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DucKon
DucKon was an annual science fiction convention held every May or June in the Chicago area between 1992 and 2014. The name is a shortening of DUpage County KONvention. DucKon served as a fundraiser for Super-Con-Duck-Tivity, a non-profit organization known for creating and administering the Golden Duck Awards for excellence in children's science fiction literature. History The first DucKon was held in 1992. The first three DucKons were chaired by Candis King. DucKon is known for heavily fannish programming and a strong science track of programming. DucKon 3 was the first year that the convention had a furry track of programming; that furry track grew over the years and by DucKon 8 was believed to be responsible for up to 1/3 of the attendance. In 2000, most of the furry programming was spun off to become its own convention: Midwest FurFest, although DucKon continued to maintain a furry track of its own. Music at DucKon Musical performances were also a feature of DucKo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Midwest FurFest
Midwest FurFest (MFF) is a furry convention that takes place in Rosemont, Illinois, usually on the second weekend after Thanksgiving. MFF is an Illinois Educational Not-For-Profit Corporation that exists primarily for the purpose of holding an annual convention to facilitate education in anthropomorphic literature and art. It also facilitates the donation of funds to non-profit institutions, mainly of which promote the well-being of humans and/or animals. The convention was first held in 2000 and has grown to draw 13,641 attendees in 2022. , the 2022 event is the most attended convention in fandom history. Background and history Midwest FurFest started as the furry track for DucKon, a Chicago-based science fiction convention. The furry track was started at DucKon 3 in 1994 and was headed up by Robert King. The track grew larger each year and it was estimated that by DucKon 8 (1999) between one-quarter and one-third of the attendees were there due to interest in the furry track. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Michael Longcor
Michael Longcor is a folk and filk singer. His songs span a range of topics including military history, Indiana history, and humor. He has won six Pegasus Awards and has been nominated for six others. His music has appeared on Dr. Demento and on NPR's '' Folksong Festival'', and has provided the background for a BBC documentary on Rudyard Kipling. He is a member of the Society for Creative Anachronism, in which he is known as Moonwulf Starkaaderson. As a member of the SCA, he has been king of the Middle Kingdom twice and served as baron of the Barony of Rivenstar from its foundation until April 2016. He is also a member of the Dorsai Irregulars, having been inducted in 1976. . Retrieved on 2009-05-20. Longcor was inducted into the |
Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff
Maya Kaathryn Bohnhoff (born 1954) is an American sci-fi and fantasy author. Personal life Bohnhoff, mother of three, has been married since 1981 to Jeff Bohnhoff. The couple and their children are members of the Baháʼí Faith. She began her interest in science fiction after watching ''The Day the Earth Stood Still'' as a child. the 'top 40' club act". Along with such struggles is the spiritual one of purity of motive — "I, too, love applause, and to me the act of sharing music is more rewarding than writing it" and which genre of music was spiritual? She writes that at one point, eight months pregnant, she had an opportunity to work at Fantasy Studios in Berkeley for "fifteen hour days" but learned that "…I was a musician and a writer by natural inclination, not a celebrity" and "found a deeper understanding of Baháʼu'lláh's admonition to be independent of all save God." She resolves the conflict noting "Any musician who has heard a song come to life out of the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Tullio Proni
Tullio John Proni (born 18 March 1948) is an American psychologist and artist, known for producing ray guns. Early life and career Proni, son of Oscar Proni and Maria Zampiera Proni, was born in Monfalcone, Italy. The family emigrated to the United States in June 1954, settling in Broward County, Florida. Tullio Proni attended Nova High School in Davie. He later graduated from the University of Miami and worked briefly for Coulter Electronics in Hialeah, Florida. Proni moved to Kalamazoo, Michigan for graduate study in experimental psychology at Western Michigan University. There, with his adviser Ronald R. Hutchinson, he participated in a research team investigating the measurement of human anger. Proni undertook thesis work on the response of human subjects to varying rewards of money, receiving a master's degree in psychology in 1973. He serves as vice president and Information Technology Director at the Foundation for Behavioral Resources, a nonprofit organization ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zeusaphone
The singing Tesla coil, sometimes called a zeusaphone, thoramin or musical lightning, is a form of plasma speaker. It is a variety of a solid state Tesla coil that has been modified to produce musical tones by modulating its spark output. The resulting pitch is a low fidelity square wave like sound reminiscent of an analog synthesizer. The high-frequency signal acts in effect as a carrier wave; its frequency is significantly above human-audible sound frequencies, so that digital modulation can reproduce a recognizable pitch. The musical tone results directly from the passage of the spark through the air. Because solid-state coil drivers are limited to "on-off" modulation, the sound produced consists of square-like waveforms rather than sinusoidal (though simple chords are possible). The term "singing Tesla coil" was coined by David Nunez, the coordinator of the Austin, Texas chapter of Dorkbot, while describing a musical Tesla coil presentation by Joe DiPrima and Oliver Greaves du ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Golden Duck Awards
