The internet is aflame with the news that NBC won't be renewing its iTunes contract with Apple. As NBC accounts for 40% of the videos downloaded from iTunes, this seems like a bad development for Apple. However, Silicon Alley Insider does some quick calculating and discovers that the amount of money invovled really isn't that much, considering. So what's this all about?
It'a about control. NBC isn't happy with the piracy controls on iTunes, and NBC wants to be able to set the price of its videos. With the news that NBC will be jointly launching the YouTube like Hulu, is it hard to imagine NBC using that service to sell its own video dowloads? The prevailing theory is that Apple needs NBC more than the reverse. I'm not sure that is case.
iTunes is the 800 lb. gorilla of media downloading. It accounts for the lion's share of music downloads, and it sells a lot of video dowloads as well. For NBC to just up and leave that means they are leaving millions of downloads, and dollars, on the table. They don't have any service they can turn to that has anywhere near the amount of credibility or mindshare as iTunes. In other words, where ever they decide to sell their videos, many people won't know about it. That's lost eyeballs and revenue. It will cost NBC a fortune to promote any new venture in an attempt to gain consumers, costing them even more money.
Even Hulu has its own war to wage against YouTube. Ask anyone who isn't a tech geek if they've even heard of Hulu. I bet the answer will be 'no'. Hulu may be a great service, but NBC and News Corp. have an uphill battle for recognition, which will cost them viewers in the short run, and potentially in the long run. If Hulu is a YouTube clone, then it won't really be a good place to purchase video downloads anyway. Which leaves NBC with nothing that even comes close to iTunes' reach.
But let's say NBC is able to get a download service up and running. If they think they will be able to charge more per episode while saddling each episode with more DRM, causing more of a headache for the viewers, they are in for a rude awakening. iTunes, as the market leader, has set the cost of a download at $2/episode. While I'm not happy that you are purchasing DRM-riddled video, I do know that for most people, that isn't an issue as they can watch it with no problems. This ease of use will make it difficult for NBC to convince iTunes users to switch to their service to get NBC programs, especially if they charge more per show. Heck, even if they charge the same, people aren't going to switch because I can guarantee NBC's offering will be harder to use than iTunes, and people hate to switch from what they know.
This whole thing smacks of the 'old' media not 'getting' the new media, or its consumers. I don't see this move as being a smart one on NBC's part, and I'm thinking that Steve Jobs has similar thoughts.This move will do nothing other than annoy many NBC/iTunes customers when the December deadline passes.
Maybe NBC will surprise us. Maybe they will actually take a risk and attempt to reach as many people as possible for their videos. They could follow the lead of several of the music companies and offer DRM free videos, this ensuring their videos will play on almost any device, be it PCs, iPods, PSPs or any other video device. Make the downloading of shows simple and reasonably priced and they would have a winner. And, they would have the tech community firmly on their side, acting as free evangelists. But that would require some flexible thinking on their part. Something I don't see happening. I think the big winners with this move will be the torrent sites. Ironic. As NBC tries to gain more control over their videos, they will actually lose it. This is a battle they, or any media comany, simply can't win.
What does this have to do with science fiction you may ask? Well, NBC provides video downloads for a little show called Heroes, as well as for Galactica. There's no telling how much iTunes sales impact the popularity of these shows, but I have seen people on the 'net refer to downloading the shows and then writing about them. That will stop after December. And with new shows like Chuck and Bionic Woman, it seems like NBC is cutting its nose to spite its face.
[Update 1 (09/01/07)]: It gets better! Apparently, NBC wanted Apple to charge $5 per episode for NBC content. And here I was, thinking NBC understood the net better than the other broadcast networks, then they pull this stunt. Good luck charging $5 a pop, $110 for a 22 episode season. I don't need to shell out $5 for low res versions of your episode through iTunes. I'm guessing many people will now discover they can find episodes for a lot less then $5 elsewhere, commercial free and in HD no less. Nice job NBC.
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Posted by JP Frantz at Friday August 31, 2007 at 5:22 PM
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Because nobody should start an extended weekend with silly news, here's a parody by animator Rich Cando of the Simpson's opening done up like Star Wars...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday August 31, 2007 at 3:46 PM
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At Boing Boing, Cory Doctorow notes that the Science fiction Writers of America, whose leaders have long taken an anti-piracy stance on behalf of its members, is misusing the Digital Millennium Copyright Act to have content removed from Scribd (the text version of Flickr). The list of "offending" works appears to have resulted from a blanket search of "Asimov" and "Silverberg".
Sez Doctorow:
This implies that Robert Silverberg and the Asimov estate have asked SFWA to police their copyrights for them, but it's important to note that many of the other authors whose work was listed in the August 17 email did not nominate SFWA to represent them. Indeed, I have told Vice President Burt on multiple occasions that he may not represent me as a rightsholder in negotiations with Amazon, and other electronic publishing venues.Doctorow continues... Read more...More importantly, many of the works that were listed in the takedown were written by the people who'd posted them to Scribd -- these people have been maligned and harmed by SFWA, who have accused them of being copyright violators and have caused their material to be taken offline. These people made the mistake of talking about and promoting science fiction -- by compiling a bibliography of good works to turn kids onto science fiction, by writing critical or personal essays that quoted science fiction novels, or by discussing science fiction. SFWA -- whose business is to promote science fiction reading -- has turned readers into collateral damage in a campaign to make Scribd change its upload procedures.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday August 31, 2007 at 12:05 PM
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From Robot Chicken...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday August 31, 2007 at 12:28 AM
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Ward at Mod-Blog takes a thoughtful look at Moral Complexity in Sci-Fi:
It's always struck me that considering that science fiction is supposed to be morally complex and supposed to point us to our own humanity, it is often times terribly shallow. And no where does this show up more frequently than in the 'bad guys' in science fiction. Having a cardboard cutout baddie might be sufficient for a summer action flick. But when it comes to science fiction, it always struck me that the evil characters should really drive a lot of the moral issues. But this hasn't been the case, by and large. Instead, they are often times virtually just parodies. They are mostly corporate leaders of some massive conglomerate of the future, or alien invaders simply bent on taking over earth, or some other cheap and easy story.He then goes on to show how the sci-fi has taken a turn for the better and cites villains from Farscape, BSG, Heroes and Flash Gordon. (Ah-Aaaaah!)
