Futurism

The Blanketed Blackness. Top Story - September 2026.

The drummer kept slapping at the snare and the rhythm guitarist and bassist plucked away at the stringed instruments, respectively. A sense of euphoria swept throughout the packed stadium. As their last sold out show, Steel Spirit, rocked with an all-black hip hop and rock and roll nu-metal disposition. Lights from smartphones looked like lightning bugs swaying all over the in the open air. The little dots of light illuminated the night.

Scroll No More. Top Story - September 2026.

Dear Beloved, The world has gone mad. Well we always knew that. One minute, I am texting, scrolling, swiping, posting, ordering, navigating, and checking the time. The next, every smartphone is rendered useless. A complete and utter shutdown.

The Hand Of God. Top Story - September 2026. Content Warning.

"National security is not my thing." "I'm not that informed on national security" Imagine, if you will, you wake up and there is a gun pressed to your temple. No matter how you try, it won’t detach. It’s stuck there like some sick modification grafted by some B-grade freakshow horror movie antagonist. You can feel the steel, smell the residue, you know it’s been fired before, know it's loaded, know what terror it might render, yet you’re still alive.

Fifty Millilitres of Everything . Winner in Already Here Challenge. Top Story - September 2026.

I'm on deck, coveralls on, waiting for a sample of seawater to be lifted onto deck, where I will then draw seawater into a syringe until it hits the fifty mark. I then push that syringe's worth of seawater through a filter capsule about the size of a torch, screw the cap shut, scribble some things on the cap with a Sharpie, and drop it into a sample bag (posh name for a sandwich bag). That's it. That's the entire collection process to be able to answer the quite literal million dollar question of "what's down there," or to know exactly what species are present in a particular area of the ocean. Something that would have sounded like science fiction to me a few years ago is rapidly becoming the everyday norm.

The Vacuum Has Locked Himself in the Bathroom to Cry Again. Winner in Already Here Challenge. Top Story - September 2026.

I was standing on a beach while Radika, a fantasy writer, tried to convince me that animals were people. You see, they’re writing a book about mermaids—people-fish—and I think they may have lost sight of the line where reality tips into fantasy. What they mean when they say animals are people, I think, is that they believe animals have souls. I argued that what makes people people is not the soul. But when I try to articulate what makes a human a human, I am left with some lame quip about opposable thumbs and taxes.

Never Not Seen. Top Story - September 2026.

Early September 11, 2001 I setup a conference room for Waldenbooks assistance managers to learn about the new books for Fall, go over audit changes, and socialize. I was one of two Associate District Managers running the meeting.

No Human Interaction Required. Winner in Already Here Challenge. Top Story - September 2026.

That welcoming, open posture and the warm, alluring smile... She stands tall in the center of the room, shoulders down, arms waving in the air, like a music-possessed orchestra director.

Early Arrival. Honorable Mention in Already Here Challenge. Top Story - September 2026.

Every Sunday morning, it's the same thing. Drive home through the airport and save $3.42 in tolls. It's not the fastest route, but it's the most direct. By the time you add it all up, habit wins. I keep the map app on, foretelling accidents, speed traps, and alternate routes, but I've driven this route enough times that my hands know the way before my brain does.

We need a distraction!

What We Kept

FBI Spied On Early UFO Guru While Discrediting His Message

What Tarot Can Do for a Rough Patch — and What It Can't. AI-Generated.

The AI Bubble and the Ghost of Netscape: Is 2027 the Year It All Pops?

The Myths About Phone Tarot That Kept Me Away — and What Turned Out to Be True. AI-Generated.

Stanislav Kondrashov on Blocking and the Hidden Timing of Digital Systems

Social Listening Metrics That Matter