Slashdot Mirror

On Friday evening, Battlestar Galactica ended its four-season run as one of the most popular science fiction shows in recent history. 2.4 million people tuned in for the finale, and reactions to the ending — positive, negative, and often a mix of both — are springing up all over the internet, as are tributes and retrospectives. Producers Ron Moore and David Eick held a Q&A session after the finale to discuss certain aspects of the story and spell out the final status of several plot lines. Fans of the show will have a chance to see the Cylon side of the story this fall in a two-hour TV movie titled "The Plan," and we've previously discussed the spin-off prequel series, Caprica, the pilot for which will come out on April 21st. Be warned: these links and the following discussion will contain spoilers.

dominique_cimafranca writes "Classic anime cult favorite "Robotech" may be next for the big screen live action treatment, if recent news from SciFi.com's SCI FI Wire is to be believed. Tobey Maguire will produce and may star in the film. The article says 'Warner Brothers Pictures picked up the rights to Robotech, which features giant robots known as mechas. Maguire is producing through his Maguire Entertainment banner and is eyeing the lead role in what the studio plans as an SF franchise a la Paramount's hit Transformers.'" I wonder if they'll go back to the Macross source material when plotting the movie... there's a lot more good substance there then in our version.

The Sci-fi Channel site has word that Cryptic Studios' City of Heroes title has been optioned as a movie or television series. The rights were picked up by Tom DeSanto, producer for the upcoming Transformers film. The plan (such as it is) is to make a motion picture, and then transfer the series to a TV format. The original news is from the industry trade Variety, but that article doesn't appear to be available online yet.

turboflux writes "According to executive producer David Eick, Battlestar Galactica is still an open-ended adventure and it will not be ending after the 4th season as previously reported. Evidently Edward James Olmos jumped the gun on confirming the show would be ending while attending the Saturn Awards this month. Eick goes on to say that the fourth season would actually be 22 episodes (2 more than prior seasons) rather than the reported 13 episode order."

fmackay writes "Neal Stephenson's novel The Diamond Age is to be adapted for a Sci Fi Channel miniseries. George Clooney is producing and Stephenson will write the screenplay — the first time he has written for television."

An anonymous reader writes "The rumors that the next Star Trek movie would revolve around the earliest missions of Kirk and Spock have been confirmed by William Shatner in a Sci Fi Wire interview. J.J. Abrahms (creator of 'Lost') will direct, and has confirmed that a draft script is completed. So, the question is, will Shatner appear as a reminiscing older Kirk in the beginning, setting up the rest of the movie as a flash-back, or will geriatric-Kirk and young-Kirk meet?"

PreacherTom writes "It is nothing new to see technology from military and governmental endeavors change daily life profoundly. One only has to look at the fruits of the space program (from computers to microwave ovens to Tang). New military gear is on the horizon that promises to do the same, including biosensors, bandages that clot blood using soundwaves, and the ubiquitous Swiss Army Pen."

shadowlight1 writes "According to a BBC press release, cult favorite Doctor Who has entered the Guiness Book of World Records as the world's longest running science fiction show! There we go, it's official. Also, the second season of Who premieres on the SciFi channel tonight." From the release: "The series began on 23 November, 1963, and was revived in 2005 after 16 years off the screen. William Hartnell played the original Doctor Who, with Jon Pertwee, Tom Baker and Peter Davison among those following in his footsteps. Christopher Eccleston took up the mantle of the ninth Timelord last year - following the show's relaunch. He was replaced after just one series by David Tennant after Eccleston dropped out. "

kulakovich writes, "Hot on the heels of Stargate's cancellation, the SciFi Channel is running an entire season of Firefly starting at 8am (Eastern) on September 18th. This news is fresh from yesterday's posting on the Whedonesque blog. Start making space on the PVR!"

