SF Signal

This weeks cool idea:

Dyson Spheres. Dyson spheres are a cool idea. How cool? See here,

here, and here. See also google for more.

What? Didn’t know there was a cool scifi idea of the week? We’ve always had it, no one has bothered to post about it!

The rules are simple. On Monday, post a cool SciFi idea (one only and Kate Beckinsale in leather doesn’t count, sorry Pete). The idea must be worked into a post on each of the following days in some way. Now go to it!

Filed under: Meta

I know I shouldn’t be surprised by hardware anymore, but the new NVIDIA nv40 solution is amazing. Yes it is an order of magnitude faster than the previous generation, but look at this. First, in order to be powered properly, the card will require it to be connected to TWO 4-pin molex connectors and draws 110 watts. Start thinking about needing a 500W power supply. Second, while the first version will have an AGP interface to the nv40 chip, the next and future versions will have a PCI Express interface. PCI Express will replace AGP pretty quickly I think, and is a nice standard overall for peripherals. Third, it will cost about $500 which is nearly the same as a top of the line Pentium 4 chip, which shouldn’t surprise us since it has more transistors than the Pentium 4.

Filed under: Computers

REVIEW SUMMARY: Some great stories to be found.

MY RATING:

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Anthology of sf stories, novelettes and novellas from 2002.

MY REVIEW:

PROS: Like most anthologies, some great, great reads.

CONS: Also like most anthologies, some weak efforts.

BOTTOM LINE: The better stories are worth the price of admission.

Read the rest of this entry

Filed under: Book Review

The winners of the 2004 Nebula Awards have been announced!

Best Novel:The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon

Best Novella: Coraline by Neil Gaiman

Best Novelette: The Empire of Ice Cream by Jeffrey Ford

Best Short Story: What I Didn’t See by Karen Joy Fowler

Best Script: The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, Fran Walsh & Philippa Boyens & Stephen Sinclair & Peter Jackson

Editors Note: And not one of them uses recombinant lexography!

Filed under: Awards

The official Star Wars website has posted an Episode III web documentary about using old-fashioned methods of creating special effects. Looks like you get to see some of the upcoming Anakin/Obi Wan fight. The piece if freely available to the public and not reserved for paying Hyperspace members.

[Source: Big Dumb Object. Not that I troll websites that troll Star Wars sites or anything.]

Filed under: Star Wars

There’s a new H. P.Lovecraft magazine due soon. I’m looking forward to the Cthuulu centerfold. (Insert lascivious tongue-rolling noise here.)

Filed under: Books

MSNBC has an advance look at Shrek 2.

Filed under: Movies

A preview of this weekend’s Nebula award presentation and an observation of SF in the American northwest.

Filed under: Meta

An interesting cross-reference from Locus: All books that have won BOTH the Nebula and Hugo awards. Note that the novels by Card, Clarke, Haldeman, and Le Guin account for nearly half of them.

1. Isaac Asimov, The Gods Themselves (1972)

2. David Brin, Startide Rising (1983)

3. Orson Scott Card, Ender’s Game (1985)

4. Orson Scott Card, Speaker for the Dead (1986)

5. Arthur C. Clarke, Rendezvous with Rama (1973)

6. Arthur C. Clarke, The Fountains of Paradise (1979)

7. Neil Gaiman, American Gods (2001)

8. William Gibson, Neuromancer (1984)

9. Joe Haldeman, The Forever War (1974)

10. Joe Haldeman, Forever Peace (1997)

11. Frank Herbert, Dune (1965)

12. Ursula K. Le Guin, The Left Hand of Darkness (1969)

13. Ursula K. Le Guin, The Dispossessed (1974)

14. Vonda N. McIntyre, Dreamsnake (1978)

15. Larry Niven, Ringworld (1970)

16. Frederik Pohl, Gateway (1977)

17. Connie Willis, Doomsday Book (1992)

Sadly, I’ve only read 3, 4, 5, 11, 12 (actually, I couldn’t finish this one), 15, and 16. And I call myself an sf fan. Tsk, tsk, tsk.

