/Film had new pictures of the happening. Not very telling, is it?
Check out their site for more pictures.
Bad news for Google.
A US P.I . is suing the Googly goodness. Nah, it's not that he found some dodgy stuff whilst on a Nancy Drew mission; it's about a loophole in the AdWords programme.
Okay, so you sign for AdWords, fill in your details, etc. etc. The problem, as noted by David Almeida lies with bidding for 3rd party sites.
His lawyers claim that a second optional box, which bids for adverts on third-party sites, will post bids if left blank. Users have to enter zero to not place a bid.
I suppose Google will rectify the hiccup soon enough. Let's face it, there will be bugs in any system which will be uncovered as more people flock to use the system.
Even at this rate, it's not as bad as the 11 faults with Vista.
Wonder if any of the new media moguls will make a kerfuffle out of this one.
I'm reading the first book of the Ender's Trilogy and thus, any news about a possible movie intrigued me.
Sure, once I finish the book I'll lament any questionable casting calls and plot omissions. But let's start this topic with an open mind.
According to io9, Wolfgang Peterson will not be doing the directorial honors for this movie. The producers are currently hunting down a good director for the flick.
And no news of the cast either. Very hush hush I see.
On the topic of plotline deviations, I really don't have to worry about it. Orson Scott Card, the genius behind the novel, is tweaking the script. No worries there.
Gateworld has the scoop! Atlantis has a new commander! And it's none other than Richard Woosley (Richard Picardo).... or as Vala once put it "That Weasel guy!"
Let's not be too harsh; we've already seen his character change throughout Sg-1. First you hated his guts, then he helped them out here and there. He was kinda growing on you ... before you know he becomes all Weasel-like again. Case in point: When Daniel Jackson looked like an Ori disciple.
I would prefer to have dynamic characters you feel strongly about, whether you hate them or like them. It's the ones that make you go "Yea whatever" which kills your enthusiasm for the show. So here's to Woosley adding to some interesting twists.
Think about it - I hated Col. Harry Maybourne until he made amends towards the end of Sg-1. Then he just became a cool breakaway faction, all by himself!
Gateworld has the details!
Note: While I was looking for a picture of Robert Picardo I came across this site. Tell me, is this really a young, brazen Richard Picardo in this pic?
There's been one more 'agent' added to the Dollhouse - According to AICN, Angel's Amy Acker is gonna play the role of Dr. Claire Saunders.
So let's see who's part of the cast.
Elizab Dushku - Echo ( kick-ass lead Doll )
Olivia Willaims - Adelle deWitt (Runs the org.)
Tahmoh Penikett - (FBI Dude who's suspicious about the Doll Complex)
Frank Kranz - (Whiz-kid who's responsible for messing around with Doll memories)
Dichen Lachman - Sierra ( Echo's best bud)
Enver Gjokaj - Victor (best bud no. 2)
Harry Lennix - Bodyguard
Miracle Laurie - November (one of Dolls in org. Important or else we won't mention her)
Amy Acker - Dr. Claire Saunders. (think of her as Stargate Atlantis' Dr Beckett of the Dollhouse)
______________________________________________
Related articles:
* Is network interference killing Dollhouse?
* Dollhouse Spoilers
* Whedon Interview about Dollhouse
* Whedon's new show
Don't target Google for their "Do No Evil" slogan. Like any other technological invention, it is a double-edged sword.
Sure, everyone likened Google Earth to an Orwellian "Big Brother". And no one wants to talk about the pros of Google's work.
Well, Google Earth will hopefully get a few brownie points for starting the "Google Earth Outreach" Programme.
According to the Telegraph, Google is working alongside UNHCR to use Google Earth to highlight some of the humanitarian crises occurring worldwide.Agencies can overlay text, audio and video information onto Google Earth in what is known as a "layer", enabling them to explain and illustrate their humanitarian work to a worldwide audience.
Hmm, of course, you could have a "Wag the Dog" sort of instance. But then who knows if it doesnt happen already.
Guess what? Keeping up with modern hype, they are going to release The Incredible Hulk game for the Wii. That would be interesting, especially for those fans opting for new frontier anti-couch potato gaming.
It's set for a June release.
Click here for more shots of the game.
Source:
Gaming Target
M. Night Shyamalan's new movie, The Happening is gonna be out on 13th June.
I've not heard any updates about the movie. Either he is keeping quiet about it or people are not bothered. Which is sad. But then I seem to be one of few who enjoyed Lady in the Water.
Well, I found a trailer for The Happening at Den Of Geek. So far it looks interesting. Won't knock it till I've watched the actual movie.
Plot synopsis: From what I gather it's Mother Earth on a rampage.
Boing Boing had a blog post about British MP Austin Mitchell's fight for photographer's rights.