Ant writes "The Sci-Fi channel has announced that it will not be renewing its (very popular) original series Stargate SG-1 for another season.The spinoff series Stargate: Atlantis will get the nod, though, airing for a fourth year. SG-1 aired its 200th episode on August 18th, and the SF series is the longest-running SF show on American television." Gateworld has further details: "New episodes of both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis continue Fridays this summer starting at 9 p.m. Eastern/Pacific, leading up to the mid-season finale on September 22. The second half of the season will begin in March, leading to SG-1's final bow on SCI FI in June."

FilmFan writes "Now that Kevin Smith is offering a downloadable commentary for Clerks 2, will other Directors follow in his footsteps? Some studios think so and are already offering similar content for shows such as Battlestar Galactica, Dr. Who, and Star Trek: Enterprise. Other websites offer fan-created content and even offer a free DVD player capable of playing these downloaded commentaries in sync with a DVD."

orionware writes "Apparently the folks who designed the Advanced Access Content System (AACS)for the new HD DVD formats have decided to stick it to the early HDTV adopters. If your set used the older component video, expect to watch your new HD DVD at a quarter of the resolutions. To thwart piracy of course." From the article: "AACS says the new players won't output a full-HD signal from their component-video connections, since those jacks are analog instead of digital and thus have no copy protection. The 'down-rezzed' signals will be limited to a resolution of 960 x 540 pixels -- exactly one-quarter the 1,920 x 1,080 pixels that you'll get through the copy-protected digital connectors on the players. The potentially huge problem with this strategy is that the only HD inputs on a lot of older HDTVs are component video."

KrayzieKyd writes "The Sci-Fi Channel will be showing 'John Doe', another dead series that premiered with cult hit Firefly. It features a man with no memory of who he is but, but somehow has infinite knowledge. With his gift, he solves crimes which are hinted through his monochromatic sight with color. The show will re-premiere Friday, Jan 20 at 9pm ET." It's raining new shows on Sci-Fi, apparently.

Karl J. Smith writes "Dr. Who will be airing on the Sci-Fi Channel in March The DVD release has been moved from February 14th to July 4th (although it's still Feb 14th in Canada). Be sure to check out the hilarous announcement from the BBC."

joemite writes "As every Browncoat knows, Serenity, the motion picture based on the Firefly series opened today. For the uninitiated, Serenity is based on the short-lived Fox television show Firefly (created by Joss Whedon, [Buffy the Vampire Slayer]), which follows a group of outlaws in a unique space-western universe. While there are no aliens or temporal anomalies, the stage is set for our group of heros to out-wit and out-strategize the giant and evil Alliance. Go out and watch the movie this weekend and see why the Firefly series is an Amazon.com best seller." If you're on the fence, reviews available at SFGate, Wired, the Seattle Times, and IGN.

Peregr1n writes "The BBC is reporting that they view the piracy of a Doctor Who episode before its broadcast date earlier this year as a 'wake-up call about the demand for new technology', in a refreshing change of opinion from most media/broadcasting corporations, who would damn this piracy without hesitation. They are forming plans to simulcast the television channels BBC1 and BBC2 on the web, as well as allowing users (only in the UK to start with, unfortunately) access to shows for a week after the broadcast date. It is worth noting that they are already trying out a system where they make shows available on the web before television broadcast, with The Mighty Boosh. Other BBC3 comedies are due to follow suit and become available on the internet first." Relatedly, shadowlight1 writes "K9, Doctor Who's lovable robotic dog, is returning to the new series with a cameo in season 2."

datemenatalie writes "According to Sci Fi Wire, V for Vendetta, originally slated to open on Nov. 4, has been pushed back to next March. The film stars Natalie Portman and was written by Matrix creators Andy and Larry Wachowski. This delay comes as quite a blow not only to expectant fans, but also to the marketing campaign of the film, as the clever tagline tie-in 'Remember, remember the 5th of November' is decidedly weaker when you attempt to rhyme it with March 17th."

fanblade writes "As if slashdotters needed another reason to stay home on a Friday night, the 20-episode second season of Battlestar Galactica premieres tonight at 10/9C on the Sci Fi Channel. The series, a 're-imagining' of the original 1978 TV series by the same name, made history as the highest-rated original Sci Fi Channel program ever. The first episode of the second season, 'Scattered', won't be televised in the UK until October, but I seriously doubt that will be a problem for the show that 'killed broadcast TV'. There's also excellent coverage on Wikipedia for those eager to brush up or catch up on the first season."

