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Many of the SF writers of that era wrote erotica even early in life, they had bills to pay

Indeed insightful. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction says âoeSturgeon was a central contributor to and shaper of John W Campbell Jrâ(TM)s so-called Golden Age of SF, though less comfortably than his colleagues, as even in those early years, while obeying the generic commands governing the creation of Campbellian technological or Hard SF, he was also writing sexually threatening, explorative tales, which he found difficult to publish domestically; Bianca's Hands (May 1947 Argosy), for instance, never appeared in an American magazine.â

Phillip K. Dick was a poor man during most of his writing career, despite the fact that he was very prolific, publishing forty four books and well over a hundred short stories.

Lester del Rey worked as a short order cook, among other jobs, when his writing wasnâ(TM)t selling well.

Many of the SF writers of that era wrote erotica even early in life, they had bills to pay

Indeed insightful. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction says âoeSturgeon was a central contributor to and shaper of John W Campbell Jrâ(TM)s so-called Golden Age of SF, though less comfortably than his colleagues, as even in those early years, while obeying the generic commands governing the creation of Campbellian technological or Hard SF, he was also writing sexually threatening, explorative tales, which he found difficult to publish domestically; Bianca's Hands (May 1947 Argosy), for instance, never appeared in an American magazine.â

Phillip K. Dick was a poor man during most of his writing career, despite the fact that he was very prolific, publishing forty four books and well over a hundred short stories.

Lester del Rey worked as a short order cook, among other jobs, when his writing wasnâ(TM)t selling well.

Many of the SF writers of that era wrote erotica even early in life, they had bills to pay

Indeed insightful. The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction says âoeSturgeon was a central contributor to and shaper of John W Campbell Jrâ(TM)s so-called Golden Age of SF, though less comfortably than his colleagues, as even in those early years, while obeying the generic commands governing the creation of Campbellian technological or Hard SF, he was also writing sexually threatening, explorative tales, which he found difficult to publish domestically; Bianca's Hands (May 1947 Argosy), for instance, never appeared in an American magazine.â

Phillip K. Dick was a poor man during most of his writing career, despite the fact that he was very prolific, publishing forty four books and well over a hundred short stories.

Lester del Rey worked as a short order cook, among other jobs, when his writing wasnâ(TM)t selling well.

Frank Herbert wrote Looking for Something? in 1952. It has a simulated reality.

Yeah, the Herbert who wrote "Dune". The short story linked is in the public domain.

Not sure why maybe some articles about auditory reading not being optimal although still faster than what you seem at bad readers - they try to speak out words they read in their minds - that is the slowest.

I maintain that if you sound out the words, you're not really reading. Reading is much deeper than that. Reading Asimov's Youth a true reader doesn't hear the words "There was a spatter of pebbles against the window and the youngster stirred in his sleep. Another, and he was awake." Rather, he hears the pebbles on the window and sees the kid stirring in his sleep, then waking up.

I feel sorry for those who move their lips when they read.

Hey! I wrote that book!

+5 funny, Bhudda wouldn't have sued anyone (great parody, good job) Christ isn't happy either, he doesn't much like lawyers. Or greedy, selfish people, and neither does Bhudda.

There isn't a single religion I know of except mammon worshipers (the US's primary religion) that have anything good to say about society's actions. It seems society has forgotten everything ever said by any sage or wise man and has become sociopathic.

Selfishness and greed and having no thought for your fellow man are not normal. Someone needs to find a cure for our sick society before it succumbs completely to this deadly disease.

Indeed. I can't log in on this machine right now (mcgrew here, sorry, I won't be able to see if you reply), I'll be glad when I'm retired. Anyway, a couple of things: IMO anyone who buys DRMed anything is a fool, and anyone who employes DRM in their content is equally foolish. DRM makes your content harder to sell, because it has less utility than a pirate copy. If I buy a DVD I have to sit through piracy warnings (after paying for it!) and sometimes even trailers for other films. Meanwhile, a TPB download you click "play" and the opening creduits start; no piracy warnings, no trailers, no menus... which is how disks should be made. Some are, a few movies play right away and the menu only comes up after it's over. I keep asking myself why anyone would pay for an inferior version of something that's free, then I remember Linux vs Windows and kind of get it. Marketing rules all.