Background to story:
You know the new paranoia mentality that brought about the photographing scare in UK?
The campaign reads as follows :Thousands of people take photos every day
What if one of them seems odd?
Terrorists use surveillance to help plan attacks, taking photos and making notes about security measures like the location of CCTV cameras
If you see someone doing that we need to know
Let experienced officers decide what action to take
A new Orwellian anti-terror campaign?
If you check it out, it is seeped in xenophobia.
Update:
Well, apparently quite a few amateur and professional photographers have suffered due to this new movement. Some instances were in public places, where technically you have a right to take pictures. At least in my opinion; if these public places are not for the people, are they meant for the tooth fairy?
So now a rather miffed British MP by the name of Austin Mitchell is fighting the cause of freedom for the people. He has also tabled a motion in Commons to raise the issue.
His motion, as taken from the Press Gazette:
"That this House is concerned to encourage the spread and enjoyment of photography as the most genuine and accessible people's art; deplores the apparent increase in the number of reported incidents in which the police, police community support officers (PCSOs) or wardens attempt to stop street photography and order the deletion of photographs or the confiscation of cards, cameras or film on various specious ground such as claims that some public buildings are strategic or sensitive, that children and adults can only be photographed with their written permission, that photographs of police and PCSOs are illegal, or that photographs may be used by terrorists; points out that photography in public places and streets is not only enjoyable but perfectly legal; regrets all such efforts to stop, discourage or inhibit amateur photographers taking pictures in public places, many of which are in any case festooned with closed circuit television cameras; and urges the Home Office and the Association of Chief Police Officers to agree on a photography code for the information of officers on the ground, setting out the public's right to photograph public places thus allowing photographers to enjoy their hobby without officious interference or unjustified suspicion."
Boing Boing is trying to create more awareness about it, get more people involved, write to your MP, that sorta thing.
Please help spread the word.
BoingBoing had this fascinating post about Internet Black Holes.
A UW doctoral student in computer science and engineering, Ethan Katz-Bassett, had been working on this project called Hubble - Aim? Guess to find if internet is really accessible as it is purported to be.
Are people really going where none of their forefathers went before? Perhaps not! Check it out.Katz-Bassett has been working on a project called Hubble, a system that apparently is able to track what he refers to as information black holes. These are situations where a path between two computers does exist, but messages - a request to visit a Web site or an outgoing e-mail - get lost along the way. Katz-Bassett has published a Hubble map that enables users to monitor such black holes worldwide or simply type in a network address to check its status.
Source:
Link (via Boing Boing)
Oooh! Gateworld has a sneak peek at an interesting episode in Season 5 of Stargate Atlantis.
Sum it up in few words? Trigger happy Ronon and overconfident McKay on a mission. And they run into another Runner! Well not them exactly, but you'll see when you read the full details.
Season 5 is going to air in July so fans don't have to wait too long.Photo Source:
horsenbuggy
Somehow I was not getting email notification when someone commented. So I am getting back to some of the older comments only now. Apologies for HorseNBuggy about pic. Have removed it.
I know she's protecting her work but man! Think of the repercussions.
J.K.Rowling is involved in an important case where intellectual property is concerned; bit of a landmark case if you will. If she wins, there could be serious repercussions on supplement work. An entire genre might just shrivel up and die.
Ok from the top. As any Potter fan will tell you, Rowling has been in this awful tiff with Steve Vander Ark and RDR Books for trying to publish an unofficial Harry Potter encyclopedia.
In her words, "If RDR's position is accepted, it will undoubtedly have a significant, negative impact on the freedoms enjoyed by genuine fans on the internet,"
Funny, it seems like her victory would spell that very doom as well.
According to BBC:
If accepted, it said, her injunction "would dramatically extend the reach of copyright protection and eliminate an entire genre of literary supplements - third party reference guides to fiction". "By extension, it would threaten not just reference guides, but encyclopaedias, glossaries, indexes and other tools that provide useful information about copyrighted works.
Would this affect cliff notes? Helpful literature guides written by more qualified professors than Ms. Scottish Castle? Surely the more work derived from a piece of work, the better?
Gateworld had an interview with Cliff Simon about the upcoming Stargate movie: Stargate Continuum.
He talks a little bit about the movie; how he tries to change time, this particular scene with Qetesh that's got him all riled up and of course, continuation of story beyond Continuum.
Cliff Simon points out that this is the one instance where you see Baal as the evil Goa'uld that he was famous for; evil and powerful system lord to be feared. Admittedly Baal had mellowed down by season 10 but no one's complaining there.
He also talks about getting American citizenship in 2005 (woohoo!) and discusses his reasons for moving from South Africa - to give his career that extra nudge and of course, to escape violent crime in South Africa.
