Podcast appearances and mentions of ernie cline

This week the hosts are in full force. Rony talks about his AI startup, Synthbee. It's earnings week, so we got a look at just how much money tech companies are making and their projected investments in AI. OpenAI's ChatGPT search is coming for Google. Inbrain Neuroelectronics raised $50M, and Spot AI raised $31M to turn those janky security cameras into AI-driven video assistants. Our guest is Shara Senderoff, CEO of Futureverse. The company, which was co-founded by Ready Player One author Ernie Cline, is building an open Metaverse. Thank you to our sponsor, Zappar!Don't forget to like, share, and follow for more! Follow us on all socials @ThisWeekInXR!https://linktr.ee/thisweekinxr Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

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Ernest Cline is the visionary best-selling author of Ready Player One, Ready Player Two, Armada, and the upcoming Bridge to Bat City, as well as the co-screenwriter of the blockbuster movie Ready Player One directed by Steven Spielberg, and co-founder of Readyverse Studios.  Cline is a brilliant novelist and screenwriter whose books have earned worldwide acclaim and a legion of devoted fans around the world. Cline's first visionary bestseller Ready Player One was eerily accurate prediction of where AI and virtual reality tech are taking us. Cline worked with legendary director Steven Spielberg in creating a mega-hit movie based on the novel.  Cline's deep research into UFO history and extraterrestrial scenarios culminated in a second best selling novel about an alien invasion, which has also been optioned for a future film. A sequel, Ready Player Two, topped bestseller lists in 2023 and is in development to become a film.  In this bonus episode of Weaponized, George and Jeremy travel to Austin Texas to visit their pal and to tour his astonishing collection of iconic pop culture collectibles, movie memorabilia, and a vast library UFO and sci-fi books, films, and collectibles. Ernie also revealed his soon to be released next book, based on a true story from his home town. It's a fun peek into the life of one of America's best writers, sort of an episode of "UFO Cribs”. You can pre-order Ernie's new book Bridge To Bat City here : https://a.co/d/hlBRice  •••  GOT A TIP? Reach out to us at WeaponizedPodcast@Proton.me  For breaking news, follow Corbell & Knapp on all social media.  Extras and bonuses from the episode can be found at https://WeaponizedPodcast.com To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's episode two, and we're looking at the fourth chapter of ‘Ready Player Two'. You might think that, by now, we'd have a clear direction for the novel? Perhaps a core narrative? A singular focus? Well, consider this just another instance of Ernie Cline's genre-bending originality, because we still don't have a goddamn clue what's actually happening!Important Links

Look...we had fun. There's actually some really solid film analysis here, and I think it's I'm not gonna say that we "tear into" director Shane Black, but I do say the words "Sue me, Shane Black!" Also in this episode we shout out r/TheyDidTheMath, tell some personal anecdotes about the Good Ole' Days of Ain't It Cool News, and I tell a personal story about the time I bumped into Ernie Cline at an early showing Iron Man 3 in 2013!

Husband and wife comedians Mike Bobbitt and Allyson Bobbitt take turns making each other watch a movie the other has never seen. Mike was a huge fan of the Ernest Cline novel Ready Player One. He rushed out to the theater in 2018 to see this long adapted film version, but hasn't revisited it since. Lately he's been feeling nostalgic for this story about nostalgia. Will Allyson, who's 11 years younger than Mike, and creator Ernie Cline, also eat the same 'member berries? And will Mike remember why he didn't buy this on Blu-Ray shortly after it was released? If you want to let us know what you thought about Ready Player One or you have a movie you think we should watch, let us know. Join our https://www.facebook.com/groups/youmademewatch (Facebook group) for more movie talk! https://www.facebook.com/groups/youmademewatch Logo by Martin Butler. Follow him on Instagram @MartyButtons Theme song by Thomas Medelheim. https://www.fiverr.com/medelheim

Greetings and Introductions Albert, Will, and Ernest Cline!   Gunter Groups with us tonight: Official RPO Gunter Clan of Facebook Panamanian Gunters Ready Player One Discord Server Members Ready Player One Reddit Page The Basement Supporters and Patreon Members Update on Ready Player Two Ernie catches us up on how things are going post launch! Main Show "Cutscene" Narrative The Pop! eXistenZ (1999) The 13th Floor (1999) Tommy Tutone - "8675309/Jenny" (1981) Brainstorm (1983) Weebles (1971 - Present) Strange Days (1995) Q&A Host questions Gunter questions Tflu99 Tbickle2011 JR Eaton Jud Philpot Chris Lafayette Georgios Marios Sarris Fando Hosts Albert "Two Tone" Padilla Will "Weeble Wobble" Wilkins Ernest "Sequel Luke" Cline 3-2-1 Contact! Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, and Twitch: @TheBasementRPO Facebook: /TheBasementRPO Patreon: www.patreon.com/TheBasementRPO TeePublic: http://tee.pub/lic/mjtTM-nrguo

Here’s a quick message and invite from Albert regarding Ernie Cline’s visit on The Basement podcast!  Links to the event are below - hope you guys can drop in and support Albert and Will in this very special recording!  YouTube: https://youtu.be/2eTeikq5mzs Facebook: https://fb.me/e/3G8NXRzH3 Website: http://eargluemedia.com/show/the-basement/