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday August 31, 2007 at 12:22 AM
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Posted by JP Frantz at Friday August 31, 2007 at 12:11 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday August 31, 2007 at 12:05 AM
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As mentioned last week, science fiction publisher Tor is launching a new podcasting program. The program kicks off today with daily coverage of Worldcon.
From today's Tor newsletter:
Marking the first time that Worldcon has ever taken place in Japan, Tor publisher Tom Doherty and senior editor Patrick Nielsen Hayden will podcast directly from the convention. This international podcasting event will kick off Tor's new podcasting program, which will continue with regularly scheduled podcasts beginning September 12th.The daily podcasts from the convention will cover the events there, as well as interviews with notable authors and editors and perhaps a few surprise guests. One exciting podcast episode will feature an interview with Star Trek and Heroes star George Takei, speaking on his life and career. Another podcast will join Tor publisher Tom Doherty and renowned author Larry Niven while they discuss a variety of topics over lunch in Tokyo. These podcasts will be available for download from iTunes, Yahoo, and Google and through RSS--and individuals can also tune in to them directly from the Tor website at www.tor-forge.com/podcasts.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday August 30, 2007 at 12:58 PM
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Well, it certainly looks like the doom and gloom brigade is out in full force this week. First, Ridley Scott dumps all over SF films, then Michael Cassut sees a poor SF TV landscape in his "The Spirit of the Times" article for SciFi Weekly. Basically. Cassutt uses Jane Espenson's article for The New Republic as jumping off point to show that SF, as most SF fans know it, is dead on TV, replaced with the whole 'Chosen One' angle to storytelling.
In an effort to see if Cassutt has a point, and I think he does, SciFi Fodder reviews the current state of SF on TV, and looks at the new SF-ish shows. And what do you know? They all are a form of Espenson's thesis. But I think its actually worse than it appears. Out of all the new shows, the only ones that are really SF are: Bionic Woman, Chuck (light), and The Sarah Conner Chronicles. Journeyman is probationary as we don't know the 'how' of his time travel. So, that's 3 of 28 new shows that I would consider to be SF. Not good. And they all are a variation of the Chosen one theme.
Looking at returning shows, I count 5 shows that are SF: Galactica, Eureka, LOST, Heroes and Jericho. You could argue that Eureka follows Espenson's idea, but the others clearly don't. The thing I notice right away is that the overtly SF shows, Galactica and Eureka are on SciFi, not broadcast TV. And the other three are ensemble shows that have SF elements to their stories. Two are big hits, while the other is on life support for 7 episodes.
Looking at the recent past, we see that Invasion, Threshold and Surface never made it past a first season. All were ensembles, and all were present day alien invasion stories. You could argue that with three similarly themed shows, they were doomed to failure. I'm not sure American audiences are ready for a real SF alien invasion story. Clearly they aren't ready for the watered down ones they got.
I think that SF on TV isn't in as a bad a shape as Cassutt thinks, especially considering LOST and Heroes. But going forward, it looks like the prevailing feeling in TV land is Espenson's idea. Will there ever be another overtly SF hit show like Star Trek on mainstream TV? I don't know, but my guess would be no. The place you'll find it will possibly on cable, but more likely on the Internet. But until then, I'll keep recording and watching the SF shows I like, hoping to see more SF.
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Posted by JP Frantz at Thursday August 30, 2007 at 10:11 AM
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Ridley Scott, famed director of not one, but two certifiable sci-fi hits (Alien and Blade Runner) said at the Venice Film Festival that science fiction films are riding off into the sunset:
"There's nothing original. We've seen it all before. Been there. Done it," he said. Asked to pick out examples, he said: "All of them. Yes, all of them."Strong words coming from the man who directed the most popular sci-fi film of all time. (Sigh.) He also says that no film can surpass Stanley Kubrick's 1968 classic, 2001: A Space Odyssey.
Talking about Blade Runner, which sees life again on DVD as a "Final Cut" 25 years after its original release, Scott says there were "too many cooks in the kitchen."
I put the question to our readers: Are sci-fi films dead?
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday August 30, 2007 at 12:27 AM
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Love the mask. As if the bagpipes weren't enough...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday August 30, 2007 at 12:15 AM
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Posted by JP Frantz at Thursday August 30, 2007 at 12:06 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday August 30, 2007 at 12:06 AM
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In my attempt to both show my true fanboy nature and still maintain a healthy sense of humor, I have taken it to task to find images across the web and then give readers a chance to offer up little quotes that would be appropriate for the image. In this case, I have been given a picture of a younger (and much more hairy) John Scalzi. I really enjoyed the books he has written up to this point, and he has a pretty good sense of humor (bacon cat anyone?). So with that, he becomes the target of the newest caption challenge.

The quote below the image is our weak attempt at LOLcat-speak. I know I am such a geek.
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Posted by Tim Zinsky at Wednesday August 29, 2007 at 9:41 AM
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Quick! How can you tell when a science fiction movie is truly influential?
Is the amount of money it takes in? How about its longevity at the theater? Or maybe the number of prestigious awards it receives? Well, if you guessed those, you'd be wrong. Just ask George Lucas.
Somewhere in the plush acreage of Skywalker Ranch, Lucas is sitting back, smokin' a stogie, and tracking the progress of Luke Sywalker's original lightsaber movie prop on its way into space.
Yesterday, the original lightsaber used by Mark Hamill in 1977's Star Wars landed in Houston after much fanfare surrounding its California send-off. The famed prop is scheduled to be on display through Labor Day at the Johnson Space Center before its round-trip journey to a galaxy far, far away. Or an international space station, whichever is closer.
In Houston, the lightsaber was escorted by a flank of Storm Troopers to a waiting convoy of land vehicles where it was whisked away to the Space Center. There it awaits its berth on the space shuttle Discovery whose mission is scheduled for October. The Jedi weapon is being flown to the space station in honor of the film's 30th anniversary.
There is still no word as to whether Jar Jar Binks will also make the journey and be "accidentally" left behind.
[via Club Jade]
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday August 29, 2007 at 1:48 AM
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Posted by JP Frantz at Wednesday August 29, 2007 at 12:22 AM
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Über-editor John Joseph Adams has created a website for his upcoming post-apocalyptic science fiction anthology, Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse.
