The Nominees for the 2009 Hugo Awards were announced a few days ago, and they include (as always) an amazing collection of stories. Some of them belong to Cory Doctorow, Charles Stross, and John Scalzi, to name but a few. Big Dumb Object has some comments worth noting. Now I need to read everything on the lists; a good way to start is by grabbing the links from Anticipation SF, and as always the SF Signal Hugo page has links to all the free online reading version of the nominees stories…
Terrestrial Human
It is Worldwide Dungeons and Dragons Gameday today, and lots of people are playing. But here is a prototype of a toy I would like to start playing with. It is built with off-the-shelf parts totaling about $350; a camera, a small projector, a cell phone, and some colored plastic or tape for your fingers. But it combines them for functionality we have never had before, and in production it would cost around $100. They are calling it the Sixth Sense, and it is the first wearable computer I have seen that turns your environment and the things in it interactive. This project is from the MIT Media Lab, one of many they are developing to invent a better future. Thanks to Technology Story for the heads-up on that one.
A few blogs I like include The Way The Future Blogs, Frederik Pohl’s entry into the online world, and a bit of a play on his book title, The Way The Future Was. Another good one is Today in Astronomy, and both blogs give a historical perspective to the business of the future. Battlestar Galactica does its final episode tonight, and just a few days ago the cast spoke at the U.N. about human rights. Joss Whedon did a Q and A about Dollhouse, and Fancast covered it. For the 10th anniversary of Farscape, Season 1 is online on Fancast, so you can watch the whole thing. Finally for tonight, a friend passed me a link to an amazing video; this maniac creates an outer space painting using spray paint and random items from his kitchen… in 60 seconds! Enjoy…
A fan favorite for years, K-9 returns in his very own spin-off. The tin dog first appeared in 1977, on BBC’s Doctor Who, and more recently on the Sarah Jane Adventures. Slated for a half hour program for 26 episodes, K-9 gets a whole new look for the new show.
I am assuming they paid the SyFy Portal serious money for stealing their brand. In fact that site, under their new brand Airlock Alpha, admits as much, even if they don’t disclose the amount. I look forward to seeing how they use that cash influx online, and have to cheer on anyone in Science Fiction who can turn a noticeable profit in today’s economy. Reactions are coming in from all over the web, from CNet with their usual unique perspective, to Entertainment Weekly who come at it from a totally different angle. Cinema Blend, the Live Feed, and the Hollywood Reporter all took the line you would expect from each of those media mavens (each different, but each the same). The Fans have a different view, expressed by Topless Robot, or Forbidden Planet, or even G4 TV, and again, each reaction is different, and each the same. Myself, I can’t wait to see how Alpha Airlock evolves; the SF Channel, whatever their spelling, has the budget to ignore the fans, but this time some true fans got the better end of the deal. Congrats, Hinman!
There are many good things to read online, or to download for reading offline, and Free SF has recently added a number of them, including works by Walter Jon Williams, James Patrick Kelly, and Felix Castor, to name a few. One of my favorite places to go are the online Ezines, like Flurb. Headed up by Rudy Ruker, Flurb concentrates on quality stories that for one reason or another would be very hard to get into a normal print magazine. Then there is Clarkesworld, currently with Herding Vegetable Sheep along with some other stories, at least one in audio format each month. Another good one is Raygun Revival, concentrating on golden-age space opera. Strange Horizons usually only has one story and one poem per edition, but it comes out once a week, so you still get a months worth of reading. There are many more, but that should get you started.