Filed under: Awards

From ABC News comes word that John Malkovich will star in “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy,” the Disney adaptation of the Douglas Adams novel. Malkovich will play religious cult leader Humma Kavula, a role created by the late author especially for the film.

Filed under: Movies

REVIEW SUMMARY: A fun read from a master of SF.

MY RATING:

BRIEF SYNOPSIS: Bill and his dad emigrate to Ganymede to join its colonization efforts.

MY REVIEW:

PROS: Excellent sense-of-wonder story loaded with science; quick read.

CONS: One or two slow parts in the middle.

BOTTOM LINE: Excellent novel.

Read the rest of this entry

Filed under: Book Review

Neal Stephenson talks about his latest book, The Confusion, in this Wired interview. In it, Stephenson states flat-out that he didn’t write another cyberpunk novel because CP is dead (ie – assimilated into the science fictional milieu (come on Lix!)). Anyway, Stephenson focused on a period of time that interested him and, he hopes, will interest readers. Perhaps that’s why I didn’t abhor Quicksilver as some SFSignal Irregulars did. I won’t mention any names (Scott)… I like history and there was enough of that in Quicksilver to make it interesting, along with Stephenson’s typical humor. Is that enough to cause me to rush out and buy this book today? No. I will be perusing the Bookcloseouts site though….

Filed under: Books

The Seattle Weekly ran a story on the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame (pronounced “Siffumhoff” by local sf geeks…er…”insiders”) which is opening this June.

Filed under: Meta

Amazon launches and independent search engine called A9.

CNET describes it as such:

A9.com, an independent unit of the Internet retailer, unveiled its Web site on Wednesday after nearly seven months of development. The search site touts a novel design that lets people sift through Web search results, store and view their own search history, and find book information from Amazon related to query terms. It also promotes a search toolbar that blocks pop-up ads.

Filed under: Web Sites

Supposedly, IT recruiters are having a tough time getting quality people despite all the lay-offs. Maybe companies did do it right by getting rid of the deadwood after all. You can read all about it here.

Read the rest of this entry

Filed under: Science and Technology

A “friend”* sent me this. Why post it here? Because of the spinoff trailer for LOTR.

*[I quote "friend" because, thanks to him, I cannot seem to get the badger song out of my head. Thanks, Ray!]

Filed under: Web Sites

Review Summary: Slow moving tale set in an alternate, ‘Industrial Age’ England, where magic has replaced technology.

My Rating:

Brief Synopsis: The story of Robert Borrow’s life, set against the last years of the Third Age. Robert is connected to various people and events which conspire to bring about the dawning of a new Age. The revelations of these connections play out over the course of the novel, and of Borrow’s life.

Pros: Richly imagined world. The scenes of people’s everyday lives and the cities in which they live give a nice depth to the story. The characters are fairly sympathetic, but interesting, and are enough to keep you going for more.

Cons: The book drags a bit everywhere. Things happen very slowly and major events happen offstage.

Read the rest of this entry

Filed under: Book Review

Well, I think we are most of the way back from the inadvertant ‘lose half of the sidebar code’ mishap from earlier today. I do see the both John and Tim seem to be reading ‘Farmer in the Sky’. John I can belive. I’m not so sure about Tim. Tim, let me know what the real book you’re reading is.

In other news, I’ve removed the foums link since they were just taking up space. In its placed, I’ve created a link to a new, spiffy About Us page! Yay! All you ever wanted to know about the people behind SFSignal, and more…

Filed under: Meta

From Locus Mag:

• Winners of the 2003 British Science Fiction Award.

• Winners of the 2003 International Horror Guild Award.

Filed under: Awards

Star Wars actor Ewan McGregor (yeah, like I bet that’s how he wants to be remembered) is getting ready to travel the galaxy…er…I mean the world. By motorcycle. Yep. By motorcycle.

Filed under: Star Wars