The Golden Duck Awards for Excellence in Children's Science Fiction were given annually from 1992 to 2017. The awards were presented every year at either Worldcon or the North American Science Fiction Convention (NASFiC). In 2018 they were replaced by Notable Book Lists of the same names sponsored by the Library and Information Technology Association (LITA). The Golden Duck Awards were funded by Super-Con-Duck-Tivity, Inc., the sponsor of the U.S. midwest regional science fiction convention DucKon. Winners were selected by a group of teachers, librarians, parents, high tech workers and reviewers. Categories The categories are: * Picture Book * Middle Grades (the Eleanor Cameron Award) * Young Adult (the Hal Clement Award) There was also a provision for a Special Award if a book was found to be outstanding but did not fit any of the standard categories. Golden Duck Award Winners Picture Book The picture book award is sometimes given to a book with non-fictional science content w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Guy Consolmagno
Brother Guy J. Consolmagno, Society of Jesus, SJ (born September 19, 1952), is an Americans, American research astronomer, physicist, Brother (Christian), religious brother, director of the Vatican Observatory, and President of the Vatican Observatory Foundation. Life Consolmagno attended the University of Detroit Jesuit High School before he obtained his S.B. (1974) and S.M. (1975) degrees at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his Ph.D. (1978) at the University of Arizona's Lunar and Planetary Laboratory, all in planetary science. After postdoctoral research and teaching from 1978 to 1980 at Harvard College Observatory and from 1980 to 1983 at MIT, in 1983 he joined the US Peace Corps to serve in Kenya for two years, teaching astronomy and physics. After his return he took a position as Assistant Professor at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania, Easton, Pennsylvania. In 1989 he entered the Society of Jesus, and took Monastic vows, vows as a brother in 1991. On entr ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Gene Wolfe
Gene Rodman Wolfe (May 7, 1931 – April 14, 2019) was an American science fiction and fantasy writer. He was noted for his dense, allusive prose as well as the strong influence of his Catholic faith. He was a prolific short story writer and novelist, and won many literary awards. Wolfe has been called "the Melville of science fiction", and was honored as a Grand Master by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America. Wolfe is best known for his ''Book of the New Sun'' series (four volumes, 1980–1983), the first part of his "Solar Cycle". In 1998, ''Locus'' magazine ranked it the third-best fantasy novel published before 1990 based on a poll of subscribers that considered it and several other series as single entries. Personal life Wolfe was born in New York City, the son of Mary Olivia () and Emerson Leroy Wolfe. He had polio as a small child. He and his family moved to Houston when he was 6, and he went to high school and college in Texas, attending Lamar High School ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Frederik Pohl
Frederik George Pohl Jr. (; November 26, 1919 – September 2, 2013) was an American science-fiction writer, editor, and fan, with a career spanning nearly 75 years—from his first published work, the 1937 poem "Elegy to a Dead Satellite: Luna", to the 2011 novel ''All the Lives He Led''. From about 1959 until 1969, Pohl edited '' Galaxy'' and its sister magazine '' If''; the latter won three successive annual Hugo Awards as the year's best professional magazine. His 1977 novel '' Gateway'' won four "year's best novel" awards: the Hugo voted by convention participants, the Locus voted by magazine subscribers, the Nebula voted by American science-fiction writers, and the juried academic John W. Campbell Memorial Award. He won the Campbell Memorial Award again for the 1984 collection of novellas ''The Years of the City'', one of two repeat winners during the first 40 years. For his 1979 novel ''Jem'', Pohl won a U.S. National Book Award in the one-year category Science ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leo Frankowski
Leo Frankowski (February 13, 1943 – December 25, 2008) was an American writer of science fiction novels. Life Frankowski was born in Detroit, Michigan to parents of Polish descent. Prior to his writing career, he was a successful engineer. He owned and operated Sterling Manufacturing and Design, located in Utica, Michigan, which (among other things) designed pneumatic and hydraulic systems for Chrysler. Leo held multiple patents, including his most popular item, Formital, a stamped aluminum product for use as a base for plastic auto body filler. Formital was carried exclusively for many years by the Pep Boys chain of auto parts stores. Frankowski lived in Russia for four years with his wife and adopted teenage daughter, but at the time of his death, he had separated from them and had moved back to the United States. He died in Lake Elsinore, California. [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Glen Cook
Glen Charles Cook (born July 9, 1944) is an American writer of fantasy and science fiction, known for ''The Black Company'' and ''Garrett P.I.'' fantasy series. Biography Cook was born in New York City."Glen Cook – Summary Bibliography" . Retrieved August 2, 2014. Cook served in the United States Navy from 1962 to 1972 and specifically was attached, for a time, to a Marine Force Recon unit, the 3rd Marine Battalion. During his time attached to the Force Recon Unit, Cook participated in what he called "practice combat", and left active duty, "a month before shipped out to Viet Nam". He later w ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Bruce Bethke
Bruce Bethke (born 1955) is an American author best known for his 1983 short story ''Cyberpunk'' which led to the widespread use of the term, including for the cyberpunk subgenre of science fiction. His novel, ''Headcrash'', won the Philip K. Dick Award in 1995 for SF original paperback published in the US. Bethke's collected thoughts on the cyberpunk subculture are available on his website, in an essay entitled "The Etymology of Cyberpunk". Bethke served as a judge on the Philip K. Dick Award in 2013. Life Bethke lives in Minnesota where he works as a developer of supercomputer software. Bibliography * ''Maverick'': Written from an outline by Isaac Asimov in 1990, this novel was one of a series of novels set in Asimov's ''Robot'' universe. * ''Headcrash'': Bethke's first published novel, published in 1995. ''Headcrash'' is the story of Jack Burroughs, a computer nerd in his mid twenties, who lives with his overbearing mother, and works a dead-end job at a software firm. Jack ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
