Net Culture | Krypton Radio

John Scalzi: May You Live in Interesting Times

Books, Community, Events, Games, Net Culture, Science Fiction No Responses »

Apr 242013

by staff writer Laura Davis

John Scalzi, LATFOB 2013

Richard Kadrey, LATFOB 2013

As the crowd settles in for John Scalzi’s talk at the L.A. Times Festival of Books 2013, Richard Kadrey begins his introduction, “John Scalzi, [session number] 2064, Richard Kadrey…”

Scalzi interjects, “Isn’t there a video game, Robotron 2064, something like that?”

“Twenty EIGHTY four!” comes from the audience.

“Shut UP!” Scalzi retorts, laughing. “Forty seconds in and I’ve already been nerd corrected! Can’t take you kids anywhere!”

And so it begins.

John Scalzi is a Hugo award-winning Sci-Fi writer, journalist, business writer, script and game writer, and author of the blog, Whatever. His style of not pulling punches yet delivering them with a wicked sense of humor makes for very entertaining reading. Last fall, his satirical post, “A Fan Letter to Certain Conservative Politicians,” signed “Just Another Rapist” triggered a tidal wave of responses, both by fans and by those who do not understand the concept of satire.

Earlier this year, a troll began attacking Scalzi online, inciting his followers to flood Scalzi’s blog with hateful commentary. Scalzi’s response? In a post entitled, “Solving My Racist Sexist Homophobic Dip[$#!t] Problem,” Scalzi pledged to put $5 into a fund every time the troll mentioned Scalzi’s name (or a nickname for him) on his blog. Fans monitored the troll’s blog and kept account. The fund (Scalzi offered up to $1,000 of his own money) would be divided among charities serving women, people of color, and the LGBT community. As Scalzi’s fans asked to join in the fun, they raised over $50,000 for these charities, and succeeded in really infuriating said troll. That’s how Scalzi rolls.

Happy Birthday George Takei!

Charity, Community, Events, Fandom, Hero Community, Net Culture, Politics, Science Fiction, Star Trek, Television No Responses »

Apr 202013

Fan favorite George Takei as Captain Sulu

It’s George Takei Day on Krypton Radio! All day long we’re playing your favorite music Star Trek movies and fandom! Happy Birthday, George!

By Laura Davis

George Takei may have come to our attention in the role of Mr. Sulu, but he continues on in our affection by being just plain awesome. Today marks Takei’s 76th birthday, and we’d like to take this opportunity to wish him a happy birthday and many more years to come.

You’d think at age 76, George Takei would be slowing down some, but in truth, he’s got so many irons in the fire, it’s hard to keep track of them all. At a time in life when many of his contemporaries can’t even figure out social media, Takei not only figured it out, but took the Internet by storm. In his recent book, Oh, Myyy!, he explains in great detail (and with great humor) how he came to host a Facebook page that boasts nearly four million followers and an extremely popular Twitter account, as well. Part of the equation is PR skills, but the bottom line is Takei himself. His wonderfully warped sense of humor, passion for the causes he embraces, and eloquent way of addressing more serious matters add up to a man whom people appreciate as more than just a pop culture icon.

After the bombing of Pearl Harbor, young Takei was interned by the U.S. government, along with his family and so many other Japanese-Americans and Japanese immigrants. Despite the disgraceful treatment his family received at the hands of their own government, Takei shows no sign of holding a grudge. In Oh, Myyy!, he writes, “When I was a teenager I wanted to understand our incarceration. And I had long discussions with my father on the internment, and despite the fact that my father lost everything — his businesses, his home, his freedom — he maintained his belief in the basic principle of the democratic system. He sort of very gently guided me into being an activist.”

Takei explains, “My life mission has been to raise the awareness in America of a World War II chapter of our history when innocent American citizens, simply because they looked like the people who bombed Pearl Harbor, were incarcerated.” Talking about the musical production, Allegiance, which he produced and acted in, he asks, “How do you sell a musical on a very dark and shameful chapter that people know little about and understand even less? … the way to do it is the communication medium of the 21st century, social media.”

In 2005, Takei came out publicly, and in 2008, he and Brad Altman became one of the few gay couples to be legally married during California’s brief window of opportunity. Takei has been a beacon for gay rights, including marriage equality, for many years and in many ways. In 2011, when the state of Tennessee was considering legislation which would have banned the use of the word “gay” in public schools, Takei offered the use of his name as a replacement: it’s ok to be Takei.

