InkBlot's Inkernet

I’m quite a literary nut some days, as much as I geek out about technology and computers I also geek out about literature and, on occasion, literary theory.  Egads!  So, after seeing the new Star Trek movie last weekend¹, I came across two articles I thought I’d put forward.  The first is from John Rogers at Kung Fu Monkey, Star Trek and Breaking the Rules.  The second is from Eric Burns-White at Websnark, a site I follow on a regular basis.  And yes, when you look at my posting schedule, that last sentence works, darnit!  Anyway, Eric’s rebuttal: On Treks into Heroism and Reclaiming Ashes: Star Trek and the Heroic Journey.

So you know now, they both contain spoilers! Massive, earth shattering, why-bother-to-see-the-movie-now? kind of spoilers.  You have been warned.

Oh, and I personally prefer Eric’s analysis.  As overwrought as Campbell’s Hero’s Journey is in movies today, it’s always nice to see a really clever movie come along and sneak it in right under your nose.  If you read Eric’s essay and think, “huh, I didn’t even see that!” Then JJ Abrams can pat himself on the back.

That is, of course, if he or his script writers even planned it that way.  And if they didn’t?  Well, that’s even better.

1. and so you know: yes, it rocks! ↩

Me and my better half about to step through the Stargate

This past weekend, my wife and I went down to the Texas Renaissance Festival in Plantersville.  One of the nation’s largest renaissance festivals (so their website claims), we’ve been going to it for over a decade now.  Some years we go in costume, usually faux-medieval outfits comprised of things we’d bought the previous year, swords and all.  Some years we just go in our skivvies, particularly if the weather looks to be bad.

This year, I thought we could try something new.  After discussing it with Cindy, we began laying plans back in October.  We nearly had things in place for Halloween, but alas had to wait for everything to arrive last week; just in time for this weekend when we went down to the festival as our very own Stargate SG Team.  So read on for details of our adventure, and full instructions on how we put our outfits together – where to buy, what to buy, and what options you have. Continue Reading »

New pictures of J.J.Abrams Star Trek movie are abounding everywhere on the internet, so I’ll just be directing you to Ain’t It Cool News below as they seem to have the bases covered.

I’m excited about this film, although I’m not usually inspired by “reboots.”  And, to be honest, hearing a Star Trek story is based around another time-travel adventures usually makes me queasy.  The later television productions got much too fixated on time travel, and, I feel, handled the concept rather poorly.

Continue Reading »

It would seem over in Torchwood Magazine, Producer Peter Bennett has announced four new cast members joining the show for next season.  If you hadn’t heard, Season 3 of Torchwood is in a different format – just five episodes featuring a single story arc called Children of Earth.  Guest stars were already announced, but the crew down in Torchwood 3 are a bit understaffed – what with one being shot, and another sealed in nuclear bunker having a meltdown.

So, it looks like the new members are:

Alice (Lucy Cohu) described as “a woman keeping many secrets from the past.”

Bridget Spears (Susan Brown), “a character vitally connected to the government, which plays an important part in this story.”

Lois Habiba (Cush Jumbo), “a secretary who hacks into some vital information.”

and finally Doctor Rupesh Patanjali (Rik Makarem), a “junior doctor at St Helen’s hospital who gets drawn into Torchwood’s investigations.”

from: Digital Spy

On the heels of their final win in the Echostar/TiVo lawsuit, TiVo is also percolating through the news with an upcoming new product in conjunction with Nero AG: TiVo PC.

Bringing the popular TiVo software interface and control to your desktop, it looks like you’ll need your own TV tuner card.  For the full experience, you can splurge for a actual TiVo remote and IR interface for your PC.  I imagine TiVo/Nero will have various packages to sell you any hardware you need.

The question is, where is this going for TiVo?  Continue Reading »

Much of my daily reading on the interweb comes from news aggregators.  I particularly like those with a sense of humor, such as Fark.  That sense of humor, however, doesn’t mean that the news isn’t serious.  Sometimes it’s funny, sometimes it’s tragic.  Sometimes it’s important, sometimes it’s personal.

The other day, this story floated across the wire.  It described Charles Whiting, who lost his wife in 2005 to cancer and emphysema.  One thing that comforted him was the voice mail greeting his wife had recorded with their Verizon phone service some years earlier.  The message remained long after she was gone, and Charles would call it daily to hear her voice once more.

Recently, system upgrades replaced the equipment which provided Whiting’s voice mail service, and the greeting was lost.  Calls to Verizon informed him the previous greeting recordings were lost for good.  It was sad, and a reminder that the world is always changing and someday the things we rely on most will inevitably disappear.

At least, that’s what I thought when I saw it.  Today, a follow-up article showed up on the AP wire.  From the article: Company spokesman John Bonomo said Tuesday that a contractor found the recording and restored it to the new voicemail system.

“I’m glad they rescued it,” Whiting said. “I’m very happy.”

Another reminder: There’s always some good in everyone’s heart.  Let it out whenever you can.