Saturday, December 30, 2006
Amazing Screw-on Head
The voice cast is great with Paul Giamatti as Screw-on head, and David Hyde Pierce as Emperor Zombie, the highly intelligent and articulate power mad zombie villain. Aided by Mr. Groin (a butler) and Mr. Dog (a stuffed dog) Screw-on head fights the occult and supernatural threats as an agent of Abraham Lincoln.
Let's watch!
Wikipedia Article: Amazing Screw-On Head
Friday, December 29, 2006
Wednesday, December 27, 2006
Guitar Hero 2 Review
Guitar Hero 2 Originally uploaded by coderkind. | With the blessings of the season upon everyone, and another day yet until I return to work, I see fit to review a PlayStation 2 game that I recently acquired in the flurry of festivities. I got hooked on Guitar Hero 2 during an excursion to Best Buy with veritate and defender75. I got stuck playing "War Pigs" and "John the Fisherman" for about half and hour and vowed to get myself a copy of the game at some point, though I gushed enough about the game over the last week to ensure a copy was under the tree this year. |
The song set list is impressive, with song like "Institutionalized" by Suicidal Tendencies and "Sweet Child O' Mine" it feels as if the developers looked into my mix tape collection from high school and based their choices on that. The inclusion of Spinal Tap's "Tonight I'm going to rock you Tonight" and Strong Bad's "Trogdor!!!" really puts the rock quotient over the edge. The only thing missing is a Tenacious D song.
On the topic of "rock quotient," part of the scoring system of the game includes a "Rock Meter" to show how accurate your performance is i.e. How well you "rock" as it were. I think one of these should be installed at every rock concert in the world, and the results would be illuminating.
I really hope one of my PS2 using friends will pick this game up soon so we can have some dual-guitar rock-jamming action.
From XKCD comics
Tuesday, December 19, 2006
Slashboing On Vacation
Until then, I present the following image for pondering possibilities. The image is from US patent 6,500,041 for "Animated headsets." This is proof that just because an idea is patentable, it is not necessarily useful.
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Johnny Johnny makes Lunch
sandwich_wide
Originally uploaded by CORSIWORLD.
As he is close friends of the creators of the podcast, he has many candid shots of them. Here is Kevin Gamble, better known in my circles as "Johnny Johnny" the cocktologist of the tiki bar, serving up a smoked meat sandwich for lunch.
Saturday, December 16, 2006
Learn comptuing at home
Let's watch!
Friday, December 15, 2006
Funny Wikipedia Category
Bigger, funnier and better conceived posts are in the works, so hang on.
"Some balls are held for charity, and some for fancy dress, but when they're held for pleasure they're the balls that I like best." - AC/DC "Big Balls"
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Christmas gifts from Flickr
Flickr also added a cool easter egg (xmas egg?) to the note feature. Adding a note "ho ho ho hat" draws a Santaman hat while "ho ho ho beard" give the picture whiskers.
I think it may disappear in the new year so I document it with this picture. The original is found here.
Monday, December 11, 2006
Touching review of Empire Strikes Back
Doing a Google search to find any discussion this project, I found this touching review of "Empire Strikes Back" by Infoquake author David Louis Edelman. He recounts seeing it for the first time in 1980 with his brothers and sisters and a mother's purse full of smuggled-in candy. He writes:
Harrison Ford [...] by cavalierly dodging the Empire through fancy maneuver after fancy maneuver, has clearly demonstrated that he is the coolest dude in the history of the universe, ever ever ever. The chase through the asteroid field makes the Imperial Walkers seem like old news, especially now that the candy's gone and the sugar high has kicked in [...]It makes we wish I could un-learn what I know, and re-watch the Star Wars films with the fresh eyes of a child. Failing that, I gather with my friends periodically and talk about these 30 year old films with a youthful vigour. We ask each other the same questions that have been raised for years:
I'm scared, I'm elated, I want to go home, I never want to leave.
- "Do we have freewill or are we guided by fate/destiny?"
- "How much government is too much, how much it too little?"
- "Do the ends justify the means?"
- "It it our intentions or actions that make us good or villainous?"
Not bad for a merely escapist popcorn serial.
[Link]
Friday, December 08, 2006
Drinkbot Symposium
RoboExotica 2006
Originally uploaded by ioerror.
