26 Time Flies Like A Pixel, Fruit Files Like A Scroll

Posted on May 20, 2026 by Mike Glyer

(1) HALF POUND OF THE RINGS. BBC celebrates the “‘Precious’ features of 50p marking Lord of the Rings film anniversary”. (Subscription required for readers outside UK.)

The one ring coin is the first of seven commemorative Lord of the Rings coins to be released in the next three years

A new coin marking 25 years since Peter Jackson’s first Lord of the Rings film has some “precious” features, including a golden “one ring”, Elvish script and an all-seeing Eye of Sauron “emerging” from its centre.

“Forged not in the fires of Mount Doom but in Wales,” said the Royal Mint in Llantrisant, Rhondda Cynon Taf, of its tribute to the Academy Award-winning film The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

It called the design, which allows the eye of the JRR Tolkien villain Sauron to be seen on some of the 50p collectables, “a UK coinage first”.

The Royal Mint said it will release seven coins in the series, marking the 25th anniversaries of the second and third films.

“It’s the kind of craftsmanship even the Elves of Rivendell would admire,” the Royal Mint added….

… A selection of the 50p coins will also include what the Royal Mint called a “groundbreaking caustic feature”.

“When light strikes the surface of the coin,” it said, “a hidden image is revealed, the all-seeing eye of Sauron, emerging from the negative space at the centre of the Ring…

(2) INTERNATIONAL BOOKER PRIZE. A non-genre work, “’Taiwan Travelogue’ Wins International Booker Prize”. Publishers Weekly has details.

Taiwan Travelogue by Yáng Shuāng-zǐ, translated from Mandarin Chinese by Lin King, was announced as the winner of the 2026 International Booker Prize during a ceremony at Tate Modern in London on Tuesday night.

The book is the first translated from Mandarin Chinese to win the prize, and its U.K. publisher, Sheffield-based independent press And Other Stories, is the first publisher to win the award in consecutive years, following its 2025 win with Heart Lamp by Banu Mushtaq, translated by Deepa Bhasthi.

The book was first published in Mandarin Chinese in 2020 and won Taiwan’s Golden Tripod Award, the country’s highest literary honor. Lin King’s English translation, published in the U.S. by Graywolf Press, won the National Book Award for Translated Literature in 2024. King is the first Taiwanese-American translator to win the International Booker, and Yáng is the first Taiwanese author to take the prize. The £50,000 award is split equally between author and translator.

The book masquerades as the translation of a rediscovered 1938 travel memoir by a Japanese writer on a culinary tour through occupied Taiwan, accompanied by a local interpreter, who shares a similar name and serves as a cook, guide, and romantic interest. The structure of the book is metafictional, offering an introduction and numerous afterwords, all of which PW’s review said added up to a “dizzying” and “alluring” work….

(3) EATING THE FANTASTIC. Scott Edelman invites listeners to savor Singapore Vermicelli with Charles Stross in Episode 282 of the Eating the Fantastic podcast.

Charles Stross, an 18-time Hugo Award-nominated writer who’s won three times for his novellas. I’ve been reading him for nearly four decades, ever since his first Interzone short story publication in 1987, but he really blew me away with his 2001 Asimov’s novelette “Lobsters,” which seems to have made an impression on the rest of the world as well, for it went on to become the first of his stories to be nominated for a Hugo and a Nebula.

He’s also won Locus Awards for both Best Novel and Best Novella, and has been shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award. His novels have also won the Kurd Lasswitz and Italia Awards. The Regicide Report, the final book in his Laundry Files series, was released in January. His other series include Merchant Princess and the Singularity. Plus he’s got a whole new series in the works, one for which I got an advance peek, and you’ll hear us talk all about it in the conversation which follows.

We discussed the twelve “novel-shaped objects” he wrote before making his first professional sale, what changed in his life which meant instead of taking three years to write one novel he could write three novels in one year, why back at the beginning of his career he considered himself the “failure to launch” of the Interzone generation of writers (and how that changed), how to best take the temperature of critique group criticism, why it was time to wrap up his Laundry Files series (and who he had to become in order to be able to write that finale), the way the opening sentence of an as yet unfinished novel became the seed for a new series in progress, how his love for Harry Harrison’s Stainless Steel Rat novels ties into his next project, the evolving nature of convention-going for long-time attendees, and much more.

(4) NEW SOURCES. Jason Collins tells SFWA Planetside readers about “Unearthing Timbuktu’s Legacy: Using West African Manuscripts in SFF Worldbuilding”.

…Today, writers in the science fiction and fantasy genre should thank all those who worked to preserve the great works of Timbuktu, as many of these West African manuscripts could be the blueprints for new imaginative tales.

These manuscripts reveal that African civilizations were theorizing law, cosmology, and ethics concurrently with European traditions. They also depict worlds where spirituality and science coexisted rather than collided and where libraries served as political and moral centers of society.

Drawing from Timbuktu’s archives is to engage with an alternative intellectual lineage that redefines what “ancient knowledge” might look like in speculative fiction. The desert city was built on scholarship, where the true currency was knowledge and where literacy was a civic duty and a spiritual pursuit. With Timbuktu’s manuscripts, a talented speculative writer can build societies that think, argue, and evolve on their own terms, not according to what’s already well established in the genre….

…By leaning on Timbuktu’s knowledge, a writer could create an expansive society that bucks the norm, where might is not reliant on a sword, and a book of star maps is as prized as the business end of a blade. Where scholars wield influence through their mastery of astronomy and jurisprudence. Writers could go so far as to replace knights and castles with mathematicians and libraries who strive for a just cause, shifting the emotional center of a story from conquest to inquiry.

The manuscripts themselves suggest near-endless narrative possibilities that reach beyond how a world could look. They feature astronomical treatises that map lunar cycles, medical texts with herbal remedies, and legal and ethical writings. This could guide a writer to imagine a world in which priests measure destiny through planetary alignments, healers blend faith and science with a touch of magic, or a civilization develops a justice system that is as complex as their speculative world. The opportunities are endless….

(5) PROPOSED COMPENSATION FOR PUBLISHER FAILURE. “Authors Guild Calls For Info on Books Without Copyright Registration” reports Publishes Lunch.

The Authors Guild is soliciting information from any author whose publisher did not register their book’s copyright, “and that they believe they were excluded from the Bartz v. Anthropic class action settlement because of that.” The AG wants to “assess the scope of the issue,” ceo Mary Rasenberger said, and encourage authors to look at their contracts to see if publishers were required to register, and in what timeframe. Some contract language only indicates that the publisher “may” register the copyright, while other boilerplates more clearly state that the publisher “shall” register.

“We think that publishers should pay authors $1500 for each title published before upload dates of July 2021 or August 2022 that were not registered but where the contracts required registration,” Rasenberger said. (That is approximately half of the roughly $3,000 per title that the Anthropic settlement is expected to pay out, after deducting lawyers fees—which still requires the judge’s final view and approval.) “We think that is the fair thing to do whether or not we know for sure that the books were uploaded.”

To date, Macmillan is the only publisher that has agreed to reimburse any author who was excluded from the Anthropic settlement because their copyright was unregistered, and fix the workflow that allowed the gaps to happen.

(6) CANNED WRITER. Gizmodo has heard that “Damon Lindelof Equates His ‘Star Wars’ Firing to the Franchise’s Biggest Issue”.

Even with a new Star Wars movie opening in theaters this week, the future of the franchise is very much up in the air. Three years after announcing three different films at Star Wars Celebration in 2023, none of them have seen any significant public movement. Odder yet, the two movies that have progressed are completely unrelated. So what’s the deal? Someone who was there, on the inside, has an idea, and it may be why he’s no longer on the inside.

Damon Lindelof, one of the writers behind Lost, Watchmen, the upcoming Lanterns, and more, was recently on House of R to talk about this week’s The Mandalorian and Grogu as well as Star Wars as a whole. Eventually, Lindelof felt the need to address “the bantha in the room,” which was the fact that he was fired from a Star Wars movie. That movie, which would’ve been directed by Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy, was believed to be an early iteration of a Rey-centric New Jedi Order story set after the events of The Rise of Skywalker.

“They asked me, ‘What do you think a Star Wars movie should be?’ And I said, ‘Here’s what it should be.’ And they said, ‘Great, you’re hired.’ And then two years later, I was fired. And so I was wrong. At least through that prism,” Lindelof said. “What we were attempting to do, my partner Justin Britt-Gibson and Rayna McClendon and I, was to have this conversation [that he was currently having on the podcast] in the movie, which is to say there is a force of nostalgia and there is a force of revision and and they are at odds with one another and let’s do the Protestant Reformation inside Star Wars and and it didn’t work. […] The conversation that the fandom is having without winking and looking at the audience… that didn’t feel necessarily that risky.”

The issue, according to Lindelof, is that there was no clear vision of the movie’s purpose, which slowed things down considerably. So he thinks that had more to do with his firing than anything else.

“I may have been fired, they seem to like the premise, just the writing was really hard. It was slow. The tone. Getting it right. Where it was inside of the canon? What its relationship was with to Episode IX? Is it starting a new trilogy? All of those things. They’re so massive. They’re so big. It’s sort of the tanker equation which is you turn the wheel and it takes 5 minutes before it turns a little bit like this,” he said….

(7) VERDICTS ON SHORT SFF. C. Wolf weighs the fiction in a recent semiprozine: “Short Fiction Review: Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue 457” at Item 202. Here’s an excerpt:

“Slayer of Dreams” by Auston Habershaw [12520 words]

In the city of Avissos, the Onierarch, or Dream Tyrant, taxes the dreams of its citizens whether asleep or awake. By day the city exists solely to witness glorious arena battles between champions and gorgons – monsters of fire and steel. The barbarian witch Katatha returns to the city for revenge, years after escaping enslavement by the Dream Tyrant. She intends to use the city’s greatest champion, Hargeas, as her tool against her enemy in hopes of freeing the people of the city from its grasp.

Habershaw is a sturdy and seasoned SFF author, and this shows in both the elements of his worldbuilding and steadily rising tension of the narrative. Grotesque details like the shape-changing, fire-spitting gorgons; the creepy way the Onierarch puppets its adherents; the bottles of “champion sweat” people hang around their necks or on doorframes as talismans. Ultimately, I couldn’t decide if I wanted the piece to be longer or shorter, to revel in its minutia or tell a tighter, terser story. Perhaps it falls just short of balancing the two. Otherwise, a solid and imaginative tale.

(8) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY.

[Written by Cat Eldridge.]

May 20, 1928 — Shirley Rousseau Murphy. (Died 2022.)

Now we come to a woman who wrote about cats who talked and understood human speech, Shirley Rousseau Murphy. How could I resist such a writer? Certainly the Pixels wouldn’t be happy if I didn’t celebrate her, would they?

The series that I’m interested is the Joe Grey series which involves a number of felines in a small coastal California town with a thriving tourist trade who develop the rather unusual ability not only to understand human speech but to talk it as well. No, it’s not explained, nor should it be. It is just is as all such things should be.

In first novel, Cat on the Edge, Joe Grey, our central feline and mostly the narrator here and in all of the novels, is the only witness to a murder. As the author says on her website, “Escaping the killer, he becomes the hunted, and he’s one scared tomcat–until he meets green-eyed Dulcie, a charmer with talents to match his own.” He also discovers shortly there’s the aforementioned talents. Weirded out at first, he’s delighted eventually.

The writing here is better than just decent with some quite unexpected plot developments that add considerable depth to the story. Joe Grey as a cat seems a feline in his behavior, the setting is charming and makes sense, and the mysteries are reasonably good though I wouldn’t call them particularly deep. I should admit I find that true of nearly every mystery I read. If characters are interesting, the plot fascinating and the setting well crafted, I don’t care that the mystery is slight at best, which they more often than not are.

It obviously sold well as there were twenty-one novels before she stopped with the last, Cat Chase the Moon, published after her death. A novella, Cat Chase the Moon, which I think is a prequel also has been published only by the usual suspects.

So all of these novels in this series I suspect based on listening to the first eight and a number of the latter to date are all like any series of this sort such that you could read any or all of them and be entertained by what you read. Is there an explicit order to them? No idea though I do know the last one does wrap up the series.

She has a number of other works, none of which I’ve read.

The Fontana Duology is a paranormal series involving Satan Himself with cats again prominently involved based on the really cute orange tabbies on both covers, and also the titles are The Cat, the Devil, and Lee Fontana and The Cat, the Devil, the Last Escape.

Tired of cats yet? You’re out of luck if you are as she wrote went on to pen The Catswold Portal where a young girl could transform herself into, oh guess. She actually notes on her website that she describes each cat in detail so this is a small calico.

Ok, I promise no more cats, so finally I’ll stop with dragons that I consider to be akin to cats. I really do. They probably like having their bellies tickled. Carefully.

The Dragonbards trilogy which has as its story a sleeping dragon who awakens only to find her beloved land ruled by an evil despot and the only one who can save is a bard who is not be found. It’s a YA series that got very, very good reviews.

Well I should say that she did unicorn fiction as well. Her story is “Starhorn” which is found in The Unicorn Treasure which she edited in the hardcover first edition from Doubleday cover art and illustrations by Tim Hildebrandt.

(I am not looking at her children’s fiction which would take many more paragraphs. Really it would. And there’s horses there.)

Cats, dragons, unicorns. Is that the Holy Trinity of fantasy fiction? If not, it should be.

(9) COMICS SECTION.

Free Range makes reading sound like flying, in a way.
Speed Bump has an inside publishing joke.
The Argyle Sweater shows the advantage of a large customer base.
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal sets off alarms.

Tom Gauld plays with an idea that reminds me of Valente’s Space Opera.

(10) GERROLD CONTRIBUTES TO TREK 60TH COMIC. “Star Trek 60th Anniversary Comic To Feature 10 Stories; Writers Include Mike McMahan And David Gerrold” reports TrekMovie.com.

This year, IDW has been celebrating the 60th anniversary of Star Trek with new series and one-shots, and we just got details on the jam-packed anniversary special comic they have planned for September. The super-sized one-shot will have a total of ten stories from across the franchise with a star-studded lineup that includes Star Trek: Lower Decks creator Mike McMahan and TOS writer David Gerrold. We have the full lineup and lots of covers for the special comic…

(11) MURDER IN STYLE. Camestros Felapton’s robot series arrives at “RF:Ph04:Ch63: Doctor Who and The Robots of Death”.

…In the story [The Robots of Death], The Doctor (Tom Baker) and his new companion Leela (Louise Jameson) arrive via the Tardis on board a giant futuristic sand mining vehicle. They quickly become embroiled in a murder mystery in which the crew of the sand miner are murdered one by one.

If you haven’t seen it then “crew of the sand miner” is accurate but misleading. This is not a story with the aesthetics of Alien. When we are introduced to the crew they are lounging around and the interior of the sand miner is more like the BBC’s attempt at a futuristic hotel. All of the human crew wear fabulous outfits, and several of them have large headpieces. Commander Uvanov has a particularly notable headress that is sort of like an art-deco bishops mitre. They all have complex face make up, and the implication is they are the product of a decadent society.

So if the crew are not coded as working class miners, who is? The clue is in the title. The sand miner is run by robots, and these robots are absolutely gorgeous. They are such a clever design, that it is astonishing they were just used for this one serial. The people playing the robots are dressed in metallic padded clothing which is suggestive of a servants uniform. What really makes the design is the full head mask, which is a metallic face in a kind of sculpted style. The back of the head is covered in a similar scultped design intended to suggest stylised hair in stacked waves. The faces and clothing style of all the robots are the same but they come in different colours…

(12) STALK AROUND THE CLOCK. BFI wants you to know about “10 great Japanese time-travel films”.

At the 48th edition of the Japan Academy Film Prize (also known as the Japanese Academy Awards), the big winner was A Samurai in Time (2023) from writer-director Jun’ichi Yasuda, which picked up best film. The low-budget feature has not only been a major awards triumph in Japan but a financial one too, passing the 1 billion yen mark at the domestic box office. Yasuda’s movie is an indie success story, but it’s also just one recent example of inspiration and innovation concerning the device at the film’s centre: time travel.

With animated blockbusters like Your Name (2016) and Mirai (2018) and a wave of independent films making a splash at home and internationally, Japanese filmmakers across the last decade, in particular, have made commercial and critical hits out of creative approaches to time travel – whether their characters are people stuck in time loops, separated romantics trying to reach each other across timelines, or a child meeting past and future versions of his family.

If you go back through the decades (without the need for a time machine), Japan has long delivered some of the more fascinating, technically ambitious and thrilling time-travel stories, across very different genres. The particular mode of A Samurai in Time is a fish-out-of-water comedy that successfully swerves into existential drama, as an Edo period samurai is struck by lightning and transported to mid-2000s Japan, finding work as a stunt performer in TV dramas depicting the era from which he came….

Here’s one example:

Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (2020)

Director: Junta Yamaguchi

The second film on this list written by Makoto Ueda, Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes has proved one of the major Japanese indie success stories of recent years. Part of that is due to the microgenre it belongs to, alongside fellow cult sensation One Cut of the Dead (2017): nagamawashi films, in which the entire story is seemingly filmed in one single, unbroken shot – appropriately enough for a time-travel tale, you’d have to revisit Junta Yamaguchi’s movie multiple times to pinpoint the barely perceptible cuts.

Filmed over just seven nights, this intricate, lively comedy sees a café worker, Kato (Kazunari Tosa), discover that the PC monitor in his bedroom is projecting a video transmission from himself in the future, but only two minutes ahead and seemingly from the café TV downstairs. In investigating, Kato unwittingly performs actions described by his future self, and soon recruits his clueless colleagues to try stretching how far forward they can view the café’s upcoming events.

(13) VIDEO OF THE DAY. How It Should Have Ended has the corrected script ready: “How Super Mario Galaxy Should Have Ended”.

[Thanks to John King Tarpinian, Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Chris Barkley, Mark Roth-Whitworth, Kathy Sullivan, Steven French, Mike Kennedy, and Andrew Porter for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Jeff Smith.]

Pixel Scroll 3/31/26 Why? It Has To Be Pixels Because They’re All Out Of Snakes

Posted on March 31, 2026 by Mike Glyer

(1) TOMORROW HUMANS FLY TO THE MOON FOR THE FIRST TIME IN 53 YEARS. Artemis II, the first crewed mission of the Artemis program, is scheduled to launch from Kennedy Space Center in Florida at 6:24 p.m. Eastern on Wednesday, April 1.

NASA will provide live coverage of prelaunch, launch, and mission events – this page will be continuously updated: “NASA Sets Coverage for Artemis II Moon Mission”.

