SF Signal: July 2005 Archives

Sunday July 31, 2005

Firefly Photo Essay

Livejournal user, Liminalliz, has created a funny and succinct Firefly Photo Essay. It starts with a little history of SF on Fox, then dives right in with capsule revies (very funny I might add) of each of the episodes and of the new movie. It's a good place to refresh your mind over what happened in the TV series and why the execs at Fox must burn in eternal hell fire until the end of time. And beyond, being eternal hell fire and all. Anyway, if you haven't seen any of the episodes, note that there are a ton of potential spoilers here. And don't miss the choice quotes, including Tim's favorite: "What we needs a diversion." and one of mine about the dinosaurs, "Curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!". Ah, good stuff.

Did I mention the part about hell fire and Fox execs? This should be a TV series again. If only there was a TV/Cable network that could use a quality SF program...

2003UB313

Astronomers have recently discovered a body orbiting the sun at a distance beyond the orbit of Pluto but larger than the diminutive ninth planet. The object is whips around the sun in an elliptical orbit that is 45 degres to the plane of the ecliptic and is 97AU out at its furthest point, but only 36AUs (and inside the orbit of Pluto) at its closest. It was discovered by a trio of astronomers working at the Palomar Observatory in San Diego on January 8th. The group studying it had planned to hold off on announcing it until they had completed their observations (for example, the team isn't exactly sure how it big is and I have yet to see the duration of its year or day) but hackers had found a personal web site setup by one of the researchers and so the team decided they had better go public now before somebody else tried to claim credit for their discovery.

Until the International Astronomical Union agrees that it is indeed a planet (and not just another nameless Kuiper Belt object) it isn't officially the 10th planet in the solor system and it doesn't have a name beyond the refernce object name listed in this blog entries title. Here's hoping the official name is a little more catchy than 2003UB313. Most astronomers now believe that Pluto probably shouldn't be classified as a planet but instead listed as a denizen of the Kuiper Belt - but if Pluto is a planet then it would seem that anything bigger than Pluto also ought to get planetary status. I think they better start updating all those school science texts.

What I find most interesting about the news coverage (and there has been plenty today) of the discovery is the need to discuss what the surface might be like. I guess to me anything out that far and that small is preordained to be without an atmosphere and more like a giant junk of rock than a true planet. The good news is all the artists renderings I've seen (which make for good TV I guess) do paint that picture for you - it's cold and rocky.

Saturday July 30, 2005

2005 World Fantasy Award Nominees

The 2005 World Fantasy Award Nominees include:

NOVEL
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

The Runes Of the Earth by Stephen R. Donaldson

Iron Council by China Miéville

Perfect Circle by Sean Stewart
The Wizard Knight (two volumes) by Gene Wolfe
NOVELLA
"Golden City Far" by Gene Wo

"Tainaron: Mail from Another City" by Leena Krohn

"Soho Golem" by Kim Newman

"The Growlimb" by Michael Shea

"My Death" by Lisa Tuttle

Golden City Far" by Gene Wolfe
SHORT FICTION
"The Wings of Meister Wilhelm" by Theodora Goss

"Singing My Sister Down" by Margo Lanagan

"The Faery Handbag" by Kelly Link

"Reports of Certain Events in London"by China Miéville

"Northwest Passage" by Barbara Roden

I might also mention that blogger Matthew Cheney has received a special award nomination for his Mumpsimus blog.

See the website for a complete list.

It's A Good Day To Be A Firefly Fanboy

That's because the newest trailer is now online! Woo hoo!

Lot's o' nouget-y Firefly goodness inside, with a bit more plot spelled out. September 30th cannot get here fast enough....

Friday July 29, 2005

How Does the Used Book Market Affect New Book Sales?

A CNet/New York Times article discusses the used book market and its impact on new book sales. Amazon, which profits from both new and used book sales, is mentioned. Some interesting bits:

While Amazon is best known for selling new products, an estimated 23 percent of its sales are from used goods, many of them secondhand books.

