One of the qualities of an excellent leader is their willingness to admit that they don't know everything. While many possess an inherent amount of decisive chutzpah that is often mistaken for arrogance or pride, deep down a leader knows any worthwhile decision is grounded solely on the quality of the information they receive.

Consider James T. Kirk.

The buck stopped with him and he knew it. Attack or parley? Board the vessel? Beam down and explore? These decisions were always his to make. When he flew by the seat of his pants, he often landed in hot water. This stuff makes for good television to be sure. Eventually, however, he found the knowledge he needed to handle each situation in the counsel of his crew. Spock was the logical foil to Kirk's impulsive side. McCoy knew the biological and medical facts Kirk lacked. And Scotty predated MacGyver in his ability to construct and maintain all those cool gadgets, keeping them running as smooth as a well-oiled crankshaft. These guys knew their place aboard the Enterprise. Each provided what Kirk needed to keep their corner of the universe safe and peaceful.

And as with the character, so with the actor.

Most people have a love-hate response to William Shatner. He can come across as either humorously witty or a complete buffoon. But at least he seems willing to admit when he doesn't know something. Unlike most people, however, if he doesn't know something, he strives to find out all he can about it. That's the lesson Carnegie Mellon Computer Science Professor Randy Pausch learned when he met Shatner at his virtual reality lab. As a child, and not unlike many boys who grew up watching Star Trek, Pausch had a dream to be James T. Kirk. He knew it was crazy, but boys can dream, can't they? Years later, having become recognized as an innovator in the field of human-computer interaction, Pausch received a call from author Chip Walter who was working on a book with William Shatner about how the science of Star Trek foretold many of the today's technological breakthroughs. Walter wanted to visit Pausch's lab at Carnegie Mellon, and he wanted to bring Shatner along. Pausch writes:

Granted, my childhood dream was to be Kirk. But I still considered it a dream realized when Shatner showed up. It's cool to meet your boyhood idol, but it's almost indescribably cooler when he comes to you to see stuff you're doing in your lab.

My students and I worked around the clock to build a virtual reality world that resembled the bridge of the Enterprise. When Shatner arrived, we put this bulky "head-mounted display" on him. It had a screen inside, and as he turned his head, he could immerse himself in 360-degree images of his old ship. "Wow, you even have the turbolift door," he said. And we had a surprise for him, too: red-alert sirens. Without missing a beat, he barked, "We're under attack!"

Shatner stayed for three hours and asked tons of questions. A colleague later said to me: "He just kept asking and asking. He doesn't seem to get it."

But I was hugely impressed. Kirk, I mean Shatner, was the ultimate example of a man who knew what he didn't know, was perfectly willing to admit it, and didn't want to leave until he understood. That's heroic to me.

As is her way, Pat read my mind with her comment on the last post in this series. Gramma is wise and knew there must be more to my reasons for going back to school. While being an example for my kids is a noble thing, and something we parents should strive to do, the larger reason is a selfish one.

I'm doing this for me.

And I must admit I can be a bit of a nuisance. I've walked on the heels of many a professor, following them back to their office or to their next classroom, badgering them with questions. I show up before their scheduled office hours. I camp out at their doorstep with my highlighted and dog-eared text or some other relevant tome in hand and seek further explanations for things I want to grasp with more than a milquetoast mind. I seek practical application for the concepts I'm being exposed to. For if this stuff can't be made relevant to my life . . . won't help me be a better person . . . then what's the point of it all?

And I welcome criticism. Beg for it. If I'm not thinking clearly about a concept, I want to know about it. I expect to be told when I'm getting off track. When I'm screwing up. As Pausch writes, quoting his assistant football coach concerning head coach Graham's constant badgering about the fundamentals of the game, "[w]hen you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they've given up on you." None of my professors have given up on me yet. They welcome my perspective and prod me toward an understanding that would make Shatner proud. And for that I'm forever grateful.

At the end of my days, I want to be known as someone who sought wisdom. Not the kind that is an end in itself. Where we put away the books and feel like we've got the essentials nailed down. Instead, I seek the kind that pushes me further toward the edge. A scary place, the edge. Teetering on the brink of exhaustion and anxiety. It's here that one can either shut down and return to the La-Z-Boy of a life lived in complacency or take one more step and find that the journey continues. And is worth taking.

I'm doing this for me. Like Randy Pausch, I want to live knowing that I can still roar.

It's a sort of twisted irony that I plucked Pausch's book out of my to-be-read stack just yesterday. Before I learned that yesterday morning he finally succumbed to the ravages of pancreatic cancer. If you need a book to read, run-don't-walk to your nearest bookstore and pick up The Last Lecture. His story moves me. And you all know how I enjoy being moved . . .

Part One - What Are You Going To Do With That?

Part Two - SOTA

I'm probably wrong about Buffy, but the second strike against it is that I'm not into vampires or fantasy, so even if I'd stuck around enough episodes of that show to catch Joss's deftness with character, I still wouldn't have put the show on the must watch list.  (I have no 'must watch' list for television.  I went seven years without an idiot box and consequently have gotten out of the habit.)