In his words:
South Africa just became too much for me. I had some very violent encounters also involving my wife. I turned around to her one day and just said "Look, what are we waiting for? Are we going to wait until I get murdered, or you get murdered?" Because it was actually getting to that stage. It was pretty crazy. So we made the decision. I said "Look, we're going hang around and hang around. We're actually going to make the decision and just leave." I had it very good in South Africa. I was very famous. I couldn't go anywhere. People would know me wherever I went. I would get into clubs. I would get free drinks. I was a contracted player on a show, so I was on a monthly salary. Everything was great. I earned a lot of properties. After the things that happened to us I realized none of that mattered. Money doesn't matter. It's your quality of life. I want to be able to go for a walk around the neighborhood at ten o'clock at night, if I want to. I want to walk my dog. So that was a decision. I came out here, brought my dogs. I have now exactly what I wanted as far as that quality of life. Quality of life has got nothing to do with money. It's how you live your daily life. And I found that. Which was amazing.
Excuse me for taking an extensive quote from a website (I usually leave it to small sound bites).
But in this case, he talked about an issue that to close to South African's hearts. Issue and crime and wanting a better, safer life for yourself.
Well, not everyone is part of emigration fan club; there are the nay-sayers and cynics who do their own magical peer pressure nonsense once they hear you wanna pack your bags.
But to all who do plan to do so, don't let others get to you. After all, Baal made it.
The ties between Philosophy and Science fiction.
This was the topic discussed at the Cal State Fullerton's annual philosophy Fullerton.Each guest speaker presented an essay based on a philosophical theme that has been explored in the science fiction genre. After each speaker finished, a philosophy student presented an essay in argument to the speaker's position. The speakers were allowed to defend their argument then field questions from the audience.
Apparently they added little sci-fi touches to the scenario, from a license plate that said "USS Enterprise" to using a bit of alien lingo from Star Trek episodes.
I should send this link to my brother who is a philosophy student. Might I note also an ardent foreign arty film fan. The kind where you poke your eyes out after a three hour movie.
Of course, instead of noting the delightful links between schools of philosophy and concepts of sci-fi, he would probably complain that it's only talking about Hollywood movies.
Source:
DailyTitan
Koisnake @ LiveJournal is selling a precious Death Note collection.
Nendoroids, books and live action figure. Awesome collection.
Check it out
Everyone loves the Wii!
BBC is the latest fan in the Nintendo Wii club. Pretty soon you'll get their iPlayer service through the Wii.
The iPlayer will be accessible via the internet channel on the Wii console. The BBC said a message would be sent to Wii owners to alert them to its availability.
AICN has interesting details about upcoming Battlestar Gallactica movie - Caprica!
Sneak peek:
Bill Adama's Daddy-o helps create Cylons - indirectly but he was part of the bubble bubble boil and toil effort.
First Cylon was a robot image of Zoe Graystone who secretly believed in one god.
And her papa, Daneil Graystone, the guy who makes it all happen. The Cylons I mean.
Click here for full details!
Here is an awesome open source project - The RepRap (Replicating Rapid-prototyper) printer.
It's hailed as a self-copying 3D printer that can print its own parts, including updates.
According to software developer and artist Vik Olliver:The 3D printer works by building components up in layers of plastic, mainly polylactic acid (PLA), which is a bio-degradable polymer made from lactic acid. The technology already exists, but commercial machines are very expensive. They also can’t copy themselves, and they can’t be manipulated by users.
After the numerous ads about hefty print prices, printer woes and what not, such a project is welcome news.
Link
New Stargate series!
The Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper, the brains behind Stargate Atlantis talks just a little bit about Stargate Universe.
Ok, story goes that before Ancients packed up their bags and said adieu to Pegasus Galaxy (rough guessing here), they broke a champagne bottle over two ships and sent them off on a journey. Not simultaneously but one after another. With possibly time intervals.
The first ship installed Stargates all over the place. The second one was like a go-forth and discover sorta mission.
So read the full article to see what the 9th Chevron means.
Source:
Gateworld
More on Joss Whedon's Dollhouse. So now we know who's the big meanie of the crazy institution - Olivia Williams.
She was Bruce Willis' wife in the I-see-dead-people movie and also apparently somewhere in X-men: Last Stand. I am still trying to remember her from the mutant movie though.
Whatever the case, you can be sure her role will be memorable in the Whedon series.
Source:
Variety via AICN
And I thought I watched a lot of Stargate SG-1. I found this interesting site that has a huge list of mistakes from the series.
Here are some extracts from their site:
Season 1 - The Enemy Within - When O'Neill first goes to visit Teal'c in his cell the symbol of Apophis on Teal'c's head is upside down.
Season 2 - Family - When Teal'c shoots Rya'c with the zat, it is still closed.
It's quite funny to note some of them. Now I have another excuse to watch the entire series all over again!
Source:
Movie Mistakes
The...
