They don't want people embedding the video so you'll have to click on this link in order to watch a 2-1/2 minute preview of "Harry Potter and the Half-blood Prince" which includes some previously unreleased material.
The kids are growing up in this movie but I have to admit that the special effects are looking pretty good, too.
I'm looking forward to seeing this film in the theater when it comes out.
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Friday, March 6, 2009
Thursday, March 5, 2009
NASA interplanetary mission on schedule
Scientific American provides a timely update on NASA'a Dawn mission. Dawn is the first multi-destination probe to conduct missions of exploration within the Solar System.
What about the Voyager missions? Well, apparently since they headed out toward the interstellar regions of space, their missions don't count.
NASA launched the Dawn mission in September 2007. The probe just made a flyby over Mars in February, using Mars' gravity to slingshot itself toward the asteroid belt, where Dawn will explore two large bodies: Vesta and Ceres.
Dawn will actually orbit Vesta for six months starting around August 2011 before departing and moving on to Ceres, where it should arrive in 2012. After mapping Ceres Dawn will remain in orbit around the small planetoid/asteroid until some new mission can be devised for it. If left alone, the probe might orbit Ceres for up to 20 years.
Dawn uses a new Ion propulsion system that will accelerate the probe to a speed of about 11km/sec (about 6.6 miles/sec, I think). How fast is that compared to things we know about? Well, it's faster than a speeding bullet -- perhaps 10 times as fast as a speeding bullet, for what it's worth.
BTW -- that Scientific American article contains a fascinating video which reminds me of the "Genesis Project" video from the movie "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan". The article compares the Dawn probe's mission to Star Trek's missions of exploration. What really distinguishes Dawn from previous interplanetary missions is the fact that the probe will enter into orbit around more than one body -- that has never been done before.
SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.
What about the Voyager missions? Well, apparently since they headed out toward the interstellar regions of space, their missions don't count.
NASA launched the Dawn mission in September 2007. The probe just made a flyby over Mars in February, using Mars' gravity to slingshot itself toward the asteroid belt, where Dawn will explore two large bodies: Vesta and Ceres.
Dawn will actually orbit Vesta for six months starting around August 2011 before departing and moving on to Ceres, where it should arrive in 2012. After mapping Ceres Dawn will remain in orbit around the small planetoid/asteroid until some new mission can be devised for it. If left alone, the probe might orbit Ceres for up to 20 years.
Dawn uses a new Ion propulsion system that will accelerate the probe to a speed of about 11km/sec (about 6.6 miles/sec, I think). How fast is that compared to things we know about? Well, it's faster than a speeding bullet -- perhaps 10 times as fast as a speeding bullet, for what it's worth.
BTW -- that Scientific American article contains a fascinating video which reminds me of the "Genesis Project" video from the movie "Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan". The article compares the Dawn probe's mission to Star Trek's missions of exploration. What really distinguishes Dawn from previous interplanetary missions is the fact that the probe will enter into orbit around more than one body -- that has never been done before.
SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
WonderCon 2009 Star Trek Panel review
No, I didn't get to go to the convention. IGN published a review of the WonderCon Star Trek panel with J.J. Abrams and crew.
This article follows upon their recent interview with William Shatner, who still laments the fact he was not involved in the project.
Not being deeply immersed in the world of Trek fandom, I don't know the ins and outs of these things but I've always felt that Shatner had irritated enough people he would eventually find himself on the outside looking in.
Don't get me wrong -- Captain Kirk was my favorite television character when I was a kid and I gratefully watched every episode of "Barbary Coast" that one season it aired. I even enjoyed watching "T.J. Hooker" before it was cool to complain about all the car hoods he landed on.
William Shatner brought a spirit to Star Trek that no other actor could have contributed -- and I can easily say the same thing about Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Jimmy Doohan, etc. They all brought something unique to the franchise. Time and death have seen to it that some voices are forever frozen in the past, and we have to let go of those jolly days when Kirk, Spock, and McCoy express themselves through Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley.
Nonetheless, it does seem like the excuses for not including Shatner in some capacity are pretty lame. They could have offered him something. Cameos are pretty easy to engineer. Does anyone remember Grace Lee Whitney silently participating in a Trek movie or two? Yeah, I thought so.
I'm pumped about the new movie and looking forward to it, but I'm sorry to see that Shatner and Abrams have not found a way to kiss and make up. Whatever the problem is, the art is suffering. Maybe no one will care because they are "relaunching" the franchise.
That's the big thing in Hollywood these days, isn't it? Playing it safe by re-engineering a time-tested concept. Is that really what Star Trek was all about?
You make the call.
SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.
This article follows upon their recent interview with William Shatner, who still laments the fact he was not involved in the project.
Not being deeply immersed in the world of Trek fandom, I don't know the ins and outs of these things but I've always felt that Shatner had irritated enough people he would eventually find himself on the outside looking in.
Don't get me wrong -- Captain Kirk was my favorite television character when I was a kid and I gratefully watched every episode of "Barbary Coast" that one season it aired. I even enjoyed watching "T.J. Hooker" before it was cool to complain about all the car hoods he landed on.