This week we read the last two volumes of Neil Gaiman's Sandman, the Kindly Ones and the Wake. Sandman's Identity Crisis, Neil on speed dial, Lucifer, Lowkey Liesmith, Ernie Cline books, The Tempest, The X-Men movies, What We are Blanking: Trouble Boys by Bob Mehr, Snatched, Supernatural, Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehesi Coates, 30 Rock. Vegas during Covid Time. Batman Talk. Opening theme by the Assassins.  Closing theme by Lucas Perea Email: Yhblankthat@gmail.com  Facebook: https://m.facebook.com/youhaventblankedthat/ Instagram: https://instagram.com/yhblankthat?igshid=1ptr13qrxkv86 https://anchor.fm/blanked-that --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/blanked-that/message

Kyle Newman is a writer/director whose directorial work includes Fanboys written by Ernie Cline, starring Kristen Bell and Seth Rogen; Barely Lethal, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Hailee Steinfeld, and Jessica Alba; and music videos for artists including Lana Del Rey and Taylor Swift. Newman also produced the critically acclaimed documentary Raiders: The Story of the Greatest Fan Film Ever Made. His clients include Microsoft, Interscope Records, Starz, Coca Cola, Entertainment Weekly, and Lucasfilm.

Dungeons & Dragons has become one of the most iconic game brands in the world. Since its genesis in 1974 the game has expanded far beyond its humble beginnings, and its scope increased by magnitudes after its induction into the publishing realm of Wizards of the Coast, based in Washington. To take us on an unprecedented journey through the visual evolution of the brand, the author team of Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, and Jon Peterson will be joined by the creators of the 5th edition of the game, Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins from Wizards of the Coast. The panel shared highlights from Dungeons and Dragons Art and Arcana and was moderated by Greg Tito, co-host of Dragon Talk. This team of authors offered us a look at never-before-seen sketches, large-format canvases, rare photographs, one-of-a-kind drafts, and more. They shared artistic findings from the archives of Wizards of the Coast, the personal compilations of top collectors, and conversations with the designers and illustrators who created the distinctive characters, concepts, and visuals that have defined fantasy art and gameplay for generations. Sit in for a crash course in gaming history, and explore the most comprehensive collection of D&D imagery ever assembled.   Michael Witwer is the author of the critically acclaimed Empire of Imagination: Gary Gygax and the Birth of Dungeons & Dragons. Michael is widely considered an expert on D&D history and has discussed the topic on NPR’s All Things Considered, at the Boston Book Festival, at Gen Con, and elsewhere. Kyle Newman is a writer/director whose work includes Fanboys written by Ernie Cline, starring Kristen Bell and Seth Rogen; Barely Lethal, starring Samuel L. Jackson, Hailee Steinfeld, and Jessica Alba; and music videos for artists including Lana Del Rey and Taylor Swift. Jon Peterson is a widely recognized authority on the history of games. His book Playing at the World was called “the first serious history of the development of Dungeons & Dragons” by The Village Voice. He has contributed to academic anthologies on games including Zones of Control and the forthcoming Role-Playing Game Studies: Transmedia Foundations. Christopher Perkins is the lead story designer for the Dungeons & Dragons tabletop roleplaying game. A gaming industry veteran, Chris has written or contributed to more than three hundred books and articles over the past thirty years. He is also a world-famous Dungeon Master who performs on live-streamed D&D shows, including Acquisitions Incorporated and Dice, Camera, Action! Jeremy Crawford is the co-lead designer of fifth edition Dungeons & Dragons. He led the design of the Player’s Handbook and now oversees the creation of rules and books for the D&D tabletop roleplaying game. Over the years, he has worked on many books for D&D and other games, including Blue Rose, Mutants & Masterminds, and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Greg Tito has had a weird and long career as an Off Broadway stage manager, a playwright, a theater carpenter, a secretary, an RPG designer, a games journalist, and now a PR/Marketing person. He has loved Dungeons & Dragons ever since 1985 when he found an old copy of the AD&D Dungeon Master’s Guide on his brother’s bookshelf. Recorded live at University Lutheran Church by Town Hall Seattle on Tuesday, October 30, 2018. 

The “Wild Boys” (Albert, Mike, and the main host of Bad Gamers Anonymous, Bad Gamer Crowley) start the first of THREE episodes dedicated to Chapter 0003 of Ready Player One! Join us for a fun trip down memory lane where we talk about really weird things like videophiles, Vulcans, and Duran Duran! We then hit the classic coin ops like Contra, Ikari Warriors, Golden Axe, and the “Zeppo Marx” of the bunch, Heavy Barrel. We kind of end on Tron but see the show notes below for the full list damage done: News from the front lines! Ernie Cline will NOT be at Classic Game Fest this year Albert is unwavered (lies) and still going Betamax (1975 - 2002) and Laserdisc (1978 - 2001) VHS vs Betamax vs Laserdisc Videophiles in the 80's and 90's were weird Who lets their kid watch Conan the Barbarian?? Any guesses on who still owns a VHS player? Dragon Magazine (1976 - 2007) Tabletop gamers > Athletes Tabletop gamers > Sk8ters  Capture the Flag (CTF) and DeathMatch (DM) Origins and Bannercatch (1984) LAN parties and early online gaming The Pentium Club or “The P-Club” or How-to-lose-your-girlfriend-in-one-weekend Club Vulcans and Dark Elves 30 Seconds to Vulcan Prime vs. Kelvin (NOT Transformers) GVOAT: Greatest Vulcan of All Time Drizzt Do'Urden and Forgotten Realms  Like Dungeon and Dragons? Wanna be a Podcaster? Call me.  “Wild Boys” by Duran Duran (1984) Duran Duran is one of the greatest bands of the 80's (Albert) Great song, terrible video?  The ulterior motives of the music video  Cassette Tapes The importance of Scotch® tape The importance of the pencil Saving video games to cassette tapes or how to drive yourself to the brink of suicide Contra (1987), Golden Axe (1989), Heavy Barrel (1987), Smash TV (1990), and Ikari Warriors (1986) Albert can't get over the horrible background stories  Hosts: Albert “Ax Battler” Padilla Mike “Gilius Thunderhead” Rondeau Bad Gamer “Tyris Flare” Crowley  Like us, follow us, pay us here: Instagram: @TheBasementRPO Twitter: @TheBasementRPO Facebook: /TheBasementRPO Patreon: patreon.com/TheBasementRPO TeePublic:http://tee.pub/lic/mjtTM-nrguo Be kind, rewind!

