# I miss Omni magazine **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 12, 2011, 12:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402 "2011-03-12T12:17:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [March 17, 2011, 8:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/41 "2011-03-17T20:01:39Z")
_Wired_ is probably the closet, all in all, but it doesn’t have short fiction, I think. ---
**Author:** ![Rysdad](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7cd45c/32.png) [@Rysdad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysdad)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/42 "2011-03-18T02:30:32Z")
> [@Agent\_Foxtrot](#): > > Is there anything like _OMNI_ out there now? Well, you could try [Mental Floss](http://mentalfloss.com/). It’s a little higher-grade-level reading than Uncle Josh’s Bathroom reader, but it ain’t nowhere as cool as Omni. (My favorite Omni story was about the guy who was sentenced to die by every means possible until he truly repented of his crime.) ---
**Author:** ![Apricot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bcef8e/32.png) [@Apricot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Apricot)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/43 "2011-03-18T04:03:58Z")
I have no idea why my parents bought a subscription for their 4th grade daughter, but I’m glad they did. I used to take in on road trips and literally read every word in it. ---
**Author:** ![Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/a9a28c/32.png) [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oslo_Ostragoth)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/44 "2011-03-18T04:45:41Z")
> [@Lynn\_Bodoni](#): > > This distressed me (the fact, not the statement). When it was great, it was GREAT. I fondly remember the [hexahexaflexagon](http://britton.disted.camosun.bc.ca/hexahexa/hexahexa.html) that they printed. I wore that thing out. I should print up a new one and start flexing. I’ve been meaning to ask about this. I have only a vague memory - what did it do? ---
**Author:** ![drohegda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/8baadc/32.png) [@drohegda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drohegda)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 5:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/45 "2011-06-23T05:25:46Z")
the front covers were absolutely beautiful art work. Really one of the best magzines i ever read. Does anyone remember the contest they had about any type of story like a modern day what do they call an urban legend. They picked the best and you won a prize. Some of the story were amazing. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/46 "2011-06-23T12:16:06Z")
> [@Trans Fat Og](#): > > He then took the initiative of paging through the magazine, frequently showing disgust at many of the features. He was especially annoyed that someone title his fiction-short “God is an Iron” without bothering to ask me or anyone why the title was chosen. Neither did he read enough (apparently) to discern the author’s intent. _ **Sigh.** _ If a person who indulges in gluttony is a glutton, and a person who commits a felony is a felon, then God is an iron. I love Spider Robinson. ---
**Author:** ![Ostrya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/35a633/32.png) [@Ostrya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ostrya)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 12:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/47 "2011-06-23T12:20:50Z")
> [@Revtim](#): > > Some of the all-time best sf short stories. Definitely. Then as part of the downhill slide they began featuring fewer stories per issue. I remember an issue from the latter 70’s that had a total of 5 sf stories in it. Not long after that the issues had whittled their stories down to 2. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2011, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/48 "2011-06-23T12:37:31Z")
They were the top SF market for many years – the best paying and with the best stories. They won a lot of Nebula awards, but that was due to the fact that they sent copies of the stories to all the Nebula voters, so you could read everything they published. Ellen Datlow continued publishing great stuff after the folded on the Sci-Fi Channel website, but that was shut down several years ago. ---
**Author:** ![Damfino](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Damfino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Damfino)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/49 "2011-06-24T21:05:05Z")
Loved it. Miss it. Didn’t they have a mathematical puzzles section a la Martin Gardner? ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2011, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/51 "2011-06-24T21:11:28Z")
I used to go through _Omni_ to find tiny hints of erotic images or stories. Good Times. ---