David Crumpton writes "Star Trek Producers have finally agreed that Star Trek fans are oversaturated with the show, and are planning to provide a break. This does not mean they wont bring something new to the screen; they will just wait a few years. They are convinced the ratings dropped due to the show competing against other Trek re-runs."

Slashback this evening provides updates on recent Slashdot stories about BBC podcasting, the impact of GPL'd fonts on documents and programs which make use of them, Moore's Law, the much-anticipated "Hitchhiker's" movie, and more -- read on below for the details.

What if my ship is under the GPL, and it crosses the International Dateline? innocent_white_lamb writes "A participant on the Scribus mailing list has posted a reply that he received from the FSF regarding the recent GPL font-licensing discussion, i.e. when does your document become subject to the GPL if you use GPL licensed fonts."

In short, it's less of a worry than some people made it out to be in the earlier Slashdot discussion, but it's not a merely imaginary issue.

They should offer MP3 players shaped like tiny fish. ProsperoDGC writes "The BBC is offering more shows as podcasts. While only non-music programs will be available (due to potential copyright problems with music-based shows), the variety of content is representative of BBC radio's output, including news, interviews, documentaries, and sport."

Every year, the artist has to double the bottom-most layer. Qbertino writes "The online version of the German news-magazine Der Spiegel has a short photo-bulletin on a sculpture in the Heinz-Nixdorf-Museumsforum of Paderborn. The sculpture represents Moores Law, formulated 40 years ago by Intel co-founder Gorden Moore. It states that the amount of transistors on a chip doubles every 24 months while at the same time the size of the chip halves. The law still applies to this very day. Bulletin and thumbnail here (text in German) and a larger picture here. An impressive visualization."

Look very carefully for that fellow from 'The Office.' jangobongo writes "In an interview with SciFi Wire, Garth Jennings, director of 'Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy', reveals some hidden in-jokes and homages in the movie. Among them: Simon Jones, who played Arthur Dent in the original TV series, can be seen and heard briefly as a Magrathean announcer - in 3D (get out your red & green 3D glasses!); the original Marvin robot can be seen in a queue of volunteers lining up to save Trillian; and in several places, head shots of Douglas Adams can be seen. Look for one, as the characters are flying through the planet factory, where Douglas' whole head is a giant planet. "It's quite lovely," says Jennings."

Popping trial balloons as they slink up the flagpole. bonch writes "Sony is now backpedaling on a recent CEO's slip of the tongue about a recently reported iTunes-like movie-download service. Steve Banfield, vice president of Sony Connect, says Sony is digitizing its movies and will allow some video clips to be used royalty-free for video 'mash' projects, but that Sony is not planning to to create an 'iTunes for Hollywood.'"

Dino alive, kicking, and annoying. Last May, we posted a story about the dino-shaped cam surviving under harsh conditions on New Zealand's volcanic White Island.

fraygos writes "Counting on the sulphur and high acid environment to deal to the creature has yielded little as Dino refuses to die. It's been almost a year and our darling dinosaur shows little erosion."

An anonymous reader writes "SciFi Wire is reporting that 'The BBC, which earlier reported that Doctor Who star Christopher Eccleston was leaving the show after the first season, issued an unusual apology to the actor for mischaracterizing his reasons for departing...the network broke an agreement with Eccleston not to reveal that he had planned to film just one season of the hit show all along.'" We covered the announcement of his resignation late last month.

bigbear writes "'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' and 'Firefly' creator Joss Whedon has signed on to write and direct the big screen adaptation of the DC Comics character Wonder Woman. The film is being produced by Joel Sliver ('The Matrix'). No word yet on who will play the "iconic female heroine of our time.""

