Post a Comment On: A Nod to Nothing

[Image]I read The Execution Channel by Ken MacLeod recently, which was sort of riff on blogging, technology, political intrigue, a changing worldscape and how they all work together to harness and promote misinformation. For the most part, it was a so-so novel, but there were a few good bits. In one scene, around page 262, everyone is concerned that a nuclear war is in the offing. Televisions are showing scenes of destruction, and phones are ringing willy nilly and creating noise and confusion. Although MacLeod didn't really say it, it almost seemed as if the phones were ringing as notification that nuclear war had started. What a stellar idea. If nuclear war starts, your cell phone alerts you so you have time to duck and cover! Pooteewheet and I had a brief discussion at the coffee shop about the question, "If you could set up an alert on your phone to notify you that nuclear war had started, and missiles were flying, what would you want your ringtone to be?"

I went with the obvious, "It's the End of the World as We Know It (and I Feel Fine)". Pooteewheet went with a bit of Billy Joel and "We Didn't Start the Fire", which is more inspired, because World War III makes a nice ending right after martial law and the cola wars. So...any other preferences (no Nina Gordon, post Veruca Salt - that's just a breakup song).