On November 14th, I blogged about Robot Bartenders, both real and fanciful. Seems that the serving of cocktails by a robot is significant enough to warrent a symposium.
Roboexotica is an event that runs December 5th-10th in Vienna, Austria in an attempt to:
"publicly discuss the role of cocktail robotics as an index for the integration of technological innovations into the human Lebenswelt, or to document the increasing occurrence of radical hedonism in man-machine communication."The official sub-title of the event is "Cybernetics and Robotics as an Interdisciplinary Universal Science."
To me that sounds like an excuse to build funky robots and drink lots.
"If you turn your back on science, science will take you from behind" - Dr Tiki.
[Link] (via BoingBoing )
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Fooling all the wrong people
I did however score big hits on my Flickr account by using suggestive tags such as "nude," "naked," "flesh," and "skin." I garnered over 200 hits on that image of my elbow, while my typical project pictures are in the 20-30 hit range.I bet people searching for those kind of images were a might disappointed to see what I offered them, or more accurately, what I didn't offer them. <insert convention runners joke here>
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
Name that body part
Day 68 - Name that body part
Originally uploaded by Drhaggis.
Here is picture of my naked skin taken for Day 68 in my participation in the 365Days Project on Flickr. Can you guess which part it is? How brave do you think I am? I will post the answer tomorrow.
Enjoy!
Monday, December 04, 2006
Kilgore Trout for President
105_0517 copy
Originally uploaded by dizznan.
Seen here is a lovely combination of two of my favourite things. A Kurt Vonnegut reference, and smarmy graffiti. The phrase from Krakow reads "Kilgore Trout for president." The man seen with the slogan, my indeed be Mr. Trout himself.
Sunday, December 03, 2006
December Events Calender
When: Saturday December 9 th from 12 PM - 4 PM
Where: Centre building of Richmond Meadows Co-op, 4940 - 39 Ave. SW. Map
Cost: $10
All-You-Can-Eat food and drink including turkey, chili, brisket, potato salad, coleslaw, homemade bread, and homemade ice cream.
Bring along your orphaned books for trade with other avid readers at Honest Ivan's Book Exchange!
Special Events:
At 1 PM Special Guest Hugo Award winning author Robert J. Sawyer will be on hand to lead a discussion on how near-future technology will save Mankind.
At 2 PM Cliff Samuels will moderate a Book Discussion on new and old books worth reading.
At 3 PM we'll hold our Enormous Book Raffle! We have a mountain of SF&f hard covers, trades, and paperbacks. And even a few non-book items.
Raffle Tickets available throughout the afternoon: $1 each; 6 for $5; 15 for $10.
FanForce Book Club meeting:
When: Sunday December 10 th starting at 7:30 PM
Where: Boomtown Restaurant, at the Delta Hotel (formerly the Best Western) on the corner of Southland Dr and Macleod Trail S
We will be discussing "Ender's Game"
Come on out!
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Star Trek Crystals found in Mineral Guide
Contrary to what the astronomers and geophysicists would tell you, it would seem that mineralogists have a sense of humour. Dilithium, the fictional mineral from Star Trek can be found in this otherwise serious database here: http://webmineral.com/data/Dilithium.shtml
Dilithium does exist in the form of dual bonded Lithium atoms (Li2). However the entry in this database refers to the fictional crystal, a "bottle brown," non radioactive substance that focuses the matter/antimatter streams on Federation Starships. The crystal structure is composed of Tellurium, and Lithium (Li2Te), which is "confirmed" by the following citation:
Nemoy, L S; Doohan, J, Star Fleet Transactions , 1 (2364) p.239-444, First Star Fleet Federation Symposia on Deep Space Findings from the, Enterprise NCC1701A VoyagesWhat an age to live in.
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Flying with a friendly guy
See: The photos of hotel rooms from around the world. [Link]
Hear: The tale of the flight to Toronto with only one passenger. [Link]
"I did all the announcements to Ron, not to "ladies and gentlemen," and I only had to do them in English. The captain came on, congratulated him ... We took pictures with Ron and laughed."It makes for a great read.
Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Firefly Fans Hold the Line
But as Browncoats know, you can't just sit around and wait for others to do for you. When the going gets tough, you do it for yourself. The California Browncoats have rallied and are planning to make sure that anyone who chooses to come out anyway, will have something to do when they get there.
