Friday, October 31, 2008

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

Thursday, October 30, 2008

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

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

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

Monday, October 27, 2008

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)

Thursday, October 23, 2008

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

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

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

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

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

Monday, October 20, 2008

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)

Friday, October 17, 2008

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)

Thursday, October 16, 2008

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

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

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.

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

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

Friday, October 10, 2008

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

Thursday, October 9, 2008

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)

Tuesday, October 7, 2008

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.

Monday, October 6, 2008

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

Friday, October 3, 2008

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)

Thursday, October 2, 2008

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)

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

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)