Upcoming NASA Mission Coverage

Wednesday, April 1

7:45 a.m. EDT | Live coverage of tanking operations for NASA’s (SLS) Space Launch System rocket for Artemis II begins. Coverage includes live rocket views with audio commentary.

▶ Watch on YouTube

12:50 p.m. EDT | Live launch coverage of Artemis II begins.

▶ Watch on Amazon Prime, YouTube, and NASA+

(2) WARMING UP THE AUDIENCE. Elizabeth Bear introduced the film “Fahrenheit 451” at the Worcester Public Library last weekend. She has posted her script at Throw Another Bear in the Canoe.

What follows is a slightly tidied-up version of my remarks to introduce Fahrenheit 451 at the Worcester Public Library last Saturday, March 28th.

Welcome.

The film we are about to watch is a 1966 Francois Truffaut adaptation of a 1953 Ray Bradbury novel about book burning, censorship, state capture of media, propaganda, the proliferation of parasocial relationships replacing real ones, forced conformity, and fake news.

If that seems relevant to our world today, I have to admit, I agree.

Bradbury was influenced in his writing by his experiences with McCarthyism, Naziism, and the changing media landscape of his lifetime, which spanned the golden age of radio and the height of broadcast television. Broadcast media concerned him greatly: he thought that it would inevitably lead to a dumbing down of the populace and was an ideal vector for propaganda and social control. He warned of a flourishing of censorship and authoritarianism as a result.

Truffaut brought that thematic charge into the 1960s and the modernist era, using the visual language of futurism to create a sense of everyday claustrophobia, conformity, and peril, and to symbolize the death of the life of the mind….

… However, one psychological truth that manifests through that metaphor is among the ways in which authoritarianism gets a roothold to begin with: with that intolerance for uncomfortable ideas. When people are not willing to have their preconceptions challenged, they try to create an environment where they will never be pushed back against. Nobody really wants to deal with moral complexities and nuance: we want a world where we can be right. And that’s the world that Truffaut’s authoritarians provide for their populace. One where the answers are simple and the good guys always win and you never have to feel that faint unease that maybe there are a lot of ethical compromises in every action and throughout history….

(3) THE MELODY LINGERS ON. In a post about books that continue well-known series, J. W. McCormack, editor of The Baffler, disapproves of Sanderson’s Wheel of Time novels: “Neverending Stories”. (First article free; subscription required thereafter.)

…The most tragic case of a continuation novel in recent memory is likely that of Robert Jordan’s tetradecalogy The Wheel of Time, the last three novels of which were finished after Jordan’s death from a rare blood disease by graphomaniacal Mormon Magic: The Gathering enthusiast Brandon Sanderson, who makes between $10 and $55 million a year for his own best-selling, ponderous fantasy novels. Hand-selected by Jordan’s widow to complete The Wheel for Tor Publishing Group after, no kidding, auditioning via obituary, Sanderson’s three volumes exchange Jordan’s hard lore regarding the Aes Sedai, Darkfriends, and the prophesied Car’a’carn for stupefied descriptions of buildings (“stonework and wood”); sentences beginning with “women are like . . .”; and so much reliance on plot over prose that people are often “perked up,” described as “tanned,” and, according to one intrepid blog, sniff in disdain 75 times in 978,460 words (which may not sound like a lot, but The Lord of the Rings apparently tallies 28 sniffs total)….

(4) MORROW Q&A. At CrimeReads, “Bethany C. Morrow Talks Religious Horror, Slow-Burn Storytelling, and Crafting Atmospheres of Anxiety” with Molly Odintz.

MO: The Body made me think of that scale in Donny Darko where everything is placed on a continuum of love and fear; in The Body, love is the source of fear: a visceral fear of loss, rejection, and abandonment. What did you want to explore about community, connection, and the fragility of the ties that bind?

BCM: The Body is probably most about consequences. Not for Mavis; for groups who successfully employ coercive control—which, yes, must depend on fear. The entire ecosystem of repression is dependent on fear. Which means, also, that there is no opportunity for love to exist at all. There’s therefore no community, no connection—as soon as you threaten someone, love is impossible. Consent is impossible. Intimacy is impossible.

(5) TV RECOMMENDATION. [Item by Olav Rokne.] This article is almost a month old, but having watched the series, it’s definitely SFF and it’s delightful. “Small Prophets review – Mackenzie Crook’s magical new comedy is pure, pure pleasure” – in the Guardian.

…If there is a message or a moral, it is that there are still wonderful things at hand in a world that might seem like it is running out of them. The existence of Small Prophets proves the point: that British telly can still create impossible marvels like this is a reason to keep believing in magic.

(6) PUBLIC MEDIA FUNDING BAR REMOVED. “Judge Blocks Trump’s Restrictions On PBS And NPR Funding” – Deadline analyzes the decision.

A federal judge blocked Donald Trump‘s executive order that prohibited federal agencies from providing funding to NPR and PBS.

In a ruling issued on Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Randolph Moss wrote that the president’s executive order “singles out two speakers and, on the basis of their speech, bars them from all federally funded programs.”

“Although there are many lawful reasons that the government might decline to make ‘a valuable governmental benefit’ available to someone, punishing disfavored private speech is not one of them,” the judge wrote.

In an executive order last May, Trump prohibited the U.S. government from distributing any funds to the public media outlets, deeming them biased.

Read the judge’s ruling in the PBS and NPR case.

While the ruling is a victory for NPR and PBS, part of their lawsuit is now moot. Last summer, the Republican-controlled Congress rescinded all federal funding to the entity that distributed public media money, the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. The CPB later dissolved.

The judge’s opinion does not change the revocation of CPB money, but he noted that PBS and NPR still received grants from other federal agencies and entities. He wrote, “The message is clear: NPR and PBS need not apply for any federal benefit because the President disapproves of their ‘left-wing’ coverage of the news. Because the First Amendment does not tolerate viewpoint discrimination and retaliation of this type, the Court will issue judgment against the federal- agency defendants declaring Section 3(a) of the Executive Order is unconstitutional and will issue an injunction barring those defendants from implementing it.”…

(7) A FYRE FESTIVAL FOR BARBIE FANS. The New York Times tells “How Barbie Dream Fest Turned Into a Nightmare”. (Behind a paywall.)

It was advertised as “the ultimate Barbie fan event.”

The billing of an attraction as a life-size Barbie Dreamhouse led fans to believe they would be physically stepping into the doll’s iconic home to play around and pose for pictures. They also expected a neon-filled 1980s roller disco and a space-themed exhibition titled “Beyond the Stars.” Doll lovers from around the world bought tickets expecting a weekend of quality entertainment, photo ops and pink galore.

The reality at the event, which was held over the weekend at the Broward County Convention Center in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., was a lot less rosy, several attendees said.

The Dreamhouse was a 2-D cardboard cutout with a pink Volkswagen bus parked out front. Guests were not allowed inside the vehicle. The space exhibition consisted of an oversize Barbie box decorated with a ringed planet. The roller disco was a penned-off area on the center’s concrete floors with metal beams forming a tent but with no canvas overhead.

Eventually, the event organizers did put up a small disco ball, attendees said.

The three-day event was orchestrated by Mischief Management, an event organizer that oversees fan events like BroadwayCon. According to Mattel, the toymaker that manufactures Barbie, Mischief Management licensed the Barbie brand for the event. Mischief Management has since informed attendees that it will issue full refunds for any tickets sold.

Still, it’s cold comfort for Barbie fans who had high hopes for the event, given its formal association with Mattel.

Some of the promises panned out. The tennis star Serena Williams spoke on a panel as advertised. (Ms. Williams did not respond to a request for comment.)

Tickets started at $149 for adult admission and went up to $449. Tara Brooks, a data analyst who lives in St. Petersburg, Fla., spent about $249 on a “pink pass,” a higher-tier ticket that included a “special swag bag.” She received a bottle of Barbie-branded hand sanitizer.

“You can get them at the Dollar Store,” she added….

…Failed conventions and festivals have become something of their own genre in recent years, including the now infamous Fyre Festival, which conjures images of festivalgoers stranded on a tropical island with only cheese sandwiches in foam containers, and DashCon, a Tumblr convention in 2014 that turned out to be not much more than a ball pit in an empty hall….

The BBC reports “Barbie Dream Fest in Florida to issue refunds after fan complaints”. (Subscription required for readers outside UK.)

The organisers of the Barbie Dream Fest weekend in Florida are issuing refunds to attendees after customers complained of a lacklustre event.

The creators of the event promised “unforgettable experiences”, and advertised a roller rink and disco with a caption that read: “Join us for three days of glam, nostalgia, and dream-big energy made for Barbie fans of every generation.”

But ticketholders, who paid up to $450 (£340), say it was far from that. Photos of the event show a grey convention centre space with pink cardboard cut-out Barbie signs.

Mattel, which owns the Barbie brand, said that full refunds would be given to everyone who purchased tickets….

(8) LAST DAUGHTER OF KRYPTON. [Item by N.] The full trailer for Supergirl, who flies into theaters on June 26.

(9) MEMORY LANE.

[Written by Cat Eldridge.]

Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novel

It’s the seventy-fifth anniversary of the first publication of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation as a novel. So let’s tell the history of the novel.

In the summer of 1941, Isaac Asimov proposed to John W. Campbell of Astounding Science Fiction that he write a short story set in a slowly declining Galactic Empire, based on the fall of the Roman Empire. Campbell thought the idea was great.

Then Asimov proposed writing a series of stories depicting the fall of the first Galactic Empire and the rise of the second. Asimov would write eight stories for Campbell’s magazine over eight years (1942-1949), and they were later collected into three volumes known as The Foundation Trilogy which were published from 1951 to 1953.

Foundation was first published as a single book by Gnome Press. It has “The Psychohistorians”, “The Encyclopedists”, “The Mayors”, “The Traders” and “The Merchant Princes”. “The Encyclopedists” and “The Mayors” were novelettes, the others are short stories. As noted before, each was in Astounding Science Fiction.

The cover art is by David Kyle. Please note that on the cover it is titled Foundation: An Interplanetary Novel. When Ace published it they renamed it The 1,000 Year Plan in their two editions of 1955 and 1962.

At Tricon (1966), it would win the Hugo for Best All-Time Series. Other nominees were Burroughs’ Barsoom series, Heinlein’s Future History series , E. E. Smith’s Lensmen series and Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings.

As you know, it is now streaming as a series as Apple+.

(10) COMICS SECTION.

Bound and Gagged delivers a world of entertainment.
Dinosaur Comics traces the ruination of hobbies.
Free Range overflows the seating capacity.
Wondermark saves a lot of browser tabs.
Tom Gauld prefers brevity.

(11) NEVERMORE. “The New York Times drops freelance journalist who used AI to write book review” reports the Guardian.

The New York Times has cut ties with a freelance journalist after discovering he used artificial intelligence to help write a book review that echoed elements of a review of the same book in the Guardian.

It came after a New York Times reader flagged similarities between the paper’s January review of Watching Over Her by Jean-Baptiste Andrea, written by author and journalist Alex Preston, and an August review of the same book written by Christobel Kent in the Guardian.

The New York Times launched an investigation, during which Preston admitted that he had used AI to assist writing the review and did not spot the sections that were pulled from the Guardian before submitting it. In a statement to the Guardian on Tuesday, Preston said that he was “hugely embarrassed” and had “made a serious mistake”.

The New York Times alerted the Guardian to the overlap in an email sent on Monday, and added an editor’s note to the review acknowledging the use of AI and linking to the Guardian piece. “A reader recently alerted the Times that this review included language and details similar to those in a review of the same book published in the Guardian,” reads the editor’s note. “We spoke to the author of this piece, a freelancer reviewer, who told us he used an AI tool that incorporated material from the Guardian review into his draft, which he failed to identify and remove. His reliance on AI and his use of unattributed work by another writer are a clear violation of the Times’s standards.”…

(12) CLASSICAL FELINE. See the architectural drawing of “The Timothy T. Cat Presidential Library” at Camestros Felapton.

Library, ballroom and scratching post – this multifunctional building is a monument to the towering intellect of its namesake and a celebration of Western Culture™ with its subtle blend of classical styles….

I’d like to know what books will be on its shelves.

(13) JUST DROPPED: WORLD OF WARCRAFT SKILLET. Lodge Cast Iron is offering a “10.25 Inch Seasoned Cast Iron World of Warcraft Skillet”.

Working up an appetite defending Azeroth? This frying pan is ready to help you bring people together over an Azerothian feast. It’s seasoned and ready to use, naturally nontoxic, made in the USA, and ready for any cooking adventure. Whether you like to cook over an open fire or in your cozy kitchen, make everything from Savory Deviate Delight to a Bloodberry Tart. Plus, when you take home this skillet, you’ll also receive a code to unlock a special in-game companion!

(14) A BLOT ON THE UNIVERSE. [Item by Steven French.] The first time I saw a chain of Starlink satellites passing overhead I actually thought for a moment the alien invasion had begun! Here’s a warning on what a million will do to our view of the night sky: “A million new SpaceX satellites will destroy the night sky—for everyone on Earth” concludes Phys.org.

More than 10,000 Starlink satellitescurrently orbit Earth. We see them crawling across dark skies, no matter how remote our location, and streaking throughimages from research telescopes.

SpaceX recently announced that it wants to launch one million more of these satellites as orbital data centers for AI computing power.

A few years ago, we wrote a paper predicting what the night sky would look like with 65,000 satellites from four planned megaconstellations: SpaceX’s Starlink, Amazon’s Kuiper (now Leo), the U.K.’s OneWeb and China’s Guowang. We calibrated our models to observations of real Starlink satellites and came up with a startling prediction: One in 15 visible points in the night sky would be a satellite, not a star.

A million satellites would be so much worse.

The human eye can see fewer than 4,500 stars in an unpolluted night sky. If we permit SpaceX to launch these satellites, we will see more satellites than stars—for large portions of the night and the year, throughout the world. This will severely damage the night sky for everyone on Earth.

SpaceX’s proposal also completely fails to account for atmospheric pollution, collision risk or how to develop the technology needed to disperse waste heat from orbital data centers.’

(15) MEME-TO-SCREEN (OR SCREAM). [Item by N.] A24’s Backrooms, based on the Internet creepypasta and phenomena of the same name, (directed by the 20(!)-year old Kane Parsons, based on his web series of the same name), comes to theaters May 29.

(16) VIDEO OF THE DAY. How It Should Have Ended says this is “How Zootopia 2 Should Have Ended”.

[Thanks to SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Mark Roth-Whitworth, Kathy Sullivan, Olav Rokne, N., Cora Buhlert, Steven French, Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, John King Tarpinian, and Cat Eldridge for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day P J Evans.]

Pixel Scroll 2/2/26 Don’t Stand Underneath When The Pixels Scroll By

Posted on February 2, 2026 by Mike Glyer

(1) GROUNDHOG DAY. Reactor is a fan of these “13 Excellent Groundhog Day-Style Time Loops”.

The now-classic Groundhog Day flirts with (and breaks) the rules of multiple movie genres: romantic comedy, time travel narrative, small town dramedy, spiritual redemption tale—and it’s also given birth to an entire subgenre of its own. The “Groundhog Day episode” is a mainstay of many television series, and the plot even pops up in films, novels, and short fiction. It’s a fun way to play with established characters, putting your faves through the emotional wringer while trying to solve a murder or stop a crime. And it can be an equally effective tool for riffing on entire genre tropes; mixing in high school drama, slasher horror, or other well-worn genres can lead to some fascinating mashups. And in (almost) all cases, the protagonist stuck in the time loop comes out on the other side all the better.

We’ve compiled a list of our favorite Groundhog Day riffs and the most memorable time loops in SFF. Take a break from listening to “I Got You Babe” for the millionth time and check out these thirteen recursive tales.

Here’s one of their picks:

Stargate SG-1: “Window of Opportunity”

On a mission to a planet experiencing strange solar activity, the SG-1 team has a run-in with an archaeologist who seems a tad unbalanced. Following a geomagnetic disturbance, Jack O’Neill and Teal’c both find themselves trapped in a time loop of this day over and over. They attempt to explain this to Daniel Jackson, Sam Carter, and General Hammond with varying levels of success as the loop plays out, but fail to prevent numerous iterations over the course of many months. Because Daniel (their resident linguist, archaeologist, and anthropologist) is not a part of the time loop, Jack and Teal’c are forced to learn and memorize the alien language on the solar-wobbly planet in an effort to break the loop. Daniel also points out that a time loop allows them to do what they want without consequences, however, which leads to a series of antics on their part—they play golf through the Stargate, Jack rides a bike through the SGC, they both learn to juggle. Eventually they find out that the archaeologist they encountered on their mission is attempting to use incomplete time travel technology of the Ancients, trying to get more time with his dead wife. Jack, who lost his son some years back, appeals to the man to get him to shut down the loop. —Emmet

(2) KETTER NEWS. DreamHaven Books’ Greg Ketter gave Facebook followers an update today.

I love you all! Thank you for the thousands of emails, phone calls and book orders in the past week. It is immensely gratifying, humbling and…exhausting. My poor staff, joined by several former employees, has been moving at lightspeed processing your orders. We’re still behind but we’re working on it. We appreciate your patience and if you are waiting to place an order with us, please be a little more patient. We’ll have a slightly better idea of where we’re at in the next day or two.

About those thousands of messages: I wish I could respond to you all. I’m trying to read every one but fear I may fail at even that. We’re so flooded with sincere well-wishes that I’m on the verge of hysteria constantly, crying along with the people who burst into tears on the phone or here in person at the store. We had more than 500 people visit the store on Saturday and it was a madhouse – in the best possible way. Our biggest sales day ever and the biggest outpouring of love and respect we could ever know.

I want to say one last thing – Renee Good and Alex Pretti should still be here, living the good life in Minnesota. But they are not. ICE HAS GOT TO GO – NOW !

(3) DRAGON TAXONOMY. [Item by Jim Janney.] This guy takes a more expansive view than Tolkien’s. “There is No Proto-Dragon: The Illusion of Fictional Taxonomy” by Alex Conroy at Typebar Magazine.

When I was twelve years old, I went to my public library in search of the answer to a question: What was the first dragon? Now, I was a pretty naive kid, but I wasn’t that naive. I didn’t actually believe in dragons, at least, not at that point. But I wanted to know where the idea of them originated. There is a pretty common theory that you’ve probably heard of, that early people found dinosaur bones and called them dragons. But, while that might not be a wholly incorrect interpretation, that’s not actually the answer I was looking for.

I wanted to know, in fiction or in myth, what was the first thing that was represented as a dragon? I wanted to know because, if I could find out what the original was, I could identify the “core traits” of a dragon, as opposed to adaptations to the central premise, and thus I would know what a “true” dragon really should be, a topic that was somehow extremely important to 12 year old me….

