HDTenEightyP/NetNews huggingface dataset:
From: jmann@vineland.pubs.stratus.com (Jim Mann)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: CHILDREN OF THE ATOM--thanks to all who answered
Date: 9 Apr 92 17:23:32 GMT
Reply-To: jmann@vineland.pubs.stratus.com

In article <s1s75INN1g7@agate.berkeley.edu> cozzlab@garnet.berkeley.edu  
writes:
> While I believe John Campbell had his faults,
> >he wasn't quite that foolish.
> >
> Dianetics.  "Magic is really psi."  

I hadn't heard the latter. Campbell certainly did believe in
PSI powers (though the "scientific" research of Dr. Rhine at Duke
was not quite debunked in the 30s, I believe).

The Hieronymus Machine. "Slaves are  
> better off than free men."

Huh? The latter in fact seems 180 degrees away from the postion
expressed in Cambell's Astounding. (Heinlein's Citizen of the
Galaxy is close to Campbell's view.)

  The Dean Drive.  "Northern Europeans are
> smarter than anyone on Earth, and by expansion, Earthmen are smarter
> than anybody in the Galaxy."

The latter part, perhaps. Campell liked to have the earthmen win.
I never heard that he'd made a statement about Northern
Europeans. This may reflect his personal prejudices, by I
think you're extrapolating to get there.

> 
> John Campbell was a Truly Great Mind, but don't try to tell me he  
wasn't
> capable of Truly Great Foolishness when he felt like it.
> 

True, though most of the time it was a foolish consistency. He 
believed that the "science of the mind" could cure lots of humanities
problems, for example, and thus fell for Hubbard's original
dianetics scam. (If you go back and read the original article
Campbell published, it does not seem near as crackpot as it
later became, and certainly no where near as loony as scientology.)

--
Jim Mann                                       
jmann@vineland.pubs.stratus.com 
Stratus Computer
From: dsparks@acorn.co.uk (David Sparks)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Isaac Asimov Dies...
Date: 7 Apr 92 08:21:51 GMT
Distribution: rec
Organization: Acorn Computers Ltd, Cambridge, England

In article <1900@transfer.stratus.com> by Laurie Mann

/>Isaac Asimov died this morning, and though I'd only ever met him
/>casually, and wasn't the biggest fan of his writing, I feel 
/>like a relative or friend has died.

/>I think what made Isaac special was the way he explained things---
/>science, math, history, literature, the future.  He could
/>simplify fairly complicated concepts.  


/>I particularly enjoyed Isaac's robot stories, and think The
/>Bincentennial Man was one of his best.

/>I'll miss his essays, and I think he had a bigger impact on the
/>field than is fashionable for many people to admit today.
 
I agree with all of that. Some of his best work was, I think, his 
essays (e.g. The Left-Hand Of The Electron) covering complex topics 
in real, human terms, with a dash humor.

Also, although there has been a lot of criticism of his more recent 
work, I think most people would acknowledge his talent for 
entertaining people, be it in science fiction, mystery, his essays
or his other non-fiction books.

I for one will mourn his passing.

David
--
From: expert@diku.dk (Stephan Grubbe)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: ASIMOV list again
Date: 13 Apr 92 15:35:33 GMT
Organization: Department of Computer Science, U of Copenhagen

Maybe I should emphasize that it is only Asimovs SF litterature I am
interested in. Not all of his non fiction and scientific papers should
be on that list. Not that I don't like it, but for this purpose only the
SF is needed.

Thanks

  Stephan
From: jefft@athena.mit.edu (Jeff Tang)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Zelazny/Amber (Spoilers)
Date: 7 Apr 92 23:30:20 GMT
	<1992Apr7.200253.23227@Princeton.EDU>
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology

In article <1992Apr7.200253.23227@Princeton.EDU> mfterman@phoenix.Princeton.EDU (Mutant for Hire) writes:


   Spoilers ahead.

   >> 4.  Is Grayswandir a spikard? And did it predate the pattern?
   >No, and no. Grayswandir's not incredibly powerful: damn good blade, and
   >probably (due to the segment of the Pattern on it) invariant under
   >Shadow-transformation (unlike clothing and so on). I recall that Bleys
   >has one of these, too (this is noted in the first series).

   Remember that when Merlin held Greyswandir, he felt a nexus of forces
   passing through him. This indicates that the blade taps into some power
   sources or has some strange abilities that Corwin, not being a magician,
   can't tap into the way Bleys and Brand could. Or maybe not. But it is
   odd that Werewindle never appeared in the original series. Or maybe it
   did, and it was just never singled out as anything special other than
   Brand's sword.

