12-30-08

The Doctor Who Christmas Special came in 2nd in the ratings to something I didn't even know was airing: Wallace and Gromit: A Matter of Loaf and Death. I want to see that.

Disney has pulled out of the Narnia trilogy, leaving Walden shopping for a partner to help them finish the 3rd movie.

SciFi Wire has an article about shows on the bubble, which may not be renewed. Unfortunately, I watch most of them. I hope the odds are better than they indicate.

It sounds like Torchwood season 3 (which is basically a mini-series in length) will be toned down a bit for US audiences. (The 2nd season had a "family friendly" version that played in the early hours, so it is possibly they just don't want to re-edit a 2nd version this year to catch some of the Doctor Who audience.)

io9 has great images of Jupiter and Ganymede and Mars.

io9 also has an interview with David Hewlett (Rodney) about the end of Stargate: Atlantis.

This is a great week for stargazing (weather permitting). Venus, Mercury and Jupiter will all be visible tomorrow night just after sunset, and the Geminid Meteor Shower will be just before dawn on Saturday.

Check out Henry Jenkin's blog for an interview with Neil Gaiman and an introduction to a lecture series featuring JMS.

The Special Space issue of National Geographic features a forward titled "My Mars" by Ray Bradbury with art by Michael Whelan. Or check out the rest in the table of contents.

There seem to be a bunch of "2008 Top" lists wrapping up the year which I'm going to group together.
* Top 10 stories of spaceflight from space.com
* Top 10 scientific breakthroughs from ars technica (per Science magazine)
* Top 9 books published in 2008 from Adventures in Reading
* 5 best sci-fi books of 2008 from Bookgasm
* 6 new web technologies from Wired
* Top 10 green tech breakthroughs from Wired
* Top 10 technology breakthroughs from Wired
* SF Signal ran a 3-part article on the best genre works of 2008: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3


DVR for tonight:
7pm Leverage (TNT)

12-19-08

James Cameron is rumored to be interested in directing JMS's script for Forbidden Planet.

Dapperstach has as pic of the day the Periodic Table of Awesoments. Great geeky humor.

In honor of Dr. Horrible's release on dvd today, i09 lists Singing Supervillains (and provides video of several).

Several sites today have memorials for Majel Barrett-Roddenberry: SciFi Wire, Tor.com, Space.com, Zap2It, and Memory Alpha even has a wiki page.

The Spout.com blog is having a free Scifi film festival. 8 cheesy old scifi films are available online for free.

DVR for tonight:
7pm Sanctuary
8pm Ghost Whisperer
10pm Numb3rs
--for Saturday:
6pm Lost Treasure of the Grand Canyon (SCIFI - yes, a cheesy Saturday SciFi movie, but it has Michael Shanks. See here for more info.)

12-18-08

RIP Majel Barrett Roddenberry. The first lady of Star Trek has died of leukemia at 76.

SyFy Portal has a 10 Best Sci-Fi TV episodes of 2008. I actually agree with several of these, but I haven't sat down and thought about what my list would be yet (that time usually comes before award nominations are due, not at the end of the year).

Jane Espenson (writer & producer for Buffy, BSG, etc.) is planning to write a 5-issue comic book series focused on Oz from Buffy.

Weburbanist has a list of 15 Geeky Gadgets (some are real and some appear to be artist concepts). A couple of these are great (as well as funny).

A working reproduction of a 2,100 year old astronomical device (dubbed the "first computer") has been unveiled and demonstrated. Sources: Network World (via Slashdot) and Tor.com (with link to Wired).

1,000 new (or previously thought to be extinct) species have been discovered in Vietnam.

Bruce Campbell has directed and starred in a self-referential spoof, and now wishes the name of his character was changed to avoid confusion about reality.


There is nothing on TV tonight. Time to catch up on the stuff piling up on the DVR.

Sample picture

I decided to test sending a picture from my phone to the blog. Turned out to be pretty easy.

12-17-08

BBC America is picking up Ashes to Ashes, the 80s-era sequel the BBC did to Life on Mars. It will begin airing in March.

The New Mexico Spaceport just received FAA clearance for vertical and horizontal launches, and the carrier for Virgin Galactic's SpaceShipTwo is planning a test flight before the end of the year.

Harrison Ford has signed on to star in a comedy movie with JJ Abrams for Paramount.

2 new actresses have been signed on for season 2 of True Blood.

A previously unknown city that provides a link between ancient cultures has been unearthed in Peru.

The Dr. Horrible dvd (coming this week) will have application videos from fans trying to join the Evil League of Evil. Check out 3 at i09.


DVR for tonight:
8pm Pushing Daisies
9pm Private Practice & Life
10pm CSI:NY

12-15-08

The year-end lists are arriving early. Network World has The Wackiest Stories of 2008.

Robert Carlyle (Full Monty) has been cast as the lead in Stargate: Universe. Sources: Zap2It, SciFi Wire, EW.

The Fall 2008 issue of Subterranean Online is now available with stories by Alastair Reynolds, Chris Roberson, and Mary Robinette Kowal (among others).

Ronald Moore's (BSG) new show, Virtuality, will be delayed or completely rewritten (probably because the people at FOX just didn't get it). More info at io9.

The Writer's Guild Nominations (for TV) have been announced. 3 of the 5 shows nominated for best new series are ones I actually like. Who'd have guessed it? Most of the other categories have barely one nominee I've even seen.

The actor who played House's PI this season will have an arc as a con man on CSI.

Although not confirmed, it sounds like Lost season 5 may air uninterrupted.

Geek toys I felt the need to share: celestial globe, R2D2 aquarium


DVRs for tonight:
8pm Chuck, Big Bang Theory, & Sarah Connor Chronicles
830 How I Met Your Mother
9pm Heroes & 2.5 Men

12-12-08

RIP Van Johnson. He died today at 92. I feel the need to go rewatch one of his movies (Brigadoon, A Guy Named Joe, Three Guys Named Mike, The Last Time I Saw Paris, etc....)

Tonight will have the largest full moon in 15 years. Remember to look up.

Happy Birthday to the radio. Marconi first demonstrated it on this day in 1896.

A Lifetime Achievement award has been given to cat videos. Check out the tribute montage.

Used coffee grounds apparently are a good source of biodiesel fuel.

Darpa (with partners) is planning to make algae into jet fuel.

Hugh Jackman will be hosting the Oscars this year. Is he the first non-comedian to host?

Lauren Graham (Gilmore Girls) is coming back to TV comedy.

SciFi Wire has the creator of Fast Forward discussing how they will do the show.

Scientists have found a 2,000 year old brain (the oldest yet discovered in Britain).

Google has taken Chrome out of beta after only 100 days.

CNet has a slideshow with commentary on electric cars.

And, in the seriously disturbing category, an inventor has made himself a robot wife.