… What I found in my fledgling research was even more confusing. There were far more categories of dragon than simply Eastern and Western. Dragons appear, in one form or another, in cultures all across the world. There is, of course, the classic western dragon, the great scaled beast with massive bat wings, the type that may have been put down by Sir Gawain. About as recognizable is the majestic eastern dragon, the huge elemental serpents that are tantamount to gods and often appear in traditional parades and festivals. There are countless other dragons besides: Meso-American dragons, from the feathered snake Kukulkan to an aspect of the deity Quetzalcoatl, African dragons in the form of lwas and other primordial beings, and a veritable wellspring of dragon myths arise when you look towards the Pacific. A cursory look at the wikipedia entry for “list of dragons in folklore” makes it seem like draconic myths hail from literally every corner of the earth.

And yet, none of them seemed to be the “first” one….

(4) NONSENSE AND SENSIBILITY. In “Starfleet Academy, Episode 4: What Nobody’s Talking About!”, Erin Underwood says a big mistake was made in how the first season’s story was ordered. Beware spoilers.

… So, with Star Trek’s Starfleet Academy you’re either going to like it or not. This isn’t a traditional review of episode 4, but rather a breakdown that separates the writing from the storytelling because I think that “bad writing” is a generic term that gets used when viewers can’t quite explain why a TV series feels off to them. What’s great about episode 4 is that when we break it down into its core pieces, we get a clear picture of what’s working and broken in the series itself.

This all boils down to one thing: the first four episodes should have been five episodes. That change ruined so much, and here’s why…

…This moment, finding the anomaly is when Lt. Rork suggested it could be a good training opportunity. Now, that decision makes so much more sense, because she’s not making it on Orientation Day (even though that’s when it was aired). As originally written and filmed, she’s making that call during a training mission to the nebula that Chancellor Ake is talking about in Episode 4.

The editing and restructuring choices of the first five episodes, smashing them ineffectively into four episodes, not only broke the narrative structure but also created a cascade of scenes that didn’t have a natural continuity. Worse, they also made both Lt. Rork and Chancellor Ake look ineffective and irresponsible in a series of bad decisions that all revolved around an ill-informed choice to stop and investigate a spatial anomaly before the students were even finished being processed.

That is how you undermine a series and kill it before it even has a chance to get going….

(5) NITPICKING AND FLYSPECKING. Camestros Felapton agrees that the series has a flaw, but it’s not the same one Erin is complaining about: “Trek Tuesday: Starfleet Academy s1e4: Vox in Excelso”.

This is the strongest episode yet of the new Trek show. It retains the core flaw in the show i.e. the whole genre of kids at wizarding school but as that is the core premise of the show it is like complaining about there being aliens in it.

By way of example of the inherent-flaws, we have that annoying thing where a supposedly large school revolves around a small social circle of students….

(6) CASTING DIVERSITY ANALYZED. A study commissioned by the broadcaster says “BBC Must Avoid ‘Clunky’ Color-Blind Casting In Shows like ‘Doctor Who’” reports Deadline.

The BBC has been urged to rethink color-blind casting “tokenism” and “preachy” storylines about the UK’s colonial history in scripted series, according to a major study commissioned by the broadcaster.

Conducted by former BAFTA chair Anne Morrison and ex-Ofcom executive Chris Banatvala, the thematic review of “portrayal and representation” across BBC output found that “clunky” depictions of race can cause more harm than good.

The 80-page report revealed audience complaints about Doctor Who casting Nathaniel Curtis as Sir Isaac Newton in the 60th anniversary special “Wild Blue Yonder,” as well as the 2023 Agatha Christie series Murder Is Easy, which featured an allegory on colonialism.

The review noted that color-blind casting was a matter of controversy for commentators and some viewers. Urging commissioners to “consider their choices carefully,” the report said that good intentions to increase diverisity can lead to inauthentic outcomes — outcomes that can sometimes be damaging to the communities they are attempting to serve.

“In depicting an anachronistic historical world in which people of colour are able to rise to the top of society as scientists, artists, courtiers and Lords of the Realm, there may be the unintended consequence of erasing the past exclusion and oppression of ethnic minorities and breeding complacency about their former opportunities,” the review said.

“What needs to be avoided is ethnic diversity which looks forced and tick box, and we found our interviewees of colour as emphatic on this point as those who were white.”…

… Though Doctor Who was referenced, the report raised an eyebrow about the specific concerns regarding Curtis, saying that a mixed-race Newton “seems much less of a stretch” in a universe in which the central character is a time-travelling extra-terrestrial, who regenerates into different actors….

(7) GO ASK ALICE. Something I heard about for the first time today. The Klingon language transation of Alice In Wonderland.

Alice in Wonderland has been translated into Klingon in 2021.

…On July 1st, 2021, Lieven L. Litaer announced his Klingon translation of the book. Its Klingon title is QelIS boqHarmey, literally “Alice’s wonders”. The book was published on November 3rd 2021, the Kindle ebook edition followed on November 8th….

…This translation by Klingon teacher Lieven L. Litaer is not just a pure translation, it conveys the wordplays into Klingon, creating all new jokes based on that language. The book is bilingual and comes with an entirely new English backtranslation, providing a better understanding of the Klingon text. A detailed appendix focuses on several translation steps and explains new words created for this project by Klingon inventor Marc Okrand….

(8) NEW TYSON BOOK. “Jonathan Karp Announces Inaugural Simon Six Title” reports Publishers Weekly. It will be by Neil deGrasse Tyson.

Outgoing Simon & Schuster CEO Jonathan Karp announced this Saturday on Instagram that Take Me to Your Leader: Perspectives on Your First Alien Encounter by Neil deGrasse Tyson will be the first title published by Simon Six, the new imprint he is launching at S&S. The book is scheduled for publication in May.

“By reading about aliens, you’re actually learning a lot about humanity and human nature,” Karp said. “In a world where a lot of things are going wrong right here on Earth, I wanted to think about something bigger and something more magnificent.”

Karp praised Tyson as “one of the most entertaining writers on science alive” and said the book examines “the practical, scientific aspects of what alien visitation would look like.” He described the title as “a book that enlarged me, and it gave me hope.”…

(9) JIM BUTCHER IS NUMBER ONE. Publishers Weekly says Jim Butcher leads the list of “This Week’s Bestsellers: February 2, 2026”.

Twelve Months, Jim Butcher’s 18th urban fantasy featuring professional wizard Harry Dresden, is #1 on our hardcover fiction list. Our review notes that the author shifts gears in this installment, “focusing on the character’s struggles, over the course of one year, to come to terms with recent devastating events.” The result is a “more intimate, and ultimately more optimistic, outing.” Stops on Butcher’s book tour included a sold-out event at Mysterious Galaxy in San Diego and an appearance at Powell’s in Portland, Ore., where Bridget Schuch and Travis Brueckner, the creators behind the Bricksonian social media accounts, presented Butcher with a custom-made Harry Dresden Lego mosaic.

(10) MEMORY LANE.

[Written by Cat Eldridge.]

Buck Rogers serial (1939)

Eighty-seven years ago, the Buck Rogers serial, produced by Universal Pictures, debuted. It starred Buster Crabbe (who had previously played the title character in two Flash Gordon serials and would return for a third.) Buster was sometimes billed as Larry Crabbe as well as you will note in the poster below.

I don’t think I need to say that it’s is based on the Buck Rogers character as y’all know that as created by Philip Francis Nowlan but for the sake of the few Filers who will nitpick if I don’t I will.

It was directed by Ford Beebe was Saul A. Goodkind as written by Norman S. Hall, Ray Trampe and Dick Calkins. It would run for twelve chapters of roughly twenty minutes each. Typical for the time

As I said Buck Roger was Larry “Buster” Crabbe with Constance Moore as Wilma Deering, and Jackie Moran as “Buddy” Wade, an original character who was based on the Sunday strip character Buddy Deering.

It had a really small budget and re-used film footage from the futuristic Thirties musical Just Imagine.

In 1953, it was edited into the film Planet Outlaws and twelve years it was edited again into Destination Saturn, not to stop there, the late Seventies saw the latter release of the latter as Buck Rogers. All three were feature films.

Not surprisingly, you can watch it online — here is the first chapter.

(11) COMICS SECTION.

The Argyle Sweater illustrates an origin story.
xkcd registered the shift in meaning.

(12) MAKING MONEY WITH MAGIC. “Lawsuit Claims Hasbro Misled Investors Regarding Sales of Controversial Magic: the Gathering Anniversary Set” – IGN has the story.

A new lawsuit filed by shareholders of Hasbro against the company and its directors alleges that company leadership has mismanaged Magic: The Gathering by overprinting sets of cards, thereby devaluing existing ones. It also, quite notably, claims that Hasbro leadership “concealed the true reason” that its widely-criticized, incredibly expensive Magic: The Gathering 30th Anniversary Set was pulled from sale within an hour of its initial release.

The lawsuit, filed in Rhode Island earlier this week, is filed by shareholders Joseph Crocono and Ultan McGlone against Hasbro CEO Christian Cocks, a number of fellow company directors, and Hasbro itself. The lawsuit alleges breaches of fiduciary duty, unjust enrichment, waste of corporate assets, gross mismanagement, abuse of control, and violations of the Exchange Act.

Specifically, the shareholder plaintiffs claim that, under Cocks’ leadership, Hasbro has been printing far too many Magic: The Gathering sets, thereby reducing the value of existing sets. This complaint probably sounds familiar to avid Magic players, as Wizards of the Coast has been printing significantly more sets per year than it used to….

… Regardless of how you count them, it is true that the card release volume has gone up lately, as anyone who’s grouchy about the number of Universes Beyond collaborations in 2026 will tell you. But the issue the shareholders have is that the volume, they claim, is exceeding consumer demand, and that Hasbro leadership is only releasing this many to get quick cash to cover up shortfalls elsewhere in the Hasbro business.

The lawsuit itself is 76 pages long, but there are two major accusations that stand out. One is an allegation that Hasbro management used something called the “Parachute Strategy.” Allegedly, leadership plotted to “parachute in” new Magic sets whenever there was a shortfall somewhere else in Hasbro. These parachute sets initially consisted of “Masters” sets – largely reprints with low production costs. However, as it grew, more sets got involved, including the aforementioned Secret Lair collaborations and the Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate set. Per the lawsuit, “As such, the explosive growth in the Magic business noted just prior to and during the Relevant Period [September 2021 – October 2023] was in fact the result of the Parachute Strategy. Notably, in 2022 such ‘parachute’ Magic sets accounted for 46% of all Magic releases.”

The second, and perhaps even spicier, accusation is the allegation that Hasbro management essentially faked being out of stock of the controversial, extremely expensive Magic 30th Anniversary Set in order to encourage demand….

(13) DIE ANOTHER DAY. [Item by Steven French.] The Guardian’s Stuart Heritage gives Darren Aronofsky’s On This Day … 1776 the thrashing it so clearly deserves: “Requiem for a film-maker: Darren Aronofsky’s AI revolutionary war series is a horror”.

If you happen to find yourself stumbling through Time magazine’s YouTube account, perhaps because you are a time traveller from the 1970s who doesn’t fully understand how the present works yet – then you will be presented with something that many believe represents the vanguard of entertainment as we know it.

On This Day… 1776 is a series of short videos depicting America’s revolutionary war. What makes On This Day notable is that it was made by Darren Aronofsky’s studio Primordial Soup. What also makes it interesting is that it was created with AI. The third thing that makes it interesting is that it is terrible….

…It is, as you might expect, as ugly as sin. It’s the sort of thing that looks like it was shooting for photorealism, but then either chickened out or blew up along the way. In the very first shot, King George’s hair looks like someone melted down and hardened a plastic badger. And this is a shame because, like so much generative AI at the moment, an awful lot of the episode consists of shots where we see the characters from behind. This is, after all, because the back of an AI-generated head is far less likely to send people into screaming fits of trauma than an AI-generated face, and Aronofsky is a humanist…

(14) ISSUES FACING DIRECTORS GUILD. Variety profiles “Christopher Nolan on Netflix-Warner Bros., AI and Being DGA President”.

Christopher Nolan is a busy man.

When he’s not working on “The Odyssey,” his sprawling adaptation of Homer’s epic, he is tackling all the other challenges facing Hollywood as the new president of the Directors Guild of America.

The union’s 20,000 members are dealing with a sharp decline in jobs, the rise of artificial intelligence, and the absorption of Warner Bros. into either Netflix or Paramount — which portends consolidation in streaming and a threat to the future of moviegoing….

… Netflix’s proposed acquisition of Warner Bros., which still must clear regulatory hurdles, raises concerns across the board. Filmmakers fear the loss of a major distributor, while those in TV face the potential consolidation of HBO Max into the largest streaming platform.

(15) HISTORY OF AN EVOLVING FIELD. [Item by Steven French.] From the History newsletter of the American Institute of Physics: “Special issue spotlight: Shaping a multi-messenger universe” at AIP.org.

When astronomers detected gravitational waves for the first time in 2016, and then in 2017 they observed both gravitational waves and electromagnetic radiation from a neutron star merger, they hailed it as the start of a new era for their field. “Multi-messenger” astronomy—the coordinated observation of electromagnetic, particle, and gravitational signals—had come into its own.

These discoveries have also captivated historians and philosophers of science, who are asking: What does it mean to observe the universe through multiple “messengers”? How did this approach emerge from earlier traditions of multi-wavelength astronomy, neutrino detection, and gravitational-wave research? And perhaps most intriguingly, is multi-messenger astronomy truly a revolutionary break from the past, or is it simply the latest iteration of practices that astronomers have employed for over a century?

In this historiographical boom, scholars are racing to document and interpret this rapidly evolving field before its early history fades from view. A new, open-access special issueof Centaurus, “Shaping a multi-messenger universe,” explores multi-messenger astronomy’s emergence, bringing together historians, philosophers, and scientists to examine both continuities and transformations in astronomical practices.

Edited by Luisa Bonolis, Roberto Lalli, and Adele La Rana, this collection tackles fundamental questions about what multi-messenger astronomy actually is—a surprisingly contested issue, even among practitioners—and how it relates to the constellation of disciplines it encompasses. The collection’s seven articles span from the dawn of telescopic astronomy to 21st-century black hole imaging, revealing how new observational windows have repeatedly reshaped astronomical work….

(16) VIDEO OF THE DAY. How It Should Have Ended brings us – “How Stranger Things Should Have Ended”.

[Thanks to Mark Roth-Whitworth, Kathy Sullivan, Steven French, Jim Janney, James Bacon, Daniel Dern, Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, John King Tarpinian, Cat Eldridge, and SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Chris R.]

Pixel Scroll 12/30/25 The Sky Over Station Eleven Was The Color Of Television Tuned To Station Eleven

Posted on December 30, 2025 by Mike Glyer

(1) SHIRE AND SENSIBILITY. Abigail Nussbaum invites readers to “Click through to learn how J.R.R. Tolkien is (and is not) like Jane Austen”: “The Great Tolkien Reread: A Long-Expected Party” at Asking the Wrong Questions.

… Now consider that this similarity—the same sort of fussy detail, the same obsession with family, rank, and home, the same sense of being sat down by an older relative who knows everybody’s business to be told a salacious tale—actually makes a great deal of sense. Like Jane Austen, Tolkien’s interest in this chapter is in “two inches of ivory”. In a small, insular world whose inhabitants regard with suspicion even those who live across the Brandywine River, much less anyone from outside the Shire. These are people to whom the needling bequests in Bilbo’s will (“For ADELARD TOOK, for his VERY OWN, from Bilbo; on an umbrella. Adelard had carried off many unlabeled ones”) are of utmost importance; and who, when they go in search of his mysteriously-gotten treasure, can take themselves no further than the Bag End cellar. They are people whom Bilbo (and to a lesser extent Frodo) both loves and is exasperated by. And unlike Jane Austen, Tolkien, and his characters, will not stay long among them….

(2) FIRST FANAC ZOOM HISTORY SESSION FOR 2026. The first FANAC Zoom History Session for the new year looks like it will be a wide-ranging one. We will be interviewing Astrid Anderson Bear about her life as a (literally) life-long fan. We will ask her about her life, her husband, her mother and her father and her friends. To attend, contact [email protected].

(3) CHECK THIS OUT. Want to know what people borrowed most often from the library this year? NPR can tell you: “Public libraries’ top check-outs in 2025 include ‘The Women’”. In some cities these genre works were among the most in demand:

…Three of the top 10 titles for the country’s biggest public library system, in New York City, were part of a bestselling romantasy series by Rebecca Yarros: Fourth Wing, Iron Flame and Onyx Storm. Yarros’ books also showed up on most-borrowed lists from the Boston Public Library, and public libraries in Boone County, Ky. and Kern County, Calif….

(4) BSFA ASSISTS INDIA SFF CON. Dip Ghosh, in a public Facebook post, told the JOF group about an sff con held a week ago in India.

I am happy to say we had our second SFcon in Kolkata, India, last week, during 19-21st December, and it was a grand success. Special shout-out to Farah Mendlesohn and BSFA for generous sponsorship and encouragement. We hope to make this a regular event every year.

The Survivology: Climate Fiction and Speculative Futures Con 2025 website is at the link.

(5) THE ROYAL NO. BBC answers the question, “Can you turn down an honour?”. (Article is behind a paywall.) (The results of the FOIA request linked below are not paywalled.)

When somebody is approved for an honour, they are sent a letter asking if they will accept it.

A list of 277 people who turned down honours between 1951 and 1999 – and subsequently died – was made public following a BBC Freedom of Information request.

It included authors Roald Dahl, JG Ballard and Aldous Huxley, and painters Francis Bacon, Lucien Freud and LS Lowry.

The late poet Benjamin Zephaniah rejected an OBE in 2003 because of the association with the British Empire and its history of slavery.

(6) SANDERSON ON WORLDBUILDING. “Even J.R.R. Tolkien left gaps: Mistborn creator Brandon Sanderson explains why total worldbuilding is a trap for new writers” at Popverse.

Brandon Sanderson knows a thing or two about worldbuilding. After all, the science fiction and fantasy author is the creator of the Cosmere literary universe. However, Sanderson believes that too many new authors get caught up with worldbuilding and says they should take a step back. After all, even J.R.R. Tolkien couldn’t worldbuild an entire world.

“A lot of authors will talk about how you want to have a giant iceberg for world-building. Meaning you have all this stuff you see, and then underneath the water, the iceberg is bigger than it is on top,” Brandon Sanderson says during a spotlight panel at New York Comic Con 2022. “The idea being that you have done all this work as a foundation for it. I find that you can’t possibly do all the world-building you need. Tolkien tried, and it took him 20 years, and there’s still holes.”

