Friends of Fandom - Info Alert http://www.clever.net/cam/archive/

      December 1999

      Greetings From the Penultimate Year of the 20th Century.

      New additions to our little group this month include Matthew Henley
      and Curt Gibby from the North Houston area, and Larry McLoughlin
      from Spring. Further afield, we add Brad Jenson from Tulsa, Oklahoma
      right in the center of the USA, and lastly Lorraine Anderson, hailing
      from the frozen wastelands of Three Rivers, Michigan. Welcome aboard,
      all of you, and thanks for signing up.

      Fasten your seatbelt and bring your browser window to an upright and
      locked position. And we are off ....

      As always, just how far off you have to determine for yourself.
      Just time for a Cheerful Merry Christmas before we descend to ...

      Fannish Deaths and Other Disasters

      Walt Willis, Fan Guest of Honor at MagiCon, the 1992 Worldcon, and
      the British fan who perfected the art of humorous fan writing died
      of a heart attack in mid-October at the age of 79. Together with
      Bob Shaw, he wrote the fannish classic, "The Enchanted Duplicator".
      Walt was a Hugo fanzine finalist twice. Both his zines Slant
      (Typeset by hand - he claimed his ancestors published that way and
      he just reverted to type) and Hyphen, co-edited with Chuck Harris,
      are immortalized on the Web in the FANAC Fanzine Index. TAFF (the
      transatlantic fan fund) was an outgrowth of efforts to bring Walt
      Willis to America.

      A number of fans are remembering Walt with a donation to TAFF.

      Walt Willis - http://fanac.org/fanzines/Willis_Papers/index.html
      Slant - http://fanac.org/fanzines/Slant/
      Hyphen - http://fanac.org/fanzines/Hyphen/
      FANAC Fanzine Index -http://fanac.org/fanzines/
      TAFF - http://www.dcs.gla.ac.uk/SF-Archives/Taff/

      Ellen Datlow's Web Zine "Event Horizon: Science Fiction, Fantasy, and
      Horror" is dead, as of December 15, 1999. The advantage with being
      a zine is that there is always the possibility of a reincarnation
      if only an investor or new owner to underwrite its continuation can
      be found. Ellen has been hired by the Sci-Fi Channel's Web Zine as
      a full-time editor in the meantime keeping her hand in by consulting
      for Tor Books and editing various anthologies. Currently she is
      buying short stories for theposition.com, a Web Zine launching in
      January 2000 as an adjunct to, um, er, the Museum of Sex.

      Event Horizon - http://www.eventhorizon.com/sfzine/index.html
      Ellen Datlow - http://www.webwitch.com/westercon52/datlowbio.html
      Old Interview as Omni shifted to the Web
      http://www.marketlist.com/datlow.htp
      Sci-Fi Channel - http://www.scifi.com/
      theposition.com - http://www.theposition.com/

      Forthcoming SF&Fantasy Books

      New books announced from Lynn Abbey, Greg Bear, Terry
      Brooks, Orson Scott Card, Gordon R. Dickson, Kate Elliott,
      Terry Goodkind, Robin Hobb, Nancy Kress, Ursula Le Guin,
      L.E. Modisett, Jr., Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle, Andre
      Norton, and Spider Robinson.

      December releases from Catherine Asaro, Arthur C. Clarke,
      Jane S. Fancher, Joe Haldeman, and Elizabeth Moon.

      For more sf&f new book listings and more detail (updated monthly),
      see http://www.clever.net/cam/forthcomingsf.html .

      Science Fiction on TV

      If Lost in Space can come back as a feature film, why can't
      Battlestar Galactica (1978-1980) either come back at the
      theater or as a new TV series (kind of Battlestar Galactica,
      the Next Generation)?