Kichigai Mentat writes "Apparently SciFi channel is pushing the bounds of your average TV viewing experience with "Battlestar Galactica." First came a full, uncut stream of the first episode, now a full episode commentary podcast available as a Podcast stream, episode-length MP3 file for download, or invividual MP3 files for each "Act." The podcasts are released a week in advance, and listeners are warned about spoilers."

Kichigai Mentat writes "Apparently SciFi channel is pushing the bounds of your average TV viewing experience with "Battlestar Galactica." First came a full, uncut stream of the first episode, now a full episode commentary podcast available as a Podcast stream, episode-length MP3 file for download, or invividual MP3 files for each "Act." The podcasts are released a week in advance, and listeners are warned about spoilers."

blankgm writes "The SciFi channel has made Episode '33' (Season 1 Episode 1) of Battlestar Galactica available for free, uncut and commercial free, online at SciFi.com. Also available are deleted scenes from the series. Is this a ploy by the SciFi channel to grow a viewer base as well as loyalty, or an extremely bold move since the series isn't even out on DVD yet? Hopefully it's both. In either case, I believe this is unprecedented, especially since season 1 hasn't even concluded here in the states. Bravo SciFi. Keep 'em coming!"

jangobongo writes "SCI FI Channel announced that the second season of its hit original series Battlestar Galactica will premiere this summer with 20 new episodes, after earlier confirming their commitment to the show. Production will resume in March in Vancouver, B.C., with the entire ensemble cast returning, along with executive producer and writer Ronald D. Moore and executive producer David Eick. Averaging over 3 million viewers per episode, the series has quickly become SCI FI's highest-rated original series. No news on when a UK premeire might occur, but with Battlestar Gallactica ranking number 9 out of the top ten most popular TV program downloads worldwide, I don't think UK fans would have to wait long in any case." They're offering the first episode of the show for viewing in a no-charge commercial free venue on the official site.

jangobongo writes "SCI FI Channel announced that the second season of its hit original series Battlestar Galactica will premiere this summer with 20 new episodes, after earlier confirming their commitment to the show. Production will resume in March in Vancouver, B.C., with the entire ensemble cast returning, along with executive producer and writer Ronald D. Moore and executive producer David Eick. Averaging over 3 million viewers per episode, the series has quickly become SCI FI's highest-rated original series. No news on when a UK premeire might occur, but with Battlestar Gallactica ranking number 9 out of the top ten most popular TV program downloads worldwide, I don't think UK fans would have to wait long in any case." They're offering the first episode of the show for viewing in a no-charge commercial free venue on the official site.

jangobongo writes "SciFiWire.com reports that fans of Star Trek Enterprise have succeeded in placing a full-page ad in the LA Times. The ad will urge someone to pick up the show for a fifth season. According to the official fan site, a Star Trek Enterprise fan working for the LA Times has arranged a special deal for a discounted ad. Donations collected to date have covered the cost of the ad which will be located in the "A" section of the paper on Feb. 21."

Chairboy writes "The Sci-Fi Channel has just announced the renewal of Battlestar Galactica for a second season. The creator of the show has announced that the second season will delve into the religious issues surrounding the Cylons in addition to opening up their society more. The latest episode had 3.2 million viewers, almost twice as many as watched the latest episode of Star Trek Enterprise." I said it before, and I'll say it again- this is the best Sci Fi program currently airing, so I'm happy to see more.

Snaller writes "Tonight the Scifi channel begins airing the new reimaged Battlestar Galactica series. Having run to rave reviews in the UK, the new series is darker and grittier than the original, and showrunner Ron Moore aims for a more adult narrative with comments on issues such as terrorism, security, freedom, religion and what it means to be human in a series which is essentially one long story arc. The entire cast from the 2003 mini series is back and the first episode, called '33', picks up almost where the mini series left off: The humans are still on the run, but each time they come out of hyperspace, the Cylon armada catches up 33 minutes later ... every 33 minutes. When we join the crew this has been going on for five days."

