Thai American artist Astria Suparak's Virtually Asian is a short video essay that looks at how science-fiction filmmakers fill the backgrounds of their futuristic worlds with nebulous Asian faces while filling their featured cast with white ones. Particularly prevalent are the Asian hologram advertisements that apparently occupy every cityscape in the future, from Blade Runner (1982) to A.I. (2001) to Minority Report (2002), and do we even need to start in on Ghost in the Shell (2017)?
Watch a supercut of sci-fi movies that use Asian bodies without casting Asian characters
Early raves for Stargrave, the spaced-out sibling of Frostgrave
I'm starting to get very excited to get my hands on Stargrave, the new sci-fi skirmish game by Joseph McCullough. Joe is the creator of the fantasy miniatures skirmish game, Frostgrave, one of my favorite mini games over the past five years. Like Frostgrave, in Stargrave, you put together a small warband of fighters and… READ THE REST
Duncan Jones is raising money for a great looking graphic novel follow-up to "Moon"
Director/writer Duncan Jones — whom you may know from his hyper-focused, small cast sci-fi films like Moon and Source Code, or the larger-scale Warcraft film that I admittedly never saw — has a new project out in the form of a graphic novel. Madi: Once Upon A Time In The Future is written by Jones and author/letterer… READ THE REST
Alastair Reynolds' "Revenger"
Revenger, a fast-paced space opera by Alastair Reynolds with strong women as protagonists and few surprises certainly took my mind off things for a bit. Worldbuilding galore takes place in Revenger's galaxy, a place littered with the detritus of humanity and other species. Kind of steam-punky and certainly the baubles offer a lot of 'Roadside… READ THE REST
Tired of marketers stealing your data? Winston can protect your home's internet traffic
How do you protect yourself from everybody online trying to get all up in your business? And we aren't just talking about cybercriminals and other malevolent black hats rummaging around the internet either. We also mean all those "legitimate" businesses that use trackers, cookies, and other online tricks to harvest as much usable information from… READ THE REST
These modular wall tiles turn any wall into a technicolor light show for $50
Everybody strives for truly unique home decor. That would seem to make a lot of sense, because who wants the same stuff that everybody else has? Of course, unique often translates to handmade, so unless you've got a knack for carpentry or know a great art dealer, unique can be both tough and costly to… READ THE REST
This farm-to-table subscription box provides healthier and fresher meat
If you aren't horrified by the state of America's food supply chain, then it's because you haven't been paying attention. Prices on food items keep rising, yet the farmers who make that food are taking home less and less. Part of that broken system is because farmers don't sell directly to you, the customer. Instead,… READ THE REST