10 most Recent Topics - Anotherealm Forum

10 most Recent Topics - Anotherealm Forum http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl - Anotherealm Forum en-us Anotherealm Forum Sat, 19 May 2012 18:11:11 +0000 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss 30 General Board - The music of Sci Fi http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1327931640/8#8 Anotherealm Forum/General Board http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1327931640/8#8 Wed, 16 May 2012 19:03:29 +0000 Dear Gary;   Many long years ago, when there was a Pittsburgh Science Fiction Association (PSFA -- who actually hosted the World Con in 1960!) some of the members brought songs home from the Chicago Con. It wasn't called filk then, but it would be now. I remember one in particular: "Science fiction is my addiction That's what's the matter with me; I like BEMS and all those things, Ships that fly to Saturn's rings, I keep feedin' on crazy readin' Sciences fiction is the only stf for me. You can keep your detectives And western romance, I'll put on my song and dance For s-t-f and fantaseee!" Ah, those were fun days. -- Jean General Board - 2 questions http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1331791319/11#11 Anotherealm Forum/General Board http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1331791319/11#11 Sun, 13 May 2012 17:46:31 +0000 <a class="message" href="http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1331791319/0#10">J. Davidson Hero wrote</a> on Apr 06th, 2012, 2:47pm: <div class="quote" style="width: 90%">Monsoonstar, I for one appreciate you asking about this. I've wondered about it since I first submitted a contest story awhile back but never asked. I couldn't make sense of how the voting worked then and just decided not to worry about the results or put much stock in them. I wasn't even sure if 5 stars was supposed to be the best rating or 1 star. Most 1st place stories over the last few years have only 2 stars, but 2nd and 3rd place stories have the same. How does a story get a zero anyway. Zero is not an option when voting. I see 1-5 as rating options. Does a story get a zero if someone clicks to rate the story but doesn't check 1-5? If all stories start off with a 0 score which is averaged into the voting results of any actual readers, then the resulting score is not a very accurate reflection of the readers' opinion in my humble opinion. ;) I'm not trying to disparage the contest or admins here. I'm just seconding Monsoonstar's questions. This is a great contest, and though I don't submit very often I do check in to see what the topic is and read some great stories. --John </div> I have to agree the module isn't the best at a true reflection of the ratings. If nobody votes you can end up with a 0. If everybody gives you a 5 it will still average it with the starting rating of 0 so I'm not sure it is possible to actually get a 5. But that is how the program is written. I'm just not good enough at PHP to rewrite it to be more accurate. I tried to play with it a bit and just ended up making it worse. :( General Board - Could a computer write this story? http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1336839272/2#2 Anotherealm Forum/General Board http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1336839272/2#2 Sun, 13 May 2012 09:43:09 +0000 <a class="message" href="http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1336839272/0#1">Jeangoldstrom wrote</a> on May 12th, 2012, 9:51am: <div class="quote" style="width: 90%">Oh good grief, Charlie Brown! Yes, I've read some submissions that I _thought_ were written by machines. But I have to agree with the person quoted in the story: "Other experts are not as concerned. Greg Bowers, who teaches at the Missouri School of Journalism, says computers don't have the same capacity for pitch, emotion and story structure. "I'm not alarmed about it as some people are," Bowers said. "If you're writing briefs that can be easily replicated by a computer, then you're not trying hard enough." True words! -- Jean </div> Or perhaps "If your brief writing seems like it's been written by a computer, your not trying hard enough"  <chuckle> I've wondered about this kinda thing for awhile now. I've seen "Story Writing Programs" out there for awhile. But the differences between character sets (just in windows alone, not even counting the other OS's) seems to give web pages fits anyway. I couldn't really imagine a program writing a story until they can at the very least get some snippet of code to deal with such things as "Smart Quotes" for example. Not to even mention such regional things as slang used in dialog between characters. At least it would all be spelled correctly, right? I halve a spelling checker, It came with my pea see. It plainly marks four my revue Mistakes I dew knot sea. Eye strike a key and type a word And weight four it two say Weather eye am wrong oar write It shows me strait aweigh. As soon as a mist ache is maid It nose bee fore two long And eye can put the era rite Its rarely ever wrong. I've scent this massage threw it, And I'm shore your pleased too no Its