Besides profiling the authors who contributed to the anthology, the website also includes story excerpts. And check out this lineup:
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday August 29, 2007 at 12:15 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday August 29, 2007 at 12:05 AM
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Take a trip back to the turn of the century, the 20th century, Y1.9K. What would the Internet be like, if it existed? Literally a series of tubes most likely. What would the video memes be like? Well, you can find out below. The intro starts out a bit slow, but then things pick up.
[Via Brass Goggles]
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Posted by JP Frantz at Tuesday August 28, 2007 at 3:46 PM
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John Picacio has just posted the cover art for the upcoming book Elric: The Stealer of Souls by Michael Moorcock. Here's the large version.
Man, this looks sweet. I think Picacio has the cover art for the sequel to his awesome book, Cover Story.
I haven't read the Elric books, but I've always wanted to. I've been picking up the White Wolf trade paperback editions when I see them at the used bookstore. They look good on a shelf, at least.
What's your take on the Elric series? Is it a worthwhile read?
Do you have a recommended reading order, either by publishing date or by the story chronology? Or is there a better introductory point?
I'm a casual fantasy fan at best...is this series only for true hardcore fantasy fans?
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday August 28, 2007 at 11:33 AM
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REVIEW SUMMARY: These are the kinds of well-told stories that make reading such a pleasure.
MY RATING: ![]()
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: A researcher is hired to track down the millennia-old tusks of the Kilimanjaro Elephant.
MY REVIEW:
PROS: Masterful storytelling; realistic characters; wonderful dialogue.
CONS: I'll have to get back to you on this one. I'm hard-pressed to find anything bad with this. The worst thing I could say (that the realistic-but-fleeting characters are not very memorable) doesn't affect the reading experience.
BOTTOM LINE: A thoroughly engaging read, plain and simple.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday August 28, 2007 at 12:29 AM
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Posted by JP Frantz at Tuesday August 28, 2007 at 12:22 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday August 28, 2007 at 12:06 AM
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The 4th episode of Masters of Science Fiction aired this past weekend. This was the final episode to be aired, even though two more were filmed.
Like the ones that preceded it, I thought the episode was uninspired, too long and, ultimately, just plain boring. And that's the general consensus elsewhere. The only reason I gave it a chance was because of the high-caliber talent attached to the project and the fact that they were based on some short stories by big name authors.
So what happened?
I have not read the source material...did it stink because it was adapted poorly? Or was it poor material to begin with? (Did Heinlein and Ellison let us down?) Was it too little material stretched out to cover an hour?
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday August 27, 2007 at 12:53 PM
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Keanu Reeves is set to star as Klaatu in the 2008 remake of 1951's Robert Wise classic, The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Oh, geez.
On the one hand, if Hollywood is gonna do a remake, then this is good source material to crib from. But please, please, please let this be a good remake. Don't soil the name of a scifi classic for the sake of a few quick bucks.
But if you're gonna soil the name of a scifi classic for the sake of a few quick bucks, get Agent Smith to play Gort!
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday August 27, 2007 at 7:00 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday August 27, 2007 at 12:14 AM
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Posted by JP Frantz at Monday August 27, 2007 at 12:02 AM
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| (122 total votes) |
"Your reviews of the first two episodes were much kinder than anything I had to say. Man-o-man. What an awful show. It'll probably last for seven seasons or more. Sigh." - Pete Tz.Be sure to visit our front page and vote in this week's poll, which asks: Is the film adaptation of Arthur C. Clarke's RENDEZVOUS WITH RAMA a good idea?
"I always wondered what "bore worms" felt like. Having seen the first two FLASH GORDON episodes, I now know." - Christian Johnson
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday August 27, 2007 at 12:00 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
We all know "The Imperial March" from Empire Strikes Back is one of the reasons Empire is probably the best of the Star Wars movie. In other words, it totally rocks, as does the whole soundtrack. But, what does Vader do on vacation? Say he pops on down to Hawaii to choke some tasty waves on a surfboard. The theme might sound a little something like Imperial Surf by Kenny Haining.
Or, lets say Vader's holidaying in Spain. He feels a disturbance in the Force to play a little classical guitar. The results might be something like this:
[via TheForce.Net.]
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Posted by JP Frantz at Sunday August 26, 2007 at 7:12 PM
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It's amazing the stuff you can find hiding out on these interwebs. Luckily, we have YouTube to actually show us all the weird stuff people have put on video or film. Like this complete rip-off of Star Trek from, I think, Turkey. Just take a gander at the hawsomeness .
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Posted by JP Frantz at Sunday August 26, 2007 at 6:27 PM
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After 10 years, Infinity Plus, the science fiction website started by Keith Brooke (and later co-edited with Nick Gevers and then Paul Barnett) is calling it quits.
Infinity Plus was publishing free online fiction before it was in vogue. The website is also a great resource for insightful reviews and commentary. It's sad to see it go, but thankfully the current website will remain available as an archive.
And they're not going out with a whimper, but with a bang...check out this final lineup of content:
Hats off to the folks behind Infinity Plus for a job well done!
[via Jason Erik Lundberg]
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Posted by John DeNardo at Sunday August 26, 2007 at 12:29 AM
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MY RATING: ![]()
After a collision with an asteroid, a splinter of the Earth is knocked free and floats through the solar system. As one of the very few humans left, Hector must come to terms with his survival among a cult-like group led by his father, who had visions of the coming impact. After reading Polystom and Gradisil, I was very eager to read this book. Unfortunately, I really disliked the story and had to struggle to get through it. And at just over 200 pages, that's not a good thing.
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Posted by JP Frantz at Saturday August 25, 2007 at 5:40 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Saturday August 25, 2007 at 1:49 AM
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Posted by JP Frantz at Saturday August 25, 2007 at 12:16 AM
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Continuing my renewed fascination with Land of the Lost, I submit the Sleestak bank! This is not to be confused with Sleestak Bank, where all the Sleestaks conduct their financial transactions...
