May 2007 Archives
As much as I lust for a PowerMacBook or seriously consider reformatting my laptop with Ubuntu Linux, one truth remains: something like the OQO Model 02 is what I *really* want my next portable computer to be.
The OQO 02 is powered by a 1.5GHz ultra low-voltage CPU that breezes through Windows XP or Vista. There is 1GB (max) RAM, and up to 60GB hard drive. The 5" 800x480 outdoor-readable glossy TFT is nothing short of spectacular; it slides up to reveal the keyboard. It also has 802.11a/b/g WiFi and Bluetooth 2.0 with EDR stereo headset support.
That's right: this uPC (ultra Portable Computer) is more powerful than my current laptop, and is about the size of a Gameboy Advance. Runs about 1500 to 2000 bucks. Bonus: it even runs WoW. :)
A modern remake of the Bionic Woman series is the worst idea ever in the history of everything. Right?
NBC is doing it. It's coming this fall.
It's from the folks who created the new Battlestar Galactica. Could they possible take yet another old show and recreate it to make it better than it has any right to be?
NBC has released a 60-second clip of the show to YouTube.
The answer is "yes."
'Heroes' Expands Universe with 'Origins' quasi-spinoff
The network has hit upon a way to keep the show off of reruns for nearly the entire season, ordering more episodes of the show and embarking on a quasi-spinoff called "Heroes: Origins." Combined, the shows will account for 30 original episodes next season.
Essentially, the Origins one-off episodes will focus on the background of newly introduced characters. Awesome.
A quick word about one thing I really like about the Heroes character concepts: with a few notable exceptions (Peter, Syler) the paranormals are all fairly limited in the scope of their abilities ("I do one thing, and I figure out cool ways to apply that one thing in multiple situations."), and the writers aren't afraid to create people whose one ability is very ... non-comic-traditional-booky. "The guy who can can hear really well" is never going to suit up for the X-men. In a way not unlike InSpectres, the "Cool" thing about each character is the ways in which they are wholly human, not the ways in which they are not.
And yes, there are some people who totally could, as Peter says, "run around in a cape with my underwear outside my pants" in a 'normal' comic book. Clair. Nikki/Jessica. D.L. Their son Micah... Hmm. Sensing a theme?
Related Links:
* As the originator/creator/builder of Fireflywiki.org, I have feel a lot of respect (and surprise) for NBC creating and hosting a Heroes Wiki on their main site.
* I feel like geeking out. Here's some Heroes Swag I can buy to accomplish that.
Can hardly wait for the season finale next week.
The Storytellers: Why Are Most Artists Liberal?
Hundreds of conservative non-fiction books are being published today, some of which become best-sellers. So if there was a lot of really great conservative fiction, some percentage of it would have found its way to publication.And yet it hasn't.
It's almost as if you have to be a liberal to be a good artist. But that can't be true, can it?
Well, it can. And it is. Here's why.
I find particularly interesting the point made in which the author opines that a story needs to have (IMO: at least) two 'human' (which I read as 'sympathetic') sides in order to be a "Good" story. A one-sided story is a flawed one, and so forth. Interesting point -- don't know if it's a useful/universal one.
Makes me (again) look askance at Hidden Things and wonder if I'm missing something there -- but that might be me projecting one of my own rules -- realistically, no sane person thinks of themselves as The Villain.. Then again, I think about some stories (the actually good Star Wars stories, for example) that focus on the hero's quest and the inequivocably Rilly Rilly Bad Guy... and those stories don't have two sympathetic sides, and I think Hmmm.
Hmm.
Seriously: I Should Be Writing -- Podcast for wannabe writers by a wannabe writer. She's serious about doing the work, seems to understand the industry, and reads Ms. Snark. Good stuff.
