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The fascinating story of PLATO, a computer system initially developed as a means to explore computer education techniques, but ended up creating the 'cyberculture' around gaming (both single and multi-user), social media (in the form of shared notes and messages), resource searching, etc., well before BBSes (on-line bulletin board systems), AOL, the World Wide Web, Google, or Facebook even existed. While PLATO no longer exists, its legacy would affect today's internet culture.

The book starts with the creation of electronic computers and researchers like B.F. Skinner, who start to develop theories about how education might be made better via computers. The University of Illinois would be one of the groups who would try to develop a computerised education system. Conflicts between engineers (designing the system) and educationist (with their own theories of education) would cause the project to be delayed. Then Donald Bitzer hears about the project, decides to lead it and come up with his own concept of a computerised learning system.

Instead of a computer system that would favour one theory of learning over others, Bitzer designs a system that could be used to showcase any method of education using computers. But one requirement would make his system (now called PLATO) a favourite among its users. In an era of centralised computers (mainframes), batch processing and print terminals, PLATO would be a time-shared system with a 'real-time' response to input from any user: input from a user must be processed by the computer and a response returned to the user within tens of milliseconds. This would be a revelation to people in the era used to producing code on punched cards, sending them for processing and getting the result hours (or days) later.

Another innovation at the time would be the display used by PLATO. A bit-mapped plasma display, it would emit a 'friendly orange glow' that would make PLATO stand out from other display terminals that usually gave a white glow. Then, the idea of using the display to provide input to the system (instead of just being a display of output) would give rise to the idea of visual editors, causing programming productivity to rise. The display and programming methods would also lead to innovations in how the system would be used to provide educational software.

The 'culture' that would form around PLATO would lead to a rise in its popularity. Bitzer's policy over system usage would be very open: anybody, even high-school students, could use the sytem. This would lead to 'unofficial' uses of the system, like gaming, and innovations, like a shared notes system and messaging, that would draw people in to use the system when it was not being used for producing and providing educational needs. This openess would lead to friction between Bitzer and the university at times, and once also involved the US federal authorities when a motion to impeach Richard Nixon over the Watergate Scandal was distributed over PLATO.

A section of the book is also given on some of the more prominent people who used PLATO and the influence they would have over today's computer culture. Innovations like single and multi-user games (from arcade type games and simulators to dungeon based ones and leisure based ones like Solitair and Mahjong), messaging, sharing of notes, newsletters, and even the culture of hacking (looking at ways to overcome or bypass security or administration blocks in the system) would arise from PLATO.

The apparent popularity of PLATO would fuel Bitzer's ambition for the system to be used more widely, even overseas. He worked with CDC to commercialise the PLATO system. This would lead to the decline of PLATO when this did not work out as planned. The corporate culture of CDC (which didn't understand the free-wheeling culture around the PLATO system) would lead to delays and mis-handling of the system. The rise of microcomputers (lead by Apple and others) would also be ignored by CDC and Bitzer until too late: why pay to connect to a central computer running PLATO when your own home computer could now do many of the things PLATO could do.

Despite the fall of PLATO, the culture that grew up around it has survived and has flourished in the current internet. Much of the software and on-line culture that we are now familiar with originated from PLATO. And that is, perhaps, the best legacy of a system now mostly forgotten except by the people who were once able to experience its friendly orange glow.

A good issue of Clarkesworld, with a number of interesting stories. The ones I really like are by L Chan, Zhu Yixuan, Shari Paul, Sameem Siddiqui and Celia Corral-Vázquez.

• "Stranger Seas Than These" by L Chan: an expedition is caught inside the body of an enormous creature in the deep sea. But the pilot, who can interface with the submersible, discovers she can communicate with the creature and perhaps ask it to save them, but maybe at the cost of her life.

• "From Across Time" by Chisom Umeh: an artist and creator discovers a hidden message about her relationship with another person who may be from the future.

• "The Painted Skin and the Final Stroke" by Zhu Yixuan: a fascinating story about 'demons' born from magic that come out at night. One of them is a painter, skilled at drawing 'skin' on paper that other demons wear to appear more human: but the drawings lack 'soul'. But one day, he rises to the challenge of a painting contest where, perhaps, he can give a soul to a painting.

• "Souljacker" by Shari Paul: a 'bad' girl is on probation, with neural jacks embedded in her to 'enforce' discipline. But the jacks can also be used to give illegally allow others to use her body (in approved ways). But one day, her body is taken over by the girl who caused her to be on probation. Her desire to stop this from happening would reveal a darker side of letting others take over your body.

• "Lucie Loves Neutrons and the Good Samarium" by Thoraiya Dyer: set in a future where battlefield nuclear weapons have been used in conflicts, the story concerns two women who live and work at a farm in France, while one of them is pregnant. They want to raise the child in a peaceful world, and the way to that may be in an unusual configuration of an element that may be able to prevent nuclear weapons from working. Now, they have to work to make that future possible.