DVR for tonight:
Stargate: Atlantis
Sanctuary

12-11-08

The Golden Globe nominations have been announced. I usually like their choices better than other awards, but they seem more mainstream this year. I've only seen 5 of the TV shows (True Blood, House, Monk, The Closer, and How I Met Your Mother), and I'm not sure there are even 5 of the movies I was tempted to watch (and a lot more than 5 that I haven't even heard of before).

EW.com has an interview with Bryan Fuller about his plans for Heroes.

Majel Barrett-Roddenberry will once again play the voice of the computer in Star Trek.

DVR for tonight:
8pm My Name is Earl
9pm CSI (part 1 of 2-part goodbye ep for William Peterson)
10pm Eleventh Hour

12-10-08

io9 has 7 pages of a comic book that comes after Farscape: Peacekeeper Wars.

Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog comes out on dvd next week, and i09 has comments from Joss Whedon about why it is worth the money (although the price now is less than when the post was made).

The Watchmen preview that was only shown at Comic Con is now available for free at iTunes.

Sarah Jane Adventures renewed for another season. No idea when it might play in the US though.

Tim Burton's next project after Alice in Wonderland is going to be a remake of Dark Shadows with Johnny Depp. Sources: Collider and io9

An implant in the brain and a voice synthesizer are allowing a man whose paralysis has made him mute to speak again.

Studying ants may lead to better artificial limbs.

Paul McCartney is releasing his new album as a DRM-free download. You can listen to every song before deciding to buy, and you can buy just the MP3 version or a physical (CD, vinyl, or deluxe) copy that comes with the MP3 version.

DVRs for tonight:
8pm Pushing Daisies
9pm Private Practice & Life
10pm CSI:NY

12-9-08

Happy 40th anniversary to the computer mouse. The BBC has an article with videos (including some of the original demo). CNet has a photo gallery. Wired has a photo gallery and an article about the demo and the Stanford event today to celebrate it. (Check out the Wired gallery for great trivia - like the trackball being 16 years older than the mouse.) Last week Logitech celebrated the creation of their 1 billionth mouse, and they've come a long way since the original piece of wood with one button.

Google is going to have complete catalogs of several magazines available online.

Wired.com is having a photo contest for animal pictures. Check out some of the pics submitted so far.

Wired also has a new picture of the Swan Nebula taken by the Spitzer Space Telescope.

NBC is going to move Jay Leno to 10pm every night. With "reality" already taking up the 8pm hour of most nights, this will significantly reduce the amount of scripted programming they air.

SciFi Wire has an interview with Charlaine Harris about True Blood, her next Sookie Stackhouse book, and some of her mysteries.

Treehugger.com's Design and Architecture page has a cool expanding bookcase.

Preliminary studies show that cord blood transplants engraft faster than bone marrow transplants, reducing the risk for patients.

DVRs for tonight:
8pm House
9pm Leverage (pilot at 9, new ep at 10)

12-8-08

If you're like me and completely missed the season premiere of Robot Chicken last night, i09 has pictures and a link to the entire episode online. See why Ronald Moore and Joss Whedon want to kill Seth Green.

RIP Forrest J Ackerman. The man who came up with the term "sci-fi" and became the most famous fan ever has died at the age of 92. Sources: LA Times, SFWA, SF Scope, SciFi Wire list of 25 things to miss about Forry, and SF Signal.

SF Gate has an article about tomorrow's 40th anniversary event for computer history fans.

HP and Arizona State University have developed a better flexible display, although it will be years before we see it available commercially.

Researchers have found a link between Herpes cold sores and Alzheimer's Disease. This may lead to antiviral treatments or a vaccine.

If you are still using Firefox 2.0, upgrade to 3.0 instead of installing the final security patch, which will remove the anti-phishing features.

TVShowsonDVD has information on the Direct to DVD Dead Like Me movie coming out in February.

Hawaii is planning to set up an electric car charging network, hoping to replace gas cars (which causes most of their pollution and is expensive to get on the islands) with electric from renewable energy sources by 2030.

Wired has an article about a comic book designed to teach science.

DVRs for tonight:
8pm Big Bang Theory, Chuck, & Sarah Connor Chronicles
830 How I Met Your Mother
9pm Heroes & 2.5 Men

12-5-08

Joseph Fiennes and John Cho are in negotiations to join the cast of Fast Forward.

SF Signal lists a huge batch of free SF short stories that are now available online (including stories by Jack McDevitt and Nina Kiriki Hoffman).

Neil Gaiman lists his favorite 3 books for Barnes & Noble. How is it that I've only read one of these?

The Well Medicated blog has 45 vintage illustrations from Popular Science, Popular Mechanics, or similar showing how people imagined the space age would look.

SF Signal links to discussions on what your bookshelves say about you. However, in the 2 schools of thought they mention, they don't seem to consider the combination. My bookshelf is very much a combination of books I've read and liked and books I intend to read at some point (and I do periodically chip away at those).

The BBC is planning yet another version of The Day of the Triffids. Haven't they told this story enough?

MTV Movies blog has an interview with JMS about his World War Z movie adaptation.

Crystals found in Australian rocks have made scientists completely rethink the way the Earth would have looked 4.2 million years ago.

This week the New York Times had an article filled with chestnut recipes. I like chestnuts, but tend to serve them the same couple ways all the time. I might try some of these.

SciFi Wire has an article about the 3rd Librarian movie, playing this Sunday on TNT.

DVRs for tonight:
Stargate: Atlantis
Sanctuary
Ghost Whisperer
Numb3rs
--for Saturday:
Legend of the Seeker
--for Sunday:
Librarian 3: Curse of the Judas Chalice (TNT)

12-4-08

Bryan Fuller (creator or co-creator of Dead Like Me, Wonderfalls, and Pushing Daisies) is returning to the writing staff at Heroes (he wrote 2 episodes in 1st season). This is part of a 2-year deal with Universal where he will develop new projects as well.

The Big Picture has a Hubble Telescope advent calendar - 25 beautiful pictures, revealed one day at a time, from the Hubble Telescope. Along similar lines, hubblesite has printable holiday cards featuring Hubble photos.

Research in energy harvesting looks like it may lead to cell phones that are powered by talking.

Stupid law example of the day: In Australia, a company owns a copyright on a gene (or at least testing and treatment related to having the gene). As a result, sick babies can't be diagnosed or treated in time to help them.

Stupid invention example: Expanded usage of an invention designed to annoy people.

DVRs for tonight:
8pm My Name is Earl
9pm CSI & Grey's Anatomy
10pm Eleventh Hour

12-3-08

British researchers have found a way to use a patient's own stem cells to repair their hearts. They should be ready for human trials within 3 years. This could eliminate the need for heart transplants.

The new issue of Lone Star Stories (free online) has a story by Nina Kiriki Hoffman.

Craig T. Nelson will be playing a villain in a 3-episode arc of CSI:NY.