Like has been said, you can't buy DRMed content, you can only rent it. But you don't buy a novel, you buy a book. The novel belongs to everyone (although the author has a "limited" time monopoly on publication).

I personally think electronic data should be free, which is why HTML, PDF and ePub versions of Nobots will be released for free download on my web site March 15th (or perhaps earlier, I'm thinking of moving it up).

The RIAA, IMO, really screwed the pooch with Napster, that was a really dumshit move on their part. They should have embraced P2P and advertised how superior CDs were to MP3s (and back then they really were vastly superior). P2P would have been additional, free advertising. I've found out with Nobots that word of mouth is crappy marketing, so along with owning terrestrial radio they have little to worry about from independants; they can bury any little guy.

Since registering the copyright and obtaining ISBNs I've been getting ads from marketers, Christ those guys are expensive! Writing a book is easy, getting anyone to read it is hard. So read it, it's free, both as in speech and beer. Only the hardcover costs (working on a paperback version, also working on getting The Paxil Diaries in print, I've been getting requests for ten years).

It will also have no DRM, I released an abridged PDF for free several years ago.

Since it was a rock that must have been thrown in front of the camera it has to be alien bigfoot. Bigfoot is known for throwing rocks.

Bigfoot on Mars? Well, yes, if you know who Bigfoot really is

(mcgrew here, I'm not by a computer right now)

First off, to quote the esteemed Mr. Leghorn, "it's a joke, son." To quote your blow drier, "woosh".

The entire concept is strawman-like. The Bible says that it was mankind that neded to perish, because fallen angels mated with human women and the offspring needed to be destroyed (Genesis chapter six). Note this quote: "And the LORD said, I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth; both man, and beast, and the creeping thing, and the fowls of the air; for it repenteth me that I have made them." So it seems he was OK with sea creatures.

I've wondered for a long time just how old Genesis is? Not the written Hebrew but the stories that were passed from generation to generation before writing was invented? I wonder of these "giants" mentioned that were the offspring of "fallen angels" were some now-extinct species of human fifty or more thousand years ago? I've read in various places that during the period that Neanderthals became extinct, homo sapiens almost did, too, with only a few thousand human survivors. Could this be the genesis of Genesis?

What a coincidence or premonition of my buddy, McGrew, who wrote a book about this exact subject! He says it was inspired by Slashdot itself so what perfect timing. I'm hooked on reading it and recommend* it... Check out here to purchase or read online as he is releasing a chapter a week on-line for free.

http://www.mcgrewbooks.com/

On Sale Now
Hardcover $24.95
6x9 168 pages
ISBN 978-0-9910531-0-0

*I am not being paid or compensated in any way to promote his book and have no direct ties to it other than having "friended" McGrew on /.

Yea, by fucking J.D. Salinger himself (or did mentioning that little tidbit weaken your argument too much to make it worthy of a mention?)

Yes, Sallinger sued, I thought that was too obvious to mention.

So sad that this is where you've invested your moral outrage, that one of the century's most noted author's sued because he didn't want some talentless ass hat publishing fan fiction (a.k.a. unoriginal self-indulgent feculence) to muddy his genuine, original and critically acclaimed novel.

I should not have the right to sue someone for writing fan fiction, nor would I want it. As long as Sallinger's name isn't on the sequel except maybe in a disclaimer it isn't going to diminish what Sallinger did at all. And if is unoriginal self-indulgent feculence it isn't going to sell anyway.

How would this in any way diminish Terry Pratchett? The first draft of that chapter was posted at slashdot and someone asked "Is this some sort of disturbed pratchett fanfic?" rk said "Other authors in SF works is a time-honored tradition. In Pournelle/Niven's Footfall, there is a character who is never named but if you know anything at all about him, is obviously Robert A. Heinlein."

