William Gibson is not one of the authors that spits out novels like a machine – in his long and fruitful career he has only published 11 novels andof short stories and articles in the tens each. Still his impact on modern literature was huge – the “noir prophet” of the cyberpunk subgenre (that he was one of the pioneers of) has predicted the rise of reality television, virtual reality, video games and the internet. He is a Hugo and Nebula award winning science fiction writer, with a special eye for what the future might bring.

An artwork called “Beyond Crisis” by French artist Guillaume Legros aka Saype and created with an eco paint made out of chalk and coal over a 3000 sqm field is pictured during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Leysin, Switzerland, April 24, 2020 in this picture obtained by Reuters April 26, 2020. (Photo by Valentin Flauraud/SAYPE/Handout via Reuters)

241543903 (a.k.a “Heads in Freezers”) is a numerical keyword associated with a photo meme that involves people taking pictures with their heads in the freezer & sharing them online. By tagging a series of image files with a cryptic number, a high level of search engine optimization can be easily achieved. As a result, typing “241543903” into image search engines like Google Images successfully yields pages after pages of pictures showing people’s heads in freezers.

Three prostitutes lean out of a window in Santiago, Chile, in an attempt to entice customers inside, circa 1950. (Photo by Three Lions/Getty Images)

American actor and musician Jared Leto climbs The Empire State Building on November 08, 2023 in New York City. (Photo by Roy Rochlin/Getty Images for Empire State Realty Trust)

People take part in a Halloween street party at Lan Kwai Fong on October 31, 2016 in Hong Kong. Halloween, a contraction of All Hallows' Evening, falls on the day before All Saints' Day on November 1, a holiday when Christians remember their deceased loved ones. (Photo by Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images)

A relative of murdered prisoner, lies on a chair next to his coffin during a wake after a prison riot in the city of Altamira, Para state, Brazil on July 30, 2019. At least 57 prisoners were killed by other inmates during clashes between organized crime groups in the Altamira prison in northern Brazil Monday with 16 of the victims being decapitated, according to prison officials. (Photo by Bruno Kelly/Reuters)

Revellers brave the chill and jump into the water at Carnlough, Co. Antrim, Northern Ireland on January 1, 2024. (Photo by Arthur Allison/Pacemaker)