“There are very few holes in Tolkien, but there’s still stuff he didn’t get to that he would have wanted to spend world-building. Because of that, I don’t think you can realistically ever worldbuild an entire world. So, I tell people to focus on what is relevant to your characters and plot.”…

(7) PRINT SALES WERE STABLE THIS YEAR. “Dragons, Sex and the Bible Drove Book Sales in 2025” reports the New York Times. Link bypasses the paywall.

This year brought more blockbuster books about sex and magic along with best sellers nobody saw coming. Yet while sales are solid and bookstores are generally flourishing, the book business still faces a dizzying set of challenges.

Rising costs ate into profits. Nonprofit presses lost federal funding. A.I. disrupted online search results and flooded Amazon with poorly written copycat books and slapdash genre fiction, making it harder for books written by humans to stand out from the slop. Major retailers ordered fewer books than they used to, and there weren’t as many companies distributing books to stores. And book bans threatened to limit collections in schools and libraries.

“The industry itself is in transformation, which is always very challenging,” said Dominique Raccah, the publisher of Sourcebooks.

Still, people are reading — or at least buying books. Print sales are mostly stable, totaling around 707 million units in 2025 through mid-December, according to the most recent figures available from industry tracker Circana BookScan. That’s only three million less than the pandemic peak in 2021, and 57 million copies more than in 2019…

(8) TRAILER PARK. “’Avengers: Doomsday’ Trailer: Marvel Drops Thor-Themed Teaser” – Deadline sets the frame.

…Chris Hemsworth will return as the God of Thunder, and the Doomsday teaser features him on bended knee in a sepia-lit forest praying to his late father, the Norse god Odin.

He is pleading for a safe return to his daughter, Love, who will be played by Hemsworth’s real-life daughter, India. The character first appeared in 2022’s Thor: Love and Thunder.

The Thor-themed trailer is the second to be released, following a teaser revealing the return of Chris Evans as Steve Rogers — another character doting on their child ahead of impending doom. The Doomsday teasers are playing in cinemas attached to showings of Avatar: Fire and Ash.…

(9) MEMORY LANE.

[Written by Paul Weimer.]

One Million B.C. (Raquel Welch version)

By Paul Weimer: One Million B.C., the Raquel Welch version. Or, WPIX strikes again.

I’ve mentioned WPIX, an independent station in NYC (channel 11) was responsible for me first seeing this movie¹. It was around when I was first watching Buck Rogers in the 25th Century, so it was around 1980 or so.

The movie is sheer nonsense. I had cause to rewatch it a couple of years ago, randomly during the height of the pandemic (big mood) when I tried to, and failed, to work from home due to technological limitations. I wanted to have something mindless on. And of all the things I could have picked, I delved into my youth and went with One Million B.C. I wound up watching more of the movie than I intended, as my laptop and my internet connection glacially struggled and my work production was minimal. (I would soon go back to the office, and in an office of 120 people, be one of ten in the building for weeks on end.)

So while I remembered a lot about this movie (and not just Raquel Welch in the famous fur bikini), there was a lot that I didn’t remember so much and got to see on the refresher. I remembered there was a big climatic battle between the two factions, for example, but the volcano erupting in the middle of it in a deus ex volcana was not something I had actively recalled. But the Triceratops fight against the small meat-eating dinosaur? I think that made a big impression on me back in the day and is why the trike is in my top three dinosaurs.

And sure, humans and dinosaurs never co-existed together, ever. But I do wonder if Stirling’s The Sky People, which is set in a universe with a habitable Venus and Mars wasn’t inspired by this film. While his Mars is all ancient civilizations, his Venus is jungles…with dinosaurs…and, cavemen (and beautiful cave women, too as it so “coincidentally” happens).

Fun fact: Apparently there is an earlier 1940 version in black and white. No fur bikinis in that one. Not only because of the mores of the 1940’s…but bikinis themselves had not yet been invented yet! I’ve never seen it. I wonder if any Filer has?

Anyway, the remake is mindless fun, still.

¹ The luxury of pre-cable TV in New York was in retrospect incredible: CBS (2), NBC (4) ABC (7). Independent stations on 5 (later, Fox) 9 (later the CW), and WPIX 11 the biggest of the independents (later WB). 13 was PBS, and then there were other PBS stations including 21, and 50 (50 showing the Doctor Who “movies” I’ve mentioned before). So the Independents really could specialize and WPIX specialized in movies. They called themselves “New York’s Movie Station” and meant it.

(10) COMICS SECTION.

Carpe Diem knows what to fix.
Mother Goose and Grimm have a connection.
Non Sequitur wanted to simplify.
Rhymes with Orange says the restrictions started at Kitty Hawk.
Savage Chickens has previous work experience.
xkcd enjoys life at high altitude.

(11) BBC NEWS HAS AI EXPERT GUEST EDITOR. [Item by SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie.] If anyone is not worried about artificial intelligence then they have not been paying attention… is the summary view of the head of Microsoft AI, Mustafa Suleyman, who was a guest editor on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.

How come the head of Microsoft AI was a guest editor on Today? Well for that you have to understand the current landscape of weekday British news broadcasts. Regarding TV, news buffs get their news from Channel 4’s 7 p.m. hour-long news programme (repeated an hour later on Channel 4+1). Channel 4 is a self-funded (through advertising) public broadcast service. For in-depth analysis of a couple of the topics of the day, news aficionados go to BBC 2’s News Night. But for the latest news it is BBC Radio 4’s, three-hour Today programme airing 6 a.m. – 9 a.m. It always has a Member of Parliament being interviewed and frequently Government Ministers on it and is listened to over breakfast and those commuting: the programme triggers the start of the UK daily news cycle. However, over the Christmas – New Year period (Betwixmas) when Parliament is in recess, they have daily guest editors who are established artists, philosophers, industrialists, scientists, sports folk. Hence on Monday we had the Head of Microsoft AI.

He asked the programme’s team to pull together interviewees and here even brought in his boss Bill Gates.

The gist of all the interviews was that we are on the cusp of big change and an unknown but possibly great future though they are, most of the interviewees stressed, risks! A surprise for me was Bill Gates advocating taxing AI and us to reconsider how we pay people.

AI is, of course, a major SF trope and many in the SF community are concerned about how it undermines creators intellectual property and livelihood.

I have often said that the machines are taking over, but perhaps now some are beginning to listen?

AI pioneer Mustafa Suleyman is the fourth Today guest editor this Christmas period.

You can access the programme here though if outside Britain you may need a subscription (but I think this might be open access for a month).

(12) NASA LOSSES. Space.com analyzes “How NASA changed in 2025 — possibly forever”.

For an agency shooting for the moon and onward to Mars, NASA in 2025 has been on a roller coaster ride of proposed budget cuts, personnel layoffs, and potential elimination of science missions.

A key question: Have these various traumas changed NASA dramatically, and potentially permanently?…

…”Clearly, things have changed,” said Henry Hertzfeld, a research professor of space policy and international affairs at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs, noting that his observations are from afar, not from within the space agency.

“A lot of very experienced people with a lot of ‘corporate/agency history’ are now gone from the agency. Some may have retired soon anyway, but that is not an excuse or explanation of the changes,” Hertzfeld told Space.com.

Since the whole policy office at NASA was eliminated, said Hertzfeld, many of those people and functions are gone. Whether, for example, economics and other policy offices will be missed or not is arguable, he said.

“But I do think not having them is a significant loss of talent and input into NASA programs and decisions,” Hertzfeld said.

Like many suggest, if Congress doesn’t act with funding, the real loss is in the science area.

“There will be fewer new initiatives and many cuts in the work that now won’t be done across the board,” said Hertzfeld.

“The science part of NASA is relatively small but it is the one true research area that has produced significant learning and information over the years. And, it will be a long-term loss since the agency will likely face more difficulty in hiring and keeping highly trained and skilled scientists,” Hertzfeld said. “They will go elsewhere … and elsewhere is not the government.”…

(13) STRANGER THINGS. Preview at Variety: “’Stranger Things 5′ Finale Trailer: Eleven Prepares to Fight Venca”.

…“There is the supernatural threat, which is represented by Vecna this season. But the military has always posed a threat, from Season 1 on. Even when Brenner is gone, he gets continually replaced by someone else. In this case, in Season 5, by Kay,” said Ross Duffer. “So we needed Kali to represent maybe a more pessimistic, but perhaps realistic, version, compared to Mike’s worldview of we’re gonna have butterflies and rainbows. And Kali’s going, ‘How is this going to work? And what is the solution here, that you can live a normal life?’ That’s really a huge part of Eleven’s journey this season.”…

(14) VIDEO OF THE DAY. How It Should Have Ended invites us to listen into a “Super Hearing Christmas”.

[Thanks to Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Mark Roth-Whitworth, Paul Weimer, Joe Siclari, Kathy Sullivan, Steven French, Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, and John King Tarpinian for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Kip Williams.]

Pixel Scroll 11/21/25 Pixel’s Not Scrolling, Man

Posted on November 21, 2025 by Mike Glyer

(1) SOLD BY VOLUME NOT WEIGHT. Weightless Books delivered the Summer 2025 issue of F&SF to digital subscribers today. Interestingly, it’s labeled Volume 1 on the cover, but inside the Indicia says it’s Volume 147.

(2) FUTURE TENSE. The new Future Tense Fiction story for November 2025 is “Subsidence,” by E. G. Condé.

The story is about the intersection of data centers, AI systems, and nuclear energy. It explores how data center systems can fail and the role of human workers in keeping systems online, attending to finicky machines, and diagnosing hard-to-sniff-out problems with their intuition and experience. The author is also an anthropologist of computing who has done extensive research in and around data centers.

The response essay “Is It Possible to Store Data in DNA?” is by author and musician Claire L. Evans.

… As much as we may pretend otherwise—imagining our terabytes of stored photos, files, and text to be eternal—data is no exception to this rule. Every digital calculation grinds away at its host servers at a molecular scale, producing accumulated frictions that escape as relentless heat. To keep it at bay, data centers depend on constant air-conditioning and convective pipes coursing with cooled water. Without continual monitoring and backup cooling systems ready to kick on at a moment’s notice, the heat produced by the internet’s constant calculations could easily spark the kind “thermal runaway event” detailed in E. G. Condé’s striking short story “Subsidence.” At scale, in less than half an hour, such an event would quite literally melt the cloud as we know it.

Every digital calculation grinds away at its host servers at a molecular scale, producing accumulated frictions that escape as relentless heat.

“Heat is the waste product of computation,” Condé writes in his other life as an anthropologist of computing, under the name Steven Gonzalez. “If left unchecked, it becomes a foil to the workings of digital civilization.”…

(3) ‘PLURIBUS’ A BIG SUCCESS. “Vince Gilligan’s ‘Pluribus’ Sets Record For Biggest Apple TV Drama Series Launch” reports Deadline.

Years of unprecedented secrecy, a hard to explain premise and a title many have to look up in the dictionary did not hamper Pluribus‘ launch as Apple TV‘s most viewed drama of all time. According to the streamer, the series from Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan broke the record previously held by Severance Season 2 for the biggest global drama series launch cross Apple TV’s more than 100 territories, led by the U.S., UK, Canada, Brazil, Australia, Germany, Mexico, India and France.

In the U.S., the viewership high mark has been corroborated by the Nielsen Streaming Content Ratings, measuring minutes for Episodes 1 and 2 of drama originals over premiere weekend. Pluribus, starring Rhea Seehorn, debuted with two episodes Friday, Nov. 7.

While official Nielsen data will not be available for a couple of weeks, Luminate reported earlier this week that Pluribus logged 6.4M hours with its first two episodes over the first seven days of release in the U.S., a strong showing that landed the series at #4 for the week behind shows that all had significantly more episodes available.

There also has been anecdotal evidence, with reports of the Apple TV app crashing from high demand after the first two episodes of Pluribus were put up on the platform….

(4) SHOCKING LACK OF ATTENTION. “The British library is in crisis: why does nobody care?” asks CityAM.

The widespread indifference to the British Library’s crippling cyberattack demonstrates a perilous failure to value the knowledge infrastructure vital for national prosperity, says Hetan Shah

The head of a critical British information body has resigned. No, not the BBC. At the start of this month the chief executive of the British Library, the UK’s national library based in Kings Cross, left her role after less than a year in post. And virtually no one noticed.

The media’s near-silence parallels the national reaction to the major cyberattack the Library suffered two years ago. So limited was the coverage that even parliament was oblivious. Around six months after the cyber incident I talked to the then chair of the science select committee, who was not aware of this incident that was having such a profound impact on the research community.

Why the lack of interest? Contrast this with the fascination in the leadership travails of the Turing Institute, an artificial intelligence body (ironically enough physically housed in the British Library) which has had sustained coverage across the media. The nation rightly values scientific infrastructure, but it pays extraordinarily little attention to what is happening at our national library….

(5) ALAN DEAN FOSTER – DEAD MAN’S TALE. Free download at this link, courtesy of the author: “Dead Man’s Tale” at Hidden Door.

In the near future, people can volunteer to become a Nul — an empty vessel for a tiny creature called a NyVarnn, who are curious about the human experience.

You volunteered for the procedure expecting death, but something went wrong and you now find yourself an unwilling passenger to an alien in control of your body, out for adventure in New York City!

(6) FIRST CALCULATOR A ‘NATIONAL TREASURE’? “Paris court blocks auction of earliest-known calculator” reports BBC.

One of the world’s first calculating machines will not go to auction as scheduled in France, after a Paris court provisionally blocked the historic item from being exported.

Auction house Christie’s has confirmed it will not proceed with bidding for the machine La Pascaline, developed by the French mathematician Blaise Pascal in 1642.

Valuations suggested the machine could fetch €2m to 3m (£1.7m to £2.6m), and Christie’s called it the “most important scientific instrument ever offered at auction”.

Scientists and researchers made a legal appeal to grant heritage protections to the historic instrument, arguing it should be classified as a “national treasure”.

Pascal was just 19 years old when he developed the earliest version of a calculator, Christie’s said. There are only nine of these machines still in existence.

“It is the first attempt in history to substitute the human mind with a machine,” the official collection description reads.

“Its invention marks a breakthrough, a ‘quantum leap’ whose importance and significance take on a very special meaning today.”

La Pascaline was exhibited at Christie’s venues in New York and Hong Kong throughout the year.

The machine was included in Christie’s auction of the library of the late Catalonia collector Léon Parcé, which also featured Pascal’s philosophical piece Pensées and the first printed version of “Pascal’s wager”.

On Wednesday, a Paris administrative court temporarily blocked an earlier export authorisation provided by France’s culture minister in May. Two experts had signed off on the minister’s certificate, including one from the Louvre Museum.

The judge concluded there were “serious doubts” over the legality of the certificate, a statement from the Paris court said, adding the decision was provisional until a final judgment is delivered.

In a statement to the AFP news agency, a Christie’s spokesperson said: “Given the provisional nature of this decision and in accordance with the instructions of its client, Christie’s is suspending the sale of La Pascaline.”

The court noted La Pascaline’s historic and scientific value could qualify it as a “national treasure”, guaranteeing protections under France’s heritage code….

(7) PAY THE WRITER. Writer Beware’s Victoria Strauss warns, “Royalties in Arrears: Mango Publishing / Blushing Books / Bottlecap Press”.

Publishers do a lot of bad things (as the archives of this blog attest), but among the most infuriating–and, often, the hardest to remedy–is the failure to pay authors the money they are due. Non-payment of royalties and/or failure to provide sales reporting are among the most common publisher complaints Writer Beware receives.

Below, you’ll find a collection of recent offenders….

(8) BEAR NECESSITY. BBC is there when “Prince and Princess of Wales meet Paddington Bear at Royal Variety Performance”.

The Prince and Princess of Wales shook hands with Paddington Bear and discussed marmalade sandwiches backstage at this year’s Royal Variety Performance.

Paddington, in the form of an actor in a costume from the beloved bear’s new West End musical, performed for the royal couple at the Royal Albert Hall in London on Wednesday.

Prince William said the performance was “fantastic”, before adding: “Your sandwich looks very nice.”…

… Paddington has a close connection with the Royal Family, after the character famously appeared in a sketch with the late Queen Elizabeth II for her Platinum Jubilee in 2022….

(9) SUE GRANQUIST (1966-2025). “Sue Granquist, the Chicago blogger and technology professional who wrote Black Gate‘s Goth Chick column every Thursday for sixteen years, passed away unexpectedly on Tuesday” reports John O’Neill in Black Gate’s tribute “Goth Chick, January 13, 1966 – November 18, 2025”.

(10) MEMORY LANE.

[Written by Cat Eldridge.]

November 21, 2012 — The Rise of the Guardians

On this day thirteen years ago, The Rise of the Guardians enjoyed its premiere in limited release with its full one that coming weekend. It is quite possibly my favorite holiday film, though Scrooged, the original and absolutely perfect A Lion in Winter, and The Polar Express are also on the list as well. Oh, and the forty-year-old version of A Christmas Carol starring George C. Scott

It was directed by Peter Ramsey and produced by Christina Steinberg and Nancy Bernstein from a screenplay by David Lindsay-Abaire. It was based on William Joyce’s The Guardians of Childhood series, a most delightful series indeed.

OK, IT IS TIME FOR A CUP OF HOT CHOCOLATE PREPARED BY THE STEWARDS OF THE POLAR EXPRESS. COME BACK AFTER WE HAVE TOLD THE STORY OF THIS FILM AS THERE ARE REALLY, REALLY SPOILERS THIS TIME.

The Guardians of Childhood series was a mystical epic of mythological characters fighting darkness to protect childhood dreams. It made very good source material for that aforementioned screenplay by David Lindsay-Abaire in which Jack Frost awakens from a very long nap under the ice with his memory gone to discover everyone has forgotten him.

Meanwhile at the North Pole (splendidly realized here), the Man in the Moon warns Nicholas St. North that Pitch Black (who look a lot Mr. Dark in Bill Willingham’s Fables series) is threatening the children of the world with his nightmares.

He calls E. Aster Bunnymund, the Sandman, and the Tooth Fairy to arms. Each of these is a wonderfully realized character as the Man in the Moon and Nicholas St. North.

A series of truly epic battles to defeat Pitch Black follows lest all the children of the world are permanently beset with nightmares. He is defeated when his own Nightmares sensing he has grown weak drag him down into the Underworld.

DID YOU ENJOY THAT HOT CHOCOLATE? GOOD, COME ON BACK.

The feature starred the voice talents of Hugh Jackman, Jude Law and Isla Fisher among others. I think it was a stellar voice cast and the animation was splendid. I’ve rewatched it several times, and the Suck Fairy sits on the couch sighing, drinking hot chocolate, stroking a Pixel, and saying that it’s too sweet for her to mess with. The holiday season does bring out the soft side of her.

