Episode description

Michael A. Stackpole (New York Times best selling author) is today's featured guest.

Topics: Artificial intelligence verses artificial crazy; the rise of robots and how we will develop relationships and affections for them including romance and love; the possibility that marrying a robot will go through the same controversies we have today concerning gay marriage; extreme human longevity; human augmentation for life extension verses augmentation for improved senses or IQ; authors he knows who write by speaking into voice recognition software instead of tapping on a keyboard; the spreading loss of privacy with video cameras in intersections and public places; the value of taking a vacation from being connected to phones and the Internet; connecting the Internet directly into the human brain; as well as the BBC, Mensa, and the sceptical community. He also mentioned that he does weekly chats with authors inside the virtual world of Second Life.

Hosted by Stephen Euin Cobb, this is the June 15, 2011 episode of The Future And You. [Running time: 35 minutes].  This is part two of a two hour interview recorded using Skype on May 17, 2011.

Michael A. Stackpole is a science fiction and fantasy author best known for his Star Wars and Battletech books. Begining in 1977, he worked as a designer of role-playing games for various gaming companies. In the 1980s he began designing computer games for Coleco and Interplay Productions, such as Bard's Tale III, Wasteland, Star Trek: 25th Anniversary and Star Trek: Judgment Rites. He also created the role-playing game Mercenaries, Spies and Private Eyes, which provided the game mechanics for Wasteland. In 1987 he began writing novels set in the BattleTech universe, and became one of the most popular authors in that genre. He was then selected to write a number of novels in the Star Wars universe. He is also a popular podcaster, essayist, speaker and has an asteroid named after him.

News Item: This week my latest novel was released on the Amazon Kindle. Skinbrain (Cerebrodermus Fantastica) is a hard science fiction story which incorporates most of the topics we have discussed on The Future And You during the last five years. 

You need not have a Kindle to read Skinbrain. A free app is offered for nearly every type of smart phone which allows that phone to mimic a Kindle.  Likewise a free downloadable program allows any computer to mimic a Kindle. Additionally, the Kindle allows the first thousand words or so of every novel to be read for free. So, if you would, please take a look at the opening scene of Skinbrain. Thank you.