Site of the Week -- July 6, 1999
he Enterprise-E soars past the gossamer strands of a nebula.
Babylon 5 orbits high above the desolate plains of a planetoid.
B-Wings flee the destruction of a Star Destroyer. These are just a few of the alien vistas waiting to be downloaded
from Desktop Starships, a site dedicated to science fiction
wallpaper, fonts and themes.
Desktop Starships includes message boards, a small news section and a "start"
section for those who want to begin their Web surfing with a heavy
dose of SF. But where the site shines is its desktop
goodies. The site's galleries are dominated by beautifully rendered starships from popular series, and there is also a healthy smattering of original SF&F artwork.
The Top 10 Downloads section tracks popular files, while
navigating the galleries is accomplished by using a simple--but not
easily noticed--pull-down menu. A keyword search would be a good
addition to the site, but as is Desktop Starships packs more than enough firepower to
blast visitors' computers into other galaxies.
-- Kenneth Newquist
Site of the Week -- June 28, 1999
omics readers might have felt a certain frisson while watching The Matrix,
as shell casings flew across the screen like snow in Buffalo, N.Y. That's
because the film's conceptual designs were created by Geof Darrow, the
renowned artist whose work includes the hyperviolent graphic novel Hard
Boiled. Now Darrow has drawn a comic called Zion Archives, scripted by the Wachowski
brothers, that has been posted on The Matrix's Web site. It's just one of
a series of standalone stories set in the world of The Matrix whose purpose
is to give new insights into the complex story and setting of the film. The
contributors read like a current Who's Who of comics, including Paul
Chadwick, Neil Gaiman, Bill Sienkiewicz, and Harlan Ellison. A word of
warning: like the film, these comics are not for children.
-- Brooks Peck
Site of the Week -- June 21, 1999
hen it comes to fans, few are more enthusiastic or exacting than the followers of the BBC's legendary SF series Dr. Who. So it almost goes without saying that the official Dr. Who Web site had better be good. Really good.
And, luckily for both fans and the BBC, it is.
The Official Dr. Who Web Site combines the design of a professional
site with the fannish elements of an amateur one. It forgoes a slick,
Flash-filled look for a simple, newsy design. There are the standard nuts-and-bolts elements visitors expect from an official site, but it also features episode guides, write-ups on the series' multiple Doctors and a much-used discussion forum.
One of the site's best elements is its 60-plus-episode television compendium. Going beyond simple episode reviews, the compendium includes "things to watch for" snippets and "myth-busters" sections that debunk some of the crazier stories surrounding various Who episodes. The front page includes links to current discussions in the forum and, for truly rabid fans, there are even printable collector cards featuring the series' myriad aliens.
-- Kenneth Newquist
