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Arthur C. Clarke Is Dead At 90

Posted by kdawson on from the pod-bay-doors-are-open dept.

Many readers are sending in word that Arthur C. Clarke has died in Sri Lanka. He wrote over 100 books including 2001: A Space Odyssey and Rendezvous With Rama, and popularized the ideas of geosynchronous communications satellites and space elevators.

22 of 538 comments (clear)

  1. Mortality by SIGALRM · · Score: 4, Funny

    It can only be attributable to human error.

    --
    Sigs cause cancer.
    1. Re:Mortality by al_fruitbat · · Score: 2, Funny

      Insufficiently advanced medical technology. Clearly distinguishable from magic.
      RIP Sir Arthur, thanks for everything.

  2. Farewell by The+Dobber · · Score: 5, Funny

    Off to that big old Monolith in the Sky, I suppose

    1. Re:Farewell by Zukix · · Score: 3, Funny

      today it is a mornolith :(

    2. Re:Farewell by sharkey · · Score: 2, Funny

      I bet it's full of stars.


      Good luck and Deus speed, Mr. Clarke.

      --

      --
      "Outlook not so good." That magic 8-ball knows everything! I'll ask about Exchange Server next.
  3. All These Novels... by cybrpnk2 · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...Are Yours. Except for 2001 - attempt no more sequels there.

    RIP, ACC.

  4. Don't worry by Tanman · · Score: 5, Funny

    in a few years, perhaps longer, he will be reborn to lead the xenu empire on its glorious crusade.

    sorry, couldn't resist.

  5. He's not dead you earthing fools by 0.693 · · Score: 5, Funny

    He's just been absorbed by the monolith.

    1. Re:He's not dead you earthing fools by osu-neko · · Score: 3, Funny

      Old Slashdotters never die, they just get modded away. ;)

      --
      "Convictions are more dangerous enemies of truth than lies."
  6. He was really a futurist... by Zaatxe · · Score: 5, Funny

    ... he even died tomorrow!

    The article states he died on wednesday, but it's still tuesday!
    (I know, I know... it's due to the time zones...)

    --
    So say we all
    1. Re:He was really a futurist... by RobertB-DC · · Score: 2, Funny

      (I know, I know... it's due to the time zones...)

      Perhaps that's the real reason he moved to Sri Lanka? So he could be ahead of our time, as well as his own?

      --
      Stressed? Me? Of course not. Stress is what a rubber band feels before it breaks, silly.
    2. Re:He was really a futurist... by Sneftel · · Score: 3, Funny

      You know, any sufficiently advanced country is indistinguishable from Sri Lanka.

      --
      The opinions stated herein do not necessarily represent those of anybody at all. Deal with it.
  7. To pay honor to his passing. by jameskojiro · · Score: 2, Funny

    I am going to go to the nearest graveyard, find a big black tall grave stone and act like a monkey and throw a plastic bone up in the air and then quietly walk away.

    --
    Tsukasa: All I really want, is to be left alone...
  8. Re:shame. by Metasquares · · Score: 4, Funny

    Wow, literary publishing is exactly like scientific publishing.

  9. Please observe Clarke's passing respectfully by IronChef · · Score: 3, Funny

    Be sure not to share any of his works that you find online, because copyright terms mean the stories cannot be freely distributed.

    So please, please, don't search for The Nine Billion Names of God on Google and read one of his greatest short stories.* By not reading it for free, immediately, you are enriching yourself and protecting our way of life. Observe the reasonable limitations on the distribution of creative works that we have in place in the US, and enjoy sharing this story with your friends when it enters the public domain in 2062... ninety five fucking years after it was written.

    * Really, don't. Don't to it. **

    ** You're going to do it, aren't you? I'm telling.

    PS Yes, this gets my goat.
    PPS Yes, I have written a book, pr8 it if you can find it, I don't care.

    http://www.copyright.cornell.edu/public_domain/

  10. Re:shame. by JustOK · · Score: 4, Funny

    If I saw Gentry Lee I would have thought about the guy from Rush, who it isn't, but who wrote 2112 and Hyperspace, and then the other guy from Rush who wrote the theme for the first season or two of Andromeda.

    --
    rewriting history since 2109
  11. Re:Steve Ballmer by jd · · Score: 2, Funny

    His attempts at nuclear fusion research by accelerating chairs to a high velocity have inspired countless thousands of comic strip writers, and I think it likely that he will always be remembered for this most valuable contribution to society... no matter how hard he tries to make us forget...

    --
    It's a small world and it smells funny; I'd buy another if it wasn't for the money; Take back what I paid (SoM)
  12. Dammit the dude was Knighted by MrCopilot · · Score: 3, Funny
    Its Sir Arthur C. Clarke. And I miss him already.

    http://mrcopilot.blogspot.com/2008/03/sir-arthur-c-clarke-dead-at-age-90.html

    Out of all his predictions, I was really pulling for the monkey servants.

    From the wikipedia:

    As featured on Sky One's "50 Terrible Predictions" programme, Clarke once predicted that apes would function as household servants by the 1960's; "...with our present knowledge of animal psychology, we can certainly solve the servant problem with the help of the monkey kingdom" he said, but quipped "..of course, eventually, our super chimpanzees would start forming trade unions and we'd be right back where we started."
    --
    OSGGFG - Open Source Gamers Guide to Free Games
  13. Re:Pedantry, I know. But if you want to use Latin. by Shinmizu · · Score: 2, Funny

    What about, "Romans, go home!"

  14. Re:shame. by Divebus · · Score: 3, Funny

    Shame? He was 90. Most of hope to live that long and leave such an amazing legacy behind. By the time Mozart was my age, he had been dead for 20 years.
    --

    Most of the stuff on /. won't survive first contact with facts.
  15. Re:shame. by tsm_sf · · Score: 3, Funny

    Same here...

    So long and thanks for all the fiction?

    --
    Literalism isn't a form of humor, it's you being irritating.
  16. Re:shame. by eugene+ts+wong · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yeah, it's a lot like slashdoting, too.

    --
    testing out my trending skills