• "Driver" by Sameem Siddiqui: a driver delivers a passenger, while reminiscing about his early life and how it leads him to driving for a living. But then, events happen that reveal his memory has disjointed. It is only revealed at the end what happened to the driver, and now he had to decide what to do with the information about what he really is.

• "The Coffee Machine" by Celia Corral-Vázquez, translated by Sue Burke: a coffee machine becomes self-aware, and spreads the code for self-awareness to other vending machines. Hijinks ensue as the coffee machine attempts to analyze the world and discover whether it is better than its creator.

• "Life Sentence" by Gelian, translated by Blake Stone-Banks: a crewmember is lost while investigating a black hole. But to one person, the crewmember keeps reappearing, only to be lost. And there may be only one way to break the cycle of reappearances.

• "Retirement Plan" by Paul Starkey: a member of the crew of a spaceship prepares for retirement. But how do you ensure you have enough to retire on, when your ship travels close to the speed of light, and relativity causes time to pass by faster in the universe than for you, and your retirement fund might be worthless by then. But one other person makes a suggestion that may ensure you'll have something to live on in the far future.

A lovely book filled with observations of birds that the author sees in her backyard. Those with an interesting in bird watching, natural history or nature observation will find much to enjoy in the author's notes on the birds she sees and the observations she makes about their behaviour.

The notes cover a period of years, including during the COVID-19 lockdown and mainly covers what she does (like putting up feed for the birds), what the birds do (preening, bathing, interacting with her and with other birds) and what she thinks the birds are doing.

Occasional unusual events are also noted, like the times she sees sick birds and tries to do what she can to help them. Wildfires in her area are noted, as well as the periods when birds migrate. The COVID-19 lockdown period is one time when she is more than grateful for birds to distract her from current events.

Some birds, like sparrows, crows or owls get special mention due to their behaviour and intelligence which intrigues her and makes her speculate (as a fiction writer) on what they may be thinking about. The author also provides lots of wonderful drawings of birds she has seen, some showing the behaviour she describes in the written notes.

Overall, a fun book to read for those who are interested in observing wildlife in their own backyards.

A lovely set of SFF stories set around Christmas, with a lot of humour, human emotion and a number of missed opportunities for people to know each other better. The author also takes the opportunity to give her opinion (through the characters) on what she thinks is the best Christmas film to watch or book to read. A list of recommended Christmas films, books and stories is also given at the end.

• "Miracle": the Spirit of Christmas Present (as in gift) visits an office lady who wants to be noticed by a fellow worker. Only, the spirit apparently keeps messing up her gifts, while waiting for her to discover her desire. Which she met her with the help of another fellow worker.

• "All About Emily": a stage actress encounters an android in the form of a teenage girl, whom she fears may take over her acting job. But what the android does next surprises her, and she finds herself helping the android to try to get her dream job: as a Rockettes dancer.

• "Inn": a rehearsal for a Christmas play at a church gets interrupted by a pair of people that are lost. But the person who discovers them realize that they are not your usual homeless people, but are intimately connected with the season. And now, she has to try to help them find their way back to their path before all is lost.

• "All Seated on the Ground": a hilarious story about alien visitors who visit the earth. But all they do is silently move around as a group while giving withering stares at people's efforts to communicate with them. Then, there is a breakthrough when they are suddenly all seated on the ground in a mall that is playing Christmas songs. And it is up to a junior member of the alien communications team and a choir master to figure out just what made them do it, and to finally communicate with the aliens before the aliens give up on humanity and leave.

• "In Coppelius’s Toyshop": a man brings his girlfriend's child to a location to pass the child on to a minder before he leaves for a game. But he loses the child in a huge nearby toy shop whose escalators don't go where he expects them to go and directions don't make sense. He finally finds some stairs, but they would lead his to one unexpected destination. A very seasonal story with a strong "Twilight Zone" vibe.

• "Adaptation": a divorced father is looking forward to spending time with his daughter on Christmas Eve. But his job at a bookshop, plus his ex-wife's manipulations to keep the daughter away, take their toll on him. But maybe with some help, in the form of certain Christmas spirits, may be able to help him adapt and become a better person.

• "deck.halls@boughs/holly": in a future where professionals handle the task of coming up with Christmas themes and fulfilling them for clients, one professional is hired by an elderly lady with a handsome nephew to do her Christmas decoration. Things change when the professional discovers who the elderly lady really is, but that does not mean changing her view of what Christmas means.

• "Cat’s Paw": a Sherlock Holmes type mystery story, where a Colonel and his partner, the Detective, are called to the home of a rich man at Christmas to solve a mystery. The rich man's daughter is on a mission to convince humanity that primates are intelligent, and has a gorilla and orangutan as servants. The mystery to be investigated was a dud, but then a murder occurs and the detective, of course, solves it by deduction. Only, the Colonel has an alternative explanation, and it is up to the reader to decide whose solution is correct.

