Duckon Schedule

I just unpacked, and now I get to pack again, as I will be at DucKon this weekend. My schedule is:

Friday, June 1
6:00 PM  Fermi’s paradox, or Where Are The Damn Aliens, Already? ((Gallery Hall Vermeer)

(Chris Gerrib (M), Larry Boyle, W.A. (Bill) Thomasson, Jody Lynn Nye)
The physicists Enrico Fermi, one of the men who invented the atomic bomb, supposedly asked his lunch companions one day, “if there are aliens, why aren’t they here already?” It proved to be a non-trivial question, as scientists like to say. So, come hear the panelists give their answers on why aliens aren’t here (or are they?)

8:00 PM Aliens Invade! But Why? (Gallery Hall Vermeer)

(W.A. (Bill) Thomasson, Fran Juergensmeyer, Chris Gerrib)
From H.G. Well’s War of the Worlds to the new TV series Falling Skies, aliens come, attack and seem to want to shoot humans one at a time. If aliens really come, how would they attack? Would they even bother attacking Earth? What’s on Earth that’s worth coming light years to get?

9:00 PM Reading (Gallery Hall Chagall)

Saturday, June 2

11:15 - 12:15 Earth’s Historic Battles versus Simulations of Paramilitary Science Fiction (Gallery Hall Picasso)

(Jeffrey Liss (M), Chris Gerrib, Gene Wolfe)
Where do authors get their battle tactics when writing combative scenarios? How many of these writers have had actual, military fighting experience? How do you twist the logic of the Art of War into your story so that it is not only possible but also believable to your audience?  What are the best historic wars to study battle strategies and why?

7:00 PM Modern Pirates (Gallery Hall Vermeer)

(Chris Gerrib (M), Feral Minette, Fred McDonald) [opposite masquerade!]
Everybody chuckles when he or she hears the word pirates, and think of Johnny Depp as Captain Jack Sparrow. But there are real-life pirates running amuck as we speak. Learn a bit about them and how privacy has evolved and may continue to evolve.