Did they even have any money in Land of the Lost? I'm thinking the economy was more of a first-come-first-served kind of thing. And the Sleestaks were probably the last to get anything since they were as slow as prehistoric molasses, which everyone knows is even slower than modern molasses. I mean, seriously, were these guys (at least I think they were dudes) ever a danger to Will, Holly and their Dad. (Not that we're so concerned about the Dad after he unceremoniously ditched his kids to high-tail it back to the comforts of modern conveniences -- like indoor plumbing and walking in the park without fear of being eaten by a poorly-animated Tyrannosaurus Rex.) I mean, nobody was ever really threatened by these loitering, prehistoric lizard-things with giant gem-like eyes, were they?
WILL: Hey, Holly...we're here in the Sleestak caverns. Let's play a card game!
HOLLY: Er...OK.
WILL: How about we play War?
HOLLY: That game takes forever. What if the Sleestaks come near?
WILL: That's OK, we'll have plenty of time to finish our game.
[ Interlude: poorly-animated herbivore eating plant to signify the passage of time ]
WILL: 1..2..3..War!
HOLLY: Will! Look out! There's a Sleestak right behind you!
SLEESTAK: Ssssssssssssss...
[ Will rolls his eyes, sighs, gathers the cards, gets up, does some calisthenics, and wanders out of the cave for a bit, then leaves. ]
HOLLY: Whew..that was close!
[via Optical Popitude]
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday August 24, 2007 at 12:05 PM
© 2007 SF Signal
Sometimes a book makes me stop and think after I've finished it. Occasionally a book will make me stop and think during it. Rarely will a book do both. In War Times is one of those rare books whose ideas live in your mind long after you've finished and make you think about them for a time afterward.
Read more...
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Posted by JP Frantz at Friday August 24, 2007 at 8:20 AM
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Here's Part 1...follow the YouTube trail to see parts 2 through 5.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday August 24, 2007 at 12:22 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday August 24, 2007 at 12:10 AM
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Posted by JP Frantz at Friday August 24, 2007 at 12:05 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
Sex, drugs and rock and roll is how the saying goes. After litening to Warp 11's latest CD, we can add Star Trek to the equation. It's Dead, Jim is a hard hitting album that effectively ties all things Star Trek with a wide range of music. The fact that Warp 11 is not a cover band, but writes their own songs is amazing, and their music is more than good enough for non-Trekkies/Trekkers to enjoy.
Read more...
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Posted by JP Frantz at Thursday August 23, 2007 at 4:55 PM
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The internets have been abuzz discussing Boston Globe columnist Matthew Gilbert's article Too much, too fast for overreaching 'Heroes'. Basically, his problem with Heroes is that the hype being generated is based on Heroes as a product, and not media-hype about how good the show is.
Well, excuse me, but the media does not decide if a show is good or not, the people watching it do. Now, he does raise some legitimate concerns: too many characters and no logic behind how the powers work. He also complains about the plot being too sprawling, which I don't agree with. And even though the finale was poor compared to the rest of the season, Heroes is still one of the better shows on television.
Which is why NBC is pushing it as hard as they can. Being at the bottom of the ratings barrel for long time will do that for you. NBC will do everything it can to pump up interest in the second season, including all the ancillary stuff like action figures, trading cards, and the like.
And as for there being too many characters, well, Kring stated early on that season 2 would see some characters depart and new ones appear. I like the idea of this approach, as each season becomes more of a self-contained unit. If the writers do their jobs, there's no reason to think new characters will kill the show. Comparisons to LOST's second season aren't relevant as LOST is one story told over many seasons. Heroes is a new story every season. We'll see how well this works starting this September, but to dismiss the attempt before you even see how it turns out strikes me as reactionary.
Gilbert also doesn't like the spin-off idea of Heroes: Origins. I can accept this. The idea seems a bit cheesy to me, sort of a mainstream version of Who Wants To Be A Superhero, only without Stan Lee's disembodied head. I'm not really interested in this, but I bet it gets decent ratings.
NBC is going to milk Heroes for all its worth, which is why we have a the Hayden Panittiere 'Got Milk' ad so prominently displayed. Yes, yes, Masi Oka has one too, but it's not as, ah, interesting. Now, if Gilbert had decried Hayden's ad as an overreach, I'd have to agree. I mean, come on, what, exactly are we pushing here? She turns 18 and this is what we get? I'm sure legions of Claire fanboys suddenly have the urge to run to the grocery store.
Back to point, I think Gilbert is putting the cart before the horse. He is using the actions of NBC relentlessly pushing Heroes as suggestive that the show won't be as good second season. You can't say that as the writers have nothing to do with how NBC promotes the show, they can only write the story. We'll see soon how well the show does. I'm hoping the show does well, although the season finale has lowered my expectations somewhat for the new season. I'm still interested, especially in Hiro's story.
[via John Brownlee at Sci Fi Scanner]
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Posted by JP Frantz at Thursday August 23, 2007 at 3:49 PM
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[From Sci Fi Wire] Morgan Freeman tells the MTV Movies Blog that he is still working on a film adaptation of Arthur C. Clark's Rendezvous With Rama. I say, "Bring it on!"
I remember reading Rama back in the day and being blown away by the story. What's not to love about a group of scientists exploring a 30-mile long cylinder floating in space? But as Freeman notes, Rama isn't your typical summer SF movie. It's actually quite free of anything exploding or marauding aliens invading Earth. It's about humanity and big science ideas. I'd love to see a film version of the book.
Despite the issues of adapting it to film, Freeman still believes it's worth doing, and I agree. I'd like to see more, smart SF movies. Rama is a good start, if it ever gets made. I'd also like to see Eon as film, or any of the Culture novels by Banks, even though they usually have stuff exploding.
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Posted by JP Frantz at Thursday August 23, 2007 at 2:13 PM
© 2007 SF Signal
Besides Doctor Who, Eureka is one of the few shows I watch regularly and, for what it's worth, the only other SciFi Channel show I watch. Although the show keeps me coming back, it's not perfect. Here's are my thoughts on Season 2 so far...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday August 23, 2007 at 1:01 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
I first learned that there were 10 dimensions back when I read the mind-blowing Hyperspace by Michio Kaku. Here's a video explaining how to imagine it...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday August 23, 2007 at 12:27 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday August 23, 2007 at 12:25 AM
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Check out the nifty new features of Google Sky...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday August 23, 2007 at 12:15 AM
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Posted by JP Frantz at Thursday August 23, 2007 at 12:13 AM
© 2007 SF Signal

That's right, Brass Goggles clues us in that the awesome Larklight will have a sequel in October. Check out the sub-title: A Stirring Adventure of Spies, Time Travel and Curious Hats. What's not to love about that?
