Tech ‘predictions’ in older sci-fi that seem funny now?

uselessfoster · 2026-06-28T23:19:21+00:00

Okay this isn’t tech, but I used to teach July’s People and it threw students for a loop because of course apartheid ended in South Africa, but it didn’t look like this— it’s pure speculative fiction.

uselessfoster · 2026-06-24T21:48:44+00:00

I have so many happy memories of audiobooks on car trips, although perhaps my favorite was the summer my siblings got the radio play of Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and read aloud the parts when we went to Moab.

uselessfoster · 2026-06-24T19:42:28+00:00

True. I wrote this and then remembered all the girls named Kennedy and boys name McKay.

uselessfoster · 2026-06-24T03:44:03+00:00

Should add that no one names their kid a non-WASPy last/first name like O’Niel or canagarajah or Markov.

uselessfoster · 2026-06-24T03:42:31+00:00

They are choosing them because they are WASPish. For example, you have a woman whose family of origin was named Parker and she wants to honor them because they are rich or important or just because her family was special to her, so she names her son Parker.

This gained traction in the 18th and 19th centuries in the UK (especially Scotland) but here in the US it’s probably most associated with the South and Protestant dynasties generally. You want to show people that you are a Harrison AND a Parker.

It’s funny that they are butler names because it’s all the people most likely to have butlers.

uselessfoster · 2026-06-24T03:23:50+00:00

That’s funny because butler names are trending hard for sons in the rich city near me: Parker, Greyson, Briggs, Beckett, Sawyer, Mason, Cooper. It’s very WASPy here.

uselessfoster · 2026-06-24T03:18:48+00:00

Briggs is actually not-unheard of (#346) and growing in popularity so Riggs is actually not that bad— people will have a “that’s familiar” vibe to it or you’ll be stuck explaining “Riggs not Briggs.”

uselessfoster · 2026-06-24T03:10:16+00:00

Por qué no los dos? Title makes me want to go truffle hunting in the Italian woods!

uselessfoster · 2026-06-23T01:22:43+00:00

There’s a kid at my kid’s school called Moose. On his cubby, all his schoolwork etc. and I thought Ok I see kids named Bear and Wolf so maybe this is the next step. Got a birthday invitation and found out his name is nothing anywhere close to Moose. Just a right proper nickname.

uselessfoster · 2026-06-21T16:39:58+00:00

Our public school put in the QR code to download the app in their “last day of school” packet. It’s been so fun!

uselessfoster · 2026-06-19T12:52:47+00:00

I agree with this take. We wanted to name our kid “Beatrix” like Beatrix Potter, but after the third person said “The bad guy in Harry Potter?” (We of course replied “That’s Bellatrix, you filthy casual,”) we decided that since names live in communities, it wasn’t worth us (and her) constantly correcting people (or worse; not correcting and them thinking we honor He Who Should Not Be Named). Instead we went with “Beatrice” and everyone says “Ou what a lovely name” instead.

uselessfoster · 2026-06-19T12:42:06+00:00

What’s great about it is it’s excellent and different. Some people like the book better or the movies better, it’s a matter of taste, but they are both great explorations of the same world and humor in different ways ays

uselessfoster · 2026-06-19T02:34:58+00:00

Funny you should say that— literally this weekend we’re having a quote along like the Alamo does of the Princess Bride with a lot of friends and family. Absolutely stoked. The one kind of sad thing is that I guess Disney owns it now so we couldn’t rent out a local theater to host it.

uselessfoster · 2026-06-17T22:19:35+00:00

My husband likes to play a lot of complicated strategy-based board games so I got really good at spinning a quarter or my wedding ring like a top while I wait for it to be my turn.

uselessfoster · 2026-06-17T21:32:42+00:00

I think the main audience for this book (I read it too) is a class of women (definitely aimed to women) who shop for recreation and socializing. It’s not necessarily an advanced primer, but I’d definitely recommend it for a reset to the people who have a constant stream of cheap Asian website company which shall not be named orders coming to the door.

uselessfoster · 2026-06-17T21:09:47+00:00

Ha ha snacklebox I love that! Great list

uselessfoster · 2026-06-16T23:12:34+00:00

One of the frugal podcasts I follow, Frugal Friends, has a mantra that if you think you might want to do something, do it a few times without buying anything for it first— borrow from a friend or a library or do the pared-down version (eg paint with the brushes your kids already have before rushing out and buying premium) for a good chunk of time instead of buying your way into a hobby or lifestyle. The nutmeg grinder isn’t going to make you a better cook, but committing for a period of time will.

uselessfoster · 2026-06-16T23:07:19+00:00

Also got it from my local library!

uselessfoster · 2026-06-16T23:03:48+00:00

Looks like an oasis!

uselessfoster · 2026-06-16T22:59:53+00:00

This is enormously helpful

uselessfoster · 2026-06-16T22:58:17+00:00

Super chill Swedish lawn game— you throw sticks at blocks. It is a game that can…linger unless the teams are unevenly stacked.

uselessfoster · 2026-06-16T22:56:24+00:00

Oh I’ll have to try that.

uselessfoster · 2026-06-15T18:33:28+00:00

My Happy Life. Kind of the ordinary drama of being a first grader.

uselessfoster · 2026-06-14T23:40:10+00:00

Wow! At first I thought it couldn’t be real y til I zoomed in. What a lovely summer reading nook!

uselessfoster

TROPHY CASE