If it isn't unoriginal self-indulgent feculence the world may have been deprived of some good literature thanks to Sallinger's selfish narcissism.

The question is, what can we do about it?

Long copyrights are great for corporations but shitty for authors. There was a fellow a couple years ago who was sued for writing a sequel to "Catcher in the Rye", that book should be in the public domain.

Insane copyright law is keeping The Paxil Diaries in electronic form and out of gutenberg.org because of twenty four words in the 80k word book. One chapter concerned the re-dedication of the Illinois State Library which was renamed to Illinois last late poet laureate's name. There was a 24 word poem displayed, which I copied with a pencil and used as the chapter's intro.

That poem, written in 1961 by a woman now long dead should NOT be covered by copyright. I may publish the book with the poem replaced by a rant about our insane copyright laws if I can't get permission to use it (I think the state holds copyright but I don't know).

Meanwhile, you can read Nobots for free online, I'm only charging for real books, which actually have a cost to print and distribute.

I've written my congressmen and Senators, have you written yours?

That's one reason I'm really happy that I'm retiring in two months, more time to read, but more importantly more time to write. It took me four years to do Nobots simply because I had to waste my days chasing dollars.

ln Europe church attendance is an order of magnitude lower than the number of people claiming to be Christian.

Church doesn't make you a Christian, accepting Jesus as your savior makes you a Christian. I haven't been to church since Easter, but that doesn't mean I'm not reading my bible or that I don't accept Jesus.

Indeed, I'll bet I've spent a bigger proportion of my money to charity than Zuckerberg and you probably have, too. Why does he get ink for being charitable to his own organization but you don't for putting that C-note in the Salvation Army bucket? Mark 12:41-44

And Jesus sat over against the treasury, and beheld how the people cast money into the treasury: and many that were rich cast in much.
And there came a certain poor widow, and she threw in two mites, which make a farthing.
And he called unto him his disciples, and saith unto them, Verily I say unto you, That this poor widow hath cast more in, than all they which have cast into the treasury:
For all they did cast in of their abundance; but she of her want did cast in all that she had, even all her living.

Then there's Matthew 6:2,

Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven.

Therefore when thou doest thine alms, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily I say unto you, They have their reward.

But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth:
That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.

I don't think Zuckerberg cares, he's certainly not Christian. His name sounds Jewish, and few Jews (God's chosen people) are Christians. But I could be wrong, I often am.

Oh, and merry Christmas, everyone! Can we stop being mean o each other? Please?

Now lets be really generous and suppose that they will create 1000 new positions, thats at a cost of $10 billion in taxpayer money or about $10,000,000 per position.

Most of that $10b is equipment, all of which has to be manufactured, meaning a lot more than 1000 jobs. And look at all the jobs in related sectors that would have been lost if Obushma had simply let GM die. Do you have any idea how many parts and plant equipment would have gone out of business had GM collapsed?

You are not a smart person, nor a creative thinker.

My IQ has been tested at 150 in the educational system and I have a novel for sale. So yeah, I'm as dumb and uncreative as you are civil.

Since you seem to be incapable of civility, this conversation is over. Fuck off.

What Christian values would those be? Note: I am a Christian. I have an illustrated King James Bible on my web site (note it isn't yet fully illustrated).

I've read the whole thing, especially the New Testament. I know of no laws that outlaw any beliefs whatever. That said, as a Christian I MUST respect the mores and values of other religions, and even the atheists. Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.

You might also remember judge not, lest you be judged yourself. It isn't up to you or me to dictate Christian values to anyone; THAT would go against Christian values.

It's pretty clear Europa probably has some form of life under the ice.

Really? Just because there's water? You do realize that we found indications that Mars was once warm and wet, with salt and fresh water, yet still no indication there was ever life there?

It doesn't seem that clear to me. Seems to me that life is pretty damned improbable and is likely really, really rare. We haven't been able to produce it on purpose so it HAS to be a really rare coincidence for it to happen accidentally. I'd wager that the fiction in Nobots is probably right, that life is rare and "found in few galaxies."