      Original series star Richard Hatch (Capt. Apollo) certainly
      can't see why not. However, for this to happen Battlestar
      Galactica needs YOU!
      http://battlestar.homepage.com/

      This is a really great site. (I was thrilled to hear the
      original TV theme music again!) Hatch has been working
      hard for some years now making appearances at sf cons all
      over the country in support of Battlestar Galactica, The
      Second Coming. Richard Hatch showed the 4 1/2 minute
      trailer for a proposed new Battlestar Galactica when he
      was here in Houston for a con last month. (Unfortunately,
      Clif & I weren't able to make that one. Can anyone email
      us and tell us what they thought of the new trailer and
      what Mr. Hatch said while at the con about how his
      Battlestar Galactica campaign has been coming?)

      See also Richard Hatch's home page at

      http://www.richardhatch.com/

      Anyone unfamiliar with Battlestar Galactica but who does
      have access to the Science Fiction channel, please catch
      an episode (yes, Sci-Fi is currently airing the original
      series!)! Also, it just so happens that the Sci-Fi Channel
      is showing one of its famous Chain Reactions this Friday!

      ''Battlestar Galactica -- Chain Reaction -- means episode
      after episode of blockbuster chemistry --

      It's a 21-hour Battlestar Galactica event. Commander Adama
      and the human survivors of a planetary system holocaust
      scramble aboard any space vessel they can to flee the slaughter
      of the robotic Cylons. They can't go home, so they begin an
      arduous journey to their mythical homeworld, a shining planet
      known as Earth.

      Airs Friday, December 24 from 8AM - 5AM Central Time!''

      http://www.scifi.com/galactica/

      Atreides-Harkonnen Family Feud

      Yes, Dune is coming back to TV as a miniseries, currently set
      for October 2000. For everyone one who loved Frank Herbert's
      original Dune series and for those who have read son Brian
      Herbert & co-author Kevin J. Anderson's fine House Atreides
      (book one of a prequel trilogy), this new miniseries should be
      a real treat!
      http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ISBN=0553110616/fantasicfuturesbA

      According to the official Dune Web site, ''[T]he SCI-FI
      Channel has begun filming the six-hour miniseries
      adaptation of Frank Herbert's DUNE, which will star
      Academy-Award-winner William Hurt in the role of Duke
      Leto Atreides.

      Production began Monday, November 22, in Prague,
      Czech Republic....

      Casting is still underway, although it's been announced
      that newcomer Alec Newman will play the key role of
      Paul Atreides. Also, Muriel Baumeister will play Princess
      Irulan, Uwe Ochsenknecht will play Stilgar, Ian McNeice
      will star as Baron Vladimir Harkonnen, and Barbara
      Kodetova will take on the role of Chani. Italian screen
      icon Giancarlo Giannini has been signed to play Emperor
      Shaddam IV.

      "Frank Herbert's DUNE" is scheduled to air in October
      2000. The project is budgeted at more than $20 million.''

      For more information, see:

      http://www.dunenovels.com/
      http://www.dunenovels.com/dunenews_newminiseries.html

      Spring 2000 TV season is right around the corner!

      One new series is debuting, one old series is ending,
      three are returning after a month's hiatus, and two are
      changing air times.

      The Others is the new series, to debut on NBC Saturday
      Feb. 5. This is going to be a series about "psychic
      phenomena" (in other words, the supernatural).

      Sliders will be returning 1/14/2000 and airing its next to last
      episode 1/28/2000.

      Farscape is returning 1/7/2000 and will air its first season
      finale 1/28/2000.

      First Wave will be returning for its second season premiere
      at a new day and time. Up until now it had been on Friday.
      Starting 1/8/2000, it will be shown Sunday nights at 6-7 PM.

      Outer Limits will also have a time change to 9:45 PM beginning
      1/21/2000.

      For more information, see our listing at:
      http://www.clever.net/cam/sftv.html

      Science Fiction at the Movies

      Well, it's going to be a very good Christmas this year.
      The reason that I (Margaret) know that already is because
      December 25, 1999 is the day when Galaxy Quest opens (in a
      theater near you!).

      http://www.GalaxyQuest.com/

      Here's a bit of a teaser:
      "DreamWorks' science fiction action-comedy Galaxy Quest
      thus brings a new twist to the time-honored predicament
      of the fish out of water."