It's hinted in Prince of Chaos that it predates the pattern, and that it's
somehow connected to spikards


--
Jeff Tang
jefft@athena.mit.edu
From: ARL00SJB@UNCCVM.UNCC.EDU
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Address for Harlan Ellison Record Collection
Date: 16 Apr 92 14:35:32 GMT
Organization: UNC Charlotte

The address for the Harlan Ellison Record Collection, for anyone who is
interested, is: PO Box 55548, Sherman Oaks, CA  91413-0548.  Membership
is $6.00, for which you receive 4 newsletters and the opportunity to
purchase tapes/LP's of Harlan reading his work, signed/numbered copies
of HE's stories, information about upcoming publications, etc., and
other great stuff.  If you're an Ellison fan, you'll be interested.
From: mvp@hsv3.uucp (Mike Van Pelt)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: David Palmer: Threshold
Date: 14 Apr 92 22:23:31 GMT
Organization: Video 7 + G2 = Headland Technology

In article <1992Apr13.215334.26101@fy.chalmers.se> tfafr@fy.chalmers.se (Fredrik Rantakyr|) writes:
>Looking for information on the sequel to the book Threshold by David 
>Palmer. Info on the author also appreciated. 

Last time this came up, someone claiming to have inside knowledge
said that Palmer had submitted the sequel, but it was so dreadful
that the publisher rejected it.  

A pity, I suppose.  I liked "Emergence" a **WHOLE** lot.  "Threshold",
however, had serious problems, starting with overly-cutesy alien names
for powers & their wielders, a hero who from beginning to end "just
happens" to discover that he has a New and More Powerful Super-Power
every time he gets into a pickle, and worst of all, had a "Continued
Next Book" non-ending.

I suspect Palmer may be one of those writers who had one good
novel in him, and that novel was "Emergence".

-- 
Mike Van Pelt                     Will your long-winded speeches never
Headland Technology/Video 7       end?  What ails you that you keep on 
...ames!vsi1!hsv3!mvp             arguing?    --    Job 16:3
mvp@hsv3.lsil.com
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: puckett@lambda.msfc.nasa.gov (Jim Puckett)
Subject: Re: Uncritical thought (was: Unintelligentsia (was: Re: Spider...))
Organization: NASA/MSFC
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 17:48:18 GMT

eric@snark.thyrsus.com (Eric S. Raymond) writes:
>>    First, the way you throw in Marxism, Socialist Realism, and "decadent
>>    modern attitude" smacks of the way many on the in the U.S. refer to 
>>    Socialism (as in Social Democratic/Welfare/Liberal) as essentially 
>>    identical to Communism of Bolshevik type.  Such deliberate blurring

Is this saying that Bokshevik == Marxist? Hmmmm?

-- 
Jim Puckett    NTI    puckett@freedom.msfc.nasa.gov     
Huntsville,AL (205)544-8457

*****!Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty!*****
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: write@eff.org (Glen Cox)
Subject: Re: Asimov9s robots
Originator: write@eff.org
Organization: Electronic Frontier Foundation
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 16:54:05 GMT

I haven't been following the whole discussion, but most
everyone agrees that Asimov's robot laws could only exist
in the fairy world of his imagination.  That doesn't reduce
his robot stories to worthlessness, for, like most science
fiction, you have to believe a couple of impossible things
before breakfast.

The best "attack" and discussion on The Three Laws of Robotics
was done by the brilliant John Sladek in RODERICK and RODERICK
AT RANDOM.  

glen
-- 
/== Glen E. Cox ==============================================================\
|  write@eff.org  | "The great enemy of clear language is insincerity."       |
|  GEnie: G.COX3  |                                --George Orwell            |
| DELPHI: MRWRITE |                                                           |
Xref: sparky rec.arts.sf.written:5711 rec.arts.sf.movies:3215
From: jefft@athena.mit.edu (Jeff Tang)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.sf.movies
Subject: Re: _Postman_ Movie!
Date: 12 Apr 92 19:01:09 GMT
Article-I.D.: mint-cho.JEFFT.92Apr12150101
Organization: Massachusetts Institute of Technology


I think any movie adaptation would be hopelessly corny.  Brin only just
managed to keep it from becoming that way.
--
Jeff Tang
jefft@athena.mit.edu
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: maxson@cerl.uiuc.edu (K R Maxson)
Subject: Re: Jurassic Park
Organization: UIUC Computer-based Education Research Lab
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 1992 00:59:55 GMT

In article <9204062250.AA17179@enet-gw.pa.dec.com> marotta@hannah.enet.DEC.COM ("I'm gonna wake up in Heaven on the cold, cold ground...  06-Apr-1992 1516") writes:
>I also recently finished this fine book.  I loved the idea
>of a dinosaur land with real dinosaurs.  It was a great concept,
>and could be a great movie, if they can include some of the 
>messages about genetic experimentation and and the larger
>issue of man's attempt to dominate nature.