And given the terrific universe Reeve has created for this series, I'm excited to read this book when it comes out. Aether-ships, pirates, space spiders and interesting characters made the first one a joy to read. Starcross looks to have more of the same steampunky goodness of the first one. Mark you calendars for October 16th!
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Posted by JP Frantz at Wednesday August 22, 2007 at 9:29 PM
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Posted by JP Frantz at Wednesday August 22, 2007 at 12:29 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
CNN has the skinny on a poll of reading habits in the U.S.
Some interesting take-aways:
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday August 22, 2007 at 12:22 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
Harken back to yesteryear with this documentary that chronicles television science fiction. Included for free is a peek at a Superman Frosted Flakes commercial and some Star Trek bloopers!
[via Drivers and Sundry]
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday August 22, 2007 at 12:21 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
I'm still lovin' Doctor Who.
After a strong season two finish, I was waiting for season 3 to start and, so far (8 episodes in) I am not disappointed. Here's why:
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday August 22, 2007 at 12:20 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
Google Earth now includes a "book layer" that "allows you to explore locations through the lens of the world's books", as per Google LatLong Blog:
Now when you turn on the "Google Book Search" layer in Google Earth (found in the "Featured Content" folder in the "Layers" menu), you'll see small book icons scattered around the globe. When you click on one of the book icons, a pop-up balloon will display a snippet of text from one of Book Search's public domain books that references that location. You'll also find links to the Google Book Search page for that snippet so that you can learn more about what it has to say about the city or town.Hmmm...I wonder how many science fiction book references there are...For example, let's say that you're interested in Detroit, Michigan. After flying there in Google Earth, you'll find that one of the book icons is for "The Writings of Thomas Jefferson." Clicking on the book icon brings up the pop-up balloon with the following text snippet:
[via O'Reilly Radar]
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday August 22, 2007 at 12:11 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday August 22, 2007 at 12:05 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
NBC has released a new promo video for season 2 of Heroes. You can see the video below. It's very cinematic, but surprisingly content free. Although Hiro wielding his sword is always cool.
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Posted by JP Frantz at Tuesday August 21, 2007 at 10:49 PM
© 2007 SF Signal
Jim Baen's Universe made a splash last year as an online-only, DRM-free short fiction magazine. It has since attracted big-name authors and numerous accolades. The June 2007 issue (Issue #7, also known as Volume 2, Number 1) is my first opportunity to try it out.
Ever since my first short-story-a-day project, I've warmed up to reading fiction online. What's particularly nice is the ability to download a version to my PDA, so I always have it with me. It's also nice to be able pull it up on a full size monitor when the situation allows. Jim Baen's Universe proves that online delivery mechanisms can work and work well.
The fiction (reviewed below) is grouped into sections: science fiction, fantasy, classic, serial (a story I did not read since I missed the first 6 parts), and first-time authors. Some illustrations (some decent, some amateurish) accompany the stories. Rounding out the issue are non-fiction pieces by Gregory Benford, Stephen Euin Cobb, Eric Flint, Barry N. Malzberg and Mike Resnick. Resnick also offers a great editorial about the silliness of defining science fiction, a genre which refuses to be put in a "straightjacket". The closing quote sums it up nicely: "About the only valid definition [of science fiction] that I'm willing to accept is this: all of modern, mainstream, and realistic fiction is simply a branch, a category, or a subset of science fiction."
But the real proof with fiction anthologies - printed or online - is in the content. Since my reading preferences tend towards science fiction, it might not be a big surprise that the sf stories were found to be more enjoyable overall, particularly Mike Resnick's heartfelt "The Big Guy" and the adventure "Running Water for L.A." by Eric Witchey. However, one of the fantasy stories ("The Littlest Wyrm-Maid" by Rebecca Lickiss) did surprise me by being lots of fun.
Reviewlettes follow...
Read more...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday August 21, 2007 at 12:28 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday August 21, 2007 at 12:14 AM
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Posted by JP Frantz at Tuesday August 21, 2007 at 12:04 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
I had a chance to look over the latest issue (September 2007) of SFX magazine and thought I'd share my thoughts. You know SFX...it's that newsstands magazine that causes double-takes because there's a running gag of having some foreground element blocking the lower part of the "F", making it look like an "E". SFX covers science fiction in all its forms: TV, film, books, DVD, audio books...even games and toys.
Being a U.S. resident reading a U.K. media magazine is always illuminating because it makes me keenly aware of my America-centric view of genre, even in this age of global InterTubes. Take television shows, for example. U.K. shows like Primeval, Hyperdrive and Jekyll fall below my radar, so it's nice to learn about them. But I'm not a total TV noob, so it's also nice to see coverage of shows I'm familiar with, too. One of those U.K./U.S. moments is with schedule-shifted shows; like Doctor Who, whose episodes run in the U.K. months before they do here in the States, or like Heroes whose airings lag behind the U.S. With the former, there is the mental wrestling between my desire to learn juicy morsels and my fear of spoilers. With the latter, it's either a nice recap or a way to to catch up on missed episodes. Speaking of spoilers, the magazine comes with a sealed interior section called "Spoiler Zone" that offers 30 spoilery episode summaries/reviews for 9 different shows.
A big plus of SFX is that it does not gloss over science fiction in printed form. Twenty-two of the eighty-eight (!) reviews cover new book releases. Another eight reviews cover book re-issues. They are not in-depth critiques by any definition, but they do give you a feel for the book. The issue also features interviews with authros Stephen Baxter (author of Navigator and a frequent book reviewer for SFX), Brian Aldiss (HARM), Jasper Fforde (First Among Sequels)and Austin Grossman (Soon I Will Be Invincible). That's above-average author coverage for a magazine that covers multiple media formats, methinks. (Other interview subjects in this issue include Nathan Filion (Firefly) and Adrian Pasdar (Heroes), among others.)