So, when I saw that Firefly was 'by the same guy who did Buffy', I figured some day I'd catch an episode or two, but I wasn't going to waste any time making that happen.  Given the source and the title of the show, I figured it just had to be some SciFi send-up of a teenaged girl kicking alien monster butt - an SF re-tread of Buffy.  And to tell the truth that concept (except for the possibility of pleated school girl skirts in space) kind of left me yawning.

Then the show became available online and I decided to give it a shot.

I was intrigued from the get go.  This guy Whedon sure has created some interesting characters.  To say the man has balls is like thinking human when the reality is elephant.  Who else would start off a show with the defeat and near-death of two of his primary characters?  Who else would begin the pilot episode with a highly complex, expensive and very emotionally charged battle scene and then dump the whole frenetic, explosively paced thing for the mundanity of a freighter going about its business?

That's like opening a hero movie with the climactic end scenes.  And then retro-flashing to the back story. Brilliant.

I watched all of the episodes on line and was thoroughly pleased. The characters were great, especially Mal and Jayne.  There wasn't a one among the crew - Zoe, Kaylee, Wash, Inara, Book, River or Simon who didn't have something to offer. 

Mal is nearly perfect in his conflicts - betrayed and vowing to never let it happen again, yet still reliant on a crew of misfits and inspiring deep loyalty.  He wants to be mean and get even, but he's too nice/good a guy to really put his heart into it.  The portrayal though doesn't overwhelm the story - it's written into the way the character goes about doing his thing.  And the same is true for everyone else.

Of course I do have a few quibbles:  what kind of solar system has multiple planets and hundreds of moons that can all be terraformed?  No one is supposed to have FTL here, so how the heck did they get to this place from 'Earth-that-was'?  What's the economy like that such a small ship could make a living? (That this type of ship was designed and built presupposes economic viability without resorting to illegal activities.)  But those minorities fade into the background in the face of the characters and the storylines.

Having enjoyed the show, I decided that I needed to see the movie Serenity and absolutely put it on my 'must watch' list.

While waiting to acquire a copy of the movie I happened upon a chance to pick up the novelization at a library sale.  I then decided to conduct a little experiment, seeing as how I'm such a huge advocate of 'the book is better than the movie' type thinking.  True, this wasn't a perfect experiment - the movie came first in this case and it really ought to go the other way around - but it still might be fun.  So I read the book all the way through to the final scenes (I put it down when Serenity and crew return to Mr. Universe's world) and then I watched the film.

A pause now for commercial interruption -

I've finished the Ebay pulp magazine searches on the web page and they're all active and up.  I'm pretty pleased with the results - I've even found a few pulps to add to my own watch list.  I think it's a useful tool.  The first twenty pages or so don't have a 'back to the menu' button (just use the back button) and I'm fixing that, but everything else is functional for now.

If you're at all interested, I also added a few more images to the magazine checklist page - a couple of issues of Amazing Stories, a few more of the Ultimate reprint digests.

I still have a few Chandler Ebay searches to add (France and such) but they won't take long and might even get finished today or tomorrow.

Now back to the show.

To begin, the novelization must have been written from a working script as there are a few scenes in the book not presented on the screen - most notably one involving Cuban cigars.  That's actually a bonus rather than a problem, because we get a small glimpse into the movie-making process here. The scene involved Jayne and Book and may have been dropped as being a bit out of character for Jayne.  Or just for time or pacing.  We also miss out on seeing a battle scene with Book, which is a bit disappointing.

My main problem with the book was the author's choice of presenting the crew's manner of speaking - their vernacular and slang.  In an attempt to convey emotional content, the broken words, broken sentence structure and slang is carried beyond the dialogue.  Rather than putting you in the mood, it detracts and reads like something written by an inner-city illiterate.

The emotional content - particularly when compared directly to the movie - comes across as flat; back story and motivations are presented in the novel, they're just not as immediate as watching the actor's expressions or hearing their tones.

Reading the book and watching the movie were actually two entirely different experiences.  The fact that the storyline tracked so well between them is unusual - even for a novelization. (Compare Alien by Alan Dean Foster to the movie, for example.)  I found it very revealing (of Whedon's abilities) that my full knowledge of the plot in advance of watching did not detract from my enjoyment of the film at all. 

What had left me cold while reading the book was suddenly alive in the faces of the actors.

That's not to be saying that the book was bad.  As I said, the presentation of the characters and particularly their dialogue was a bit stilted - but that is something that I was probably overly sensitive to from having watched the television show.  I know how Mal sounds and looks and what I was reading was a slightly off, slightly pale reflection of Mal.  Recognizable, just not completely alive.  If you picked up this book sans knowledge of the show, your conclusion would most likely be 'not bad - not great, but not terrible either, maybe I'll catch the movie some day'.

There were also quite a few visual in-jokes scattered through the film that were not picked up on in the novel.  A crashed shuttle shows its registry numbers as C57D - the same name as the cruiser from Forbidden Planet.  At one point the 'landing party' are shown wearing red, yellow and blue colored t-shirts, resembling nothing so much as a party just beamed down from the Enterprise.  Quite a few of the scenes are derivative of other movies, presented in homage. I'm sure there are others that I'll pick up on when I watch the film again.

