The Omni Reboot

Some of you may recall that I was an avid fan of the large-format, glossy science fiction/fact magazine Omni back in the 1980's. In fact, it was one of those things that tied the "geeky kids" together. I would go so far as to say that it colored my idea of what science fiction was for years to come. What came in its pages certainly colored what showed up in my science fiction games of the period.

Well, it turns out that someone has slogged through the nearly impossible tangle of legalities surrounding the original Omni and is trying to bring it back as a web-based venture called Omni Reboot.

They seem to be off to a good start, and the editor, Claire Evans, seems to have a good handle on capturing the "feel" of the old magazine. They're coming out of the gate with such things as an article on the failure of the Biosphere 2 project, the Hacker Ethos in the Renaissance, and a particularly well-received gallery of images from John Schoenherr from the original Dune novels.

On the whole, I'm very impressed with the Omni reboot and have added it to my regular list of things I read every day. If you were a fan of the original, or just interested in interesting science and science fictiony stuff, I'd encourage you to check it out.