recent visit to Fredericksburg, aka “Texas wine country,” where the German settlers brought their food and flair. While there were tempting wine tastings, Devon was not about to wait 30 minutes for a sip. Oh, and they’re currently battling a cold, which sounded something like SNNNOOORRRRTTT. Meanwhile, Steven recapped an out-of-town trip that included a stop at in Concord, CA, where he picked up the RPG and The Electric State. On the D&D front, Steven is on the hunt for elf druid miniatures for his daughter’s character. Ben, on the other...
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Episode 531: Colin Farrell’s In This?
Science Faction Podcast
This episode contains: Steven and Ben are handling post-election nerves and how to channel that energy productively. Ben’s been comforted by watching New York City newscasts from 1981, . How refreshing it is to see a newscast that’s not supposed to be entertainment! Steven’s been focusing on family time and getting to know his nephew. Ben binged the first four episodes of WondLa. and . Steven is picking up some serious vibes from that WondLa trailer. , a legend gone too soon. Remember Star Trek: Lower Decks? The 943rd episode just aired (Season 5, Episode 4)! It’s good! You...
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Episode 530: The Creeping Death
Science Faction Podcast
This episode contains: Devon kicks things off with a Dr. Pepper Zero, or as we like to call it, “the creeping death.” Just caffeine jokes—or maybe there’s something deeper to his love for this soda! Steven, on the other hand, brings us a blast from the past with Department Zero, an RPG he created back in 2013. Imagine a Fantasy Men in Black vibe, complete with dragons, aliens, and magical conspiracies. This world has been brewing in Steven’s mind for a decade, and it sounds like an adventure for the ages! Ben poses a question for the tech-minded: how long should a computer last?...
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Episode 529: Conformity Gone Mad
Science Faction Podcast
This episode contains: You should live every day like it’s Halloween! We bring this episode to you from the heart of spooky season. Ben tells us about a fan edit of Who Framed Roger Rabbit that includes deleted scenes that they cleaned up using today’s tech. The movie was way different than the book. Ben’s cat says hi to us. Ben attended the inauguration of his counties poet laureate. Ben was on the panel that selected the poet laureate. What makes a good poet laureate? Ben has watched a few episodes of Agatha All Along with his family and the reviews are mixed. The first episode was...
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Episode 528: Luxury Tessellation Glampist
Science Faction Podcast
This episode contains: A big birthday wish to Martine! Devon’s been glamping, but needed a little more definition to ensure he did it right. was like a tiny home, with plumbing, a fire pit, and a hot tub too! It was strictly NO KIDS, and had a real beehive theme to it. Since it’s a two-person only sort of deal, if the three podcast hosts wanted to go glamping, Steven and Ben have volunteered to be the two monkeys wearing a trenchcoat (maybe AI can help us with that visual). Steven’s been walking (for his health, blechh) and listening to books. What’s he listening to? Book Six of ...
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Episode 527: Punk Fades, Reefs Grow, Machines Rise
Science Faction Podcast
This episode contains: Devon’s not having it with Dallas or New Found Glory (NFG), and don’t get him started on Paramount canceling Lower Decks. Also, what’s up with Harry Kim? Devon’s got some honest thoughts about his “shortcomings” and how NFG is “punk for preppy kids.” It’s all love though, as he and the crew have an “old crusty men talk about old crusty bands” moment. Plus, the reality check of the streaming era: no fanfare for new releases, no excitement for music anymore. What’s left for us aging punks? Steven brings up NoFX’s final shows: Did anyone...
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Episode 526: Poe's Florid Prose
Science Faction Podcast
This episode contains: From deep within the spooky season we bring you an all new episode. Devon learns you have to jump on those bones early. Devon planed to build up his Halloween decoration collection. Ben doesn’t know how to say “Megadeth.” We also mention Funko Pop album covers for Iron Maiden. () Ben beat Astro Bot, giggling the entire time. Ben also watched the original Dracula film from 1931, available on Amazon Prime Video. () Devon then recommends the more recent movie, Renfield (2023). Steven is on book 5 of Dungeon Crawler Carl, Devon just finished book 2. Devon is taking a...
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Episode 525: Active Galactic Nuclei
Science Faction Podcast
This episode contains: The three spoopiest hosts on this podcast enter the month of October being just... fine? Maybe overwhelmed? Ben was a groomsman for a fancy wedding (or at least a reception, it's a long story) this last weekend, and can we just pause to say how awesome it is that people can keep a friendship alive over decades? Steven's wife is going on a wild bachelorette party cruise and it sounds like A LOT. Meanwhile, we remember the best dog, Charlie, who Steven bid farewell to last Monday. Devon has been just doing his best, nothing to report. This week in space! Only... it...
