Category: Snippets

The english TV series is interesting and engaging, with some grim scenes from the cultural revolution, to the curious events in our present day when the stars blink at us. Several scientists have been killed (or suicided) after a series of quantum experiments started returning nonsensical results, globally. The first two episodes had me hooked!

Andrew Vincent has been analysing posts on Goodreads:

Hugo and Nebula nominees are used as representatives of popular and high-quality SFF publications over a 70-year period (>570 titles).
I accessed the Goodreads website for each title and extracted the topic “tags” as a proxy for main themes of each book. The prevalence of these tags over time are analysed over the 70-year period to identify trends.

As a by-product of this process I also extracted ratings for each title allowing an assessment of the modern readership’s opinion of older titles, and for a comparison of popularity of Hugo vs Nebular nominees.

Critical Mass:Exploration of trends over time in science fiction and fantasy
Time: March 27, 2024 6:30 PM Adelaide, 7pm Melbourne, Canberra & Sydney, 4pm Perth, 6pm Brisbane
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87224309964?pwd=pTIhAuiceNiJRIEKbikVJSAKmNQa1j.1

Meeting ID: 872 2430 9964
Passcode: 356300

Note: there will be hot cross buns for those attending in person…

curation: The process of selecting, organising, and looking after the items in a collection.
Formerly the domain of art galleries, the concept of “curating a collection” is now overused, and often in contexts bordering on the ridiculous (head online for pics of “curated salads’, “curated dog experiences” etc, etc).
But it is still a hugely important practice to help navigate a meaningful path through the ever-increasing amount of stuff — both high quality and rotten — out there.

Those attending might wish to consider:

• – how you choose what to read/watch/download/listen to
• – how this compares to decades past
• – whose recommendations you trust
• – is more choice a good thing?
• – the role of AI in making choices in the future

Critical Mass at kappy’s tea & coffee merchant, 1/22 Compton St, Adelaide.

Wednesday Feb 28th, 6:30pm Adelaide, 7pm Melbourne/Sydney

Zoom details:

Critical Mass: A Roundtable Discussion on Curation in the Age of Overwhelm
Time: Feb 28, 2024 06:30 PM Adelaide
Join Zoom Meeting
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87224309964?pwd=pTIhAuiceNiJRIEKbikVJSAKmNQa1j.1

Meeting ID: 872 2430 9964
Passcode: 356300

I feel like studios keep learning the same lesson over and over again: shared universes are great for movies, under the right circumstances—but they tend to drag TV shows down a bit, over time. And a TV show that exists in the same universe as movies will always be secondary at best to the bigger budget, higher-stakes films. At worst, TV shows that tie in with movies will tend to become glorified bonus material for fans of the film franchise.

Charlie Jane Anders, tor.com

Yes, it’s time to enjoy an old SF movie. This one also happens to be an Ealing comedy…

Wednesday, October 25th

6:15 for a 6:30 start at Kappys, 22 Compton St.

We’re not screening the film over zoom. While kappys has the rights to screen old films, we doubt screening it over zoom would endear us 😉

If you’re familiar with the film, you’re welcome to join us for a brief post film discussion.
Time: Oct 25, 2023 8pm Adelaide, 8:30 PM Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86711562991?pwd=L0VoYjkrRlIwWU05QmxWU0tqaUZiZz09

Meeting ID: 867 1156 2991
Passcode: 535708

This month, we’re asking people to pick one of China Miéville’s books so they can talk briefly about it.

Note that we have moved the meeting ahead a week to avoid clashing with the Matilda’s FIFA match on the 16th.

