Fangoria Announces the Return of Starlog

Five years after ending the 374-issue run of legendary science fiction media magazine Starlog, parent company Fangoria Entertainment today announced the impending return. Starlog, according to Fango, will return first as a website this summer and then later in the year as a digital magazine. There is no word yet if a print edition is being considered an eventual possibility or if the digital edition is the intended main product.

It sounds as if the mag will be reimagined for a new age — as it should be — and will try to make the most of an electronic platform. Congrats to all involved. You'll be facing high expectations from Starlog's legion of former readers, as you no doubt already expect.

Affordable Housing: "We've written it off"

Also from the current (May 2014) issue of the Marina Times, I interviewed Andre Shashaty, an expert and advocate for affordable housing and sustainable communities (and my former boss).

Andre Shashaty

‘We’ve written it off’
Affordable housing expert Andre Shashaty on the state of housing policy and sustainable communities

BY JOHN ZIPPERER
(May 2014)

As San Francisco residents and their political, business and social leaders try to get a handle on housing affordability in the city, they must do so at a time when governments large and small in this country have largely tried to wash their hands of involvement with the housing problem. Long gone are the days when the federal government partnered with cities to build and manage homes for middle- and low-income citizens. Today, federal monies have gone elsewhere, as has federal interest in even dealing with the challenges. The key federal tool for helping develop affordable housing is the three-decades-old tax credit set up to help private developers — for-profit and nonprofit — do what the government used to do.

This all happens at a time when there are still many people who need affordable housing — rental or ownership. To learn more about the issues involved, we spoke with affordable housing expert and advocate Andre Shashaty. The former editor and publisher of...

Read the entire interview

San Francisco's "Growing Pains"

In the latest (May 2014) issue of the Marina Times, I begin a four-part series looking at San Francisco's ongoing population growth, which is projected to take the residential count above 1 million in the future.

As San Francisco’s population continues to expand, some people are worrying about the changes that are being wrought (photo: darkwind / flickr)

Growing pains: How much San Francisco is too much San Francisco?

BY JOHN ZIPPERER
(May 2014)

This is the first of a four-part series exploring the growth of San Francisco.

The downtown-bound BART train was particularly full one recent morning, when yet another group of commuters boarded at a station. Among them was a man in his early 40s, who immediately began complaining loudly about all of the “[bleeping] tech workers filling up my city.” As surrounding commuters tried to look away, one office-bound commuter began arguing with the newcomer, demanding to know what his problem was. There ensued a diatribe by the 40-something, who complained about San Francisco being ruined by new residents. There were lots of bleeps, as well as a threat to fight the man who dared to question him.

Across San Francisco, conversations in much nicer tones have been taking place for months and even years, with longtime residents wondering about the changes occurring...

Read the entire article

Artemis Eternal – The New Indie Filmmaking

Filmmaker Jessica Mae Stover started out doing celebrity genre interviews on AOL, but she has since moved from Big Media to Indie Groundbreaker. With Artemis Eternal, she is seeking to make a science fiction film outside of the studio system, and even outside of the traditional independent film system.

A challenge? That would be an understatement. Will SF fans help her crowdfunding project? Will film viewers appreciate the final story?

Check out my interview with Stover in the current issue of Galaxis. Click on the image below to read.

To 4,000 and Beyond – in a Flash

The latest (and last) issue of Galaxis, my free digital magazine of science and science fiction, was only released two weeks ago, but it has already been seen by more than 4,000 people. By way of comparison, it took many months for each of the previous three issues of Galaxis to hit those numbers.

So as an individualist, as much as it pains me to suggest you join the crowd: Join the crowd — because I think you'll find that this personal journey through the worlds of science and SF is thought-provoking, fun, and inspiring. And in a few months when I release the first book-form Galaxis Reader, I hope you'll come along for that evolutionary form of my Galaxis project.

Like the New Neil deGrasse Tyson Cosmos? Check out Page 7

Astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson is getting good reviews for his new Cosmos TV science series, which premieres tonight (March 9) on National Geographic Channel and Fox.

You can get some good background on this show, who's putting it together, what happened three decades ago, and why it all matters — on page 7 of my latest issue of Galaxis: The Worlds of Science and Science Fiction. It's a free digital magazine, and if you like Cosmos, you might well like Galaxis.

Now Out! Galaxis March 2014 — Science and Science Fiction for You

Just published.

The fourth issue of my free digital science and science fiction magazine, Galaxis, is now available. Star Trek Into Darkness. Europa Reports. Artemis Eternal. El Cosmonauta. Episode guide to the first season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Ray Kurzweil on the IT transformation of our lives. Space stamps. Classic science fiction movie posters. Tons of reviews, tech news, SF film news, and more.

Read it today.

Can't Wait to Make My Space Popcorn to View the Aquila Flyby

This is why I love NASA, or at least the geeks who work there. In its online listing of "Upcoming Planetary Launches and Events," NASA's calendar lists (and read the whole thing):

2014 May-November - Rosetta - ESA mission reaches Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko
2014 November - Philae - ESA Rosetta Lander touches down on Comet Churyumov-Gerasimenko
2015 February 1 - Dawn - Goes into orbit around asteroid 1 Ceres
2015 July 14 - New Horizons - NASA mission flies by Pluto and Charon
2015 August 15 - BepiColombo - Launch of ESA and ISAS Orbiter and Lander Missions to Mercury
2016 March - InSight - Launch of Mars Lander
2231 April 5 - Pluto - is passed by Neptune in distance from the Sun for the next 20 years
4,000,000 - Pioneer 11 - NASA flyby of star Lambda Aquila

I can't wait for 4 million; the media coverage of that is going to be awesome. As long as our alien insect overlords let us stay up late to watch it on the holovid.

Catch Me on the California Channel

WATCH US ON THE CALIFORNIA CHANNEL: Tonight at 9 p.m. (PT), catch the first program in The Commonwealth Club's weekly series on the California Channel.

Tonight: my Week to Week Political Roundtable, featuring panelists Carla Marinucci, Dr. Larry Gerston, and Debra J. Saunders. In upcoming weeks: Economic forecasts, Randi Zuckerberg, Robert Reich, and more!

You can find The California Channel on your cable system by checking these listings: http://www.calchannel.com/local-listing/

Commonwealth Club programs will also air at various times throughout the week on that channel.

Atlanta, We Have a Problem

So, apparently some people think the snowstorm over Atlanta consisted of fake snow. For reals.

I wonder how far our species could advance if we didn't have to spend so much time doing mass remedial science education and debunking crazy claims.