The Breakdown is Back! We're out of the theater and back in the car, having just seen Ready Player One! Can the film possibly live up to our expectations as die-hard fans of Ernie Cline's visionary novel? Can Spielberg deliver his magic one more time? Can anyone just pretend they tried to put The Tomb of Horrors in this movie? Time to find out, the Breakdown is rolling out! The Drive Home Breakdown 048 - Ready Player One

Special Guest Zak Penn (Ready Player One & The Avengers Screenwriter) & Meryl Streep's Best Performance If you've listened to ReelBlend the past few weeks -- and if you haven't, what's wrong with you? -- then you know that we have been strong advocates for Steven Spielberg's Ready Player One. The blockbuster legend was an ideal choice to adapt Ernie Cline's best-selling page-turner, itself a story that's drenched in nostalgia for a pop-culture era that Spielberg helped to create and shape. So when we were given the opportunity to have Ready Player One screenwriter Zak Penn on the show, we jumped... and it led to one of the best movie-geek conversations in ReelBlend history Zak Penn's previous credits include The Avengers, X2: X-Men United, The Incredible Hulk and the classic college comedy PCU. The man knows geek culture. Hell, he has helped establish the type of geek culture that we're all now buying into. So it was a dream to have him on for ReelBlend, where he helped us break down the new Solo: A Star Wars Story trailer, discuss the film's decision to premiere at Cannes, and weigh in on the latest Unpopular Decision, which pits the Back to the Future trilogy against the original Star Wars trilogy. Kevin thinks BTTF is better than Star Wars (and Sean actually agrees with Kevin). Zak tells them both why they are so very wrong. From there, it's a deep dive into Ready Player One spoilers, so dig in if you already have seen Steven Spielberg's roller-coaster ride through the OASIS. We discuss so many fascinating topics, from the building of The Shining scene to the rumor that Spielberg once wanted Gene Wilder to play Halliday in the movie. This one's a must-listen!

Una vez más, los Superweyes regresamos al Oasis, esta vez en el cine con la dirección de Steven Spielberg y el gran Ernie Cline supervisando todo. Entre DeLoreans, cubos Zemeckis, Mechagodzilla  y Gundam, esta es una nueva visión del mundo de Ready Player One. Es esta la versión que queríamos? O la que necesitábamos? Además! Tavo queda desfigurado!'Nuff Said! Descarga aquí (click derecho y guardar como)o Escucha directamente:If you cannot see the audio controls, listen/download the audio file here

Disney's really buying Fox, Ryan Reynolds gets an interesting role, we'll be getting an R-rated Star Trek film, and Ernie Cline's giving us a sequel.

Audible Best Selling Narrator, Andrea Emmes was born in Hollywood, FL and grew up in both Tennessee and Rhode Island, started her career in musical theater. Cutting her teeth at The Trinity Arts Center in Rhode Island, Andrea eventually made her way to Orlando and began her eclectic career singing/dancing in various shows at Walt Disney World, Universal Studios, Pirates' Dinner Adventure, performing as a magician's assistant, headlining on the Las Vegas Strip and touring Los Angeles as an L.A. Award winning artist with her album, "I'm On My Way".   Having worked in tv, film and video games, Andrea, a total Book Nerd, now enjoys narrating audiobooks at her home studio in San Jose, California. Her wide range of character voices and dynamic/emotionally invested performances has reviewers and listeners alike commenting on how she effortlessly pulls listeners in, and has versatility and charisma. Fun Facts: Andrea has a Bachelor of Science in Game Art and Design; was a game designer for Disney Interactive; once interviewed Ernie Cline for his amazing novel Ready Player One as a Gamer Review for ForbiddenPanel.com and gets her gamer-geek on playing games of all kinds with her husband and their cat, Lucy.