Snaller writes "Tonight the Scifi channel begins airing the new reimaged Battlestar Galactica series. Having run to rave reviews in the UK, the new series is darker and grittier than the original, and showrunner Ron Moore aims for a more adult narrative with comments on issues such as terrorism, security, freedom, religion and what it means to be human in a series which is essentially one long story arc. The entire cast from the 2003 mini series is back and the first episode, called '33', picks up almost where the mini series left off: The humans are still on the run, but each time they come out of hyperspace, the Cylon armada catches up 33 minutes later ... every 33 minutes. When we join the crew this has been going on for five days."

Snaller writes "Tonight the Scifi channel begins airing the new reimaged Battlestar Galactica series. Having run to rave reviews in the UK, the new series is darker and grittier than the original, and showrunner Ron Moore aims for a more adult narrative with comments on issues such as terrorism, security, freedom, religion and what it means to be human in a series which is essentially one long story arc. The entire cast from the 2003 mini series is back and the first episode, called '33', picks up almost where the mini series left off: The humans are still on the run, but each time they come out of hyperspace, the Cylon armada catches up 33 minutes later ... every 33 minutes. When we join the crew this has been going on for five days."

blkmagic writes "Sci Fi Wire is reporting that Disney will remake Tron. The original article was in Variety, but requires a pay subscription, unless you want to sign up for a 14-day free trial. The article didn't mention what stage they're at, but sounds like they're changing the story a bit (surprise). I loved the original when I was younger (and still watch it again once in a while), so I don't know how I feel about this one!"

Several readers have written in with unhappy opinions on the Legend of Earthsea miniseries just aired on the Sci-Fi channel. Ursula Le Guin has also chimed in, with a short but highly critical blurb on her website, and now this dissection on Slate.com.

scifi451 writes "Both Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis have been renewed for another season, 9th and 2nd respectively. All of the key cast members are coming back for Atlantis, where as SG-1 stars are in negotiations, with Amanda Tapping expecting a baby in March right as filming begins. Also Richard Dean Anderson might look for an even further reduced role in the show. More news can be found here: Gateworld & Scifi-Wire"

BayBlade writes "It seems a lost Ed Wood film, Necromania was recovered recently, and can now be ordered on DVD. Reuters goes into more depth."

jagilbertvt writes "I know a lot of Slashdot readers are Farscape fans, so here's some more fantastic news... Farscape returns Sunday October 17th at 9pm ET with the first of two episodes of Farscape: Peacekeeper Wars. WatchFarscape.com has more coverage of Farscape's return. A trailer is available at Apple's Movie Trailer site."

blamanj writes "One of the great sci-fi short stories, Ray Bradbury's A Sound of Thunder is scheduled to be released on film next month. Links to the trailers (QT, Real, WMP) can be found here. The original story prefigured chaos theory in its 'small changes, large effects' premise. Indeed, when I first heard the term 'butterfly theory,' I assumed it was based on Bradbury's story. Unlike the original, however, the film won't be touching on dystopian politics, but appears to have been turned into a 'Jurassic Park'-style creature feature. Sigh. Oh, well, we can hope that the new Fahrenheit 451 will be treated with a bit more respect."

EvilBuu writes "The Sci-Fi Channel has begun airing ads announcing a full Battlestar Galactica series following the surprisingly (to some) good new mini series starring Edward James Olmos. Looks like it will be a straight forward continuation of the mini, with the same cast and more Cylon goodness!" According to this press release, Richard Hatch will guest star, and the show will air starting in January 2005.

EvilBuu writes "The Sci-Fi Channel has begun airing ads announcing a full Battlestar Galactica series following the surprisingly (to some) good new mini series starring Edward James Olmos. Looks like it will be a straight forward continuation of the mini, with the same cast and more Cylon goodness!" According to this press release, Richard Hatch will guest star, and the show will air starting in January 2005.

