Thursday, September 08, 2005

Pointless Wikipedia Entries: Part 3


David Xanatos
If William Riker played "Lex Luthor" for the annual Westly Crusher-pennedEnterprise Follies, the result would be something very much like David Xanatos. I can't think him enough for brining the Gargoyles to our shores, and with them, my early love of Norse mythology and Shakespeare.

AOE III - The White Man Cometh

Age of Empires III, the third entry into the Age of Empires game series (duh!) dropped a little gift for us on the internet, today. Or at least I became aware of it today. A demo has surfaced on the official site and I for one an very, very anxious to go home and give it a try. Where AOE focused on the empires of antiquity and AOE II focused on the medieval period, AOE III apparently focuses on the periods of colonial and imperial expansion - from Henry the Navigator through the Industrial Revolution.

I was a big fan of AOE, years and years ago when it dominated the field of historical real time strategy. I would watch my friend Chris as he sent dozens upon dozens of his War Gallies against the enemy's coastline, pummelling them into submission. While terribly fun, AOE II made this strategy far less plausible by adding little exploding ships that would sink a tightly clustered fleet to the bottom of the briney deep. Anyhow, AOE III is rendered in full 3-D and looks set you know your socks on your ass.



This screenshot doesn't tell you anything about the game. Yet, I found it to give me a tremendous sense of peace...

Wednesday, September 07, 2005

Jenny's Calendar

Did you know that Robia LaMorte (Buffy the Vampire Slayer's "Jenny Calendar") has her very own Calendar? Neither did I! But the naming synchronicity is just too much to pass over without comment. If you qualify as a "true Jenny fan", you can purchase this 2006 calendar for the low, low price of 19.99. However, I can't imagine why any "true Jenny fan" would pick the 19.99 calendar when they could get one personalized by Robia, herself for 39.99!

Computers - blah blah blah - Musty old books...

Tuesday, September 06, 2005

Pointless Wikipedia Entries: Part 2 - "Blathering Blatherskite"


Fenton Crackshell, a.k.a. GizmoDuck

Pointless Wikipedia Entries: Part 1

One delightful feature of the Wikipedia is that entries are generally directly proportional to the amount of enthusiasm out there for a given topic. As a result, entries for fictional characters, ideas or places are often longer than their factual counterparts. While researching my previous post, I was reminded of my love for truely pointless Wikipedia entries. Therefore, in the same vein as previous successful series as "Englishmen I Like" and "Blogstrike", I bring you "Pointless Wikipedia Entries".

We'll start off with a fun one.



Harmony Kendall

FLASH: James Marsters not Divorced from Reality

According to SciFi Wire James Marsters would be very interested in reprising his role as Spike for a possible TV movie in the future, but cautions that he doesn't have forever:
Buffy/Angel creator Joss Whedon approached him "when Angel was still filming and asked me if I'd be interested in a TV movie, and I said, 'Hell, yeah. But you have five years.' Because this character read as a 27-year-old. [When I first took the role], I was 35 then, but kind of looked 27. Now I'm 43 looking like a 35-year-old, but my character is not supposed to age one day. I think I could maybe match that first shot, but I think I maybe have about two more years [left]."

No word yet if a similar statute of limitations exists in regards to Marsters' musical ambitions.

Tuesday, August 30, 2005

Who Am I?

Xander Harris
45% amorality, 72% passion, 54% spirituality, 54% selflessness

Xander. Loyal, brave, true and passionate. Perhaps the best friend a
person could have, always willing to jump into the frey to help out his
buddies.
Also, one of the most popular characters in the Buffy universe.
Congratulations!
THE 4-VARIABLE BUFFY PERSONALITY TEST


My test tracked 4 variables How you compared to other people your age and gender:
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 12% on morality
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 69% on repose
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 26% on spirituality
free online datingfree online dating
You scored higher than 59% on selflessness

The Grinding Gears of Progress


I want one!

It's a pizza vending machine! Can you believe it? One more job for hapless tennagers - outsourced - to a MACHINE!

