Rambo dreaming

Last night I dreamed an entire invented Rambo movie, start to finish (well, big chunks of it).

It was like Rambo meets Die Hard: ageless Stallone fighting off US Spec Ops soldiers taking over the zone where exurbia meets piney woods.

It also involved Dame Helen Mirren, as a master of disguise of indeterminate national origins and loyalties.

Later, I realized that the movie was in fact a movie within the movie of my dream.

The imagined Rambo movie played on ambient TVs in public transports in the dream city, while we worked on our own movie.

The movie we were making also involved Dame Helen Mirren, as the clandestine villain.

Later we were putting on a play, featuring many well-groomed young lawyers in nude parts.

Charlton Heston was there, directing the play, which was about life in the subterranean catacombs underneath an unknown American city.

Charlton Heston was also working on a civic project with the nude 20something lawyers, and making a cameo in the Rambo movie.

The imagined Rambo movie, as it happens, was also a product placement vehicle glamorizing the 1970s GI Joe Adventure Team.

Charlton Heston was fretting about the play, but LQ Jones told him what the f do you expect when you make a play about life in the sewers.

My brother was there, organizing his Borgesian library of vinyl records and making fun of my 1970s GI Joes.

I was with Rambo as he camouflaged himself and stole the truck and the helicopter and the RPG.

In the dream, Rambo taught me how to fire an RPG at the American soldiers.

Later, I told my thespian collaborators, who included Dolph Lundgren, that the Rambo movie essentially had no dialogue.

Dolph Lundgren laughed and said "That's fucking awesome—it will be playing in Egypt for the next 40 years."

Whether this all has anything to do with the fact that I am headed to a meeting at the Dept of Homeland Security today, I can't say.

And Dame Helen Mirren, disguised as an old lady, laughs sinister as her plans to kill off the other characters unfold.

And Charlton Heston is screaming at God.

Fraud with a Personal Touch

A friend of mine who works for the federal government discovered this:

From GCN (Government Computer News) 15-March-2010

Have you ever been frustrated trying to reach to a real human being to support an application on your PC? Live PC Care feels your pain and has added free online support to its antivirus tool.

The only downside is that, according to Symantec, Live PC Care is a rogue antivirus program that rips you off by reporting that you have all sorts of bad things on your computer and then offering to fix them for a fee. Although the antivirus program might be fake, the online support is real, the Symantec Security Response blog reports.

"After a number of questions, we determined that it was not an automated script but rather a live person at the other end," the blog states. "The main aim of the online support session is to reassure suspicious victims that Live PC Care is legitimate software and that without activating the software at a cost, your computer system is at risk."

The program apparently uses a live chat system called LiveZilia to enable the online interaction with support agents.

I'm not sure whether it's a good sign or a bad sign when scammers start competing on the basis of customer service. But remember: Just because there is a live human being on the other end of the connection does not mean that he or she is not trying to steal your money.

- William Jackson

Neal Barrett, Jr., named 2010 SFWA Author Emeritus

COCO BEACH, FLA. – Neal Barrett, Jr., author of The Hereafter Gang, named by the Washington Post as “one of the great American novels,” and Interstate Dreams, recognized as an award-winner by the Texas Institute of Letters, will be honored as Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America for the 2010 Nebula Awards® Weekend in Coco Beach, Fla.

The moved was announced by SFWA President Russell Davis.

“I am very pleased and proud to be a part of the upcoming Nebula Awards ceremonies in Florida, and have the chance to talk to the people I respect the most---the writers who do the job every day that I've done since I could hold that blue crayon up straight,” Barrett said.

Barrett is known in the science fiction and fantasy world for works such as Through Darkest America, Dawn’s Uncertain Light and Prince of Christler-Coke, and a number of outstanding short story collections such as Perpetuity Blues, Slightly Off Center and A Different Vintage. Barrett has published more than 50 novels and 70-plus shorter works since his first sales in 1959.

“I sold a short story to both Galaxy and Amazing at the same time,” Barrett said. “I was certain this meant it would be smooth sailing in this profession from then on.”

Sales did continue, and Barrett later branched out into novels as well. “I had a good friend and neighbor down in San Miguel, Mexico---Mack Reynolds, a writer I’d admired for as long as I’d been reading science fiction.