New York Times bestselling author and co-founder of Wired magazine, Kevin Kelly, stopped by the show to chat with me about his journey from travel journalist to famed futurist. Mr. Kelly’s storied and winding career has taken him around the world in search of visions of the new digital frontier. Kevin is a renowned TED speaker and author of multiple bestsellers including his latest, The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future, a title that offers an optimistic roadmap of how new technologies will shape humanity. Dubbed “the Most Interesting Man in the World” by Tim Ferris, Mr. Kelly began writing on the internet near its inception and never looked back. He has taken gigs including Editor for the Whole Earth Review, and presently Senior Maverick at Wired magazine, a magazine he co-founded in 1993, and where he served as Executive Editor until 1999. Join us for this two-part interview, and if you’re a fan of the show, please click “subscribe” to automatically see new interviews, and help other writers find us. If you missed the first half you can find it right here. In Part Two of the file Kevin Kelly and I discuss: Why the Author Can’t Write on the Road The Importance of Delegation as a Writer The Cool Tools Kevin Kelly Uses to Get Words on the Page A Futurist’s Expansive Definition of Creativity How Lateral Thinking Can Improve Your Writing Why Steven Spielberg Asked Mr. Kelly to Predict the Future Listen to The Writer Files: Writing, Productivity, Creativity, and Neuroscience below ... Download MP3 Subscribe by RSS Subscribe in iTunes The Show Notes Kevin Kelly’s Personal Website The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future – Kevin Kelly 1,000 True Fans The Act of Creation – Arthur Koestler Oblique Strategies Writer Emergency Pack – John August Kevin Kelly on Google+ Kevin Kelly on Twitter Kelton Reid on Twitter The Transcript How Wired Magazine’s Senior Maverick Kevin Kelly Writes: Part Two Jerod Morris: Hey, Jerod Morris here. If you know anything about Rainmaker Digital and Copyblogger, you may know that we produce incredible live events. Some would say that we produce incredible live events as an excuse to throw great parties, but that’s another story. We’ve got another one coming up this October in Denver. It’s called Digital Commerce Summit and it is entirely focused on giving you the smartest ways to create and sell digital products and services. You can find out more at Rainmaker.FM/summit. That’s Rainmaker.FM/summit. We’ll be talking about Digital Commerce Summit in more detail as it gets closer, but for now I’d like to let a few attendees from our past events speak for us. Attendee 1: For me, it’s just hearing from the experts. This is my first industry event, so it’s awesome to learn new stuff and also get confirmation that we’re not doing it completely wrong where I work. Attendee 2: The best part of the conference, for me, is being able to mingle with people and realize that you have connections with everyone here. It feels like LinkedIn live. I also love the parties after each day, being able to talk to the speakers, talk to other people who are here for the first time, people who have been here before. Attendee 3: I think the best part of the conference, for me, is understanding how I can service my customers a little more easily. Seeing all the different facets and components of various enterprises then helps me pick the best tools. Jerod Morris: Hey, we agree. One of the biggest reasons we host the conference every year is so that we can learn how to service our customers — people like you — more easily. Here are just a few more words from folks who have come to our past live events. Attendee 4: It’s really fun. I think it’s a great mix of beginner information and advanced information. I’m really learning a lot and having a lot of fun. Attendee 5: The conference is great, especially because it’s a single-track conference where you don’t get distracted by “Which session should I go to?” And, “Am I missing something?” Attendee 6: The training and everything — the speakers have been awesome — but I think the coolest aspect for me has been connecting with those people who are putting it on and the other attendees. Jerod Morris: That’s it for now. There’s a lot more to come on Digital Commerce Summit. I really hope to see you there in October. Again, to get all the details and the very best deal on tickets, head over to Rainmaker.FM/summit. That’s Rainmaker.FM/summit. Kelton Reid: These are The Writer Files, a tour of the habits, habitats, and brains of working writers from online content creators to fictionists, journalists, entrepreneurs, then beyond. I’m your host, Kelton Reid, writer, podcaster, and mediaphile. Each week we’ll discover how great writers keep the ink flowing, the cursor moving, and avoid writer’s block. New York Times best-selling author and co-founder of Wired Magazine, Kevin Kelly, stopped by the show this week and chatted with me about his journey from travel journalist to famed futurist. Mr. Kelly’s storied and winding career has taken him around the world in search of visions of the new digital frontier. He’s a renowned TED speaker and author of multiple best-sellers, including his latest, at The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our Future, a title that offers an optimistic roadmap of how new technologies will shape humanity. Dubbed, “The Most Interesting Man in The World” by Tim Ferriss, Mr. Kelly began writing on the Internet near its inception and never looked back, taking gigs including editor for The Whole Earth Review and, presently, Senior Maverick at Wired Magazine, a magazine he co-founded in 1993 where he served as executive editor until 1999. Join us for this two-part interview. If you are a fan of the show, please click “subscribe” to automatically see new interviews with your favorite authors and help other writers to find us. If you missed the first half of this show, you can find it at Writerfiles.FM in the show notes. In part two of the file, Kevin and I discuss why the author can’t write on the road, the importance of delegation as a writer, the Cool Tools Kevin Kelly uses to get words onto the page, a futurist’s expansive definition of creativity, how lateral thinking can improve your writing, and the day Steven Spielberg asked Mr. Kelly to predict the future. Why the Author Can’t Write on the Road Kelton Reid: Do you have an office? Once you’ve traveled the world and gotten all the stuff you need — researched all the stuff — do you go back to the office then, or do you feel like you can write on the road? Kevin Kelly: I cannot write on the road at all. I can’t even write on planes. I can’t even write in hotel rooms. I do all my writing here. I have this magnificent studio. I call it a studio, it’s two stories. It’s in California. It’s all white. It’s got a huge ceiling. There are two stories of books. I have all my toys — my Lego wall here. I have a Styro Bot. I built it for me and my way of working. Camille’s just right over there. I have another assistant too, who does the website stuff. I have my big, huge whiteboard. I’ve got everything. I have a standing — and a ball, so I can move from standing to sitting within seconds. I need to be here to get my writing done, and I have the privilege of being able to control my time that way. I don’t know if I need to, but that’s how I choose to. That works for me. You’re right about the travel. When I’m traveling there’s two kinds — there’s the traveling for doing talks … My livelihood is basically giving talks in China. Most of my fans are in China. I have 20 times the number of fans in China than I do in the U.S., so I go to China to do talks. Because I have this obsession with Asia, I usually will piggyback other trips either in China or elsewhere around Asia when I go because I’m photographing the disappearing Asia. When I’m in photograph mode I can do nothing else. It’s really weird, but I become totally a camera. I’m just a camera. I’m a walking camera. I started off in the 1970s doing that. That’s what my first thing was. Instead of going to college, I went to Asia as a photographer and I was photographing the stuff. I was a camera. I worked from the beginning of daylight to the end of daylight as a camera. Still when I go to Asia — the same thing, I am just there. Then, when I’m in the hotel, I’m downloading, backing up all my stuff. Doing the minimum amount of e-mail that I need to do. Then I’m in bed. Then the next day, I’m just a camera. I find it really hard to — I’m