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Welcome to The Genre Traveler! Please sign up using the form to the right so that you'll get all the latest updates to the site. You also might want to sign up for the RSS feed, which you can do via email or your favorite RSS Reader. A new one-of-a-kind dinosaur exhibit is opening soon at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh, Pa. Dubbed "Dinosaurs in Their Time", the exhibit is hailed as "the first permanent exhibit in the world to showcase dinosaurs in scientifically accurate, immersive environments spanning the Age of Dinosaurs." The exhibit, which opens to the public on Nov. 21, showcases dinosaurs in precise reconstructions of their ecosystems, interacting with their environments and the other animals and plants that lived alongside them. "Visitors will get the feeling of literally stepping back in time and walking among the dinosaurs," said Dr. Matt Lamanna, the museum’s Assistant Curator of Vertebrate Paleontology, principle dinosaur researcher, and lead scientific adviser for Dinosaurs in Their Time. "We’ve painstakingly recreated the worlds of the dinosaurs, from the plants they ate and walked on to the animals that shared their respective ecosystems; everything that is displayed together actually lived together. This is the first time so many dinosaurs have been shown like this in a museum." Read more »

Penguicon 2008, which will be held April 18-20, 2008, in Troy, Mich., recently announced that Vernor Vinge, noted science fiction author, will be the Science Fiction Guest of Honor. Penguicon is a both a science fiction and Linux open source convention. This convention, in addition to typical science fiction con fare, features:

• a computer lounge where attendees can check their email, browse the web, and perhaps find out a little bit more about open source software;
• a multiplayer computer gaming room;
• a giant customizable marble roller coaster; and
• Ice Cream Made With Liquid Nitrogen!

For more information, visit www.penguicon.org.

State of the Art: Science Fiction Histories, a two-day academic conference delivered by Swancon 2008 in collaboration with Curtin University of Technology, has issued a call for papers. They seek submissions of abstracts for academic papers, presentations and panels to be delivered as a part of the symposium. Taking place March 22-23, 2008, the symposium will be part of the broader program of Swancon itself. For more information, visit community.livejournal.com/swancon/63351.html

O.K. Days like these makes me realize that I'm not the only one who can freely associated the strangest things. Take AppleCon. This new convention to take place in April of 2008 bills itself as blend of "the best parts of Minneapolis music, science fiction fandom, Wizard (a game of trump) and pie!" Why does this sound strange to me? Mainly because I thought I was the only one who would put such diverse interests into the same place. I mean, in addition to The Genre Traveler, I also have websites about cooking (Carma's Cookery, A Passion for Pumpkins), business (The Women's Business Gallery, The Secrets to Public Speaking), poetry (52 Haiku), and more. (You can find a complete list at DragonWyze Communications). Anyway, I wonder what kind of pie they'll have? For More Information: www.minneapplecon.com April 11-13, 2008 Holiday Inn, Bloomington, Minn.

Then you might be interested in the annual Hugo Award Base Design Competition. Although the silver rocket stays the same every year -- identifying the award as a Hugo -- the base upon which the rocket is mounted changes with each Worldcon. If you're interested, you better hurry with your design. It is due by midnight (MST) Dec. 31, 2007. For more info, visit www.denvention3.org/hugodesigncompetition.php.