Fred Thompson will guest star on Life on Mars as the chief of detectives.

The Telegraph has an article about a mechanical glove being used to restore dexterity in a musician's hand after a stroke.

CNet has an article about companies that will pay you for your old (but working) electronics.

The Book Design Review blog lists their favorite book covers of 2008. Note: these are their best in terms of cover design, not artwork. There are very few with what I would consider artwork even included, but several of the designs are impressive.

DVRs for tonight:
8pm Pushing Daisies
9pm Private Practice & Life

12-2-08

A sad day for the theater: the American Musical Theater of San Jose has closed its doors and is filing for bankruptcy. I've seen several great plays there and was looking forward to another in a few months. :(

An accidental discovery during solar cell research may lead to better digital cameras.

CBS has ordered 5 more episodes of Eleventh Hour (not the full back-9, but still a pickup).

Courtney B. Vance (The Last Supper, etc.) and Jack Davenport (Coupling, Pirates of the Caribbean) have been cast in a new SF show for ABC called Fast Forward. It is based on a book by Robert J. Sawyer that I haven't read yet.

SciFi Channel gave the BSG prequel Caprica a green light.

Circlet Press is offering free SF/F erotica like an advent calendar - one story per day for 23 days (stories only available for one day each).

Amazon is sponsoring the 2nd year of the Give-1-get-1 program for the One Laptop Per Child laptops.

CNet has an article on the latest improvements Google Maps have made with their Street View.

Wired has an amusing article and slideshow about geek hotels around the world.

iTunes will start selling ebooks which have a reader bundled with the book download, so an installed reader isn't necessary.

The International Space Station is celebrating a decade in orbit, and CNet has a slideshow.

The makers of Slingbox have started a video site at sling.com which is similar to Hulu.com but has some tempting features.

DVR for tonight:
8pm House
9pm Fringe

11-25-08

After 41 years, the Dumarest saga will be concluded this December with the 33rd volume. Starting next year, the entire saga will be republished in 3-5 book omnibus editions.

One more cheesy SciFi Saturday movie I'm going to end up watching despite the "plot": Alien Western just started filming with James Marsters in the lead role.

The Grasping for Wind site asked a bunch of bloggers what the best SF books and anthologies of the past year were and then posted their responses. I have several of these, but sense some shopping in my future.

SciFi Wire has comments from the creator of the UK Life on Mars about the US version. (He likes it.)

Researchers have made a fabric that never gets wet, even when submerged for months.

DVR for tonight:
8pm House (long ep)
9:08 Fringe

11-24-08

Random House is going to offer an additional 6,000 books from their backlist as e-books.

SF Gate has an article about a new company called Bookswim, which rents books like Netflicks rents movies. Sounds like a good deal for people without a really good local library, or those who are too busy to get to one.

http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/081123-planet-carbon-dioxide.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/nov/23/water-mill-eco-invention

DVRs for tonight:
8pm Big Bang Theory, Chuck, & Sarah Connor Chronicles
830 How I Met Your Mother
9pm Heroes & 2.5 Men

11-21-08

Jo Walton has a great post at Tor.com about Fantasy of Manners (comedy of manners books that are fantasy). Since I love quite a few of the mentioned books, I may have to track down some of the others (as well as those mentioned in the linked articles). In the comment thread, they extend the discussion to Science Fiction of Manners, which is a term I've never used, even if I love the books.

Tricia Helfer (6 from BSG) will guest star on Chuck later this season.

The world's first biofuel-powered flying car will make a test flight in January.

Huge underground glaciers were found near the equator of Mars.

ABC has officially canceled Pushing Daisies. :( The final episode will end in a cliffhanger, but Bryan Fuller promises to wrap up the story, whether that is in a movie or a comic. More detailed article at E!.

DVRs for tonight:
Stargate: Atlantis
Sanctuary
Ghost Whisperer
Numb3rs

11-20-08

SciFi Wire has an article about the movie version of Terry Pratchett's The Color of Magic, airing this Sunday on ION.

Researchers have developed a compound that can replace lead in electronic devices, protecting the environment from all the discarded hazardous material.

DVRs for tonight:
8pm My Name is Earl
9pm CSI, Supernatural & Grey's Anatomy
10pm Life on Mars & 11th Hour

11-19-08

Rather than fight when logic doesn't seem to work, an Australian ISP is installing filters in order to gather data proving they don't work.

To combat poor quality pirated versions of their work on the internet, Monty Python has posted high quality versions of all their videos on YouTube with a note telling people where to buy the dvds.

Newest example of real space technology inspired by Star Trek: the deflector shield.

One of the Pushing Daisies episodes this season will have a Wonderfalls crossover.

Political note: why I like my county today.

DVR for tonight:
8pm Bones & Pushing Daisies
9pm Private Practice & Life
10pm CSI: NY

11-18-08

A new Firefox extension will expand a java game to full screen, even if the game wasn't designed to have that option. I can think of one or two I want to try with this.

Mozilla also now has a service to help guide you through selecting which add-ons you want to customize your Firefox installation, and installs them all at once, not one at a time.

Google Image Search will now include photos, images, and etchings from Life Magazine dating all the way back to the 1750s, some of which were never published. Here is the direct link to the archive.

DVR for tonight:
8pm House
9pm Fringe

11-17-08

Monk has been renewed for a final season.

Medium has received an order for extra episodes before even airing for the season.

The next version of Firefox will have Tab Tearing (so you can easily separate a tab into a new window or merge a window back in as a tab).

The Star Trek trailer is now online. (Of course, I currently have no sound on this computer, so I can't watch until later. Enjoy.)

DVRs for tonight:
8pm Big Bang Theory, Chuck & Sarah Connor Chronicles
830 How I Met Your Mother
9pm Heroes & 2.5 Men

11-14-08

The WALL*E dvd will have a short called BURN*E on it. SciFi Wire has comments from the director and a couple photos.

Marc Forster (the director of the new 007 movie, Stranger than Fiction, etc.) has been named director of World War Z (zombie movie with screenplay by JMS).

Emma Thompson is planning a 2nd Nanny McPhee movie.

Space.com has the first pictures ever captured of planets from another solar system. CNet also has a slideshow.

Space.com also has newly restored photos of the moon taken over 40 years ago (and then buried with a tape system that wasn't used).

Australian cord blood has been used to save a woman with a deadly form of leukemia who had no bone marrow matches.

Researchers are working at making replacement heart valves from cord blood for children born with heart defects so they don't need to have repeated surgeries to replace artificial parts as they grow.

An HIV+ leukemia patient received bone marrow treatment from a donor with a gene known to be resistant and now shows no sign of HIV.

Yahoo! has thoroughly messed up my RSS feeds, so more news will have to wait until I figure out a better way to find it.

DVR for tonight:
Stargate: Atlantis
Sanctuary
Ghost Whisperer
Numb3rs

11-13-08

NBC has canceled My Own Worst Enemy. It will air the full 13 episode run.