happy if I can do my e-mail. I can’t write then. When I come back, then I can shift. I’ll leave the camera off to the side and then I can try and write. Kelton Reid: That sounds cool. It sounds like you’ve got these processes in place that help you to process, crunch all the information you see and then you get back to the designated writing space to get into the flow. The Importance of Delegation as a Writer Kevin Kelly: The other thing that I learned to do at Wired, working through the magazine, was delegate and hire. For 10 years I did Cool Tools myself. Five days a week, I was editing. I wasn’t writing all those reviews, but I was soliciting, getting them in, editing everybody, sending it back, going rounds of approval, posting it and finding the pictures, and doing the access information. At some point — it made money from the very beginning. “Okay, so I’m going to hire editors to do this.” I was overseeing a publisher, but they were doing the work. That’s the other thing that I have learned to do, is to hire out. That’s the one thing I wish I’d learned earlier in life, to hire people better than yourself as a way of extending your reach. Cool Tools — Marcus is running that, basically. Silver Cord — my partner in that is running that. I don’t have a partner yet in True Films, but Claudia — who is here — is helping me now. That’s the idea. The way that I found to leverage my ideas and perspective is to hire whenever I can. The Cool Tools Kevin Kelly Uses to Get Words on the Page Kelton Reid: That’s cool. For scaling and probably peace of mind too. To harness your skills and your creativity. Speaking of Cool Tools, let’s talk a little bit about the Cool Tools that you use to actually get words onto the page, if you don’t mind. I’d love to know. I know you’ve got some organizational hacks in place, it sounds like, but are you a Mac guy or are you a PC guy? When you’re actually sitting down to get words onto the page, what are you using there? Kevin Kelly: There’s a joke. I’ll actually just show you a picture of my — I have a beige, boring minivan, but the back window is covered with little white apples, like a million of them. I have been an Apple user from the Apple 2e. We did a famous Wired cover about praying for Apple because there was a brief spell before Jobs came back that I thought I was going to have to actually make the big switch to Windows. I was within two months of doing that, but he came back in time and saved the day. Yeah, I’m a total Mac — we’re a Mac household. I have an iPhone. I work on a Mac — they call it a Mac Tower. It’s a behemoth machine that sits below me. I have two cinema screens: one at sitting height and one at standing height. I can just toggle between them. I have a little, tiny, 11-inch Mac Air that I take with me when I travel. It’s big enough just to do e-mail and primitive web. I have my PowerPoint speeches mounted, and that’s it. I’m not a very mobile person, the first smart phone I had was Apple 6. I’m old-school in that sense. E-mail’s the best way to reach me. I work on a desktop. I’m not mobile. When I take pictures I have to process them. I use Lightroom, which I think is fantastic. I don’t even need Photoshop. I just use Lightroom for managing my gazillion … By the way, I have them all backed up to not only Google, but I’m a insane, radical, extreme backer-upper. My photos are backed up on three clouds and three different hard disks beyond the cards that I have. I also have them backed up in three different places while I travel. Needless to say, I have never lost an image. Kelton Reid: Is that known as RAID? Kevin Kelly: Yeah, exactly. I have my own version of RAID. Right, exactly. The tools I use for writing — eventually I get into Microsoft Word. I don’t always start there. Believe it or not, I sometimes start writing in my e-mail because it’s so simple and I’m not going to lose it. I can keep it up. I used to mail it to myself as a backup. That was long before I had Time Machine. Sometimes the first notes will be in all kinds of things. Sometimes it’ll be in Google Docs. Sometimes it’ll be in my e-mail. Sometimes it’ll be in Notes. Eventually it gets to Microsoft. When I’m writing a bigger piece I actually will move things, at some point, into Scrivener. Scrivener is this really cool software that’s used by people doing long-form writing, whether it be fiction or nonfiction, or sometimes screenplays. It’s a card-based organizing metaphor, so things have cards and you can move these cards around. The cards can have an indefinite amount of text in them, and you can put them in hierarchies or you can keep them flat, but the idea is that you can move all this stuff around. It takes the place of the old way where we actually did cut and paste. Had things in piles and moved piles around on the floor, or index cards on your desktop. It does that. And it’s really good for organizing lots of things in lots of parts. I’ve used that for the last two books, and I would definitely use it again for any other book I did. I think that’s on both Mac and Windows. I’m using Scrivener, but at some point it’ll make its way into a Word doc in the final form. That’s just because, in my experience working with magazines and book publishers, this is the universal format. It just has to reach there at some point. Kelton Reid: The track changes and traditional publishing. Kevin Kelly: Yeah, exactly. Kelton Reid: I skipped over a big one, but here is one for you. You probably are rubbing elbows with writers — and you have been for much of your career — do you believe in writer’s block? Kevin Kelly: I don’t. If you mean do I experience writer blocks, that’s all I can say. I’ve never really talked to the other writers about writer’s block, so I can’t say whether they have it or not. I have never had them volunteer conversation about it. I was just hanging out last week with all these science fiction authors — very published successes — and this never came up. I have not experienced it myself. In talking to them about their work habits and stuff, some of them have pretty regular, “write every day” kind of things where they’ll write about something every day. Maybe it’s not about what their book is, but they’ll do something. It has not been an issue in my experience. Kelton Reid: Cool. That’s good. Knock on wood. Kevin Kelly: Yeah. A Futurist’s Expansive Definition of Creativity Kelton Reid: All right. Let’s get into creativity a little bit. I know we’ve got a few more minutes here. I think creativity is probably inherent to a lot of what you do, but it might not be labeled as creativity when you’re getting into technology and looking to the future. Do you think that you could define creativity for us? Kevin Kelly: My image of creativity is a diagram in a book called The Act of Creation by Koestler. It’s an old book. It was his attempt to try and figure out what creativity is. His diagram was very simple: take two index cards that are inserted into each other so they form — from the end — a profile of a cross. So there are two planes that are intersecting, you have a flat plane and a vertical plane. You have two planes that are intersecting. His idea was that all creativity is basically taking two unrelated planes and making them intersect. That’s the visual image that I have of creativity, which is you are making a connection, an intersection between things that have not intersected before. Jokes are kind of like that. A joke is when you take two things that don’t seem to be related and you bring them together in some way that’s plausible and it’s funny. New ideas, new innovations are the same kind of thing where you recombine existing mechanisms in a way that haven’t been combined before. Brian Arthur’s and Paul Romer — two separate guys with two separate theories, but they’re both the same, which is that the fountain of all innovation is just a recombination. In fact, the origin of all wealth is actually recombination. You’re just recombining things. This idea of intersecting things that had not intersected before is my definition of creativity. There are, of course, rules. You can’t just take any random thing, the new intersection has to work in some way. It has to be plausible, interesting, whatever — but fundamentally, that’s the act. When I see something creative, it’s usually because someone has — we talked about the other metaphor of a leap somewhere. They have stepped off something and they’re stepping somewhere else, but there are actually two legs. They actually have a leg in the departure point and