Some quick links to interesting stuff today that don't need their own post. First up,
the annual Strange Horizons fund drive. Strange Horizons is an excellent science fiction/fantasy site, publishing fiction, poetry, reviews, etcetera,
with the staff all volunteers but with paid contributors. I use the site quite a lot when doing science fiction or fantasy reviews for the booklog, as
their reviewers usually have their heads screwed up straight and I'm always curious to see what they think of the book I'm reviewing.
"Many science fiction writers are literary autodidacts who focus on the genre primarily as a literature of ideas, rather than as a pure art
form or a tool for the introspective examination of the human condition," he says. "I'm not entirely at ease with that self-description." But
with a background in biomedical and computer science rather than literature, his fiction always returns to science. "I just can't help myself,"
he explains. "I have a compulsive urge to use that background to build baroque laboratory mazes for my protagonists to explore, rather than being
content to examine them in their native habitat."
That one paragraph explains so much about Charlie's books.
Way back in February, Brad Hicks blogged about a Gerry and Sylvia Anderson's live action science fiction series. No, not Space:1999,
but UFO. When he described it, it sounded like it had provided a lot of the inspiration
for the only computer game that ever gave me nightmares: UFO: Enemy Unknown (or X-Com 1 as it was also known), which I played a lot in
the mid-nineties. Finally having tracked down the DVD set of the series myself and watched the first episode, it does remind me a lot of X-Com. Of
course, it's quite dated, as it's a 1969 idea of what the far flung future of 1980 would look like, full with men in nehru suits smoking and
drinking in the office while purple wigged women in silver miniskirts watched out for ufos on the moon, while their counterparts on earth wore
tight jumpsuits, which showed cameltoe could be a problem in the future as well...
This is just a place for me to jot down some random thoughts and reactions to the news so I don't have to yell at the television or radio, or mutter to myself whilst reading the news.
Waffle
In which Reinder Dijkhuis, Adam Cuerden, Timm Brand, Geir Strøm and Jeroen Jager talk about comics, music, politics and the impending apocalypse.
Deltoid
A science orientated weblog by Tim Lambert.
Encyclopedia Astronautica
Incredibly cool site about the history of space travel, with lots of info about
the various space programs. Recommended for all spacenuts.
The Loom
A blog of biology and bioscience, written by Carl Zimmer.
Panda's Thumb
On evolutionary theory and the fight against the intelligent design loons
Pharyngula
Science, politics and the intersection between them. By PZ Myers.
Real Climate
A commentary site on climate science by working climate scientists.
