Feeling rather in need of an immediate refreshing upload, I report that Aussiecon 3, the World SF Convention just finished in Oz, was a trip. For a start, Greg Egan finally won a Hugo (for `Oceanic'). Gregory Benford was Pro Guest of Honor. There were various blatantly >H events, such as an entire panel arranged around the topic Are we the Last Mortal Generation?
There was even one on Posthumans, which to my chagrin I missed. I was even more chagrined when friends reported that Greg Benford had declared on the panel that as John W. Campbell had been the prophet of Heinlein, and Bruce Sterling of Bill Gibson, I was the prophet of Egan, whom the panel regarded as perhaps the next great voice in sf. Cool. (Of course, I wouldn't mind someone else now turning out to be the prophet of *me*, but let's not get too greedy...)
Not to mention the room party organized by several cryonics people, hosted by the knowledgeable Ben Best and attended by such interesting people as Thomas Donaldson and Veronica Sullivan. *Really* cool...
Damien Broderick