Back in the day there was soo much Apple, but now I rarely see mac's around anymore, even in educational facilities.
You wouldn't know that from my department. Since I became IT manager here a couple of years ago, we've gone from basically 1:1 Mac/PC ratio (with a dollop of Suns to keep me sane) to a 2:1 ration. It wasn't my fault, honest! It's those damn iMacs... they just keep rolling in the door.
Or Australia where, since the ban on most guns the rate of crime has skyrocketed.
Oh for FUCK's sake. That is SUCH an utter crock of shit. Nobody here in Australia has noticed this "skyrocketing" of crime rates. None of my friends or family have the victims of even petty crime for a long time. And gee, guess what - none of them have ever owned a gun, much less had it taken from them.
Mmm, I feel so much less safe walking the streets knowing that there are hundreds of thousands fewer lethal weapons floating around. Yeah, right.
Not that you will care, but the official statistics show murders involving guns fell from 99 in 1996 (before the reforms) to 54 in 1998 (after the reforms). Note that those figures are *total*, not for one city, out of a population of 19 million people. Some crime wave. Gosh, you're right mister, we Australians sure are stupid... how many Americans are murdered using a gun each year again?
Here's a local news report on the recent claims by your NRA about our crime statistics.
Robert "Mars Direct" Zubrin gave a colloquium at U. Melbourne (Australia) last Friday. The question was put to him... he was a bit coy, but he did say that the Mars Society has had useful discussions with all the major candidates (or their staffers, anyway). Unfortunately, the most positive response came from John McCain... oh well.
You might expect that Gore might say some pro-Mars stuff, given the VP's involvement for the space program (or has that changed now?) as well as his supposedly tech-friendly record. I guess Bush Sr. did this after becoming President, trying to drum up enthusiasm for a manned Mars mission in 1989, but nobody much cared...
FWIW, I read in the Economist a few years ago that Sydney was about as crime-ridden as New York. In fact, you were more likely to be the victim of crime in Sydney than in New York. The difference is, in New York you are more likely to be the victim of violent crime - ie being stabbed, beaten, shot and so on. I'd take Sydney over that any day. And since I'm a Melbournian, that's saying something!
I can see that Cities in Flight took space opera in new, more sophisticated directions... but it felt a lot more like E. E. Smith than Brin or Vinge. The first two books were great... the third book was just far too pulpy (and long) with NY zooming around the galaxy blowing up things. The fourth part was just... odd. All in all, a book I was very glad to be not reading anymore, once I'd finished it.
As someone else mentioned, Cities in Flight has been reprinted by Millennium in their Masterworks series - you can see what else is in the series at
Definitely! I think the 90s have been a real Golden Age, with writers like Brin, Bear, Benford, Egan, Vinge churning out some amazing stuff.
OTOH, someone once said the Golden Age of sf is whatever you were reading when you were 12 (which was Clarke, Asimov, Heinlein for me)... but I still think this is a new Golden Age:)
Not that there is a canonical definition of the Big Three, but it's nearly always been Asimov, Heinlein and Clarke when I've come across the term...
And Clarke was only slightly later! They had their first short story and novel publications almost simultaneously (Bradbury slightly earlier), although of course Fahrenheit 451 has stood the test of time better than Prelude to Space - both published in 1951. Clarke's first great novel wasn't until 1953 - Childhood's End (or Against the Fall of Night - take your pick).
Slashdot Mirror
You wouldn't know that from my department. Since I became IT manager here a couple of years ago, we've gone from basically 1:1 Mac/PC ratio (with a dollop of Suns to keep me sane) to a 2:1 ration. It wasn't my fault, honest! It's those damn iMacs ... they just keep rolling in the door.
Gun related homicide rates in ...
Australia: 0.28 per 100,000 people
United States: 4 per 100,000 people
Source: The Australian Attorney-General, via CNN.
Yes, Australia is obviously doing something wrong.
Oh for FUCK's sake. That is SUCH an utter crock of shit. Nobody here in Australia has noticed this "skyrocketing" of crime rates. None of my friends or family have the victims of even petty crime for a long time. And gee, guess what - none of them have ever owned a gun, much less had it taken from them.
Mmm, I feel so much less safe walking the streets knowing that there are hundreds of thousands fewer lethal weapons floating around. Yeah, right.
Not that you will care, but the official statistics show murders involving guns fell from 99 in 1996 (before the reforms) to 54 in 1998 (after the reforms). Note that those figures are *total*, not for one city, out of a population of 19 million people. Some crime wave. Gosh, you're right mister, we Australians sure are stupid ... how many Americans are murdered using a gun each year again?
Here's a local news report on the recent claims by your NRA about our crime statistics.
You might expect that Gore might say some pro-Mars stuff, given the VP's involvement for the space program (or has that changed now?) as well as his supposedly tech-friendly record. I guess Bush Sr. did this after becoming President, trying to drum up enthusiasm for a manned Mars mission in 1989, but nobody much cared ...
FWIW, I read in the Economist a few years ago that Sydney was about as crime-ridden as New York. In fact, you were more likely to be the victim of crime in Sydney than in New York. The difference is, in New York you are more likely to be the victim of violent crime - ie being stabbed, beaten, shot and so on. I'd take Sydney over that any day. And since I'm a Melbournian, that's saying something!
As someone else mentioned, Cities in Flight has been reprinted by Millennium in their Masterworks series - you can see what else is in the series at
http://www.andromedabook.co.uk/acatalog/Main_Index _SF_Masterworks__Millenium_UK__63.h tml
Cities in Flight notwithstanding, it's a fantastic series! I've read the first 8 so far - Pohl's Gateway is next. These really are SF's classics.
OTOH, someone once said the Golden Age of sf is whatever you were reading when you were 12 (which was Clarke, Asimov, Heinlein for me) ... but I still think this is a new Golden Age :)
And Clarke was only slightly later! They had their first short story and novel publications almost simultaneously (Bradbury slightly earlier), although of course Fahrenheit 451 has stood the test of time better than Prelude to Space - both published in 1951. Clarke's first great novel wasn't until 1953 - Childhood's End (or Against the Fall of Night - take your pick).