What do you consider to be Science Fiction? 6 6

[Sauce Dog]

On 11/29/2023 at 8:29 AM, VintageComics said:

@CGC Mike

I just lost another detailed reply I was typing to @Sauce Dog

It's so frustrating. Why does this keep happening? 

[Black_Adam]

On 11/27/2023 at 1:52 PM, Black_Adam said:

The novel was a warning about the dangers of romance?

Now I understand the warning about the dangers of romance!

[CAHokie]

On 11/29/2023 at 8:37 AM, VintageComics said:

Are you saying it's Science Fiction? 

It happens about 1 in 10 or 1 in 15 times for me, and usually with longer replies that take more than just a few minutes to type out (which makes it even more annoying) so it may be a time-out thing?

I may have been typing that reply for 20 minutes or so? Maybe longer as I was doing a lot of editing. 

I don't think I've ever had it happen to a short reply, so there may be something to that. 

 

Try typing less words. You are overwhelming the system!

[VintageComics]

On 11/29/2023 at 9:47 AM, CAHokie said:

Try typing less words. You are overwhelming the system!

[THE_BEYONDER]

On 11/29/2023 at 8:37 AM, VintageComics said:

happens about 1 in 10 or 1 in 15 times for me, and usually with longer replies that take more than just a few minutes to type out (which makes it even more annoying) so it may be a time-out thing?

I may have been typing that reply for 20 minutes or so? Maybe longer as I was doing a lot of editing. 

Wall of text blocker 

[Bookery]

On 11/29/2023 at 8:50 AM, Mr Sneeze said:

How important is genre classification?

Is Frankenstein science fiction? Yes.

Is Frankenstein horror? Yes.

Where would I traditionally have found it in a bookstore? Probably in the Literature or Classics section. So in any practical sense, I don’t care how someone classifies it as long as I can find it.

Hard to think of any story lying completely in a single genre.

1984, Brave New World, We, Fahrenheit 451 all can be seen as sci-fi but you won’t find them in that section.

We also tend to conflate novels with their screen adaptations.  I'm sure Shelley would have seen her novel as a contemplation of scientific research, and if I recall, the novel does go into some detail on the medical side of it.  The Universal Studios film, however, definitely emphasized the horror aspects.  I think studios in general figure audiences aren't interested in lots of scientific analysis, and that's why nearly all science-fiction in film slides either to the horror side of it, or the adventure approach.  "The Time Machine" is decidedly science-fiction, and yet the Morlocks are out of the horror tradition.  "Dr. Jekyll" splits science and horror down the middle.

I studied a lot about genres in film school, and the rather unusual thing about genres is that each one is defined by something entirely different.  There is no one rule fits all.  Both Horror and Comedy are defined by the audience's visceral reaction to the material (and they actually share a lot in common).  The western is defined purely by setting.  The Costume Adventure is defined by time period and set decoration.  The Crime Drama is defined by its characters.  The Musical is defined by that singular attribute, but otherwise can encompass any other genre within it.  Science-Fiction is defined by plot elements.  Melodrama is defined by tone.  Film Noir is defined by its stylistic approach to the subject.  

[Robot Man]

I consider this to be science fiction

[Robot Man]

I consider this horror

[Robot Man]

And, I consider this a little of both...

[Get Marwood & I]

On 11/29/2023 at 1:33 PM, CGC Mike said:

I am not sure.  I have brought this up to web help and the Senior Site Reliability Engineer several times.  They are not able to duplicate it.  

The site has been slow all day here in the UK, buffering intermittently. We just had a 20 minute outage where you could not log in - I tried desktop and mobile. Google Chrome, all other websites fizzing along nicely. Screenshots below of the error codes.

@VintageComics Roy, I'm sure you know this already, but if you press send on a big post and it disappears, refresh the page and then go to create a new post. When you do, 99 times out of 100 your post is there again as the system is designed to save it. Another way to safeguard long or detailed posts, which I know many use, is to type it all in word and then cut and paste it in. Not ideal, but it works for text only posts and saves that rotten feeling when you lose a big post that you thought you'd worded perfectly.

One other tip - don't have more than one CGC forum tab open when creating a post. 

 

 

[namisgr]

Science fiction.

Edited November 29, 2023 by namisgr

[Get Marwood & I]

On 11/29/2023 at 6:39 PM, namisgr said:

Science fiction.

I miss PKD. I had a long period of about 20 years, starting in 1982 (obviously) where I was obsessed, and read everything he wrote and everything written about him. Then I stopped and haven't read one for so long now. Looking at your books makes me incredibly nostalgic but also a little glum, as I sold a lot of mine. Something I regret now, as some things were irreplaceable. Maybe if I hook up to the mood organ I'll feel better......

[Get Marwood & I]

Incidentally, and Roy will likely like this, I have a PKD story which I thought, at the time, was the universe trying to tell me something. In peak PKD appreciation times, I opened a bank account, and ordered a debit card and pin number. The pin arrived and it came as a slip of paper that you had to scratch off to reveal the current pin, which you could then use to change it to something more memorable. I had already decided what I would change it to. When I scratched it off, the existing pin was 2374.