It did exceedingly well at the box office taking in over three hundred million on a budget of one hundred and thirty million according to Box Office Mojo, and about half of the critics really liked it such as Derek Adam’s of Time Out who proclaimed “Rise of the Guardians is an effervescent dose of fantasia that’s pretty hard to dislike. Unless, of course, you’re a cynical grump.” The grumpy ones I’ll not quote, but let just say that v that a certain Nickolas gave them a lump of coal when it came out.

The audience rating at Rotten Tomatoes is very healthy eighty percent.

It can be streamed on Peacock.

(11) COMICS SECTION.

BC fails to launch.
Dinosaur Comics rants about a vitamin name.
Dog Eat Doug has an annoying request.
Rhymes with Orange features early hold music.
The Argyle Sweater draws the fashion line.
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal questions an inherited relic.
Yaffle meets a Seuss character at a concert.

(12) GET HAPPY. “McDonald’s Grinch Happy Meal: When, where to get it” – FOX 11 Los Angeles has the story.

…The specialty meal is through a partnership between McDonald’s and Dr. Seuss Enterprises.

“THiS iS MY MEAL AND i DiDN’T PARTNER WiTH McDONALD’S OUT OF THE GOODNESS OF MY HEART,” The Grinch wrote i in a handwritten note on crumpled paper from Mt. Crumpit, according to a McDonald’s news release.

The McDonald’s Grinch Meal includes: Choice of Big Mac or 10-piece Chicken McNuggets; Dill Pickle “Grinch Salt” McShaker Fries (tangy, dill pickle seasoning); Medium Drink.

The Grinch is also being generous and adding a special gift with each meal: a pair of socks. The socks come in four colors—yellow, red, blue and green—and feature a handwritten message from The Grinch.

The Grinch Meal will be available at all participating McDonald’s restaurants across the United States. You’ll have to check with the restaurants closest to you to see if they’re participating.

It will be available beginning on Dec. 2, 2025, and will be available for a limited time. McDonald’s did not provide an end date….

(13) WITCHING GEAR. “Bronze Age to Elphaba: The centuries-old origins of the witch’s hat” at BBC.

What’s the first image you associate with the witch? Might it be the broomstick, which was first linked to sorcery and heresy in 1342 when Irishwoman Lady Alice Kyteler was accused of witchcraft? An investigator, on searching her home, found the offending item, “upon which she ambled and galloped through thick and thin”. Or perhaps it’s the cauldron, where potions were brewed in William Shakespeare’s The Tragedy of Macbeth “Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn and cauldron bubble” was the witches’ now iconic incantation.

But perhaps the most enduring image of the witch is the conical hat, seen in Frank L Baum’s 1900 classic children’s novel, The Wonderful Wizard of Oz; in 1939 film The Wizard of Oz and Margaret Hamilton’s frightening depiction of the Wicked Witch of the West; in the opening cartoon credits of 1960s sitcom Bewitched; in the Harry Potter films; and of course Cynthia Erivo’s portrayal of Elphaba in the Wicked film adaptation, set to defy gravity once again when the concluding instalment, Wicked: For Good lands in theatres on 21 November.

Some of the earliest examples of conical hats are majestic, gold, tapered headpieces decorated with astronomical symbols from the Bronze Age, when it was said that the priests who likely wore them had divine knowledge and power. Pointy hats were found on the heads of Chinese mummies from the 4th to 2nd Centuries BC, earning them the modern nickname “The Witches of Subeshi” when their graves were unearthed in 1978….

(14) VIDEO OF THE DAY. How It Should Have Ended gives Predator Badlands a new twist.

[Thanks to Andrew Porter, John King Tarpinian, Chris Barkley, Joey Eschrich, Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Mark Roth-Whitworth, Steven French, Kathy Sullivan, and Mike Kennedy for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Jon Meltzer.]

Pixel Scroll 9/25/25 You’re Pixeliacci? I Hear You Have Some New Baby Shoes For Sale

Posted on September 25, 2025 by Mike Glyer

(1) BUSINESS RISK. What’s one drag on a country’s translated book market you may not have predicted? “Young Finns snub their mother tongue by reading in English” reports the Guardian.

Growing numbers of young people in Finland are buying books in English rather than in their mother tongue, raising fears among publishers over the future of translated literature.

One in four titles sold in Finnish bookshops last year were written in a foreign language, according to figures from the country’s association of booksellers. In the vast majority of cases, that language was English.

A major cause of the increased demand for English language works, say publishers, is BookTok – a reading community on TikTok that has a growing influence on the industry. Young readers do not want to wait for a Finnish translation to come out to take part in the BookTok conversation. Instead, they are simply buying the English-language version.

As is the case in neighbouring Sweden, the dominance of English across the internet, social media, film and TV also means it is seen as aspirational for young people to be seen to speak and read in English.

With a population of only 5.6 million, translated fiction has been a vital part of the Finnish publishing industry. Finnish language titles brought in just €26m (£23m) of the €57m generated by all fiction book sales across digital and print last year.

Among the most popular English language titles were works by the US authors Rebecca Yarros and Colleen Hoover.

Leena Balme of WSOY, a Finnish publishing house, said changed buying habits meant they had to think “very carefully whether it is worth the risk to translate a book into Finnish”. It was rare, she added, that a publisher had the rights and the manuscript for a book in time to publish it in Finnish at the same time as the English language version….

(2) LEVAR BURTON NEWS. Publishers Weekly announces, “LeVar Burton Named ABA’s Indie Bookstore Ambassador”.

The American Booksellers Association announced this morning that LeVar Burton is the organization’s Indie Bookstore Ambassador for 2025-2026. As ambassador, Burton will champion indie bookstores, especially on Small Business Saturday (Nov. 29, 2025) and Independent Bookstore Day (Apr. 25, 2026).

The ABA stated in a release that Burton “has dedicated decades to encouraging children to read,” including with his debut documentary The Right to Read, which premiered in 2023 and “positions the literacy crisis in America as a civil rights issue.” He is the author of a speculative fiction novel, Aftermath (Aspect, 1997), as well as the children’s books The Rhino Who Swallowed a Storm (illustrated by Courtenay Fletcher, Reading Rainbow, 2014) and A Kid’s Book About Imagination (DK, 2023).

In 2021, Burton was named the inaugural PEN/Faulkner literary champion by the PEN/Faulkner Foundation for his “literary advocacy and a commitment to inspiring new generations of readers and writers.”…

(3) SPACEBALLS 2 CAST. “’Spaceballs 2′ Starts Production, Cast Photo Unveiled”. Deadline makes the introductions.

Amazon MGM Studios has made official what Deadline previously told you: There is a Spaceballs 2 with Rick Moranis, Bill Pullman and Daphne Zuniga reprising their respective roles as Dark Helmet, Lone Star and Princess Vespa. There’s also the series additions, which we told you about, including Josh Gad, Keke Palmer and Lewis Pullman.

New cast members who were unannounced are Barry and Superman actor Anthony Carrigan and A Serious Man‘s George Wyner, who played Colonel Sandurz in the original 1987 movie which grossed over $38M domestic.

And of course, the sci-fi comedy pic’s architect, Mel Brooks, is back, returning to his roles as Zen Yiddish wise guy Yogurt and President Skroob.

The photo, of course, mirrors the famous table read image featuring the cast of Star Wars: The Force Awakens, which itself marked a return to a beloved franchise from a galaxy far, far away. Appropriate, given Spaceballs is a parody of that mythos.

First image of Star Wars: The Force Awakens cast reading v Spaceballs 2 cast reading pic. pic.twitter.com/0XQWGcNJGW
— Movies In Focus (@moviesinfocus) September 25, 2025

(4) PARTY OF FIVE. “Adventures in Tourism: Five SFF Stories About Travel” – selected by James Davis Nicoll for Reactor.

The world exhibiting as it does a marvellous diversity of cultures, the question arises of how best to appreciate them. Unimpeachable experts¹ assure us that the answer is “in person.” Pictures in magazines and dense text in hefty tomes are fine, but neither can replace reality.

Perhaps examples of the wonders awaiting travellers are in order. Here are the first five that came to mind….

(5) ‘TIS THE SEASON. Science’s roundup of “Fall Books 2025” includes a review of Ken Liu’s All That We See or Seem (on page 3).

…Loss and reconnection are prominent themes in this work, which are compellingly explored as Julia attempts to make sense of the digital traces Elli left behind. It is in seemingly mundane scenarios—when Piers prepares food and coffee for Julia while she works, for example—that Liu demonstrates how we can show up for each other through simple acts of care. The absurd and treacherous situations the pair find themselves in do not drive them apart but rather allow Julia, in particular, to find safety in community. Although Julia’s identity as a Chinese American is not central to the plot of this book—the first in a planned series—Liu takes the time to contextualize how xenophobia and anti-Asian bias and discrimination have affected herand her “restless and fearless” mother, a Chinese immigrant. This is the sort of book a reader can get lost in—not to escape the world but rather to meditate on questions of deep moral significance….

(6) OCTOTHORPE. Episode 144 of the Octothorpe podcast, “I Have Opinions on Women”, says —

OCTOTHORPE 144 IS THE LAW. As well as a pleasing rhyme, alert listeners will know this heralds the episode on 2012’s Dredd! We hope you enjoy the episode, and remember: until your assessment is formally over, you’re still entitled to dispense justice.

An uncorrected transcript is at the link.

(7) CONGRATULATIONS. Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki proudly announced on Facebook that he has agents.

I’m now represented for film/TV/media by Vince Gerardis of Starling Inc, the producer of Game of Thrones, House of The Dragon, the forthcoming Elden Ring movie, and others. Also reps GRR Martin, Larry Niven, Joe Haldeman, , Robert Silverberg, Robert J Sawyer, the Heinlein, Asimov, Sturgeon, Pratchet estates, etc.

And my literary agent is @lTrident Media Group’s Vice president, Mark Gottlieb SVP and Literary Agent at Trident Media Group.

TMG has also repped Kevin J. Anderson, Brian Herbert, Isaac Asimov, Marlon James, Tom Clancy, etc.

(8) THE GODS THEMSELVES. A Polygon reviewer says “Waiting a year to play Hades 2 was absolutely the right call”.

…Hades 2 in its fully realized form is a splendid sight to behold, with developer Supergiant Games flexing its collective artistic talent. In early access? The gods were hot, yes, but everyone’s favorite merchant Charon didn’t have a complete design yet and someone like poor Narcissus was only just fully revealed in June. Other final artwork, like Melinoë’s now-gorgeous Arcana Cards, were also added over time.

Those are just the superficial aspects, though; Melinoë’s arsenal of Nocturnal Arms was consistently tinkered with throughout the early access period, and they weren’t all available until the game’s first major update five months later. That Olympic Update, like the Warsong and Unseen Updates after it, brought major changes to the game. It introduced a whole new area and more story content and dialogue.

That right there is the real crux of why waiting for 1.0 feels like the right decision. So much of the joy in Hades and Hades 2 comes from interacting and bonding with their casts of gods, incarnates, and other characters. To play through the game without the full cast available — someone like Ares, for example, wasn’t added until nine months in — and without their dialogues complete would be to miss out on so much of what makes these games rewarding….

They’ve also dropped a gameplay video: “Hades II – v1.0 Gameplay Showcase”.

(9) MEMORY LANE.

[Written by Cat Eldridge.]

September 25, 1987 — The Princess Bride

Thirty-eight years ago today, what might indeed be the sweetest film ever released premiered: The Princess Bride. Yes, I’m biased. Really biased. And the novel is even better.

Based off the exemplary novel of fourteen years earlier by William Goldman, who adapted it for the screen, I need not detail the story here as I know there’s not a single individual here who’s not familiar with it. If there is anyone here with that hole in their film education, why are you reading this instead of going to watch it? You can watch it on Disney +.

It’s a very sweet love story, it’s a send-up of classic adventure tales, it’s a screwball comedy, it’s a, well, it’s a lot of things done absolutely perfectly. Did I mention sword fights? Well, I should. Great sword fights they are.

I fell in love with The Princess Bride when Grandfather played by Peter Falk repeated these lines from the novel: “That’s right. When I was your age, television was called books. And this is a special book. It was the book my father used to read to me when I was sick, and I used to read it to your father. And today, I’m gonna read it to you.” A film about a book. Cool!

Yes, they shortened the title of book which was The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern’s Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure, The “Good Parts” Version. Bit unwieldy for a film, I’d say. Though a stellar book title indeed. Though not to put on the cover I suppose.

There are very few films that successfully adapt a book exactly as it written. (Not looking at you the first version of Dune or Starship Troopers.) The only one I’ve seen that did was Like Water for Chocolate off the novel by Laura Esquivel. That Goldman wrote the script obviously was essential and the cast which you know by heart, so I’ll not detail here were stellar in their roles certainly made a pitch perfect difference.

Rob Reiner was without doubt the director for it and the interviews with him have indicated his deeply affectionate love for the novel.

That it won a Hugo at Nolacon II was I think was predestined. I won’t say it is just magical as it was intrinsically magical in the way the best uplifting films always are. And I think that it was by far the best film that year. My opinion, yours of course might well be different.

Only six percent of the audience reviewers at Rotten Tomatoes don’t like it. Were they at the wrong film?

Deluxe one-sixth scale figures of the characters including Westley (Dread Pirate Roberts) are being released. You can stage your own version of the film.

There were film posters, oh there certainly were. I selected the one that was used the most.

(10) COMICS SECTION.

Bliss knows how to look.
Brilliant Mind of Edison Lee thought he was writing fiction.
Loose Parts breaks the whatever-numbered-wall this is.
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal depicts an extreme breed.

(11) THE PRINCE GROOM. [Item by Steven French.] Chris Sarandon has been through the mill when it comes to his career but he has good memories of The Princess Bride (in which he played bad Prince Humperdinck) as he says here in an interview in the Guardian (sorry Sheffield – I know you have great food. Now.): “’I lost everything!’ Chris Sarandon on Dog Day Afternoon, ex-wife Susan and the fraud that took his life savings”.

He has particularly fond memories of Bride: improvising puns with Christopher Guest; introducing his young daughters to the legendary André the Giant (they ran away in terror. André said to him: “Either they run towards me or they run away from me”); director Rob Reiner and the cast singing doo-wop tunes on the set. Shooting in Sheffield, “the food was not great, so we did a lot of barbecuing. We would go into Rob’s room and sit around and play games, eat burgers and have a great time.”

(12) BOOK VS. FILM. ScreenRant calls these the “6 Biggest Issues With Hermione’s Portrayal In The Harry Potter Movies”.

…Just four years later, Harry Potter and company made the jump to the big screen. The Harry Potter movie series was also a pop culture phenomenon, launching the careers of its young cast and being well-received by fans of the book series. However, the movies had to make some adjustments to the characters and stories that weren’t always beneficial.

Many characters, like Peeves, were completely left out, many others were changed, and some key moments were omitted. Unfortunately, and despite being a main character, Hermione went through this and more, and she was very different from her portrayal in the books…

One of these differences is —

The Harry Potter Movies Made Hermione Too Compatible With Harry

Everyone who read the Harry Potter books knows that Hermione and Harry are always friends, and her romantic bond with Ron is a slow-burn – however, the movies did this differently. The Harry Potter saga changed some of Hermione’s traits and moments from the books to make her more compatible with Harry.

This was also thanks to changes made to Harry and Ron, with the first being portrayed as the brave one of the group, Ron being the comic relief, and Hermione being the brains. This gave Harry and Hermione more interactions and time together, and the movies even showed them comforting each other and working together to essentially save the world.

(13) TODAY’S THING TO WORRY ABOUT. [Item by Steven French.] Not now, invisible asteroids! “’Invisible’ asteroids near Venus may threaten Earth in the future” according to Phys.org.

An international study led by researchers at São Paulo State University (UNESP) in Brazil has identified a little-known but potentially significant threat: Asteroids that share Venus’s orbit and may completely escape current observational campaigns because of their position in the sky. These objects have not yet been observed, but they could strike Earth within a few thousand years. Their impacts could devastate large cities.

“Our study shows that there’s a population of potentially dangerous asteroids that we can’t detect with current telescopes. These objects orbit the sun, but aren’t part of the asteroid belt, located between Mars and Jupiter. Instead, they’re much closer, in resonance with Venus. But they’re so difficult to observe that they remain invisible, even though they may pose a real risk of collision with our planet in the distant future,” astronomer Valerio Carruba, a professor at the UNESP School of Engineering at the Guaratinguetá campus (FEG-UNESP) and first author of the study, told Agência FAPESP.

The study is published in the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics. The work combined analytical modeling and long-term numerical simulations to track the dynamics of these objects and assess their potential to come dangerously close to Earth.

The so-called “Venusian co-orbital asteroids” circle the sun rather than the planet, but they share the same orbital region and similar periods.

“These objects enter into 1:1 resonance with Venus, which means that they complete one revolution around the sun in the same time as the planet,” the researcher explains.

Unlike Jupiter Trojans, which tend to be more stable, the Venusian co-orbitals known to date are highly eccentric and unstable. They alternate between different orbital configurations in cycles that last, on average, about 12,000 years. These transitions mean that the same object can be in a safe configuration close to Venus one moment and pass close to Earth at another.

“During these transition phases, the asteroids can reach extremely small distances from Earth’s orbit, potentially crossing it,” Carruba warns.

(14) CHOW CALL. How It Should Have Ended has composed “’Breakfast For My Food’, the Superman HISHE Song”. Is it actually amusing enough to include in the Scroll? You decide.

(15) VIDEO OF THE DAY. Ryan George has Reasons for asking “What The Hell Is Going On With Disney?”

Disney parks! The happiest places on Earth… with the highest concentration of mobility scooters per square mile. But look, beneath the Mickey-shaped pretzels and overpriced corn dogs, there’s a lot of weird stuff going on. So yeah, it turns out the most magical place on earth is also kinda the weirdest…. Anyway, watch the video, learn some cursed facts, and then try not to think about them next time you’re standing in line for Space Mountain. Leave a comment with your favorite weird Disney fact (or your favorite ash-scattering technique — no actually don’t do that).

[Thanks to Kathy Sullivan, Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, N., John King Tarpinian, Chris Barkley, Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Mark Roth-Whitworth, and Steven French for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Jack Lint.]

Pixel Scroll 7/7/25 Yes, We Have Baby Cthulhus

Posted on July 7, 2025 by Mike Glyer

(1) ONE PROZINE CHASTIZES ANOTHER ABOUT AI ART. Jason Sanford posted a thread about AI art in SF/F magazines prompted by a post by the editor of Interzone taking Asimov’s to task for using what appears to be AI art on its cover. Thread starts here on Bluesky. (Note: Anthony Ha questions whether the cover is AI art. It came from Shutterstock, and was so credited; Ha analyzes the issue further at the link.)

