End of Time

The end of David Tennant's stint as The Doctor is just around the corner, and speculation is running rampant as to what will happen.

I speculate that, in some form or fashion, the Time Lords will return at the end. Actually, that's not much of a speculation since a picture of Timothy Dalton dressed in Time Lord robes was leaked months ago.

My speculation is that they have been hiding on Earth with their Fob watches concealing their true identity. I think Wilfred Mott - Donna Noble's grandfather - will turn out to be one of these Time Lords in hiding which will allow to return of Doctor/Donna.

Unfinished Dr. Who Audio Play

Back in the early 90's I came up with a Doctor Who story that I wanted to do as an audio drama--like the radio plays of the old days. All I have left is the dialog from Scenes 27 and 28 from the untitled story. I've decided to post it here, so enjoy it for what it's worth.

Scene 27: The Doctor and Penny are an the elevator travelling up to the offices of O&C Electronics. muzak is playing quietly in the background. Penny begins humming along with the muzak, stops and turns to the Doctor.

Penny: "Doctor..."

Doctor: "Hmm? Yes, Penny."

P: "You still haven't explained to me why those Reubens would come to Earth when it's so far from their fight with the Sontarans."

D: [Sighs] "Their Rutan's, not Reubens. These are ruthless aliens, not grilled corned beef and sauerkraut sandwiches. Both the Rutans and the Sontarans have used the Earth for experiments and staging throughout the past and future."

P: "What!? Using Humans like guinea pigs in a planet sized laboratory?"

D: "Basically, yes. Earth is nicely out of the way, and humanity is a very creative and cunning race -- one of the reasons I like you lot so much. Anyway, as to why the Rutan's are here now, I would imagine it has something to do with that temporal slip I detected on the way in."

P: "I thought you said that was caused by a glitch in the Tardis."

D: "Well, it was...sort of."

P: "Sort of!? Doctor, you're not instilling me with much confidence."

D: "Penny; have faith. The temporal slip was caused by a glitch in the old girl, but only when we passed through a chronoton stream eminating from this city."

P: [Not sounding very convinced] "And you tracked that chono-whatsis stream to this building?"

D: [pronouncing the word slowly] "Chro-no-tron stream. It's a by-product of time corridors linking two time/space coordinates. But no, I wasn't able to track it to this building. It stopped before we landed, meaning we arrived shortly before the chronotons are too be released."

P: "So how do you know that this building is linked to the Rutan's?"

D: "Remember that lady I knocked over at the cafe? When I helped her pick up the papers she dropped, I noticed a number of temporal physics equations had been jotted in the margins and the letter head was from O&C Electronics."

FX: A ping echoes in the elevator as they arrive at their floor.

P: "Elementary my dear Watson."

D: "Precisely, my dear Penny. After you"

FX: Two sets of footsteps are heard as the Doctor and Penny leave the elevator and approach the receptionist who can be heard [fading up] talking on the phone.

Receptionist: "I'm sorry, he's Doctor Bell is not in today. May I send you to his voice mail? ... Just a moment." [a beep followed by the phone ringing again. the footsteps stop] "Ocean and Crane Electronics, how may I help you? ... Certainly. Just a moment." [beep, the receptionist pauses then addresses ] "Good afternoon, may I help you?"

D: "Yes, I'm the Doctor and this is my assistant Penny. We're here to see Professor Rudd."

R: "Doctor... Who may I say is calling?"

D: "Ahh, Doctor Smith."

R: "Oh yes, Doctor Smith, Professor Rudd is expecting you. If you'll follow me, I'll take you to the lab."

D: "Really? Allons-y!"

[Footsteps on linoleum floor]

P: [whispering] "Doctor, what's going on? Who is Professor Rudd and how could they have known you were coming?"

D: [whispering] "Well, the receptionist either has me confused with someone else, or..."

P: "Or?"

D: "Well, when you travel in time and space you never know when you'll turn up and who may be expecting you."

[Footsteps continue - fade out]


Scene 28: Interior - Science lab. The sounds of running computers and other tech tech sounds are in the background. The sound of a welding torch and tools being knocked about can also be heard.

Prof. Rudd: [Welding torch stops] "Danny, could you hand me the spanner?"

Danny: [Danny hits his head on a metal grate] "Ow! Which one?"

PR: "The blue one."

Trish: "Why you insist on color coding your tools, I'll never understand."

Dn: "The 'Prof' has a photographic memory when it comes to colors. That's why she uses all those colored pens and chalks when she's working her equations." [some clanking of metal tools] "Here you go."

T: "And that works?"

PR: "Thanks Danny. Yes Trish, for some reason my brain keys in on colors more easily than anything."

T: "I guess that explains why you're such a flashy dresser." [giggles]

FX: Door hisses open, followed by footsteps, and then closes.

Receptionist: "Professor Rudd, Doctor Smith to see you."

PR: [Cheerfully] "Ahh, right on time. Thank you. Danny, Trish, why don't you two grab some lunch."

Dn: "Sure, 'Prof'"

T: "Yes mam."

FX: The door hisses open as the Receptionist, Danny, and Trish leave.

PR: "Well Doctor. Long time, no see."

P: "Doctor. Do you know this lady?"

D: "Indeed. Penny, may I introduce you to Professor Julia Rudd. The Earth's foremost authority on Temporal Mechanics for her time. Though that was back in 2013, what are you doing here in the 22nd century?"