William Shatner brought a spirit to Star Trek that no other actor could have contributed -- and I can easily say the same thing about Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Jimmy Doohan, etc. They all brought something unique to the franchise. Time and death have seen to it that some voices are forever frozen in the past, and we have to let go of those jolly days when Kirk, Spock, and McCoy express themselves through Shatner, Nimoy, and Kelley.
Nonetheless, it does seem like the excuses for not including Shatner in some capacity are pretty lame. They could have offered him something. Cameos are pretty easy to engineer. Does anyone remember Grace Lee Whitney silently participating in a Trek movie or two? Yeah, I thought so.
I'm pumped about the new movie and looking forward to it, but I'm sorry to see that Shatner and Abrams have not found a way to kiss and make up. Whatever the problem is, the art is suffering. Maybe no one will care because they are "relaunching" the franchise.
That's the big thing in Hollywood these days, isn't it? Playing it safe by re-engineering a time-tested concept. Is that really what Star Trek was all about?
You make the call.
SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.
Tuesday, March 3, 2009
Capital One, Citigroup ripping off customers with credit card APR hikes
You would think the banking industry would have learned a few lessons from their bad policies of the past several years.
You would think the banking industry would be gracious enough not to spit in taxpayers' faces by taking our money AND by raising interest rates on credit cards.
Last year the government proposed new guidelines to protect consumers from predatory banking credit practices but the banks were given 18 months before the new rules take effect in 2010.
Now that the Obama administration has orchestrated the largest bank bailout in U.S. history, companies like J.P. Morgan Bank, Citigroup (Citibank), and Capital One are going to take the money and raise interest rates anyway.
If you've been enjoying a 9.9% interest rate or lower on your credit cards, say good-bye by low rates. Even though the Federal Reserve is keeping interest rates low for banks, the credit card issuing banks like Capital One, Citibank, and J.P. Morgan have decided to raise interest rates (doubling or tripling them for all customers).
Some banks are also announcing new payment terms -- changing due dates, increasing minimum payments, and otherwise making it more difficult for their customers to pay off their credit cards. Quite a few people speculate the banks are doing this to drive away consumers who keep high balances.
You do have the option of rejecting the higher interest rate and closing your account. If you do so, however, you will hurt your credit score because you'll be reducing your available credit without reducing the amount of money you owe.
It would be better to find another bank willing to give you a balance transfer and low introductory interest rate. Moving your debt to a new credit card will help protect your credit score. It will also punish the bank that raised your interest rate.
But you can do more than that to hurt the banks like Capital One, Citibank, and J.P. Morgan. You can complain to your U.S. Representatives, your Senators, and your states' Attorney General and ask them NOT to help banks that have raised interest rates for their customers.
The banks are handing consumers a TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT ultimatum. They are not willing to negotiate or work with the general public. They clearly are too stupid to act in the economy's best interest by keeping interest rates low. So the banks don't need our sympathy or our help OR our money.
Demand that your U.S. Representatives and Senators take back whatever Federal aid was given to the banks in the bailout if the go through with the rate hikes and other plan changes.
Demand that President Obama take punitive action against any bank that alters its credit terms in this usurious fashion while accepting Federal bailout funds.
Help promote any lower interest rate bank card that is accepting new customers, especially if people can get the cards without having pristine credit.
And here is another way you can help yourself: pay off your high interest rate card as soon as possible. While it's a very bad idea to sell off the mutual shares in your 401(k) plan for an emergency loan, if you have adjusted your regular contributions so they go to the Money Market or Liquid Asset fund in your plan you may have enough money to borrow against your 401(K) and pay off at least some of your credit card balance.
If you have a Universal Life policy, you may also be able to borrow money against that to pay down your credit card debt.
The good thing about borrowing from your 401(K) or Universal Life policy is that the interest rates will be lower than most credit cards and you pay the money back to yourself. The bad thing about these kinds of loans is they can cause you more financial distress if you are not careful.
Whatever you do, don't take these rate hikes and changes in payment terms just sitting down. Take action. Do something to let the Congress and the President know you're not happy about the cheating, swindling behavior of the banks. They should not be bailed out if they are going to raise interest rates on their customers like this.
SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.
You would think the banking industry would be gracious enough not to spit in taxpayers' faces by taking our money AND by raising interest rates on credit cards.
Last year the government proposed new guidelines to protect consumers from predatory banking credit practices but the banks were given 18 months before the new rules take effect in 2010.
Now that the Obama administration has orchestrated the largest bank bailout in U.S. history, companies like J.P. Morgan Bank, Citigroup (Citibank), and Capital One are going to take the money and raise interest rates anyway.
If you've been enjoying a 9.9% interest rate or lower on your credit cards, say good-bye by low rates. Even though the Federal Reserve is keeping interest rates low for banks, the credit card issuing banks like Capital One, Citibank, and J.P. Morgan have decided to raise interest rates (doubling or tripling them for all customers).
Some banks are also announcing new payment terms -- changing due dates, increasing minimum payments, and otherwise making it more difficult for their customers to pay off their credit cards. Quite a few people speculate the banks are doing this to drive away consumers who keep high balances.
