While most science fiction uses action films to hide ways to make us think, TiMER is a relationship comedy. Set in a future where a wearable device counts down the time until the wearer is destined to meet his or her soul mate, this soft science fiction film looks at what we lose when we give too much control to a technology.

In the film, Oona (played by Emma Caulfield from Buffy the Vampire Slayer) has a TiMER that doesn't register a number - meaning her soul mate has not yet had a TiMER installed. The film explores the myriad ways the service influences how users seek, wait, and find love. It's an interesting film that is a nice break from the explosion filled dystopias Hollywood tends to produce.

An independent documentary by Mark Neale, No Maps puts William Gibson in the back of a limo and provides an informal interview while riding around North America, Ireland, and the UK. Most of the content is Gibson's responses to unheard questions with the presentation coming off as a stream of consciousness.

Covering a range of topics, Gibson provides his views on culture, the current technology revolution, and his writing process. It's a rare and interesting opportunity to hear thoughts from a winner of both the Hugo and Nebula awards (both for his novel Neuromancer) and worth the time to enjoy.

According to Wikipedia, Alex Pentland's areas of research include social physics, big data, and privacy. In his book, Social Physics, Pentland takes us through the benefits and issues, such as the loss of privacy, that come from comprehensive tracking. It's a short book with a deep look at how the Internet of Things and the quantified self will collect data to change the world around us and better our lives.

Focused on human behavior, the book offers a look at the range of benefits that could result from our hyperconnected world. These include idea flow to spread and advance new ideas, methods for bringing people into problem-solving scenarios to fast prototype solutions, and ways cities can take the density of its members, services, and infrastructure together to improve efficiency while providing the best living experience for the humans who call it home. At its heart, the work focuses on ways we can use data to find better methods for improving how we work together, but it also hints at the promise of an abundant future where mountains of data provide true insight to the best ways we can work together.

While that sounds promising, Pentland doesn't look at the world through rose colored glasses, but acknowledges how this data can and will impact our privacy. So he also proposes simple laws designed to allow the collection of data while protecting citizens from its inappropriate use (at least without our permission).

Social Physics is a course in a book by one of, if not THE expert in this field. Pentland offers a thorough and digestible look at the field and what it offers our future.

Theodore Twombly is an introvert going through divorce. After he purchases an operating system designed to be a virtual friend, Theodore become emotionally attached to 'Samantha' and enters into a romantic relationship with her. - her being the artificial intelligence in his computer. Her follows their relationship through the typical trials most human relationships go through, with the added issues of a virtual companion who attempts to satisfy their 'lover' through a variety of emotional and romantic experiences.

At its heart, Her is a relationship film set around two very different people, one made of code, attempting to find common ground. It explores the variety of their relationship from Theodore's viewpoint, though Samantha's growth and issues are also represented throughout the story. As the story unfolds and the relationship goes through its ups and downs, we get a sense of this new and fragile pairing.

Nominated for five Academy Awards, Her won best screenplay in addition to being nominated for best picture. With a laid back, futuristic setting and a story presented through conversation and emotion, Her isn't just science fiction, it's a brilliant look at a future where artificial intelligence, and also artificial emotion, impacts the individual.