Tightbeam is an Online Social Community geared toward fans of science fiction, fantasy, dark fantasy (supernatural horror), spy-fi and related genres. Although it is hosted by the N3F, membership in N3F is not required to join in and take full advantage of what this service has to offer. What services does it offer? That depends on what you're willing to create. We have a Facebook- or MySpace-style social network, the ability for you to sign up and run your own blog, we have a forum for discussions, you can join or create a group that celebrates your fannish interests - and find others who share those interests.
What on earth is a "tightbeam," anyway?
tightbeam (n.) tight'·beam [Variations of spelling: tight beam, tight-beam]
A device that sends communications on a very finely-focused beam of energy (such as a laser); a message sent by such a device.
The term's coinage is attributed to author and N3F member, E.E. "Doc" Smith in his short story, Skylark Three, which was published in 1930 in the October Amazing Stories magazine. Since the early 1960s, Tightbeam also has been a fan publication of the N3F focused on member correspondence and amateur writing, art and other endeavors.
At the turn of the 21st Century, N3Fs Tightbeam started its transition to an electronic communication with the advent of an eGroups/Yahoo groups mailing list. This site is the latest iteration of the concept of moving from paper to a medium that transmits "communications on a very finely-focused beam of energy" via internet fiber optic cables from one fan to another .... and another.
COPYRIGHT NOTICE TO READERS and USERS of this web site:
UNLESS OTHERWISE SPECIFICALLY STATED ON AN INDIVIDUAL WEB PAGE, all original text, pictures, photographs, designs, works of art, video, audio and similar content is copyrighted under the laws of the United States and International laws and may not be reproduced, retransmitted, altered or used for any purpose other than on this site for any reason without the express permission of the copyright owner.
IF YOU ARE IN DOUBT OF THE TRUE OWNER OF CONTENT, please contact the administrator of this site using the CONTACT FORM under the "About" tab at the top of this page or by clicking here: CONTACT
USER-SUBMITTED MATERIAL (in general)
All content (text, art, photographs, designs, etc.) submitted to this site by an individual user is legally assumed to be the sole property under the above-mentioned copyright laws of the author (the person who submitted it to this site). That person may be contacted either through leaving a comment on the bottom of the page of original posting to this site, or by contacting the author via the Author's page on this site (click the author's name at the top or bottom of the post) - or by contacting the editors/administrators of this site.
Upon submission, all user-submitted materials are granting Fandominion.com and the National Fantasy Fan Federation (hereafter referred to as "N3F") non-exclusive right to re-print, re-use and re-purpose said content in other N3F publications, either electronic or print. As part of this agreement, N3F will make no substantive changes other than to correct grammar or to re-size ("cropping") images to fit a publication. With permission of the author, submitted items may be used for non-commercial promotional purposes in an N3F publication; if so, the original author/creator's full work will be included in said publication with full credit given to the original creator.
WHAT THIS MEANS: When You submit stuff here, you still own it, you just give us the limited right to re-print it - with full and credit to you - in N3F-sponsored publications, zines, web sites (such as this), etc. Other than that - YOU own it and retain full control of your work for all purposes.
USE OF PROMOTIONAL, COMMERCIAL IMAGES ON THIS SITE
Occasionally, usually in reviews of books, motion pictures or other works of creative artists, this site will publish images or photographs with copyrights owned by others not affiliated with this site. This includes book covers, movie posters, promotional photo galleries, television screen capture images and computer screen captures. These images (referred to as "fair use" images) are only used for the purpose of illustrating a news article or reviews or "how to" guides concerning the specific commercial work for which said image originated.
USERS OF THIS SITE AGREE that they are prohibited from copying, reproducing and disseminating these fair use images as it is strictly prohibited without express permission by the original copyright holder, as required under the above-mentioned copyright laws.
OTHER COPYRIGHTS NOT LISTED ABOVE:
- WordPress blog engine: Copyright terms are located here: GNU General Public License
- Options WordPress Theme: Copyright © 2008 · Justin Tadlock
- Any and all other material should be assumed to be copyrighted either by David Speakman or the National Fantasy Fan Federation (N3F) doing business either jointly or separately as "FanDominion.com" or "FANDOMINON"; "Tightbeam.net" or "Tightbeam"; or any similar name or names as it appears on this site.
To clarify the specific owner, please contact the administrator of this site using the "CONTACT FORM" by clicking here: CONTACT
About the N3F
The N3F (short for National Fantasy Fan Federation) is an old club, solidly embedded in Fandom's past and present - and, from all appearances, it's future as well. It all began in April 1941, when all types of imaginative literature - including science fiction - were called fantasy, making it one of the oldest science fiction and fantasy fan clubs still operating. In all the time since then, the N3F has undergone almost every combination of success and failure imaginable. At different times it's membership has been in the hundreds, and other times under 100. It has produced some of Fandom's most memorable fanzines and some of the worst crudzines. It's ranks hold professional writers as well as neofans (if you have to ask what a neofan is, you are one).
The reason for this diversity, and quite possibly also for N3F's longevity, is that the club's main aim is contact. People are encouraged to seek out others sharing their interests in any matter, and to start a group (if they want to) about it, if there isn't one already. Thus, we have a Writer's workshop, an Artist's Bureau, a Pen Pal group, the WelCommittee, Convention listings, Reviews, a Games Bureau, etc. Know what a Round Robin is? We got a few of those. Want to have someone critique your short story or novel? We can help you.
The N3F has one "snail" mail publication, called The National Fantasy Fan (TNFF, also known as The Fan) which comes out four times a year (March, June, September and December). It contains club business, information about club activities and areas of interest, free space for member ads, member art, poetry, flash fiction, information on round robins(small correspondence groups centered on a writer or subject), letters of comment, member-written articles and reviews, and other fannish material. Members also have the option to receive TNFF via e-mail. We call this The e-Fan, which is in PDF format. They are in essence the same publication.
For the first 50 years of its existence, N3F was a "snail" mail organization, but we are now embracing the world of the Internet as well as keeping some our traditional activities going. All our efforts are to bring fans together to discuss our favorite subjects. Join us!