You do have the option of rejecting the higher interest rate and closing your account. If you do so, however, you will hurt your credit score because you'll be reducing your available credit without reducing the amount of money you owe.
It would be better to find another bank willing to give you a balance transfer and low introductory interest rate. Moving your debt to a new credit card will help protect your credit score. It will also punish the bank that raised your interest rate.
But you can do more than that to hurt the banks like Capital One, Citibank, and J.P. Morgan. You can complain to your U.S. Representatives, your Senators, and your states' Attorney General and ask them NOT to help banks that have raised interest rates for their customers.
The banks are handing consumers a TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT ultimatum. They are not willing to negotiate or work with the general public. They clearly are too stupid to act in the economy's best interest by keeping interest rates low. So the banks don't need our sympathy or our help OR our money.
Demand that your U.S. Representatives and Senators take back whatever Federal aid was given to the banks in the bailout if the go through with the rate hikes and other plan changes.
Demand that President Obama take punitive action against any bank that alters its credit terms in this usurious fashion while accepting Federal bailout funds.
Help promote any lower interest rate bank card that is accepting new customers, especially if people can get the cards without having pristine credit.
And here is another way you can help yourself: pay off your high interest rate card as soon as possible. While it's a very bad idea to sell off the mutual shares in your 401(k) plan for an emergency loan, if you have adjusted your regular contributions so they go to the Money Market or Liquid Asset fund in your plan you may have enough money to borrow against your 401(K) and pay off at least some of your credit card balance.
If you have a Universal Life policy, you may also be able to borrow money against that to pay down your credit card debt.
The good thing about borrowing from your 401(K) or Universal Life policy is that the interest rates will be lower than most credit cards and you pay the money back to yourself. The bad thing about these kinds of loans is they can cause you more financial distress if you are not careful.
Whatever you do, don't take these rate hikes and changes in payment terms just sitting down. Take action. Do something to let the Congress and the President know you're not happy about the cheating, swindling behavior of the banks. They should not be bailed out if they are going to raise interest rates on their customers like this.
SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Jerry Pournelle wants to lob rocks at Earth
Jerry Pournelle is one of my favorite science fiction writers. He is closely connected to H. Beam Piper and Larry Niven. While I've never really been a big Niven fan, I've really enjoyed many of the collaborations that Niven and Pournelle have published, including Footfall, The Mote In God's Eye, Lucifer's Hammer, and The Gripping Hand.
AMC TV interviewed Jerry Pournelle about their new book, Escape From Hell (a sequel to Inferno).
The most interesting comment comes at the end of the interview:
I was never able to collect them all but I really got into Pournelle's CoDominium/Empire of Man stories. The Mote In God's Eye and The Gripping Hand are both set in that universe, which also includes the Falkenberg's Legion stories. I stopped buying the books when I realized Pournelle had opened up the universe to other authors.
The shared universe concept became very popular in the 1980s and lasted through the 1990s. Quite a few authors got into the concept but for me it diminished the value of the original author's art. Which is not to say I didn't appreciate all the great stories that other authors contributed to the shared universes -- it's just that each writer brings his or her own perspective to the imaginary timelines, altering social and chronological themes irretrievably.
Some good writers got their breaks in shared worlds. Some writers I feel couldn't put two sentences together with string and superglue managed to get into those universes, too. Pournelle's militaristic fiction was always sharp and compelling for me, even when he was collaborating with other writers. One of the few really well-done transitions in a shared universe, in my opinion, came when Pournelle let S.M. Stirling take over the Falkenberg/Empire of Man series.
SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.
AMC TV interviewed Jerry Pournelle about their new book, Escape From Hell (a sequel to Inferno).
The most interesting comment comes at the end of the interview:
Q: What's your next project with Larry going to be?
A: We're negotiating another one now. Probably the most lucrative thing we ever did was hit the Earth with a great big rock, so we may try that again.
I was never able to collect them all but I really got into Pournelle's CoDominium/Empire of Man stories. The Mote In God's Eye and The Gripping Hand are both set in that universe, which also includes the Falkenberg's Legion stories. I stopped buying the books when I realized Pournelle had opened up the universe to other authors.
The shared universe concept became very popular in the 1980s and lasted through the 1990s. Quite a few authors got into the concept but for me it diminished the value of the original author's art. Which is not to say I didn't appreciate all the great stories that other authors contributed to the shared universes -- it's just that each writer brings his or her own perspective to the imaginary timelines, altering social and chronological themes irretrievably.
Some good writers got their breaks in shared worlds. Some writers I feel couldn't put two sentences together with string and superglue managed to get into those universes, too. Pournelle's militaristic fiction was always sharp and compelling for me, even when he was collaborating with other writers. One of the few really well-done transitions in a shared universe, in my opinion, came when Pournelle let S.M. Stirling take over the Falkenberg/Empire of Man series.
SF-Fandom is a moderated, fan-run community devoted to science fiction, fantasy, history, and mythology. SF-Fandom was founded in 2001 and is part of the Xenite.Org network. Free registration is required to post. Please be sure you read our Posting Guidelines.
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