a leg in the arrival point. Those two things have not been bridged before. That’s my image of an intersection of two unrelated ideas. Kelton Reid: I like it. I like it a lot. I think that we’re getting close here. I have a couple of other questions for you, but — Kevin Kelly: Let me just say one thing about the creativity. Kelton Reid: Oh, I’m sorry. How Lateral Thinking Can Improve Your Writing Kevin Kelly: No, because I’ve gotten to work with many of what I would consider some of the most creative people working today, alive today. People who are technically geniuses like Danny Hillis, artistically genius like Brian Eno, and cultural genius like Stewart Brand. It’s really been interesting to watch them operate. I think they have trained their minds to do this. They’re doing the thing I’m saying with these unrelated planes intersecting, but they do them in different ways. Brian Eno, he’s the most lateral thinker I know. Lateral meaning that he’s associating ideas coming from off to the side. We have a tendency to proceed in a linear way, or a way in which there’s the obvious things in front of you that you may want to combine. He has an ability to reach off to the side into something that is unexpected, trying to make that association that will work. He’s particularly good at reaching behind his back or off to the side — that’s what I meant by laterally — to bring something in. That ability to, in some senses, dismiss or ignore the obvious ones and to reach for the unobvious but yet still works, is something that I think actually they train. Brian Eno has a famous set of cards called Oblique Strategies that he and a partner use to make music. These were prompts that they would pick up at random to force themselves to do this lateral thinking. They were prompts like, “Take the most obvious thing and ignore it,” or “What about the middle? Emphasize the middle.” They were almost random things. Often, that action would not be the thing that worked, but that would lead them to this other unobvious next step that would work. That’s one way. Those cards are actually very valuable and useful for anything. I have a deck right here. I have my own internal ones of when you’re in a situation — say when you’re stuck, you use these things as prompts, exercises to force yourself to think about these other approaches. It’s very handy. I think, internally, that’s what Brian and other are doing, is actually have a set of little things that they’re running through, sometimes unconsciously, as they try and prompt themselves to take this lateral approach. Then there are others like Marvin Minsky and Danny Hillis who are very technical. I think they do something very similar, particularly Marvin, which is pretend that they’re not human. They try to approach this as if they were seeing it for the first time, as if they were coming from another planet, as if they were pretending they were, often, a robot. “How would a robot do this?” To try and do the same thing of looking at it with fresh eyes, looking at it in a way that no ordinary human would look at it, not as a way an ordinary human would look at it. Then Stuart Brand, who also has this ability, I think his little heuristic that he also trained himself to do was to force himself — each time he approached something he would force himself to try and find a different perspective on it, including using the words that he used to describe something. He would never, ever repeat himself. If he was talking about something he knew, he would require that he use different words when talking about it this time to this person, even though he’d been talking about it for a thousand times before. That constraint would require him — because of the new words — to see it differently. Then he would have an insight just because he forced himself to use different words. Those are some of the ways that I’ve seen some of the most creative people I know use this on a daily basis. They have trained themselves to be better at this on an ongoing basis — not just when they’re sitting down, but as a habit. Kelton Reid: For sure. Yeah, I know screenwriter John August has a similar set of prompts like the Oblique Strategies that he uses for screenwriters which has proven to be very helpful. I think writers can use that in whatever way they think to kick-start their writing for sure. Side note, I love Brian Eno’s Music for Airports. I actually listen to it while I’m writing. I find that it helps because it’s kind of meandering and ambient, of course. I’ve got to slip this one in here. I know that in The Inevitable and Understanding the Technological Forces That Will Shape Our World, you’ve talked about VR quite a bit. I heard you say you were reading Ready Player One, which is Ernie Cline’s journey into VR. What is it? The OASIS? Kevin Kelly: Correct. Kelton Reid: Interesting intersection there. I think you’ve worked with Steven Spielberg in the past, and he is adapting that book into a movie. Have you heard anything about that? Kevin Kelly: I have not heard — either from Ernie or elsewhere — about what state the Spielberg Ready Player One is in. I’ve heard different rumors about whether it’s actually going to be in VR or not. I think there is likely to be some VR component, probably a VR game version. But no, I don’t know anything more about it other than what has been published. I think that it’s an ideal Spielberg movie for many reasons, not the least of all the references to the seventies and eighties that I’m sure he’d be very good at. Kelton Reid: Right. I thought it was interesting that it takes place in 2044 and he actually tapped you to help him predict 2054 in Minority Report. Why Steven Spielberg Asked Mr. Kelly to Predict the Future Kevin Kelly: Right, yeah. Kelton Reid: I thought maybe he had tapped you again. Kevin Kelly: No. It was just not me, it was a group of us, and as far as I know he hasn’t reached out in that sense to do that — which was a very amazing experience. There was a set of people, including the people I just mentioned, except I don’t think Brian was there. Doug Copeland and some other — Jaron Lanier — were present, and our job was to make this world comprehensive. It was really interesting because we did a lot of arm waving about these things. Spielberg is sitting in the room and he’s there with his little pencil and pad. He says, “Okay, what are people sleeping on? What do the beds look like? How about for breakfast, what are people having for breakfast?” That requirement to be that specific was very galvanizing because you couldn’t just talk about general things. He wanted to know what the beds looked like. So you began to think, “What do they look like? Are they any different? The same? Are they waterbeds?” That was so profound for me, because that really changed how I try to think about the future now. Kelton Reid: How cool. I really appreciate you taking time out to chat with us about your process. The Inevitable: Understanding the 12 Technological Forces That Will Shape Our World, a very optimistic roadmap of the future. Really cool stuff. It’s out now and we can find it out there. You link to it at kk.org and it’s on Amazon. I’ll link to your Google Plus Page as well and your Twitter handle. Is there any other sign-offs for writers you want to drop on us before you go to the next interview? Kevin Kelly: No, other than I do suggest that you look at the Cool Tools book that I did, which was self published. It’s this huge, oversized, thick, heavy, five pound, massive catalog of possibilities. There are some good writer tools besides Scrivener. There are some other resources for people making things and being creative — tools not just like the wrenches and pipes, but things like Elance, or what they would call Upwork these days. How to hire someone for help. Where to get a logo or book cover done. Check out that, that’s available on Amazon as well. Kelton Reid: Mr. Kelly, thank you so much. We really appreciate it. Best of luck with all of your press rounds, and hopefully you’ll come back and talk to us again another time. Kevin Kelly: Sure thing. Thanks for the attention. Appreciate it. Kelton Reid: Thank you. Thanks so much for joining me for this half of A Tour Through The Writer’s Process. If you enjoy The Writer Files Podcast, please subscribe to the show and leave us a rating or a review on iTunes to help other writers find us. For more episodes or to just leave a comment or a question, drop by WriterFiles.FM. You can always chat with me on Twitter @KeltonReid. Cheers. Talk to you next week.