P: "2013?"

D: "Yes, one-hundred-and-six-years ago, and you, dear Julia don't look a day over 40."

PR: "Well, even if my birth certificate says I'm one-hundred-thirtyeight, there's no need to be insulting... I'm thirty-one."

D: "Please forgive me. Still, how did you end up here...now?"

PR: "Oops?"

P/D: [simultaneously] "Oops?!"

PR: "A year after we parted ways I was working on a project in New Zealand. One minute it's 2014, the next it's 2112. [laughs] Must have superimposed my yellow and orange equations."

D: "Ah, so you've been here for a while my rainbow coloured Professor."

PR: "Yes, and I've been working on a way to get back ever since."

P: "Unsuccessfully I take it."

PR: "It would seem traveling forward in time is much easier than it is to go back."

D: "Indeed it is; unless you happen to be a Time Lord."

PR: "I take it you detected my experiments and came to warm me, once again, not to meddle in forces that are beyond me, Doctor."

D: "Actually, my TARDIS ran into the chronoton stream your little contraption will release tomorrow."

PR: "I'm sorry Doctor, but you must be mistaken. My machine here is at least a week away from even being ready to test."

P: "Well, something caused the TARDIS to crash."

D: "Precisely, so either your machine is ready tomorrow or someone else in this city is working on a time corridor."

P: "Could it be the Rutans?"

D: "It would make sense, but the Rutans have never shown an interest or aptitude for time travel. If we were dealing with the Sontarans or Daleks..."

Home is where the...

I've turned over the keys and have washed my hands of the old apartment, so I am done.

Well, done moving. Now I get to settle in to the new home and make it my own. Most of the work will be put off until next spring and summer, when the weather improves and I can leave the windows open.

I plan on removing the carpet and going with hard wood flooring downstairs; install a shower in the upstairs tub and tile the walls in the bathroom; replace the washer and dryer; and do something about the back corner of the yard that's grassless.

We'll have to see how much of that actually get's done.

Moving

This is a little late in being posted, but I bought a house and am in the process of loosing my mind... er, moving my stuff and buying new furniture and appliances. I'm sure I'll have a lot to say about it once I'm settled.

Pictures will come soon.

Ethics of Robotic Warfare

Recently, the International Committee for Robot Arms Control (ICRAC) was formed to campaign for limits on military robots used for warfare.

One of the committee's founders, UK Roboticist Noel Sharkey, has campaigned before against allowing these unmanned warbots to make autonomous decisions.

Sharkey told New Scientist Magazine, "Robot weapons are likely to change the character of warfare. We seem to be rushing headlong into the development of autonomous weapons systems without any real concern for the long-term impact on civilian populations."

The ICRAC was also founded by physicist Jürgen Altmann of Dortmund University of Technology (Germany); Robert Sparrow of the Centre for Human Bioethics, Monash University (Australia); and philosopher Peter Asaro of Rutgers University (USA).

We have already seen generous use of the American Predator and Reaper UAVs (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles) during operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, but these still use human operators during live fire strikes. What this committee wants to prevent is the proliferation of these robotic war machines, their carrying nuclear weaponry, and letting them operate autonomously.

Campaign asks for international treaty to limit war robots (New Scientist)

ICRAC fears the principle of keeping a "man in the loop" will be eroded, so that the next generation of robot soldiers will be trusted with life-or-death decisions. Indeed, research into just such scenarios is taking place with US military funding.

The committee is also worried that countries will be more likely to go to war if their casualties will be robots rather than human soldiers. They have also raised the danger of autonomous systems starting and escalating conflicts automatically.

P.W. Singer is another person who has been rather vocal for us to take a close look at the ethics behind the use of robots in war:

There's a speech in one of the anime or movies I watched recently that I tried to track down on YouTube, but was unsuccessful. I'll tag it on later, if I find it.

A Glorious Dawn

Awesome auto-tuned Carl Sagan music video.

More at: http://www.colorpulsemusic.com/

What is OLED?

OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode, and is what's going to kick LED TVs and displays to the curb in the next few years. Watch the video for more info...

Personally, I've been waiting for these displays since I first heard about them a few years ago and saw their potential. Massive potential at that. Uber flat panel video displays, flexible, light weight, etc...

OLED displays are gonna rock the world :)

2012, It's a Disaster!

I love this clever mash-up of the 2012 movie trailer.

Awsome Robotic Hand Video

What's The Worst That Could Happen?

Climate Wizard of Oz condemns Kansas - Short Sharp Science - New Scientist

Climate change is inevitable; just look at the history of the planet. However, the cause of those changes were most likely never rested in the hands of a single species before now. Especially not one that is supposed the be the most intelligent on the planet - as far as we know...

Anyway, blame it on the politicians,

It's hard not to feel sympathy for Kansas' plight. The irony, of course, is that this state - and many of the other states which will be getting up the closest and most personal with global warming - has dragged its heels the most over climate legislation. Just last week Kansas Congressman Jerry Moran slammed a proposal to cap greenhouse gas emissions. "There is no more devastating piece of legislation for rural America, for the Midwest, for agriculture, for farmers and for small business than this piece of legislation at a time like this economy -- bar none," he ranted.

