The Perseids are bits of debris left by comet Swift-Tuttle.The debris is like a river of small particles in space, and each year, Earth passes through it. As the bits zoom through our atmosphere at 37 miles per second (60 kps) they vaporize, creating the brilliant streaks of light. Most of the meteors are no larger than a grain of sand.

The shower is typically best between midnight and dawn, when the side of Earth you are standing on is plowing into the stream as our planet plunges through space in its orbit around the sun. It's similar to how bugs hit the windshield of a moving car but rarely smack into the rear bumper.

The annual shower begins as a trickle in mid-July and will continue to spark a handful of shooting stars for several nights to come. But Earth passes through the densest part of the stream Aug. 12 at around 7 a.m. ET (1100 GMT). The moon will set around 1:30 a.m. local time (regardless of your location), leaving the sky dark for a few hours of optimal meteor watching across much of North America.

"There should be plenty of meteors -- perhaps one or two every minute," said Bill Cooke of NASA's Meteoroid Environment Office at the Marshall Space Flight Center. Cooke said the brightest Perseids can be seen from a city, but the majority are too faint and are visible only from rural locations.

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Stephen King's N is Here

A series of video episodes based on a Stephen King story debuted recently at NisHere.com. The series was created through a partnership between Scribner and Simon & Schuster Digital, Marvel Entertainment, and CBS Mobile. There will be a total of 25 videos in all. The series will also be available for purchase at major online digital content retailers.

The episodes are based on King's original and previously unpublished story "N.," the tale of a psychiatrist who becomes the victim of the same mysterious and deadly obsession as his patient. This short story will be included in King's forthcoming collection of short stories Just After Sunset (Scribner, November 11, 2008) and published as a comic book miniseries by Marvel in 2009. The episodes were drawn by comic-book artist Alex Maleev, whose work has appeared on NBC's Heroes and colored by comic-book colorist Jos Villarrubia. The comic episodes were adapted by Marc Guggenheim, co-creator of the ABC-TV series Eli Stone with creative oversight from Stephen King. The voiceover cast includes Emmy and Golden Globe award nominee actor Ben Shenkman.

Stephen King said, "I'm always interested in new delivery systems for stories and always curious about how those systems work with the old storytelling verities. This one, it seems to me, works extraordinarily well."

Those who have been on the Internet long enough may recall Stephen King's online download project called The Plant. Below is the first of the Stephen King videos. They can all be seen on the CBS YouTube channel in addition to NisHere.com.



Posted on August 8, 2008
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Katee Sackhoff Talks About Battlestar Galactica Final Episodes

The last ten episodes of Battlestar Galactica will air in 2009. Katee Sackhoff talks about what fans can expect to see in the final chapter of the Battlestar saga. Katee Sackhoff says "it's a good solid ending." BuddyTV also has a post about what was revealed about the final episodes that will air in 2009 at Comic-Con. There are also details here about a Battlestar Galactica movie directed by Edward James Olmos that will air on Sci Fi after the tv series ends.



Posted on August 7, 2008
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The Ewok Gospel

In celebration of the 25th anniversary of Return of the Jedi, one young man puts his feelings of love for the Ewoks into song. Here is the Ewok Gospel, according to Brother Andrew. Can I get an Amen! Or, perhaps not.



Posted on August 6, 2008
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Clip From Animated Buffy Series That Never Aired

Here is a short promo episode of what would have been an animated Buffy the Vampire Slayer Saturday morning cartoon series. Sarah Michelle Gellar reportedly passed on the animated series to focus on her film career. The voice playing Buffy in the animated series belongs to Giselle Loren. Several series regulars including Alyson Hannigan, Anthony Stewart Head, Michelle Trachtenberg, Charisma Carpenter and David Boreanaz did lend their voices to this animated series that never aired. This four-minute clip was all of the animated series that was ever made. (via Animation Magazine )



Posted on August 5, 2008
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Eos Offers Free Ebook Download

In celebration of the 10th anniversary of its Eos imprint, HarperCollins is offering a free download of City of Pearl by Karen Traviss. The free download lasts until August 31, 2008 and is available in Adobe, Microsoft or Mobipocket formats.

Posted on August 4, 2008
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