SciFi has renewed Sanctuary for a 2nd season.

HBO has ordered a pilot based on George R.R. Martin's "Song of Ice & Fire" series. What is the current trend of making fantasy TV series based on books I could barely get through? I know lots of people loved these, but I think there are better choices.

Here's an interesting article on a company brewing diesel fuel from sugar cane. I love the concept, but not the apparent source of the sugar they use.

Scientists have discovered protein behaviors that are providing a better understanding of how evolution actually works.

Toyota is releasing a car designed for the safety of dogs.

DVRs for tonight:
8pm My Name is Earl
9pm CSI, Supernatural & Grey's Anatomy
10pm Life on Mars & Eleventh Hour

11-12-08

Neil Gaiman and Penn Jillette (Penn & Teller) are working together to adapt a 1920 book into a movie script. The Road to Endor by E.H. Jones was about World War I prisoners who convinced their guards (through magic and trickery) that they were in touch with the spirit world so they could escape.

Scifi Wire has an interview with Guillermo del Toro about The Hobbit (and a multitude of other projects, both past and future).

Chatterbox Audio Theater has a full cast version of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi available for streaming or download.

Bad news and good news about The Ex List. It sounds like it is definitely cancelled, but they are filming an ending episode (presuming it ever airs).

DVR for tonight:
8pm Bones
9pm Life
10pm CSI: NY

11-11-08

A few days ago, I linked to an interview with Jim Butcher about the comic version of The Dresden Files. Now, the first 5 pages are available online if you want to see it for yourself. It will be in stores starting tomorrow (and probably ending soon after).

ABC has announced their midseason schedule. Life on Mars and Private Practice are switching nights. Scrubs will lead into Lost on Wednesdays. Pushing Daisies doesn't appear (presumably only having 13 episodes this season), but the schedule is subject to change.

In honor of his birthday yesterday, Geeks of Doom posted a Beginner's Guide to Neil Gaiman.

A "new" 4,300 year-old pyramid has been discovered in Egypt.

14 animated movies were submitted for Oscar consideration, so there will be 3 nominees. I've only seen one (Wall-E), but I'm sure it will make the final list.

Two new discoveries may lead to heart attacks being prevented: cell activity has a daily schedule and a new protein test can determine risk of heart disease.

CIO has an article on how 10 popular tech products were named.

DVR for tonight:
8pm House
9pm Fringe

11-10-08

Disney and Pixar have released a trailer for "Up". Watch it at SF Signal.

SF Signal also has video clips of Robot Chicken's 2nd Star Wars special.

MGM has announced they will release full feature-length films through YouTube.

DVRs for tonight:
8pm Big Bang Theory, Chuck, & Sarah Connor Chronicles
830 How I Met Your Mother
9pm Heroes & 2.5 Men

11-7-08

TVGuide has an interview with Andrew-Lee Potts (Connor on Primeval).

Fox is making massive schedule changes for midseason. Starting January 19th, House is moving to Monday at 8pm (annoying). Fringe will stay on Tuesdays at 9. Starting January 15th, Bones will air Thursdays at 8. Starting February 13th, Fridays will have Sarah Connor Chronicles at 8pm and Dollhouse at 9 for a Fox version of SciFi Fridays. Start date article came from Futon Critic.

SciFi Wire has an interview with Jim Butcher about the comic book version of The Dresden Files.

SciFi Wire also has a trailer for Dollhouse.

Is it weird that Amazon has listed Editor's picks of the best SF/F of 2008 and I've only even heard of 2 of the books?

India's moon probe will reach lunar orbit this weekend, and it started sending back pictures.

USA and SCIFI have set their midseason start dates.

DVRs for tonight:
Stargate: Atlantis
Sanctuary
Ghost Whisperer
Numb3rs

11-5-08

RIP Michael Crichton. The author died of cancer at age 66.

Vitamin B3 appears to help protect the brain from Alzheimer's damage.

Fox TV Studios (not the network) has joined with Canadian, German, and UK studios to make a new scifi show. Once 13 episodes are completed, they will shop for a US network. Ron Livingston (Standoff, Band of Brothers, etc.) will star.

Brief political note: for the first time in a long time, I am proud of my country (Obama's win) and deeply ashamed of my state (Prop 8 passing). Or, to quote someone I saw today: "Obama won, but civil rights lost."

DVRs for tonight:
Bones
Private Practice
CSI: NY

Election day

You can get free stuff for showing your "I voted" sticker at Ben & Jerry's, Starbucks, Krispy Kreme, or Chik-Fil-A.

Marvel has the first Ender's Game comic online for free.

Amazon is trying to change their packaging to "frustration free".


DVR for tonight:
Indecision 2008 (Daily Show/Colbert Report special on Comedy Central)

11-3-08

The Dead Like Me movie "Life After Death" has been postponed until next February. It looks like a direct-to-dvd release.

There should be a nice meteor shower this week (November 5th through 12th).

Guy Gavriel Kay won the World Fantasy Award for Ysabel (a very good book). Other winners listed at Science Fiction Awards Watch.

NBC has fired 2 producers of Heroes. E! has more info on what this might mean.

Night Shade Books will be offering their ebooks through Baen's webscription site. It is nice to see Baen using their portal for good small press titles as well as their own books.

DVRs for tonight:
8pm Big Bang Theory & Sarah Connor Chronicles
830 How I Met Your Mother
9pm 2.5 Men

Happy Halloween!

JMS will be writing an update/remake of Forbidden Planet. If anyone can write this in a way that would make it watchable to me, it would be him.

To promote their video service, Amazon is offering sales on TV series full season downloads. Heroes is $5 per season. Unfortunately, the other shows initially offered at $5 are now just 20% off. It may be worth watching to see if the sales change again.

SFWA responds to the Google vs. Author Guild settlement announced yesterday.

The Economist has an article about ray guns moving from science fiction to reality.

Pushing Daisies is in danger, but contrary to some rumors, it has NOT been canceled. The ratings for the most recent episode went up, and the network is waiting for post-election ratings to decide if they will order any more episodes.

DVR for tonight:
8pm Ghost Whisperer
10pm Numb3rs
-- for Saturday:
Primeval (season finale)
& possibly the pilot for Legend of the Seeker (syndicated)
-- for Sunday:
True Blood

10-30-08

The Hubble Telescope is back online and has taken a gorgeous picture of a couple galaxies that look like a 10.

Unfortunately, it's official: David Tennant is leaving Doctor Who. He will still be in the specials airing in 2009, but there will be a new Doctor when the show returns in 2010.

Amazon has an interview with Charlaine Harris about the Sookie Stackhouse books and show.

DVRs for tonight:
8pm My Name is Earl
9pm CSI, Supernatural & Grey's Anatomy
10pm Life on Mars & Eleventh Hour

10-29-08

Google and the Authors Guild have come to an agreement about book scanning. The Mercury News has a better article here.