Terrifying


I went to Lincoln Park Zoo last Saturday and saw the chimpanzees, so maybe, just maybe I know how Sonic feels. You see, Sonic, along with Team Sonic member Yuji Naka went to visit a German hedgehog sanctuary recently. Though the article (you can find it here at UK Resistence) doesn't explicitly state what they were up to, Sonic seems to be presenting a check for 1,500 Euros - paying homage to his natural ancestors.


Or, Sonic might need to consume his genetic relatives to absorb their Earth Magics, fueling his supernatural speed. Take your pick.

Link via Kotaku

Monday, August 29, 2005

Long, Long Distance

If you submit your name here they'll burn it onto a CD-ROM for free! Does that sound lame. Well, it would be if that was the end of it. Fortunately, rather than gathering dust in a jewel case somewhere, that CD will be loaded aboard the New Horizons probe and blasted into space on a mission to Pluto!

Friday, August 26, 2005

Mr. Eno, Would You like to be Paid $5833.33 per Second?

I had previously heard that Brian Eno was responsible for the Windows Start-Up sound. However, that's about all I knew - until now. Did you know Eno was reportedly paid $35,000 for a six-second sound? This blog post at Music Thing spells it out in far more detail and links to this article in the San Francisco Gate, an interview with Mr. Eno:
The idea came up at the time when I was completely bereft of ideas. I'd been working on my own music for a while and was quite lost, actually. And I really appreciated someone coming along and saying, ``Here's a specific problem -- solve it.''

Read the whole thing.

Thursday, August 25, 2005

Family Guy vs DS9


This image, aparently from the Family Guy "Movie", just leaves me speechless. Consider my dollars spent.

Simpons Season 6 Packaging: Fox Will Fix For Some D'oh!

Are you dissatisfied with the packaging for the Simpsons Season 6? Many people out there are FURIOUS! The calm, soothing design of the pervious seasons has been replaced with garish near-life-size plastic shell designed to look like Homer Simpson's head!

Do you find that disturbing? Some might call it clever package design. However, most DVD collectors value uniformity above all else. On that basis, Fox has initiated a box replacement program! Even if you don't own the box set, or have no intention of replacing it, the faux-disgust for those desire such a switch is well worth a read. After all, they'll replace the box for only $3 and a UPC label. They're entitled to a little hostility at that price.

Geekpundit Gets Results from the Indianapolis Star

Well, it's actually more like my Mother got results from the Indianapolis star. Regardless, there's a profile of me in today's MetroWest section under the regular "Neighbors" feature. If you've read my blog profile, there aren't too many surprises. However, you might still enjoy it.

Thursday, August 18, 2005

JACK FM - Mostly Harmless

The Onion AV Club Blog (I didn't know the Onion AV Club had a blog!) features a post that seems to have (mostly) reserved approval for JACK FM. It's worth a read. For those of you that don't have JACK, it's sort of an "anything-goes" radio station without DJs or any clear format. JACK appeared in Indianapolis about 6 or 7 months ago, replacing the local oldies station - much to my parents' dismay. Now it's done the same thing in Chicago. Though it's all over the place in different markets, it's just a single feed that, I believe, is beemed out of British Columbia. Watch out! JACK's coming to a town near you!

Hayek vs Hayek

Place your bets.
VS

Wednesday, August 17, 2005

Back to the Future

According to DefenseTech, Uranium is back in vogue at the DoD! Read on:
...Uranium -- which fell out of favor with US nuclear weaponeers in the 1950s -- may be the hip Fall fashion in certain New Mexican locales... Bob Peurifoy, a retired Sandia executive, favors dumping plutonium weapons in favor of low-tech uranium designs. Actually, Peurifoy prefers the current US arsenal, but Congress says the weapons labs should relax Cold War design requirements to build new warheads that are more reliable and require less toxic industrial processes... In that case, Peurifoy says, you can't do better than Uranium 235, which isn't nearly as expensive, toxic or fickle as plutonium.


Uranium fall down, go boom.

They're Coming

And they can drive...

The Hazards of Better Fuel Economy

According to the BBC:
Small cars driving through a safari park in Merseyside have been chased by confused lions who think they are prey... David Ross, park manager, told the BBC News website that a group of lionesses chased after one Smart car after being confused by its compact appearance... "With Smart cars and sometimes Mini Coopers the lions definitely raise an eyebrow. It sparks their interest because of their size.