letter prefect in every weigh; My checker tolled me sew. <img src="http://anotherealm.net/yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/wink.gif" border="0" alt="Wink" /> Contest Stories - Planetary Shift http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1336748237/1#1 Anotherealm Forum/Contest Stories http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1336748237/1#1 Fri, 11 May 2012 20:22:33 +0000 Patrick, you are so right. I went to read "Planetary Shift" on your recommendation, and the conclusion is indeed hilarious. The entire story is well-written, but the conclusion -- bravo! And that is not just because I live in Pittsburgh, which tends to have an ongoing rivalry with Cleveland, calling it "The Mistake By The Lake." Not true, not true. Well, not necessarily... Anyway, thanks for the recommendation! -- Jean General Board - Dean Koontz: Is he too prolific? http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1331720773/30#30 Anotherealm Forum/General Board http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1331720773/30#30 Fri, 11 May 2012 17:34:20 +0000 I'll chime in for the Joss Whedon fans - I found Firefly in general and Serenity in particular to be brilliant. He set out to give the world a show based on the original dictate that Star Trek was supposed to be based upon, ie a Western in space. He stuck his heroes as members of the losing side, postulated a scenario where the two major cultures of our time became predominant (English and the Chinese) and intermingled, and blended the two visions into an absolutely fantastic and amazing universe. He has got to be the single greatest master of character and dialogue working today. He is amazing at representing every facet of the human experience in his characters, and his dialogue skills are brilliant. Love him or hate him, you could shave your legs with his writing.  ;D Front Page Stories - The Place for a Good Crop by John DesPlaines http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1336138592/2#2 Anotherealm Forum/Front Page Stories http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1336138592/2#2 Thu, 10 May 2012 18:00:50 +0000 The story's well-written, but seems to me to be part of a larger project. Front Page Stories - Past Lives of a Goddess by Barb Siples http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1333483248/7#7 Anotherealm Forum/Front Page Stories http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1333483248/7#7 Thu, 10 May 2012 17:55:01 +0000 A well-written story with lots there to give the brain work <img src="http://anotherealm.net/yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/smiley.gif" border="0" alt="Smiley" /> Front Page Stories - Incantation by Terry Oparka http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1330643025/12#12 Anotherealm Forum/Front Page Stories http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1330643025/12#12 Thu, 10 May 2012 17:42:44 +0000 Ok, I've been away a while - it's called "working in the real world"  ;D I decided it was time to catch up on what had been happening in here, and am so impressed with Incantation. What a great way to get rid of a bully, but also there's the realism of why the boy is a bully. Well done Terry. Polls - Star Wars or Star Trek? http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1265645225/15#15 Anotherealm Forum/Polls http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1265645225/15#15 Sun, 29 Apr 2012 22:17:44 +0000 For  Gary  A. Markette: Quote: <div class="quote" style="width: 90%; overflow: auto;">Me, I like Babylon Five. </div> Me too, indeed...eh,eh <img src="http://anotherealm.net/yabbfiles/Templates/Forum/default/wink.gif" border="0" alt="Wink" /> General Board - They're at it again http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1335263640/1#1 Anotherealm Forum/General Board http://anotherealm.net/cgi-bin/yabb2/YaBB.pl?num=1335263640/1#1 Tue, 24 Apr 2012 21:09:32 +0000 My significant other is a poet. Excellent one. That said, this is more an ongoing thing than people realize. You're right; they aren't doing anything wrong because, hey, you pay to play; almost like a lottery or publisher's clearinghouse. But to someone who is new at the writing biz, who has had friends and family tell them, "Hey. You're really good at this. You can probably make alot of money from this"; said by people who, no doubt, read very little, or not at all, never mind reading poetry. The line that gets people all the time is, "get published" means (in their hopeful hearts) "I'll make enough money at this I won't have to work ever again." There are more poetry chapbooks and epics out being published than people realize, BUT it's usually POD or its like. And not many get sold because the only people who buy and read poetry anymore are poets (it's funny how many people these days don't understand metaphor anymore; nowadays, a phrase I'd heard many times over since a youth in a poor rural town -- spread the wealth -- is now considered a communist/terrorist indicator instead of a sign of intelligence). Unfortunately, online ezines are going the same way; read only by its own writers.