I'm glad I had this chance to experience both forms of the story side-by-side. It was very revealing of the advantages and limitations of the different media.  I'd give the book 2 walking sticks and the movie 4 walking sticks.  In this particular case, the move outshines the literary form, which is probably as it should be, considering that the intended media was visual.

Having done this direct comparison, I can say that it confirmed my belief that one of the next big things coming down the pike will be (or should be) an original story that is conceived of and delivered as a multi-media blitz.

From the ground up, a movie is written in conjunction with a television series, the original novel is written in lockstep and the follow-on book series is plotted out while the graphic novel is drawn, the animated version is being storyboarded, the interactive game is being designed and melded with the social-networking site even as the audio book and podcast version of the radio play are being recorded and the top ten pop songs are being mixed in the studio.

A mantra of marketing is to never let anything get between the message and the consumer.  The fact that some people prefer one media over another is a huge impediment, a major objection to a sale.  Having to 'wait' for one preferred version or another to reach the consumer is another major objection.  By the time the product they are looking for hits the market, they've already moved on to other things.

But if someone can figure out a way to effectively deliver a property in all those media simultaneously, in a manner that allows them to be merged seamlessly with each other while still being workable as stand-alones - well then, they'll be teaching Lucas a thing or two about modern day merchandising, won't they?

NOTE: the formula gives a "BEFORE WARP" stardate because star dates come do not come into existance until the year 2323 (when it is rumored that warp technology was invented, and hence the need for a time system which takes into account time distortion, subspace anomalies, etc).

It use the following formula:

Take a date such as December 20, 2370 13:12 hrs

YY = 2370 - 2323 = 47
DDD = (334+20)/365*1000 =~ 969
T = (13*60+12)/144 =~ .6

StarDate = 47969.6

The procedure is:

1. subtract 2323 from the current year.
2. use a special table to get the total # of days that have passed. Divide this number by 365 or 366, then multiply by 1000. Round to the nearest whole digit.
3. Multiply the hours by 60 and add the minutes. Divide this number by 144. Round this number.
4. Stardate!

Leave your Sharpies and 8x10 glossies at home, trekkies, because The Royal Shakespeare Company just released a statement regarding the production of "Hamlet" starring "Star Trek: The Next Generation’s" Patrick Stewart and "Doctor Who’s" David Tennant today, stating that fans will not be allowed to bring any Dr. Who or Star Trek memorabilia to be autographed.

"Due to the huge amount of interest in the RSC’s current production of Hamlet, only Royal Shakespeare Company or production related memorabilia will be signed by members of the company. It is very flattering that there is so much interest in this production, but the sheer volume of requests means that we need to set some limits which will be as fair as possible for everyone. We apologize if this causes any disappointment."

This news will no doubt break the hearts of trekkies and "Doctor Who" fans making it out to this year's performance of "Hamlet," but let's examine the facts. There is a time and a place to dress in your finest Starfleet uniforms; classical theater is not that time. I’m sure the performers would prefer fans to go and appreciate their new roles and enjoy Shakespeare, rather than just be there to see a character they’ve played in the past.

On the flip side, I am not entirely sure that RSC handled the heartbreak in the classiest of manners.

It is one thing to ban autograph requests entirely for logistical reasons. The same as it makes sense to limit autograph requests to 1 per person. Or if the actors themselves choose not to sign the memorabilia for whatever reason.

But the facts are, there's no real difference between autographing a play brochure or signing a Star Trek TNG Picard as Locutus action figure, so the statement is more insulting than it ever should have been. How about you just say you want to keep the focus on actors and get your action figures signed at San Diego's Comic-Con?

-- Christie St. Martin of Funny Pages 2.0

Photo Credits: "Doctor Who," BBC; "Star Trek: Enterprise," CBS Studios Inc.

Bis heute beharrt Captain Kirk darauf, seine Interpretation des Songs sei mehr als eine schauspielerische Darbietung aus der Sicht eines LSD-Konsumenten gemeint, denn als total überzogene Lesung eines geisteskranken Schauspielers.

Dieses Video ist sehenswert, fängt es doch gut die verschmolzene Persönlichkeit des Sängers vor dem Hintergrund der großen Dosis Psychedelika ein, für die das Lied trotz aller Dementis steht.

O filme A.I. mostra uma idéia de ativação de David que é fantástica. Ele é ativado por um toque na nuca, com o soletrar de palavras. Isso ativa David e o torna "humano". Desta forma David passaria a ter comportamento de uma criança(humana), sendo impossível a desativação comportamental. Para isto ocorrer, ele deveria ser destruido.

Mais sobre o filme:

A.I. é como um conto de fadas. Comovente. Passa-se numa época em que os robôs fazem parte do cotidiano dos homens. Eles prestam serviços, mas também podem substituir um parente que faleceu ou até mesmo um amante. Até que é criado um menino robô programado para amar.

David é adotado por Henry e Mônica . Ele vai substituir o filho do casal, portador de uma doença terminal, que está congelado à espera de descoberta da cura.

