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Illegal Aliens (novel)
''Illegal Aliens'' is a science fiction comedy novel written by Nick Pollotta and Phil Foglio. Premise The crew of the starship, All That Glitters, land on Earth to teasing its primitive natives, but the alien tricksters encounter a ruthless New York City street gang, the Bloody Deckers. A 'First Contact Team', who have been waiting years for aliens to land, now find the world in chaos and have to either rescue the aliens from the gang, or work with the gang to save Earth from the aliens. Plot summary Part One A perfectly spherical white spaceship lands in Central Park to great global excitement, from which Leader Idow, an alien covered in blue fur, claims that his crew represent a Type III civilization that will test Earth's worthiness to be a member planet of their federation. Unbeknownst to the United Nations, the aliens are criminals (the equivalent of juvenile delinquents) who seek out planets with levels of technology similar to Earth's so that they can record the g ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Nick Pollotta
Nick Pollotta (August 26, 1954 – April 13, 2013 in Chicago) was an American author. He is best known for his humorous novels, including the science-fiction novel, ''Illegal Aliens'' (with Phil Foglio) and the fantasy novels ''Bureau 13'' and ''That Darn Squid God'' (with James Clay). The majority of his work was published by Gold Eagle Books under house names " James Axler" and "Don Pendleton." he died of cancer on April 13 2013. A former stand-up comic, he lived in Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ... with his wife Melissa. He was survived by his wife and three sons. Bibliography 1989 * ''Illegal Aliens'', SF/Humor, Nick Pollotta and Phil Foglio, TSR BOOKS 1990 * ''Bureau 13'', Fantasy/Humor, Nick Pollotta, Ace Books 1991 * ''Doomsday Exam'', Fantasy/H ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Phil Foglio
Philip Peter Foglio (born May 1, 1956) is an American cartoonist and comic book artist known for his humorous science fiction and fantasy art. Early life and career Foglio was born on May 1, 1956, in Mount Vernon, New York, and moved with his family to Hartsdale, New York, where he lived until he was 17. He attended the Chicago Academy of Fine Arts in Chicago, Illinois, and was a member of the university's science fiction club, art-directing and co-editing the group's science fiction fanzine, fanzine, ''Effen Essef''. He was nominated for both the Hugo Award for Best Fan Artist and the Hugo Award for Best Dramatic Presentation in 1976, and won ''Best Fan Artist'' in 1977 and 1978. After living in the DePaul dorms for a few years, Phil moved to the Rogers Park neighborhood of Chicago and hosted weekly Thursday night meetings of Chicago-area science fiction fandom, science fiction fans. He drew the first known Unix BSD daemon, daemons for a limited series of T-shirts in 1979. Begin ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Central Park
Central Park is an urban park between the Upper West Side and Upper East Side neighborhoods of Manhattan in New York City, and the first landscaped park in the United States. It is the List of parks in New York City, sixth-largest park in the city, containing , and the most visited urban park in the United States, with an estimated 42 million visitors annually . It is also one of the most filmed locations in the world. The creation of a large park in Manhattan was first proposed in the 1840s, and a park approved in 1853. In 1858, landscape architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux won a Architectural design competition, design competition for the park with their "Greensward Plan". Construction began in 1857; existing structures, including a majority-Black settlement named Seneca Village, were seized through eminent domain and razed. The park's first areas were opened to the public in late 1858. Additional land at the northern end of Central Park was purchased in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Kardashev Scale
The Kardashev scale () is a method of measuring a civilization's level of technology, technological advancement based on the amount of energy it is capable of harnessing and using. The measure was proposed by Soviet astronomer Nikolai Kardashev in 1964, and was named after him. Kardashev first outlined his scale in a paper presented at the 1964 conference that communicated findings on BS-29-76, Byurakan Conference in the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic, Armenian SSR, which he initiated, a scientific meeting that reviewed the Soviet radio astronomy space listening program. The paper was titled "" ("Transmission of Information by Extraterrestrial Civilizations"). Starting from a functional definition of civilization, based on the immutability of physical laws and using human civilization as a model for extrapolation, Kardashev's initial model was developed. He proposed a classification of civilizations into three types, based on the axiom of exponential growth: *A Planetary civil ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Earth
Earth is the third planet from the Sun and the only astronomical object known to Planetary habitability, harbor life. This is enabled by Earth being an ocean world, the only one in the Solar System sustaining liquid surface water. Almost all of Earth's water is contained in its global ocean, covering Water distribution on Earth, 70.8% of Earth's crust. The remaining 29.2% of Earth's crust is land, most of which is located in the form of continental landmasses within Earth's land hemisphere. Most of Earth's land is at least somewhat humid and covered by vegetation, while large Ice sheet, sheets of ice at Polar regions of Earth, Earth's polar polar desert, deserts retain more water than Earth's groundwater, lakes, rivers, and Water vapor#In Earth's atmosphere, atmospheric water combined. Earth's crust consists of slowly moving tectonic plates, which interact to produce mountain ranges, volcanoes, and earthquakes. Earth's outer core, Earth has a liquid outer core that generates a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
United Nations
The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and international security, security, to develop friendly Diplomacy, relations among State (polity), states, to promote international cooperation, and to serve as a centre for harmonizing the actions of states in achieving those goals. The United Nations headquarters is located in New York City, with several other offices located in United Nations Office at Geneva, Geneva, United Nations Office at Nairobi, Nairobi, United Nations Office at Vienna, Vienna, and The Hague. The UN comprises six principal organizations: the United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly, the United Nations Security Council, Security Council, the United Nations Economic and Social Council, Economic and Social Council, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations Se ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Quarantine
