Aphelion

It only applies to new registrations -- is that what you attempted? I got the question, but in some ways it's very strange because I tried about 7 answers that "should have worked" but didn't. I'll say the correct answer is a bit "lateral out of the box". Based on the thunderingly bad quality of th...

Robert, I see you've got a test post of your own in. Did you try logging in with an incorrect response? I did, and it got rejected. I'll leave your test registration, and you can take it down yourself when you like. What do you think of the test question? Well, it should mess with any non-English s...

!!! NEW COUNTERMEASURE IMPLEMENTED !!! As of a few minutes ago, I implemented (with Dan's permission) a new Q&A Captcha which, if it works properly, should stop the bots. Time will tell. I am very nervous right now. And, I suppose I should run a test on it. Back soon. I am appreciative of your inge...

In a perfect world, how do we want the entries sorted in the right hand pane? They're scattered a bit but currently mostly in issue order. Do we want them by issue to eventually tie to the back issues list, or Alphabetical by first (major) title word? I vote alphabetical. I can easily imagine searc...

What there is of it (i.e., much more than the "official" Author Index covers) is cool. Be sure to PM Mr. Wynne to see if we can make the Alpha2 the live version ASAP...

Mark -- Robert -- don't make me throw a bucket of cold water on the two of you. Nate -- you've got two offers to publish the shared Mars project (which I had never heard of before), and enough evident interest to say yes to one of them. Spam -- We have flood control enabled, set at 30 seconds betwe...

By the way Robert, I still enjoy your banter, matching my wits with whatever it is that you are using! :lol: Mark If you really think I'm bluffing about quitting, give me a firm commitment that you will take over all my duties, here, in public. Then I will send Dan my resignation, and forward all t...

I see Mark is whining about how people ignore his suggestions again. His suggestion re: controlling spammers by requiring somebody to review each one individually sounds great, as long as you don't consider that we get HUNDREDS of memberships registered on a daily basis. Mark doesn't see most of th...

The Bill Warren's project can be published as is or revamped, renamed, illustrated (a planet of artists ready to submit entries for credit) and voice talent who could be cast in parts, also for resume credit. Not to edge out Tao's kind offer, I've just been thinking about this for months. With enou...

I'm getting too old for this #$?*@...

BD -- what's this "7th door' movie? Closest I found was "Beyond the 7th Door,' and JD wasn't in that . . . I think she means "The Ninth Gate" (or something like that). Depp plays a rare book dealer who acquires a book that has something to do with opening the gates of Hell. Or something like that. ...

Fun . . . nice paint-job, and I liked the bird on the head (though it doesn't strike me as authentic). The horse in a TREE, though -- ?!! Oh -- I'm sorry, I forgot -- it's Hollywood . . . -- no, worse -- it's DISNEY. it does look like fun, though. You mean the horse in the tree, wearing the hat? To...

but the "patch anything" guys would be even more important in transit.) Not really . . . Mars ain't got a whole lot to breathe on it. But breathing isn't your only problem in transit. Actually getting to your destination requires that engines and navigational gear be functional when you need them. ...

Maybe the "patch anything" guy(s) / girl(s) would be the awake-for-the-whole-trip attendants while most of the colonists are in cold sleep (or electronically / chemically induced comas) to reduce resource consumption (and therefore total mass to be transported). If systems got only slightly wonky, t...

The February issue will feature editors' picks for the Best of 2012 for their respective categories. I, for one, would welcome any nominations Ye Readers might have. (Difficult with the Back Issue Index so far out of date, but if you remember a story WITHOUT being able to read it again to refresh yo...

Headsets, pillows, and alcoholic beverages will be available for an additional charge. Preferred-seat selection (window or aisle) $495,857.99. A variety of reconstituted freeze-dried rations can be purchase in-flight...

*****

And now, a partial score: Mars one, Earth ...

*****

Lester Curtis wrote:Cute!

Did you notice the CG Gollum (in addition to the guys in cheap Gollum masks)?

I think this has what's called a straight-line plot. Nothing really surprising happens. It's all actually rather dull. I was hoping that the 'Rudy' character or maybe one or more of the 'boyos' were going to do something to screw up the aliens' plans. I was disappointed. Hell, they didn't even scre...

Lyrical prose! Odd, how well it works with the grisly subject matter. And I can't figure out if the merchant is a good guy or a bad guy. Either way, he's not someone you'd be well off to trifle with. Thought-provoking tale. What does one do with certain kinds of power? The merchant is undeniably co...

Well ... it certainly qualifies as dark and disturbing. I expected it to go someplace, but it never went ... it just ended. I wish the author had done more with it, because the unusual perspective was good. In my correspondence with the author, I noted the twist -- the "evil hand" plot thwarted by ...

Authors, don't panic. TaoPhoenix's blank reviews are not meant to be disparaging -- they're meant to draw more comments by reminding people that your story exists. Tao himself will probably add a post with some useful observations later, and we hope he is not alone. Authors are encouraged to reply t...

TaoPhoenix wrote:.

= "What is the sound of one hand clapping?"

TaoPhoenix wrote:Okay, it's the Sophomore Edition of the Dots.

Let's see if we once again escape Robert M.'s lament of no posts for 10 days from that other month.

Innovation forward!

The sophomoric addition of the whats?

One of us is SANE? Who? State your evidence! The voices in my head AND my shrink agree that I'm 'sane enough' - their words, not mine. Of course, there appear to be no records of a Doctor Nicholas Scratch anywhere on Earth, so BD's shrink may just be a voice in her head with an accompanying visual ...

Verse wrote:Woo Hoo!

Bring it on, I am slobbering for fresh meat. Om Nom Nom!

"Om nom nom"... Is that a mantra chanted by Buddhist Jack Russell terriers?

Just when you thought it was safe to eat that rum-soaked fruitcake*, the December / January issue of Aphelion is lurking just around the corner. It may pounce any minute now... well, within mere hours... well, in the next day or so. A new novella by Ian Donato, 14 short stories (including some profe...

And now the insufferable gloating begins... just to make everybody feel better, I wrote this in about twenty to thirty minutes, and made no revisions. I owe some of the ideas -- reformed werewolves, and how they might cope with living among humans without hunting and eating them -- to the TV series ...

Yeah, that's right. Robert will fall because of his finally voting, Verse will fall to 2nd place when Robert gives him all 1s - and the cream of the crop shall rise to the top like Phoenix rising from the ashes! I like where this is going! Submit! You're assuming that I will give a high score to an...

kailhofer wrote:A few more votes are in. Robert is still out in front, but Verse has now moved up to second place.

Still missing 1 author vote...

I am the missing author vote. So I need to figure out which story belongs to Verse, and be sure to give it a lousy score... (Oops -- didn't mean to hit Submit...)