      If that hasn't piqued your interest, you didn't see the
      Matt Lauer interview with Tim Allen on the Today Show,
      Tuesday, Dec. 14, 1999.

      If you are an sf fan with no sense of humor, stay home.
      For the rest of us, I think that this movie is going to
      be a blast!!

      The people at Babelfish have nothing on the people at hit-n-run.
      Babelfish can't do Gungan.
      Now you can surf the web just like Jar Jar Binks does!
      (Try sticking in http://www.clever.net/cam/archive/issue22.html
      in the upper box).

      The Jar-Jargonizer - http://www.hit-n-run.com/jarjar.html

      What's Your Star Wars Name
      Courtesy: http://www.geocities.com/Area51/Hollow/1970/swnames.html

      Just for fun, have you ever figured out your "Star Wars" name?
      If not, here are the simple rules on generating your own Jedi or
      alien name! Do the following:

      1.Start with the FIRST 3 letters of your LAST name.
      2.Add the FIRST 2 letters of your FIRST name.
      3.Add the FIRST 2 letters of your mother's maiden name.
      4.Add the FIRST 2 letters of the city you were born in.
      5.Then you are allowed to REMOVE one letter to make it sound cool.

      Tim Emrick's Jedi name comes out to "Emr-ti Waleb" (EMRick, TImothy,
      WAgoner, LEBanon). Step #5 would let you elide that
      first name to something easier to pronounce, such as "Emri."

      This system will occasionally produce very silly names. His fiancee's
      Jedi name is Liter Manew, while the friend who told us
      about this, Eric Reuss, has the Jedi name of Rue'Ro Ka'New
      ("row your canoe"?! ;-).

      Back to Mars!

      NASA may be missing Mars, but that doesn't mean you have to.

      >From the movie's official Web site comes this synopsis:

      ''From acclaimed director Brian De Palma, MISSION TO MARS
      is a dramatic space adventure starring Gary Sinise, Don Cheadle,
      Connie Nielsen, Jerry O'Connell, and Tim Robbins.

      When the first manned mission to Mars meets with a catastrophic
      and mysterious disaster, a rescue mission is launched to investigate
      the tragedy and bring back any survivors.

      Exciting and realistic, MISSION TO MARS is the inspirational story
      of the astronauts of the hurried Mars Recovery mission, the almost
      insurmountable dangers that confront the heroic crew on their journey
      through space, and the amazing discovery they make when they finally
      reach the Red Planet.''

      Mission to Mars
      http://movies.go.com/m2m/

      Forthcoming SF, Fantasy, & Gaming Cons

      Be sure, also, to mark your calendars to turn out for the
      Millennium Party Dec.31, 1999-January 1, 2000 at the Courtyard
      by Marriott here in Houston (in the Galleria area). (For more about
      this party, stay tuned!!)

      Wannabe writer's should be sharpening their pencils for the
      Ursa Major Science Fiction Literary Association's Writer's Workshop
      coming up February 12, 2000 in San Antonio.

      For a more complete listing see our monthly What's Happening list
      at http://www.clever.net/cam/concalendar.html .

      Science Fiction On the Web

      Another Red Dwarf Site - Oh the Horror!
      The Red Dwarf League Against Salivating Monsters (LASM) operating
      from the frozen wasteland of Detroit, have a Web page that ranges
      from Fan Fiction to a photo guide of THEM, the monsters, mutants,
      or just the atrociously silly salivating monsters.

      Yes, this is your place to find your favorite piece of genetically
      engineered spew-tum with a harsh attitude, with a penchant for soft
      moist cranial suppers, that likes to feed on emotion, or is in any way
      gross, dis'custin', or insane.

      They have one of the best one-paragraph summaries of Red Dwarf
      you are likely to read and they have a modest goal... To fulfill their
      duty as complete and utter bastards by making as many other people
      desire Red Dwarf as possible while scoffing at snideness, nit-pickyness,
      and all other forms of smeggy gimboid-like behavior.

