from Boing Boing via SFSignals:
Will Shetterly has released two of his books under a Creative Commons License: Dogland and The Gospel of the Knife.
Beam Me up blog is the sister/support site For the Beam Me Up podcast. It contains links, discussion and material that might be or have been discussed on the show. Also links to new show listings and material. Be sure to check out the live stream every Saturday at 4pm eastern at http://www.wrfr.org/links.html and select stream
Friday, July 13, 2007
Top cop predicts robot crimewave
Boing Boing first brought this to my attention. From "The Age.com"
It seems that the head of the Australian Federal Police Commissioner, Mick Keelty is telling is to be afraid, be very afraid.
Technology such as cloned part-robot humans used by organised crime gangs pose the greatest future challenge to police, along with online scamming, Keelty says. Mr Keelty said scams had sprung up in online virtual worlds such as Second Life, where people can spend real money via credit cards to buy products such as virtual real estate and gifts.
"Policing that is going to be quite difficult," he said.
Australian and UK police had also noticed a trend of internet pedophiles crossing into real life pedophilia, and were planning a joint operation in developing countries, he said.
"We are watching people in the virtual world convert what they are doing in the virtual world to travel to some of these countries where children are at risk," he said.
It seems that the head of the Australian Federal Police Commissioner, Mick Keelty is telling is to be afraid, be very afraid.
Technology such as cloned part-robot humans used by organised crime gangs pose the greatest future challenge to police, along with online scamming, Keelty says. Mr Keelty said scams had sprung up in online virtual worlds such as Second Life, where people can spend real money via credit cards to buy products such as virtual real estate and gifts.
"Policing that is going to be quite difficult," he said.
Australian and UK police had also noticed a trend of internet pedophiles crossing into real life pedophilia, and were planning a joint operation in developing countries, he said.
"We are watching people in the virtual world convert what they are doing in the virtual world to travel to some of these countries where children are at risk," he said.
AS Fate Decrees by Denyse Bridger 8/15/07
Announcing "As Fate Decrees"
EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing would like to announce "As Fate Decrees" by Denysé Bridger which arrives August 15th 2007.
Denysé Bridger is an award winning Canadian author whose writing will leave the reader wanting more. She is able to captivate the reader with each page and image as she sets up her main character, Amarantha, on a journey through challenges only found in myths and legends of the ancient Greeks.
ABOUT AS FATE DECREES
The gods of ancient Greece must find a mortal champion to defend their fate.
EDGE Science Fiction and Fantasy Publishing would like to announce "As Fate Decrees" by Denysé Bridger which arrives August 15th 2007.
Denysé Bridger is an award winning Canadian author whose writing will leave the reader wanting more. She is able to captivate the reader with each page and image as she sets up her main character, Amarantha, on a journey through challenges only found in myths and legends of the ancient Greeks.
ABOUT AS FATE DECREES
The gods of ancient Greece must find a mortal champion to defend their fate.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
A rare confluence of sci-fi and history
Jay Garmon over at Geekend blog came up with a coincidence in the date July 11th.
He writes:
*Take a moment to recognize one of those odd historical coincidences that history occasionally *serves up: Today is the anniversary of both Cordwainer Smith’s birth and John W. Campbell’s *death. For those outside sci-fi literature, this date probably goes utterly unnoticed, but it *shouldn’t. These two men literally changed the course of not just science fiction, but history *itself.
As you know Campbell was the editor of the pulp fiction mag Astounding Science Fiction (today known as Analog Science Fiction & Fact) from 1937 until his death on this date in 1971.
and Cordwainer Smith's fiction well was vividly bizarre with an emphasis on psychological distortions and strange devices.
He writes:
*Take a moment to recognize one of those odd historical coincidences that history occasionally *serves up: Today is the anniversary of both Cordwainer Smith’s birth and John W. Campbell’s *death. For those outside sci-fi literature, this date probably goes utterly unnoticed, but it *shouldn’t. These two men literally changed the course of not just science fiction, but history *itself.
As you know Campbell was the editor of the pulp fiction mag Astounding Science Fiction (today known as Analog Science Fiction & Fact) from 1937 until his death on this date in 1971.
and Cordwainer Smith's fiction well was vividly bizarre with an emphasis on psychological distortions and strange devices.
click the title for more
Happy anniversary to Skylab’s criminal record
On July 11, 1979, the U.S. space station Skylab accomplished two feats: Re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere, and wrack up a mild criminal record Down Under. It's well known that Skylab's decent from orbit was ummm less than perfect. The miss-calculated trajectory led to a barely controlled deorbit that sent Skylab into Australia’s Western regions. Specifically, the town of Esperance, which was blanketed with a light coating of miniscule Skylab debris — enough to earn the U.S. State Department a $400 fine for littering that — 28 years later — remains unpaid.
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