If I had deeper pockets I would love to send down some cash to help out the cause, and buy tea and dumplings for everyone who still shows up to the party, even when the planners are nowhere to be found.
For more information on the topic, here are some useful links:
Keep flying.
Monday, November 27, 2006
Top 5 handy driving tips
- Slow the fuck down.
- Use your bloody turn signals.
- Let a brother in.
- Stop tailgating.
- Pick a lane and stay there cowboy.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Wear your Fandom on your sleave
Saturday, November 25, 2006
Spam Haiku
Lodged in the webspace of John Y. N. Cho, a member of the weather sensing group in the Lincoln Laboratory of MIT, is the greatest collection of Spam Haiku ever constructed.
At http://web.mit.edu/jync/www/spam/ one will find over 19,000 Haiku written about the Hormel potted meat product, SPAM. Monty Python may have sung about it but the contributors to this site wax poetically about the pinkish "meat."
The collection became large enough and popular enough to warrant the printing of a book. Spam-Ku: Tranquil Reflections on Luncheon Loaf is available from Amazon.com.
My favourite from the archive is #4654:
Is saying "I'm pink
Therefore I'm SPAM" putting the
Hog before Descartes?
--Barrie Collins, bcollins@comox.island.net
Friday, November 24, 2006
Where are the restrooms?
Where are the restrooms?
Originally uploaded by ChandlerZH.
The washroom signs at the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle try to cover all the bases.
However, if you are classified as a meat popsicle, sentient shade of blue, "hexagon", or gelatinous cube you are out of luck.
Five more random Wikipedia Pages
As the Zen Buddhists say, "The only bad Duttaphrynus himalaynus is no Duttaphrynus himalaynus."
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Star Wars themed Flash Drives
Mimoco is a company that creates USB flash drives with unique, artist designed cases.
Their Star Wars Series has super-deformed R2-D2, Darth Vader, Chewbacca, and Stormtrooper bodies to make your flash drive reflect your personality.
They are a bit pricey, with a 1GB drive starting at $79.95 with the top end being the 4GB unit at $169.95, but being the first on your block with something like this is priceless.
[Link]
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Venus on the Half-shell
The book deals with the last human, Simon, who has escaped the destruction of the Earth, and now travels the galaxy in an overtly phallic Chinese spacecraft in a search for the meaning of Life.
While this is a similar premise as The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, the story more closely resembles Voltaire's Candide wherein the characters encounter various philosophies on life, none of which completely answer Simon's questions.
I love my copy, and was very lucky to have found a copy in a local bookstore. Although it is not actually a Kurt Vonnegut work, and the assumption that Kurt wrote the work did piss off Mr. Vonnegut, I include it on my "Kurt" shelf.
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Cease and Desist
The shirts in question still seem to be available here: http://www.dieselsweeties.com/shirts/geekshirts.shtml
Get them before they are gone.
In a pseudo-protest Richard made a lovely "Cease and Desist" shirt. It speaks volumes.
Monday, November 20, 2006
Office Voodoo
This device staples papers together - without staples! Before we burn the witch, lets find out how this thing works. Apparently a tiny flap is cut in the corner of your paper, then folding it in on itself, it tucks back into a tiny paper pocket. It still sounds vaguely like voodoo, but I like it.
The downside is that it only works for stack of paper up to five sheets, which may not be a problem for your applications. It may not unseat the Red Swingline stapler as the cube-jockey's best friend, but it still get the Slashboing thumbs up.
Sunday, November 19, 2006
Dr. Who Art
-Photo by Katrina, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 2.0
Saturday, November 18, 2006
Con-version 23
There was a plan to re-brand the event to "Nexus" to shake off the bad feelings and perceptions "Con-version" had. A recent vote of 20-18 decided to keep the name "Con-version."
See you all there.
Friday, November 17, 2006
Calgary Fandom Weekend
Friday, November 17
Harry Potter Meetup
7:30 p.m.
Second Cup 10th St at 4th Ave, NW Kensington
http://harrypotter.meetup.com/83
Saturday, November 18
CSFFS Meeting: Con-Version/Nexus Meeting
1:00 p.m.
http://www.csffs.org/?p=12
Monday, November 20
Calgary Star Wars FanForce Meeting
7:00 p.m.