A quarantine is a restriction on the movement of people, animals, and goods which is intended to prevent the spread of disease or pests. It is often used in connection to disease and illness, preventing the movement of those who may have been exposed to a communicable disease, yet do not have a confirmed medical diagnosis. It is distinct from medical isolation, in which those confirmed to be infected with a communicable disease are isolated from the healthy population. The concept of quarantine has been known since biblical times, and is known to have been practised through history in various places. Notable quarantines in modern history include the village of Eyam in 1665 during the bubonic plague outbreak in England; East Samoa during the 1918 flu pandemic; the Diphtheria outbreak during the 1925 serum run to Nome, the 1972 Yugoslav smallpox outbreak, the SARS pandemic, the Ebola pandemic and extensive quarantines applied throughout the world during the COVID-19 pande ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Military Camouflage
Military camouflage is the use of camouflage by an Military, armed force to protect personnel and equipment from observation by enemy forces. In practice, this means applying colour and materials to military equipment of all kinds, including vehicles, ships, aircraft, gun positions and battledress, either to conceal it from observation (crypsis), or to make it appear as something else (mimicry). The French slang word ''wikt:camouflage, camouflage'' came into common English usage during World War I when the concept of visual deception developed into an essential part of modern military tactics. In that war, long-range artillery and observation from the air combined to expand the field of fire, and camouflage was widely used to decrease the danger of being targeted or enable surprise. As such, military camouflage is a form of military deception in addition to cultural functions such as political identification. Camouflage was first practiced in simple form in the mid 18th centur ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Elevator
An elevator (American English) or lift (Commonwealth English) is a machine that vertically transports people or freight between levels. They are typically powered by electric motors that drive traction cables and counterweight systems such as a hoist, although some pump hydraulic fluid to raise a cylindrical piston like a jack. Elevators are used in agriculture and manufacturing to lift materials. There are various types, like chain and bucket elevators, grain augers, and hay elevators. Modern buildings often have elevators to ensure accessibility, especially where ramps aren't feasible. High-speed elevators are common in skyscrapers. Some elevators can even move horizontally. History Pre-industrial era The earliest known reference to an elevator is in the works of the Roman architect Vitruvius, who reported that Archimedes ( – ) built his first elevator probably in 236 BC. Sources from later periods mention elevators as cabs on a hemp rope, powered by people o ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
TSR, Inc
TSR, Inc. was an American game publishing company, best known as the original publisher of ''Dungeons & Dragons'' (''D&D''). Its earliest incarnation, Tactical Studies Rules, was founded in October 1973 by Gary Gygax and Don Kaye. Gygax had been unable to find a publisher for ''D&D'', a new type of game he and Dave Arneson were co-developing, so he founded the new company with Kaye to self-publish their products. Needing financing to bring their new game to market, Gygax and Kaye brought in Brian Blume in December as an equal partner. ''Dungeons & Dragons'' is generally considered the first tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG), and established the genre. When Kaye died suddenly in 1975, the Tactical Studies Rules partnership restructured into TSR Hobbies, Inc. and accepted investment from Blume's father Melvin. With the popular ''D&D'' as its main product, TSR Hobbies became a major force in the games industry by the late 1970s. Melvin Blume eventually transferred his shares to his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Science Fiction
Science fiction (often shortened to sci-fi or abbreviated SF) is a genre of speculative fiction that deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts. These concepts may include information technology and robotics, biological manipulations, space exploration, time travel, Parallel universes in fiction, parallel universes, and extraterrestrials in fiction, extraterrestrial life. The genre often explores human responses to the consequences of projected or imagined scientific advances. Science fiction is related to fantasy (together abbreviated wikt:SF&F, SF&F), Horror fiction, horror, and superhero fiction, and it contains many #Subgenres, subgenres. The genre's precise Definitions of science fiction, definition has long been disputed among authors, critics, scholars, and readers. Major subgenres include hard science fiction, ''hard'' science fiction, which emphasizes scientific accuracy, and soft science fiction, ''soft'' science fiction, which focuses on social sciences. Other no ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Easton
Thomas A. Easton (born 17 July 1944) is a teacher and well-known science fiction critic and author. He retired as a professor from Thomas College of Maine in 2014 and now teaches part-time at Mount Ida College in Newton, MA. Easton holds a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Colby College and a doctorate in theoretical biology from the University of Chicago. He wrote the book review column in SF magazine ''Analog Science Fiction and Fact'' from 1979 - 2009. He appears frequently at Boston-area science fiction conventions. His work on scientific and futuristic issues has appeared in many magazines, from ''Astronomy'' to ''Robotics Age''. His latest nonfiction books are ''Careers in Science'' (VGM, 4th ed., 2004), ''Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Issues in Science, Technology, and Society'' (McGraw-Hill Dushkin, 8th ed., 2008), and ''Taking Sides: Clashing Views on Controversial Environmental Issues'' (McGraw-Hill Dushkin, 12th ed., 2007). His latest novels are ''Firef ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