Shared via AddThis

However, there are still people that claim that climate change is just a bunch of hot air, including the founder of the Weather Channel who filed a law suit against Gore's claims in "An Inconvenient Truth" back in 2008 claiming fraud:


In support there are, or were, those who said that reports of Antartica melting were hogwash in January '08:


However, a few months later (March '08), a 160 sq. mile chunk of Antarctica ice shelf broke off into the ocean:


Is global climate change real? Do you really want to wait around, maintain the status quo, and find out; or would you rather try to clean things up and make life better? What's the worst that could happen?

Facebook, bah humbug

I haven't been blogging much, something I intend to fix, due to experimentation with Facebook.

What seemed like a good idea at first, hasn't lived up to it's expectations. It would seem that Facebook is more about quizes, polls, gifts, games, causes, and other inane bull shit, than actually networking with family, friends, old acquaintances, and people of similar interests. Additionally, you don't get much room to rant in and are limited to what you can embed in a posting.

So it's back to blogging for now. Here I can post and embed what I want and not worry about sounding like a prude, or a jack ass in front of everyone; 'cause nobody's listening. Everyone I know are all over at Facebook. :P

F U FCC

Here's a little ditty from Eric Idle that pretty much mirrors the opinion of most small market TV stations.

[CAUTION: Language]

Looking Forward

The future will be built on the ruins of the past. Doesn't that sound grim? When you think about it, most people are so stuck on what they know that it's hard for them to embrace change until what they know is gone. So, where better then to look to the future of architecture and city design than in the places that seem to always need rebuilding due to huricanes and earthquakes?

E. Kevin Schopfer, AIA (American Institute of Architects), RIBA (Royal Institute of British Architects), has come up with the following design for an archology in New Orleans. The biggest question is would people be willing to give up their private homes to live in a complex such as this, and who would it be affordable for the average citizen?



NOAH: New Orleans Arcology Habitat

http://www.ahearnschopfer.com/schopfer/planning/noah/index.html
http://www.yankodesign.com/2009/08/17/heavenly-abode/

In Tokyo, where land is at a premium and is under threat of earthquakes, tsunami, and volcanos; the Takenaka Corporation has proposed the Sky City 1000 archology project. The problem here is money and coming up with the raw materials needed to build it.

Tokyo Sky City 1000


One project that is looking to the future in a not so disaster prone area (depending on how you look at deserts) is the Masdar Initiative. This is a planned city in Abu Dhabi, UAE, a location with a enough wealth and forsight to put together and implement a plan for a city of the future. Masdar City would be an off the grid city that generates it's own power, cleans it's water supply, recycles it's waste, etc. It's quite a move for a country that built it's wealth on the oil industry, to now look to become a leader in renewable energies.

Masdar City

http://www.masdar.ae/en/home/index.aspx

With any luck, the cities, as we know them today, will become roadside attractions like the old ghost towns and reenactment villages, while we live in green cities powered by the sun, wind, geothermal, and/or the waves.

Blah...

Finally, July is over. A rather cool one at that. According to our chief meteorologist told me it was the third coolest on record. I know I hate summers that get too hot and muggy, but this year I think I would have preferred hot and humid days to the 60 to 70 degree days that we have had so far. I'm hoping that August will bring back some of those 80 to 90 degree days so I can appreciate the cool weather this fall.

My friend Jim sent me the season three Torchwood: Children of Earth mini-series. I was quite thrilled with it, and feel that it's on par with the best of the new Doctor Who series. Not sure how they plan on continuing the series with the way that it ended though.


[[!!SPOILER WARNING!!]]

Ianto's dead and Jack's running away from his guilty conscience (Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy style) by hitching a lift on a passing spaceship, leaving a pregnant Gwen Cooper to hold the ship on her own. It's a shitty way to leave things to be picked up if a fourth season becomes manifest. I've also heard rumors that John "Captain Jack" Barrowman may be heading stateside for a part in...Desperate Housewives. Gack! I suppose you could fill Jack's shoes with Martha Jones, with Donna Noble as her assistant. It's be an all female cast: Eve Myles, Freema Agyeman, and Catherine Tate.

[[END SPOILERS]]

Jim also sent over two 1990's direct to video BBV Doctor Who spin-off movie series, PROBE and the Auton Trilogy. PROBE felt like an early version of Torchwood with Liz Grant (a companion of the Doctor's from his time at UNIT) investigating Preturnatural crimes and featuring several of the actors who played the Doctor over the years and companions in various roles. The Auton trilogy seems to have had a lower budget that the PROBE videos, but it followed the continuing plots perpetrated by the Autons (one of my favorite Who villians) and contested by UNIT, so I still enjoyed it.

Closer to home, Mike talked me into buying Mercenaries 2 (on the pretense that he would buy Crackdown) so he could get the co-op achievements for the game (ditto for him getting Crackdown). It's nowhere as good as the original, but you still get to blow shit up. It's playable, but I'm also getting lost a whole lot in the plot of the game. Keep it simple, keep it fun!

I've also received all the Fallout 3: Point Lookout achievements, so I'm ready for Mothership Zeta when that comes out this week. Point Lookout was a very good addition to the game, and I was almost sad to have to return to the Capitol Wastelands. However, I know I can go back whenever I want. :)

Mind Control For The Masses

It seams that the new big thing for toy companies is producing games that you can control with your mind. Basically, you strap on an EEG based headset that senses beta or theta brainwave activity to control the motion of (in these games) a ball.