“‘Never stop writing short stories,’ Mack told me. ‘But try a novel too.’ Hey, what an idea,” Barrett said. “I started off with Kelwin, the Aldair quartet, The Gates of Time, Highwood and others. I like to do novels, but short stories will always be my first love.

“I grew up on Burroughs’ Mars books, Startling Stories, IF, Galaxy, Astounding, Amazing, Planet Stories and the rest,” he said.

In modern times, Barrett sold to Asimov’s, The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, OMNI and others.

“I have a great respect for many of the editors and publishers I’ve worked with,” Barrett said. “And I’d like to say how much I admire the contributions of the small press, houses such as Subterranean Press and Golden Gryphon. I’m proud to say that a lot of what I feel is my best work is due to the editors of these presses.

“Like many professional writers, I’ve written westerns, mystery-suspense, horror, noir, air war stories, the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift, novelizations such as Judge Dredd, Barb Wire and Dungeons & Dragons,” he said. “One of my all-time favorite jobs is writing comic books--I think I’ve turned out over a thousand pages by now. That’s what writers do, you know--they often do what needs to be done. And I’ve found that a real pro puts everything he or she has into whatever project comes along. You name it. I can’t tell you how many names besides mine are out there over the work I’ve done for a series or special projects.

The 2010 Nebula Awards® Weekend will be held in Coco Beach, Fla., May 13-16. The date was chosen to coincide with the scheduled launching of the Shuttle Atlantis on Friday, May 14. The Nebula Awards will be presented at a banquet on Saturday evening, May 15. Vonda N. McIntyre and Keith Stokes will be honored with the SFWA Service Award, and Joe Haldeman will be honored as the next Damon Knight Grand Master. For more information, visit www.nebulaawards.com.

About SFWA
Founded in 1965 by the late Damon Knight, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America brings together the most successful and daring writers of speculative fiction throughout the world.

Since its inception, SFWA® has grown in numbers and influence until it is now widely recognized as one of the most effective non-profit writers' organizations in existence, boasting a membership of approximately 1,500 science fiction and fantasy writers as well as artists, editors and allied professionals. Each year the organization presents the prestigious Nebula Awards® for the year’s best literary and dramatic works of speculative fiction.

I'll appear at Comicpalooza this weekend - and so will a lot of comic book creators, entertainers, celebrities, war-gamers, and several other SF authors including Catherine Asaro, Gene Wolfe and John Moore. This is a very ambitious event. In previous years it was smaller and more specialized. This year it's at the George R. Brown Convention Center, no less. Its Twitter bio says, "Your comic, sci-fi, fantasy, horror, steampunk, gaming convention! Woot!" This should be interesting indeed.

Keith Stokes, Vonda N. McIntyre honored with SFWA Service Award

CHESTERTOWN, Md. – Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA) will honor Vonda N. McIntyre and Keith Stokes with SFWA Service Awards for 2010 during the Nebula Awards® Weekend May 13-16 in Coco Beach, Fla.



McIntyre is being honored for her many years of maintaining SFWA member websites and other sections of the original SFWA website on a volunteer basis, as well as numerous other volunteer activities. Stokes is being honored for his service on multiple committees, as well as managing SFWA news alerts, ensuring organization membership is kept up to date with developments in SFWA and the publishing industry.

McIntyre sold her first short story in 1969 and published her first novel, The Exile Waiting, in 1975. Her 1978 novel Dreamsnake won the Hugo and Nebula Awards, and her 1997 novel, The Moon and the Sun, won the Nebula Award. She organized the first incarnation of Clarion West Writers Workshop (1971-1973), has taught at numerous other workshops and served as the Evans Chair Scholar at the Evergreen State College, Olympia, Wash., in 2000. McIntyre is a founding member of Book View Café, an authors’ co-op distributing its members’ work in electronic form. She is a card-carrying member of the American Civil Liberties Union, where she volunteers.

Stokes, a freelance photographer and travel writer, operates his own travel web sites www.kansastravel.org and www.mightymac.org. His genre publishing credits includes the SFWA Bulletin, Locus and File 770. Stokes helped found the Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame (which was latter incorporated into the Science Fiction Museum and Hall of Fame in Seattle) and was chairman of the SFFHoF from 1996-2001. In addition to chairing and holding various staff and committee positions at regional and national science fiction conventions, he currently serves as secretary and treasurer of First Fandom and is president of the Dawn Patrol, a loose organization of more than 300 science fiction, space and aviation enthusiasts from throughout the United States and Canada.