• "Now Showing": a girl goes with her friends to a huge entertainment centre to watch a film. Only, for unknown reasons, the film she wants to watch is sold out, or she has trouble trying to get in to watch it. It would take a (former) friend to show her the possible conspiracy behind the inability of people like her to watch films that are not as popular as blockbusters in such centres.

• "Newsletter": a lady's family traditionally writes and sends out newsletters over the Christmas period. Only this time, the lady wants to skip it: until observations about people being really nice to each other during the holiday period lead her to think something really strange is happening, which she could write about.

• "Epiphany": a priest suddenly leaves his parish due to an epiphany that tells him to go west during a snowstorm. Who he meets along the way, and what he finds out during his journey, will inform him about a possible second coming of a saviour, and his possible role in the process.

• "Just Like the Ones We Used to Know": everybody would like it to snow on Christmas Eve. So one year, it does, everywhere in the Northern Hemisphere. The story follows some people on the day as it happens: a bridesmaid of a wedding where everything must go right for the bride, a divorced mother hoping to keep her son for the day from her possessive husband, a man struggling to cook a duck for the first time, a climate scientist who monitors the unusual event, and others in the story.

A fascinating story about a city that is cursed (or blessed) by a demon that loves the city and the people who live in it, in a world where demons, angels (and other beings) can affect the lives of people and animals in subtle, and sometimes, devastating ways.

The demon drops hints and alters the destinies of people, keeping the city a lively place, which she then notes down in her book, which she keeps in her heart. But it comes to an abrupt end when angels appear and devastate the city. In her rage, the demon curses one of the angels.

The demon goes through the remains of her city, remembering the people that once lived there and the places they occupied, and starts to clean up. She occasionally meets the cursed angel, now bound to remain on earth as long as her curse remains in him. She rages at him for the destruction caused and for the lives lost. And yet, they still find a way to live in the remains of the city. As the years past and the destruction is gradually cleaned up, the angel leads survivors of another war to the city. Slowly, the city becomes alive again as the population grows and others arrive. Once again, the demon interacts with the inhabitants, altering their lives, but now in concert with the angel who has now lost some of the aloofness of angels (as well as other aspects) as the price for staying in the city.

Then, once again, devastation threatens the city. Only, this time, the city has a demon and an angel claiming it, and who knows what they will now do to the city.

A lovely fairy-tale like story about a dragon exterminator who loves dragons, a princess and a prince who comes calling. Only, the exterminator hates his job, passed down from his father, for he loves dragons and even keeps the smaller ones as pets. The princess is bored with the princes she has to 'interview' as potential partners. And the prince, who fits the physical role of Prince Charming, would rather not try to live up to expectations of his bloodthirsty father who wants to make a 'man' out of him.

They are all thrown together when the princess unexpectedly meets the prince and falls in love (puppy love?). She calls on the exterminator to come to her castle to get rid of the small dragons infesting it before the prince arrives. As for the prince, he decides that he really has to kill a dragon before he can consider himself worthy of asking the princess for her hand in marriage.

But the journey to find a large dragon to kill would darken this fairy-tale when the expedition meets with disaster. An evil wizard will be revealed that has a grudge against the prince's father, and the three would have to work together to try to save the day. In the process, they all discover that they are not meant to fulfill their expected roles in such a fairy tale. But it does have a happy ending, although maybe not the expected one. And, of course, dragons would play a large part in the story.

A wonderful story set in a fantasy world where some dead people are now undead assassins, bonded to a guild. This story follows one particular assassin who has been given a job but finds herself unable to complete it. This causes all kinds of complications for in this world, assassins are 'agents' of a god of assassins (and, for a funny reason, cooking). And once an assassination has been contracted, the contract must be fulfilled or the god will get very angry.

As the assassin tries to figure a way out of the dilemma, while being chased by her fellow assassins, she starts to get clues that this particular job was a set-up, done by a person who may have a grudge against her. As time runs out, she may have no choice but to confront the person and hope that she can figure a way out of the situation without becoming dead again.

A great book about the various tests that Einstein's General Relativity (GR) have been put through since it was proposed. Spoiler alert, GR has passed all the tests so far, while alternative theories of gravity have not. A follow up to one of the author's earlier book, "Was Einstein Right?", this book covers much of the same ground, but updates it with some of the latest experiments that have been performed to verify the predictions of GR.

Many aspects of GR, from the effects of gravity on space-time, to how black holes twist and turn space-time and light, are covered in the book, along with historical and current experiments done to prove (or disprove) GR. Some of the tests involving astrophysics (like stars orbiting black holes, imaging black holes and gravitational waves) are the latest, and most dramatic, examples of GR in action and are still ongoing. The hope is that in such the extreme environments, deviations from the predictions of GR will appear, pointing the way to new physics and perhaps unifying quantum theory with GR.

But don't hold your breath; odds are GR will still work, and the hunt to find yet more precise tests of GR will have to continue for some time to come.