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Fictional technology is proposed or described in many different contexts for many different reasons:

• Exploratory engineering seeks to identify if a prospective technology can be designed in detail, and simulated, even if it cannot be built yet - this is often a prerequisite to venture capital funding, or investigation in weapons research.
• Propaganda often emphasizes a speculative potential of a specific technology in order to stimulate investment in it, or a counter-technology. This is a common motivation in any society dominated by a military-industrial complex. See also militarism, technological escalation, arms race.
• Advertising which emphasizes some amazing potential of some technology that is "under development" (usually without any specific timelines) by a company that is seeking simply to present itself as being competent with technology. See also vaporware, persuasion technology.
• Science fiction which explores the social or political or personal impact of some technology through storytelling.

• List of emerging technologies a more serious field.

Examples of such fictional technologies are:

• Reversible cryonics
• Simulated reality
• Mind uploading
• Molecular assembler, Universal constructor
• Faster-than-light Travel, Warp drive
• Tachyonic antitelephone
• Time travel
• Space elevator, Skyhook
• Transporter
• Terraforming
• Dyson Sphere, Matrioshka brain
• Star lifting

Many technologies were fictional for a long time before they became real, such as:

• hypertext, e.g. the World Wide Web
• rocket pack
• atomic bomb
• expert system
• genetic engineering
• radiological weapon
• mobile phones
• Quantum computer
• Artificial intelligence

There are also technologies that have been proven to work beyond question, but currently are not practical given the alternatives, i.e. there is a more appropriate technology for that purpose:

• General purpose robots (only economically feasible with rather drastic energy and material subsidy, or in extremely hazardous applications that, arguably, no one should really be doing at all). However, note that specialized robots are widely used in industrial production.
• death ray (there are easier methods of execution)
• jet pack (as yet impractical)
• antimatter weapon (with current technology, antimatter cannot be produced in sufficient quantities to be used as weapons)

Proposals for further development of these are thus more and more likely to be seen as fictional, misleading or amusing. Robot toys for instance have become popular. One could argue that the atomic bomb, given the consequences of its use, also belongs in this category.

Veronica Belmont
Born	(1982-07-21) July 21, 1982 (age 29) Hartford, CT
Known for	Technology
Notable work(s)	Buzz Out Loud, Mahalo Daily, Qore, Tekzilla
Internet information
Web hosting service(s)	Revision3 TWiT.tv
Website
veronicabelmont.com

Veronica Ann Belmont (born July 21, 1982) is the co-host of the Revision3 show Tekzilla alongside Patrick Norton, the co-host of the TWiT.tv gaming show Game On! along with Brian Brushwood, and the former host of the monthly PlayStation 3-based video on demand program Qore. Formerly she was the host for the Mahalo Daily podcast and a producer and associate editor for CNET Networks, Inc. where she produced, engineered, and co-hosted the podcast Buzz Out Loud.^{[citation needed]}

Background[link]

At the time of Belmont's birth, her mother was a vice president at Coleco.^[1] Belmont attended Emerson College, in Boston, Massachusetts, to study audio production and new media studies. She worked briefly in Boston afterwards, and eventually secured an internship at CNET. Belmont currently resides in San Francisco, California with her fiancée, former Engadget editor Ryan Block.^[2]

Career[link]

CNET[link]

Belmont started as an intern producing audio content for CNET Networks. She was hired full-time six months later to produce their "First Look from the Labs" series, and also began producing Buzz Out Loud. Originally she was the sound engineer and producer of the show, but her role on the podcast grew substantially. She began to inject her own commentary, and was acknowledged as an official co-host in August 2006. She also was the producer and co-host of two more CNET podcasts called MP3 Insider and CRAVE Gadget Blog, which were both co-hosted by the late James Kim.

Belmont made her video debut on CNET on April 6, 2006, on an Insider Secrets segment titled "Give your PC a Mac-over". Since then, she has hosted videos from Maker Faire, CES, and South by Southwest. She was also the host of the Prizefight series. She appeared for the final time in CNET TV on July 25, 2007, in the iPhone vs Nokia N95 edition of Prizefight".^[3]

Mahalo[link]

Belmont left CNET on July 20, 2007 to join Mahalo.^[4] She hosted and produced her own podcast called Mahalo Daily covering subjects of her choosing. Her first video was an interview with Leeroy Jenkins at BlizzCon 2007.^[5] On April 2, 2008, Belmont announced that she would be leaving Mahalo Daily within two weeks.^[6] This was reported by TV Week on April 3, 2008.^[7]

Revision3[link]

On April 9, 2008, Revision3 announced that Belmont would be joining the Revision3 staff as co-host of Tekzilla.^[8]

Qore[link]

In June 2008, Sony Computer Entertainment announced a new subscription-based "monthly lifestyle gaming program" called Qore that would be hosted by Belmont.^[9] On October 19, 2011 she announced via her blog that she would be stepping down as host.^[10]

[edit] Sword and Laser

On October 16, 2007, Belmont started co-hosting a podcast with Tom Merritt of CNET and TWIT's Tech News Today fame. As the name implies, it is strictly about science-fiction and fantasy books and debuted with Neuromancer by William Gibson. Prior to the creation of the podcast, it was a book club in forum form. This format lasted through the first 3 books, which were, The Golden Compass by Philip Pullman, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card and American Gods by Neil Gaiman, with the subsequent creation of the podcast.

[edit] TWiT.TV

On October 30, 2011, Leo Laporte announced on This Week in Tech (TWiT) that Veronica Belmont would cohost TWiT's upcoming gaming show with Brian Brushwood called Game On!. The show's first official episode aired January 15, 2012 at 6:00pm Pacific time on a live webcast in the TWiT network. The last episode of the show, Game On! #13, was uploaded on the 9th of April 2012.

References and notes[link]

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Veronica Belmont

• Official website
• Veronica Belmont's Personal Blog
• Veronica Belmont at the Internet Movie Database
• Veronica Belmont interview on Shovio's "Talk Back TV"
• Tekzilla on Revision3
• Sword and Laser Podcast