This is the tenth time that the SFWA Service Award has been presented. Previous recipients were Victoria Strauss, Chuq Von Rospach, Sheila Finch, Robin Wayne Bailey, George Zebrowski and Pamela Sargent (joint), Michael Capobianco and Ann Crispin (joint), Kevin O'Donnell, Jr., Brook West and Julia West (joint) and Melisa Michaels and Graham P. Collins (joint).

Prior to 2000, the award was a surprise announcement at the Nebula Awards banquet, but in recent years the recipients have been announced in advance.

The 2010 Nebula Awards® Weekend will be held in Coco Beach, Fla., May 13-16. The date was chosen to coincide with the scheduled launching of the Shuttle Atlantis on Friday, May 14. The Nebula Awards will be presented at a banquet on Saturday evening, May 15. Joe Haldeman will be honored as the next Damon Knight Grand Master. For more information, visit www.nebulaawards.com.

About SFWA

Founded in 1965 by the late Damon Knight, Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America brings together the most successful and daring writers of speculative fiction throughout the world.

Since its inception, SFWA® has grown in numbers and influence until it is now widely recognized as one of the most effective non-profit writers' organizations in existence, boasting a membership of approximately 1,500 science fiction and fantasy writers as well as artists, editors and allied professionals. Each year the organization presents the prestigious Nebula Awards® for the year’s best literary and dramatic works of speculative fiction.

-30-

PUBLICLY AVAILABLE DATA

Citizens' electronic data privacy (and lack thereof) is certainly a complicated issue. Lately several otherwise unrelated occurrences have given me pause.

Item: five catalog companies that I've done business with in the past mailed me Christmas catalogs at my new address - without me telling them I'd moved.

Item: I had to call United Health Care regarding my mother's Teacher Retirement health benefits. The nice customer service person took note of my address - and then compared it with the Post Office database. The Post Office database concurred that I live where I claimed to live and I continued with the business at hand. Good thing I moved a few months before I had to get on the phone to sort out my mother's health benefits.

Item - or more like 15 items and counting: every charity I've ever donated anything to, plus a few new ones, has now sent me donation requests that include a small bribe of mailing labels printed with my new address complete with my unit number and the ZIP + 4 code.

Counter-item: the bank that holds my mortgage, on the other hand, lost track of my unit number in my condo complex. Correcting the matter by phone failed. The Mail Carrier figured it out and delivered the letter from the bank that that said, ATTENTION! WE ARE UNABLE TO CONTACT YOU BY MAIL. I wasn't getting my payment coupons and had to go to the nearest branch of the bank to pay my mortgage three months in a row. Finally I switched to on-line payment. How come every catalog and charity in North America knows my unit number but the bank that has my mortgage doesn't?!

Item: when I called the bank's Tech Support division while trying to sign up for online access to my account, they verified my identity by asking questions for which the right answers were "in publicly available databases." Have I ever owned an Olds Intrigue, Toyota Celica, or Jeep Grand Cherokee? Ahh - Celica. It was a little unnerving how fast they pulled up the databases to pitch that question and a couple more. They decided that I was me, and proceeded to help me access my mortgage account online.

Offhand I'd say there's a lot of publicly available data that's damn easy to get into for people who have legitimate reasons. It's probably easy for people with illegitimate reasons too.

Where it comes to the other kind of data about me on the Internet, the kind that isn't publicly available because it's supposed to be private, I'm a relatively crafty password user. My passwords would not be easy to guess. Unlike a lot of other peoples'. The New York Times reports that an awful lot of people use passwords that are w-a-y too simple. Researchers were able to analyze a trove of 32 million stolen passwords. The analysis showed that the most popular password was: 123456. Also in the top 30: "qwerty", "tigger", "sunshine" and "soccer." Twenty percent of the passwords were drawn from the same pool of 5000 easily guessable ones; so hackers with fast computers could - and they probably do - break into such accounts just by firing off strings of computer-generated guesses. Talk about making your data publicly available. . . .