_Jurassic Park_ is packed full of egregious errors in its genetics.  It
frightens me to think that many people will basically glean everything
they will ever know about genetics, molecular biology and evolution from
this book.

>One of  theories in the book was very interesting, and critical
>to the plot: that used by the mathematician; Chaos Theory.
>It seems to take into account the degenerative aspects of
>any order, and relies on the notion that the only permanent
>thing is change.
>Is this a real theory used by real mathematicians?  Any examples
>of where is is applied? 

Chaos theory is real, and quite interesting.  You should have no trouble
finding books abou it for the layman in your local library.
From: dant@logos.wr.tek.com (Dan Tilque)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: FAQs and Re: Tad Williams next book?
Date: 12 Apr 92 08:07:06 GMT
Organization: Upper Left Coast Liberation Army

tittle@ics.uci.edu (Cindy Tittle Moore) writes:
>
>>menees@utkvx2.utk.edu (Menees, Bill) writes:
>>>
>>>	Does anyone know when the last book from Tad's trilogy is due out?
>>>If so, please e-mail me the date and any other misc info you have about it.
>
>This should go into a rasw FAQ!

If someone wants to start such a FAQ posting, I won't object.  However, I
don't want such mutable subject matter in the one that I do.  There's no
reason a group can't have more than one FAQ.

And speaking of FAQs and Keepers thereof...

There's a non-zero possibility that I'll be laid off in the next week
(rumor puts the layoff on the 17th of April, but it could be a day or two
earlier or the following week).  Rumors also make it that half of my
engineering group will go.

If I do get the ax, it's likely that I will immediately lose access to
my computer account.  To prepare for this possibility, I think it best if
there is an emergency backup Keeper for the sf.written FAQ.

Any volunteers?

---
Dan Tilque	--	dant@logos.WR.TEK.COM
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: tperreau@zia.aoc.nrao.edu (The Mad Scot)
Subject: Re: Homage to Elizabeth Moon
Organization: National Radio Astronomy Observatory, Socorro NM
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 92 02:44:57 GMT

In article <1992Apr10.232022.5665@ux1.cso.uiuc.edu> levine@symcom.math.uiuc.edu (Lenore Levine) writes:
>This posting is dedicated to Elizabeth Moon, the Meryl Streep of science
>fiction, who can write sf superbly in at least five different styles.
>

Hmmm.  Now it make sense why I do not like Elizabeth Moon - I don't
like Meryl Streep either.





-- 
================================================================================
Tony Perreault, High Tech Babysitter & Nanny	tperreau@zia.aoc.nrao.edu
Array Operations, Very Large Array	      All opinions expressed are my
Socorro, NM				        own and not those of NRAO
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: puckett@lambda.msfc.nasa.gov (Jim Puckett)
Subject: Re: Asimov
Organization: NASA/MSFC
Date: Tue, 14 Apr 1992 13:31:55 GMT

ST401844@BROWNVM.BROWN.EDU (Stewart Crall) writes:

>books on file somewhere?  If he did, he could very well produce some
>posthumous novels just like L Ron Hubbard did.

please God no, not 'just like L Ron Hubbard'!!! 8-)


jim p.
-- 
Jim Puckett    NTI    puckett@freedom.msfc.nasa.gov     
Huntsville,AL (205)544-8457

*****!Practice random kindness and senseless acts of beauty!*****
From: John_Jenkins@taligent.com (John H. Jenkins)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Adieu to Asimov (moderately long)
Date: 8 Apr 92 06:20:06 GMT
Organization: Taligent, Inc.

Apologies to the net for a lengthy posting of personal feelings on 
Asimov's death from a total nobody; but that's what the "n" key is for.

And now a chance to use it--




I don't think that it's really sunk in for me that Asimov has 
died.  He's been my favorite writer from the day I first 
identified one.  I've been collecting his books for most of my 
life and spend more time than perhaps I should trying to reread 
them regularly.  (Even at 60 pages a day, it still takes three or 
four years to make it through just the ones I own!)  

I can't honestly say that his stories are among my favorite 
science fiction, if only because for the purposes of my reading I 
classify them as "Asimov" and not "sf".  Although I feel that his 
later works are not his best and that some of his books are 
positively bad (even Homer nods), there are innumerable books of 
his I look eagerly forward to rereading each time, most 
particularly his F&SF essay collections.  His ability to explain, 
to entertain, to tell stories real and fancied was marvelous, 
making learning effortless and understanding easy.

