4 posts tagged “scifi”

Still waiting for Alastair Reynolds next book "The Prefect".  Was supposed to come out Mid-April, but I have not seen it yet.  If you have not read his SciFi, you owe it to yourself to do so.

An interesting reading from the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America VP.  Here is the interesting portion of his article:

I'm also opposed to the increasing presence in our organization of webscabs, who post their creations on the net for free.  A scab is someone who works for less than union wages or on non-union terms; more broadly, a scab is someone who feathers his own nest and advances his own career by undercutting the efforts of his fellow workers to gain better pay and working conditions for all. Webscabs claim they're just posting their books for free in an attempt to market and publicize them, but to my mind they're undercutting those of us who aren't giving it away for free and are trying to get publishers to pay a better wage for our hard work.

I am sure this will start an interesting conversation.  Not sure if I would want this joker to represent me if I was a writer.  Can't wait to see a response from Cory Doctorow.

This is one of the funniest things I have seen in a long time!

First, I decided to upgrade my Directv to the HR20 so that I have one box for HD and DVR vs. the two separate boxes.  I know I am asking for trouble as all I read on the web regarding this piece of equipment is negative. 

So far I have had it for about 24 hrs and have had to reset it once already.  This morning when I turned on the HR20 and my TV, I could get no picture or sound.  It would pull up the DVR menu and grid, I could pull up the signal test and all was OK.  Just no picture and no sound on any channel including the over-the-air channels.  So hit reset, 5 long minutes later, all is working fine.

My only other issue is that I am not receiving my local channels via Directv, only over-the-air.  I need to call them regarding - I just have not had the motivation to deal with support.  I seem to call them all the time, and here I am on the "A List" (who isn't?) and go through all the steps I have already done before.

I still hate the user interface vs. TIVO.  I think I may plug my old Directv Tivo back in to record standard definition television and only use the HR20 for the High-def stuff.  I will use the HR20 longer before I decide this.

For those that are real GEEKs out there, you probably heard of this site; I had, but it has been a long time since I have visited and more stuff has been added.  So if you are a Scifi nut, visit Jeff Russell's Starship Dimensions.  If is cool.

Finally, can anyone send me a Joost invite?