SFWA announces 2010 Nebula Awards final ballot

CHESTERTOWN, Md. -- Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America, Inc., has announced the final Nebula Awards® ballot for 2010.

The Nebula Awards are voted on, and presented by, active members of SFWA. The awards will be announced at the Nebula Awards Banquet the evening of May 15 at the Hilton Cocoa Beach Oceanfront, just 20 minutes from the Kennedy Space Center in Fla. Other awards to be presented are the Andre Norton Award for Excellence in Science Fiction or Fantasy for Young Adults, the Bradbury Award for excellence in screenwriting and the Solstice Award for outstanding contribution to the field.

Short story
"Hooves and the Hovel of Abdel Jameela," Saladin Ahmed (Clockwork Phoenix 2, Norilana Press, July 2009)
"I Remember the Future," Michael A. Burstein (I Remember the Future, Apex Press, Nov. 2008)
"Non-Zero Probabilities," N. K. Jemisin (Clarkesworld, Nov. 2009)
"Spar," Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld, Oct. 2009)
"Going Deep," James Patrick Kelly (Asimov's Science Fiction, June 2009)
"Bridesicle," Will McIntosh (Asimov's Science Fiction, Jan. 2009)

Novelette
"The Gambler," Paolo Bacigalupi (Fast Forward 2, Pyr Books, Oct. 2008)
"Vinegar Peace, or the Wrong-Way Used-Adult Orphanage," Michael Bishop (Asimov's Science Fiction, July 2008)
"I Needs Must Part, The Policeman Said," Richard Bowes (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Dec. 2009)
"Sinner, Baker, Fabulist, Priest; Red Mask, Black Mask, Gentleman, Beast," Eugie Foster (Interzone, Jan./Feb. 2009)
"Divining Light," Ted Kosmatka (Asimov's Science Fiction, Aug. 2008)
"A Memory of Wind," Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com, Nov. 2009)

Novella
The Women of Nell Gwynne's, Kage Baker (The Women of Nell Gwynne’s, Subterranean Press, June 2009)
"Arkfall," Carolyn Ives Gilman (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, Sept. 2009)
"Act One," Nancy Kress (Asimov's Science Fiction, March 2009)
Shambling Towards Hiroshima, James Morrow (Shambling Towards Hiroshima, Tachyon, Feb. 2009)
"Sublimation Angels," Jason Sanford (Interzone, Sept./Oct. 2009)
The God Engines, John Scalzi (The God Engines, Subterranean Press, Dec. 2009)

Novel
The Windup Girl, Paolo Bacigalupi (Nightshade, Sept. 2009)
The Love We Share Without Knowing, Christopher Barzak (Bantam, Nov. 2008)
Flesh and Fire, Laura Anne Gilman (Pocket, Oct. 2009)
The City & The City, China Miéville (Del Rey, May 2009)
Boneshaker, Cherie Priest (Tor, Sept. 2009)
Finch, Jeff VanderMeer (Underland Press, Oct. 2009)

Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation
Star Trek, J.J. Abrams, Roberto Orci and Alex Kurtzman (Paramount, May 2009)
District 9, Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell (Tri-Star, Aug. 2009)
Avatar, James Cameron (Fox, Dec. 2009)
Moon, Duncan Jones and Nathan Parker (Sony, June 2009)
Up, Bob Peterson and Pete Docter (Disney/Pixar, May 2009)
Coraline, Henry Selick (Laika/Focus, Feb. 2009)

Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy
Hotel Under the Sand, Kage Baker (Tachyon, July 2009)
Ice, Sarah Beth Durst (Simon and Schuster, Oct. 2009)
Ash, by Malinda Lo (Little, Brown & Company, Sept. 2009)
Eyes Like Stars, Lisa Mantchev (Feiwel and Friends, July 2009)
Zoe's Tale, John Scalzi (Tor, Aug. 2008)
When You Reach Me, by Rebecca Stead (Wendy Lamb Books, 2009)
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland In A Ship Of Her Own Making, Catherynne M. Valente (Catherynne M. Valente, June 2009)
Leviathan, Scott Westerfeld (Simon, Oct. 2009)

For more information, visit www.nebulaawards.com and www.sfwa.org.