The Sci Fi Guy

So, it’s been a long time since I updated the Scifi-Guy.com blog. I know. I’ve been busy. Turns out the last update was April of last year. Since then, lots has changed, but my love of science fiction hasn’t waned. To be fair, I wish I had more time to read the various books that are sitting on my shelf, but sit they do (thanks to a 50+ hours a week of work!) but in this economy – work comes first.

It also has turned out that this blog is running on software that’s about 3 major upgrades from the current version, so that’s going to have to change sometime soon. I’m imagining perhaps sitting down some weekend soon and revamping the entire site from the inside out. All websites deserve a good redesign every now and then!

For what it’s worth, I can say I’m eagerly looking forward to the return of Lost tomorrow night, though I get the feeling no matter what happens this season I’m going to be a little disappointed. JJ Abrams has created quite a mess of characters, settings, time lines, and various pseudo-science. It’ll be interesting to discover what he decides to wrap up and what he decides to leave unknown. I think a complete re-watch of Lost Season 5 may be in order too; I can barely remember all the twists and turns of that season…

I’ve also gotten a few samples from a few publishers for review and dissection, so hopefully in the next couple weeks I’ll cover some new material that has landed on my doorstep.

Look for some changes to come soon! Back to the drawing board.

Well, thanks to a break in my schedule, I’m taking a little vacation this week. Of course no vacation would be okay without some reading – so I’m going to bring with me the Solaris Short Fiction Volume 2 that I’m still working on. My Volume 1 arrived a couple days ago, so hopefully I can get to that sometime soon this summer.

Hope everyone enjoyed a great Memorial Day weekend! See you in a week or so.

Just doing a little maintenance here

Well, after much deliberating, I’ve reactivated comments on Scifi-Guy. I’ve implemented some new anti-spam measures, so hopefully that’ll help defuse some of the clutter. If it gets out of hand again, I’ll try something else.

More updates to come.

Just a quick note to actual readers – the comments have been disabled. I’ve been overwhelmed by spam on this blog, and until I can find a reasonable captcha device to solve this problem, I’ve disabled comments. Sorry to everyone that wants to share their thoughts on the articles here, but I just can’t deal with these goons any longer.

When comments are re-enabled, I’ll be sure to let you know. In the meantime, you can find my email address in the “About” section. Thanks!

Hi Spammers!

Just a quick note, knock it off! I moderate all comments on SciFi-Guy.com, and besides, I barely get any traffic anyways. So, for your sake and mine, why don’t we just play nice and you go spam somewhere that isn’t paying attention?

Thanks!

*** To everyone else: Thanks for visiting! I encourage you to post a comment anywhere on the site. If you’re wondering why I’m yelling at spammers, its because I moderate everything so I always have to deal with them. Anyways, thanks again for visiting the SciFi-Guy.com, and I look forward to chatting with ya!

Well, a couple days ago I saw a thread post on a forum I hang out at titled “What will the internet become?” and my brain started humming. A lot of ideas came out, and I started really wondering what the web and our interconnected reality might turn in to within 40 or 50 years.

So, I wrote a very quick piece of fiction titled, Influencer.

The central idea that I wanted to invent was an implant which essentially puts the internet in to our minds. I imagined an implant that just simply talks to the brain and goes digging up information essentially on demand, and carries out commands just as we type in web addresses today.

It’s a quick and choppy tale, and was frankly written in less than an hour, but I hope you’ll enjoy a glimpse in to a potential reality of the future, where we know nearly everything about anything. I might create another tale in this same universe if I can conjure up a worthwhile story for it.

I’m pleased to present a first chapter (well, maybe “chapter” is a strong word, but it’s at least an introduction) to a new story I’m concocting, titled, From the Fall. This is an entirely original work of fiction, and I hope you’ll continue to return as I expand on it. I’m looking forward to writing purely for the web for the time being, and I encourage you to comment on it as the story grows and matures.

Click here to read From the Fall, Chapter One: The Houston.

Ahh, the life of a part-time hobby blogger. It’s difficult, I’ll tell you that much. My original goal for SciFi-Guy.com was to update it at least 3 times a week, but over the last 2 months I’ve been absolutely swamped with work. It’s one of those great problems to have, but I have missed updating the blog here. Well, keep tuned in, there will be more. I just wanted to take a second to thank those people that have linked to me and commented on the previous posts. In other news…

… I cannot believe Lost Season 3 isn’t going to be available until late fall on DVD. That’s rediculous. I was hoping to partake on a Lost-a-thon as a recreational activity through the fall, but now I’m going to have to time things carefully.

… I’m still a little burned by the bad feeling Gregory Benford left with Artifact. I picked up a few new Year’s Best Science Fiction books with short stories, and he has more features. I wonder, can he become my new arch SciFi nemesis?

… Upcoming reviews that I haven’t gotten a chance to write yet: Arthur C. Clarke’s Rendevouz with Rama, Year’s Best SciFi 9, and a look back at the summer that brought us Transformers.

I’ve had a lot of fun working on this blog, and I’ve managed to keep up my hopes of writing at least 5 times a week. It’s challenging to write a blog consistently, and trust me – I’ve tried before (and failed). However, this blog has gotten me thinking about a couple things that I wanted to share with other bloggers or bloggers-to-be.

It’s a lot easier to write about something you’re passionate about.

While this sounds like a cheesy introduction to a textbook on writing, it actually is very true. Whenever I think about science fiction, I get a mental rush from all the great stories I’ve seen and read. While of course there’s lots of science fiction garbage (thanks, SciFi Channel!), there are so many outstanding stories that I feel confident I’ll be able to write this blog until the internet freezes over. The life of a science fiction enthusiast is filled with mystery, amazement, and thought provoking ideads. I hope to continue sharing them with you for a long time to come.

Wordpress is a great blogging platform.

I’ve been a WP user for a short while now (on SciFi-Guy.com and a few other projects), and I have to say, I’m always impressed with it. It’s easy to setup (especially with GoDaddy’s automatic installation scripts in Metropolis), customization is fairly easy, and the features are extremely robust. Best of all, I haven’t really had the site crash yet – which for anyone that’s been involved in web stuff for as long as I have can tell you is a blessing!

There exists a great array of science fiction fans on the web.

Of course we all know that there are science fiction fans, but online there really are some great communities and individuals that are keeping the conversation lively. I’ve found a few great connections through MyBlogLog, Technorati, and other places, and the comments that I’ve received (especially on the Lost Season 3 epically long post and this one) have been great.

Anyways, I’ll keep reading and watching sci fi, and I hope you’ll continue to enjoy reading my thoughts, reviews, previews, and news here. As always, if you have any suggestions for things I should give a shot, please leave a comment (I read them all).