How about Foundation world? Or a Nobots world (although I wouldn't want to be in the Martian military, or live on Venus)?

And since we're talking about worlds that will likely never actually be, how about Middle Earth or a DiscWorld?

Not me, although raising the price of a stamp over $1.00 would have me paying my trash and gas bills online, since they charge that much to do it electronically. I used to just pay the gas bill at the gas company, but they closed their local office. The trash company is across town so mailing a check is cheaper than either driving or doing it electronically.

Still, I probably spend less than $20 per year on stamps so it wouldn't bother me much.

As to the junk mail, it seldom gets past my door -- there's a bag on the front porch with about fifty pounds of junk mail. However, I did actually get a piece of junk mail that was welcome, from a printer in St Louis (obviously got my address from Bowker). I may have them print the paperback version of Nobots for me, their prices are a lot more reasonable than Lulu.

I can't log in right now (will try to at lunch) but this seems to be the perfect time to post... QUAKE!! ...also known as DOOM, Jr. Wolfenstein begat Doom (actually there was a precursor to Wolfenstien but I can't remember the name), DOOM begat Quake. My old Quake page was pretty popular from 1998 to its demise in 2003, and it was most popular in December when I ran the Quake Christmas page instead of the normal front page. There are Quake Christmas carol lyrics; two MP3s of a twelve year old girl singing "I saw mommie killing Santa Clause" (illustrated with a screen shot) and "Rudolph the Four Legged Stroggie"; a Christmas tree made of guns, ammo, and armor; skins, including South Park Kenny, Santa, Mrs. Clause, nudechick, and more.

Unfortunately the javascript broke and I've forgotten most of what I knew about javascript, so you won't see the Strogg stomping Sonic the Hedgehog.

I decided to put it up ten years after its demise because I started a web site to sell my books. The Quake Christmas is at mcgrewbooks.com/Christmas

Enjoy!

Agreed -- it took me four years to write Nobots, because I had to work every day to pay the rent and eat. I may finish my newest, Mars, Ho! this year, along with getting The Paxil Diaries (which took longer to write than Nobots) in print, because I retire in February.

FREEDOM!!!

I've been a Star Trek fan since the first episode aired in 1966, but that particular attempt to explain why so many Star Trek aliens are so human-like was really, really lame. So, all the Federation planets were seeded by primitive parts of DNA and all managed to evolve creatures so similar, considering the difference between an octopus and a sparrow?

I parodied Star Trek and Star Wars (yes, I'm a SW fan too) here.

The presence of the moon could be fundamental to both the magnetic field and plate tectonics, due to the churning of the earth through tidal action. Also, ocean tides may have been a contributor to the creation of life, perhaps the concentration of soluble minerals in tidal pools were a factor. So, it could be that life will only evolve on a planet with a large moon.

That was a proposition in one of Asimov's last Foundation books (Foundation and Earth? I haven't read them in a while) and Asimov was a biochemist.

However, there is another way. An earth-sized satellite of a jovian moon would get stirred well enough. And then again, there may be life nothing like we know it. Or unlikely as it seems, we may be the only life in the universe. In Nobots, life is rare and found in few galaxies.

I agree that tech helps those in power, but it also empowers the week.

I hope English is your second language.

Look at the book/music publishing industry etc

I used to think that until I released Nobots. I'll be lucky to make the investment in a copyright registration, ISBN, and bar code back, let alone earn any money from it.

I'm reading a James Patterson novel and have discovered that marketing always trumps talent and hard work, the guy's really not that good a writer. But all his books are best sellers and every time I see a woman with a book, it's one of his.

Seven years? Kid, seven years is nothing. I just published Nobots last month, have been working on it since 2009. I'd have a two year copyright.

