Archive for February, 2007
02.13.07
Posted in Entertainment, Movies at 10:31 pm by stark
The Dark Tower series, by Stephen King, is one of my favorite stories of all time, and so far has never been adapted to the screen, small or large . Rumor has it though, it might not stay that way for long. JJ Abrams, creator of the television series Alias and Lost and director of last summer’s Mission Impossible 3, is lined up to direct an adaptation of the beloved King series. Currently, Abrams’ production company, Bad Robot, is mum on the subject, so no details on whether the plan is for a television miniseries or feature film version.
The Dark Tower series is a set of 7 books set in a world many years after this one. It’s main character, a gunslinger named Roland, is on a mission to find a Dark Tower which may hold the key to our very universe. The story puts the Lord of the Rings to shame in pure epic size (seven 500+ page novels), so it would take a very big effort to do it justice. In my opinion, the material for the film is too violent, gritty, and dark for a television miniseries on ABC (maybe HBO would work) so hopefully they are seriously considering a feature film version. Here’s hoping Abrams can do the story justice and create a picture that is true to the feel of the books themselves. One things for sure, it won’t be an easy task.
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Posted in Technology at 6:13 pm by stark
I came across an article today highlighting 32 reasons why Geeks (ie computer professionals in this case) are severely underpaid. A lot of it is just common sense, but the overall theme of the article is basically, if you don’t ask for more, or expect more, why would they ever pay you more? I think that’s a lesson many of us need to learn or did learn at one point in our careers. If you don’t value your own worth, why would they?
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Posted in Science, Environment, Offbeat at 3:18 am by stark
Are you one of those people who takes the time to thoroughly read the ingredient list on many of the items you use on a daily basis? Most of us aren’t. Well, you may want to start now (or never start, cause ignorance is bliss) after you read our list of surprising ingredients found in foods and products that many of us use every day.
Read the rest of this entry »
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02.12.07
Posted in Entertainment, Movies at 10:11 am by stark
An Ottawa, Canada based company, XYG RBG, has developed a new technology that allows for eight seconds of video to be converted into a 3D hologram movie poster. They demonstrated this technology, recently, by generating a custom made Terminator 2 movie poster, and presenting it as a gift to directory James Cameron. While holographic movies are nothing new, 8 full seconds of motion far surpasses the current standard of 1-2 seconds maximum. This is an interesting leap forward in technology, and at least until we have paper thin LCD screens is most likely the closest we’re going to get to full motion poster video.
Take a look at some of these example posters produced by the company.
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02.11.07
Posted in Technology, Entertainment, Movies, Television at 4:11 pm by stark
Last week we discussed Walmart’s foray into the movie download race with the launch of their brand new service. Immediately, there were many complaints that the site would not work with any browser other than Internet Explorer. This was strange, to say the least, considering the massive size of Walmart and the fact that nowadays cross compatibility is a necessity not just a luxury. This was almost universally chalked up to an over site or poor programming. However, now it appears it may be intentional. Many users are now reporting that Walmart has completely turned off the new application to FireFox, Safari, and any other user on a browser they don’t like. This seems like a pretty poor decision for a company who is already late to the game and faces very stiff competition. I can already see Netflix, Amazon, and iTunes smiling from ear to ear…
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Posted in Technology, World, Politics at 3:51 pm by stark
What do you do if your country is attacked on multiple fronts simultaneously, from a foreign or domestic group, where it’s very difficult to pinpoint exactly where it is originating from? This is the question the US Government and the National Cyber Response Coordination Group (NCRCG) is asking itself as it currently develops an official game plan for response to a cyber attack. Options currently under consideration include everything from launching a counter cyber attack to locating and bombing (KABOOM bombing not Google bombing) the source of the attack. While there is currently no official plan in place, the US Government is clearly taking this threat very seriously. Last November the Air Force added a Cyber Command group whose responsibilities include missions fought in Cyberspace.
“The preferred route would be warning the source to shut down the attack before a military response. If the United States found itself under a major cyberattack aimed at undermining the nations critical information infrastructure, the Department of Defense is prepared, based on the authority of the president, to launch a cyber counterattack or an actual bombing of an attack source.”
While it never hurts to prepare for something like this, I wonder if in all this planning they are considering the fact that these type of attacks can occur within the US borders and could originate from the basement of some house in a suburban neighborhood. In such a case, is the plan still to MOAB everything?
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Posted in Environment, Offbeat, Videos at 4:49 am by stark
If there is one animal I never want to meet face to face, I think it would be the Great White. This is slightly offbeat, but an interesting video of dozens of Great White sharks absolutely annihilating a huge whale carcass. Very well done video, but a little gory if you have a weak stomach…
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02.10.07
Posted in Entertainment, Movies, Comedy at 11:28 pm by stark
In a recent interview at the Media Summit in New York City, Fox CEO Rupert Murdoch announced that Sacha Baron Cohen, the actor who played Borat in last years hit comedy, will do a sequel with 20th Century Fox.
From the interview:
“He will do a sequel. He will first do something else … then he wants to come back and do a ‘Borat 2.’”
Unfortunately, this whole situation does not appear to be as solid as Murdoch would make it seem. Cohen is currently doing “something else”, specifically another film about one of his other Ali G Show characters, Bruno, but has had nothing more then casual discussions about doing a follow up Borat film. Never fear though, you can almost guarantee DVD sales of “Borat: Cultural Learning’s of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” will be phenomenal and with that much green , we’ll definitely see a sequel. How long we’ll have to wait though? That’s still up in the air…
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The Dark Tower series, by Stephen King, is one of my favorite stories of all time, and so far has never been adapted to the screen, small or large . Rumor has it though, it might not stay that way for long. JJ Abrams, creator of the television series Alias and Lost and director of last summer’s Mission Impossible 3, is lined up to direct an adaptation of the beloved King series. Currently, Abrams’ production company, Bad Robot, is mum on the subject, so no details on whether the plan is for a television miniseries or feature film version. 
