@Charlie Jane Anders: No, Baen has been doing the same thing for years now. Not only do they offer snippets of up to the first third of a novel before it is released. They have the Baen Free Library, the bound in and promotional CDs with entire ebooks on them and their eARC program. What he's doing is by no definition unique.
My understanding of warp theory was that in creating the bubble you contracted space in front of you and expanded it behind you, thus in effect you were technically motionless. Of course this isn't the first time someone has latched on to this idea, Miguel Alcubierre posited about it back in '94.
What about the planet rotating 90 degrees on its axis due to the weight of the polar ice caps from The HAB Theory?
I'm just curious as to how we would transfer the energy into a more useful form (i.e. electricity). It strikes me as odd that the most common form of creating electricity from nuclear fission reactors is still the steam turbine.
@corpore-metal: I don't know about that, I've certainly seen some "bread and circuses" (to use a term Heinlein used across several books when talking about the dangers of universal voting rights) coming out of California lately.
@ManchuCandidate: Actually if I remember correctly, you couldn't gain citizenship through joining the Federal bureaucracy, a prerequisite to any sort of Federal Service that allowed you to gain citizenship was that it had to be dangerous because in order to exercise ultimate control over the state (voting as a citizen) you had to be willing give the ultimate sacrifice to the state (your life). The examples that Heinlein gave included terraforming Venus or some such. Though you are right that there were civilian paths to citizenship.
@ManchuCandidate: It gets better after that as Haven gets its own one sided licks in and either in War of Honor or At All Costs there's a freaking huge mother of a battle.
@Gazillion: Though it is more space opera than mil scifi, I'd suggest Weber's Honor Harrington series. Many, many epic space battles, and they keep getting bigger and bigger.
If I remember correctly, when Dean first meet Cas in his Jimmy suit, Castiel mentions that certain humans can withstand his true voice and he thought that Dean might be one of them. It would follow that these individuals might better withstand possession by an angel.
@OneBleepWiser: First of all, in the supernatural world, most demons are actually fallen humans who have gained powers in hell. Secondly Sam and Dean (most hunters it seems) can be considered skeptics, they believe in all these unlikely things (vampires, demons, ghouls, what not) because they have seen them however in all their experience and in all the experience of those they have encountered, until Dean was dragged back by Cas, no one within their circle of experience had encountered an angel.
I'm surprised no one has mentioned Cat from Joan D. Vinge's Psion, Catspaw, Dreamfall novels.
@Slothrop: I don't think that is a fair comparison though. Especially when you consider that the original short story for Ender's Game came out in 1977. Besides, Ender was some much more of a badass than Harry.
I kind of disagree with the characterization of the Stainless Steel Rat as a weak con-artist. As I remember while he may have been played towards the beginnings of the books, he always came out ahead at the end. Which I think would make him a successful con-artist. I mean when you're so good at what you do that your boss is forced to keep you around despite the fact that you're stealing people blind left and right. It should count for something.
I remember playing the old Battletech miniatures game with friends in high school; though not very clearly. I do seem to remember that the terrain rules while being surprisingly detailed were also a complete pain when we would use them.
Trying again because I can't see the first post. Nothing funny really.
Hopefully my comment will actually show up this time.
Personally I really think it depends on both the original story and the story that the writers and director want to bring to the table. I think as long as you respect the source material and have a genuine understanding of the issues in the story then either way you go you will have a good translation. Otherwise you might wind up with something like the Starship Troopers movie which isn't that bad when you look at it on its own but is a travesty when you compare it to the book.
@BuddyGuyMontag: I have to agree with you about Countrywide. Everyone shouldn't forget the stories of having consumers thinking they're signing for a fixed rate loan only to give them an ARM because agents put additional loan papers underneath and shredded the top set.
I think that the Face Book American Arbitration Assoc. smackdown looks interesting. As well as Video Professor vs. Capitol One.
@AlteredBeast: You're right regarding the fingerprint lock with the exception that biometric are still rather easy to spoof. Unfortunately it seems that the corollary for something to be difficult for an unauthorized person to access is that it tends to be a pain for an authorized person.
He did contact his contacts at Lolapalooza and supposedly they just as surprised as he is that he hasn't receivd anything yet.