Uncle Milton is producing the Star Wars Force Trainer


Mattel is releasing the Mind Flex


Interactive Productline has created Mindball


The interesting thing is that this reminds me a lot of this scene from the 1956 movie, Forbidden Planet...

Summer Takes A Holiday

It seems that Summer has decided to go somewhere else as of late. For the last few days the it has been 10 to 20 degrees cooler than normal. Last night it dropped down into the upper 40s, lower 50s. It's starting to feel a lot like late October, and I wouldn't be suprised if the leaves started to turn.

But there's not such thing as global climate change.

I should really ask one of the weather guys what the longest trend is for cool temps in July.

Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea

Hayao Miyazaki is at it again. Ponyo (aka Ponyo on the Cliff by the Sea) is a variation of the Little Mermaid story, with a fish girl who want's to become human. From the trailer, it looks like this is going to be yet another masterpiece!



Ponyo is the tenth feature film written and directed by Miyazaki.

I was first introduced to Miyazaki's work with "Warriors of the Wind", a 1980's heavily-edited version of "Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind", which was the film I cite with turning me on to Japanese anime and manga.



Over the years I have collected and/or seen the majority of Miyazaki's major works, and a bits of his short works (thanks to YouTube).



I have to say that I still hold that Miyazaki's films are better than most that come out of American studios. However, I think Pixar has learned a lot about animation and storytelling from the examples that he has laid down.

Facebooking vs. Blogging

I opened a Facebook account late April because some friends and family were on a I had received a couple requests to join in. So, reluctantly, I joined to see what it was all about.

It seems to be a part Twitter, Blog, and Flickr. Central to it all is the ability to see what your friends are posting on one page. You can also tie your Facebook account with your Twitter, Blogger, Flickr, Photobucket, and a host of other online accounts so additions there show up on your Facebook page for all to see. Quite handy for the socially addicted individual.

I have used it quite a bit in the past two months, posting things I might have posted here, there. So, is Facebooking better than Blogging? It depends on what you are using it for. Facebook is a good way of keeping connected with the little things that are going on - those short posts you don't want to clutter your blog with, while blogging is more suited for those longer winded posts.

Also, since I can post pictures, links, movies, and even embed my rss twitter feed, there isn't much I can't do on Blogger than what I can do with Facebook. Except create a social networking location. But that's not what I intended to do here.

Are Cyborgs the Future of Humanity?

Is the next step in human evolution cyborgs? Very doubtful, economically speaking it's just a really big stretch. I'd place my money on genetic enhancements trumping cybernetics, though I don't doubt cybernetic enhancements may find a short lived niche, somewhere.

The main drawback of cybernetics would be upkeep and upgrades. At the pace technological evolution is at currently, you have to change your computers and cell phones every few months to keep up with the latest advances. Would you be willing to go in and have your cybernetics upgraded as often?

Imagine the cost.

Also, cybernetic augmentations would not carry over through reproduction. So you'll have to budget each child's cybernetics.

Nanotechnology might simplify the installation and upkeep processes, but it would still be unpleasant and costly.

Biological and genetic engineering is most likely the road humanity will decide to follow if they decide to take control of their evolutionary path. The biggest benefit would be if the changes were such that they could be passed from parent to child. However, there's no saying if the parents upgrades would be compatible or cause some unforeseen mutations in the offspring.

In the end, you have to ask yourself, is it worth it?

WTF?!

I'm never going to fly again...

That's some killer turbulence. Seriously, WTF?!

Best Fallout 3 Fan Vid

Dead to the World

Allergy season sucks. Most days it isn't so bad, but then there are days where I curse the world.

Yesterday wasn't an awful day, but the conditions were just right with the weather and such that when I took my allergy meds, I shut down.

I couldn't concentrate on gaming after taking some Benadryl, so I had decided to lay back and watch a DVD. I passed out about fifteen minutes in and woke up about five hours later.

Greg Dean knows how it feels. Click the image to see the full comic.

Terminator Apocalypse

I was just going to write a review of Terminator Salvation, but it became more of a rambling about the Terminator movies. Proceed at your own risk.

It's hard to say what the first apocalypse movie I ever saw was (Damnation Alley or Planet of the Apes), but one of my favorites was the Terminator. Sure, it didn't take place in an apocalyptic wasteland, but the Kyle Reese's flashbacks to the resistance fighting the machines set the stage for the movies grand mythos.

The premise that a sentient computer decides that humanity must die isn't anything new. Track down a copy of Colossus: The Forbin Project, Tron, The Matrix, Maximum Overdrive, or any number of old Doctor Who episodes. In most machine vs. man stories the action took place covertly as the computer would create a shadowy cabal to do the machines bidding or quietly close all your bank accounts and register you as a wanted criminal, so the action was usually quite limited to running away from the law or shadow assassins.

The Terminator gave the machine a more substantial means of exterminating mankind. Arnold Shwarzenegger and Robert Patrick did a great job in presenting the T-800 and T-1000 as unstoppable killing machines in the first two movies. Things started getting a little silly in Terminator 3 with the T-X's built-in flame thrower, plasma caster, and its the other gimmicks. One could say that every time Skynet and the resistance sent back their hunter and protector they changed the timeline enough so that the Terminators kept getting more advanced (polymimetic liquid metal alloy?!) as they repeatedly tried to kill or save Sarah and John Connor.