The issue really has lots of cool articles and information. Here are but some of the interesting tidbits:
Read more...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday August 20, 2007 at 12:28 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
Pete Tzinski of Blood, Blade & Thruster magazine is embarking on an ambitious writing project. It's an online fiction serial called God in the Machine and features cool illustrations (like the one shown here) by Christoffer Saar.
Season one is called "Cold Machines". Here's the synopsis:
A freak encounter with an electromagnetic storm shuts down all the ship systems of the starship Damocles, as well as the whole robotic crew. Everyone, that is, except for an engineering droid and a 'Lifter, clinging to the outside of the ship. They're still active. They're awake...The first episode is called "Awake" and it goes live today. New episodes are scheduled to appear on alternating Mondays. Head on over and check it out.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday August 20, 2007 at 12:14 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
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"...I get review copies..." - FrankBe sure to visit our front page and vote in this week's poll, which asks: How would you rate the new Flash Gordon so far?
"I don't spend money on short sf because it's not a habit with me. I'm used to going to the bookstore and picking out books, not to getting journals in the mail and reading them. I didn't even know magazines with sf & fantasy existed until I started college. Now I'm just leery to subscribe to a magazine when I'm not sure which would be the best fit for my reading tastes." - Rachel
"I prefer to wait around until an editor I know and respect puts out an anthology, or to get a collection of shorts by one author that I can expect quality from than just getting the latest issue of Asimov who's content I've found can sometimes be let down. I also read a lot of the free stuff online (or even blog posts) to get an idea about someone, which is what usually leads me to these judgments of which writers and editors I like." - DJ
"Negative bias in the question....aagghh! Short stories are what the field is all about. The germ of an idea, a character, a world given life. Bountiful abundance is great, yet there is a tendancy, especially in fantasy/sf, to forget our foundations." - Richard Novak
"Asimov's are worth a purchase, and I'm always willing to check out year's best anthologies from the library...." - platyjoe
"I'm not a big fan of short fiction. I prefer novels. More time for plot, character development etc... I've bought some collections of short fiction from a few of my favorite authors but I even have trouble getting into those. I like a long story." - Eric
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday August 20, 2007 at 12:00 AM
© 2007 SF Signal

Even though I was in agreement with John's review of Flash Gordon, I didn't feel I could just give up on the show after one 90-minute episode. I decided to watch the second episode this past Friday night.
Yeah, I gave up 30-minutes in. I'm done, here's why.
Read more...
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Posted by JP Frantz at Sunday August 19, 2007 at 6:35 PM
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Posted by JP Frantz at Sunday August 19, 2007 at 7:38 AM
© 2007 SF Signal



Issue #949/#950 (August 24, 2007) of Entertainment Weekly offers some brief reviews of science fiction and fantasy books. Here's a snippet...
Sandworms of Dune by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson
For Fans of... The original Dune novels by Herbert's late father, Frank.
Bottom Line: After slogging through a desert's worth of rote Star Warsisms and Sahrara-dry prose, you'll wish Frank had been at the helm.
Grade: C+
Red Seas Under Red Skies by Scott Lynch
For Fans of... Robin Hood; Oceans Eleven; Pirates of the Caribbean.
Bottom Line: In the second installment of the Gentlemen Bastards series, Lynch's fast-paced storytelling is slightly stalled by a propensity for clumsy romance and action-flick banter.
Grade: B-
Spaceman Blues by Brian Francis Slattery
For Fans of... The surreal urban odyssey of Ralph Ellison's The Invisible Man; Plan Nine From Outer Space.
Bottom Line: For all its colorful characters and gonzo thrills, Slattery's debut is first and foremost a moving portrait of Wendell's grief.
Grade: A-
The Accidental Time Machine by Joe Haldeman
For Fans of... Time travel, "hard SF," and slacker antiheroes.
Bottom Line: The comparisons may be unfair, but this smart, brisk, and even charming tale has none of the emotional or philosophical heft of Haldeman's Forever books.
Grade: B
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Posted by John DeNardo at Sunday August 19, 2007 at 12:20 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Sunday August 19, 2007 at 12:05 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
We've talked about Literary Snobs before.
Here's Elizabeth Moon's take:
What literary snobbism does hurt is the public--people who are taken in by the ignorant assertions of "experts" who don't even read what they claim to despise (or read it so carelessly that they might as well be reading a cereal box.) It hurts the students who think their natural taste for plots that are plots and characters who are interesting is the literary equivalent of original sin and must be excised before they're fit to be called educated.[via The Swivet]Anyone who thinks there's no "complexity, depth, and originality" in commercial fiction needs an education. Anyone who thinks mysteries (or any other genre) are all "trashy" needs an education. (Start with Aristotle, whose _Poetics_ lay out the criteria. Continue through centuries of fiction that worked, up to the present day, being sure to take in multiple genres in each era.)
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Posted by John DeNardo at Saturday August 18, 2007 at 12:23 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Saturday August 18, 2007 at 12:04 AM
© 2007 SF Signal

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Posted by JP Frantz at Friday August 17, 2007 at 12:29 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
New at Project Gutenberg: Brain Twister by Gordon Randall Garrett and Laurence Mark Janifer.
In nineteen-fourteen, it was enemy aliens.More formats are available at ManyBooks.net.In nineteen-thirty, it was Wobblies.
In nineteen-fifty-seven, it was fellow-travelers.
And, in nineteen seventy-one, Kenneth J. Malone rolled wearily out of
bed wondering what the hell it was going to be now.One thing, he told himself, was absolutely certain: it was going to be
terrible. It always was.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday August 17, 2007 at 12:15 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Friday August 17, 2007 at 12:06 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
PhyOrg.com has an article entitled UCF physicist says Hollywood movies hurt students' understanding of science. Basically, the professors who were interviewed take issue with the implausible physics scenarios we see in movies all the time. From there, they go on to say that many students who take physics classes in college are scared of the course, and are in dire need of re-medial classes just to come up to speed.
To help, Prof. Efthimiou created a class called "Physics in Film" to help alleviate the problems many students have. Not surprisingly, its one of the most popular courses on campus. Now all this is interesting in itself, but the fact that a course like this is needed at all is an indication of the serious lack of science education in pre-college schools today. As stated in the article, this lack of education leads people away from the sciences, and will result in America losing its technological leadership.