O robô David passa a viver com o casal e vai se adaptando. Porém, o filho orga (de orgânico, como são chamados) fica curado e volta para casa. O filho meca (de mecânico) perde espaço. E passa a se comportar como um humano real. Disputa o amor da mãe.
A convivência não se torna  pacífica dos dois garotos, então David  é levado para a floresta, acreditando que ele pode sobreviver ali. Não podendo  devolver à empresa que o criou, pois ele seria destruído.

Mais um detalhe muito bom é o ursinho Teddy. Ele é encantador, apaixonante. Na verdade, é uma combinação de boneco com imagem digital e foram usados vários Teddies. O mais importante deles continha 50 motores em seu corpo, 24 deles só na cabeça, controlando seus complexos movimentos de rosto. Teddy pesava mais de 13 quilos.

Abraço,
Ederson Melo

Klingon mating rituals are very violent, and they resemble a very primitive type of S&M - foreplay consists of kicking the p'tahk out of your partner before having your way with them. Bruises, broken bones, and sometimes death is a part of life of Klingon sex. Occasionally during Klingon orgasm, it is not uncommon to pass out completely by the pain.

Now that's what I call an orgasm!

I remember well the day when I came home from school, pushed open the front door, walked into the kitchen area, and went straight into the fridge for a Diet Coke. From there, I went into the living room where my dad was sitting, I gave him a big hug, and then said, "Dad, can we go the park at the weekend?" 

I entered the house with boldness; I approached my father with boldness, because I have been born into the family. 

My friend, how much more the believer, when we have been born through Jesus Christ, into the family of God? How much more shall we approach the throne of grace, where our Heavenly Father is seated? How much more shall we approach Him to ask something of Him, all because we have been born-again, born into the family?  We need not fear, nor feel that we should approach our ABBA Father with caution, but we boldly approach Him, with love, respect and our heart-felt gratitude, because of all that He has done for us, so that we might have that freedom to approach the throne of grace with confidence and boldness, knowing God as our ABBA Father. 

No condemnation now I dread; Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;

Alive in Him my living Head, and clothed in righteousness divine,

Bold, I approach the eternal throne, and claim the crown, through Christ my own. 

God bless you my friend, Matthew.

Here's some advice that you would hope is more than unnecessary. NASA employees - astronauts, in particular - should avoid writing their names on any landscapes they encounter on their trips through the solar system.

This plea against space vandalism is not a NASA directive. It comes from University of North Texas philosophy professor Eugene Hargrove . He is making the request today as part of a talk on eco issues in space exploration during this week's NASA Lunar Science Institute's conference at the Ames Research Center.

There is no doubt that we have already made an impact on the Moon. Each Apollo mission released gas equivalent to the whole of the existing lunar atmosphere. If and when spacecraft start going back more regularly, we might create a permanent atmosphere of rocket exhaust.

"Create a permanent atmosphere of rocket exhaust" ? 

Y'gotta be shittin' me, right?

Read the comment section of this article, they say it better than I can. 8)

Return of the space vandals

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

For those of you who don’t see Spaceflight, a magazine published by the British Interplanetary Society, it may be useful to know that an article by Richard Obousy and Gerald Cleaver (Baylor University) on warp drive theory from the April issue is now available on the arXiv server. This material was presented at the November, 2007 symposium held by the BIS in London. Kelvin Long, who organized the session, had earlier passed along several documents from the proceedings that we looked at here, and also wrote up the duo’s ideas in the same issue of Spaceflight.

But let’s backtrack a minute to Miguel Alcubierre’s 1994 paper, which demonstrated that it would be possible — within the context of General Relativity — to envision a space drive that could get you to your destination in a time shorter than it would take light itself to get there. Contracting space in front of the craft while inflating it behind, the drive is permissible because the starship itself would not be going faster than light. Rather, the space around it would be moving in such a way as to make the trip possible.

And that’s the key — the speed of light stricture does not apply to spacetime itself. Can we learn how to generate a region of expanding spacetime and one of contracting spacetime? Obousy and Cleaver argue that nature can offer insights, for spacetime itself is already expanding, a fact we realized with the work of Edwin Hubble in 1929 and have been wrestling with in various ways ever since. A warp drive would demand that the slow expansion of space that we observe be made to function extremely quickly, which makes understanding the cosmological constant the key demand of any attempt to build a true warp drive.

This is why I love the Centauri Dreams blog so much, Paul Gilster isn't afraid to put out some extreme engineering posts at time. I have to admit, he's good at finding these papers on the arXiv server!

As for the feasibility of warp drive, yes, the energy requirements are tremendous, so unless there is a way to create a warp bubble or fiddle with string theory in anything meaningful without the enormous energy input, it ain't gonna happen.

And in the Trek Universe, the element in "dilithium" crystals facilitate the creation of a warp bubble without infinite energy input. People tend to forget that when the topic of inventing a real warp drive pops up. But Paul's post puts a realistic spin on the research and is recommended reading.