!!WARNING SPOILERS AHEAD!!

Now with Terminator Salvation we are finally in the post Judgement Day, era since Skynet nuked the planet at the end of T3: Rise of the Machines (serves you right for not watching the movie yet), and we get to watch John Connor and the Resistance fight the machine; or so you would expect. The Terminator stories have always been about Skynet vs. the Connors. Sure, John Connor and Kyle Reese are in the movie, but they are more side stories that anything else.

Salvation is really the story of Marcus Wright, a convicted murder who donates his body to Cyberdyne before his execution. We then meet as he drags himself out of the mud after John and a squad of resistance fighters attack the Skynet bunker where he had been stored for the past fifteen years. We then follow Marcus, not aware of the war or that Cyberdyne has turned him into a cyborg, as he stumbles through the apocalyptic wasteland until he bumps into a T-600 in LA and consequently saved by a teenage Kyle Reese. He then fails to save Kyle, and his sidekick Star, when they are captured by a Skynet harvester, but bumps into Blair, a resistence pilot who was shot down by the HK fliers and offers to take him to John Connor and the resistance.

Marcus is exposed to the resistance to be a product of Cyberdyne/Skynet and must be destroyed, but Blair frees him before he can be terminated because she beleives he is still more man than machine. John, who's still got a soft spot in his heart for renegade Terminators joins forces with Marcus who figures he can get inside Skynet, find Kyle, let John in, and destroy Skynet. He does and they do, but in the end, Marcus must make the ultimate sacrifice as a payment for being given a second chance at saving his soul. Thus the title of the film, Terminator Salvation.

The thing that bugs me is that Marcus was a convicted killer on death row, a fact we are made aware of in the opening scene of the movie, but he's suddenly a nice guy after his "resurrected" in the wasteland. The main message here is supposed to be that Marcus is given a second chance to be good, but it's a theme that's never discussed until the end of the movie when he makes the ultimate sacrifice. In my opinion, the scene of Marcus on death row should have been used as a flash back at some point in the story when he has to face a major moral decision (kill or spare the lives of the guys who attacked Blair, save/abandon Kyle and Star, save John Connor). Better yet, just drop the death row element all together. It really didn't play into anything important. Marcus could just have easily been some morally questionable commando who was chosen for the cyberization.

Disappointingly, Kyle Reese is taken by Skynet in the first thirty minutes of the film and really doesn't do much more than that. But he does get to say the line, "Come with me if you want to live".

John Connor isn't totally ignored in the movie. We do get to see how he received the scar over his eye (T2), he gets to fight an unfriendly T-800 complete with Schwarzenegger skin, and blow up Skynet San Francisco (one of the many Skynet facilities around the world) but that's about it. Other than that, he's just this guy bumping heads with the leaders of the resistance and making propaganda speeches to the resistance on the radio.

As far as a Terminator movies go, I'm disapointed in this story. It does little or nothing to adavance the franchise and treats John Connor/Kyle Reese as a sidenote. Hopefully, the next movie will get it right. That or we can see a Terminator v. Predator cross over film. That would kick ass!

You say Mah-Jongg, I say Mahjong

Last week I decided that I was going to learn how to play real Mahjong - not that solitaire tile matching game you're probably used too, but the real deal.

Why? Well, much like how LOST got me interested in learning how to play Backgammon, I stumbled onto an Anime series (Saki) that was about Mahjong and was rather technical about scoring and other aspects of the game. So instead of just walking away from the series because I didn't understand what was going on, I decided that I should just learn how to play the game.

I found one, FunTown Mahjong, on XBox Live Arcade and downloaded it. The scoring system boggles the mind, and while looking it up on Wikipedia I found that there are multiple variations of Mahjong; each with it's own rule variations and scoring methods.

It turns out that the XBox game I bought uses the Taiwanese variation which uses 16 tiles, while most other variations only use 13. I figured there was something different after I went back to the Anime series and noticed they were using different terms and scoring, but now I know. So now I've found a site [GameDesign.jp] that uses the Japanese variation and have been trying to learn that as well. If I thought the Taiwanese variation was mind bending, it was nothing compared to the Japanese variation...

Still it takes a lot of practice to learn a new game, and I'm up to the challange. I just with there was a club around here that could teach me more...

Star Trek v. Star Wars: Ripoff or Homage?

I knew I'd seen this story somewhere before. Hahaha

10 Things I Hate About J.J.'s Trek

#10: Red Matter - Just a drop will do yah, but Spock brings a shit-ton?!
#9: Nero's plan to destroy Vulcan and all Federation plants, instead of just saving Romulus.
#8: The engineering decks on the Federation star ships.
#7: Spock's 'blender' ship
#6: Antenna's on the bridge of the USS Kelvin. WTF?
#5: This version of Kirk's Kobayashi Maru solution. In the Novel, The Kobayashi Maru (1989), Kirk reprograms the simulated Klingons to be afraid of "The Captain Kirk," arguing that he expected to build a comparable reputation. (NOTE: This is the only Star Trek novel I've actually read)
#4: Spock marooned on the same planet Scotty is stuck on, and Kirk get's cast away upon. What a convenient coincidence!
#3: Shamelessly vomiting old catch phases, trying to sound like the original crew.
#2: OSHA would have a field day inside Nero's ship
#1: Star Trek fix-all, TIME TRAVEL! ARGH!!!