Richie is joined by Mike in this episode where the guys talk their top 5 favourite role playing games. Please take the time to check out our offer in conjunction with Audible: You can get yourself a 30 day trial and and download an audiobook for FREE? www.audibletrial.com/noobgrind Richie recommends 'Ready Player One' by Ernie Cline and read by Wil Wheaton - go to www.audibletrial.com/noobgrind and start you free trial today.

Dave and Richie have been playing a lot of DOOM. In June Mike is playing through the DOOM campaign missions on a Tuesday and Dave and Richie are playing DOOM Multiplayer on Sundays at www.twitch.tv/noobgrind Please take the time to check out our offer in conjunction with Audible: You can get yourself a 30 day trial and and download an audiobook for FREE? www.audibletrial.com/noobgrind Richie recommends 'Ready Player One' by Ernie Cline and read by Wil Wheaton - go to www.audibletrial.com/noobgrind and start you free trial today.

This week Dave and Richie are get giddy over Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality and Actual Reality! Did you know that if you go to www.audibletrial.com/noobgrind you can get yourself a 30 day trial and and download an audiobook for FREE? Well you can - and you'll be helping to support the podcast at the same time. Richie recommends 'Ready Player One' by Ernie Cline and read by Wil Wheaton - go to www.audibletrial.com/noobgrind and start you free trial today.

This week Dave and Richie are doing another Games Addiction, focusing on the incredible Tomb Raider franchise. Let us know what you think... Did you know that if you go to www.audibletrial.com/noobgrind you can get yourself a 30 day trial and and download an audiobook for FREE? Well you can - and you'll be helping to support the podcast at the same time. Richie recommends 'Ready Player One' by Ernie Cline and read by Wil Wheaton - go to www.audibletrial.com/noobgrind and start you free trial today.

Dave and Richie run down their Top 5 Platformers - give them a shout on Facebook.com/noobgrind or @NoobGrind on Twitter to tell them that they're wrong for not including your favourite! Did you know that if you go to www.audibletrial.com/noobgrind you can get yourself a 30 day trial and and download an audiobook for FREE? Well you can - and you'll be helping to support the podcast at the same time. Richie recommends 'Ready Player One' by Ernie Cline and read by Wil Wheaton - go to www.audibletrial.com/noobgrind and start you free trial today.

Here we go with Game Changer Season 2! Dave and Richie are back to lament the loss of Lionhead Studios, creator of the much loved Fable franchise. Did you know that if you go to www.audibletrial.com/noobgrind you can get yourself a 30 day trial and and download an audiobook for FREE? Well you can - and you'll be helping to support the podcast at the same time. Richie recommends 'Ready Player One' by Ernie Cline and read by Wil Wheaton - go to www.audibletrial.com/noobgrind and start you free trial today.