A new take on warping space-time

____________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I have a theory that the human energy body that certain so-called psychics say that they can travel out of body in and that which persons involved in so-called near death experiences claim to have is simply a body made of a material, perhaps super cooled non-relativistic neutrino material that is produced by the electroweak unification between the electromagnetic force and the weak nuclear force. As one might be aware, the neutrino is the particle with zero electric charge but which interacts with matter through the weak nuclear force reaction. A beam of pure neutrinos can accordingly travel thru light years of lead and remain largely unattenuated.My theory in another version is that the material out of which human and extraterrestrial energy bodies are made is composed of photo-neutrinos which would be a hybrid force particle with characteristics of both the electromagnetic photon and the weak force neutrino. My theory would explain why energy bodies appear or at least are reported to pass through material objects by those having near death experiences. Which ever version of my theory is correct, the electroweak unification in physics, the basic form of the theory for which a Nobel Prize was awarded, is the basis for suggesting that super cooled neutrinos, or photo-neutrinos, can interact by electric fields or electronic like fields and thus form the continuous material that energy bodies and auras appear to be made of in the form of aggregates of massive numbers of cooled neutrinos or photo-neutrinos in bound states.

My man Jim Essig here sounds like a nut at times, but he's a deep thinker of many things and that is good.

He's almost like a scientific Highwayman! Without the expletives of course!

As Geez says, "I'll sit at his campfire any time and the coffee is always good." That goes for all these guys.

Reflections on the Nature, Meaning, and Purpose of the Frailty of Life

Diablos. Primera noticia que me patea en la maléfica ingle en relación a Watchmen. Pónganse a llorar, porque de acuerdo al director Zack Snyder, los EMOS tendrán su festín cuando My Chemycal Romance ponga manos a la obra en un cover de Bob Dylan para los créditos finales de la película. Será la única canción post-1985 y el tema escogido podría ser “Desolation Row". El soundtrack de la película contendrá temas que nos moverán en el tiempo a través de las décadas de los 60, 70 y 80's. A todo esto, la foto que adorna el tema es del año pasado. No se entusiasmen, aun no es tiempo del panel de la película.

Por otro lado, en medio de la presentación del remake de The Day The Earth Stood Still, Keanu Reeves negó los rumores que lo vinculan a una posible película de Plastic Man a cargo de los hermanos Wachowski. No ha escuchado nada al respecto.

Otra información nos recuerda que en mayo fue anunciado que el 2010 sería la fecha elegida para los estrenos de Iron Man 2 y Thor. Los rumores ahora agregan a un nuevo personaje arribando a la pantalla grande en esa fecha. Todo porque la adaptación de Ant-Man a cargo del sólido Edgar Wright (Shaun of The Dead, Hot Fuzz) podría estar destinada para la Navidad de dicho año. Al menos, Marvel Studios confia en que el estilo del personaje es propicio para dicha fecha.

Ahora una rápida: Eagle Eye estrena un juego viral y un nuevo clip de la película. El 5 de Septiembre parte el juego aquí y el clip lo pueden encontrar por acá. La película es dirigida por DJ Caruso (quién se encargará de la adaptación de la majestuosa Y: The Last Man), es protagonizada por el requerido Shia LaBeouf y la idea de la historia es producto de la mente del Rey Midas, Steven Spielberg.

Para finalizar, tenemos que recordar aquella información inicial que daba por hecho que el villano de Star Trek, en el reinicio de la franquicia a cargo de JJ Abrams, sería un Romulano... Sin embargo, todo parece indicar que no será así. En los pósters aparecidos con anterioridad no tenía las tipicas orejas de dicha raza, solo unos extraños tatuajes en el rostro. El co-escritor de la historia señala que Nero (Eric Bana) "no es necesariamente un Romulano" y que "todo es parte de la trama"

Desde: MTV, MTV, MTV y Trek Web

Why? Why not. Why now? Because Tannoy have just discontinued the EFX5.1 speaker line. My set was a Tannoy FX5.1 set, which was superceded by the EFXs - they changed the sub-woofer and gave it a proper centre. So by replacing the centre and adding 1 EFX satellite I could get a balanced 7.1 system. The EFXs discontinuance partially scuppered that plan because no-one would sell me a single satellite. Superfi (http://www.superfi.co.uk) however sold me a pair for less than the in-life price of a single one, as well as 2 stands, a centre and 20m of cable.

Having cabled it all up, I ran my amplifier's auto-setup thing, only to be told that all speakers were out of phase. Indeed they were; I had cabled all the red terminals on the amplifier to the black terminals on the speakers (and vice-versa obviously). Half an hour of tedious rewiring later and it's all working correctly.

Haven't yet tried it with a DTS source, but it sounds pretty-good so far.

Yesterday, Dr. Herberman sent a memo to faculty and staff warning them them to limit the use of cell phones because of the cancer risk.  Although the risk has not been conclusively proven, he is telling people to err on the side of caution, based on results from unpublished data.

"Really at the heart of my concern is that we shouldn't wait for a definitive study to come out, but err on the side of being safe rather than sorry later, "Dr. Herberman told The Associated Press.

He is particularly concerned that children be protected while their brains are still developing.  He advises adults to switch sides regularly while talking on a cell phone.