Heartwarming animal story of the day: A cat in a hat brings $10 million in tourist money to a small town.

The movie of The Colour of Magic is coming to dvd on November 2nd if you can view region 2 dvds, and playing on the ION channel on November 23rd in the US.

Microsoft released information on Windows 7 (may it be better than Vista). Several sites have images and analysis of the new features: CNet slideshow, CNet article, PC Magazine, and Extreme Tech.

Mozilla's next browser is Minefield, and it may be faster than Firefox.

The Ex List has been pulled from the schedule. It is not clear if they will ever complete (let alone air) the 13 episode order.

Joaquin Phoenix is retiring from acting in favor of music.


DVRs for tonight:
8pm Pushing Daisies
9pm Private Practice
10pm CSI:NY

10-27-08

The first test of a rocket propelled by plasma was successful (full power achieved).

The University of Queensland wants to build their own Eureka (think TV show, not town in Northern CA) to attract thousands of scientists from around the world.

New Scientist is listing the 7 Greatest Scientific Hoaxes of all time. How many of these have you heard of?

Heartwarming story of the day: dog saves kittens from fire.

DVRs for tonight:
8pm Chuck
9pm Heroes
10pm My Own Worst Enemy (still haven't watched these, so may not stay on DVR list)

10-23-08

A drug originally developed to treat leukemia has been proven to halt and reverse MS.

DVRs for tonight:
8pm My Name is Earl
9pm CSI, Supernatural & Grey's Anatomy
10pm Life on Mars & Eleventh Hour

10-22-08

India has joined the space race. They launched an unmanned spaceship to the moon. Sources: Times of India and Yahoo!

DVRs for tonight:
8pm Pushing Daisies (& possibly Knight Rider)
9pm Private Practice
10pm CSI:NY

10-21-08

Although officially David Tennant is still coming back as Doctor Who, rumors are that they are casting a replacement (just a rumor at this point - remember to take the giant grain of salt with it). One candidate mentioned so far is Paterson Joseph, who would be the first black Doctor if it turns out to be true. (You might recognize him from Neverwhere, Jekyll, or the 2 previous Doctor Who episodes he was in.)

DVRs for tonight:
6pm Greek
8pm House (and possibly Nova on PBS - see review here for why)
9pm Fringe

10-20-08

Sarah Connor Chronicles just got a full season order despite mediocre ratings. I actually liked the show last season, but haven't seen any this season yet. I think it would do better in a different time slot, but I'm glad it is getting the time for us to catch up.

DVRs for tonight:
8pm Chuck, Big Bang Theory & Sarah Connor Chronicles
830 How I Met Your Mother
9pm Heroes & 2.5 Men
10pm My Own Worst Enemy (still haven't watched the pilot, so this may not continue)

10-17-08

CNet has a look at the new Firefox for Mobile alpha release called Fennec. I'm curious to see how it will compare with Minimo once it is available for the iPAQ.

RIP Levi Stubbs. The lead singer of the Four Tops (and voice of Audrey II) died in his sleep at age 72.

A new 2 laser technology is being used to clean the Acropolis without damaging the colors under all the pollution grime.

There will be a 4th Bourne movie with Matt Damon and the same writer as Bourne Ultimatum.

Still haven't purchased Metatropolis from audible.com? They are releasing one of the stories (and some extra goodies) for free to promote it. (Source: John Scalzi's blog)

It sounds like Kevin Smith's next movie will be Sci-Fi (a father-son comedy in space).

Amy Acker talks about the fun she had making the SciFi Channel movie Fire and Ice which airs this weekend. Any chance it will be better than their usual Saturday dreck?

Saturday will also have a preview of Legend of the Seeker (the TV series based on Terry Goodkind's Wizard's First Rule) hosted by Lucy Lawless. I barely managed to finish the book and haven't decided if I want to try watching the series yet.

DVRs for tonight:
6pm Stargate: Atlantis
7pm Sanctuary
8pm Ghost Whisperer (& possibly the premiere of Crusoe on NBC)
9pm Ex List
10pm Numb3rs & Life
--- for Saturday:
Primeval (BBCA)
& possibly Fire and Ice (SCIFI)
--- for Sunday:
True Blood (HBO)

10-16-08

Trekmovie.com has pictures from the new Star Trek movie. Of course, you can't tell from these if it will be any good, but it's a nice teaser.

A study shows using the internet gives your brain a workout so it doesn't lose cognitive function (like we needed an excuse...)

Speaking of brain function, researchers have triggered unrelated brain cells to rewire around blocked nerves, restoring arm movement in paralyzed monkeys.

Guest TV casting news: Colin hanks is going to return to Numb3rs, and Steve Zahn will play a long lost brother of Monk.

If, like me, you frequently get scared by the US government's policies which tromp on liberty and freedom for "security", read about the proposed plans in the UK. Scary!

DVRs for tonight:
8pm My Name is Earl
9pm CSI, Supernatural & Grey's Anatomy
10pm Life on Mars & Eleventh Hour

10-15-08

The rights dispute over Andre Norton's estate has been ended.

E! has a video of John Cleese commenting on the "funniest" Palin. (Warning: Great but political)

DVRs for tonight:
8pm Pushing Daisies (& possibly Knight Rider)
Everything else preempted for the Presidential debate.

10-14-08

Starz has ordered 10 episodes of a half hour comedy show called "Party Down" from Rob Thomas. It will star Paul Rudd and premiere in early 2009.

DVRs for tonight:
6pm Greek
8pm House
9pm Fringe

10-10-08

ABC and Warner Brothers are once again attempting to revive V.

Airplanes are going to switch from radar to GPS navigation. It should save a lot of money on fuel once the system is in place, but that could take a decade.

DVRs for tonight:
Stargate: Atlantis
Sanctuary
Ghost Whisperer
Ex List
Numb3rs
Life

10-9-08

USA has renewed Psych and Burn Notice for new seasons of 16 episodes each.

Neil Gaiman has completed his Graveyard Book tour. You can now watch him read all the chapters at mousecircus.com.

Like Iron Man last week, the Indy 4 dvd release next week will have multiple special packaging extras based on the retailer (but only 5 versions this time, not 8).

For the first time ever, the Oscar broadcast will allow movie commercials (with strong limitations).

Yahoo has released a new version of their calendar to beta. I use the current version all the time. I may have to check out the new one.

DVRs for tonight:
8pm My Name is Earl
9pm CSI (CBS - season premiere)
9pm Supernatural (CW)
9pm Grey's Anatomy (ABC)
10pm Life on Mars (ABC) & Eleventh Hour (CBS) - time to see how the UK remakes translate (since I liked the originals, but typically don't like remakes)

10-7-08

In 2 weeks, Audible.com is releasing an exclusive anthology called Metatropolis from John Scalzi, Elizabeth Bear, Jay Lake, Tobias Buckell, and Karl Schroeder. The stories are read by 3 Battlestar Galactica actors and 2 readers who have won awards for previous audiobook performances. For preorders, they are releasing one story early. For more info: John Scalzi's blog, Audible.com.