His effect on my life was incalculable; there's so much he 
introduced me to.  He was a catalyst over and over, motivating and 
encouraging me to read more about everything from the Bible and 
Shakespeare, through history, down (or is it up?) to Gilbert and 
Sullivan.   My personal philosophy, my major in college, my 
professional career, all have felt and feel his influence.  

I never met him in person.  I spoke to him only once, on a radio 
call-in program.  I was so tongue-tied when he came on the line 
that I could hardly stammer out my question (how many books have 
you written as of _this_ month?).  I wrote him several times, 
including a number of embarrassingly gushing epistles as a 
teenager.  He didn't answer them all, but when he did, he was 
always polite and kind, no matter how obnoxious I might have been.  

In particular, I was known in my younger years to try to convince 
of the errors of his atheistic ways.  He did not strike back.  As 
I have grown older, I have come to appreciate that his humanism 
was based in a fundamental faith in people, that knowledge and 
understanding, armed with the scientific method, can overcome 
intolerance, ignorance, and hatred.  I came to feel that for 
Asimov, there are no problems we cannot solve if only we can be 
prevented from turning against ourselves.  As such, he displayed 
many of the fundamental ethical virtues I value in religion to a 
far greater extent than too many of the pious.  

I will miss him badly.  

John H. Jenkins
John_Jenkins@taligent.com
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: davidl@ssd.intel.com (David Levine)
Subject: Re: Stanislaw Lem Translations
Organization: Supercomputer Systems Division, Intel Corp.
Date: Mon, 13 Apr 1992 22:09:12 GMT

In article <9204101759.AA18129@email.ncsc.navy.mil> marco@EMAIL.NCSC.NAVY.MIL (Barbarisi) writes:
>>In Stanislaw Lem's Cyberiad, someone builds a computer that can write
>    [quote of good poem deleted]
>>   Which is pretty impressive. However, what is fascinating is the fact
>>that Lem wrote in Polish, and that the book is translated by Michael
>>Kandel.  Were the poems originally in English, or was this masterpiece
>>written by Kandel?  If so, what did Lem originally write?
>
>This question arises in my mind quite often as I read Lem's stories.  Many
>of his books are filled with jokes, alliterations, puns, and double 
>entendres.  ...  Do these
>two languages resemble each other enough that Kandel and other translators
>of Lem perform a virtually direct translation?  Or do the translators
>see jokes and language tricks unique to Polish and insert English
>words, phrases, sentences, and even poems(!) that approximate the spirit
>of the original words?  

I'll have to start off by stating that I can't answer the original
question: I've never read any Lem except in translation.  With that out
of the way, I can begin inflicting my opinions on the world...

The quality of a translation depends entirely on the skill of the
translator.  There is no such thing as a "virtually direct translation"
of word-play that works (with the exception of cliches, which sometimes
translate word-for-word even between unrelated languages).  When the
original author uses the kind of word-play that Lem appears to revel
in, the translator must work just as hard, if not harder, to create a
new word-play that works in context in the target language.

For a stunning example, compare any Kandel translations of Lem (e.g.
"The Cyberiad," "Mortal Engines," "The Futurological Congress") with
any non-Kandel translations (e.g. "The Invincible," "The
Investigation," "The Chain of Chance").  Of the six books I've just
named, the Kandel translations are among my all-time favorite SF books,
while I could not even finish one of the non-Kandel translations.
Kandel is a master of the English language; Kandel translating Lem is a
joy to behold.

I was so impressed by Kandel's work translating Lem that I always said
that I wished that Kandel would write something of his own.
Unfortunately, my wish was granted: Kandel wrote a book entitled
"Strange Invasions," which I snatched up as soon as it was published.
While it was very well-written at the word, sentence, and paragraph
level, the plot was thin and repetitive and the resolution was
unsatisfying.  Kandel needs Lem's plotting and inventive wit to achieve
true greatness.

- David D. Levine, Intel Supercomputer Systems Division == davidl@ssd.intel.com
  "The Petty and the Small / are overcome with gall 
   When Genius, having faltered, fails to fall..."
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.sf.movies
From: farrell@coral.cs.jcu.edu.au (John Farrell)
Subject: Re: _Postman_ Movie!
Organization: James Cook University
Date: 16 Apr 92 06:54:51 GMT

In <cl0t9yc@rpi.edu> goldm@sage4a.its.rpi.edu (Mitchell E. Gold) writes:
>In article <1992Apr14.152745.9398@noose.ecn.purdue.edu> cromwell@betelgeuse.ecn.purdue.edu (Bob Cromwell) writes:
>   Actually, I heard that John Ratzenberger had the lead role....