The guys talk a hidden gem of a movie in Ex_Machina, and Ernie Cline's latest literary tale, "Armada". They also try to stick to a format, and fail miserably while talking theft of white strips, Foo Fighters, and other nonsense.

In Episode 47—Red, Beans, And Smaller Than Rice—we start off with our Geek Book Club discussion of The Martian.  We’ve activated the super sassy SpoilerBot 3000 to let you know where to skip if you haven’t finished the book.  But, really, GO FINISH THE BOOK!  And be sure to pick up Armada by Ernie Cline for our next Geek Book Club in episode 51.  You can even get a free audio book of Armada over at http://audibletrial.com/gabbinggeek !   After our book club we have a fun trivia game where Jenny and Watson try to guess the movie that Sean Bean was in and lived. Yes, there are multiple movies where Sean Bean lived!   Finally, we wrap up the episode with a discussion of the latest Marvel Cinematic Universe film, Ant-Man.     Like what you're hearing?  Be sure to share this podcast with your friends and give us a review on iTunes over at http://bit.ly/gabbinggeek   Be sure to check out our awesome new web site at http://gabbinggeek.com/ where we have tons of stories and articles about the geekiest content you want to read!     Feel free to email us at gabbinggeek@gmail.com, tweet us @gabbinggeeks, or join in the Facebook conversation at http://bit.ly/facebookgg  

It's all fireworks as Star Wars explodes into the month of July! Jay & Chris delve into Star Wars: Lords of the Sith, Star Wars: Dark Disciple and Fanboys writer Ernie Cline's new novel titled Armada. They also give you the rundown of Marvel's relentless

Airdrops can’t stop the Outlaws! This week we discuss the shenanigans surrounding H1Z1’s broken promises on pay-to-win, ponder the possibilities of Ernie Cline’s next video-game-friendly novel, and go hands on with Evolve, inFamous First Light, and more!

In this episode the gang does their discussion of Ernie Cline's masterpiece Ready Player One.

It's more ForceCast Live from Star Wars Celebration VI! This week, we are proud to present the podcast premiere of the entire Inside The ForceCast panel featuring special guests Kyle Newman, Ernie Cline, Jovial Jay Shepard, Paul Bateman, Sheldon Norton, and the amazing Stephen Stanton. Plus, more highlights from the best of Celebration VI and ForceCast updates!

It's more ForceCast Live from Star Wars Celebration VI! This week, we are proud to present the podcast premiere of the entire Inside The ForceCast panel featuring special guests Kyle Newman, Ernie Cline, Jovial Jay Shepard, Paul Bateman, Sheldon Norton, and the amazing Stephen Stanton. Plus, more highlights from the best of Celebration VI and ForceCast updates!

Jason chats with New York Times Best Selling author Ernie Cline, whose Ready Player One is an addictive, futuristic love letter to the 1980s.

Jason chats with New York Times Best Selling author Ernie Cline, whose Ready Player One is an addictive, futuristic love letter to the 1980s.

That's right, gobblers. 100 episodes. Who'da thunk it? Not us, that's for sure. If you're a long-time fan of the show, we've got a nice trip down memory lane for you, and if you're new to our ridiculousness, this is a great primer/history lesson/greatest hits CD. The boys play snippets from various episodes throughout the show's run, going all the way back to our extremely painful first episode. These things used to be three hours long! And live! Wow. You'll also hear some of Paul's finest rants, the boys attempting to tackle the issue of feminism in pop culture, AJ's fascination with dinosaur-on-dinosaur erotica, and our chats with guests like K. Dale Koontz and Ernie Cline. Plus, some old friends drop by to share their thoughts on the show.

This week, Paul and AJ are honored to sit down with Ernie Cline, author of the New York Times bestselling science fiction novel Ready Player One, which arrives in paperback on June 5. The three of them have a pretty epic geek-out session. Oh, they talk about the book, too. Ernie discusses his inspiration for writing Ready Player One, what the future holds for the film adaptation, his brutal experience writing the movie Fanboys, and the many virtues of the Alamo Drafthouse. Ernie also mentions how much The Avengers rocked his world, so after the interview, Paul and AJ obsess some more over the movie, its nooks, and its crannies (hint: mirrors!).   Next: The boys get in the Memorial Day spirit by talking about their favorite war movies. They love the smell of napalm in the morning.

Ernie Cline is the author of New York Times bestselling science fiction novel Ready Player One and writer of the comedy drama film Fanboys. Learn about the inspiration for Ready Player One, getting Wil Wheaton to read the audiobook, and the experience of selling his very first screenplay and having Fanboys made in to a major Hollywood movie, and how […]

I’m in Austin, TX at and I’m talking to , who wrote a book I just read and it’s all awesome. I’m a super chatty. Lots of sales stories of my youth for no reason except me, obviously, wanting him to like me. But he’s gets in some good stories and that book is GREAT. Go read it. I hope you have as much fun as I obviously am. Enjoy.   Credits: Live recording by: Audio leveling by Music is by Website design by : who has his own   Apps are available with bonus content: or My websites are and  . Review the show on Feel free to e me.   NOTES: Gate Games GoT and the Wire both get a mention

It's a jam-packed month full of Star Wars goodness! We recap all the SDCC announcements, bring you the latest in books, comics and magazines, Katie Stahnke from Epic Ink Books discusses the in's and out's of designing the insanely large and ultra cool Star Wars: The Blueprints book and Fanboys screenwriter Ernie Cline stops by to chat about his upcoming novel Ready Player One! Jovial Jay Shepard and Chris Wyman break it all down in this August episode of Jedi Journals.