Cosmos Remixed

I’m swamped with some telescope proposals today, but a friend pointed out this awesome video:

Enjoy!

This Is Why I Have Little Respect for the Law

Hoosier Grandmother Arrested for Buying Cold Medicine:
Last March, Sally Harpold, an Indiana grandmother of triplets, bought two boxes of cold medication in less than a week. Together, the two boxes contained 3.6 grams of pseudoephedrine, putting her in violation of the state’s methamphetamine-fighting law, which forbids the purchase of more than three grams by one [...]

One more reason for science fiction/fantasy fans to Hate the Bush Administration

Apparently J.K. Rowling didn’t get awarded the Preseidential Medal of Freedom because her books “promote witchcraft.”
What a uniter, that Bush.  What intellectuals, his politically blinded and biased advisers.  I bet they wouldn’t have even given C. S. Lewis the medal, for the same stupid reason.
I’m kind of hating the past eight years all over again…
Oh [...]

Zombie Politics and Science Fiction

When I think zombie politics, this is the first thing that comes to mind:

But I was actually thinking about this nonsense about “death panels” and medically assisted suicide, and how we keep people alive under the most inhumane conditions.  I’m thinking about Terry Pratchett here, and how Joe Haldeman is in the hospital this week [...]

Flashback to Flashforward

I caught the premiere of the TV show Flashforward last night, and I really enjoyed it.  I’m not going to do a review here with spoilers or anything like that, but I did want to encourage people to watch it and to make some comparisons to the novel by Robert Sawyer that the show is [...]

Problems with Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics

Isaac Asimov’s Three Law’s of Robtics were the basis for many of his short stories and several novels.  They stated:

“

A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
A robot must obey any orders given to it by human beings, except where such orders would conflict [...]

Why Science Fiction is Hard to Read

I admit it.  Sometimes I find science fiction challenging to read, and I pass on it and pick up a light fantasy or a horror novel, which I prefer for escapism.  If I do this, I don’t have to wonder why science fiction has so much trouble penetrating into the general public.
I took an advanced [...]

Saluting Joe Haldeman Starlinks

First, I wanted to mention that Joe Haldeman is recovering and stable following abdominal surgery.  I’m both a friend and a fan of Joe’s, and my thoughts are with him and Gay today.  Joe’s a tough guy who has been through some bad stuff and it sounds like he’s making it through this, too.  The [...]

Snow in Laramie and It’s Beginning to Feel Like Christmas (Halloween Style)

Woke up to an accumulation of several inches of snow on the ground here. Ouch! It is the last official day of summer after all, so we’re due. And just at the end of last week I suggested it was time to shop for Halloween already, so maybe Christmas now, too…
And in [...]

The Top 10 Space-Based Science Fiction Series ever on TV (with Poll)

There are a bunch of good lists concerning science fiction tv over on wiki.  I tend to post a lot about movies, but this time I want to post about space-based science fiction series on tv.  It always seems like there’s at least one decent one, and sometimes more than one.  I’m going to take [...]

The Time to Shop for Halloween is NOW!

Halloween is my favorite holiday, by far.
I’ve been putting on a big Halloween party the last few years (and even though I was in Brazil last year the students renting my place kept up the tradition).  I tend to procrastinate, however, being busy, and it’s sometimes tricky to get things that I’ve ordered in time.  [...]

Tardy Starlinks

I meant to post last night, but there were database issues.  Sorry if the site was down if you tried to visit.  I should have another post later today, too, but let’s get some starlinks up now while everything is looking good.
CNN tells us that ebooks are catching on with readers.  It must be true.
The [...]