...evidence suggests that the costs to publishers are not large, and also suggests that the overall gains from such secondhand markets outweigh any losses.

The presence of a market for used books makes consumers more willing to buy new books, because they can easily dispose of them later.

According to the researchers' calculations, Amazon earns, on average, $5.29 for a new book and about $2.94 on a used book.

There are two distinct types of buyers: some purchase only new books, while others are quite happy to buy used books. As a result, the used market does not have a big impact in terms of lost sales in the new market.

The article references the research paper Internet Exchanges for Used Books: An Empirical Analysis of Welfare Implications and Policy Issues.

I personally have nothing against buying used books. Actually, my biblioholism makes it an economic necessity. Since I've been on vacation, I've been going through withdrawal. There is only one local used bookstore. (Egads! ) And the selection and prices were not so hot. (Which is not to say I didn't buy anything anyway. Did I mention I was a biblioholic?) Oh well. In a biblioholic sense, I can't wait to get back home to the land of a dozen+ used book stores.

Ice Lake found on Mars

ESA's Mars Express spacecraft has taken amazing photographs of a lake of water ice on Mars. Well, at least they are pretty sure it's water - nobody has gone down and taken a sample to have a look yet.

A Sneak Peek at the Fall 2005 TV Season

The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, aside from needing a less cumbersome name (sorry, the Seattlt P-I nickname sounds more like a 70's cop show than a newspaper name), has a sneak peek at the upcoming science fiction & horror shows premiering on TV this fall. Their critic also considers the reasons for this burst of "genre programming". (Yes, JP, Lost is considered. )

ST:TNG Bloopers

A little Friday humor: A blooper reel from Star Trek: The Next Generation, season 1. Cussing included.

[Link via Not That I'm Subscribed to Wil Wheaton's RSS Feed or Anything]

Tuesday July 26, 2005

More on SETI

As an unrelated afterword to scott's post on SETI, James Patrick Kelly's latest Asimov's Magazine column SETI and Such talks about SETI, the always-popular Drake Equation and world-building. A good read.

Blog Depression

Here's a humorous public service pamplet on Blog Depression.

Now, if only I can find the time away from link-stealing to go read it...

[Link via Cynical-C]

In Case JP Needs a Reason to Rant About Chtorr

Not that JP needs a reason to rant on the forever-promised final volume of David Gerrold's Chtorr series, but here's a guy that just might egg JP on. Or not.

Fly The Falcon

The RC Groups discussion forums has a cool thread about people who have created replica Star Wars ships in remote control format. The Falcon model is sweet and has lots of pictures covering its making. Now, if i were the type to make my own Star Wars props (say, a Stormtrooper Halloween outfit), I'd probably try to do this too. But I'm not, so I won't.

Still, it is cool to look at the pics...

Windows Update Now Requires Piracy Check

In an effort to stem piracy of its Windows software, Microsoft now requires a validation check before proceeding with the update feature. Users of Windows Update will be asked to install an ActiveX control to do the anonymous validation client side. Users who find that they have an invalid copy of Windows can provide some information (proof and source of purchase) for a free copy of Windows or, if that info is not available, they will be offered Windows at a discounted price. Microsoft is not including security updates in the lock-out.

Sunday July 24, 2005

REVIEW: Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town by Cory Doctorow

REVIEW SUMMARY: An eclectic mix of interesting ideas wrapped in a unique package.

MY RATING:

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: A man from a seriously unconventional family must come to terms with his undead, revenge-seeking brother - and blanket Toronto with free wireless Internet connectivity.

MY REVIEW:
PROS: Interesting storylines; to-the-point writing style; inventive ideas regarding WiFi access; unique blend of ideas.
CONS: WiFi storyline felt somewhat disconnected; character name-switching; weak ending.
BOTTOM LINE: Tells an interesting story in an unconventional way that makes it worth the read.

Although on one level it reads like mainstream fiction, Cory Doctorow's Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town has several distinct elements that dress it up as a modern-day fantasy. Either way it's an engrossing story. The book takes a handful of ideas, mixes them together and serves up a uniquely blended tale that's sure to make you think.

