Offworld report: December 2003

This month's offworld roundup features the shock hack of David Langford's Ansible magazine, an interview with author David Zindell, the sudden death of the TV series Firefly, while Roger MacBride Allen remembers author Charles Sheffield.

Ansible Hack Attack
Shock news from David Langford’s Ansible magazine this month, as subscribers to their very popular e-mail list were spammed with an unauthorized message containing the Klez PC virus attachment.

The hack attack supposedly hailed from the email address denben@bergen.org but – after a little investigation - apparently originated from an AOL account. Poor old Langford has demanded an urgent investigation from the System Administrator at Glasgow University, which hosts Ansible’s list server.

Sending to the list normally requires a password, but there was obviously an unexpected security hole.

Science fiction sites don't tend to be the focus of the dark hordes of script kiddies lurking out in cyberspace, but you can never be too careful, as we at the 'Nest know to our cost (older readers may remember some nasty little shit hacked our site back in 1995 and scrawled some 'SF fans are all nerds'-style abuse on our home page).

Still, every cloud has a silver lining ... at least it gave old Langford the unexpected opportunity to send out a royal-style Christmas greeting to the the legion of fans who hang on his every word.

Ho ho ho, David. 2003 can only be better.

Beyond Human
Writing for Asimov's Science Fiction, James Patrick Kelly checks out Vernor Vinge’s idea that with the accelerating advances in technology, it won’t be long before something surpasses human intelligence.

Firefly Doesn’t …Fly, That Is
As of last week, FOX apparently pulled the plug on its Friday-night science-fiction drama "Firefly,” about the crew of the Firefly-class starship Serenity, which hauls cargo and passengers to make ends meet in an existence 500 years after a planetary civil war.

Farscape Fans With Deep Pockets
Fans of the canceled TV series Farscape pool their folding green to produce a TV advert begging the network to bring it back.

Kevin Sorbo gets Friendly
Sorbo wants Gene Roddenberry's Andromeda to get all chummy with you.

Solaris In Detail
Author Stanislaw Lem comes under the spotlight with the Hollywood version of his classic novel.

The US Government and UFOs
A new book, ‘Beyond UFO Secrecy’, looks at how the US government has treated the UFO issue. Conspiracy or farce, take your pick.

Scientists 'Weigh' Distant Planet
The mass of a planet orbiting a nearby star has been measured accurately for the first time.

Terrible U.S. Experiments Inspire Controversial Comic
What if it took some experimentation to create the Captain America we've known for six decades? And what if the experiments were done on anonymous black soldiers? Then maybe you can handle the "Truth", a controversial six-issue mini-series from Marvel Comics that looks at one of the company's icons from an insidious angle.

ESA Wants Your Science Fiction
The European Space Agency is sponsoring a SF contest to encourage talented new writers to enter the literary fray.

What Makes Great Science Fiction Great?
Have you ever noticed how many fans enter a near-religious frenzy when the topic of the "best" science fiction universe comes up? Everyone has a favourite universe, be it Asimov’s Foundation Series, or the Star Wars trilogy. So join Slashdot’s mega online discussion thread to natter about what your favourite is.

Firefly Team Sing for Survival
An interview with Firefly stars Adam Baldwin, Ron Glass, and Morena Baccarin (and producer Tim Minearas), while the new TV series fights for its very existence.

Behind the Book Store
Rick Klaw gives fans a sneaky look at his suffering life behind the counter of a book shop.

Charles Sheffield RIP
Roger MacBride Allen remembers the brilliant life of sadly deceased author Charles Sheffield.

Getting Zippy with Zindell
Slightly off the wall SF author David Zindell is interviewed.

David Zindell’s Shanidar
A new novelette from the pen of author David Zindell.

Grünwelt 
Neal Barrett brings you some fresh short fiction.

The MoD’s Great UFO conspiracy
How the UK’s defense establishment hushed up a UFO event, according to a Westminster watchdog.

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Brian Aldiss: the Master of Glacial Helliconia Brian Aldiss, one of Britain's greatest authors, interviewed. He holds forth on why he was glad Michael Moorcock appeared in the sixties, why his Helliconia trilogy is just about a change in the weather, and the terrible unwisdom of terraforming Mars. (AUTHOR INTERVIEWS) Hunt vs Hunt SFF author Walter Hunt interviewed by SFF author Stephen Hunt. Crikes, that's a whole lot of Hunt-ing going on for Christmas. The author of the crackingly good military SF epic The Dark Wing tells us how the idea of an implacable alien enemy that won't make peace with us, with a religion that teaches that humanity shouldn't exist, comes disturbingly close to home given the events of the past year. (AUTHOR INTERVIEWS) Offworld report: December 2003 This month's offworld roundup features the shock hack of David Langford's Ansible magazine, an interview with author David Zindell, the sudden death of the TV series Firefly, while Roger MacBride Allen remembers author Charles Sheffield. (NEWS) The Two Towers Inferno The latest big screen installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy could be your last movie of 2002, or your first of 2003; but you're going to see it. Right? (FILM REVIEWS) Solaris An alien planet gives George Clooney a perfect facsimile of the wife he lost on earth in SOLARIS. The philosophical film has some engaging ideas, but viewers expecting romantic sci-fi will probably be disappointed and perhaps even bored. This is dense, introspective, and intelligent science fiction as distinguished from entertainment. (FILM REVIEWS) Star Trek: Nemesis As the "Star Trek" series seems slowly to lose steam, Mark finds the movie contains one late - uncharacteristic - burst of life and energy, a science-fictional examination of the nature-nurture question. Picard and Data each meet physically identical copies of their former selves and each must deal with the similarities and differences. The question faced is, what makes a person who he is? (FILM REVIEWS) James Bond Is An Alien It's true, Uncle Geoff, our esteemed editor has definitive proof. The British secret service's most deadly human weapon turns out not to be so human after all. (ARTICLES) Peanut Butter & Magic Just in time for Christmas, a short fantasy story from the oft-enchanted pen of Elizabeth Burton. (FICTION) Here comes the 'Egg' man With four Hugos and a Chesley, Bob Eggleton is one of the most renowned SF and fantasy artists in the world. And he has a really amazing haircut too! (ARTIST INTERVIEWS) Star Trek Enterprise: The Seventh T'Pol asks Archer along on a classified mission which threatens to reveal an incident she has long hidden from herself. (TV REVIEWS) Star Trek Enterprise: The Communicator When Lieutenant Reed loses his communicator on a landing mission, he and Archer return to retrieve it before it contaminates that planet's culture. (TV REVIEWS) Star Trek Enterprise: Singularity Radiation from a nearby black hole affects the Trek crew's behaviour in some unexpected ways. (TV REVIEWS)

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