Star Trek Reboot

I saw Star Trek on Friday. Visually the movies was Awesome, but I really wish that they would STOP doing time travel stories! Star Trek has trivialized time travel to the Nth degree: Whipping around a star, through a black hole, countless space anomalies, etc...

I probably would have preferred J.J. just do a 'Batman Begins' to Star Trek instead of the whole, "this is an alternate time line" BS. Watching this, I felt like I was watching a bunch of role players trying to pretend to be younger versions of the original characters by rehashing their infamous lines to death: Damnit! I'm a doctor, not a [fill in the blank]; I'm giving her all she's got; and Checkov's weven worse Wussian accwent.

And for the life of me I'll never understand what was going through their heads as they felt that they needed more lens flares! "It needs more Cow Bell" ARGH!!! Were they trying to cove some poor shots? Are we supposed to be impressed that the future actually IS so bright we have to wear shades?! Sure, J.J. admitted that he may have overdone it in a couple scenes, but really! WTF!

So, is this a reboot or just another dimension/alternate timeline/reality in the Star Trek universe like the Mirror Universe with Evil Kirk & Spock? I'll go with alternate reality, and stick with the fact that the original ST Universe is still alive and well.

Here's a request to any future Sci-Fi screen writers out there. Please stop fucking with the classics (Star Trek, Star Wars, Battlestar Gallactica) and create something new for a change! Riding on the coat tails of the genre's greats is one thing, but trying to join should be what you should really be trying to achieve.

Hit and Run

I'm cursed. Well, maybe not, but it sure feels like it some days.

Saturday, after returning from a Mothers Day/Mom's Birthday lunch in the cities, I had a accident while heading over to a friends house. I was entering an intersection when another driver drove through a red light. Quick reflexes allowed me to break and turn so that what might have been a T-Bone ended up with only my front bumper being torn off by his rear bumper. That is itself would have been bad enough, but it didn't stop there. Actually, the other driver didn't stop there. He kept on going. Hit-and-run; great... So I chased after the car honking my horn with my front bumper hanging and swaying in the wind. It must have been quite an interesting scene to everyone else on the road.

The driver finally turned off onto a side street and then an alley. Here, most people would probably just drive on and call the cops from the nearest pay phone (I didn't have my cell on me (a first)), but I stopped, got out, and survey the damage. The driver was Hispanic and didn't speak English. Thankfully, the owner of the car (not in the vehicle at the time, but at the location we stopped at) let me use his cell phone to call my friend to come over and bring his camera so we could take some pictures of the damage (I'll attach those later).

When he finally arrived, I used his phone to call the police to make an accident report. When they arrived, I found out that the driver didn't have any ID and the owner didn't have the car insured. Everyone was civil and calm throughout the series of events. Unfortunately, the driver was arrested for leaving the scene of an accident and not having any ID, and the owner was cited for not insuring the vehicle.

So, now I'm stuck covering my deductible a third time for damage done to my car.

...SUCK

K-ON!

I was finally able to track down a few episodes of K-ON! on YouTube yesterday. They weren't subtitled, so I wasn't able to understand the majority of what they were saying, but I was still able to follow along with what was happening thanks to the smattering of Japanese words I do recognize, and from the summaries I've read of the show online.

I really do hope this show makes it over here, or that I will be able to track down a fan-sub copy of the show. A-HA! I found someone on YouTube who's uploaded several subtitled episodes of the show! Yosh!

Finally, people have started posting the full version of the K-ON! opening song, so I've embeded a copy below. Enjoy.

Swine Flu Outbreak

The big news this week is the recent outbreaks of Swine Flu in the US. It apparently started in Mexico, but this isn't the first time that Swine Flu made headlines as seen in this 1970s Public Service Announcement.

Here is the statement from Dr. Richard Besser from the CDC.


Here are a couple recent news stories that have been circulating since the recent outbreak began.
CNN


CBC

And, of course, the conspiracy theorists are hard at work looking for ways to turn this event into the next 9/11.

Office Pantry

I've been trying to cut down on the amount of money I spend on lunch by eating at work. So I've gotten into the habit of shopping for microwaveable meals (usually noodle cups and soups) and crackers, and storing them in one of my desk drawers.

Here are the current contents:

Hard At Work

Jeesh, those guys are still at work on the roof at my apartment. They have moved on, for the most part, to the lower roof over the business, which is just out my kitchen window. It's still an awful racket in the morning too.
To add to the inconvenience, workers have started working on the front of the building. Last night a guy was working until around 9pm grinding out the old mortar around the brickwork. The front is where my entertainment room is, so you can understand that I was pretty miffed at all the noise while trying to watch a movie and then going online to do some gaming.

This morning there was a guy (maybe the same guy?) working new mortar into the brickwork.
Fortunately, I'm a ways removed from a lot of the other work that's going on downtown. A few blocks over, they have been tearing down buildings to make way for the new Justice Center. I think here are six blocks that were scheduled for demolition.
They have also finally torn down one house that was gutted by fire over a year ago. I've had to pass by the house on the way to work most every day, and I'm glad to see it go. Today, there was nothing more than a hole in the ground to signify where it once stood.

