We’ve had some off-topic discussion in this
forum about what superpower you would like to
have, and how you would deal with its drawbacks.
So, what’s your choice?

With the holiday’s closing in upon us, I thought a fun bit of conjecture and discussion would be a group-assembled Sci-Fi Wish list (i.e. What you want).

The only restrictions I’m laying down is that the suggestion can’t be a Movie or Book. Those are the easy answers, I want something with a little more imagination.

You men (and women) have your marching orders, now hop to it!

hoggoth writes, Your wish is my command…
I have added a section so you can vote for your favorite Sci-Fi Books in addition to your favorite Sci-Fi Movies.
So vote now!
Vote for them there, and come talk about them here.

xah writes, The days are past when Dungeons and Dragons was blamed for bewitching
the children with Satanic evil. Now commentators have discovered a new,
emerging threat. The Washington Post runs an article on Harry Potter’s effect on the next generation. Under
his influence they are said to be turning into “dweebs.” Kids are running around
wearing capes. Most children today are spoiled “little nerds.” It has
become cool to read books. The problem, according to Hank Stuever, the
article’s author, is that the Harry Potter phenomenon represents a
betrayal of the good old values: rebellion, elitism, and “unattainable
sexiness,” and an embrace of questionable, newly prominent qualities:
intelligence, sensitivity, and blandness. I take Stuever’s point, but
is that really so bad?

quecojones writes, I just heard about the new teaser trailer for Episode II (Mystery) and decided to try to view it. Bad idea. :( I went over to the Star Wars web site and learned that I had to have my Episode I DVD in my DVD-ROM drive and go to dvd.starwars.com to view it. I did and the download started OK (The DVD in the DVD- ROM drive and QuickTime v5.02 is required). About halfway through the trailer, my browser (IE v6.0) crashed. :( I have QuickTime Pro v5.02 installed and I had the DVD in my DVD-ROM drive… WTF?!?!? Tomorrow we’re supposed to be able to view the 2+ minute trailer of Episode II that plays before the Harry Potter movie… I’m not very optimistic about being able to view it. Is it just me or are other people having this problem? I’d check it myself, but the DVD-ROM is in the Linux box, so I doubt I can even try. I will be at Harry Potter on Saturday, though.

hoggoth writes, Following up to a previous story asking readers to post their favorite Sci-Fi movies, I have put together THIS SITE to let everyone vote for their favorite Sci-Fi movies. Blockbuster, Amazon, and the major studios don’t care how the vote comes out, but it still may be fun to see what everyone considers the BEST Sci-Fi films. You can also try this link to see more than just the top ten.

quecojones
writes, I just got it and it seems to be a
decent DVD set (there’s two DVDs). I like the
extras, but I was actually hoping for something
more. :( What do you guys think about it?
I’ve been tempted to skip my office hours
tomorrow. It seems that A and B Sound (here in
Canada) is selling the first 25 copies of this at
each location for only $15 Canadian, which is
something like $8 US.

Every online news source I check is being pounded into submission. If you’ve managed not to hear the news, both towers have collapsed after being hit by hijacked aircraft. (They were 767’s, in the latest report I heard.) A helicopter has hit the Pentagon. Government buildings all over the U.S. are being evacuated. (There may be similar evacuations in Canada; that’s unconfirmed.) I’ve heard that a plane has crashed outside Pittsburgh. There are reports of other hijackings still happening.

The world’s about to become a very ugly place.

It seems Dave hadn’t realized there might be a need for a “terrorist attack” category (who would?), I’ll leave this as “Ask The Bureau” and request that anyone with additional information or comments post them below.

Slashdot seems to be holding up well. The comments there are loaded with various links, mirrors, and updates. We can’t keep up with them, so you might as well go there for updates.

This letter brings up an interesting
question: just how do you define SF and fantasy? Is “Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within”
fantasy or SF? What about “Frankenstein?” Heck, what about
“The Smurfs?” For the love of God, please, post your thoughts!

Rather than continue the off topic discussion over here, I think I’ll propose this as a separate article. Which was your favourite Star Trek series? Which was your least favourite? Why? I’ll list my opinions under “Read More”.
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