And did you spend those 4 years working on this book because of a personal passion for the subject or was it solely based on financial motivation? If your concern is some arbitrary ROE then you're not a writer I'd bother to read, and would suggest if you can't earn a living from a product in 7 years you're just too damn slow for the realities of the world today. Certainly artists and writers should be able to earn a living from their creative works, but the current state of copyright is the public domain only exists in the illegal actions of file sharers distributing without licence. The pendulum must swing back, and when it does 7 years is going to seem like a gift from God above.. adapt or die.

Of coarse, under your system a lot of artists will fail to adapt and the total amount of art would decline.

So seems like if you assume that having a lot of art is a good idea some system to encourage it's creation may be in order. Perhaps some manner of intellectual property?

Seven years? Kid, seven years is nothing. I just published Nobots last month, have been working on it since 2009. I'd have a two year copyright.

And did you spend those 4 years working on this book because of a personal passion for the subject or was it solely based on financial motivation? If your concern is some arbitrary ROE then you're not a writer I'd bother to read, and would suggest if you can't earn a living from a product in 7 years you're just too damn slow for the realities of the world today. Certainly artists and writers should be able to earn a living from their creative works, but the current state of copyright is the public domain only exists in the illegal actions of file sharers distributing without licence. The pendulum must swing back, and when it does 7 years is going to seem like a gift from God above.. adapt or die.

Seven years? Kid, seven years is nothing. How old are you, fourteen? I just published Nobots last month, have been working on it since 2009. I'd have a two year copyright.

The Paxil Diaries aren't even in print yet but the copyright would have expired.

Asimov's Foundation trilogy was out for ten years before Asimov made a dime from it.

The present copyright term is way too long and harms creativity and culture, but your length is equally ridiculous. Make it twenty years, same as patents.

How to be rich is in the public domain, the link is to free ebook versions. If you're going to buy a book, buy mine -- I'm still alive and can use the money a lot more than the dead Mr. Ghetty! If you're poor or "thrifty" you can read mine for free, too.

Guys, before you post links to Amazon or B&N see if you can link the text itself. If the author's been dead for a hundred years, his work will be on the net. Surprisingly, some newer work is, as well. I've even found Asimov short stories online.

For instance, he advocated cooperating with labor unions (when have you ever heard a billionaire do that?).

Not since the 1980s when the head of a major, then non-union airline said "any company that gets a union deserves it," meaning that if you treat and pay your workers fairly, they won't form a union. Unions are for asshole bosses. If your workforce unionizes, you're probably a heartless sociopath.

Holy shit, as I live and breathe; correct usage of a fucking adverb (never thought I'd see that again...).

Nah, adverbs are used correctly all the time... just look in any book.

And those who never heard of God are likewise going to be in hell. As well as people who believe in other religions

The bible contradicts those statements. I wish I could cite chapter and verse, but my own preacher read it from teh pulpit a few months ago.

Even amongst the Christians, the Catholics are going to Hell, as well as the Baptists.

Well, the churches are full of atheists pretending to be Christian (I personally know a woman who says God doesn't exist but insists she's Catholic), but if you believe that Jesus is the Christ, son of the living God, your lord and savior who died for you and was ressurected, you don't go to hell as long as you repent your sins.

I grew up in a strict Catholic family, with strict Baptist Grandparents.

Man... I have problems with both of those groups. The catholics pray to the saints, which the bible frowns on greatly. Jesus said "when two or three gather together in my name, I will be there." They baptise infants, which is meaningless and stupid. Unless you choose baptism, it's a sick joke. And they baptise by sprinkling. And they don't consider you a Chriistian unless you're catholic.

The Baptists (like the Mormons) think drinking is a sin, despite the fact that Jesus drank. "John the Baptist neither ate nor drank, and you say he has a devil. The son of man comes eating and drinking and you call him a glutton and a winebibber." And they think dancing is evil.

Why won't Baptists have sex standing up? They're afraid someone will see them and think they're dancing.

The trouble isn't Christianity, it's Christians. The problem is, they're all human and therefore imperfect and simply get shit wrong.

It's not hard to sum it up. This God demands that you worship him. If you do, when you die, you will go to another place, where you will continue to worship him. If you do not worship him, you will be tortured forever.