Wired.com interviewed Neil Gaiman at the Kepler's event I went to this past weekend. See the article and video interview for some more background on The Graveyard Book.

Berkeley Breathed is killing Opus.

Scientists have found a genetic link that might be the cause for the most common form of blindness, which may lead to treatments or a cure.

CNet has a slideshow of new NASA photos of Mercury.

Ford has made a car key for parents with teenagers. If the car is started using this key, it limits the top speed, won't allow the stereo volume above 44%, and changes other settings. Who thought this up?

Rocky Mountain News has text and audio versions of a new short story by Connie Willis.

AMC has an interview with 2 of the Robot Chicken writers about the new Star Wars special coming soon.

DVR for tonight:
Greek
Everything else is preempted for the Presidential debate.

10-6-08

The King Tut exhibit is coming back to SF. I remember seeing that as a small child. It might be nice to see it again.

DVRs for tonight:
8pm Chuck
8pm Big Bang Theory
8pm Sarah Connor Chronicles
830 How I Met Your Mother
9pm Heroes
9pm 2.5 Men
10pm Life

10-3-08

Kelly Link's collection Magic For Beginners is now available as a free eBook (minus the 2 stories that won the most awards).

AMC is developing Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars as a series.

DVRs for tonight:
6pm Sanctuary (SCIFI - 2hr pilot)
8pm Ghost Whisperer (CBS)
10pm Numb3rs (CBS)
10pm Life (NBC)
I may also consider the pilots for Ex List (CBS 9pm - see review here for why I'm debating it) and Star Wars Clone Wars (Cartoon 9pm)
---- for Saturday:
Primeval (BBCA)
---- for Sunday:
True Blood (HBO)

10-2-08

Strangest wine gadget I've ever heard of: an inventor has made an ultrasound machine shaped like a wine bucket that ages wine. You put in a cheap young bottle of wine and it comes out 30 minutes later tasting like a fine aged vintage.

James Earl Jones has received many awards over the years, but his first SAG award will be the Lifetime Achievement award. It will be presented in January.

John Mahoney (aka Frasier's dad) will guest star on Burn Notice in February, and rumors are already flying over who he might be playing (one of these choices was confirmed: old boss, "dead" father, one of the powerful people behind the burn notice, or Carla's handler).

Here is the corrected link for the website posting Neil Gaiman readings from the Graveyard Book tour.

Fox has given Fringe a full season order. I guess that means it is safe for me to start watching the episodes piling up on my DVR.

Space.com has a great Hubble image to celebrate the 10th anniversary.

Super Punch has some great retro posters for planetary travel (and links to some for time travel).

We will get to see Amanda Tapping back in Stargate, not just in Sanctuary. She confirmed this week that she is in the Atlantis finale as well as a 3rd SG-1 movie and the Atlantis movie.

Toshiba has a new battery that charges to 90% in 10 minutes and can be recharged 5,000-6,000 times (not just 500).

DVRs for tonight:
8pm My Name is Earl (NBC - 1 hour)
9pm Supernatural (CW)

10-1-08

Google is resurrecting January 2001 in an archive site as part of their 10th birthday celebration.

Space.com has an article on predictions and plans for NASA's next 50 years.

The Mercury News has reviewed and ranked a few of the multitude of taco shops in my neighborhood. I'm a bit amazed that someone was up to the challenge. Of course, they left off one of my favorites.

As a side effect of HBO's True Blood series, all 7 of the Sookie Stackhouse books are now in the New York Time's Bestseller list (ranging from #3 to #19).

DVRs for tonight:
8pm Bones (FOX)
8pm Pushing Daisies (ABC - season premiere!!)
8pm Knight Rider (I'll skip this for now & catch up online if I like the 1st one when I see it)
9pm Private Practice (ABC - season premiere)
10pm CSI:NY (CBS)

9-30-08

Neil Gaiman begins his book tour for Graveyard Book this week. Each city has him reading a chapter, and it looks like they may put them online here. You can already hear Chapter 1 at the publisher's website.

TCM is planning a 12 movie tribute of Paul Newman on October 12th. I'll have to check it out since I think I've actually never seen most of these.

NASA is delaying the final maintenance trip to the Hubble Telescope while they prepare to do the more extensive repairs that are now necessary after a relay system failed.

DVRs for tonight:
Greek
House
Fringe

9-29-08

A solar cell developed by scientists for the US Department of Energy has set a world record for efficiency.

RIP Paul Newman. The legendary actor died of cancer on Friday at age 83.

Greek is adding a couple of characters next year: Jesse McCartney (who I've never heard of) and Ken Marino (who played one of the demons next door on Reaper and Vinnie Van Lowe on Veronica Mars).

DVRs for tonight:
8pm Chuck (NBC)
8pm Big Bang Theory (CBS)
8pm Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX)
830 How I Met Your Mother (CBS)
9pm Heroes (NBC)
9pm 2.5 Men (CBS)
10pm Life (NBC)

9-26-08

European Space Agency scientists have created a 3D model of a Lunar site where they propose landing and possibly setting up a base.

Researchers have developed a new and safer way to make skin cells into embryonic stem cells for research and treatments.

DVR for tonight:
Stargate Atlantis
--- for Saturday:
Primeval
--- for Sunday:
True Blood

9-25-08

The Portland Press Herald (a Maine newspaper) has an article about Sharon Lee and Steve Miller's online serialized novels.

A Russian town calculated the timing of the Google Earth satellite flyby and arranged townpeople into a smiley face in the middle of the town. While the image was later replaced, they got their 15 minutes of fame. See the article about it (which shows the Google page) or the event page with lots of other pictures.

Johnny Depp will make 3 more movies for Disney: a 4th Pirates of the Caribbean movie, he'll play Tonto in a new Lone Ranger movie, and he'll play the Mad Hatter in a Tim Burton 3D motion capture version of Alice in Wonderland.

DVRs for tonight:
8pm My Name is Earl (NBC - 1 hour)
9pm Grey's Anatomy (ABC - too soon - I'm not caught up yet)
9pm Supernatural (CW)

9-24-08

Technologizer lists their 13 Greatest Error Messages of All Time. I'm very familiar with "Abort, retry, fail", 404, and the blue screen of death, but some of these are on platforms I never use.

DVRs for tonight:
8pm Bones (FOX)
8pm Knight Rider (NBC - this will probably be really bad, but I'll give the 1st episode a try)
10pm CSI: NY (CBS - long awaited end to the horrible cliffhanger)

9-23-08

RIP Brian Thomsen. The SF editor (consulting for TOR) died Sunday of a heart attack.