For all the weighty issues Takei takes on with gusto, he keeps a positive attitude and an ability to laugh: at trolls, at himself, at corny memes, and at pictures of cats with goofy captions. When you’ve lived 76 years and seen hard times, you probably start to realize that you may as well laugh, because stressing out doesn’t keep life from happening. Takei credits some of his youthful attitude to husband Brad, and some to his Buddhist faith. Whatever the formula, it’s obviously working well. Thanks for all that you do, Mr. Takei, and here’s wishing you many more years of laughter!

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Bonus: If you’re interested in watching as much of George Takei as possible on his birthday, then check out this!

George Takei image licensed under the CC BY-SA 2.0 license. | hulu | YouTube | Schedule information via Direct2TV

From Kickstarter To Reality: Nat Iwata’s Steampunk Alphabet Book

Books, Business, Community, Editorials, Fandom, Fantasy / Horror, Interviews, Kickstarter, Net Culture, Sci / Tech, Steam Powered Cabaret, Steampunk No Responses »

Feb 202013

A Krypton Radio exclusive interview by Senior Editor, PK

A gaming artist with a dream and a Kickstarter campaign going viral – internet dreams can come true

Nat Iwata’s Steampunk Alphabet Book

Back in June of 2012, I was browsing the pages of Kickstarter looking for interesting projects when I stumbled upon Nathanael “Nat” Iwata’s campaign to create a children’s Steampunk alphabet book. Nat who is a professional artist and illustrator working in the video gaming industry, had through his then recent work on a Steampunk themed video game, been inspired to create a Steampunk themed alphabet book to share with his young children.

That idea blossomed into creating a book for all kids and it went from concept to Kickstarter, with the goal to raise $7,500 to help fund production and marketing to a publisher who could bring the book to life in bookstores everywhere. I thought this would be an awesome project to share with our readers/listeners, many of whom are Steampunk fans. So I reached out to Nat for an interview and he was happy to oblige with more details.

From the book’s overview:

“Every family needs an alphabet book. That’s a given. But until now there has not yet been a compelling Steampunk-themed ABC book. Nat Iwata has been doing steampunk art for several years in the video game industry, and now he has illustrated a visually compelling, fun-for-all-ages Steampunk Alphabet book that is approachable both to fans and those unfamiliar with Steampunk. In light of that, while all of the illustrations are total Steampunk, the opening ‘letter sentence’ for each page is a familiar word.”

“For example “A is for Apple.” The idea of taking everyday ordinary things and re-imagining them as Steampunk is sure to be a crowd pleaser, and especially appeal to all of the hipster parents. The second part of each page is a description of the object as set in the Steampunk world. This portion will be more enjoyable to older kids and adults to enjoy, while the book could be read entirely with just the ‘letter sentences’ for younger readers.”

On June 30, 2012 the story went live on Krypton Radio and was well received by our fans, then it went viral. While I can’t be sure it was the main reason, it was an interesting factor in the fundraising that the story of Nat’s book was picked up by a news humor and mocking site called Fark.com, where it spread like wildfire from there. After the initial blast of traffic from Fark, and combined with many people sharing the project via social media, the donations to the Steampunk Alphabet book jumped very quickly. By July 26, 2012, Nat Iwata’s project had not only been funded, but exceeded his original goal by bringing in an impressive $11,391.

I always hear people say that it’s the power of the internet, and they’re right. Social media and related websites have helped change the way we do business and raise money for great projects like Nat’s book.

With part one of the victory being attained, part two was in the works. It wasn’t until recently that I received an update from Nat:

“Hello PK,

I just wanted to share some more info with you, as the book has gone through the final editing phase and is off to the presses this week! It is available in various places for pre-order, but the site offering the largest discount of 32% is Barnes & Noble, here’s a link: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/steampunk-alphabet-nat-iwata/1112774056“

Interview after the break: Continue reading »

£20,000,000 Kickstarter For Open Source Death Star

Kickstarter, Net Culture, Satire, Science Fiction, Star Wars No Responses »

Feb 072013

Krypton Radio Newswire

Many things are open source these day, when companies or the powers at be don’t build something the way we like it, we make our own and put it out for the world to take and make their own as well. But one group is seeking to take the open source movement to the unlikely next level, which is to build an open source version of the Death Star.