Fallout 3: The Pitt Review

I've been a fan of the Fallout series of games since I was introduced to them. So when Fallout 3 came out I was very excited. It was the only reason I finally broke down and bought the XBox360.

The game itself was great, but not as awesome as the originals. It was awesome in it's own way though. The wasteland vista and the ruins, were visualized in a way that was pretty disturbing. The people and the creatures that called the Capitol Wasteland home were a combination of new and familiar faces.

After spending over a hundred hours, over three play throughs, in the game I was pleased to hear that Bethesda was planning on releasing three DLC (DownLoadable Content) packs to add some more play to the game.

The first, Operation Anchorage was okay, but nothing spectacular. It did bring a few new weapons into the game, but didn't really add anything substantial.
The Pitt, however, added a substantial side-quest story line to the game in addition to new weapons and gear.

In The Pitt you are called upon to rescue the save the slaves from the radiation poisoning that will turn them into trogs (kinda like the wasteland ghouls) by stealing a cure from the leader of The Pitt. The question is, will you help the slaves or will you side with the slave master?
If this is any indication of the quality of the next DLC, Broken Steel, I'll be delighted.

I really hope that Bethesda is planning on publishing another game in the Fallout universe.

Warmer Weather

It may not look it, but it actually felt like spring today. Temps were in the mid 60s.

I took this picture on the way to get lunch at Arby's (Fish) after checking on my apartment and my cat. She is not at all amused by all the commotion that's going on atop the apartment. Neither am I.

Rude Awakening

I woke this morning to the crunching sound of books on my roof followed by the ripping sound of the roofing being torn from it's surface. Not exactly the best sounds to wake up to in the morning.

As I walked out the front door this is the image I met.

The land lord never called me today to let me know how long this work is expected to continue, but the other lawyer in his office told me that he thought it would be another two days, at least.

7 Megs of Internet Mana

I just signed up for Qwest 7Meg DSL service and expect to have it running by Friday. I did have to up my phone service to include a few bells and whistles I know I'll have little need for, but the overall price was worth it.

I'll be interested to see how my XBox360 likes the 7Meg for XBox Live gaming.

K-ON!

If there's one person I usually look too to find interesting anime before it ever leaves Japan, it's Jeff Lawson. Earlier this month in his blog Jeff mentioned a new TBS (Tokyo Broadcasting System) TV Anime series, K-ON! It's a series based on a manga series about a group of school girls who form a band in order to save their schools light music club. The twist is that none of the have any experience playing music instruments or reading sheet music.

It doesn't sound exciting, but the shows like this always find ways of grabbing your attention and becoming awesome shows. Be it the music, voice acting, writing, or just the art, Anime can take just about any idea and turn it into a thing of beauty. Or just milk it for money... *cough*Naruto*cough*

If, by some twist of fate, this anime series actually makes it to these shores, I'll have to remember to pick it up.

Promises of a Warm Weekend

So the station meteorologist says it's supposed to get into the mid to upper 50's this coming weekend. I very much hope that this is not one of those wishful thinking forecasts. I am so very ready to throw open the windows again and let some fresh air into the apartment.

Cricket is also wanting to be let out once again. I can't blame her. I want to drag my bike down the stairs and ride around the snowless streets and bike paths again.

Kung-Fu Clowns

Yeah, so I'm back to posting YouTube videos. Bite me :P

I Love Asian Commercials!

Here is just a sample at how crazy their commercials can be:

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Knowing

This movie walks a fine line between sci-fi and action-thriller. I guess you could group this with movies such as The Day The Earth Stood Still (1951), The Lathe of Heaven, The Prince of Darkness, and Deep Impact; but I would rank "Knowing" below each of those.

The problem I had with this movie was the first ending. By first ending, I'm referring to the point when we find out who the "Whisperers" are, and what their goal is. I found this bit to have been over done and could have been easily replaced with a blinding flash of light before they vanish instead of spending all that money on the big and long special effects sequence. Keep it simple!

The second end, the point where the prophecy comes to fruition, was done well enough. The panic in the streets was pretty much standard Hollywood fare, but the firestorm was very well done. I'm glad they left the grim ending. It would have sucked otherwise.

Miniatur Wunderland

Many visitors show up early in the morning and leave in the very last minute, only to come back next morning. The Miniatur Wunderland cannot be explored in a couple of minutes. Therefore, it is virtually impssible to show you the Wunderland in a 4 minute movie, but we can at least give your some impressions:


http://www.miniatur-wunderland.com/exhibit/video/4-minutes-wunderland/

Trouble with Twitter

Breathing

Well, this is the start of the third week I've had this chest congestion, and it would appear that I'm not the only one around that's dealing with it. I found out last week that one of the ladies that works in the offices upstairs has been dealing with it for over a month.

I hope that I won't have to deal with it quite so long. I started taking MucinexDM to manage the phlegm and cough. The nasty phlegm seems to have gone away, but the cough hasn't. It still feels like I've got something weighing down on my chest, but I'm not sure what. I know it's not pneumonia; I've had to deal with that before.

Hopefully, when the weather starts getting warmer again, this will all go away. That, or maybe I should take a week off and head to someplace warm and dry.

