How insights from the social sciences, including social psychology and economics, can improve the design of online communities.Online communities are among the most popular destinations on the Internet, but not all online communities are equally successful. For every flourishing Facebook, there is a moribund Friendster—not to mention the scores of smaller social networking sites that never attracted enough members to be viable. This book offers lessons from theory ...

Solaris Rising 1.5 continues the exciting new series of SF anthologies from Solaris and editor Ian Whates, with an exclusive ebook!An anthology of nine short stories from some of the most exciting names in science fiction today. From both sides of the Atlantic – and further afield – these nine great writers offer you everything from a mystery about the nature of the universe to an inexplicable transmission to everyone on Earth, and from eng...

We're part of the cover-up!Did you know that there is a secret government agency dedicated to creating conspiracy theories? It's true! It's on Facebook!But it's not in this book. Our conspiracy theories are all fiction. At least, that's what we want you to think! Certainly, we did invite fiction writers to weigh in on conspiracy theories. The result includes (of course) the Masons and dragons (David Clements), the Bavarian Illuminati (Debra Doyle and James D. Macdonald) and t...

Hiding just behind the fragile skin of reality, like a parasite beneath the flesh, festers a world where nothing makes sense. Time doesn't move—it twitches, stalls, reverses in spasms, dragging you through the same moment again and again with subtle, sickening differences. Space twists into unnatural shapes, folding in on itself like a body contorted in agony, corridors stretching into infinity before snapping shut behind you. The very laws that govern existence—gravity, light, sound—fract...

Issue 4 of FUTURE SF is themed Alien Invasion. It features eight stories from the UK, Russia, USA, China, Sweden, and Italy.Table of Contents:“They Are Coming” by Paul R. Hardy“The Building Atop the Hill” by Alexander Bachilo (translated by Alex Shvartsman)“A Typical Tale of Bloodlust and Conquest” by Mike Resnick“You Came to the Tower” by Shaenon K. Garrity“Through the Fog, a Distant Land Appears” by Wanxiang Fegnian (translated by Nathan Faires...

In the days leading up to Christmas, struggling actress Esther Diamond is working as a singing-and-dancing elf at Fenster & Co, a major Manhattan department store. As if dealing with hordes of holiday shoppers isn't bad enough, Esther's ex-almost-boyfriend, Detective Connor Lopez, is on the scene investigating a series of mob-related truck hijackings of Fenster's merchandise. Semi-retired hitman Lucky Battistuzzi is also nosing around, since the mob resents being implicated in thefts they ...