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Domain: blast.net

Stories and comments across the archive that link to blast.net.

Comments · 8

  1. Re:Galactica 1980 by KlomDark · · Score: 1 · on New Battlestar Galactica Spin-off Series Announced

    I agree, The Return of Starbuck was pretty much the only good episode in that series, although Space Farmers (Galacticans save migrant workers from oppressive landowners) wasn't too bad (And where I learned what a 'legume' is.).

    There was a script written which would have been the sequel to The Return of Starbuck, called The Wheel of Fire, which sounds like it would have been really cool, but the series was canceled before it was filmed. Tied up a lot of loose ends in the story. (Dr. Zee was Starbuck's son for one weird twist.)

  2. Every sci-fi show uses Nazis eventually. by mbauser2 · · Score: 1 · on Trek Producers Will Provide World A Break
    Did every single trek series have episodes about space-nazi's?


    Deep Space Nine managed to be Nazi-free, assuming you're talking literal Nazis (or at least, aliens dressed as literal Nazis). A quick Google search suggests a lot of people see allegorical Nazis in various DS9 aliens. Whatever.

    But this actually reminds me of something I noticed myself: The longer a science-fiction show runs on television, the more likely the show's heroes will have to fight Nazis. Check these out if you don't belive me:

    X-Files
    Galactica 1980
    Lois and Clark
    Sliders
    Lone Gunmen

    Screw it, I can't list them all. Search Google and you'll find Nazis in all sorts of science fiction and fantasy shows, including failed shows (or maybe I should say, especially failed shows) like "Brimstone", "Time Cop", and "The Burning Zone".

    It's just like Godwin's Law: Eventually, every sci-fi series must have a "Nazi episode". And then it gets cancelled.

    I blame this on lazy writers, and an unhealthy abundance of cheap Nazi costumes in Hollywood.
  3. Re:Sounds dangerous by uberdave · · Score: 1 · on Build Your Own Cyclotron

    Not an expert, merely a fan (with a small collection of often read paperbacks).

    Actually, the low rank Cylons were robots in the TV show. ( Glen Larson originally planned for the Cylons to be living aliens underneath their armor, but ABC vetoed the idea due to its non-violence standards. Their reasoning was that it would be too violent to have the Colonial warriors killing living beings so it was decided that the Cylons would be machines. Battlestar Galactica Trivia site)

  4. TWIKI UNMASKED by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0 · on Are we Headed for a Wiki World?

    Finally, the mystery is revealed.

  5. I really don't care... by frank_adrian314159 · · Score: 1 · on New Battlestar Galactica - Worth a Series?

    I'm waiting for the remake of Galactica 1980!

  6. Sheba Sheba Sheba Sheba by yerktoader · · Score: 1 · on Battlestar Galactica to Return

    It's all about Sheba. No Sheba no BSG. Meow.

  7. I still have a crush on Sheba by loggia · · Score: 2, Funny · on Battlestar Galactica to Return

    I still have a crush on Sheba

  8. Time to reduce copyright by Adam+J.+Richter · · Score: 3, Interesting · on Authors Guild To Members: De-link Amazon.com
    At least in the United States, copyright's purpose is to promote the progress of science and the useful arts. If book publishers want to renegotiate the copyright bargain, then we should take a look at moving the balance in other direction, that of reducing the scope and duration of traditional copyright.

    Computers have greatly reduced the time involved in writing, editing, typesetting and printing books since the days of writing a book with a typewriter. Distribution, sales and shipping of books have also been accelerated by technology (printing in more than one location, nearly realtime sales information across entire store chains, etc.).

    Technology also means that the opportunities that copyright impedes have greatly increased. Being able to freely copy material online means that many people do not have to chop down trees to store information. Physical storage of books in digital forms is much more compact. Searching and sharing of free online information is orders of magnitudes easier.

    There is even a secondary opportunity cost to authors in long copyrights: the development of derivative works is greatly limited by copyright when they are outside of "fair use." For example, I think that, given how much time has elapsed, Richard Hatch should be allowed to make his Battlestar Galactica sequel, and the rewrite of Gone with the Wind from a black perspective (The Wind Done Gone) should be allowed whether or not the book qualifies as a parody. The opportunities lost by impeding this sharing are increased when the efficiency with which these derivative works can be made is increased (i.e., more potential derivative works that otherwise would be produced are lost during each year of the copyright).

    The costs of creating a book have dropped. The rate at which that investment can be recovered has accelerated, and opportunities that we lose during each year of copyright have increased. In my view, the balance point at which the public benefit of copyright is maximized has been greatly reduced. I believe that it would maximize public benefit to accelerate copyright expiration to about five years, maybe even less.