      League Against Salivating Monsters - http://www.usol.com/~genimutant/

      Fans of Total Recall 2070 will be happy to see T'Pell Wilson's
      Citizen's Information Bureau: A Total Recall 2070 Jumpstation.
      MP3s of the theme song, photos, contact information, lots of good
      information, lots and lots and lots of well organized links.
      Well done, T'Pell.

      CIB:TR2070 - http://www.terraforming.com/tr2070.htm

      Say what you will about the Sci-Fi channel, their Science Fiction
      Weekly remains a fount of information.

      Their 140th piece of cover art is up to their usual high standards.
      Where else would you find out that Johnathan Jackson has emerged
      as the top pick to play Anakin Skywalker in Star Wars Episode II
      or that Babylon 5's Jerry Doyle is running for Congress?

      Science Fiction Weekly - http://www.scifi.com/sfw/current/

      It's kind of hard to classify, even as fantasy/science-fiction,
      but one of the best comics on the Web is _FEW and FAR Between_
      (formally known as NOO Greak Kollum).

      Currently Weeping William (who the Gods have turned invisible)
      is conversing with Calculus, John Normal's Robot (who can see him
      due to full-spectrum vision).

      William has Calculus repair Cardamon Rose's pendant which Merry
      broke when she threw it off while shouting at the sky (actually
      the Cerian Plane where the Gods reside).

      And while we don't know, it is hard not to suspect that this simple
      act is yet another step on the emotional roller-coaster that artist,
      Joda, is taking us on.

      OK. It does take a little bit to get up to speed on this Web-comic
      but there are archives that are well worth delving into. This Web
      comic tackles issues that most novels would fear to touch.

      I'm not sure how these little guys became my friends, but they did.
      So I (Clif) am not neutral on this one, but, that said, I recommend
      it VERY highly!

      FEW and FAR Between - http:/www.fewandfarbetween.com/

      Party! Party! Party!

      Don't forget when you plan your new year that Several Unlimited and
      their friends are organizing a block of parties to welcome in the
      new millennium the night of December 31, 1999.

      Where? The Courtyard by Marriott inside Loop 610 from the Galleria.

      Hall Costume Awards
      Party Food and Non-alcoholic drinks
      Worldwide Y2K surveillance
      The very best company in which to welcome the next thousand years.

      For $5, you party through the night and hit any (or all) of the
      component parties including the OwlCon party, and the Sentinel
      Texas Tribe Party, not to mention Clif and Margaret's pre-
      millennium party, since the REAL start of the next millennium
      is 2001.

      Several Unlimited is going all out with planned activities etc. and they
      are also dropping some of their zine loot on their party, so believe me,
      you're getting a bargain.

      January 1, 2000 join the gathering of the Houston Ritual SF Breakfast
      group at the hotel. Breakfast buffet at the Courtyard Restaurant is
      $7.95 a person and for New Year's morning you won't find better food at
      a better price.

      Then, start off the New Year with Friends of Fandom's Open House
      beginning shortly after the 10 AM Ritual SF breakfast. We might even
      have a few black-eyed peas and a microwave available.

      If you don't think you could pull a 24-hour party into the new year
      and don't want to face the drunks on the road, there is always a hotel
      room at $119/night, or next door at the Fairfield Inn at a somewhat more
      reasonable $89/night for single or double occupancy.

      Party Like It's 1999!!!

      Millennium Party - http://members.aol.com/ErikaF/su/millparty.htm
      Several Unlimited - http://members.aol.com/erikaf/su/
      Friends of Fandom - http://www.clever.net/cam/fof.html
      Other Texas Area Fan Organizations
      http://www.clever.net/cam/clubslist.html

      Space, The Final Frontier.