DVRs for tonight:
6pm Eureka (SCIFI - summer "finale" encores at 9pm)
6pm Greek (ABCFAM)
8pm House (FOX)
9pm Fringe (FOX)
9pm The Mentalist (CBS - might be worth a pilot)

9-22-08

Gateworld has the character descriptions for the new Stargate: Universe series as they were given to casting agents. Currently, this is at the level of rumor, and may change as they actually pick people, but it gives us a point of reference for where they are planning to go.

Pushing Daisies won the only Emmy by a sci-fi show not in the Creative Arts category (Best Director for the pilot). Creative Arts Emmys went to Pushing Daisies, Battlestar Galactica, Tin Man, Chuck, Lost, and Smallville.

Scientists now understand why the southern polar ice cap on Mars is off center.

CNet Crave has an image and article on a very strange new clock. The Corpus Clock (tribute to The Grasshopper Escapement) was designed by John Taylor and introduced by Stephen Hawking.

Outside.in has a new cool looking map tool for blogs. If I ever have a reason to include location information in my blog, I might try it.

DVRs for tonight:
8pm Big Bang Theory (CBS - season premiere)
8pm Sarah Connor Chronicles (FOX)
8pm Heroes: Countdown to the premiere (NBC - catch up special)
8:30 How I Met Your Mother (CBS - season premiere)
9pm Heroes (NBC - 2 hour season premiere)
9pm 2.5 Men (CBS - season premiere)

9-19-08

SciFi has greenlit Warehouse 13 to start airing next July.

Cable companies are considering network DVRs (no additional equipment in customer homes but functionality would be the same).

DVRs for the weekend:
--tonight:
Stargate Atlantis (SCIFI)
--Saturday:
Primeval (BBCA)
--Sunday:
Spaceballs: The Animated Series (G4 - pilot and next 3 30min episodes)
True Blood (HBO)

9-18-08

New music by Mozart has been found in a French library.

DVR for tonight:
7pm Burn Notice (USA)
9pm Supernatural (CW - 4th season premiere)

9-17-08

There will be a 6th book in the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy trilogy. Douglas Adams' widow has sanctioned a new book to be written by Eoin Colfer (the writer of the Artemis Fowl books).

10 days after airing the first episode, HBO has renewed True Blood for a 2nd season!

Ender's Game is going to have a graphic novel version, and Wired has a preview.

Tor.com has brought back their free e-books for registered users. The first ones are War for the Oaks by Emma Bull (fabulous book) and Dogland by Will Shetterly (which I've been meaning to read for a while).

China is planning to build a space station in 4 parts. Slashdot has a link to the original article in Chinese (or the bad translation), and Space.com has an article about the astronauts that doesn't go into details of the space station building.

FutonCritic has a press release from NBC detailing all the different ways you can watch their shows other than during the regular timeslot on TV (NBC.com, Hulu.com, Yahoo!, Amazon, DishNetwork, Xbox, etc.)

DVR for tonight:
8pm Bones (FOX)

9-16-08

IMDB.com is going to start allowing free viewing of some movies and TV shows.

NBC has announced their content lineup for NBC.com (webisodes, featurettes, etc.).

The Smithsonian will start digitizing its collection.

Does nobody read cautionary tales anymore? Scientists are exhuming the body of a man who died of Spanish flu in 1919 in hopes they will learn how to prevent a pandemic from avian flu. (I just remember how well contact with old flu strains turned out in Doomsday Book.)

DVRs for tonight:
Eureka (SCIFI 6pm or 9pm)
Greek (ABCFAM 6pm)
House (FOX 8pm)
Fringe (FOX 9pm)

9-15-08

E! has a photo and short video clip from George Takei's wedding. Walter Koenig and Nichelle Nichols were best man and maid of honor.

The Hubble telescope has found an identified object that may require a new classificaton.

NASA is going to auction off 25 of their patents.

RIP Richard Wright, co-founder of Pink Floyd.

CNet shows a great deal on an 8GB flash drive today, and along with it a link to some great ideas on how to use thumb drives.

DVR for tonight:
The Closer
Sarah Connor Chronicles

9-12-08

NBC has picked Katee Stackhoff (Starbuck on BSG) to star in their next crime drama, "Lost and Found" (presumably planned for midseason).

It looks like the BBC is planning to make a movie version of Doctor Who. The talks for renewing David Tennant's contract may actually require it.

Happy birthday to the microchip. The first integrated circuit was demonstrated to Texas Instruments on this day 50 years ago.

Some rare good news for people who like freedom and privacy: a federal court has ruled that the 4th amendment requires the government to get a warrant before accessing cell phone stored GPS location records.

Amazon is going to start selling wine online.

A former NASA scientist has beamed solar power from one Hawaiian island to another in preliminary experiments he hopes will lead to satellite-based collectors beaming power down to Earth. Discovery Channel paid for the experiment and will broadcast their special tonight.

DVR for tonight:
Monk (USA)
Psych (USA)
Stargate Atlantis (SCIFI)
--for Saturday:
Primeval (BBCA)
--for Sunday:
True Blood (HBO)

9-10-08

Entertainment Weekly is listing their version of the 20 Greatest Scifi TV Shows. I might change up the order, but it had a lot less glaring omissions than these lists usually have (see Max Headroom at #10!). They clearly aren't including Fantasy/Horror though since there is no Buffy.

And, while thinking of which old shows have aged well, and which haven't, here's one that is coming back. It has been confirmed that they are making a movie of Greatest American Hero.

CT2 has a copy of the form letter Robert Heinlein used to respond to fan mail. Amusing.

HP has developed a laptop with a 24-hour battery life.

DVR for tonight:
Bones (8pm Fox)

9-9-08

Google is digitizing newspapers, making content previously only available in newspaper morgues or library microfilm now available online.

A melting glacier in the Swiss Alps is revealing objects that are helping researchers understand more about the neolithic era and the effect of climate changes.

Apple and NBC have come to a new agreement, so NBC Universal TV shows will now be available on iTunes again.

CNet's Green Tech has an article about a new company building microinverters to more effectively transfer energy collected from solar panels into current used by electrical outlets.

Late tonight, near Geneva, the Large Hadron Collider will be switched on and amazing physics experiments will begin (assuming the world doesn't end like the people sending death threats believe).

Primeval bad news and good news: Season 1 ends this Saturday on BBC America, but Season 2 starts next week and will air straight through til November (7 episodes).


DVRs for tonight:
Greek (6pm ABCFAM)
Eureka (6 or 9pm SCIFI)
Fringe (8pm Fox - 95 minute premiere episode)

9-8-08

SF Signal has a look at all the network genre TV shows starting soon. Remember, if you want to see what non-genre shows are opposite these in the timeslots, check out the schedule grid at Futon Critic.

Apple has admitted the idea for the iPod came from a product which was patented in the UK in 1979 and had the rights expire before ever being developed. The inventor is now getting acknowledgment and compensation.