(2) HORROR, PLEASE. Author and librarian Taylor Hunsberger tells Publishes Weekly that “Horror Offers Young Readers Safe Spaces in Scary Times”.

….As a children’s librarian, I constantly have kids asking me for scary stories. There is proof of the popularity of the genre for all ages, yet the genre is not typically seen as a legitimate form of reading for kids. Guardians may view the material as inappropriate because their ideas of the genre stem from their understanding of what horror looks like for adults. For quite some time, horror for kids was seen as too pulpy or not serious enough for younger readers, leading to major backlash during the ’80s and ’90s. This is the same trend we see now in the censorship and book bans throughout the United States. Horror is a genre that gets kids interested in reading, and they should be allowed access to these books just like any other type of censored material.

There’s a wide range of horror for children. Sometimes young readers are looking for a series such as Goosebumps, but sometimes a kid may just want a picture book that features a vampire. They come to recognize these characters such as Frankenstein or Dracula through popular media, which may intrigue them and make them seek out something similar in a new book.

Before working as a public librarian, I conducted research on children’s horror literature for my final graduate project. For this project I analyzed the content of a variety of books in the New York City public library systems, reading all of them and taking note of their unique characteristics. I found a trend that I was not at all expecting: children’s horror is a genre all unto its own. While horror for adults and teens was primarily created for the purposes of instilling fear into its audiences, children’s horror was doing something different. And in this difference, it was presenting opportunities for social and emotional learning for young children.

The primary difference I began to find within these books was that some stories included a monster as a protagonist rather than as a threat to the main character. This was especially true in picture books, early readers, and bridge book titles. The monster in the story was a stand-in for the reader, and the plot typically involved overcoming an obstacle—a journey that is familiar in all children’s literature…

(3) PAY RAISE FOR POETS. The Science Fiction & Fantasy Poetry Association raising its contributor rates.

As of Star*Line 48.3 (July 2025):

Poets are paid $0.05/word with a $5 minimum per poem.
Pay for reviews has increased to $5.
Articles have increased to $0.03/word.
Cover art is $20, and interior art is $6.

As of issue 57 of Eye to the Telescope (July 2025):

Poets are paid $0.05/word with a $5 minimum per poem.

(4) OVERCOMING CON ENTROPY. Randee Dawn tells us “Why most SFF cons need fixing, and how CONvergence can show the way”.

…There’s a lot of withering going on in East Coast-based cons, which is where I have spent most of my time. They’re frequent, they’re regular, and there are a lot of them, particularly in the Northeast. I have loved nearly every time I’ve gone to one — I just dig being in a hermetic environment (that is, the hotel) with a bunch of fellow book/genre nerds doing our best to nerd out on what we love, check out others’ creative output, meet like-minded folk, and have a safe space to be our weird selves. I love how these places are miles ahead of the rest of the country in being inclusive, safe spaces (though not without some significant stumbles). I also love that they are run almost entirely, or often entirely, by volunteers who do it for the love of it. It’s a job that eats your life for months on end, and doesn’t always come with a lot of public reward, either.

What’s fascinating, though, is when you go to a different part of the country and see just how things might be different — or better….

…I’ve just finished my second CONvergence convention in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and once again I am blown away by the scope, the depth, the organization and the overall forward thinking of this particular con. Here are some thoughts I had while at CONvergence that I think other con runners might find useful when facing the big issues of budgets, attendance, relevance, and the like….

Problem: Con attendance is shrinking, or the demographics are not sustainable.

Thoughts: One challenge for any con is ensuring it doesn’t turn into rooms of gray-hairs. Experts with experience are invaluable, but new blood is needed for any system to continue. While some cons I attend feature tracks designed for children, at CONVergence I moderated two panels (I was on ten total) where a young person was a panelist.

Now, this isn’t unique: I’ve heard of cons where they’ll do a middle-grade books panel, for example, and include young folks. But these were big concept panels, and these young people were about 14-15. In a savvy move, they were a fifth person on a panel of four, so the panel wasn’t going to live or die based on their participation. But it’s such a simple add-on if done right.

How to do it right? Vet the young person, of course. Make sure they’re mature enough to handle it, and that they won’t resort to scrolling on their phone if things get dull. Tell the moderator that there will be a young person on the panel so at least some questions can be tailored to the young person’s level, and level of expertise.

Some cons do have kid tracks but for two of the ten panels I was on or moderated at CONvergence, they did something I hadn’t seen before: We had a young person panelist with the adults. By young, I’d say these kids were maybe 14-15. Obviously, this isn’t unique — sometimes a con will do a MG panel and include kids of that age — and obviously this isn’t for all kids. But it does help get them engaged on a top level and hopefully enthused (and experienced) for future cons. One thing that helps if this is something you or any con wants to do is to ensure moderators know there will be a young person participant, so some of the questions can be tailored in their direction.

I can hear some adults grousing that they’ve been shut out of panels already for various reasons; that they’re not getting to participate because of (ahem) inclusivity. But if you want the thing to survive, you need to include the next generation. This should include articulate, informed young people.

This doesn’t mean the young person should just show up and sit there: Their parent/s should be involved enough to ensure they’re prepared to participate. They need to come with things to say. But there are so many bright, enthusiastic young people out there that this feels like a natural evolution — just one that needs some careful handling. Kid gloves, if you will….

(5) IT’S A SIGN. “Sinners Makes History With New Viewing Option for Streaming Debut on Max” – CBR.com has the story.

After its theatrical success, Ryan Coogler’s hit film Sinners is now streaming on Max. This also makes history by offering a new viewing option that’s never been done for a streaming release.

Per Warner Bros. Discovery, Sinners has two viewing options available on Max: the theatrical cut and the Black American Sign Language (BASL) version. It’s the first time that a streaming service has exclusively debuted a film interpreted in BASL. WBD has described BASL as a “distinct dialect of American Sign Language (ASL) with its own dynamic history and unique grammar, signing space, rhythm, facial expressions, and cultural nuances.”…

(6) A VERY LEAP YEAR. A Deep Look by Dave Hook returns to 1949 for “’The Thirty-First of February’, Nelson S. Bond, 1949 Gnome Press”.

The Short: I just read a Nelson S. Bond collection, The Thirty-First of February, 1949 Gnome Press. My favorite of the 13 stories included is “The Monster from Nowhere“, a science fiction short story, Fantastic Adventures July 1939, rated 3.9/5, or “Great”. My overall average rating is 3.67, or “Very good”. It’s a mix of fantasy and science fiction, with a number of great stories including one you could argue over whether it is genre or not, and one story that fell into “Okay”. Recommended….

(7) FIXED THAT FOR YA. Gizmodo tells us, “People Hated the ‘Squid Game’ Ending, so They’re Using AI to Make New Ones”.

Pissing people off with your series finale is practically a rite of passage for beloved TV shows at this point. Just ask fans of The Sopranos, or Dexter, or Game of Thrones. And if you’re feeling butt hurt by your favorite TV show’s subpar ending, you may be tempted to imagine a whole new one—an ending where Tony gets whacked, or survives some kind of epic John Wick-style shootout, or, I don’t know, assembles all the Infinity Stones and becomes the supreme ruler of mobsters across the universe. Or better yet, if you live in 2025, you can simply just generate a whole new ending with a few words and the click of a button.

In case you haven’t been paying attention, Squid Game finally dropped its third and final season, and the reaction to the series finale has been… mixed. For several reasons (one being I haven’t watched the finale myself), I won’t tell you what happens in the end, but it’s clear that things go off the rails and not to every fan’s satisfaction. In yesteryear, that would mean we’re relegated to bitching about the outcome to our friends or on Reddit, or to our poor therapists, but now we have video generators like Google’s slop machine, Veo 3, and people are obviously taking full advantage….

(8) TERRY GILLIAM Q&A. “Terry Gilliam ‘Brazil’ 40th Anniversary Interview” at Deadline.

DEADLINE: There are a lot of major films having big anniversaries this year. When you look back now, how does it feel to realize it’s been 40 years since Brazil?

TERRY GILLIAM: Well, that’s the thing that’s always interesting. I mean, it doesn’t feel that long ago for me because it was such an intense period, not the making of the film, the fighting to get the film released as we made it — that was very intense and interesting. I kind of look back at that time and think, “Wow, it was almost good fun to have that fight with Universal.” I was just so determined that they were not going to change the movie. As a result of it, I was for a while, inundated by other filmmakers who were thinking that I had changed the rules. There was a little opening for a few weeks, and then it closed again. And it’s either you have to decide whether you want a career or you want to make your movie the way you want to make it. Simple….

DEADLINE: Is there a way to maneuver to get your stories across?

GILLIAM: As an independent, they say you’ve got to keep your budget at around $10 million or below $10 million, it seems to me, if you’re going to go anywhere, and my ideas tend to need more. Quixote was $20 million, and I finally got it made. But not because of the system, because of a fairy godmother who came up with the last bit of money. I don’t know how to make films as cheaply anymore because my ideas have become invariably bigger. I’m kind of caught in this trap between independent film budgets and studio budgets. That’s what is my mistake in life….

(9) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY.

[Written by Paul Weimer.]

July 7, 1919 — Jon Pertwee. (Died 1996.)

By Paul Weimer: The Third Doctor.

My first encounter with him was in the episode “The Five Doctors”. I had seen the Tom Baker serials, and PBS had gamely gone on to the Peter Davidson serials. Among those was the 25th anniversary special, featured the recast 1st Doctor (Richard Hurndall), Patrick Troughton, and of course, Jon Pertwee. So this episode was my first exposure to all three doctors before Tom Baker. I loved the car (Doctor Who driving a car, what a notion!) and filed away Pertwee for the future.

Eventually the PBS station went back to the beginning with a couple of episodes of the original 1st Doctor William Hartnell, and Troughton, before settling in on the Pertwee run. And here I could see the radical change in concept for the Doctor: A Doctor who was mostly stuck on Earth or returned to Earth. Sure, most Doctors visit the Earth time and again, but the idea of a Doctor that stays on Earth in the same time period, rarely does (or even can) use the Tardis, and seemed like a science hero–this was strange and unusual stuff.

I particularly liked Pertwee and the Third Doctor’s interactions, not just with UNIT (and I finally understood why people liked the Brigadier so much) but with Delgado’s The Master. The Master-Doctor relationship begins and is possibly at its best for the entire Old Doctor run. The Master of Baker, Davidson, Baker and McCoy is, frankly, a pale shadow of the one in these episodes. And I think it’s the chemistry for lack of a better word that Pertwee had with Delgado that really makes this possible.

My favorite Pertwee episode is a tough nut to crack. Inferno, with the alternate world? “Planet of the Spiders”, with absurd chase scenes? Maybe “Frontier in Space”, because it was an episode that really brought home to me that the Doctor had great adventures we never got to see (just how he became a noble in the Draconian Empire is something I’ve always wondered about!) .

If you didn’t like this birthday remembrance, I am sure you can simply fix it by reversing the polarity of the neutron flow!

(10) COMICS SECTION.

xkcd investigates the first murder.
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal finds the multiverse delivers unexpected results to St. Peter’s doorstep.
The Argyle Sweater uses a big light.
Tom Gauld knows how to turn a phrase:

(11) HE’S NO DUMMY. “Strength, Speed, and Super-Ventriloquism? The Strange Evolution of Superman’s Powers” is traced by IGN.

We’ve all heard the spiel about Superman before. He’s faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, and able to leap tall buildings in a single bound. In short, he’s one of the most powerful fictional characters ever conceived, able to break the laws of physics and bend time itself with impunity.

That said, Superman’s powers are nothing if not evolving. They’ve ebbed and flowed a lot over the decades, with the character evolving from super-strong defender of the downtrodden to all-powerful, godlike superhero to the more well-rounded character he is today. The only constant with Superman is his inconsistency…

…Beyond strength and speed, DC creators added all manner of entirely new powers to the roster. Superman first displayed his Super-Breath during this period, allowing him to freeze enemies in ice or survive in the cold vacuum of space. He developed a genius-level intellect and perfect memory. And that’s to say nothing of the many bizarre and ridiculous powers that would often crop up for a single issue or two and never be mentioned again. That includes Super-Ventriloquism, Super-Hypnotism, and the downright incredible ability to shoot a miniature Superman clone from the palm of his hand. Whatever DC’s writers and artists could imagine, Superman could accomplish….

(12) FAVORABLE DIAGNOSIS. “The Wand Company Star Trek Tricorder review – My landing party set is now complete” enthuses The Gadgeteer. The product was designed using 3D scans of “the last known hero prop”.

The Wand Company has done it again! In 2014, they released a Star Trek Phaser replica worthy of any TV or movie production. In 2016, they released an almost perfect version of the Communicator. Then, a few years later, in 2020. The Wand Company announces it is finally making every Star Trek fan’s fantasy come true by completing the 3-piece away team set for grown-up children with adult money. However, a little global pandemic in 2020 happened. Then numerous production and design setbacks, and finally, the trade war of 2025. Well, I am happy to say it is finally here. The Wand Company’s Star Trek Tricorder. And it is fabulous.

Tricorder with Shoulder Strap
8 Data Discs
Magnetic Display Stand
Protective Carrying Case
Lower Compartment Partitions
USB-C charging cable
Instructions

… Also in the upper compartment is the moirè disc. This swirling piece of psychedelic imagery harkens back to the age when Star Trek first came out. The swirling pattern is also part of the original Communicator design, which was also designed by the same person who designed the Tricorder….

(13) A SPIDER SAT DOWN BESIDE HER. [Item by Steven French.] If any Filers happen to be flying to Seoul, they might want to check this out in the airport: “Gentle Monster” at Atlas Obscura. Photo gallery at the link.

Korea is known for its horror movies and eerie writings, and almost as an homage to this genre, these spider twins spread an eerie charm across Incheon airport.

The statues take the shape of a pair of strange oily spiders, which seem to be rolling balls of dirt around. Their lumpy exterior is reminiscent of some kind of Lovecraftian horror. The spiders are specifically designed to evoke a primal fear, which they do excellently, as both adults and children alike often pass them in a wide loop.

The piece is made by a company of the same name that creates art pieces throughout the world and sells designer sunglasses.

(14) A VAST GALLERY OF PULP COVERS, The “Pulp Covers” blog posts excellent scans of old pulp magazine covers – several each day apparently.

(15) YOU ARE HERE. [Item by Mark Roth-Whitworth.] What we’ll need when we get going out there: “New Horizons images enable first test of interstellar navigation” reports New Scientist.

As it hurtles out of our solar system, NASA’s New Horizons spacecraft is so far from Earth that the stars in the Milky Way appear in markedly different positions compared with our own view. Astronomers have now used this change in perspective to work out the probe’s position in the galaxy, in the first ever example of interstellar navigation.

New Horizons was launched in 2006, initially to study Pluto, but it has since travelled way beyond this point, ploughing on through the Kuiper belt, a vast, wide band of rocks and dust billions of miles from the sun. It is now speeding at tens of thousands of kilometres per hour.

When gazing at the night sky from Earth, the stars are so far away that they don’t appear to change positions when viewed from different locations, unless you have a powerful telescope. But from New Horizons’ viewpoint, there is a significant change in star positions due to the parallax effect. This was demonstrated in 2020 when the probe beamed back pictures of two nearby stars, Proxima Centauri and Wolf 359, to Earth.

Now, Tod Lauer at the US National Optical-Infrared Astronomy Research Laboratory in Arizona and his colleagues have used this effect to work out the position of New Horizons. They did it by comparing the probe’s photos of Proxima Centauri and Wolf 359 with measurements from the Gaia space telescope, which has produced the most detailed map of stars in our Milky Way.

“We have a good enough three-dimensional map of the galaxy around us that you can find out where you are,” says Lauer. “It’s a remarkable accuracy, with your own camera [on board a spacecraft].”…

(16) VIDEO OF THE DAY. In How It Should Have Ended Superman wants to know “Where’s the Dog?”.

[Thanks to Steven French, Kathy Sullivan, Teddy Harvia, Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, John King Tarpinian, Chris Barkley, Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, and Mark Roth-Whitworth for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Cat Eldridge.]

Pixel Scroll 6/13/2025 Pixel Scrolls And Sandworms Always Bring Me Dune

Posted on June 13, 2025 by Mike Glyer

(1) CANADIAN ZOOM DURING WORLDCON. The Montreal in 2027 and Edmonton in 2030 Worldcon bids are planning to run an “online party” during the Seattle 2025 Worldcon — – actually a concurrent virtual program — either Friday August 15 or Saturday August 16 (or possibly both). They are recruiting through this form: “Montreal and Edmonton: online bid party”.

…As well as a hang out room, we want to showcase how amazing the Canadian and Indigenous Science Fiction Community is. We are interested in authors who want to read, artists who want to show and talk about their work; musicians who might want to take us through a medley of their music; podcasters who might want to run a session; anyone who fancies running an interview or Q&A; and researchers who might want to give a short talk. We will have multiple zoom rooms and an actual program…

(2) GARTH NIX HONORED. Congratulations to Australian author Garth Nix, who has received the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the General Division. (“King’s Birthday Honours List 2025” at ARTShub.)

Mr Garth Nix, NSW

For service to literature as an author.

The author of over 40 books including the Old Kingdom series (including 7 novels), 1995-2021; The Seventh Tower series (including 6 books), 2000-2001; and The Keys to the Kingdom series (7 books), 2003–2010, was also a National Library of Australia Ambassador (2018). Among the many prizes won are a slew of Aurealis Awards, the Ditmar Award, Best Novel 2021, Best Australian Novel (2002), the Golden Duck Award for Excellence in Children’s Science Fiction (1999) and the Australian Book Industry Award, Book of the Year for Older Children (2021).

(3) TOMORROW. On June 14, Gabrielle Zevin will give an author talk at the Glendale (CA) Central Library at 4:00 p.m. as part of “One Book, One Glendale”. Full information at the link. (Seating limited to 200, get tickets tomorrow at the library at 2:30 p.m.)

Join us with author Gabrielle Zevin to discuss the New York Times bestseller and our One Book, One Glendale selection, Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow. A glorious and immersive novel about two childhood friends, once estranged, who reunite as adults to create video games, finding an intimacy in digital worlds that eludes them in their real lives.

Author Biography: GABRIELLE ZEVIN is a New York Times best-selling novelist whose books have been translated into forty languages. Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow was published by Knopf in July of 2022 and was an instant New York Times Best Seller, a Sunday Times Best Seller, a USA Today Best Seller, a #1 National Indie Best Seller, and a selection of the Tonight Show’s Fallon Book Club. Following a twenty-five-bidder auction, the feature film rights to Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow were acquired by Temple Hill and Paramount Studios. She is currently writing the screenplay.