Boomtown lounge, Delta (Formerly Best Western Hospitality Inn)
http://boards.theforce.net/calgary_ab/b10615/25493395/p1/?9
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Shopping in Calgary or How to Surf the Orgy of Carnage:
- Lack of manpower in the retail and service industry.
- Calgary's booming economy has resulted in a population/traffic increase.
- City Construction/Roads.
- General Holiday insanity.
A sample:
... if you accept the fact the service/retail industry is severely understaffed, you will not stress yourself over it. Stress is caused by the feeling of lack of control over a situation, so remove it completely. Being polite, calm and cool with clerks and store staff really does wonders. People are worked hard over the holidays and the last thing they need is an irate customer tearing into them. Back off, avoid the brain aneriusm[sic]and chill. Negative energy is a virus that doesn't help anyone.It is this kind of rational cool-headedness that we shouldn't have to be reminded to maintain, but it seems we still have to.
[Link]
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
50 ways after 50 Days
This is also marks the 50% mark of my participation in the month long NaBloPoMo. If you don't know what that is, and are unwilling to look it up on Google or follow a simple link, then frankly I can't help you.
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Drinkbot: Life imitates art
To complete the circle on the earlier post about robot-bartenders, I present the spiritual antecedent to the Motoman; The Tiki Bar Tv episode: Drinkbot!
Here we learn why robot-bartenders will never be able to replace human cocktologists. [Link]
Robot Bartender
Expect to see these things pop up in convention centres, airport lounges, and novelty rich-guy places.
"Do you want some more?"
Technorati Tags:
Robots, automaton, bartender, mixed drinks, real world science fiction, Fifth Element
Monday, November 13, 2006
Inside Jokes for the Folks
So here is a collection of inside jokes, aimed directly at my close friends.
- fanboy basic movements number 1
- don't eat found meat
- clam jerkey shouldn't expire
- who hasn't been painted blue yet?
- you have quite the induced wembly
- programmable shirts & e-toast
- "The Big Suck"
Technorati Tags:
Inside Jokes, nablopomo
Movie Sequels II
- The Dark Knight (Batman Begins 2, Batman 6 in the series)
- Spider-Man 3
- Live Free or Die Hard (Die Hard 4)
- Indiana Jones 4
- Rocky Balboa (That makes #6 for this series)
- Casino Royale (a remake, and a prequel, what could fail here)
- Shrek the Third
- Hellboy 2: The Golden Army
- Rush Hour 3
- Jurassic Park 4
Technorati Tags:
Movie Sequel, Serenity 2, Serenity, Gandhi 2
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Sunday Flickr Favourites
I present to you some Lego Star Wars costumes from Baycon 2006.
-Photo by artvixn
Technorati Tags:
Star Wars, Lego, Star Wars Lego, Costumes, Darth Maul, Qui-Gon Jinn, Lightsaber
Saturday, November 11, 2006
Chewbacca's Blog
I would say some of the images may be "Not safe for work", but that really depends on you, your job, your co-workers, your boss, and your moxie.
To quote the site:
Aaaa aaaaarrrrr rrrrrrrr rrnnnn nn nnhhhh, aaaa aaaaa aaaa aaa uh aaa uh-aaaaaa aaaaRRRRRR HHH. Aaaa guhaaaa aaaaa uhaa aar rrrrnnn uhnnnn nnn uhnhh.You said it big guy!
aaaaa aaaa aaaa aaaaarrn nnhhhh, hurrnhhhh. UUUHHHGGG-rrrr!
Technorati Tags:
Chewbacca, Wookiees, Blogs, Jokes, NSFW
Friday, November 10, 2006
w00t: Defined
This has to be the best depiction of the feeling that the word "w00t" is to inspire.
Image by goopymart via the Creative Commons: Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.0 licence .
Technorati Tags:
W00t, woot, goopymart, web jargon, web nomenclature, flickr set, jetpack
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Bad Spellers love Firefox 2.0
I have long been using the Firefox web browser, and recently updated to Firefox 2.0. I have to say I love the built-in spell checker. Why did it take so long for that to happen?
I don't have to futz with Blogger.com's or Hotmail's spell checker with its crappy interface. It operates like the spell checker in Word, where it underlines your questionable entries in red. They also have a Canadian English dictionary so I'm not forced to drop the "U"s from "colour" and the like.