[VintageComics]

On 11/29/2023 at 8:50 AM, Mr Sneeze said:

How important is genre classification?

Is Frankenstein science fiction? Yes.

Is Frankenstein horror? Yes.

Where would I traditionally have found it in a bookstore? Probably in the Literature or Classics section. So in any practical sense, I don’t care how someone classifies it as long as I can find it.

Hard to think of any story lying completely in a single genre.

1984, Brave New World, We, Fahrenheit 451 all can be seen as sci-fi but you won’t find them in that section.

Time definitely changes things and I agree that many literatures can cross genres. Your point about being able to find it is exactly why we classify things.

Like when you're at the grocery store, and you're looking for Pedialyte after a night of drinking.

I always used to look for it in the flu and colds section, but lo and behold they'd put it in the Infant's section. Very annoying! 

 

When I first started this thread to discuss the classification of Frankenstein, the concept of Comic Ages actually came into mind because over time, we've had to adjust that as well as the hobby grew. 

For example, the GA became split into the GA and the AtomAge.

In fact, I believe some of the comic ages need redefining again. We've been debating on here what to call the next Age for YEARS because Moderns have been Moderns for over 40 years now, which really is too long. No other ages lasted this long. 

When did Diamond's monopoly begin? (I'm too young to remember)

It wasn't in 1982 when they opened doors, was it?

Personally, I think we should call the earlier Modern Age The Diamond Age, since Diamond was the distributor and that ended around 2020, right? I think that would be a neat break and call everything post Diamond Age Moderns. 

Interesting discussion for another thread. 

 

Edited November 29, 2023 by VintageComics

[Dr. Balls]

On 11/29/2023 at 11:08 AM, Get Marwood & I said:

The site has been slow all day here in the UK, buffering intermittently. We just had a 20 minute outage where you could not log in - I tried desktop and mobile. Google Chrome, all other websites fizzing along nicely. Screenshots below of the error codes.

@VintageComics Roy, I'm sure you know this already, but if you press send on a big post and it disappears, refresh the page and then go to create a new post. When you do, 99 times out of 100 your post is there again as the system is designed to save it. Another way to safeguard long or detailed posts, which I know many use, is to type it all in word and then cut and paste it in. Not ideal, but it works for text only posts and saves that rotten feeling when you lose a big post that you thought you'd worded perfectly.

One other tip - don't have more than one CGC forum tab open when creating a post. 

 

 

That has worked for me almost all of the time in the past.

[VintageComics]

On 11/29/2023 at 1:08 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

Roy, I'm sure you know this already, but if you press send on a big post and it disappears, refresh the page and then go to create a new post. When you do, 99 times out of 100 your post is there again as the system is designed to save it.

That hasn't worked the last few times. 

On 11/29/2023 at 1:08 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

Another way to safeguard long or detailed posts, which I know many use, is to type it all in word and then cut and paste it in. Not ideal, but it works for text only posts and saves that rotten feeling when you lose a big post that you thought you'd worded perfectly.

That is an unacceptable workaround in my books by internet standards, but I have done that. 

On 11/29/2023 at 1:08 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

One other tip - don't have more than one CGC forum tab open when creating a post. 

That is DEFINITELY something I do and it won't change. I usually have several conversations going on at once. 

But it SHOULD NOT happen. This is quite literally the only site this happens on, on the entire internet for me. 

 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 11/29/2023 at 8:18 PM, Dr. Balls said:

That has worked for me almost all of the time in the past.

I think the only time it didn't work for me was for the biggest post I ever drafted. It probably did the forum a favour though, thinking about it. Nobody likes Charlton. 

[Get Marwood & I]

On 11/29/2023 at 8:20 PM, VintageComics said:

On 11/29/2023 at 6:08 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

One other tip - don't have more than one CGC forum tab open when creating a post. 

That is DEFINITELY something I do and it won't change. I usually have several conversations going on at once

That's probably why you're losing them then Roy. The site is free and that's how it is. Adapt or die!

[VintageComics]

On 11/29/2023 at 3:23 PM, Get Marwood & I said:

The site is free and that's how it is.

The site is definitely not free and it's frustrating that every other "free" site doesn't have this problem, but I will adapt. 

I'll probably start copying every post before I hit send moving forward. 

I definitely think it's a time related thing. Does it happen to people with short posts? For me it really only happens to long replies from what I can remember. 

Edited November 29, 2023 by VintageComics

[Get Marwood & I]

On 11/29/2023 at 8:26 PM, VintageComics said:

I definitely think it's a time related thing. Does it happen to people with short posts? For me it really only happens to long replies from what I can remember. 

This forum buffers a lot. Always has. If you're drafting a big post, you have a greater risk of losing it if it coincides with a buffering event. The forum has always had reliability issues for me. It's the only site I use that buffers and is intermittently unavailable all the time. I don't know why that is. Nor do CGC if you believe what you read. I've provided screenshots for a 20m outage with error codes. I never, ever, hear back what happened. It's just the way it is, it seems. I don't pay to be here though, so it's free. I understand all the satellite arguments, but if I don't pay anything, and use it, it's free.