CNet Crave has a slideshow of a hybrid car that comes as a kit you can build at home.

It sounds like there will be a 3rd Ghostbusters movie.

SciFi Wire has 10 SciFi movies guaranteed to make you cry. I've only seen 5, but I tend to agree with the moments they highlighted in those.

NBC isn't allowing their actors to appear in the Scrubs finale since it will be on a different network. Petty.

Fossils of forests up to 300 million years old have been found in an Illinois coal mine.

DVR for tonight:
The Closer
Sarah Connor Chronicles (2nd season premiere)

9-5-08

HarperCollins has put 2 books online as free ebooks (for online reading or download, but they will expire October 31st). One is Neverwhere by Neil Gaiman. The 2nd is Odalisque by Fiona McIntosh. Source: SF Signal.

SciFi Wire has an interview with Amy Acker about her role on Dollhouse.

Zuleikha Robinson (from New Amsterdam) will be a recurring character on Lost next season.

Amazon has started their Video-on-demand service. You can download or watch online, and they have stuff for free, to rent, or to buy.


DVR for tonight:
Stargate Atlantis
Monk
Psych
--For Saturday:
Primeval (BBCA)
--For Sunday:
True Blood (HBO)

9-4-08

TNT is planning a spinoff of The Closer.

Subterranean Press has a new short story online by John Scalzi.

Skeletons found on the Yucatan peninsula have been dated as 13,600 years old (the oldest yet found in the Americas) and are bringing all previous theories about how people came to this continent into question.

9-3-08

SF Signal has an article about next month's final mission to upgrade the Hubble Telescope. In it, they link to a great site, The Big Picture, that I may need to visit more often.

It sounds like there's a possibility that Red Dwarf may be coming back with new material.

Hulu.com has announced their fall lineup, and some of the shows (including Chuck) are going to be available from them 1 week before they air on TV. They also have some episodes and recaps from last season for those shows you want to catch up on (like the last 1/2 season of Life I missed).

The final Stephenie Meyer Twilight book will be delayed. Part of the early manuscript was leaked online, and it upset her so much she's holding off on finishing the book.

CNet has an analysis of alternative fuels by Toyota.

DVR for tonight:
8pm Bones (new season starts tonight with a 2-hour show!)

9-2-08

RIP Don LaFontaine. You may not know the name or face, but if you've ever watched TV or movies, you've probably heard his voiceovers.

SF Signal has an Otherworld marathon in honor of Labor Day. I remember watching this show back when it originally aired.

Wired has 10 Geeky Movies to Raise Your Kids On. I've seen 9 of them and definitely agree with some, but not all, of their choices.

The DC-X rocket ship was honored for its contributions during a 15th anniversary gathering.

Google is releasing their own browser today. It is called Chrome, and should have an impact on the other browsers, if only to spur them on to improve and innovate faster. Sources: CNet article looking at key features, early review, CNet article looking at browser impact, and SFGate article.

New enzyme research may lead to a new way to treat cancer.

DVR for tonight:
Greek

8-28-08

The new season hasn't even started yet, and NBC has already announced they are picking up the "back 9" to give Chuck a full season order.

Blythe Danner will be guest starring on Medium this season.

Someone has scanned and put the entire first year of Astounding Stories magazine online. Now if only the navigation and image quality were a little better.

Videohound is listing 10 Underrated Sci-Fi Movies. Talk about a mixed bag. They include the wonderful Gattaca and Enemy Mine, some I thought were good, a few I haven't watched that I might track down, but there are also some weird ones listed I just didn't like.

8-27-08

SciFi Wire has an interview with the writers of Fringe about how they came up with the show.

SciFi Wire also has a look at the Sookie Stackhouse TV show True Blood and why they think it will be good.

i09 has and interview and gallery of Bob Eggleton's amazing artwork.

To promote the new season of Pushing Daisies, ABC is bringing free pie to 10 cities - including SF.

CNet has a slideshow look at IE8. Some of the new features actually look pretty good (but I'll stick with Firefox).

Anticipation (next year's Worldcon) has announced they will have a special Hugo award for Best Graphic Story. And, while you're thinking of Graphic Novels, the Washington Post has an article on their history. (Although they lose points for not mentioning ElfQuest.)

8-26-08

Torchwood season 3 has begun filming. Check out the article at Futon Critic for recurring characters who will appear.

Researchers using Google Earth images from around the world have found that cows tend to rest in a north/south orientation, showing they have an internal compass that nobody noticed before. Sources: Yahoo article, CNet article, LA Times story.

Wallace & Gromit are the new fashion models for British department store Harvey Nichols. It is amusing to see Wallace wearing something other than the same old sweater vests, but I hope this doesn't delay the next movie too much.

Cat story of the day: A German cat survived being walled in beneath a bathtub for 7 weeks. She lost 9 pounds, but has now (18 days later) recovered almost completely.

ABC has picked up 5 new shows for midseason. I don't know if any of them will be watchable, but they all have good cast/crew people. The shows are: "Cupid" (Rob Thomas is remaking his show from the 90s), "Castle" (with Nathan Fillion), "Single with Parents" (with Alyssa Milano, Annie Potts, and Beau Bridges), "The Unusuals" (with Amber Tamblyn, Harold Perrineau, and Adam Goldberg), and "Better off Ted" (with Jay Harrington and a writer from My Name is Earl).

It sounds like they might be building a carbon-neutral ziggurat in Dubai that could house up to 1.1 million people.

The script for Transformers 2 has been modified to include Shia LaBeouf's hand injury (which he got in a car accident last month) so he doesn't further injure himself completing the movie.

Looking for a reading list? Books that have had at least one nomination so far for the 2008 Nebula Awards are listed at nebulaawards.com. This is not the preliminary ballot, but it is likely the books making the preliminary ballot will be a subset of this list.

DVR for tonight:
Eureka
Greek (2nd season premiere)

8-25-08

The US version of Eleventh Hour is switching their pilot episode. I actually think this is a good decision this time, since it sounds like they are going for an original script instead of an adaptation of one of the weakest scripts from the UK version.

Modern Rosetta Stones (containing 8 languages and 13,500 pages of text) meant to be readable for 2,000-10,000 years have been created and distributed.

MSNBC has an article about an exoskeleton in clinical trials in Israel which allows paraplegics to walk.

In honor of Ray Bradbury's 88th birthday last Friday, SF Signal had a funny vintage TV commercial in which he makes an appearance.

Cute Overload today has some great pictures today showing that some people have way too much fun playing with food presentation.

John Scalzi has released a deleted chapter from The Last Colony (some parts were changed and put in other parts of The Last Colony and some moved into Zoe's Tale, so not all of it was deleted) as part of Subterranean's Summer magazine.

DVR for tonight:
The Closer
The Middleman
Daily Show