      Extra-Bright Full Moon this month

      >From the Farmer's Almanac:
      ''SINCE 1793, when The Old Farmer's Almanac began tracking
      heavenly events and seasonal changes, the Moon has been full
      on the first day of winter just nine times. This year, 1999, marks
      the first time it has happened since 1980. But we have to go back
      133 years, to 1866, to match this year's rare gathering of winter
      solstice, full Moon, and lunar perigee (the point in the Moon's
      orbit that is closest to Earth).''

      http://almanac.com/preview2000/lunar.html

      Speaking of bright,

      First light ever seen from extrasolar planet
      http://www.discovery.com/news/archive/news991217/brief5.html

      See also:
      Yahoo Full Coverage: Extrasolar Planets
      http://fullcoverage.yahoo.com/fc/Science/New_Planet_Discovery/

      There's Still Room Yet for Amateurs

      Gary Hug and Graham Bell went out that night looking for
      asteroids. What they found was a comet. Not bad for
      a pair of amateurs!

      The newly christened Hug-Bell Comet "'could well be the
      faintest comet ever discovered by an amateur,' said Brian
      Marsden, a member of the [International Astronomical Union],
      the world's leading astronomical organization, after
      professional astronomers confirmed it."

      Hug-Bell is a short-period comet, re-visiting the Earth every
      seven years.

      For more information see:

      Northeast Kansas Amateur Astronomers' League
      http://www.cjnetworks.com/~nekaal/index.htm

      (Unfortunately, the comet find has not yet been added to the
      League's Web site, so far as I (Margaret) can determine. I should
      think that it will be, later.)

      Space the Final Frontier

      This has been a frustrating time for NASA, and yet sometimes victory
      has been snatched from defeat.

      The smaller, cheaper, smarter approach to planetary exploration hit a
      big speed bump with the loss of both Mars spacecraft.

      Not even the probes that were to separate and dig into the Red Martian
      soil ever let out a peep after the lander entered the atmosphere on a
      picture perfect trajectory.

      There are more Martian probes planned to follow up, but no one knows
      what happened to this one [the Mars Polar Lander]. As I type, flight
      controllers continue to work their way through a web of fault-tree
      scenarios but the chances of recovering the lander long ago passed
      dismal.

      Last week, the orbiting Mars Global Surveyor spacecraft began an
      imaging campaign to look for evidence of the lander, parachute or
      aeroshell. So far, nothing has been detected.
      They will continue to work to find out what happened to the craft
      until mid-January when they will have exhausted all possible recovery
      modes.

      At that time, the job of determining what happened will go to two
      special review boards, one from JPL and one from NASA.

      JPL's board has until March 3 to present a report, but neither board has
      a lot of useful information to work with. Sometimes smaller, cheaper,
      smarter leaves you shrugging your shoulders.

      The Space Telescope sat useless while the shuttle launch to repair it
      was delayed again and again, past its Y2K mandated window. But
      NASA stretched the window a little more, and now the astronauts are
      busy with Hubble's repair as I type.

      As Galileo made its final productive approach to Io, the most volcanic
      body in the solar system, an ill-timed burst of radiation scrambled
      Galileo's electronics.

      Programmers worked feverishly to send the spacecraft new software to
      work around the problems and bring it out of safe mode. The instructions
      reached Galileo in time for it to do part, if not all of its job.

      But the pictures were worth it.

      They caught a close-up of a massive volcanic eruption in action on Io.
      The fiery lava fountain shot more than a mile above the moons surface,
      erupting lava so hot and bright it over-exposed part of the camera
      picture and left a bright blur in the middle.

      These lava fountains were hot enough and tall enough to be
      observed by the NASA Infrared Telescope atop Mauna Kea, HI.

      By combining data from this telescope and Galileo observations,
      scientists have their best chance ever to pin down temperatures.
      Catching these fountains was a one-in-500-chance observation.

      Galileo's camera and near-infrared mapping spectrometer show a region
      of giant calderas, or crater depressions, in Io's northern latitudes and
      provided new results on the dynamics of the solar system's most
      powerful volcano, Loki.