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Episode 524: Slap Fights & Space Putts
Science Faction Podcast
This episode contains: Your usual hosts are back at it again, diving into personal updates and some wild topics! Ben is at capacity, juggling directing and editing a school fundraiser ad. Meanwhile, Steven is busy dog-sitting and catching up on Agatha All Along and The Penguin. Ben also shares that his old cat has been diagnosed with Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy. Devon, well, he’s keeping quiet this week. The Ultimate Slap Bet: Steven introduces us to the world of slap fighting! We discuss the rise of slap competitions and how it ties into and the rules from the . Plus, a quick throwback to...
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Episode 523: Crawling Chaos
Science Faction Podcast
This episode contains: It’s an all new episode featuring your usual hosts! We discuss reading the “fine print” and service agreements, which reminds us of the story about Disney using it’s Disney Plus agreement to defendant again a wrongful death claim that occurred at one of their parks. Ben went to San Deigo for a “not a bachelor party.” Ben is still tired from the trip. Devon has done nothing. Steven’s dog, Charlie, has IVDD (Intervertebral disc disease for dogs) and has to be contained for three weeks, hopefully helping him regain the use of his hind legs. This is common in...
info_outlineThis episode contains: We three hosts are back at it again, and while it’s been the normal posting schedule recently, for us “It’s Been A While” (like two weeks) and Aaron Lewis of Staind gets a lot of shout outs. Steven won a game of Shatterpoint! And guess what? You too can kitbash like the pros and like Steven, if you’ve got access to a Dollar Store. Ben took his mom to the Wonderfront Music Festival for Mother’s Day and whoo boy was it amazing. Big highlights were Beck (as the headliner), The Roots (wow, WHAT A PERFORMANCE) and Steel Pulse. Speaking of The Roots, hat tip to Ben’s mom for recommending Questlove’s book “Music Is History”. Devon got a new iPhone, and in true Texas style he likes 'em big and thicc (it's a Pro Max model).
https://www.amazon.com/Music-History-Questlove/dp/1419751433
Don't vomit in the car, man! Apple announces new accessibility features, including Eye Tracking. Yes, Ben is an Apple fanboy, but hardware updates are boring. Like, how exciting is the fact that this slab of glass is thinner than ever before? However, software updates are king! Every June, Ben looks forward to WWDC (where they announce the features in new Apple operating systems), and in September when they come out it's like Ben gets to enjoy a birthday with a dear friend. Occasionally, Apple announces features outside of the typical June and September cycle, and recently they announced some pretty wild things coming to iOS 18, in celebration of Global Accessibility Awareness Day. The coolest of these, to Ben, is Vehicle Motion Cues. It will be able to help reduce motion sickness for passengers in moving vehicles. Research shows that motion sickness is commonly caused by a sensory conflict between what a person sees and what they feel, which can prevent some users from comfortably using devices or reading a book while riding in a moving vehicle. With Vehicle Motion Cues, animated dots on the edges of the screen represent changes in vehicle motion to help reduce sensory conflict without interfering with the main content. Using sensors built into iPhone and iPad, Vehicle Motion Cues recognizes when a user is in a moving vehicle and responds accordingly.
Apple announces new accessibility features, including Eye Tracking (Apple Newsroom)
Movie review: Kingdom of the PotA. Steven's a real Ape movie fan, whether new or old... except for maybe that one with Marky Mark? We're in the middle of a nine movie Ape-stravaganza. Steven loves how the new films are portraying ape society. Devon wonders if it's just an analogue for our modern human societies... like, is there an Ape Trump? Anyhow, in Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes Steven gives it a 3 out of 4 stars, noting the special effects are amazing.
Show update: Resident Alien. Devon is still really enjoying Resident Alien starring Alan Tudyk. Catch it on Netflix or Peacock.
Book club: The Jaunt by Stephen King. A truly chilling sci-fi story from the master of horror. We loved it. Steven connects some dots with this story and the Deadlights across many of Stephen King's stories.
The Jaunt (Goodreads)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hNg27VrdW4M&pp=ygUvdGhlIGV4aXN0ZW50aWFsIGhvcnJvciBvZiBldGVybmFsIGNvbnNjaW91c25lc3M=
Deadlights (Stephen King Wiki)
Next week in our book club: it's a short scifi horror webcomic:
Chatbot Kingdom by Scott Base, from his Bad Space Comics anthology series.