A UK based group has started a Kickstarter campaign with the hopes of raising an initial amount of £20,000,000 to fund the design stage of a real Death Star, but with the stretch goal of raising “£543,000,000,000,000,00 ($850,000,000,000,000,000) to secure full funding for actual construction.”

The 850 Quadrillion is the joke amount projected by the U.S. Government as the unimaginable cost of actually building a planet destroying space station, when it officially responded to a petition on the USA.gov website calling on the U.S. to build a fully functional Death Star. With tongue firmly planted in cheek, the U.S. government responded it could not and would not build a Death Star.

Despite the absurdity of the campaign, it has amazingly raised over £206,551 with 1,166 backers and 52 days to go. Because of the way Kickstarter works, when the remaining days have run out and the fundraiser ends on April 1st, the money pledged will not be sent to the person who started the Kickstarter unless they actually meet their goal.

So is the UK group serious about actually building a Star Wars styled space station capable of blowing up an entire planet? Based on the FAQ section on their Kickstarter page, it’s safe to say the answer is “no.”

Can we destroy Pluto/Earth/Another planetary body?
Any decisions on targets will be based on donator pledge amount, higher pledges first. The amount is unimportant but you will be required to pay for shipping.

What kind of hardware will you use?
Nothing has been ruled out at this point including the suggestion of using a beowulf cluster of Raspberry Pi devices.

If you actually raise the required amount what will you do with the money?
Purchase at least 4m sq of high grade chicken wire. We are hoping the death star plans will have at least twice the resolution of the initial design.

Did you forget to account for the ~10% Kickstarter and Amazon get at the end of the project?
No, as we feel if we can actually raise £543 quadrillion pounds then Kickstarter certainly deserves their cut. As for Amazon, we’re sure they’ll agree to refund the fees once the station is complete.

Will it be solar powered?
Unlikely as it would make travel between solar systems more dangerous.

Correct me if I’m wrong, but wasn’t the downfall of the first Death Star due to open source plans?
No, the first Death Stars was closed source and the theft of the plans resulting in the loss of many Bothan lives. Had the previous Death Star plans been more open, someone might have spotted the obvious design flaw. We believe that an open source project is safer, cheaper and better for everyone.

Although the question has been poised, what if this group actually raises the £20,000,000? Will they proceed with their goal to design a real Death Star? What would you do with 20 million bucks you raised as a total joke?

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Anonymous Retaliates: Activism or Vandalism?

Corsair's Chronicles, Cybercrime, Net Culture, Politics 3 Responses »

Jan 262013

Editorial By Vagabond 'Tony' Carter

Users of the Anonymous meme are at it again it seems, targeting the U.S. Sentencing Commission website in a show of support and outrage over the trial and subsequent suicide of computer scientist and hacktivist Aaron Swartz.

The defacement claims that with Aaron’s death ”a line was crossed.”, and that they’ve infiltrated several government computer systems and copied secret information that they now threaten to make public. The Department of Justice has yet, as of this writing, to issue a statement (as of this moment the site appears also to be down).

This leads me to wonder a few things, much of which is the same thing that runs through my mind every time someone puts on a virtual anonymous mask and commits a crime of this nature, and yes, this was a criminal act.

Do you honestly think this somehow helps?

While I agree that Aaron’s being charged as a criminal for a violation of a company’s Terms of Service was a travesty of justice and that his death was and is an absolute tragedy. How does actually breaking the law in any way help the cause of an innocent man, whose trial was never completed and who may have even been acquitted had he lived?

As I’ve said many times before: I agree with the sentiment, but not the method. Acts like this do nothing to aide the cause and only drag the names of the true victims, in this case Aaron Swartz, in the mud. A line was crossed alright – by the Anonymous meme user or users responsible for this act of vandalism.

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World’s First SF Magazine ‘Amazing Stories’ Now Online

Net Culture, Science Fiction 1 Response »

Jan 232013

A cover from the original Amazing Stories, from 1932.

by Gene Turnbow

A cover from the original Amazing Stories, from 1932.