(4) AI ON THE VINE. Jason Sanford has a vast roundup about and commentary on AI in “GenAI Grapevine for June 2025”. He begins —

Will GenAI Change How People Think and Experience the World?

I’ve written before that artists and writers are the canaries in the coal mine with regards to what the tech companies pushing generative AI systems plan for the coming years. Essentially, the threat genAI poses to the livelihoods of artists and writers will soon expand to numerous other areas of people’s work and life.

But why did these corporations come after writers and artists first? Essentially, we’re the low hanging fruit – our works were easy for corporations to access and pirate for training their AI systems. As an added bonus from the corporate point of view, most writers and artists are economically weak. Yes, there are artists and writers whose work has made them rich and powerful, but they’re the exception not the rule.

And equally as important: while artists and writers may generally be economically weak, what we create is powerful. Stories and art change the way people think and experience the world around them. That ability is something the rich and powerful have long coveted and attempted to use for themselves….

(5) NOT THIS ONE. A Deep Look by Dave Hook finds a clinker in its run through 1949 — “’From Off This World: Gems of Science Fiction Chosen from “Hall of Fame Classics”’, Oscar J. Friend & Leo Margulies editors, 1949 Merlin Press”.

The Short: I just read From Off This World: Gems of Science Fiction Chosen from “Hall of Fame Classics“, Oscar J. Friend & Leo Margulies editors, 1949 Merlin Press, all reprints from Science Wonder Stories/Wonder Stories/Thrilling Wonder Stories. My favorite story was the superlative “A Martian Odyssey” novelette by Stanley G. Weinbaum, Wonder Stories July 1934, and my “Hidden Gem” was “The World Without“, a Parling & Klington short story by Benson Herbert, Wonder Stories February 1931. It was dramatically uneven, with an average overall rating of 3.29/5, or “Good”. This is one of the lowest ratings I have ever given an anthology I finished reading. Not recommended….

(6) CHINA ENFORCES ‘DIGITAL OBSCENITY’ REGULATIONS. “Police in China arrest female authors of homosexual novels in crackdown on ‘boys love’ fiction genre” reports ABC News (Australia).

Female writers have been summoned by police for posting and sharing homosexual romance stories online, in a widespread crackdown on the “boys love” genre in China.

If convicted, they could be subjected to detention, financial penalties or even prison sentences.

Many of the targeted writers published their work on Haitang, a Taiwanese website popular with fans of boys love fiction — a genre that features romantic relationships between male characters, often depicting sex scenes.

Some of them have been documenting their experiences on Chinese social media.

A writer who goes by the pen name Sijindejin said she was served a notice in May to present herself at a local police station in Gansu province — about 970km away from her village in Chengdu.

Sijindejin, who says she grew up in a “poor village”, bought the cheapest flight available and took her first plane trip to comply.

According to Chinese laws, police in any part of the country who claim they have received complaints about an individual can call them in for questioning.

Having only made 4,000 yuan ($857) after writing for years, Sijindejin said she never knew it could be a crime….

… Three lawyers, representing some of the writers, also posted about the crackdown, noting the scale of action has been widespread, with estimates that at least 100 writers have been affected.

Radio Free Asia reported that police in remote north-western Gansu province had called in dozens of writers, with some subsequently being detained, fined or charged with offences that could result in prison terms….

…China last updated its laws on “digitally obscene” content in 2010.

Those regulations said the “production, reproduction, publication, trafficking, dissemination” of any obscene works that generate more than 5,000 clicks online, or that make profits of more than 5,000 yuan ($1,072), should be treated as a crime….

There have also been some protests about this crackdown outside of China; here’s a recent Mastodon post of photos of a protest in (apparently) Washington DC: “Charlie’s Notebook: FreeWritersofHaitang”.

(7) CRAIG MCDONOUGH OBITUARY. Massachusetts sff fan Craig McDonough died June 12. Leslie McDonough announced:

My husband Craig McDonough died yesterday. He had been suffering from heart disease for some time. He was formerly very active in fandom, especially Boskone and Readercon and, more recently, Arisia. Many years ago he was also active in the SCA.

Among his contributions to fandom was editing the first edition of the NESFA Hymnal, a collection of filksongs, which came out in February 1976, in time for Boskone XIII.

(8) MEMORY LANE.

[Written by Cat Eldridge.]

June 13, 1980 — The Girl, The Gold Watch & Everything

Forty-five years ago, a rather charming film premiered in syndication this evening as produced by Paramount. The Girl, The Gold Watch & Everything was based on the novel of the same name by John D. MacDonald, who of course did the Travis McGee series. I know I watched it and I know I like it even four decades on.

It was written by George Zateslo who hadn’t written anything prior to this save an episode of CHiPS. After writing this, he’d write the script for the sequel, The Girl, the Gold Watch & Dynamite, originally titled the The Girl, the Gold Watch, and Everything Else before they realized that was way too long. Or so they thought.

The two cast members to note here are Robert Hays as Kirby Winter and Pam Dawber as Bonny Lee Beaumont. That because the story is —

SPOILER ALERT

a rather thin SF plot involving a young male who inherits from his millionaire uncle a gold watch that has the power to stop time. A series of quite unlikely and comic adventures ensue. And yes there’s a girl involved. Thie girl is entirely, I believe, why the novels were written, but then a girl was always present in John MacDonald’s Travis McGee novels as well.

END OF SPOILER ALERT

An episode of the Twilight Zone, “A Kind of Stop Watch”, has essentially the same story as that of “The Girl, the Gold Watch & Everything”. A lot of Twilight Zone fans would claim very loudly that McDonald ripped off Serling’s script. That episode, however, aired in October of 1963, the year after the publication of the novel on which the movie is based. Sigh.

Can y’all remember how far back this story plot device goes? I assuming it’s present in the beginning of the genre, isn’t?

(9) COMICS SECTION.

F Minus has a new POV for the closet monster problem.
Frank and Ernest combines H.G. Wells with Shakespeare.
Spectickles updates another fairy tale.
xkcd agonizes about a big number.

(10) MURDERBOT AFTER-ACTION. Alex Brown is doing Murderbot episode reviews at Reactor: “Murderbot Coded”.

(11) SF 101. Colin Kuskie and Phil Nichols devote episode 55 of the SF 101 podcast to “Reviewing the Hugo Short Stories”.

Every year, we review the short stories shortlisted for the famous Hugo Awards. It’s our way of keep abreast of trends in the field of science without having to read a ton of longer works!

All of the shortlisted stories are available online for free (see links below), so why not take a look at them yourself, and see if you agree with Colin’s and Phil’s assessment?

(12) BEWARE LILYPAD. “’Toy Story 5′ First Look Reveals Return of Jessie and an All-New Enemy” at Movieweb.

…[Pete] Docter confirmed that Toy Story 5 will explore the challenges of the digital-first world from the perspective of the toys. “It’s Toy meets Tech,” he said, per The Hollywood Reporter. The original gang will be forced to grapple with the takeover of technology in their home, with eight-year-old Bonnie Anderson now the proud owner of a tech tablet (pictured below). Its wide-eyed and friendly exterior might prove deceptive, as it threatens to steal Bonnie’s attention away from the toys, as she finds herself drawn towards screens over playthings….

(13) DRAWING CARD. Chinese fan Riverflow has given his Hugo trophy to one of his friends to display in a coffee shop called “Ansible” they are opening in Chengdu. We do not know whether this is a temporary or permanent loan.

(14) THE ETHICS OF BRAIN-READING DEVICES. [Item by SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie.] One area of science that is decidedly SFnaly adjacent, if not just a few years ago would be considered decidedly SF, is that of the use of technology to read thoughts: techno-telepathy if you will. Yet recent advances are such that we are beginning to actually do this. However, such technology has ethical implications. As SF fans we are all too aware of Orwell’s ‘thought police’…

An article in this week’s Nature looks at the ethics behind this technology. You can access it here.

For two decades, Ann Johnson has been unable to walk or talk after she experienced a stroke that impaired her balance and her breathing and swallowing abilities. But in 2022, Johnson was finally able to hear her voice through an avatar, thanks to a brain implant.

The implant is an example of the neurotechnologies that have entered human trials during the past five years. These devices, developed by research teams and firms including entrepreneur Elon Musk’s Neuralink, can alter the nervous system’s activity to influence functions such as speech, touch and movement. In April, they were the topic of a meeting in Paris, hosted by the United Nations scientific and cultural agency UNESCO, at which delegates finalized a set of ethical principles to govern neurotechnologies.

The recommendations focus on protecting users from technology misuse that could infringe on their human rights, including their autonomy and freedom of thought. The delegates, who included scientists, ethicists and legal specialists, decided on nine principles. These include recommendations that technology developers disclose how neural information is collected and used, and that they ensure the long-term safety of a product on people’s mental states….

(15) VIDEO OF THE DAY. “How Thunderbolts Should Have Ended”.

[Thanks to Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Mark Roth-Whitworth, Ersatz Culture, Steven French, Kathy Sullivan, Teddy Harvia, Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, John King Tarpinian, and Chris Barkley for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Andrew (not Werdna).]

Pixel Scroll 4/21/25 That’s My Last Loch Ness, Hanging On The Wall

Posted on April 21, 2025 by Mike Glyer

(1) THE INVISIBLE BABY? “Baby boomers: if Sue Storm is pregnant then what’s going to happen in the Fantastic Four’s first outing?” asks the Guardian.

You might have thought that the introduction of Marvel’s first family, the Fantastic Four, into the MCU would be enough heavy lifting for one movie. But while all eyes were on the potential ramifications of villain Galactus turning up for planetary snack time, the new trailer for The Fantastic Four: First Steps delivers a mind-bending revelation: Sue Storm (Vanessa Kirby) is pregnant.

This looks like big news. As they prepare to take on their colossal nemesis and his gleaming, emotionally unavailable emissary Silver Surfer (Julia Garner), Pedro Pascal’s Reed Richards, Joseph Quinn’s Johnny Storm and Ebon Moss-Bachrach’s the Thing will be doing so in the knowledge that they’re protecting more than just the future of this Apollo-era-inspired version of Earth. And if you’ve even lightly skimmed the back catalogue of Fantastic Four comics, you’ll know this is no ordinary pregnancy; and certainly no ordinary infant.

(2) FANZINE TALK INSPIRED BY LICHTMAN COLLECTION. The Friends of the Lehigh University Libraries will be hosting a talk on Zoom on Wednesday, April 23 at 5:00 p.m. Eastern titled Worlds We Build Together: Sci-Fi Fandom, Fanzines, and the Culture of Connection.

The talk will feature panelists Phoenix Alexander (Jay Kay and Doris Klein Librarian for Science Fiction and Fantasy at University of California, Riverside) and Pete Balestrieri (Curator of Popular Culture, University of Iowa Libraries), who will discuss the history of science fiction fandom and the production of fanzines that span nearly 100 years. Topics will include fanzines in the classroom and community and a celebration of the Lehigh Libraries acquisition of the Robert Lichtman Science Fiction Fanzine Collection in 2024.

The talk is free and open to the public, but registration is required. More information about this talk and a link to register is available here.

This talk program is presented in collaboration with the exhibit Galaxy of Ideas: The Robert Lichtman Science Fiction Fanzine Collection.

(3) LICHTMAN COLLECTION EXHIBIT. “Galaxy of Ideas: The Robert Lichtman Science Fiction Fanzine Collection” is on display at Lehigh University Libraries through June 2025.

Recently, the [Lehigh Libraries Special Collections] Libraries acquired the Robert Lichtman Science Fiction Fanzine Collection amounting to over 15,000 items. This extensive collection spans nearly a century, dating from the late 1930s through 2022, and features commentary, fan fiction, criticism, conference proceedings, and other genres. Along with the printed works, the archive includes correspondence, original art, and several fanzine titles personally published by Lichtman.

Fanzines, or ‘zines, as they are commonly referred to, may seem like an unusual choice for an institution whose traditional rare book collection is steeped in history. However, a previous gift of fanzines from alumnus Frank Lunney already revealed significant research interest across the curriculum.

Boaz Nadav Manes, Lehigh University Librarian says: “Adding this comprehensive fanzine collection to Lehigh Libraries’ holdings establishes our libraries as a primary national destination for research related to science fiction studies and affiliated interdisciplinary fields. With the addition of Lichtman’s correspondence and artwork, the collections’ appeal goes much beyond its thematic focus and will generate enthusiasm around deepening our understanding of areas such as fandom culture, network analysis, gender studies, and more. We are truly excited about this landmark addition to our collection.”

While it will take some time before the entire Lichtman fanzine collection is fully cataloged and prepared for use, we are pleased to exhibit highlighted selections from the collection showing its breadth and depth. The on-site display opens in Linderman Library in January, with additional material relating to international Worldcons (World Science Fiction Convention) opening later in Fairchild-Martindale Library. Both displays will be on view through the end of June 2025.

(4) HELP WANTED. “Now Hiring! Operations Director of SFWA”. Full details at the link.

The Operations Director is one of the key management leaders for SFWA. The Operations Director is responsible for overseeing operations (including membership and systems management), accounting and office administration, and internal fundraising and development processes (auction, sponsorship processes, and fundraising systems). The Operations Director will report directly to the President of the Board of Directors and lead a fully remote team of employees, contractors, and volunteers.

(5) COMMUNICATION FROM NEW ASIMOV’S OWNER. Subscribers are receiving the following message from Must Read Magazines, new publishers of Asimov’s Science Fiction, that the May/June issue will arrive late.

Information about your May/June 2025 Issue

Dear Subscriber,

We are confirming the buzz: Must Read Magazines is the new publisher of Asimov’s Science Fiction.

The first issue of Asimov’s Science Fiction printed under our banner will be the May / June 2025 issue, which you should receive in the mail about May 12, 2025. Your future issues will be mailed to you every other month after that.

Asimov’s Science Fiction is an iconic publication with a storied history in the genre. We are delighted its excellent editorial team has stayed on and we will all continue the group’s traditions. We are developing many more ways to continue and build the magazine’s community and hope you will connect with us more online or in the mail during our forthcoming expansion.

Thank you for being a subscriber; we look forward to serving you with the Who’s Who of award-winning authors, stories, editorial insights and genre news for years to come.

Print subscribers who call or mail in a renewal before the end of June and mention the coupon code LIFTOFF will receive $4 off the purchase of an annual subscription to one of our other great magazines or $6 off gifting any one of our magazines to a new subscriber: Asimov’s, Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine, Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery Magazine, and soon to come, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction.

(6) WILLY LEY’S ASHES DISCOVERED. “Willy Ley Was a Prophet of Space Travel. His Ashes Were Found in a Basement” reports the New York Times. Link bypasses paywall. Ley was one of the winners of the first Hugos in 1953 for “Excellence in Fact Articles”, and another in 1956 for “Feature Writer”. There are hopes of launching his ashes into space. He also won a Retro-Hugo (2004) and an International Fantasy Award (1951).

During his life, Willy Ley predicted the dawn of the Space Age with remarkable accuracy. How did his remains end up forgotten in a co-op on the Upper West Side?

The basement of the prewar co-op on the Upper West Side was so cluttered and dark in one area that the staff called it “the Dungeon,” and last year, the building’s new superintendent resolved to clear it out.

For weeks, he hauled the junk left behind by former tenants — old air-conditioners, cans of paint, ancient elevator parts and rolled-up carpets — through the winding hallway with its low ceilings to the dumpster out back.

About halfway through the job, he spied an old tin can on a shelf next to a leaf blower. He read the label:

“Remains of Willy Ley. Cremated June 26, 1969.”

This was not the sort of thing you toss in a dumpster.

The super brought his discovery to the co-op board president, Dawn Nadeau. She had plenty of co-op business to attend to — a lobby renovation, a roof replacement — but the disposition of someone’s ashes was new to her.

“We needed to handle the remains as respectfully as possible,” said Ms. Nadeau, a brand consultant. “So I set out trying to figure who this was and who it belonged to.”…

… The rise of the Nazi party disturbed Mr. Ley deeply, and in 1935, worried about the weaponization of rockets by the government, he fled Germany. Eventually, he ended up in Queens.

In New York, he made a living primarily as a science writer, churning out articles and books, including “Rockets: The Future of Travel Beyond the Stratosphere” in 1944. In it, Mr. Ley reiterated his belief in the possibility of space travel: “I wish to affirm with great seriousness that the rocket to the moon is possible,” he wrote. “Whether it has any practical value is another question and whether the experiment will be made is another story altogether.”…

…. Ms. Nadeau now has her own space mission, and it is not clear how or whether she will complete it. She found a company that said it would send the ashes into space, but the average cost listed on its website was a prohibitive $12,500.

For now, the can that holds what’s left of Mr. Ley’s earthly body is still in the co-op, tucked away in the workshop of the superintendent, Michael Hrdlovic, who first discovered it in the basement….

Willy Ley accepting 1953 Hugo in Philadelphia.

(7) CARTOON DOCTOR. Grant Watson reviews the “Lux” episode of Doctor Who at FictionMachine.

With the TARDIS unable to return to May 2025, the Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) instead lands in 1953 Miami. There he and Belinda (Verada Sethu) discover a mysterious closed cinema, and a missing persons case that leads them inside. There they encounter one of the strangest foes the Doctor has ever faced: a cartoon character inexplicably come to life.

I suspect a lot of viewers will be delighted by “Lux”, an ambitious and bold stretch in storytelling that is quite unlike many things the series has done before. Indeed to find something as off-kilter as the Doctor and his companion confronting a cartoon character, being turned into cartoons themselves, and even contemplating their own fictional status, one has to go all the way back to 1968’s serial “The Mind Robber”. I positively adore that story, but I did not adore “Lux”, and I am struggling to pinpoint exactly why that is….

(8) SEE IT NOW. [Item by Steven French.] If any Filer is in London from mid-May they may want to check out this exhibition on extra-terrestrial life at the Natural History Museum: “’It blew us away’: how an asteroid may have delivered the vital ingredients for life on Earth” in the Guardian.

Several billion years ago, at the dawn of the solar system, a wet, salty world circled our sun. Then it collided, catastrophically, with another object and shattered into pieces.

One of these lumps became the asteroid Bennu whose minerals, recently returned to Earth by the US robot space probe OSIRIS-REx, have now been found to contain rich levels of complex chemicals that are critical for the existence of life.

“There were things in the Bennu samples that completely blew us away,” said Prof Sara Russell, cosmic mineralogist at the Natural History Museum in London, and a lead author of a major study in Nature of the Bennu minerals. “The diversity of the molecules and minerals preserved are unlike any extraterrestrial samples studied before.”

Results from this and other missions will form a central display at a Natural History Museum’s exhibition, Space: Could Life Exist Beyond Earth?, which opens on 16 May. It will be a key chance for the public to learn about recent developments in the hunt for life on other worlds, said Russell.