If you haven't already done so, get Firefox 2.0 now.
*Note of interest: "futz" is in the Firefox dictionary.
Technorati Tags:
Firefox 2.0, Firefox, Get Firefox, spelling is good
Why I blog
- religious zealot
- conspiracy theorist
- hate-filled misanthrope
- *squee* OMG like so in love with Linkin Park
- homophobic bigot
- political asshat
- exhibitionist
I found that many of my friends had blogs, or online journals, that not only didn't fall into one of blogging crap traps, they were informative and thought provoking. Surely I could do that.
Except this post. Not really much going on here. It looks like the blog orchid has been pretty thoroughly picked over. Maybe some of the blog blossoms will grow back by tomorrow.
Technorati Tags:
Blog, why I blog, what I am not
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Funky Star Wars Puppets
Technorati Tags:
Puppets, Star Wars, Chewbacca, Darth Maul
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
I am Number 17
I think the outfit rocks, but most people don't get the reference. Granted my outfit is still missing the white trim of the jacket, but I am working towards that. It seems that many people did not catch the 17 original episodes that first aired in 1968. I only saw it because PBS and YTV aired it in late-late-late night reruns in the late 80's and early 90's.
There is talk of bringing back the series in 2007, and/or a movie version in 2009. Mayhaps my costume is just years ahead of its time, and not 38 years out of date.
Be seeing you.
Technorati Tags:
The Prisoner, Halloween, Costumes, Movie rumours, Be seeing you
Monday, November 06, 2006
Some People need a good punch in the face
Finding the seal generator on www.says-it.com, I was moved to make a seal with the same sentiment.Enjoy!
Technorati Tags:
Mr. T, Some people, seal generator, spreadshirt, punch in the face
Sunday, November 05, 2006
Neon Photography: Electric Heat
-Photo by Ben Campbell
Technorati Tags:
Neon, photography, electric heat
Saturday, November 04, 2006
Hurra Torpedo rocks the house
Technorati Tags:
Hurra Torpedo, Rock and roll, Bonnie Tyler, power ballad, Total Eclipse of the Heart, appliances
Friday, November 03, 2006
IMDB worst movies analysis
I love looking through IMDB's Bottom 100 list. The list ranks the worst films of all time, as rated by IMDB users. One has to take these things for what they are. If one's favourite film should happen to fall on this list, it doesn't mean you should stop liking it. It simply means most other people didn't dig it. Deal with it.
There is a certain joy in seeing a movie you hate listed as one of the worst of all time.
I notice a trend in these films. They all fall into one or more of these categories:
The Sequel No-one Asked for
Best Examples: The Police Academy Series, Mannequin: On the Move, Son of the Mask
The first film does ok, so why not make a Sequel? Don't make a sequel if you have no story. Simple. Got that? Good.
The Vehicle
Best Examples: From Justin to Kelly, In the Mix, Glitter
Got a hot/popular/rising star? Slap them into a movie where the only reason to see the film is to watch them thrash about and chew on the sets for an hour and a half, then watch it tank.
The Poorly Executed Children's Film
Best Examples: SuperBabies: Baby Geniuses 2, The NeverEnding Story III, 3 Ninjas: High Noon at Mega Mountain . Note: these are also all un-wanted sequels.
Films for children should be viewed a little differently than other films, but a bad film is a bad film. The ones on the IMDB list are horrific.
The Schlock Horror Debacle
Best Examples: Manos: The Hands of Fate, House of the Dead, Alone in the Dark
Horror is another genre with its own set of standards, but some films don't even meet those.
Conclusion
Thinking about dropping Chamillionaire into a wacky follow-up to 1999's My Favourite Martian? Stop. Think. Use your head.
Technorati Tags:
IMDB Bottom 100, IMDB, worst movies of all time, movies, films
Thursday, November 02, 2006
Star Wars Fan Films
The premiere spot to find Star Wars Fan Films is www.fanfilms.com. You will get redirected to the fan film section of theforce.net, but the short URL is easier to remember. There are other genre films hosted there too, such as the Lord of the Rings inspired "Almost there and back again" and the Matrix spoof "A glitch in the Matrix."