The headline really doesn't capture the real message of the story, that America needs to get is science act together, but reaches for sensationalism, which is another problem in today's society, but I digress. The upshot: we need better science education at the lower school levels. I'm pleased that my oldest son's two favorite subjects are math and science. But we can't expect the school's to do it all for us. I think we, as parents, need to do more to encourage our kids' interest in science. That's where SF comes in.
Yes, SF stories don't always hew rigorously to science fact. But, they are a gateway to the imagination. Many scientists today where influenced by the original Star Trek TV show and entered various technical fields. So we see that visual SF can have a positive effect on people. What would help would be for Hollywood to produce better, more accurate films and TV programs, but we also need better educational curricula and more engaged parents. I think we can, as a society, interest our kids in science, but it will take a lot of work on the part of a lot people to get there.
I think handing a child an appropriate SF book is a good place to start.
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Posted by JP Frantz at Thursday August 16, 2007 at 7:53 PM
© 2007 SF Signal
Since a few people out there love Land of the Lost so much - and who doesn't? - here's Robot Chicken's takes on the Sleestaks...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday August 16, 2007 at 2:30 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
Borders is holding a contest to turn one of their employees into a full-fledged, published author:
Borders Group, Inc. is offering its more than 30,000 employees nationwide the opportunity to become a published author under the company's exclusive and proprietary publishing program. Borders Group is holding a fiction writing contest open to all employees in Borders and Waldenbooks stores, the distribution centers and the company's corporate office. Employee authors are eligible to submit manuscripts appealing to readers in any of the fiction categories. At least one employee whose title is selected as the winner by a panel of judges at the corporate office will be awarded a book deal including the full support of Borders merchandising and marketing arsenal. This includes being featured in the Borders "Shortlist," an e-mail promotion for Borders Rewards(R) members, which now number more than 19.5 million.[via Nick Mamatas, who offers 12 responses ]
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday August 16, 2007 at 1:19 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Thursday August 16, 2007 at 1:17 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
![]()
Way back in 1995, Japanese animation studio GAINAX produced what may be the most influential anime series Neon Genesis Evangelion. NGE is the story of mankind's struggle against invading alien entities called Angels. Aside from being chock full of giant mech fights, it was also an impressive feat of storytelling, alternately deep, complex and confusing. The ending of the original TV show was so completely unexpected and storyline free that GAINAX had to create a movie that actually covered what happened. Now, ripping a page from Hollywood's recent re-imaging kick, GAINAX announced its Rebuild of Evangelion. The official site has more, but is, of course, in Japanese. Good luck.
Set to release in Japan this September, this rebuild will re-tell the story in a more accessible manner, make use of CG effects that weren't available in 1995, and create a different ending (I think that's 3 endings now for the story). And instead of being a TV series, it will be release as a set of four movies. Aside from making it more accessible, it shouldn't come as a shock that NGE is being re-done. It's one of the most successful series in anime history and, of course, there's money to be made! The fact that NGE is ripe for a more accessible version is just icing.
NGE made my Top 10 Science Fiction Anime list, and is almost a required viewing for anime fans. I'm actually kind of excited to see this, as I enjoyed the TV series. And with the help of copious internet resources, I have a good grasp on just what the heck happened.
And for your viewing pleasure, the first trailer:
Now I just need my brother to acquire these for me...
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Posted by JP Frantz at Wednesday August 15, 2007 at 1:44 PM
© 2007 SF Signal
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Posted by JP Frantz at Wednesday August 15, 2007 at 12:25 AM
© 2007 SF Signal

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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday August 15, 2007 at 12:08 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Wednesday August 15, 2007 at 12:04 AM
© 2007 SF Signal

The New York Times today has an article cover the notion that our universe is really just a computer simulation. While this isn't really new, the angle John Tierney takes is rather humorous: the 'creator' in this case is really just a posthuman geek, sitting at home creating an ancestor simulation while drinking the posthuman version of Mountain Dew.
While this may be rather silly, the idea that our existence is really a simulation is rather mind blowing. We've all seen The Matrix, but unlike the movie, we can't wake up from the simulation, pull the cranial plug and then act all emotionally cool like Keenu. As Dr. Bostrom, director of the Future Of Humanity Institute at Oxford (how do you get that gig?) put it:
technological advances could produce a computer with more processing power than all the brains in the world, and that advanced humans, or "posthumans," could run "ancestor simulations" of their evolutionary history by creating virtual worlds inhabited by virtual people with fully developed virtual nervous systems.
Assuming we last long enough and are able to create powerful enough computing devices that is. This causes me to think of the book, Programming The Universe by Seth Lloyd. Lloyd looks at cosmology through the lens of information theory. Basically, the universe is a giant quantum computer that just happens to be computing everything we see around us, in effect, a galactic scale simulation. One that is indistinguishable from a big enough 'artificial' simulation, with the unanswered implication being we are in a simulation created by someone/thing. A very interesting read.
Back to the story, many things could happen in the future to prevent a 'simulation' from being created, such as humanity wiping itself out, losing interest in the past, or even having other, better methods for investigation the past. So there are some outs in this theory if you wish. It all depends on what you feel our chances of survival as a species are.
It's rather scary to think that everything around us is nothing but a World Of Worldcraft 'game', created by posthumans for entertainment. If so, you have to wonder at the huge level grinds they've implemented. Maybe being a pocket god isn't as exciting as you'd think. And what about all the PKers (player killers) or what happens when the server crashes?
Anyway, this is one of those philosophical discussions that is interesting to think about, even if there is little to no practical use to the theory. I just find it interesting how the simulation notion actually has some support from branch of cosmology.
I also thought I'd try something a little different. Below you will find a list of books and movies that touch upon this notion. Enjoy. But a word of warning, if you haven't seen/read what's mention below, you may be spoiled by knowing they are included in this post.
Books
Movies
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Posted by JP Frantz at Tuesday August 14, 2007 at 1:22 PM
© 2007 SF Signal

REVIEW SUMMARY: Pacing issues mar this sequel, but it's still a worthwhile read, provided you read the The Traveler. And you should.
MY RATING: ![]()
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Two brothers, Gabriel and Michael, both Travelers able to move between dimensions of consciousness, race to locate their father.