Dr. Herberman's warning holds no worries for me, although I am concerned for my wife, stepdaughter, stepson, other relatives and friends.  I have the rare distinction of being someone who has never owned a cell phone.  For me, no telephone call is that important that it cannot wait until I can use a landline phone and, if the truth were told, the same probably holds good for most people.

As a road user, I welcome Dr. Herberman's warning.  Maybe people will follow his advice and desist from having to make, or take, a call while driving. It scares me when I see, usually women -- I am sorry girls but you do seem unable to resist the lure of a telephone chat while driving -- trying to make a maneuver with one hand on the steering wheel and the other clutching a cell phone to their ear.  Are they really concentrating 100 percent on the road?  Of course, they would probably counter that, unlike men, they are perfectly capable of simultaneously performing two tasks.

And what will happen to daily life if the link between brain tumors and cell phones turns out to be true?  "It's life, Jim, but not as we know it" to borrow the Star Trek line.

Supermarket shopping will revert back to the days of shopping lists scribbled down on the back of an envelope.  Cell phones have turned grocery shopping into something resembling a space mission.

"Command, I have entered the pet food aisle. Please advise."

"Proceed two-thirds of the way down and you will find Doggomeat on the left.  Remove 10 cans from the shelf.  Proceed two yards further.  Down at the bottom, you should see the large Doggobix.  Place one bag in the trolley."

"Okay command.  I am proceeding."

In restaurants, the air will return to being filled with the babble of normal conversation rather than having to listen to the details of Aunty Mimi's hysterectomy and subsequent progress.  Why is it people suddenly have to speak louder when they are talking into a cell phone than they would if it were an office or home phone?  For a lot of people the cell phone is superflous, their conversations are loud enough to be heard 20 miles away.

In the light of Dr. Herberman's warning, and while the link between cell phones and brain tumors is still inconclusive, all the British need is for some third-rate entertainer, someone by the name of Jim Fort say, to blame his brain tumor on performing in clubs where the audience talked on their cell phones throughout his act because it was so bad.  A few appearances by Jolly Jim on TV chat shows and the dangers of passive cell phone calls will become embedded in the public's psyche.

Even if honest scientific study fails to establish the danger posed by passive cell phone calls, junk science will gladly step into the breach and fuel the call for a ban on cell phone use in bars and restaurants, shops, offices, cinemas, airports, airliners, sports stadia, public buildings and outside public buildings.  The Californians will insist that it extends to beaches and parks.  "Hey dude!  That electromagnetic radiation is serious stuff.  It's a killer, man."

Pity the poor doctors who have suspended their belief in rational scientific analysis to argue about the dangers posed by passive smoking.  I will wager that they are all cell phone users to a man, or woman.  How will they cope with their newly acquired pariah status, one they have inflicted on smokers over the years?  Could the prophetic Dr. Herberman be their nemesis?  As a smoker, forgive me if I have the wry smile of schadenfreude on my face.

[Based on reports by The New York Times and BBC News.]

Take a looky at it over here at Gizmodo.

We decided to hold a fantasy draft of favorite television characters. The rules were simple (and often made up as we went along). Today, I'll post the first three rounds of the draft, along with comments. We'll proceed like this for a few days, then get to the final analysis, which will be based on actual conversations we had about the proceedings.

A final note before we begin: when Kitt Kittredge and I were crashing on Barry Bond's L-shaped couch that night, falling into the kind of deep sleep one can only have after a night full of hard fought silliness and time-wasting, she calmly stated "I'm not sure whether it is sad or awesome that we're over 30 and this is our life." Neither am I, Kitt. Neither am I.

ROUND ONE

1. Smichovsky selects Claire Fisher, Six Feet Under -- those of you who know me know that this is entirely to be expected. If this was a for-real fantasy draft, this pick would be a horrible reach, as it's unlikely that either of my foes would have selected her at all, let alone within the first few rounds. At this point, we had no idea how long the draft would be going on, let alone why the hell we were doing it (well, we still don't have an idea why), so I went for my all-time favorite character on any television show ever.

2. Team Kittredge selects Kermit The Frog, The Muppet Show/Sesame Street -- this pick was greeted by oohs and aahs. I mean, you start to think about the all-time greats, and somehow, the average mind doesn't go to perhaps the all-time great himself. Unless you're Kitt Kittredge, of course. Barry Bonds and I knew the game had gotten serious after just the second pick.

3. Team Bonds (or Team Deeeluxe, if you want) selects Angus Macguyver, Macguyver -- a name I never would have even thought of, especially this high, Macguyver would prove to be a very successful pick when all was said and done. In fact, I don't even know much about the show, other than that Macguyver would, well, Macguyver stuff he needed out of paper clips and chewing gum. This clip makes me think I missed out (or maybe it's just that song).

ROUND TWO

4. Team Deeeluxe selects Jean-Luc Picard, Star Trek: The Next Generation -- a pattern was beginning to develop here already for this team, as a second intelligent, resourceful leader made the squad.

5. Team Kittredge selects Alex P. Keaton, Family Ties -- Family Ties feels like a forgotten TV show to me. It hasn't been on in reruns for a while, has it? I feel like there are entire generations of kids who don't know what a huge star Michael J. Fox was while doing this show. I never loved Family Ties when I was growing up, but in retrospect, I think that's because I missed a lot of the politics at work in the show's basic premise. I think I'd really come to appreciate it more if I watched it now.