DEVELOPING...

Bad idea.

Tuesday, August 16, 2005

Monday, August 15, 2005

Some Say Blogs Here Began Out There

Ron Moore's Battlestar blog is back! Unfortunately, I believe something fishy is going on. This blog entry is dated "July 23". Yet, I visited Mr. Moore's blog only last week to find no new update since April! Further, in the podcast for "The Farm", dated Aug. 12, Moore appologizes for not updating the podcast. Or maybe it was the one before that... Either way, this new blog post (very much worth reading, by the way!) appears to have been dated in order to give the appearance of a more regular schedule of updates. Why would this happen? Could it be a glitch? Would Ron Moore LIE about the regularity of his blog posts? EXPLAIN YOURSELF, MOORE!

Hey, you two - Time travel is for sissies!

Thursday, August 11, 2005

iPod Lacks Korean Seoul

According to Channel Register, the iPod isn't properly dressed to impress in South Korea, holding only 13 percent of the market for mp3 players - that's compared to about three quarters of the American market. Apparently, here's why:
The company's numbers are unsurprising given the differences between local music players and Apple's. It's generally held that the Mac maker's minimalist approach to design and, arguably, functionality plays better with Western audiences than South Korean firms' preference for machines crammed with features and sporting a mass of controls and coloured lights. The devices are that way because that's what works well for South Korean buyers, confirmed by GfK's figures.

Here's something that would apparently satisfy the Korean sensibility.

Stupid


This article in the New York Times on "Girl crushes" is just awful. I'm going to wait for Phoebe Maltz's take. Then I'll post a link. It's really more her area than mine.

Wednesday, August 10, 2005

To Explore Strange New Blogs...

Here's a blog dedicated entirely to improper use of the lowercase "L". For instance, if a word is written, otherwise, entirely in caps, one would expect the "L" to follow suit. However, that is often not the case.

For an especially egregious example, check out this post

"Get Pissed"

Introducing: Horse Piss Beer!
With the slogan "Get Pissed", HPB is the finest new obscenely named beer in the marketplace. According to Gerald Russel, the owner of HPB, "Horse Piss Beer is dedicated to helping others. A percentage of the sales of the beer and merchandise will be donated to help retired race horses." Perhaps "Grayhound Vodka", for the adoption of simmilarly retired dogs should be explored. Until then, enjoy your Horse Piss Beer.

Via: Strange New Products

"Goin' on a holiday

According to the New York Times, the private company that sent Dennis Tito into space is now looking to finance a private shot around the moon for a couple lucky passengers. "A roundtrip ticket will cost $100 million.". The company would pay the Russians and the Russians would do the heavy lifting. The articles goes on:

Eric Anderson, the chief executive of Space Adventures, said he believed the trip could be accomplished as early as 2008. Mr. Anderson said he had already received expressions of interest from a few potential clients.

The Soyuz vehicle to be used does not have the power to reach the Moon on its own, so the Russians have devised a plan to send up a booster. The Soyuz would dock with the booster, either in low Earth orbit or at the International Space Station.

The booster would take the passengers the rest of the way. The price of the two tickets, Mr. Anderson said, would pay for the costs of the Moon shot. His company's demographic research, he said, suggests that 500 to 1,000 people in the world can afford to do this.

I'm all for private space travel, though I'm not certain this is the best way to approach it. Nonetheless, I wish everyone involved the best of luck.

Worst Nightmare

I'll admit, during my unemployed period earlier this summer, I expected to play a lot of videogames. And I do me A LOT. However, it was not to be. I had better things to do, like renting season after season of Six Feet Under. It would seem, though, that I dodged quite a bullet given this news out of South Korea:
A 28-year-old South Korean man died of exhaustion in an Internet cafe after playing computer games non-stop for 49 hours, South Korean police said Wednesday.


Let that be a lesson to you, games of the world!

