Darn! It's a little tough to come down from Sacramento to the Bay Area on a weeknight, so I'll miss out on the fun.

I, Chris K, and a couple other VPXIers will be in Santa Clara on Sat/Sun for Baycon. If you're still around, come on by!

Have a great time on the tour!

- yeff

I'm glad to see that Chim-Chim found work after the whole Speed Racer thing fell apart.

- yeff

I want to be able to choose the colors of the panels. Then I could get a Mondrian-thing going on, which would be excellent!

- yeff

I've had just about enough of your persnickety questions, citizen! Just point, grunt, and pay whatever they tell you to pay.

And don't forget: The more you buy, the more you save.

- yeff

I did Give One, Get One as well. I hope it arrives soon, as I (i mean, the kids) are really interested in checking it out.

As soon as it gets in, I'm sure that I (i mean, the kids) will be taking it through its paces and I (i mean, the kids) will see how well it works for everyday use.

Perhaps even I can create some apps for me (I mean, the kids) to use.

Transparently,

- yeff

Reading the whole article (at the above links), it sounds like the customer is doing all the right things: contacting the credit card company, contacting the local consumer affairs and better business bureau, vowing to open all purchases before leaving the premises.

Here was an interesting quote from the article: "The employee and assistant manager were more than willing to help, saying that it happens."

"It happens"?!? It happens often enough that the employees will say "it happens"?!? Geez, Best Buy, maybe you should, you know, look into this??

- yeff

I'm going to agree with the macro point, and disagree on a couple micro points.

Macro agreement: Some sort of online/paper hybrid approach would seem to be the best way to improve the reach of the short fiction mags. As Utilitygeek mentioned, Analog and Asimovs are available in online format. This could also help reach the worldwide SF market, and do it easier and cheaper than the print versions.

Micro disagreement #1 with Cory's statement "Is it any wonder that the online mags dominate the awards?": I did a quick survey of the last 3 years of Nebula/Hugo nominees. Maybe 10-20% of the short fiction nominees were online, the rest were mags/print (and most of that was Asimov's).

Micro disagreemnt #2 with Warren Ellis's referred statement "why there’s still an sf magazine called 'Analog.'": Well, it has more circulation than any other mag. I'm guessing the name "Analog" represents an "old-time" SF in plot, science, character, etc.

Who am I? I'm a beginning SF/F writer who loves short fiction. I subscribe to many print/online mags and read as much as I can. I push short fiction mags/sites on fans as much as I can. I sure hope short fiction SF/F survives, in one form or another! I'm doing what I can...

- yeff