6. Team Smichovsky selects Homer J. Simpson, The Simpsons -- remember when this show started and it was about Bart? The switch to Homer as focus turned this into one of the best damn shows of all-time. Sadly, this pick would, much like the Bonds pick of last round, establish a pattern to my selections.

ROUND THREE

7. Smichovsky selects Eric Cartman, South Park -- So I end up selecting fat, goofy losers to combat the powerful leaders and worldwide icons of the other squads--and I'm happy to stand behind these picks. Cartman has got to be the most ridiculous, awful, and hilarious character I've ever seen. (It's virtually impossible to get a youtube link to South Park stuff, so you'll have to go here.)

8. Team Kittredge selects Kevin Arnold, The Wonder Years -- And the patterns continue. Kermit + Alex Keaton + Kevin Arnold = sensitivity (c) Ralph Tresvant. Of course this team was picked by a girl.

9. Team Deeeluxe selects Al Bundy, Married With Children -- the fearless leader thing goes out at the window. Pure, sheer FOX hilarity. The everyman. A heck of a pick.

More soon. Lots more soon.

I may also plunk out for another Alexander Siddig autograph ticket at the convention. I was going to pre-order two tickets for him (one for my group photo and one for my solo photo) but when I saw all the convenience fees I figured I'd just get one now and save myself $7.25 and get the second one at the convention.

I can't wait!!! It's only... 16 days away!!!! Yippie!!! I have been waiting for this since last December when my boyfriend and I decided we'd go to Vegas this summer. Well, I've been waiting for a lot longer for a chance to go to this convention, but the dream only started becoming a reality last December. I haven't been to a convention since 1998, and this will be my second trip to Vegas.

And I'll be sure to bring my camera along this time with lots of extra batteries and a 2 gig memory card. I didn't have my fancy digital camera at the last convention I went to or the last time I went to Vegas, so I'm really looking forward to not being limited to how many 30-shot rolls of film I can carry. I suspect I'll fill up my 1 and 2 gig memory cards with 2000+ photos... Now how good they will all turn out is another question...

Just 16 days left!!! See you in Vegas!
=/\=TrekkieGirl

This Psalm has become a favourite Bible read for many people. It is good to note that in Psalm 91:1, the rich promises of this whole chapter are dependent upon one meeting exactly the conditions of these first two verses.

Psalm 91:1 (NIV), “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty (EL SHADDAI). I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God in whom I trust’." 

There is a simple song about these two verses of scripture; it goes something like this:

He who dwells, He who dwells, in the shelter of most high,

Will rest in the shadow; will rest in the shadow, the shadow of the Almighty,

And I'll say of the LORD, “He is my refuge”, and I'll say of the LORD, “He is my strength”,

And I'll make of the Most High One my dwelling place, and I'll say, “He is my God”, I'll say, “He is my God, in whom I trust”.

To dwell in Him, in the secret place under the shadow of the Almighty, resting in Him, safe and secure, is all I would ever want. The Bible says in Colossians 3:16 (KJV), “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly”. Spend time in His presence, in the secret place, humbly before God.

Imagine being covered from the winds that buffet against you, the harshness, and the ferocious tempest that rages against your soul, to find rest and protection under His wings, safe secure and warm. This is a picture of loving devotion towards you from your ABBA Father.

Also, it’s like someone fighting for you in the heat of the battle. He will be your shield, extinguishing all the fiery darts from the evil one that are aimed at you. God will be your refuge. He will be your rampart. If you make the LORD your dwelling place, He will command His angles to guard you in all your ways.

My friend, you may ask, “Why would God do all this just for me?” Your answer can be found in Psalm 91:14 to 16 (Amplified Bible), “Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore will I deliver him; I will set him on high, because he knows and understands My name [has a personal knowledge of My mercy, love, and kindness--trusts and relies on Me, knowing I will never forsake him, no, never]. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him. With long life will I satisfy him and show him My salvation.”

Learn to dwell in the shelter of the Most High, and rest in the shadow of “EL SHADDAI” Almighty God. Dwell in God, and learn to let Him dwell in you. From that relationship, you will find a deeper peace and purpose for your life. 

God bless you my friend, Matthew

Good morning, radio fans. As you can see from this blog this morning, I've been a bit busy. That's because there's so much going on today. I truly don't know what to talk about first. I have lots of highlights to share with you today but I'd also like to invite you, no encourage you, to post your own highlights in the comments. This is your community, feel free to promote your shows or discuss your favorite segments.

Here are just a few of today's highlights:

Trekkies will love today's SyFY Radio. None other than Mr. Sulu himself, George Takei is stopping by to chat with host Michael Hinman. Catch the action tonight at 10:00 p.m. EST.

Today's guest on TV Talk is Graham Patrick Martin from the TBS hit The Bill Engvall Show. Listen in at 6:00 p.m. EST.

On the NY Baseball Digest the guys are chatting with former Mets slugger Mo Vaughan. Mo will talk about his time in the big leagues. Mo will also discuss his current venture as owner of OMNI New York LLC which rehabilitates housing in depressed areas. Don't miss it at 6:00 p.m. EST.