His fiction includes:

Bas-Lag series

• Perdido Street Station (2000)
• The Scar (2002)
• Iron Council (2004)

Stand-alone novels

• King Rat (1998) ISBN 978-0312890735
• Un Lun Dun (2007) ISBN 978-0230015869
• The City & the City (2009) ISBN 978-1405000178
• Kraken (2010) ISBN 978-0333989500
• Embassytown (2011) ISBN 978-0230750760
• Railsea (2012) ISBN 978-0230765108

Novellas

• The Tain (2002)
• This Census-Taker (2016)
• The Last Days of New Paris (2016) ISBN 978-0345543998

There’s a comprehensive list of Miéville’s work at the ISFDB

We meet in person at Kappys, 1/22 Compton St, 6:15 for a 6:30 start

Zoom details:

Topic: Critical Mass on August 23, 2023 6:30 pm Adelaide / 7pm Melbourne, Sydney

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/86711562991?pwd=L0VoYjkrRlIwWU05QmxWU0tqaUZiZz09

Meeting ID: 867 1156 2991
Passcode: 535708

Note: we need to renew our zoom account, so we will be asking for contributions from members

Yes, season 2 of Good Omens has appeared on the screens.

Kelly Woo at Tom’s Guide provides details:

The fantasy comedy created by Neil Gaiman finally returns after a four-year hiatus. Fans are at a fever pitch to see David Tennant as mercurial demon Crowley and Michael Sheen as fastidious angel Aziraphale revive their buddy banter. 

Good Omens season 2 premiered Friday (July 28) at 12:01 a.m. ET on Prime Video.

Even better: Jon Hamm is reprising his role as the archangel Gabriel. And he shows up fully nude in the first episode!

Good Omens season 2 takes place some time after the two pals successfully thwarted the apocalypse. They’re peacefully living among humans until the day Gabriel arrives at Aziraphale’s bookshop with no memory of who he is or how he got there. Aziraphale wants to figure out the mystery, while Crowley is suspicious. 

More details: Tom’s Guide

Lee Harding, author of Displaced Person, passed away 19 April

Lee Harding, Australian SF and Children’s writer, photographer, and anthologist, passed away peacefully after an illness (1937-2023).
Chandler, Ditmar, and Australia Children’s Book Award winner (for Displaced Person v.t. Misplaced Persons) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lee_Harding_(writer). Condolences to family, friends, and fans.

The June Nova Mob will be a celebration of Lee Harding’s life. Please lock in June 7 in your diaries.

Wednesday June 7th:

7.30pm – 9.00pm Adelaide time
8.00pm – 9.30 pm Canberra, Melbourne, Sydney time

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/4177583193?pwd=VjdPL1BhSTBNclN2YnRsejN3Y1hlUT09

Passcode: nova
Meeting ID: 417 758 3193

On Wednesday, March 22nd, we will meet at Kappys at 6:30 to discuss ChatGPT and SF featuring AI.

Since the early days of the pandemic, I’ve observed an increase in the number of spammy submissions to Clarkesworld. What I mean by that is that there’s an honest interest in being published, but not in having to do the actual work.

[..]

Towards the end of 2022, there was another spike in plagiarism and then “AI” chatbots started gaining some attention, putting a new tool in their arsenal and encouraging more to give this “side hustle” a try. It quickly got out of hand:
[ …]
the number of spam submissions resulting in bans has hit 38% this month. While rejecting and banning these submissions has been simple, it’s growing at a rate that will necessitate changes. To make matters worse, the technology is only going to get better, so detection will become more challenging. (I have no doubt that several rejected stories have already evaded detection or were cases where we simply erred on the side of caution.)

Neil Clarke, A Concerning Trend

We discussed this briefly at the recent Critical Mass on The Peripheral, and decided that it would be good to discuss the issue of “AI” at the next meeting. We invite people to read the piece above by Neil Clarke, and follow some of the discussion in File 770/

Jeff Harris notes:

The Observer notes Clarkesworld blacklisted 500 writers for machine intelligence generated stories in February. There were 50 writers previously blacklisted, but for plagiarism.

ABC RN’s Future Tense recently broadcast the following program on ChatGBT: ChatGPT — the hype, the limitations and the potential–

Another set of viewpoints on the issue. Interesting that an old technology like radio has some of the more interesting discussions on the subject.