EvilBuu writes "The Sci-Fi Channel has begun airing ads announcing a full Battlestar Galactica series following the surprisingly (to some) good new mini series starring Edward James Olmos. Looks like it will be a straight forward continuation of the mini, with the same cast and more Cylon goodness!" According to this press release, Richard Hatch will guest star, and the show will air starting in January 2005.

BadDream writes "I read an old slashdot article about Stargate Atlantis comming this summer. Well its summer, and guess what starts this friday." You can also enter to win a walk-on role on SG1, but I call first dibs, no cuts.

pdawerks writes "According to Sci-Fi Wire, Babylon 5 creator J. Michael Straczynski told fans on a B5 Usenet group that he and Dark Skies creator Bryce Zabel have put together an idea for a new Star Trek series, which he said would revive the ailing franchise. 'I got together [with Zabel] and wrote a treatment earlier this year that specified how to save [Star Trek] and develop a series that would restore the series in a big way,' Straczynski wrote. 'I actually think it could be a hell of a show. Whether that ever goes anywhere with Paramount, who knows?'"

seattlenerd writes "The 2003 Nebula Awards were awarded late Saturday night in Seattle (for the first time ever) by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Winners: The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon, Coraline by Neil Gaiman, "The Empire of Ice Cream" by Jeffrey Ford, "What I Didn't See" by Karen Joy Fowler (the previous two both published on the SCI FICTION site), and the script for Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers. Noteworthy were comments made by GrandMaster honoree Robert Silverberg and Harlan Ellison, who introduced Silverberg, along with guest speaker Rick Rashid of Microsoft Research. To say nothing of Cory Doctorow's acceptance speech he didn't get to make, but has made available for "alternate historians."" I was at Penguicon this weekend, along with Neil Gaiman - congrats to him on the win, and to all the others.

Albinus writes "The Sci Fi Channel has decided to continue the Farscape series in the form of a miniseries, according to a short article on SciFi.com. Apparently, 'The four-hour miniseries picks up where the cliffhanger series finale left off and will reunite John Crichton (Ben Browder), Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black) and the rest of the Moya crew.' Hopefully this will generate a renewed interest in the show and bring it back permanently." We reported on earlier rumors to this effect late last year.

Albinus writes "The Sci Fi Channel has decided to continue the Farscape series in the form of a miniseries, according to a short article on SciFi.com. Apparently, 'The four-hour miniseries picks up where the cliffhanger series finale left off and will reunite John Crichton (Ben Browder), Aeryn Sun (Claudia Black) and the rest of the Moya crew.' Hopefully this will generate a renewed interest in the show and bring it back permanently." We reported on earlier rumors to this effect late last year.

Gumpy writes "The Sci-Fi Channel has started producing a TV miniseries based on the first two books of Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series. The Earthsea miniseries is supposed to start on the Sci Fi Channel in December 2004."

boog3r writes "According to this and SCIFI there is a new Stargate series on its way to your local passive viewing device this summer. Quickie for all the click-deficient types: "In the new series, a secret base left by the originators of the Stargate is discovered in the most unlikely of places -- on Earth, buried among the ruins of the legendary city of Atlantis." Sounds fun to me! I found more info here and here. Take these tidbits with a grain of salt, much misinformation about the new series is circulating right now. I just hope this great franchise does not go the way of Star Trek, post Roddenberry."

Trunks writes "A few days ago the Sci Fi Channel officially announced a 13 episode season for Ronald Moore's Battlestar Galactica remake. Looks like they'll be bringing back most of the cast members, including Edward James Olmos and Mary McDonnell. The new series will begin a few days after the miniseries that aired a few months back. Production commences next month in Vancouver, B.C." This had been speculated previously, and the rumors are indeed true.

An anonymous reader writes "In several news articles, 'Battlestar Galactica' returns in a new four hour mini-series on the Sci-Fi channel this Monday. However, there has been fan furor over some changes to the story. Aluminum Cylon enemies look more like humans, complete with feelings, including one with rabid sexual desires, and the quest is not for a mythical Earth, as it no longer exists. More information at the BattlestarGalactica.com website, and the Sci-Fi channel."