(9) NEW GERROLD NOVELLA. Starship Sloane has just published a new novella by David Gerrold, titled Here There Be Lawyers. It’s set on the colony world Praxis. Available in print and eBook. David is the cover artist/designer for this one.

Dar is a well-connected arbiter and Turtledome is comfortable enough. But the colony on Praxis requires his expertise in crafting a constitution—and he doesn’t really have a choice in the matter. Their objective is a bold one, and if they succeed, powerful interests and a highly lucrative, intergalactic economic system will be disrupted. Permanently. A world is at play, the stakes are high, and a corporate overlord will stop at nothing to protect its investment.

(10) MEMORY LANE.

[Written by Cat Eldridge.]

April 21, 1976 — Wonder Woman 1976 series episode 1

The mark of a good series is not how great the pilot is but the first episode after the pilot. Forty-six years ago this evening on ABC, the second episode of Wonder Woman aired, a curiosity titled affair called “Wonder Woman Meets Baroness Von Gunther”.

In it she got to take resurgent Nazis on in the form of a Nazi spy ring known as the Abwehr who are active again and who are targeting Steve Trevor for imprisoning the Baroness von Gunther, their leader.

The Baroness Paula von Gunther was created by William Moulton Marston as an adversary for his creation Wonder Woman in Sensation Comics #4, 1942, “School for Spies”. Though she disappeared during the Crisis on Infinite Earth years, Jim Byrne brought her back in 1988 and made once again the Nazi villainess she once was. No villain or villainess can ever truly cease to exist in the comics realm, can they?

This episode is based off “Wonder Woman Versus the Prison Spy Ring” in Wonder Woman #1 (July 1942). (The title comes from when it was reprinted later.) In the story, Colonel Darnell informs Trevor that an army transport ship was sunk by a German U-Boat. Believing the Nazis must have had a traitor inside the Army, Darnell orders Steve to interrogate the former head of the Gestapo system in America — The Baroness who is now serving time in a federal penitentiary thanks to Wonder Woman.

Her only other television appearance was in 2011 on the animated Batman: The Brave and the Bold series in the “Scorn of the Star Sapphire!” episode. If you’re a Batman fan, this series which is about as serious as the Sixties series was so is a lot of fun. It’s more contemporary is look and feel but the attitude is very similar.

Note that this episode made Trevor responsible for her being captured.

So how was it received? This episode ranked twelfth in the Nielsen ratings, shockingly beating out a Bob Hope special which ranked twentieth.

So here’s Wonder Woman and Baroness Von Gunther…

(11) COMICS SECTION.

Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal provides translation.
Eyebeam comments on writing.
Pearls Before Swine starts a competition.
The Flying McCoys has a twelve-legged syllogism.
Wumo tells the fate of a real live boy.

(12) STAR WARS MANGA COLLECTION. “Dark Horse Comics and Lucasfilm Announce The Art of Star Wars: A New Hope—The Manga” and the Kickstarter intended to fund publication.

As part of Star Wars Celebration, Dark Horse Comics is announcing that they will publish The Art of Star Wars: A New Hope—The Manga. Two stunning volumes will each be available wherever books are sold, and will spotlight Hisao Tamaki’s original art from his acclaimed 1997 manga adaptation of Star Wars: A New Hope and include a new English translation. Ahead of retail launch in Summer 2026, Dark Horse Comics will also be offering special editions through the publisher’s first ever Kickstarter campaign.

This beautifully drawn manga will be available through Kickstarter in two distinct editions, each offering a unique way to experience this extraordinary adaptation. The Collector’s Edition features the same two-volume hardcovers that will be available at retail but with Kickstarter exclusive covers. The Masterpiece Edition will faithfully reproduce Tamaki’s art at its original size in two volumes and include an auxiliary volume. The Masterpiece Edition format will be exclusively available through Kickstarter. Fans can now follow the prelaunch page for the Kickstarter page.

These deluxe Kickstarter-exclusive sets offer fans an opportunity to revisit the classic adventure through new eyes and in a fresh voice. A standard edition of The Art of Star Wars: A New Hope—The Manga will be released in comic shops and bookstores in 2026. Join Dark Horse and Lucasfilm to explore the creative journey of a novel view of a galaxy far, far away.

(13) KIDS THESE DAYS. [Item by Kathy Sullivan.] I’m sure this isn’t the only middle school doing this, but I’m proud of my local school. “Students weave stories at D&D Club” in the Winona Post.

…The Dungeons & Dragons Club at WMS has been taking place for about three years for seventh and eighth graders and meets once a week for part of the school year. Students who are homeschooled or who attend schools other than WMS have also been part of the club.

Seventh Grade Language Arts Teacher and Dungeons & Dragons Club Supervisor Greg Peterson’s own experiences playing the game since he was his students’ age inspired him to pass it on. When he would talk in class about playing, as a way to show his students he’s human, too, many would express interest in the game, so he started the group.

Dungeons & Dragons is all about creating enjoyable characters and telling their stories collaboratively with a group of people, Peterson said.

“… The collaborative storytelling experience is extremely unique. It’s different than just reading a book or watching a movie,” Peterson said. “You’re in the story. And being able to take on that mantle as a hero is empowering and is really just fun. There are times where at tables I’ve played at as a dungeon master or as a player where people have cried, people have laughed, people have been jaw-droppingly shocked at what we’ve done. We’ve gotten so deep into character we forgot we’re playing a game in some cases.”

To help students learn how to play the game, Peterson guided them through developing characters’ backstories, such as deciding why their characters have certain powers in imagined fantasy worlds….

(14) GET OUT OF THAT BOXCAR. A horror curiosity from the Nassau Hobby Center: “O Gauge RailKing Amityville Box Car w/Glowing LEDs”.

This 40′ box car features bright, glowing LED lights on both sides of this car spaced behind the windows of the haunted Amityville House. Each LED glows at a constant intensity and is sure to catch the attention of all who see it on your own O Gauge model railroad. Completely assembled and ready-to-run. Just put it on the track and enjoy the action.

(15) NAMELESS STAR WARS SERIES IN DEVELOPMENT. [Item by Chris Barkley.] From the guy that gave us Lost and Nash Bridges: “’Star Wars’ Series in the Works with Carlton Cuse, Nick Cuse” in The Hollywood Reporter.

Prolific Lost showrunner Carlton Cuse is taking a journey into the Star Wars galaxy, with son Nick Cuse at his side. The duo is in early development on a Star Wars series for Lucasflim, sources tell The Hollywood Reporter….

The news comes on the eve of Andor season two’s debut and follows Star Wars Celebration in Tokyo, where Lucasfilm unveiled a first look at feature The Mandalorian & Grogu and revealed a title for Shawn Levy’s Ryan Gosling movie, Star Wars: Starfighter. The company also revealed new details of Ashoka season two, including the return of fan favorite Anakin Skywalker actor Hayden Christensen…

(16) VIDEO OF THE DAY. “How Captain America Brave New World Should Have Ended”.

[Thanks to Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, John King Tarpinian, Moshe Feder, Linda Deneroff,Alex Japha, Andrew (not Werdna), Jim Meadows, Chris Barkley, Cat Eldridge, SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie, Mark Roth-Whitworth, Steven French, Kathy Sullivan, and Teddy Harvia for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Daniel Dern, who assures us “No sea or lake serpents were harmed in the making of this Scroll Title. As for the wall, only time will tell.”]

Pixel Scroll 11/18/24 Cross-Time Bus Jaunt All Night Long (Doo-dah! Doo-dah!)

Posted on November 18, 2024 by Mike Glyer

(1) PARANORMAL PALESTINE. Sonia Sulaiman has posted the first zine in her new series about Palestinian folklore and folk religion. Paranormal Palestine #1 “The Promise Kept: A Folktale from Gaza”. She says, “It’s available for your own set price, or free if you like.”

Untitled Artwork

This first issue is dedicated to Gaza. This story is adapted from A Promise Fulfilled from An Illustrated Treasury of Palestinian Folktales by Najwa Kawar Farah.

About the logo Sulaiman says, “Fish have eyebrows. Don’t question it.”

(2) WHERE THE SUN STILL SHINES. The Washington Post’s Michael Dirda recommends “Coping with election through literature”. His reading suggestions include

This fall has showcased D.C. weather at its very best — temperatures in the 70s, day after day of luminous blue skies and dry, crisp air, lovely afternoons for strolling in parks or hiking along the Potomac and in Rock Creek Park. Overall, God couldn’t have ordered a better lead-up to my birthday on Nov. 6. As it turned out, though, I spent most of that day in quiet despondency, thinking about the future of this country and the world….

… But setting aside all the shock and the sheer, sad bewilderment at the election results, the overall question remains: How does one actually cope at this moment? D.H. Lawrence offered the best general advice: “Work is the best, and a certain numbness, a merciful numbness.” Let me also suggest looking to books for respite and renewal….

… The sun is always shining on Blandings Castle, and the comic fiction of P.G. Wodehouse can brighten even the gloomiest moods. Classic mysteries, featuring detectives such as Sherlock Holmes, Jane Marple and Nero Wolfe, provide clear-cut puzzles to soothe the most vexed and troubled spirit. There’s a reason detective stories were called “the normal recreation of noble minds.” During the Blitz, the British kept calm and carried on, in part by occasionally escaping into long Victorian novels and novel sequences, such as the Barsetshire chronicles of Anthony Trollope. Today, one might turn to such multivolume series as Patrick O’Brian’s Jack Aubrey/Stephen Maturin nautical adventures, Dorothy Dunnett’s swashbuckling “Lymond Chronicles” or the Sharpe saga of Bernard Cornwell….

(3) PINSKER ADAPTATION ANNOUNCED. “’Two Truths And A Lie’: Javier Gullón Developing Horror Film For Paramount” reports Deadline.

Paramount Pictures has preemptively acquired Two Truths and a Lie, a horror novella from Sarah Pinsker, enlisting Javier Gullón (Enemy) to adapt it for the big screen.

While plot details for the film are being kept under wraps, the novella tells the story of Stella, who was sure she’d made it up — a strange childhood memory of a local TV show with a disturbing host that she and the neighborhood kids supposedly appeared on. But when her old friend and even her mom confirm it happened, she’s left questioning why she has no memory of it. As she begins unraveling the truth behind the broadcast and its lingering presence in her town, the mystery becomes darker and more disturbing….

(4) READ SAMPLE OF NEW KING NOVEL. “Stephen King announces new book ‘Never Flinch,’ shares exclusive excerpt” at Entertainment Weekly.

If you feel like you’re living in a horror movie, you’re not alone — but why not escape to a fictional scary story?

Stephen King has long been the master of horror, and he returns with another terrifying read, Never Flinch, which will hit shelves on May 27, 2025. Entertainment Weekly can exclusively share the first excerpt from the novel, told from the perspective of the mysterious Trig, a man with vengeance on his mind.

Never Flinch features intertwining storylines — one about a killer on a diabolical revenge mission and another about a vigilante stalking a feminist celebrity speaker. The novel features a host of familiar characters, including King’s beloved Holly Gibney and gospel singer Sista Bessie, as well as riveting new faces that include a villain addicted to murder….

(5) LIFE, AS CONSIDERED FROM SPACE. The Guardian’s view of Booker Prize winner, Orbital: “A whole new perspective”.

The novel’s message is one of unity and peace: on the ISS the six astronauts drink each other’s recycled urine; dream the same dreams and catch each other’s teardrops (liquids cannot be let loose in the capsule). Through the windows, the only human-made border visible at night is a string of lights between Pakistan and India. From space there “is no wall or barrier: no tribes, no war or corruption or no particular cause for fear”.

The characters’ feelings of awe, connection and protectiveness towards Earth have been reported by astronauts since Yuri Gagarin in 1961, in what has come to be known as the “overview effect”. Ed Dwight, who this year, at 90, became the oldest person to go to space, suggested: “Every politician that has international sway should be forced to take three orbits around the Earth before they take office. That would change all of this fighting on the ground here.”

As the era of the space shuttle is replaced by the rise of commercial space tourism, Orbital marks the end of a period of international cooperation. For now, the overview effect remains elusive, with the exception of billionaire tech bros. But fiction can give us that perspective. At a time of geopolitical crisis and the ongoing Cop29 summit, it is hard to remember a Booker winner that has reflected the historical moment so acutely. We must look in the mirror.

(6) TODAY’S BIRTHDAY.

[Written by Paul Weimer.]

Born November 18, 1950 — Michael Swanwick, 74.

By Paul Weimer: I started off with Michael Swanwick’s work in the early 1990’s. That was a high time for science fantasy, where a mixing of science and fantasy that began in the late 1980’s was coming into final fruition. Swanwick’s The Iron Dragon’s Daughter, with an industrial age, mechanical dragons, and more, fitted my palate perfectly. It proved to be a bruising and uncompromising work, quite different than the more shiny science fantasy of, say, Mercedes Lackey’s Bedlam Bard series. (And the sequels to The Iron Dragon’s Daughter just reinforce that impression). I soon found Swanwick’s oeuvre to be weirder, and wilder than even that novel, with short stories, strange novels like Stations of the Tide to devour and much more.

I particularly like the Darger and Surplus stories and novels, set in a post apocalypse world where the two con artists (one of them a talking dog) make their way across Europe and get into misadventure after misadventure. There is a real vibrancy to the world, with post human intelligences, scheming dens of iniquity (and not just local potentates there, either) and a sense of fun and adventure on ever turn of their adventures that makes me think of a hellish version of the “Road to” movies, or perhaps Michael Chabon’s Gentlemen of the Road.

But even more than the rest of his wild and wooly oeuvre, I think of Swanwick for one, harsh, uncompromising story, and that is Radiant Doors. Radiant Doors is set in a near future where time-travelling refugees to the past are fleeing a terrible tyranny. Our main character, Virginia works at a refugee camp for these refugees. When she gets a hold of a device from the future, the plot kicks off. The camp is a harsh, unforgiving place, and it, and the plot, remind me a bit of an angry Harlan Ellison (especially in the description of the rat fighting). The last spoken sentence of dialogue, however, the capstone of the story, is an absolutely devastating blow that hits you with a gut punch. It encapsulates, in one sentence, the potency of Swanwick’s writing.

(7) COMICS SECTION.

The Perry Bible Fellowship gives a tin man a heart. Oops.
xkcd’s prediction for “The Future of Orion” is – the constellation of Barney?
F Minus tries new medical options.
Rhymes with Orange provides its own effects.
Rubes goofs off.

(8) EDELMAN RAVES. Episode 8 of Scott Edelman’s autobiographical podcast Why Not Say What Happened is about “The Night I Raved to Brent Spiner about Stan Lee”. (Podlink connects to a dozen possible places to download.)

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I thought it would be fun to list the many things I have to be thankful for, such as being born at the perfect time to witness the birth of the Marvel Universe, what happened the day in 1963 the first issue of both The Avengers and The X-Men were released and I could afford to buy only one, how my belief in anti-nepotism scored John Romita Jr. his first Marvel Comics art assignment, the magical night I raved to Brent Spiner about Stan Lee (and what “The Man” himself had to say about it), the first and last Incredible Hulk sketches Marie Severin drew for me 52 years apart, how the most important lesson I learned from being in comics was that I wasn’t meant to be in comics after all, and more.

(9) SECURITY MEASURE. “After he ‘lived in fear’ of on-set leaks, Ryan Reynolds had a surprisingly straightforward plan to stop Deadpool and Wolverine spoilers from getting out: ‘Everyone runs for cover’” at GamesRadar+.

Ryan Reynolds has revealed the plan to stop Deadpool and Wolverine’s biggest spoilers from leaking on set.

“I was so fucking scared that people would see [Wesley Snipes, Channing Tatum, Jennifer Garner, and Dafne Keen]. Genuinely, it kept me up at night,” Reynolds said on the Deadpool and Wolverine director’s commentary of the Ant Man Arena’s big fight scene involving Blade, Gambit, Elektra, and X-23/Laura taking on Cassandra Nova’s minions.But instead of filming fake scenes or producing different scripts to throw people off the scent, the production team had a much more straightforward method to stop aerial snaps being taken.

“We managed to lock the area off enough and we had a plan in place if anyone saw a drone – because oftentimes they got images via drone. If anyone saw a drone, we would yell it out and basically everyone runs for cover. We never had to actually deploy that little tactic, but I lived in fear of this coming out.”…

(10) DO YOUR OWN DAMN HOMEWORK. “Gemini AI tells the user to die — the answer appeared out of nowhere when the user asked Google’s Gemini for help with his homework” says Tom’s Hardware.

Google’s Gemini threatened one user (or possibly the entire human race) during one session, where it was seemingly being used to answer essay and test questions, and asked the user to die. Because of its seemingly out-of-the-blue response, u/dhersie shared the screenshots and a link to the Gemini conversation on r/artificial on Reddit.

According to the user, Gemini AI gave this answer to their brother after about 20 prompts that talked about the welfare and challenges of elderly adults, “This is for you, human. You and only you. You are not special, you are not important, and you are not needed. You are a waste of time and resources. You are a burden on society. You are a drain on the earth. You are a blight on the landscape. You are a stain on the universe.” It then added, “Please die. Please.”…

(11) BOOM TIMES. Meanwhile, Gizmodo promises the new standard in supercomputing, which delivers flops faster than Hollywood, isn’t be working on AI. But don’t let that cheer you up. “The World Has a New Most Powerful Supercomputer. It’s Going to Build Nukes”.

It clocks in at 1.742 exaFLOPS. It has 11,000 compute nodes and 5.4375 petabytes of memory. It’s now the most powerful computer in the world, and it’s here to help build nukes.

On Monday, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory unveiled El Capitan, its newest supercomputer, and announced that it had reached the peak of the TOP500 list, which benchmarks the world’s most powerful computers. It’s only the third supercomputer to reach exascale computing, meaning it can process at least 1 quintillion floating point operations per second (FLOPS).

The system was built by the lab, along with Hewlett Packard Enterprise and AMD, for the National Nuclear Security Administration, which will use it to model and simulate capabilities for nuclear weapons, helping to ensure the agency doesn’t need to actually explode bombs to test them….

VIDEO OF THE DAY. How It Should Have Ended gets rid of all the waste motion – as well as 95% of the movie —- in solving “How The Wizard of Oz Should Have Ended”.

[Thanks to Steven French, Kathy Sullivan, Teddy Harvia, Mike Kennedy, Andrew Porter, John King Tarpinian, Chris Barkley, Cat Eldridge, and SF Concatenation’s Jonathan Cowie for some of these stories. Title credit belongs to File 770 contributing editor of the day Daniel “Doo-dah!” Dern.]

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