All the films are downloadable, often in multiple formats and resolutions. This is where the YouTube and iFilm uploaders often get their content. As much as I love YouTube, if you need your fan film fix, theforce.net is the place to be.
Technorati Tags:
Fan Films, Star Wars, YouTube, The Matrix, Lord of the Rings, Theforce.net
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Top 5 movies of personal influence
Is that navel gazing goodness or what?
- Zelig (1983) - [imdb]
- I Heart Huckabees (2004) - [imdb]
- Star Wars (1977) - [imdb]
- Reservoir Dogs (1992) - [imdb]
- ¡Three Amigos! (1986) - [imdb]
Technorati Tags:
top5, movies, films, Self-exploration
Monday, October 30, 2006
NaBloPoMo
I update Slashboing about 5 days a week, so the extra posts won't kill me but I like a little challenge.
The use of Yoda as the alternate logo did sway my decision a little too, as Slashboing does tend towards the Star Wars Geek spectrum with an alarming amount of posts.
Technorati Tags:
NaBloPoMo, Blogging, Monthly Challenge
Sunday, October 29, 2006
Best Sci-Fi Shirt Ever Made By Anyone in the History of Everything
In my opinion the fan made stuff was much more creative and available than the official stuff, which leaves fans with a tough choice. Do we only buy the official stuff in the hopes that the sales will mean a continuation of the franchise? Or do we back the fan made stuff that was filling the needs of the fans better?
Blackmarketbeagles.com has pre-emptively responded to this latest wave of Cease and Desist orders from Universal, and pulled his entire line of Serenity products.
In its place, he has given us this jewel of a shirt:
Suitable for any convention one may want to go to, but free of licensing and copyright restrictions.
This is about 47 metric Awesomes.
Technorati Tags:
Black Market Beagles, fandom, tshirt, Universal, Serenity, Firefly, Cease and Desist
Saturday, October 28, 2006
Obi-wan comes clean
Technorati Tags:
Star Wars, Obi-wan, Luke Skywalker, Return of the Jedi, Attack of the Show
Thursday, October 26, 2006
Quantification of Awesome: Part 2
On the table is:
My suggestions will come later, when the time is ripe.
Technorati Tags:
Awesome, Metric, SI Units, Quantification
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Quantification of Awesome
Quickly we see need need for a name for this unit of measurement. Typically these things are named after pioneers in a particular field, such as Tesla, Henry, Gauss, and Bell. I kind of always wondered what would have resulted if one of the early discoveries in electromagnetism was made by a "Lipshitz."
Now this person we name the base unit of measurement after doesn't have to be the most Awesome thing ever, just a great example of it.
I have my own thoughts on this, but I'm looking for input from others.
Technorati Tags:
Awesome, Metric, SI Units, Quantification
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Quick Links (cool tshirt edition)
- Think Geek Tshirts - http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts
- J!NX for gamers and geeks - http://www.jinx.com
- Threadless: User submitted art shirts - http://www.threadless.com
- GeekTs: Geek history through shirts - http://geekt.org/geekt
- Diesel Sweeties Shirts - http://www.dieselsweeties.com/shirts
Technorati Tags:
quick links, tshirts, tee shirts, geek
Monday, October 23, 2006
Not all technology plugs in
Customers of pet shops selling goldfish and various tropical species can watch their purchases swim around as they are carried to home aquariums in novel transparent bags just introduced. Made of waterproof, transparent cellulose material, in various sizes, the fish bags have reenforced handles for ease in carrying. When the container has been partially filled with water, the fish are transferred to it from the store tank.What an age to live in! [link]
Technorati Tags:
Modern Mechanix, retro, vintage, 1939, goldfish, plastic bag, inovation, science, I said "science" again
Sunday, October 22, 2006
Cat in the Box
Brendon the cat is only yawning, but he looks like he is ferociously guarding his box.
The warnings on the box are apt for the pictured contents as well. "Don't get wet", "fragile and "this side up" are all good tips for cat care.
Technorati Tags:
Found on Flickr, flickr favourite, cat, box, cat in the box
Friday, October 20, 2006
A film by any other name
I bring this up because the trailers for "The Prestige" look so much like those for "The Illusionist" I had to check to see if they were both based on the same work. Don't think it can't happen. Valmont (1988) and Dangerous Liaisons (1989) are both versions of the novel "Les liaisons dangereuses". Dead Man on Campus and The Curve, both released in 1998, are based on the urban legend that if one's college roommate commits suicide, one would receive straight A's.