**Author:** ![Lynn\_Bodoni](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e47c2d/32.png) [@Lynn\_Bodoni](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lynn_Bodoni)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2011, 7:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/52 "2011-06-25T07:56:32Z")
> [@Oslo\_Ostragoth](#): > > I’ve been meaning to ask about this. I have only a vague memory - what did it do? You flex it. You turn it inside out. Basically, it’s a paper toy. Many hexahexaflexagons have designs on each side, and as you flex and fold them, the designs will appear. Google hexahexaflexagon, or just flexagon, and print out a few and put them together and play with them. Use strong paper. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2011, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/53 "2011-06-30T19:38:00Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > If a person who indulges in gluttony is a glutton, and a person who commits a felony is a felon, then God is an iron. > > I love Spider Robinson. Thank you. Mystery solved. I’m pretty sure that I never read the story. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/54 "2011-07-01T10:45:05Z")
Great thread! Omni rocked. I recall a little announcement that someone had figured out how to use discarded tires to manufacture citrus-scented air fresheners. The headline: “Lemon Tire, Very Pretty.” 😛 The Scott Kim word art was great. ---
**Author:** ![Find\_Friends](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c37758/32.png) [@Find\_Friends](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Find_Friends)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 2:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/55 "2011-07-01T14:03:32Z")
> [@JKellyMap](#): > > Great thread! Omni rocked. I recall a little announcement that someone had figured out how to use discarded tires to manufacture citrus-scented air fresheners. The headline: “Lemon Tire, Very Pretty.” 😛 > > The Scott Kim word art was great. Yeah, I was just going to go on and on about Scott Kim, but I checked back on the first page of 50, and I had already gone on and on about it. Good thing I checked, I might have been going over the very same examples. * * * One thing that was unforgettable in an early issue was the breakthrough called “static gravity” by the late physicist and engineer Robert L. Forward. (He is also known for research into antimatter propulsion, space tethers, space fountains, and a host of creative futuristic technology with simulations.) He said that “static gravity” can explain why a slow-walking man moves slower than a fast-walking man, both of whom move faster than a man standing still. - - - - - - Of course, the piece was a rare joke by the distinguished scientist (and SF writer). One letter-of-comment said that the commenter wasn’t onto him until that very line, although there was plenty of silly stuff the “article” had earlier. ---
**Author:** ![Meatros](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Meatros](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meatros)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2011, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/56 "2011-07-01T14:22:17Z")
> [@toofs](#): > > I am feeling nostalgic. When I was a teenager in the 1980’s I had a subscription to Omni magazine for four years. It was a great publication, so optimistic about the future and where humanity was heading. The production was high quaility, the glossy cover art was eye candy, the science fiction was first rate. There is nothing like it today. > > I feel old.☹ I used to love OMNI. I had a whole bunch of their magazines when I was younger. I wasn’t very thoughtful back then and I generally tossed them away when I was done with them. I wish I had the foresight to have kept them. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![StevenMcB12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@StevenMcB12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StevenMcB12)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 5:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/57 "2012-04-19T05:35:01Z")
I have this Flow Chart from Omni. “How to Write a Science Fiction Novel” At least I have a bad Xerox of it. How would I post it where you guys can see it? ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/58 "2012-04-19T05:45:06Z")
I rer OMNI-great magazine. I particularly remember reading about their effort to make a fusion power reactor. It didn’t work. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [April 19, 2012, 5:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/59 "2012-04-19T05:51:34Z")
> [@StevenMcB12](#): > > I have this Flow Chart from Omni. “How to Write a Science Fiction Novel” At least I have a bad Xerox of it. > > How would I post it where you guys can see it? > **[ImageShack - Best place for all of your image hosting and image sharing needs](https://imageshack.com/)** > > Unlimited space to host images, easy to use image uploader, albums, photo hosting, sharing, dynamic image resizing on web and mobile. I’m not even sure you need to register with them to throw something up quickly. ---
**Author:** ![StevenMcB12](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/46a35a/32.png) [@StevenMcB12](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StevenMcB12)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/60 "2012-04-21T07:18:35Z")
Just Posted this on Image Shack Omni Magazine’s “How to Write a Science Fiction Novel” Flow Chart Check it out. It’s still hilarious. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2012, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402/61 "2012-04-21T12:41:09Z")
> [@StevenMcB12](#): > > Just Posted this on Image Shack > > Omni Magazine’s “How to Write a Science Fiction Novel” Flow Chart > > Check it out. It’s still hilarious. Perhaps a link would help us do that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-miss-omni-magazine/574402.md?page=4)