Movie Geeks United is beginning a series in tribute to Academy Award winning director Steven Spielberg. Part , airing today, talks about Jaws. Special guests include biographer Joseph McBride, Wendy Benchley, co-stars Susan Bachiline and Jeffrey Kramer, screenwriter Carl Gottlieb and members of 'The Shark is Still Working' crew. Not be be missed tonight at 10:00 p.m. EST.

Enjoy the rest of the day and remember all of our segments are available on demand immediately following the live broadcast.

Stephen's just getting rolling, but I can't resist linking to his re-telling of one of my favorite development war stories: Pakled Customer Syndrome.  Star Trek TNG hasn't aged very well at all -- my episode yield is about ten percent -- I last an average of six minutes then I can't stand it any more.

However, anyone who has had stakeholders with alternative agendas will get a few chuckes from Samaritan Snare.  Not that I've built a Crimson Force Field

Até que enfim saiu o primeiro pôster do novo filme da série Star Trek dirigido por J.J Abrams, com novos atores intepretando os personagens clássicos da série. Na foto o novo vilão Nero e a versão jovem de Uhura, Spock, Capitão Kirk, todos com as cores originais do seu uniforme, juntando as quatros fotos forma-se o símbolo da Frota Estrelar. Aproveito para comentar cada foto e a versão jovem dos personagens clássico da série.

Pela ordem o primeiro é o vilão Nero interpretado por Eric Bana, incorrencível com tanta maquiagem, muito mistêrio cerca a história do personagem, mas o visual lembra bastante as séries e filmes dos anos 80 e 90.

A versão jovem da personagem Uhura intepretada pela atriz Zoe Saldana que parece ter tentado copiar o olhar da atriz original Nichelle Nichols, fisícamente pelo menos ela se parecem.

Fiquei arrepiado ao ver o ator Zachary Quinto, conhecido por ser o Sylar em Heroes como Spock, o olhar, as sombracelhas, claro a orelha Lembra muito Leonard Nimoy como o Spock original.

A minha maior e infelizmente decepção ficou por conta do ator Chris Pane como o Capitão Kirk, não entendi o que ele quis passar com esse olhar, comparado com o ator William Shatner os dois não se parecem nada, talvez com uma boa atuação ele consiga ultrapassar essas diferenças.

Star Trek estréia no dia 8 de maio de 2009 e até lá aguarde muitas novidades!

En agosto del 98 se estrenó en España “Expediente X: enfréntate al futuro”, basada en la serie televisiva de factura USA, “The X Files” (“Expediente X” en España), que se convirtió en serie de culto, generando séquitos de fans en todo el mundo, y cuyo éxito se puede comparar en el género de ciencia ficción a la mítica “Star Trek”.

Casi exactamente diez años más tarde (¡Como pasa el tiempo! Parece que fue ayer…) nos llega la segunda entrega para la pantalla grande de los avatares del agente especial Fox Mulder y de la también agente especial Dana Scully, en “Expediente X: Creer es la clave", esta vez dirigidos por Chris Carter, el creador de la historia para televisión (la del 98 la dirigió Rob Bowman).

Tendrá que pelearse su puesto entre los estrenos taquilleros ya acontecidos, y los que están por llegar en breves (“The Dark Knight”, es un ejemplo), pero tiene asegurado un buen número de espectadores deseosos de volver a ver a sus agentes especiales en acción.

Se estrena mañana, día 24 de julio.

¡Disfrutadla!

Os incluyo la sinopsis:

La trama se centra en el secuestro de un grupo de mujeres en las colinas de Virginia. La única pista que se tiene sobre su desaparición, son una serie de restos humanos que aparecen en los bancos de nieve en las colinas. Gracias a la ayuda de un sacerdote que posee visiones acerca del hecho, la policía local descubre un experimento médico secreto que podría estar relacionado con la desaparición de las mujeres. A pesar de que los agentes Mulder y Scully no desean volver a su oscuro pasado, ellos serán los únicos que serán capaces de resolver este misterio.

Podéis ver el trailer oficial pinchando aquí

Swanson  

Il regista ha spiegato il perché ha scelto di dirigere il prossimo film di Star Trek: "Perché è divertente - dice Abrams - e soprattutto perché nonostante ci siano conflitti e battaglie, al tempo stesso emerge l'ottimismo e la speranza. E' il senso della famiglia che rendere la saga davvero speciale. E questo ottimismo di base è quello che mi ha maggiormente attratto".

Sempre più sulla scia del "Roddenberry pensiero", Abrams ha chiuso l'intervista sottolineando che Star Trek, in ultima analisi, è soprattutto una storia di speranza. Speranza, ovviamente, per un futuro migliore.

[Preso da StarTrekNews24]

La frase che più mi piace è "E' il senso della famiglia che rendere la saga davvero speciale.". Questo è fortemente vero, in tutte le serie di Star Trek il tema di una "famiglia felice", pur con tutti i suoi problemi, è sempre stato fortissimo.  Voi cosa ne pensate?