The Prestige is from the Christopher Priest 1995 novel of the same name, while The Illusionist is based on Steven Millhauser's 1990 short story called "Eisenheim the Illusionist." While they do have different sources, and ultimately have a different set of points to makes, they both have the same "Look and Feel."
Now the thing is I want to see both, but inevitably I will always compare one against the other. I will not be able to give a fair viewing to the film I see second. Am a prepared to make the distinction between "turn-of-the-century Vienna" and "late 19th century London?" Does my "Giamania" trump the desire to see David Bowie as Nikola Tesla?
For a much more detailed list of similarly related films please review the Wikipedia Article here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_with_similar_plots
Technorati Tags:
The Prestige, The Illusionist, Paul Giamatti, David Bowie, Nikola Tesla
Thursday, October 19, 2006
The neo-fan manifesto
THE NEO-FAN MANIFESTO
1 - We all need to feel like we belong somewhere, that's why we're here. Many people feel like fandom provides a sense of family that they don't find elsewhere. Fan snobbery, or a sense that some fans are more welcome than others is the last thing we need if fandom is going to survive in the 21st century.
2 - Don't assume everyone knows your name, or your work (if you're an author, artist, costumer, etc.). Wear your nametag. Introduce yourself. Have a name card if you are a panel participant. "Hi, I'm Arthur Grande and you should all know who I am." does not cut it.
3 - It doesn't matter how you came to fandom, what matters is that you're a fan. It shouldn't matter if you like science fiction, fantasy, horror, movies and television, comic books, anime, role playing games, costuming, writing, filking, collecting books or painting yourself blue. Anyone who identifies themselves as a fan should be welcomed to fandom.
4 - Fandom changes. So do fans. Get used to it now. As the world of science fiction has gained popularity it has grown. It is no longer possible to read every piece of science fiction published every year, and that is not necessarily a bad thing.
5 - Explain your references. Not everyone has read every book, novella or short story that you have. Not every one has seen every science fiction movie out there (some people haven't seen Star Wars, believe it or not...). Not everyone reads your fanzine. Help us out. Costomer's corollary - not everyone has seen your greatest costume. Bring pictures, please!
6 - Don't assume that we're all on a first name basis with authors or big name fans, use last names when you refer to people. (There is more than one guy named Bob out there you know...) We all wear nametags for a reason. Help the Neo Fans meet new people and find new authors to read.
7 - What was a seminal work for one generation may be completely unknown to another generation. Let the Neo Fans know what you're talking about. We may not have been born yet. And remember, some books improve with age, while others are dated rather quickly. Also, a work that changed your life when you read it at age twelve may not have any effect on your thirty-year old friend when you suggest they read it.
8 - Moderators should try to avoid only calling on their friends when they take questions. It makes the Neo Fan feel left out and not wanted when every hand acknowledged is called by name.
9 - Neo Fans are eager to learn, there is so much out there we haven't read yet. Help us out, if you're doing a panel on "100 Books You Must Read." come prepared with a *handout* so we can take it home and try to find them.
10 - Remember, out of print may as well not exist for the Neo Fan. If we can't get our hands on a copy, we can't read it, no matter how great you think it is.
11 - It doesn't matter if you call it Science Fiction, SciFi, SF, or Speculative Fiction, it's all the same thing. Let's quit wasting time arguing about what name to use.
12 - Always remember, someone in the audience is at their first convention (Or their first WorldCon, or "insert name of con"Con). As fans we need to assure that they feel welcome and enjoy themselves enough to come back for another visit next year, and hopefully bring a friend.
-Julie Stickler (SF ACAD DI@aol.com)Permission to reproduce and distribute this flyer at other conventions is granted, as long as the author's name continues to appear on it.
Ganked from Emerald City.
Technorati Tags:
Science Fiction, Fandom, science fiction fandom, Manifesto
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Doctor Who has a posse
Some of the sites were used in the show itself, such as in the premiere episode of the 2005 series, Rose Tyler used a fictitious search engine called search-wise.net, which is set up for film and TV productions to use instead of a real engines. Faux military sites like www.unit.org.uk have password access areas, giving some background and depth to the organization from the series.
