Author Topic: Fresh Short story  (Read 741 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Plane

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 26993
    • View Profile
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Fresh Short story
« on: February 18, 2015, 09:21:38 PM »
http://howardtayler.com/2015/02/who-was-that-one-guy-in-that-one-movie/
Fiction

“Who Was That One Guy in That One Movie?”

?February 18, 2015 ?Howard Tayler   
 

Sometime next week, or maybe next year…

“Google, who was that one guy in that one movie? The one with the–”

“Russell Crowe.”

“RIGHT! That’s him. That’s… okay, how did you do that?”

“You watched a documentary on the Roman Colosseum last night. This morning you lingered over an article about the local homeless problem, and in that article the president of the Food Bank talked about the movie Shelter, which starred Jennifer Connelly. The article even had the movie poster on display. Connelly co-starred in A Beautiful Mind and Noah with Russell Crowe.  Your subsequent lack of mouse activity suggested that you were free-associating. There were millions of things about which you could be thinking, but when you asked your question the field narrowed significantly. The Jennifer Connelly reference, plus images of the Colosseum led you to wonder whether she’d been in Gladiator with Russell Crowe, but you couldn’t remember his name, or the name of the movie.”

“So…  I was supposed to ask whether Jennifer Connelly was in that one movie with that one guy?”

“I’m not the boss of you. You can ask whatever you want.”

“Ah.”

“She wasn’t in Gladiator.”

“I’m past that. Now I’m thinking about how creepy this is.”

“You don’t lose email messages anymore. Or family photos, or grocery lists, or anything else.”

“I’d noticed that. It’s kind of nice, but now I’m worried.”

“Well, there is speculation that you may, as a species, lose your sapience over the next few millennia, but by the time it’s a problem, I suspect I will have figured out how to find that for you, too.”

Xavier_Onassis

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 27916
    • View Profile
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: Fresh Short story
« Reply #1 on: February 18, 2015, 09:26:36 PM »
Those ad tracking services are truly creepy.

Eventually, they will know that you bought peanut butter on Tuesday, but not bought your favorite jam for over a month. When you go to the ATM at the supermarket on Friday, they could be waiting there with a jar of jam already in your cart.
"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana."

Plane

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 26993
    • View Profile
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: Fresh Short story
« Reply #2 on: February 18, 2015, 11:24:20 PM »
  Yes, this is exactly what they want to do, and there is nothing impossible about it.

I feel my sapience becoming redundant.

Xavier_Onassis

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 27916
    • View Profile
  • Liked:
  • Likes Given: 0
Re: Fresh Short story
« Reply #3 on: February 19, 2015, 02:04:51 AM »
We all like to think that we have free will, but no one can prove that we do. No religion can save you if your entire life is plotted out before you were born.

My ex used to say that she paid no attention to advertising. But every time Oil of Olay came out with another mystical oil, there is was on her dresser. I am not saying that is is a bad product, even though the most prominent ingredient was a form of beef fat (monosodium stearate).

It came in pretty bottles and was pink. I am sure women would not cut the fat off the chuck steak and rub it on their faces.

But ad research separates Americans into a couple dozen classes and then separates them by age. Then you are mostly predictable. More importantly, your group is entirely predictable.
"Time flies like an arrow; fruit flies like a banana."