      Radiation was thought to have garbled many of the images from Galileo
      and there only seemed to be only a quarter of enough data to
      reconstitute the image from the noise, but LabVIEW software from
      National Instruments in Austin, TX, was able to reconstitute the
      pictures by iteratively making intelligent guesses about the missing
      data.

      The new Io images are available at http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/pictures/io .

      Additional information and pictures taken by Galileo are available
      at http://galileo.jpl.nasa.gov .

      It's December 22, 1999
      Do you know where your probes are?

      Apollo: Where are they now? - Current locations of the Apollo
      Command Module Capsules (and Lunar Module crash sites). [more
      information on Apollo through the main link below]

      Cassini Spacecraft - The Cassini spacecraft began its seven-year
      journey to the ringed planet Saturn on October 15, 1997. These images
      show Cassini on its trajectory to Saturn, as well as its speed with
      respect to the Sun and the distance it has traveled since launch. [more
      information on Cassini through the main link]

      Chandra X-ray Observatory - NASA's Chandra X-ray Observatory
      launched aboard Space Shuttle Columbia on mission STS-93 on July
      23, 1999. You can track the Chandra in Orbit through several different
      real-time tracking software programs. Chandra animated video clips are
      also available! [more information on Chandra though the main link]

      Galileo Spacecraft - The Galileo spacecraft was launched in 1989 and
      arrived at Jupiter in December, 1995. These images are simulated views
      of the Galileo spacecraft. Galileo's primary mission ended in December
      1997. Galileo is on an extended mission to conduct a detailed study of
      Europa, then plunge repeatedly through the Io Plasma Torus to reach
      volcanic Io. [more information on Galileo through the main link]

      ISS Naked-Eye Visibility Data - Did you know you can see the
      International Space Station (ISS) assembly with the naked-eye? Check
      out the ISS naked-eye visibility tables for viewing opportunities in
      your area. [more information on ISS through the main link]

      Mir Naked-Eye Viewing Tables - Did you know you can see the
      Russian space station Mir with the naked-eye? Check this site for
      viewing opportunities in your area. [more information on Shuttle-Mir
      through (you guessed it) the main link.]

      NASA SkyWatch - Is a web-based Java application that provides sky
      watchers around the world with a visual picture of when and where the
      International Space Station, the space shuttle and other spacecraft can
      be seen with the unaided eye as they pass overhead.

      NOAA Satellites - How do they figure out tomorrow's weather? These
      NOAA Satellites are used to follow the weather patterns from high
      above the Earth. Search satellites help save thousands of lives by
      watching for emergency beacons for airplanes, boats and ground
      personnel in distress. This tracking system uses a Java applet to
      calculate and display satellites against a world map.

      Space Shuttle Orbiter Vehicles - America's fleet of Space Shuttle
      orbiters are named after pioneering sea vessels which established new
      frontiers in research and exploration. Background information on each of
      the orbiters, upgrades and features, flights to date completed, and the
      flight logs are provided. Updates on current orbiter processing can be
      found in the KSC Status Reports. [more information on Space Shuttle
      through (need I say it) the main link]

      yager Spacecraft - Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 were launched during
      the summer of 1977. Both spacecraft are healthy and are continuing to
      explore the environment at the very edge of the solar system, sending
      back particles, waves and fields data from the far outer heliosphere,
      the outermost region of the Sun's influence. This website provides the
      most current distance and velocity information for both spacecraft.
      [more information on Voyager through, um, er, oh yeah, the main link]

      THE MAIN LINK
      Where are they now?
      http://spacelink.nasa.gov/NASA.News/Where.Are.They.Now/

      Where is the Space Shuttle Enterprise?
      http://www.ksc.nasa.gov/shuttle/resources/orbiters/enterprise.html
      (Answer: It is now owned by the Smithsonian Institution.)

      The Write Stuff (Pen and Ink Optional!)

      Margaret,

      I just visited your interesting and very useful site for authors.

