The Mary Sue

singularity towards paranoid bicycle apophenia: Lorem Gibson Officially a Thing That Exists

Or how to make web design more fun, futuristic.

If you need to produce a block of filler text for a design, the standard has always been the Latin nonsense of Lorem Ipsum. But do you know what's a lot cooler than insert-it's-all-Latin-to-me-joke-here? Words based on the works of William Gibson. And yes, you can constantly refresh a wall of shifting cyberpunk-themed words for your designing pleasure.

10 Books You Absolutely Must Read If You Like Neil Gaiman

Not including Harry Potter or Lord of the Rings, because if you still haven't read them, there is no hope for you.

by Maia Brown-Jackson Jun 20th

As anyone who pays attention to literary world news knows, Neil Gaiman's latest novel -- The Ocean at the End of the Lane -- was only just released. Obviously, this is super exciting news. But at 192 pages, how long is it really going to take to read? A couple of hours? Please. Any true junkie will soon be jonesing for more. That's why we've compiled a list of 10 books you should read if you're a Neil Gaiman fan.

Google Without Google, Replacement Google Are What Search Looks Like On Parallel Earths, Maybe

by Ian Chant Sep 26th

Considering how much of our lives most of us spend on Google or Google products at this point, we can safely be forgiven if they occasionally get a little boring. After all, the company basically owns the rights to all of our souls, diary contents, and first born children. What, you never read your user agreement? It's a little much to ask that we find their products entertaining as well. Today sees two excellent riffs on everybody's favorite search engine*, the NFL-tweaking Replacement Google and the uber-minimalist Google Without Google.

6 Made Up Nerd Words That Made it to Common Usage, and 8 That Should

Power Grid

by The Mary Sue Staff Jan 24th

As a geek or a nerd, you get introduced to new words all the time! Science fiction and fantasy are practically in the business, not just of creating new place names, which is practically a given; but also of making new nouns in general, new verbs, and new adjectives. And while some of those concepts might not be particularly useful outside of their fictional setting, others have, over time, been accepted wholly by the English of reality. With some of these, we've forgotten that they were ever words in fiction to begin with.

Neuromancer Movie Gets Distributor, Shoot Date, Locations

Fact From the Vapor of Nuance

by Susana Polo May 19th

Bless me Shepherd, for I have sinned: have always preferred Neal Stephenson to William Gibson. Nevertheless, I understand that the significance of a Neuromancer movie is non-trivial, and would totally get excited about waiting for one and go see it when it comes out. Especially if it's directed by the guy behind Splice and Cube.

William Gibson on Google and Childhood

by Robert Quigley Sep 1st

"Perhaps the company should issue children with free “training wheels” identities at birth, terminating at the age of majority. One could then either opt to connect one’s adult identity to one’s childhood identity, or not. Childhoodlessness, being obviously suspect on a résumé, would give birth to an industry providing faux adolescences, expensively retro-inserted, the creation of which would gainfully employ a great many writers of fiction. So there would be a silver lining of sorts." --From sci-fi legend William Gibson's excellent New York Times op-ed [go read it] on our simultaneous fascination with and repulsion from Google. "Science fiction never imagined Google." [context]

J.D. Salinger’s Death: Other Writers Respond on Twitter

by Robert Quigley Jan 28th

Judging by the swift, powerful response on Twitter, J.D. Salinger's death has struck a nerve, not least among his fellow writers. Below, tributes, wisecracks, and other reflections the news inspired in Neil Gaiman, John Hodgman, William Gibson, and more: (also, Bret Easton Ellis kinda sounds like a jerk.)