“The Light of a Thousand Suns” was one of the first radio plays written for the BBC by James Follett. It presents a doomsday scenario that could easily be updated to imagine the worst possible outcome of AI gone wrong. HIGHLY recommended.
Category: Sci-Fi
Lord of Lord of the Rings
Super fan of The Hobbit and LOTR Stephen Colbert celebrates Tolkien Reading Day.
That’s the Way the Kindle Crumbles
The end of magazine subscriptions through Amazon…
Dear Amazon Customer,
Thank you for being a valued Amazon Newsstand magazine subscriber. We are writing to inform you that we have made the decision to stop selling print magazine subscriptions on Amazon as of March 9, 2023.
According to our records, here are your subscription(s):
The New Yorker
Starting today, you will no longer be able to purchase new subscriptions or renew your existing subscription(s) through Amazon. For the subscription(s) you’ve already purchased, you will continue to receive all remaining issues in your subscription term unless you decide to cancel.
You can continue to manage your subscription(s) through Amazon until June 5, 2023, 11:59PM PST. After that date, all customer service inquiries for any remaining active subscriptions will be serviced directly by the publisher. More details on the publisher customer service options will be shared in the coming months.
Publishers have provided alternative subscription options for your magazine(s) when your current Amazon subscription expires. Visit the Your Memberships and Subscriptions page on Amazon for more details at https://www.amazon.com/yourmembershipsandsubscriptions. Select digital magazine subscriptions are also available in Kindle Unlimited. Visit https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/fd/ku-aycr-magazines for more information.
If you have any questions or require assistance, please visit the Newsstand FAQ page or contact customer service.
Sincerely,
Amazon Newsstand Team
… including Kindle edition newspapers and magazines.
Dear Amazon Customer,
Thank you for being a valued Amazon Kindle Newsstand subscriber. We are writing to inform you that we have made the decision to stop selling Kindle magazine and newspaper subscriptions on Amazon.
According to our records, here are your monthly subscription(s):
The New York Times – Daily Edition for Kindle
Fantasy & Science Fiction
You will continue to receive your issues through September 4, 2023 unless you decide to cancel. After that date, you will no longer be able to renew your subscription(s) through Amazon. You will still be able to read all issues that have already been delivered to you by visiting Your Kindle Library. If you wish to continue receiving content from a publisher directly, please visit their website for alternative subscription options. Visit the Your Memberships and Subscriptions page on Amazon for more information at: https://www.amazon.com/yourmembershipsandsubscriptions.
Select digital magazine subscriptions are also available in Kindle Unlimited. Visit https://www.amazon.com/kindle-dbs/fd/ku-aycr-magazines for more information.
If you have any questions or require assistance, please visit the Newsstand FAQ or contact customer service.
Sincerely,
Amazon Newsstand Team
The New Yorker stopped offering a Kindle edition a long time ago, but I was mostly reading the print copies anyway. I’ve been reading The New York Times on Kindle ($20/month) for only the past six months, and being blissfully free of ads and comments, it’s the only way I read the NYT. Now I’ll be forced to subscribe online in the way that I wanted to avoid.
The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction has been in the news recently, being one of the genre magazines receiving AI-generated story submissions. I’m mostly a Sci-Fi guy, and not so much into Fantasy. I’m not sure what I’ll do about my F&SF subscription.
Moon Trek
Music for our trip to the Moon, in glorious RCA Victor Living Stereo.
And off we go!
Mysteries About The Mysteries
Who did what is still unknown about The Mysteries, Bill Watterson’s collaboration with John Kascht, scheduled for publication on October 10. What media did they work in? Were these images produced digitally?
My Favorite Martian
After watching Invaders from Mars recently, I looked for my post from November, 2017 about “IT’s ALIVE!”, an exhibit of horror movie posters and artifacts at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA.
The blog post was nowhere to be found because, I realized, I’d never written it. Recalling what was going on five years ago, it’s an understandable oversight. Having retired (at a relatively young age) earlier that year, I was traveling to Phoenix every month to fulfill my power of attorney duties on behalf of my father.
I wasn’t able to attend “IT’s ALIVE!” until shortly before the show closed. That was just a couple of weeks after my father’s death and, upon returning home, being diagnosed with melanoma skin cancer. So, more than five years after the fact, here’s a link with more about a fun exhibit that I enjoyed very much, especially under the circumstances.
https://www.wbur.org/news/2017/08/11/its-alive-metallica-guitarist-pem
These photos aren’t very good quality, having been taken with my old LG flip-phone. A highlight of “IT’S ALIVE!” was this original Martian Mutant costume from Invaders of Mars.
The pole conveniently hides the mutant’s infamous zipper, while revealing its butt crack.
I was particularly impressed to see original paintings by Frank Frazetta. As with the Mona Lisa, they’re smaller than you’d expect.