Tuesday, August 09, 2005

Brussels Overreaches, Tweaks Bavarian Tradition

According to The Brussels Journal, the Eurocrats may find themselves stepping on some teutonic toes down south:
A dirndl is a traditional costume worn by women in Bavaria and Austria. It is characterised by a generally rather revealing décolleté and consists of a dress and apron with a tight, low-cut top whose figure enhancing effect is accentuated by a short white blouse. Bavarian barmaids typically dress in dirndls. However, under the European Union’s Optical Radiation Directive, which is to be voted in the European Parliament next month, employers face heavy fines if they fail to protect their employees against the risk of sunburn.

Apparently, the Bavarians are none too happy about this measure, prompting protests. It's not hard to understand why.


Dirdle tread on me!

Jennings Goes Where Countless Men Have Gone Before

It's sad to see Peter Jennings go. That probably goes without saying. I knew he was ill, but I guess I had just assumed he'd beat his cancer and return to television. Then, there's this article at NJ.com (New Jersey). Take a gander:
He (Jennings) was Mr. Spock to Brokaw's folksy Bones McCoy and Rather's impetuous Captain Kirk -- an alien intelligence from the planet Canada, offering not a hug or even a reassuring pat on the shoulder, but a poker face that was accented, on rare occasions, by a faintly raised eyebrow.

As much as I appreciate the reference, I've never quite bought the totemic status assigned to the network news anchor. Sure, it's a position of responsibility and distinction, but the constant grouping of these three men in a way as though they alone scaled the hights of Everest and therefore belong to a unique class above the rest of society has always bothered me. Maybe it's just a product of the time in which I grew up. For the generation that was informed soley by the calming voice of Walter Cronkite, maybe the idea of a network news anchor still means something. For me, its just a face or a personality. Today, I don't have to pick between just three different approaches to the news. While sticking Jennings, Rather and Brokaw in the future might affectively illustrate their various personality quirks, the future is also the last place the network news anchor belongs.

Saturday, May 14, 2005

Which Science Fiction Writer Are You?

I am:
Robert A. Heinlein
Beginning with technological action stories and progressing to epics with religious overtones, this take-no-prisoners writer racked up some huge sales numbers.


Which science fiction writer are you?

Monday, May 09, 2005

Blah, blah, blah, podcast, blah, blah....

In case you're wondering, the podcast will now be hosted elsewhere (Here, at libsyn.com. I'll probably still throw up a post when I put out a new 'cast, but I found a decent deal on hosting. Plus, this makes it possible for me to put up archives...

Friday, May 06, 2005

New Podcast Friday!


New podcast!
New songs!
New Promo!
New EXCITEMENT
Listen up. You'll dig it.
Click on the big, blue iPod Mini and feel the music.

Thursday, May 05, 2005

A Startling Discovery

Why the MSM isn't giving this more coverage is beyond me. I'd claim bias, but I'm not sure said bias would favor.

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

*REVIEW ME!*

If you're a close Geekpundit reader, you'll notice that a quote has appeared on the left-hand side of the page, just beneath my profile! While there is currently only a single quote, I invite comments from each and every one of you. IMs, E-mails, comments on the blog: all feedback is welcome! So, sit back, kick up your shoes and let that constructive criticism flow.

P.S. I've got an RSS feed for the podcast now. Do you have a podcasting client? If not, you've already let the world pass you by. Head on over to Podcast Alley and pick one up. I use iPodder 2.0, which is FREE and works great. Though, I've also heard great things about Doppler. Give it a try. You'll be glad you did.

Feel the Illinoise!

If you've listened to my podcast, you've heard "Chicago" by Sufjan Stevens. What I neglected to mention is that the album,"Come On, Feel the Illinoise" won't be out for another month, or so. To wet your appetite further, here's the album art.


Courtesy of The Big Ticket, which is a great mp3 blog and really worth checking out.

And for all you'd ever want to know about this album, visit Fantastic Promotion's page on Sufjan Stevens.

Saturday, April 30, 2005

Episode Two



The podcast is back for round two. I think it's better in every way, but judge for yourself. It's a little, free experiment. I finished my BA at about 7:30 yesterday morning and had about an hour and a half before I could turn it in. "What to do?" So I watched an interview with Matt Drudge on C-Span's website, while simultaneously assembling the songs that would become episode two of my podcast! Well, here it is! It's a "Very Indie Breakfast!" Click on the limited edition U2 iPod above. Enjoy.

