edia news in heaping portions is the order of the day at The Sci-Fi Blog, a lean, informative site that offers news on SF movies, TV programs, video games and comics—not to mention all their affiliated tie-ins and spinoffs. Barely a month old and still groping for a place in the busy world of online SF fandom, this site shows some promise to become a first-rate clearinghouse for rumors, opinion and Hollywood gossip.
From casting spoilers for the next Spider-Man flick to news on a proposed Mortal Kombat theme park, entries at this blog follow a standard pattern: a quick summary of a longer article elsewhere, a link to the source article and a few lines of pithy fannish commentary on the entry's subject. Visitors can scan headlines, chase links to further details or simply move on to the next item; for more finicky readers, an indexing system allows a choice of subtopics like "Movie News," "TV reviews" and the grab bag "Out of Box" category.
Weblogs rise and fall on their writing style and spirit as much as on content, and fans seeking a brash and zany news source will have to see if The Sci-Fi Blog can ripen into that source. The site is visually pleasing in a low-key, easy-on-the-eyes mode, and comes across as matter-of-fact in its presentation of news articles despite the editorializing. Though it claims to offer SF news "with attitude," that attitude, at present, verges on "Just the facts, ma'am." Even so, this blog is one of a growing number of sites inviting viewer participation—soliciting both comments and even more news submissions. It could therefore be that The Sci-Fi Blog is one regular contributor away from really cutting loose.
—A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—August 8, 2005
he guiding principles of Nuketown are emblazoned across its banner. "Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Geekdom" are the heart of this speculative fiction 'zine, which made its first appearance on the Web in 1996.
Nuketown's articles offer readers thoughtful analysis on role-playing games, movies and technology. There are reviews of SF novels (most recently Cory Doctorow's Someone Comes to Town, Someone Leaves Town), coverage of SF-themed musical releases, a hoax watch that tracks whatever urban myths are currently making the Internet rounds, articles on Web development, DVD releases and entertaining features like the 2004 Geek Gift Guide.
This site makes it easy for fans who can't get enough of its particular brand of SF coverage—Nuketown aficionados can sign up for a newsletter, subscribe to a syndicated news feed, or join the Nuketown discussion listserv on Yahoogroups. Others may prefer to listen to its weekly podcast, Radio Active. Guests are encouraged to check out Nuketown's writer guidelines, too, with an eye toward submitting articles and reviews of their own.
Older articles on this web page are stored in archives that go back to 2001, while the site's Links section contains almost four hundred sites—all indexed into helpful categories such as blogs, Webzines, philosophy, comics and SF. Nuketown is a site that is determined to leave every visitor with something—a thought-provoking read, an interesting web link or new sources of gaming fun.
—A.M. Dellamonica
Site of the Week—August 1, 2005
eading the pulse of science fiction is what this news-based 'zine is all about—and at Sci Fi Pulse, the focus is completely on televised SF. Covering shows from Battlestar Galactica to Star Trek: Enterprise, the site is a clearinghouse of news and links about programs, actors and production gossip. With editorials, interviews and loads of links to other TV fan pages, it is a place where visitors can get up-to-speed on small-screen SF productions around the world.
In terms of its design, Sci Fi Pulse is something of a hybrid—a 'zine whose various sections break into a series of blogs about its creators' favorite shows. Areas dedicated to programs like Andromeda and Smallville spool out link after link to relevant articles and image galleries, making it easy to scroll chronologically through recent events, cast changes and crew interviews. (Doctor Who, oddly enough, does not have its own section, and news on that show is therefore dominating the site's general news area.)
Sci Fi Pulse is not the prettiest nor the most easily navigated site on the Internet, and its discussion forums are, unfortunately, infested with spam. What makes the site worth visiting despite these flaws is its tendency to turn up unusual and intriguing links—interviews about the shift to arc-based television writing from "reset button" stories, and juicy tidbits about upcoming guest stars on Smallville are current examples.
This site also invites fans to supply news links of their own, so dedicated and in-the-know Web surfers can join the fun by contributing stories themselves.
—A.M. Dellamonica
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