>I'd heard this too with the major deviation from the novel and short story
>being that "The Postman" has a sidekick, played by George Wendt.

  Aww. I thought Dustin Hoffman would be a good postman. Never heard of
Ratzenberger. With Rutger Hauer as the boss of the survivalist types :-).

Friendless
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
From: ptd2@po.CWRU.Edu (Palmer T. Davis)
Subject: Re: WAR GAMES II, or How I Learned To Start Worrying And Hate The Bomb
Reply-To: ptd2@po.CWRU.Edu (Palmer T. Davis)
Organization: Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH (USA)
Date: Sat, 11 Apr 92 02:29:05 GMT


In a previous article, tneff@bfmny0.BFM.COM (Tom Neff) says:
>
>Annex Canada now!  We need the room,
>    and who's going to stop us.
>

Well, of course we could... but why would we want ten more West Virginias?

-- 
Palmer T. Davis       ______    "It may be better to be a live jackal than a
CWRU, Cleveland OH    \ \/ /     dead lion.  But it is better still to be a
<ptd2@po.cwru.edu>     \/\/      live lion.  And usually easier."  -- RAH
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written,rec.arts.books
From: berry@arcturus.uucp (Craig D. Berry)
Subject: Re: Difference Engine: Request for Information
Organization: Rockwell International
Date: Tue, 7 Apr 92 18:50:11 GMT

smc@cs.hw.ac.uk (Steve McGowan) writes:
>[Quoting me...]
>>Seriously, Ada was an accomplished mathematician who collaborated with
>>Byron and produced several analyses of Analytical Engine programming.
  ^^^^^ oops, I meant Babbage
>>She is the first person ever to state in print the dictum "A computer
>>can do whatever we can figure out how to tell it to do; no more, no

>	Also, as a mildly interesting footnote to Countess Ada, I believe
>	that after devoting a life to the development and refinement of
>	her mathematical skills, she got so fed up that she directed the 
>	rest of her life to the joys of sex, and became something of a loose
>	woman. I think she may even have become a prostitute.

Given that she only lived to be 36, and in that time had three children while also
fulfilling the social obligations of her position *and* chatting with Chuck about
the analytical engine, I don't think she had *time* to be a "loose woman".  Weird
idea, though -- where did you hear it?  BTW, there is a great article about Ada
(the woman, not the language) in the latest Dr. Dobb's Journal.

-- 

- Craig Berry
"This sentence is true" : Epiminedes' Paradox -- NOT!
".surivorter erutangis a ma I"
From: dant@logos.wr.tek.com (Dan Tilque)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Anderson fantasy (was: humorous science fiction)
Date: 12 Apr 92 08:22:54 GMT
Organization: Upper Left Coast Liberation Army

klaus@diku.dk (Klaus Ole Kristiansen) writes:
>dant@logos.wr.tek.com (Dan Tilque) writes:
>
>>Tilque's observation:  It's vitually impossible for anyone to mention
>>one of _The High Crusade_ or _Three Hearts and Three Lions_ on the net
>>(or in fannish conversation anywhere) without mentioning the other.  If
>>someone fails to mention both, it's inevitable that someone else will
>>followup and say "don't forget about <whichever one wasn't mentioned>".
>
>That's odd. They are not very much alike. The High Crusade is straight
>SF, no magic or the like. 3H&3L is pure fantasy.

True, but I've been reading the net for some four or five years now and
have yet to see my observation violated.  In fact, once I mentioned
only one of them and sure enough, someone else followed-up...

I think one of the reasons they're associated is that (I'm fairly sure)
they were once published together in the same volume.  They are also
both fairly light reading, whereas the other fantasy story you
mentioned, _The Broken Sword_, is rather heavy stuff.

---
Dan Tilque	--	dant@logos.WR.TEK.COM
From: cgy@cs.brown.edu (Curtis Yarvin)
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: SF about science
Date: 10 Apr 92 18:33:13 GMT
Article-I.D.: stanley.s4n19INN1un
Organization: Brown University Department of Computer Science
NNTP-Posting-Host: cslab8c.cs.brown.edu

In article <1992Apr10.094502.16356@leland.Stanford.EDU> doom@leland.Stanford.EDU (Joseph Brenner) writes:
>I don't know how I forgot about "the Beautitiful and the
>Sublime".

This is my favorite Freudian slit of the week.

c
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written