Friday, April 29, 2005

In Case You Haven't Heard...

I've been experimenting with podcasting! No fancy RSS feeds for me. I just offer up links. There are legality issues, so it'll have to remain a little hobby for little-ol'-me. Here's the link. ("Right Click, "Save Link As", etc.) I tell ya, this is the next big thing. It's already bubbling up.

Wednesday, April 27, 2005

Music Video Explosion

All right, maybe less of an explosion and more of a brief interlude. Anyhow, here's a couple of low-key music videos.

This will take you to a video by my current "band of the moment," Stars. The song's called "Your Ex-Lover Is Dead". Give it a look/see.

This video, I know much less about. Nonetheless, it's lo-tech and fun. The band is "Gentlemen Reg" and the song is called "Boyfriend Song".

Veg out.

Monday, April 25, 2005

Other Side of Superman

From time to time, my friend Brian posts crazy old-school comic covers. I suppose with context, perhaps they're not as awful as they appear. But you be the judge. I'll post a couple of my favorites. If you like what you see, go check out the rest.



"How to Survive a Zombie Attack"

Here's the link. Read it now.

Zombie Aaron wants brains.

Sunday, April 24, 2005

It's Over



Quid pro quo.

Crusading Captain Archer

Ever hear of "Landover Baptist Church"? Neither have I. But it's almost certainly a nasty, nasty little joke. I stumbled across this preview for the "faithful" about the premeire of Enterprise circa September 2001:

"Landover Baptist's Christian mole in Hollywood says that most of the early story lines are going to revolve around Scott's faith in Jesus Christ. "He has a powerful hunger to share his superiority with other species," the mole reported... Insiders say that churchgoers should expect the new series (at least the first two seasons) to be much like an intensive one-year Sunday school lesson."


I suppose a "one-year Sunday school lesson" might explain why Enterprise only has 4 episodes left. However I think it might have more to do with poor stories and uninteresting situations.


"Bless you"

Saturday, April 23, 2005

Olive Branch

As a show of good faith, here's a link to Fox and Obel's special Passover meal wich includes: "braised Kobe beef brisket and brined rotisserie chicken with traditional starters and side dishes ($300, serves 12), plus they're offering a ritual Seder plate that includes symbolic foods like roasted lamb shankbone ($12)."

Friday, April 22, 2005

"This Isn't The Blogger You're Looking For..."


Phoebe caught red handed at Celebration IIIPosted by Hello

"Many Bothans died to bring us this photograph."

No Soup For You!

The real, live Soup Nazi is bringing his line of premium soups to homes across America! In addition, he's going to open a chain of "The Original SoupMan" restaraunts in the US and Canada! While this is certainly good news for a soup lover like yours truely, the article (from CNN.com) suspiciously omits any use of the name "Soup Nazi". While I can understand that the "Original SoupMan" might want to distance himself from the word "Nazi", I'm a little disspointed that CNN chose to abstain from using the word, as well.


Coming to a town near you.

Thursday, April 21, 2005

GEEKPUNDIT EXCLUSIVE. MUST CREDIT GEEKPUNDIT.



I think this picture spoke for itself.

But now you can't see it.

Milestone

Well, it happened. This strike has gone on so long that all the posts about anything prior to the strike have been driven off the page. I guess it's time to kick it up a notch.

UPDATE: I just changed the format of the blog. You can see older posts now. Nonetheless, the notch has been upwardly kicked.

Dining With Frogs


Phoebe might be a Francophile, but I think this goes too far. Posted by Hello

Blog on Strike - Day Eight


The Strike strikes back! A candid shot of Phoebe on the job. Posted by Hello

Wednesday, April 20, 2005

The Most Wonderful (Yet Stupid) Invention EVER

Gaze at it. You can't help it.



It was invented by a grad student, natch. Here's the skinny:

Before you hit the snooze button a second time on this alarm clock, you'll have to hunt it down. The shag carpet-covered robotic alarm clock on wheels, called Clocky, rolls away and hides.


Where can I order one?