Sites like www.torchwood.org.uk, representing the Torchwood Institute, currently contain little information. There should be more information there when the Doctor Who spin-off series, "Torchwood", starts in the UK on October 22nd. The CBC premiere date is unknown by me at this time.
In producer James Goss's words, these dozens of inter-related sites are "the most ambitious online fictional world ever." This may be a bit of an overstatement, as the Lost collection of websites is extensive, and also makes use of services such as Myspace, Flickr, blogs and podcasts to make the viewer feel as a participant.
The complete known list of Doctor Who sites can be found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Who_tie-in_websites
For comparison, the complete known list of Official Lost sites can be found here:
http://www.lostpedia.com/wiki/Category:Official_Websites
Technorati Tags:
Dr. Who, Doctor Who, Who is the Doctor, Lost, viral marketing
Tuesday, October 17, 2006
Top 5 Oldest Domain Names
- symbolics.com - 15-Mar-1985
- bbn.com - 24-Apr-1985
- think.com - 24-May-1985
- mcc.com - 11-Jul-1985
- dec.com - 30-Sep-1985
- Symbolics, Inc was a spinoff from the MIT Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, founded for the purpose of manufacturing Lisp machines. The "PC revolution" contributed to the decreased demand of purpose-built Lisp machines. The company filed for bankruptcy in the early 1990's. A new privately held company, called "Symbolics" acquired the assets and intellectual property of the old public company and maintains some of its old products.
- BBN Technologies was founded in 1948 by professors at MIT. Some of BBN's developments of note in the field of computer networks are the implementation and operation of the ARPANET; the first person-to-person network email sent and the invention of the @ sign in an email address; the first Internet protocol router; the Voice Funnel, an early predecessor of voice over IP; and work on the development of TCP. BBN was acquired by GTE in 1998. When GTE and Bell Atlantic merged to become Verizon in 2000, the ISP portion of BBN was included in assets spun off as Genuity. In March of 2004, Verizon sold BBN to a group of private investors, and as of writing, BBN is a privately held company.
- Thinking Machines Corporation was a supercomputer manufacturer founded to turn MIT doctoral work by W. Daniel Hillis into a commercial product called the "Connection Machine." Thinking Machines became was the market leader in parallel supercomputers in 1990. After the loss of some DARPA contracts, Thinking Machines filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in August 1994. The hardware portion of the company was purchased by Sun Microsystems, and the remainder re-emerged as a small software company specializing in data mining software for its installed base and former competitors' parallel supercomputers. Thinking Machines was acquired by Oracle Corporation in 1999.
- Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation (MMC) was US computer industry research and development consortium, formed in response to Japan's Fifth Generation Project, a large Japanese research project aimed at producing a parallel processing computer that would out perform single CPU systems and have artificial intelligence capabilities. The Japanese project ended in failure in 1993, while MMC restructured on July 6, 2000 and ceased operations in 2001.
- Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) made the popular Programmed Data Processor (PDP) and VAX mini-computers during the 70s and 80s. VAX terminals were the defacto industry standard in the 80's and the PDP line was used in many key companies and organizations such as MIT and BBN. The PDP-1 was the original hardware for playing history's first computerized video game, Steve Russell's Spacewar!. The PDP-7, and later models ran the first versions of the "C" programming language and UNIX. DEC was a strong supporter of ANSI standards, especially the ASCII character set, which survives in Unicode. The popular AltaVista search engine was created by Digital in 1993 and launched to the public in 1995. However the company was loosing money in the early 90's, and after rounds of layoffs, and many of the company's assests being spun off, what remained of the company was sold to Compaq in 1998. Compaq itself was acquired by Hewlett-Packard in 2002.
Technorati Tags:
Top5, Domain Names, First Domain Names, Internet History
Monday, October 16, 2006
The Zombie Apocalypse has an upside
Others are more succinct than I, so here is a small collection of reviews from the event:
- Mfiles (Starbucks Zombie)
- Archeron (caddy/golfer)
- 7 Deadly Sinners
- "Janet Weiss" RHPS
- A SAIT of Affairs /w tonnes of pics
Technorati Tags:
Calgaryzombiewalk2006, Zombie Walk, Calgary, Zombies, Brains?