Inner Light

Just finished watching The Inner Light. This was one of my all time favorite episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation. After doing some reading online, I found they made an orchestral version of the song Picard played on his flute. A quick search online found this:

Orchestral Suite from the Inner Light - Original Soundtrack

Freedom || Security

Got into a short discussion with my officemate over the argument that freedom can't coexist with the kind of security he's looking for. This was started by his surprise at how easy it was for some guy to get his hands on four fake passports.

My stance is that there will always be security flaws in a free society. He is of the opinion that you can maintain a free society even with stringent security. To back my point I sent him the following and requested that he send me any counterpoints to support his argument.


"They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety."
- Benjamin Franklin

Freedom vs. Security: A False Choice
- Ron Paul

Personal freedom vs. national security debated at forum
- Sasha Brown, MIT

Eve Ensler: Security and insecurity
- Eve Ensler

Trading freedom for security
- Tony DiPasquale

Security vs Freedom
- The Language Guy Blog

I'm a twit

I've noticed I haven't posted much here since I started using Twitter. I suppose it's because it's quick and easy, and I don't have the space to go in to too much detail since you're only allowed 140 characters (spaces included) per tweet.

I really should use this blog to expand on some of those Teets. Here, I don't have a character or word limit; I can embed pictures; and there's a spell checker.

Maybe later...

Two Reasons Why Obama Kicks Ass

Ron Paul Before Bernanke Testimony

It's been a while since I've posted anything regarding the financial crisis or about Ron Paul. Here's a two-fer. This is Ron Paul's opening statement before Ben Bernanke's testimony before House Financial Services Committee on 2009.02.25

Winter Storm

Slideshow is in reverse order.

Laurel & Hardy Dance

I'm a Laurel & Hardy geek :)


original

Building The New World

Several years ago I picked up a copy of a game called Anno 1602 [wiki] in the $10 bin at Target or Best Buy. It was a real time strategy game about settling the New World, and I fell in love with the game right away. Surprisingly, I was even able to get my friend Mike to buy a copy and we start playing it multiplayer.

Not long after, we found a copy of Anno 1503 [wiki]. It was the sequel to 1602, but I found it to be far more complicated than the original. The graphics were better, but they had made everything in the game far more complicated than it needed to be and it detracted from the fun.

A couple years ago, Mike picked up a copy of the latest sequel, Anno 1701 [wiki]. The graphics were much better, but were beyond what my computers would run. Later, after Mike upgraded to another computer, I bought a copy and we started playing. The game play was much like 1602, but improved. I've found these games to be very addictive, far better than most real time 4X games (eXplore, eXpand, eXploit, and eXterminate).

We stopped playing for a while, but have started up again. I still don't have a box at home that I can run 1701 on, but I still have my copy of 1602, which I've reinstalled on my laptop.

Like I said, it's a very addictive game.

Now I've found out that Ubisoft is developing a new sequel, Anno 1404 [wiki]. Ubi is adding a twist to this game though, now it's set in Orient.

Anno 1602 Gameplay


Anno 1503 Game Promo


Anno 1701 Trailer


Anno 1404 Trailer

The Price of Atheism (20/20)

Wind Power

I drove to Rochester after work last night to stock on cat food and browse Best Buy. On the way, I pulled out the new phone work gave me and tried taking some pictures with the camera. The (least blurry) results are below. Click to enlarge...

Snowing Again!

Woke up this morning to a fresh snowfall:Funny how you miss the simple things when their gone :)

Ever Have One Of Those Days?

Serioulsy, WTF?!

What the hell is up with the houses in this town? The majority of homes in that I've had the misfortune of touring look like they were designed, or redesigned, by someone on some seriously whacked out drugs.

Seriously! The biggest offense I've seen are the bathrooms. How hard is it to design a bathroom!? Rectangular, with enough space to fit a toilet, tub (maybe a shower), and a sink. But no! One I saw had the toilet shoved into what looked like was the bathrooms closet/pantry. Another had a tub that looked like it was made for a child! TINY!

One house I took a look at today had a bath room room. Seriously! A room sized bath room. Normally when you have a bathroom attached to a room there is a door that separates the two... Not here. I don't know what was going through their heads when they did that one, but WTF!? SERIOUSLY!! WTF!?

And then you take a look at how some idiot (also on drugs) divided larger rooms in older houses destroying the old hardwood and covering it up with crappy carpet. There ought to be a law.

The worst part are when you go into parts of the house and take a look at some project that the previous owner started and never finished, scratch your head and wonder WTF was that supposed to be?! The same house with the bath room room I mentioned previously had this two foot raised cement platform in the basement corner with steps that they started to put a wall frame around that the realtor and I scratched our heads and said, WTF? What could have been meant for? I really need to go back and take some pictures to show you what I mean, and you too will be wondering, WTF?!

Seriously, the majority of homes for sale in this town (mostly the foreclosed on ones) seriously need to be burned down and taken away. There's no way that I can see them being put back into a realistic living space, and sold for a reasonable amount of money.

Seriously, WTF?

Fanboy Trailer

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2009 when:

1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that
they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if
anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the
screen

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't even have
the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic
and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

13. Even worse, you know exactly to whom you are going to forward this
message.

14. You are too busy to notice there was no #9 on this list.

15. You actually scrolled back up to check that there wasn't a #9 on
this list.

~~~~~~~~~~~AND FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~~~

NOW U R LAUGHING at yourself.