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Shall We Play a Game?
A bit too late for Christmas, but if you’re looking for some geek-friendly games to play at an upcoming gathering, Wired has a pretty neat list. Hey! That’s My Fish! Mayfair Games, two to four players, ages 8 and up, $25 Buy it for: The geek with young geeklings You play: Hungry penguins with an…
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Why Doesn’t Everyone Like SF?
The Website at the End of the Universe has an interesting post about why SF isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, including links to several articles about the subject and a bonus link to a non-fan’s blog. I particularly like the non-fan’s post, which can be summed up as, “I don’t like SF ‘cuz I’m dumb.”…
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Stross’ “Heinlein Tribute Novel”
Charles Stross talks about his new book, Saturn’s Children, on the Penguin Books blog: I never met Mr. Heinlein, but I’ve felt his ghost breathing down my neck periodically, ever since I began writing science fiction. And I must admit, I resent it. Link (via SF Signal)
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Happy Holidays!
Here’s wishing you a bright and joyous holiday from the whole O*W*C gang! What better way to celebrate an SF Christmas than with this version of “My Favorite Things?” Attack ships on fire off the shoulder of Orion Apollo and Starbuck each smoking a Cylon Flash Gordon in a long swordfight with Ming These are…
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Amazing “Wrecked” Spacecraft
Sci Fi Scanner makes an interesting point about Star Wars, which I’ve never really thought much about: The portion of “A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away” we often forget — even though it’s the most important—is the “long time ago” part. Star Wars, unlike most sci-fi, is not about the future:…
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Six World-Changing Ideas
Esquire has an interesting article about six new technologies that have the potential to be vastly influential. Some sound like they’re right out of a Gibson novel. But those without prostheses will benefit from Lacour’s innovation as well. She envisions T-shirts embedded with electronics that can detect if a baby has stopped breathing and a…
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Tim Powers Interview
SF Revue has a fairly lengthy interview with Tim Powers, whom I’ve discussed previously, and who was kind enough to join us in chat a few years ago. SFRevu: We won’t try to classify exactly which genre your writing falls under, but do you find this actually helps you rather than hinders you? In other…
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Electronic Charities
BoingBoing has posted their yearly charitable gift-giving guide, primarily concentrating on US, UK, and Canadian nonprofits that are concerned with electronic freedom. Electronic Frontier Foundation: EFF always gets my largest annual donation. Last year: No organization works harder, spends smarter and gets more done for your personal long-term technological liberty than EFF. I spent years…
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Cephalopodmas
Apparently it’s like Festivus, but with more squid. This sadly-neglected holiday is coming up on December 22, so there’s still time to get something slimy for your loved ones! Link (via Cynical-C)
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Pern Novels Optioned
Apparently riding the wave of recent big-budget fantasy movies, Anne McCaffrey’s Dragonriders of Pern novels have been optioned by the Canadian film production company Copperheart Entertainment. I’m questioning this a little: “I decided that Pern had to be done right and I wouldn’t let it go to someone unless I was certain that they were…