I grew up reading science fiction. My first SF book was The Runaway Robot, a young adults book by Lester Del Rey. A friend had a massive collection of Analog Science Fiction, about a hundred or so issues, which I was given, and which I read cover to cover. I loved the Kelly Freas covers, and it was his covers that inspired me to take up painting and art in all its forms. I read Amazing Stories whenever I could get it, and loved it all.

Amazing Stories was originally published by the Experimenter Publishing Company in 1926 and was the world’s first science fiction magazine. Its owner, publisher and first editor was Hugo Gernsback who has been called the Father of Science Fiction. It was published continuously (though by different publishers) until 1995. It was resurrected between 1998 and 2000 and again between 2004 and 2005.

And I’m delighted to be able to report to you that it is now back once again, being published by a new version of the Experimenter Publishing Company, in a new format and directly on the internet. The soul of the original publication breathes life into Amazing Stories, in its newest incarnation. While nothing will replace the experience of reading first run stories combined with the visceral experience of reading them from print on paper, there are certain needful things in the universe and Amazing Stories is one of them.

May you find the years of joy I found. Amazing Stories, welcome back.

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Death Of Internet Activist Aaron Swartz Prompts Introduction Of “Aaron’s Law”

Corsair's Chronicles, Cybercrime, Net Culture, Politics No Responses »

Jan 192013

Editorial by Vagabond ‘Tony’ Carter

With the suicide of RSS creator, Reddit Co-founder, and internet freedom activist Aaron Swartz making headlines, Congresswoman Zoe Lofgren(D.) has introduced a draft bill to return contract law to its civil home. Her bill which would amend 18 USC § 1030 with what she calls “Aaron’s Law,” and would limit the scope of the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act and exclude terms of service violations, which are nothing more than a breach of contract.

Lofgren who is a dedicated user of the Reddit social media site, reached out to fellow users on January 15, 2013 to ask for public support of her bill. The proposed amendments however do not take away from the stiff criminal penalties for those who forcibly gain access and under false pretense, or who share/leak data for malicious purposes.

In the case of Aaron Swartz, he had full and legal access to JSTOR files, but used a program to rapidly download a large number of academic articles to his laptop. This may have been a violation of JSTORs EULA/TOS, but that’s all he did. Swartz who had been accused of hacking the JSTOR system by prosecutors, was alleged to have downloaded the files with intent to illegally distribute copyrighted material.

Although no files ever made it out to the public, nor was there proof he intended to do anything more than have a local backup for personal use. Yet under the Computer Fraud and Abuse Act, (originally written in 1984 and updated over the years) Swartz was being tried in a criminal case on felony charges, which could have carried a lengthy prison term and massive financial penalties, if convicted.

The stress of this led to his eventual suicide on January 11, 2013.
Continue reading »

Krypton Radio & Fanboy Comics First Look: Slasher Squad

Activities, Business, Fan Films, Fanboy Comics, Fandom, Horror, Net Culture, Radio Serials No Responses »

Jan 112013

Krypton Radio & Fanboy Comics exclusive!

In a world besieged by villains and monsters inspired by classic slasher movies, a group of beautiful yet deadly heroines team up to combat this never-ending nightmare in, Slasher Squad.

From Double Barrel Visual Effects and Animation Studios in Perth Australia, founders Nathan Stone and Stuart Campbell are looking to fund their latest project with crowdfunding. With approximately 18 days to go, the duo is looking to raise A$27,000 dollars and have managed a little over A$12,995 at this point.

Barbara Dillon at Fanboy Comics took on this interesting interview with Nathan and Stuart, to get the low down on what Slasher Squad is all about.

Slasher Squad, an 8-minute action-horror short film about a team of women who hunt slasher villains by using themselves as bait. In this interview, Fanboy Comics Managing Editor Barbra Dillon chats with Stone and Campbell about the inspiration behind this genre-jumping film, their previous experience in filmmaking and VFX through their boutique animation and VFX studio (Double Barrel VFX in Perth, Australia), and their current crowdfunding campaign through Pozible to fund the production of the film.

Check out Fanboy Comics’ hit radio series Fanboy Scoop on Krypton Radio‘s stream, or hit up the Fanboy Comics site for the behind the scenes look at Slasher Squad.

The Fanboy Scoop – Week In Review can be heard on Krypton Radio
on Mondays at 7:00 p.m./PST and Saturdays at 2:00 p.m/PST

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