The bible doesn't say that. It says that Satan will be thrown in th lake of fire and destroyed completely, and those who know God and reject him will be erased from the book of life. They will be as if they never existed.

I always wondered what he would do if you decided not to worship him when you got to heaven.

I don't see how you could be in paradise and not love the entity who sent you there, if if you decided not to you would be erased. Deleted from the program.

Or what if you lost a husband or wife in life, then got remarried, then re-met the original in heaven. Or divorce?

That's covered. Read the new testament, the Pharasees tried to trick Jesus with that very question.

Is sex not allowed in heaven?

Sex is a physical thing, a thing your body does, not your soul.

I get a kick out of people who bash books they've never read.

If copyright were only ten years, Asimov wouldn't have made a dime from the Foundation trilogy. An editor at Doubleday was flabbergasted that Asimov hadn't received a single royalty in ten years (the books didn't sell, the publisher was weak in marketing) and only after Doubleday bought publication rights from Gnome did Asimov see any money.

I'm just now getting Nobots published, your ten year time period would limit my protection to six years, since I starteed working on it in 2009 (it started with a slashdot comment).

That said, twenty years is plenty of time (especially if an extension could be granted) and for software, ten would probably be more appropriate. The present length is absurdly long and harms creativity -- art is like science, in that everything new comes from the old.

Copyright worked as intended in this case. They were new works rather than some fifty year old song, and the pirates appropriated the work for commercial use. They were getting money that should have gone to the photographer.

In your case, someone DLing "The Hurt Locker" costs you nothing, the uploader gains nothing, and the downloader might think "hey, great movie" and see the sequel in the theater.

BTW, Read my book. For free. Yes, you can buy it, too; the printed version is superior -- typeface, etc. That's in stark contrast to your movie. The download is a superior product to the sold copy, which makes you sit through copyright warnings and maybe even advertisements.

Your employers are stupid. People will pay for quality.

Of course the Venusians might object to that global cooling.

Screw 'em, those damned nasty Venusians want to kill us all anyway.

Don't ever expect Slashdot to link to a proper article instead of a crappy news aggregator site.

Don't blame slashdot, first blame the submitters -- they're the ones supplying the links. Next, blame yourself for not voting down stories with shitty links and then submitting your own with a good one.

And since you got me to post this offtopic answer, Buy my book! Or at least read it. Just to make up for the downmod!

The surprise isn't that Google would push G+, it's that other companies are stupid enough to fall for it, although they seem to be doing the same with Facebook

It's almost mandatory these days. My 26 year old daughter tells me I need a facebook account to pimp my book. Maybe I'll have her do it for me, I waste enough time at slashdot.

I signed up for G+ when it was invitation-only but haven't logged in in over a year. I found it pretty boring after a very short while.

I agree that making Feedly users log in via G+ is retarded. Someone must have had what my mom calls a "senior moment" (younger folks call it a "brain fart").

Typical political decisions making a bloody mess out of what should have been a simple thing to build.

Simple? No, my web site is simple. Theirs has to pull data from many different servers in different agencies, and feed data to state-run exchanges in addition to feeding that data to citizens signing up in blood-red tea party states (states that sued to prevent it and want it dead at all costs). It's certainly not an impossible task, but it is certainly complex. That said, the folks working on it could have been better chosen.

The feds usually don't do a bad job with web sites; the .govs are better than most private enterprise ones. I have to log into the USDA and census bureau sites for work, and the copyright office's site to register Nobots and they're not the most useable sites, but they all beat the hell out of Bowker (the ISBN registry) and Lulu (I got a note from a fan who complained about Lulu's site, I need a new printer).

Hell, even slashdot, a nerd site built by IT nerds screws stuff up all the time; I wanted to add my new web site to my profile, but no fields show up in my profile so I can't. And they've been at it for fifteen years.

Anybody remember the $200 hammer, or the $500 toilet seat from decades past?

Better than you, apparently. Those were bogus charges so the real money could go to secret shit.