The story follows Alan (a.k.a. Adam, a.k.a. Andy and any other name that starts with "A"), ex-entrepreneur and author who moves into a house in Toronto and fixes it up so that he may write the one story that will make him posthumously famous. Alan's young neighbors include Mimi, a woman who has wings, and the manipulative Krishna, a violent man who convinces Mimi that her wings should be cut off even after they grow back so that she can appear normal.

Alan understands Mimi's situation because he comes from a rather unusual family. Alan's father is a mountain and his mother is a washing machine. ("He kept a roof over their heads and she kept their clothes clean.") Alan's five younger brothers, in age order, are Bradley (a.k.a. Billy, a.k.a. Benny and any other name that stars with "B"), Charlie (or any other name that starts with "C"), Davey (ditto "D"), Edward (ditto with "E"), Frederick (ditto with "F") and Gregory (ditto with "G"). Respectively, his brothers are someone who can foresee the future, an island, a dead man and a trio of living Russian nesting dolls.

One day, Edward and Frederick visit Alan at his city apartment with the news that their innermost member ("G") is missing. Worse, they fear that he was taken by Davey, the brother who all of them conspired to (and did) kill years ago. Their undead brother is bent on revenge. In part, Alan responds by attempting to shroud Toronto in a web of free wireless Internet connectivity with the help of a cyber-anarchist named Kurt.

This is not what I would call a conventional novel, which is good because that made it feel fresh and different. While the main plot thread can easily be summarized as one of revenge (and revenge of the undead at that - always a crowd pleaser), there are several window-dressing elements that turn it on its ear.

The foremost unconventional element is Alan's family. It takes a certain frame of mind to readily accept a hill of dirt and a major appliance as the parents of someone who looks like a normal human being. (The same frame of mind is needed to accept Mimi's wings.) I couldn't decide if this element was an ingenious literary device or just plain ridiculous. For the sake of enjoyment, I propped up my disbelief with extra-sturdy marble columns. The novel definitely worked better that way.

Another unique element for a modern fantasy story was the plot thread where Alan and Kurt try to offer free WiFi access to Toronto. The concepts presented were way cool. It involved a series of wireless access points made on-the-cheap thanks to some fruitful dumpster-diving sessions. Technology is familiar ground for the author whose extra-curricular activities as Outreach Coordinator for the Electronic Frontier Foundation infused the WiFi storyline with excitement and wow-factor. His forward-thinking vision of technology comes screaming across the pages through lively characters and concise verbiage. I loved the scene where Alan and Kurt pitch the idea of citywide access points to "The Man" (the phone company) for advice.

As always, Cory's writing style is clear, concise and fast moving. In the age of bloated multi-volume doorstops called books, that's a big plus. One potential stumbling block might be the constant name-switching used when people reference Alan and his brothers. On the one hand their A through F naming order helps the reader remember their birth order. On the other hand, it throws the unwary reader for a loop when a "new" name is used every other paragraph for the same person. I could see how this name switching could add to the portrayal of Alan's identity-crisis, but it was one literary device that the book could stand to do without. Instead, more effort should have been placed on a stronger ending which I felt was lacking the punch of earlier passages. Structurally speaking, the nonlinearity of the prose keeps the reader on his toes. Storylines alternate between Alan's past, Davey's revenge, Mimi's search for normalcy and the WiFi project.

Through flashbacks we see that problem child Davey is less like a brother and more like the evil baby from It's Alive. Their internal family relationships are made interesting because normal human interactions are just not possible. For example, how does a washing machine or a mountain say "I Love You?" Again, accepting the family for what it is helps those parts of the story move along and helps the reader concentrate on why it is that Alan wants to belong.

The "revenge of the undead" storyline added some suspense and was thankfully not played up as a horror element. It did seem odd, though, how Alan took the news of his undead brother in stride as if there was no real threat to his safety. Heck, his subsequent response was to give free Internet access to Toronto! This reaction was strange making the Kurt/WiFi storyline (cool as it was) seemed disconnected from the others. Later in the book, an attempt was made to link them by saying that Alan set up the network so he could study normal humans in hope that he might one day belong but, unfortunately, the WiFi storyline made the book appear slightly less cohesive.