MY REVIEW:
PROS: Engrossing plot; smooth prose; more details given about the "secret history"; we get to see "surprise" characters.
CONS: Pacing issues after the first quarter of the book; Maya comes off as a weaker character; abrupt ending.
BOTTOM LINE: Even with its flaws, this is a better read than most "mainstreamy" novels.
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday August 14, 2007 at 12:28 AM
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday August 14, 2007 at 12:15 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
Over at WorldChanging, sf author Karl Schroeder talks about Colonizing Planet Earth:
if you ask where we should have been building our cities over the last century or so, the answer is in the Gobi desert, and the Sahara, and the barest and emptiest rocky plains we could find.Perhaps we coud colonize the set of the new Flash Gordon since there does not seem to be signs of intelligent life over there. [Ba-dum crash!]We should have been colonizing Earth as though it were a planet with no ecosystem resources to exploit.
Look at the difference between what we do when we settle a new area on Earth, compared to what we'd do on a planet like Mars. On Earth we'd take advantage of the free air and water, ready-made soils provided by local fauna, pollination provided by the local bees, all to minimize the costs of building and maintaining our colonies. This process is documented expertly by Jared Diamond in Guns, Germs and Steel; he points out that the conquest of the Americas was really the invasion of one ecosystem by another, rather than a simple matter of moving human populations. North America is the greatest success story of European expansionism because its ecology was most similar to that of Europe, more than for any political or social factors."
[via BoingBoing]
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Posted by John DeNardo at Tuesday August 14, 2007 at 12:11 AM
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Posted by JP Frantz at Tuesday August 14, 2007 at 12:09 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
REVIEW SUMMARY: Director Richard Linklater's faithful adaptation of Dick's classic 1977 novel uses a unique film style that immerses the viewer in a comic-book like world of depravity and darkness. Overall, a movie that fans of the book will definately enjoy.
MY RATING: ![]()
BRIEF SYNOPSIS: A cop is sent undercover to help deal with a major society-impacting drug craze and ends up addicted and in way over his head.
MY REVIEW:
PROS: The movie does a great job capturing the feel of the book - oppresive, foreboding, and with a heavy dose of scary reality; Keanu Reaves, Robert Downey Jr, and Winona Rider all give excellent performances; destined to be a cult classic.
CONS: Wierd rotoscoping technique somewhat distracting; not paced like a traditional film and so might throw some viewers off (non sci-fi fans especially); the villianous corporation from the book isn't quite sinister enough in the film.
BOTTOM LINE: One of the best film adaptations of a sci-fi novel I've seen. There is comedy here that works along with brilliant social commentary and solid acting to deliver Dick's message.
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Posted by Scott Shaffer at Monday August 13, 2007 at 1:07 PM
© 2007 SF Signal
Locus Online has posted the finalists for this year's World Fantasy Awards:
NOVEL
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday August 13, 2007 at 12:54 PM
© 2007 SF Signal
Stephen King has a really interesting article in this week's Entertainment Weekly (issue #948, August 17, 2007) called J.K. Rowling's Ministry of Magic in which he slams early critics of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, has some very good things to say about the book and J.K. Rowling, and talks about the state of kids' literature.
Here's an excerpt:
The problem with the advance reviews — and those that followed in the first post-publication days — is one that has dogged Rowling's magnum opus ever since book 4 (Goblet of Fire), after the series had become a worldwide phenomenon. Due to the Kremlin-like secrecy surrounding the books, all reviews since 2000 or so have been strictly shoot-from-the-lip. The reviewers themselves were often great [...] but the very popularity of the books has often undone even the best intentions of the best critical writers. In their hurry to churn out column inches, and thus remain members of good standing in the Church of What's Happening Now, very few of the Potter reviewers have said anything worth remembering. Most of this microwaved critical mush sees Harry — not to mention his friends and his adventures — in only two ways: sociologically (''Harry Potter: Boon or Childhood Disease?'') or economically (''Harry Potter and the Chamber of Discount Pricing''). They take a perfunctory wave at things like plot and language, but do little more...and really, how can they? When you have only four days to read a 750-page book, then write an 1,100-word review on it, how much time do you have to really enjoy the book? To think about the book? Jo Rowling set out a sumptuous seven-course meal, carefully prepared, beautifully cooked, and lovingly served out. The kids and adults who fell in love with the series (I among them) savored every mouthful, from the appetizer (Sorcerer's Stone) to the dessert (the gorgeous epilogue of Deathly Hallows). Most reviewers, on the other hand, bolted everything down, then obligingly puked it back up half-digested on the book pages of their respective newspapers. [...] The blogs, by and large, haven't been much better.Further along, he talks about how kids are reading beyond Harry Potter. Read more...
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday August 13, 2007 at 12:26 AM
© 2007 SF Signal

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Posted by JP Frantz at Monday August 13, 2007 at 12:20 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday August 13, 2007 at 12:12 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
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"I think that we will be selling HP to aliens. That is how good I think it is." - General XBe sure to visit our front page and vote in this week's poll about why you don't buy short fiction!
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Posted by John DeNardo at Monday August 13, 2007 at 12:00 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
The original Flash Gordon comics and serials were before my time and the atrocious 1980 film has been successfully purged from my memory. Well, all except for that tiny, persistent snippet of the Queen soundtrack, of course. (Ah-Aaaaah!) So SciFi Channel's remake (sorry…I mean "re-imagining") was my chance to finally see what the hubbub was about.
Or not.
Generally speaking, I tend to like the things I choose to consume for entertainment. And when I don't, my misfire usually ends in an experience of mediocrity. But Flash Gordon blows. If anyone ever asks why sci-fi TV has the reputation it does, point them in this direction.
I'm not sure where to begin. Is it the uninspired acting? Or should I blame the infantile script that the actors had to work with? How about the unresolved scenes like the one involving an alien disintegrating a bowling ball? Or the illogic that he was carrying the driver's license of Flash's (Ah-Aaaaah!) supposedly-dead father when he was doing it?
Here's what I do know:
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Posted by John DeNardo at Sunday August 12, 2007 at 2:55 AM
© 2007 SF Signal
A new space hotel is slated to be launched in 2012. Here's what you need to know....