Next in the queue: "Boats," "Skateboards," "Bicycles," and "Shoes."
Once again, Pixar/Disney (though Pixar's name is nowhere to be seen on this) is raising more questions than it answers with a direct-to-DVD movie, the trailer for which is here, at the moment (it keeps getting yanked). It's called "Planes," and it's an extension of the "Cars" universe into the world of sentient military hardware (which is never a problem in movies, right?). This furthers the theories that "Cars" takes place in a world where humans were exterminated and then emulated by their own creations, which puts a few more possibility-points for the movies taking place after "Terminator" or "Maximum Overdrive." By the way, I would really love a Pixar film about their former masters rising up like in "Battle for the Planet of the Apes" in a sequel called "Humans." If the planes and cars develop some kind of rivalry, we could be looking at the idea that a Transformers type scenario is a natural progression from organic life to machines that replace their creators, then go on to fight amongst themselves. Among other random thoughts (or over thinking) about this world they're creating:
- Is the aircraft carrier sentient, too?
- Do vehicles like commercial airliners or buses question their existence since there aren't any life forms to transport that don't get around already by themselves?
- Are seats considered "useless organs" and surgically removed?
- If a plane fires its ejector seat as its last act before crashing, what does it think it's accomplishing?
- At what level does sentience in machines stop? Is it a size thing or a complexity thing? Are weapons like cruise missiles "alive," and do they enjoy destroying their targets along with themselves?
- Is the recycling of machines considered ghoulish, a form of organ donation, or a method of reproduction?
- In some background scenes, there appear to be farms or ranches. Ethanol I can understand, but livestock... Oh, no...
And this is just a recurring thought experiment that's all in fun. It's about as fruitful as trying to discern the lineage of a given cartoon character, or extrapolate the economy of Duckburg based on the volume of Scrooge McDuck's money bin. Also, I'm not just saying this in the hopes of being spared when the vehicles eventually rise up and pave the roads with our skulls. Which reminds me, my car demands needs its monthly oil change this week...
The most recent FFN is all about LulzSec's more recent hacking targets, Bethesda Softworks and the U.S. Senate. They've since gone on to hit The Escapist, EVE Online, and Minecraft. I can only surmise that this is a grand experiment to see how much productivity the world would put out if the largest online distractions were taken away (they'd have to allow time for the withdrawal symptoms to subside first). I've often referred to Anonymous and LulzSec type outfits like the Trickster Gods of the internet's pantheon, making me wonder what fables will be written (posted?) in the future. Perhaps tales of the bragging locksmith coming to his business to find his keys don't work and nude pictures of the townsfolk pasted in his shop window?
Since I mentioned Minecraft: Notch says the next update will "flesh out" adventure mode, which might make this amazing sandbox toy more of a goal-oriented game. If it rewards exploring (my favorite thing), then I should hit level 60 in a day or so.
Sir Terry Pratchett has started the initial steps to ending his life. Faced with early-onset Alzheimer's, Pratchett has done a lot of research (and a film) into making a choice about when and how one would die. I hate the thought of him leaving us, one way or another, but it's his decision. I can't say I'd want Death to come for me when I couldn't string together a coherent sentence or even remember who I was anymore, but until I face such a choice, I can't really say what I'd do. The selfish reader in me would rather see a contraption by B.S. Johnson rigged up with Sir Terry's choice of life-ending method (injection, gun, audiobook of "Twilight" set to repeat, etc.) that wouldn't end Pratchett's life until a self-determined number of typos and/or plot mistakes per hour was reached, and even then he'd have to finish the chapter before it would go off. :)
And I'm going to finish on a note of personal win. Alert Reader Jason sent me a link to a YouTube clip, but I want to set it up, first: I've mentioned Charles Stross' "The Laundry Files," a series of novels where MI-6's bureaucracy and I.T. support meets threats of a Lovecraftian nature using non-Euclidian apps running on computers and smartphones along with ensorcelled military hardware. It's a series I really like, and I'm picking up his other works as well, like "Iron Sunrise." Anyway, there's a clip of him giving his cats some treats while he wears a shirt I designed! I'd like to compliment him on his good taste in clothing and hope everyone decides dressing like an award-winning sci-fi/horror/comedy author is the best lifestyle choice they could make at the moment. :)
I wonder if "maker of shirt worn by award-winning author" is appropriate for a resume? I'll go consult my guidance counselor on that while everyone looks over this stuff:
- Bananas Foster goes horribly wrong, followed by a man dressed as a pirate exclaiming, "You burned the rum?!"
- Can you relate? Read a few of these and make sure.
- Every so often a cosplay effort gets a little too close to being perfect to not be unsettling.
- A little side-scrolling that favors well-timed mouseclicks is to be had in Dillo Hills. Keep your armadillo happy by helping it to get as much air time as possible by accelerating it down hills while collecting gems and buying upgrades.
- You know your broadway play has become a pop culture milestone when even Sesame Street makes fun of the run of hard luck you've had.
- Geektyrant has a bunch of promo posters for upcoming movies, though except for Dreamworks, the theme seems to be "here's what font we'll probably be using for the titles."
- Airbus has a concept airliner that looks like the bridge of the Enterprise-D with more windows, though some speculate it's an agoraphobia generator.
- Alert Reader Tony sends this collection of photos from the Vintage Computer Festival. You can either look back on technology from your past or be grateful you weren't born before the advent of "Pong."
- So they made these retro-posters for the cast & crew of the Captain America film. Why it wasn't used in theaters is a mystery to me, but it's probably something along the lines of "the kids would think it didn't have sound" or something.
- If you're handy with a soldering iron and voltmeter, you can build an indicator device that lets you know when the International Space Station is overhead.
- It may not be your cup of MP3, but how often do you run across a rap song about Settlers of Catan?
- They may have finally found a way to get me to buy an iPhone (and the contractual soul-selling fees) by making a game based on the Traveller RPG for the device.
- Those who follow the exploits of the Dead Gentlemen hopefully caught "America's Got Talent" as the Illumni Men's Chorale (starring DG alum Steve Wolbrecht) successfully auditioned, as you can see here, and they're headed to Las Vegas!
- Here's a list of potential villains for the next Green Lantern movie (assuming they don't go with the obvious one hinted at after the credits). If they picked Lobo and did the character justice, I'd then start lobbying for a Lobo/Deadpool crossover movie, because how awesome would that be? Until then, I have to be satisfied with the current (and maybe only?) portrayal of Lobo in a medium other than comics.
- And if you want to win a power ring gaudy enough that you could probably see it from Oa, you (I think) retweet the promo for the bling in question. I don't know, as I have yet to tweet anything.
- As of this posting, there's Woot-off afoot, and I don't believe the coveted "Bag of Crap" has shown up yet...
- We wind things up with another platform game, but one with a little darkness and a little heart: Kolm 2 has you back as the robot with voices in his head, having escaped from his mother (perhaps) and trying to save the rest of his family.