But only slightly. The main themes presented (the search for one's identity and a sense of belonging) provide the real cohesiveness of the book. Alan is simply not like the others no matter how hard he tries. His attempts to appear like a normal kid were always tempered a fear that others would find out the truth about his family. When he does meet Mimi and he learns about her wings, he can empathize and feel close to her. They both want to fit in. Mimi's destructive relationship with Krishna is, in fact, fueled by her need to fit in. Identity and belonging are common themes which everyone can associate with easily.

Any faults this book has are minor in comparison with its virtues. The overall impression left by the book is a (dare I say) literary work that succeeds in entertaining and challenges the reader to stay on his toes. Since the author makes this book available for free download through the Creative Commons License it costs nothing to try it out. I suggest you do. Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town tells an interesting story in an unconventional way that makes it worth the read.

Saturday July 23, 2005

Another Author Releases A Book Under The Creative Commons License

Following in the footsteps of (at least) Cory Doctorow (with Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom, Eastern Standard Tribe, Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town and six of the nine stories in his collection A Place So Foreign and Eight More) and Mike Brotherton (with Star Dragon), Tor author Peter Watts has released Starfish, the first book in his Rifter series, available for free (in PDF format) under the Creative Commons License.

[Link via Tobias Buckell]

Still Lovin' The WiFi!

I'm vacationing, relaxing, visiting family. For kicks (because this is how I get my kicks) I use my PDA to check for WiFi connections. I've found 3 free (unsecured) WiFi networks in my local travels - one at my brother-in-law's house (his neighbor, I presume) and two accessible from my sister's home. One of those is coming from a neighbor. The other, it turns out, is coming from my sister's computer. When their wireless network was set up by a friend, they neglected to secure it.

Securing it was easy. The problem was getting it so both my PDA and portable computer could communicate with it. Getting a configuration that was able to be configured on all devices proved difficult. I eventually gave up since I prefer to have my portable connected without wires for the duration of my stay. Fortunately, my sister and her husband do not care much that it is left open while I'm here. Before I leave, though, we'll turn on his security and block any piggybacking neighbors.

The bottom line: I'm still lovin' the wifi. You haven't lived until you've surfed the web poolside.

Thursday July 21, 2005

The Future of Books

Locus Magazine points us to an article on the future of books with the USA Today article Books Might Have To Start New Chapter. Cory Doctorow is interviewed for the article and it mentions his new book Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town which he made freely available under the Creative Commons License on the same day the book was released by the publisher (Tor).

Some interesting snippets from the article:

[Harry] Potter is actually stealing kids away from video games.
...
"I think book is a verb," Doctorow says. It's what you're doing when reading something like a narrative story or biography or academic argument in big chunks in multiple sessions, he says. "We need to find ways to insert the verb of book into technologies that arrive," Doctorow adds.

Doctorow admits he hasn't yet learned a lot from his fans about what books can become. But there are some interesting hints. For instance, he's certain that the free electronic copies are helping increase sales of hard copy books, which is the opposite of what publishers and authors fear.

"For almost every writer, the number of sales they lose because people never hear of their book is far larger than the sales they'd lose because people can get it for free online," Doctorow says. "The biggest threat we face isn't piracy, it's obscurity."

This last bit is an interesting observation. Cory states it more verbosely in the introduction of his book (see "About This Book").

Farewell, Scotty...

Just read this on FOXNews, I'm sure someone else here who is a bigger Trekkie than me, can write a better tribute. - Peter

James Doohan, the actor behind the beloved engineer on Star Trek, wishes his ashes launched into space as was done with Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Don't get too excited though, NASA isn't being asked to carry it up on a shuttle - a private company launches them up on missiles.

LCARS Screensaver

Yes, you too can have a Star Trek screensaver. It uses sounds and images that look quite nice on my PC and they also have a MAC version for you zealots out there ( you know who you are.)