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A L S O__T O D A Y [ WANDERLUST ] Desperately seeking e-mail By Lisa Dreier Finding Internet access in India is feasible, but not for the fainthearted - - - - - - - - - - T A B L E__T A L K In the market for a notebook computer? Exchange information and advice on brands and features in the Digital Culture area of Table Talk - - - - - - - - - - R E C E N T L Y IMAX mates with T. Rex By Michael Joseph Gross These dinosaurs are big and cool -- but they could use a better movie to star in (12/04/98) Spin sisters By Janelle Brown Why is PR the only high-tech field that women run? (12/03/98) The father of Mario and Zelda By Moira Muldoon Nintendo's Shigeru Miyamoto creates the world's most popular video games (12/02/98) Let's Get This Straight By Scott Rosenberg Block those pundits: AOL-Netscape isn't like an NBC of the Web -- and can't be (12/01/98) "We Were Burning" Reviewed by Andrew Leonard A new book tells us to forget about Japan Inc. -- Japanese entrepreneurs led the high-tech consumer electronic revolution (11/30/98) - - - - - - - - - - BROWSE THE 21ST FEATURES ARCHIVES - - - - - - - - - - 21st Log Doug Engelbart -- his mouse roared   S A L O N E M P O R I U M FREE! 12-ounce bag of Salon Blend with a purchase of $30 or more. While supplies last.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - BY PATRIZIA DiLUCCHIO | Some things should sell themselves -- like beer in a ballpark, or science fiction on the Internet. But the act of faith that launched Event Horizon, a Web site devoted to literary science fiction, defies much of the conventional wisdom about the two markets it hopes to conquer -- science fiction magazines and online publishing. Rising phoenixlike from the creative ashes of the late Omni -- the first big-league magazine to try to reinvent itself entirely online -- Event Horizon has set a gold standard for science-fiction excellence on the Net. Online readers can sample the work of outstanding writers like Robert Silverberg, Lucius Shepard, Howard Waldrop and Pat Cadigan. They can participate in live chats with the likes of Neil Gaiman, Kim Stanley Robinson and William Goldman. Event Horizon's creators, Ellen Datlow, Rob Killheffer and Pam Weintraub, proudly describe it as a professional venture. To Datlow, a critically acclaimed editor, this means, "We pay professional rates and we have editors who know what they're doing, who have some experience in editing, who have an editorial voice, who work with authors on stories, and who are not afraid to turn stories down." This distinction is particularly significant in two mediums whose culture is dominated by fan efforts. Yet professionalism has proved no hedge against declining circulation in the traditional science-fiction magazine market, as subscriptions to the big three -- Asimov's, Analog and Fantasy & Science Fiction -- continue to plummet. And professionalism in electronic publishing has yet to prove it can fuel a profitable business. Although Event Horizon was partly designed as bait to draw attention to its successful parent Web production company of the same name, producer Killheffer stresses, "We don't want to be a vanity project. " And the site has drawn between 15,000 and 20,000 unique users per month since its inception in August. But is that enough to survive? N E X T_ P A G E .|. The Net's in love with science fiction -- but do "Star Wars" fans want to read?