Author Archives: Allyn

Warped, One More Time

A series of brutal, motiveless murders aboard station Deep Space Nine leads to Odo’s investigation of a new batch of holosuite technology that appears to have the ability to reshape the user’s perception of reality. I won’t really defend Warped, because oftentimes when I do I feel like I spend my time trying to explainContinue reading “Warped, One More Time”

Reaching Down into the Memory Hole

Steve Roby wrote on his blog yesterday regarding decade-old Star Trek novels that he can “[look] at the front cover art and the back cover text and realiz[e] I remember next to nothing about a lot of these books. I don’t have a great memory anyway, but how is it I can remember so muchContinue reading “Reaching Down into the Memory Hole”

Same Bat-time, Same Bat-channel

Another midnight opening. This time, for World of WarCraft. Unlike Halo 2, though, this isn’t a company-wide phenomenon. In fact, I know of no other stores in the chain doing a midnight opening. Like Halo 2 we had the product in stores, in the backroom, awaiting the street date. Pre-sells were solid, substantial, not HaloContinue reading “Same Bat-time, Same Bat-channel”

For Geekoid Fanboys Only

In the summer of 1999 I reread The Lord of the Rings for perhaps the dozenth time. With that particular reading I studied, really studied, Appendix D on the calendrical systems in use in Middle-Earth in the Third Age. I was drawn, in particular, to the Hobbit calendar and decided to write a quick-and-dirty computerContinue reading “For Geekoid Fanboys Only”

Some Fictional Perspective

“If the re-election of George W Bush for his second term as President has a significance in terms of global history, it is that this, far more than his original accession to power, was the point when certain facts became clear to the traditional allies of the USA. Namely, that not only was the behemothicContinue reading “Some Fictional Perspective”

Reflections on the Presidential Election

What happened four years ago–Florida, the Supreme Court, the election of Bush rather than Gore–shook my confidence in the American political process. What happened on Tuesday–the re-election of Bush (or the first election of Bush, depending on how you felt about Bush v. Gore four years ago)–shook my confidence in the American people. At timesContinue reading “Reflections on the Presidential Election”