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These are a little more connected, I guess, or maybe it's just that the theme is broader:

• Locus is doing an all-time greatest fantasy short story poll. Most of my candidates aren't on the ballot; I'll have to do some thinking before I settle on a set of write-ins. (I do adore several of the stories on the ballot, but that doesn't necessarily make me willing to call them "great.") This is a special category of the regular annual Locus Awards; you can go vote in the main award categories, too. You don't have to be a subscriber to vote.
• Speaking of awards, the Strange Horizons Readers' Choice Awards 2004 ballot is now available. Go forth and vote! Even if you didn't read anything we published in 2004, you could still go look at the galleries and illos and vote on those, if you like. Note, btw, that one of the illustrations was sadly missing from the illos list until sometime this afternoon, so those of you who voted early might want to go back and look. You can retrieve your ballot, if you want to, by entering your email address in the text box.
• Speaking of bests, Bluejack provides his list of the best short sf stories of 2004 over at IROSF. (Requires subscription.) Good stuff; also good stuff in the comments thread. Oh, and those of you who have favorite stories from 2004, I encourage you to stop by Cheryl's Hugo recommendations page and tell Cheryl what stories you recommend. I keep meaning to put together a list; will try and do that soon. At least three of the non-SH stories I'll be recommending are already on the list, I see.
• Susan beat me to this, too, but just in case, here's the WisCon Programming page, where you can (among other things) suggest ideas for programming at WisCon, as long as you do so in the next three or four days.
• Alan has some interesting thoughts on ambition, competition, and being a decent person (among other things) in the context of writing sf.
• We all know that comics aren't just for kids any more. But is the industry losing future adult readers by not providing comics for kids? Michael Chabon seems to think so, according to the quotes from him in that article. Sounds a lot like the ongoing discussion of the dearth of new/young readers in sf.
• The first Fantastic Four trailer is now available for viewing online. I liked it more than I expected to. Don't expect canon, but do expect good special effects.