Last month, I participated in an event called Ignite Carroll, part of the national Ignite series, where a speaker has five minutes and twenty slides to share a topic. I took a stab at it and it went well, though I was clearly outclassed by many of the other speakers who gave much more polished presentations. My challenge was my topic, a sprawling tangle I tried to tame in five minutes.

I wasn’t planning to write on this topic again so soon, but I guess the state of the world is such that it can’t be avoided. I recently needed to avail myself of the services of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, using their online portal. First, what a wonderful service! Kudos to the hardworking Federal employees behind the customer friendly, easy to use, intuitive user interface for that process.

What do the boundaries of the State of Michigan have to do with the ultimate fate of the Universe? Strap in, we’re going for a ride! On a recent trip with friends to Michigan and Indiana, I learned about the Toledo War, a boundary dispute during the early years of Michigan history. The region has been a crossroads and subjected to conflicting claims for thousands of years, first by numerous Native American tribes calling it home through the centuries, then by French, English, and ultimately American settlers beginning in the 1600’s.

Staying ahead of current events is a constant challenge for Science Fiction writers. What seemed like gee-whiz future tech yesterday is now sitting on the kitchen counter. If you are not careful, the future you create may end up looking like a bad episode of the Jetsons. Thanks to a recent post by Cassie Kozyrkov (@decisionleader.bsky.social), we SF writers have something else to keep an eye on.  

YouTube video by Grote Julia