      You may consider our site to be listed as one of you author tools
      for resources.

      AuthorsChoice
      http://www.authorschoice.com/

      Thanks for your author interest in finding resources for their work.

      Sincerely,
      Robert Stewart

      Thanks for the kind words, Robert. I've already added your
      site to my Writers page.

      For more information and a complete listing see:
      http://www.clever.net/cam/writers.html

      More FFFeedback

      We heard from T'Pell Wilson re the end of the main Hercules
      series:
      ----
      Um, maybe it was on purpose, but I noticed that in your discussion of
      Kevin Sorbo's new show Andromeda you left out the following:

      KS has the role of Dylan Hunt. Sound familiar? It should. This is
      the third (or is it fourth?) version of Gene Roddenberry's story of the
      man who was frozen in the near present and thawed in the future. At
      least two pilots for the show were shot and aired many years ago. This
      is another project dredged up by Majel Roddenberry from Gene's old
      files.

      This time (after being thawed) he becomes the captain of a generation
      ship named Andromeda.

      KS is not only the star, he's also an executive producer, so one
      assumes that he has some hand in the changes to the story line.

      Perhaps this is where the rumors of an ST based on a generation ship
      are coming from.

      (Perhaps - Clif)

      Marina Syrtis is also guest starring in an Earth: Final Conflict coming
      up in early December. She plays a nun with a group that worships the
      Taelons. According to her Majel R. was not happy with EFC's second
      season (who was?), but is happier with the way the third season is
      going. (Maybe we can look forward to it improving in the near future.)

      Advertising for the con this weekend (Nov.20-21) with Richard Hatch
      say he will be showing "a new Galactica trailer"????? Is someone
      trying to sell a new Galactica series, or is this from a (real or
      proposed?) movie? (Maybe this is where the "Galactica-like ST series"
      rumor is coming from????)

      (Maybe. Thanks for the information, T'Pell. Read Margaret's comments
      about the Galactica series earlier this issue. - Clif)

      According to the November 18th Houston Chronicle, Time Warner is
      announcing a new digital cable service. 200 channels (no waiting).
      No new wiring is required, only a new set-top box and a new remote.
      (They told me universal remotes will not work with this new box.) They
      don't even have the boxes yet, but told me that they are due to receive
      them next week. You can get the new service just by dropping by their
      office and picking up the new box. It is supposed to cost about $10 a
      month more than your standard analog service.

      For any TR2070 fans; If you get the new digital service, you pay the
      same additional $12.95/mo that you are paying now to get ShowTime, but
      instead of 2 ShowTime channels, you get 5. One of those 5 is ShowTime
      Beyond, their dedicated-to-scifi channel. ShowTime Beyond is airing
      TR2070 between one and three times PER DAY.

      Also, please visit my TR2070 site:
      http://www.terraforming.com/tr2070.htm
      I am seriously considering putting up one (or more) chat rooms dedicated
      to TR2070, and would like to hear from anyone who has any comments.
      ----
      We also heard from Marianne Dyson-

      Friends and family -

      I am so pleased with the first professional review of my book, Space
      Station Science, that I wanted to share it with you. It is published
      in the November 15, 1999 Booklist, page 619 - a publication of the
      American Library Association.

      "Dyson, Marianne J. Space Station Science: Life in Free Fall. 1999. 128p"

      (Congratulations, Marianne. Quite a coup!)
      -----

      Please update your web page:
      http://www.clever.net/cam/archive/issue7.1.html

      The MIMOSA web site has changed; the new URL is:
      http://www.jophan.org/mimosa

      Regards,

      Rich & Nicki
      -----

      Well that one speaks for itself. And that about wraps it up for
      another issue.

      Be seeing you!

      Margaret A. Fincannon, Friends of Fandom Info-Alert Staff
      Clifton B. Davis, Friends of Fandom Info-Alert Staff
      http://www.clever.net/cam/fof.html fof@www.clever.net

      And remember, the fine print is your friend!!!
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