Helix #7, Winter 2008 is available

Helix, the speculative fiction quarterly online magazine has posted its' 7th issue which is the Winter 2008 issue. Here is a listing of the fiction. For a complete listing, click the article title which links to the new issue.

* "Suicide Drive" by Charlie Anders - Father doesn't always know best.

* "Seraphim" by Maya Bohnhoff - Sweet dreams and flying machines.

* "Night of the Living POTUS" by Adam-Troy Castro - The horror, the horror...

* "The Last Man's First Year on Earth" by David W. Goldman - A long,time from home.

* "Salvager's Gold" by Selina Rosen - In space, no one can hear you talk trash.

* "Family Tree" by Vaughan Stanger - The best seeds are the ones you didn't know you planted.

* "Drooling Wizards" by Laura J. Underwood - You don't have to be an idiot to be a wizard, but it helps.

Stargate Worlds want you! well maybe your image...

According to SF Signals: Like Stargate SG-1? Like to play MMORPGs? Then this contest may be for you. Beginning with this season of Stargate Atlantis, Sci Fi will be air a 'gate code' which, when entered at the contest's web site will give you another entry to win. The winner will receive their likeness place somewhere within the Stargate Worlds MMO game, which will release this fall.

SETI@home needs YOU!

According to the ScienceDaily online magazine: The longest-running search for radio signals from alien civilizations is getting a burst of new data from an upgraded Arecibo telescope, which means the SETI @ home project needs more desktop computers to help crunch the data. Since SETI@home launched eight years ago, the project has signed up more than 5 million interested volunteers. Yet, new and more sensitive receivers on the world's largest radio telescope in Arecibo, Puerto Rico, and better frequency coverage are generating 500 times more data for the project than before. According to project scientist Eric Korpela, the new data amounts to 300 gigabytes per day, or 100 terabytes (100,000 gigabytes) per year, about the amount of data stored in the U.S. Library of Congress. What triggered the new flow of data was the addition of seven new receivers at Arecibo, which now allow the telescope to record radio signals from seven regions of the sky simultaneously instead of just one. With greater sensitivity and the ability to detect the polarization of the radio signals, plus 40 times more frequency coverage, Arecibo is set to survey the sky for new radio sources.

If you are interested in participating in the Seti@HOME project, you can go to http://setiathome.berkeley.edu/ to get more information or to download the software.

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Sci-Fi on TV for the second half of the 2007-2008 season -grim-

Mark Wilson of "Mark's Sci-Fi /Fantasy Blog speculates on the grimness of the remaining tv sci-fi season, as the writer's strike continues to wreak havoc on new and returning shows. The only bright side is that some of the new shows scheduled for startup have something fresh for us to watch. As Mark puts it:

When the writers' strike stopped production on the current season, most of the shows were still in process. Some were only able to complete enough shows to complete the first half of the season, before the holiday break; others completed more before being shut down. No American-produced show was able to complete a whole season; no one has more than seven episodes to air, and some have only a couple. This half of the season will be pretty anemic in terms of fresh material.

Only 3 returning shows gave out starting dates Stargate Atlantis and Flash Gordon will start January 4th and Moonlight next Friday January 11th. Chuch, Reaper,Smallville and Supernatural are still up in the air. Which makes me wonder now if someone isn't crapin in their pants right now after canceling Journeyman. Mark goes on to say about upcoming new shows:

Meanwhile, we can enjoy a handful of shows that are new or premiering a new season: Sarah Connor Chronicles (1/13), Kyle XY (1/14), Torchwood (1/26), Jericho (2/12), New Amsterdam (2/22), and Battlestar Galactica (April), with Doctor Who coming this summer.

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Video: Who's on first - Yoda or Jar Jar

For your viewing terror pleasure, a mashup of the seminally classic “Who’s On First” comedy routine by Abbott & Costello, remixed with “retro” footage of Yoda and Jar Jar Binks from Episode I. Unsurprisingly, Jar Jar really works as a histrionic straight man. If only the actual movie were this well written, or had material this fresh.