Author Archives: Christopher

About Christopher

Dad, hubby, geek, nerd, gimp, cynic and optimist.

DC Is Rolling Out a Big “Marvel-ous” Schedule of Movies!

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It’s popping up everywhere, but TheMarySue.com has a nice recap of DC’s just announced slate of movies up through 2020! It starts off with Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, helmed by Zack Snyder, opening in 2016, as most already know. But, what is news, among announcements of solo movies for characters like The Flash, Aquaman, and Cyborg, is the the announcement of a solo Wonder Woman movie starring Gal Gadot! (Wonder Woman will first appear in the aforementioned Batman vs. Superman.) It is high time one of these comics/superhero movies featured a female hero.

Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman via Crave Online

Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman via Crave Online

Alright, Marvel, your move. When are we getting a Black Widow solo film?

Via io9.com: New Behind the Scenes Book on Star Trek: TOS

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Over at io9.com they’ve got a really cool article on a new book by Marc Cushman entitled These Are the Voyages TOS: Season One. It looks to be a fascinating (see what I did there?) look behind the making of the original Star Trek’s first season. It will be a must have item for any true fan of Trek. Some of the behind the scenes tidbits in the article:

  • Pigeons and a horde of wasps plagued the filming of the first two pilots.
  • Gene Roddenberry got 50% royalties for the show’s theme song because he authored weird lyrics for it that were never used.
  • The great Lucille Ball herself saved Star Trek from Desliu Studios’ board of directors’ axe. (Desilu, of course, stood for Desi and Lucy.) Not only that, but the great comedienne personally swept pesky dust from the camera tracks during filming!
  • Gene Roddenberry believed men in the future would not have body hair and made Shatner shave his torso for topless scenes.
  • DeForest Kelley was almost cast as Spock. (I’m trying to picture that one.)

Lots more in the article and the book sounds great. Going on my Amazon wishlist.

Shatner and Nimoy laughing during filming of

Shatner and Nimoy laughing during filming of “Patterns of Force.”

One Bluetooth Keyboard To Rule Them All!

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Now, this is something I want! Microsoft is putting out a fold up bluetooth keyboard not only compatible with Windows, iOS and Android devices, but it has added functionality specifically for each operating system! According to 9to5Mac.com, it will be called the Universal Mobile Keyboard and it includes:

Other nice touches for iOS users: Microsoft even includes a CMD key normally reserved for Mac/iOS keyboards in its proper location in addition to a dedicated home button for both Android and iOS. Not only that, but the keyboard is a Made-for-iPhone/iPad/iPod touch product, which means it also has Apple’s seal of approval.

Microsoft also claims it can get six months of usage on a single charge. It will ship in October and retail for $80.00.

With the plethora of iOS, Android and Windows 8.1 devices we have in our house, having just one keyboard I can throw in my scooter basket will be awesomeness personified!

http://youtu.be/sdPT-TzgU84

 

via GigaOm: Six Unanswered Questions About the Apple Watch

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After the big Apple iPhone 6/Watch event, GigaOm posted a nice collection of six questions about Apple’s new wearable that went unanswered or were glossed over in the big reveal. I had not thought of all of them myself, but the battery life question is big in my mind. If I have to charge it overnight, the big benefit of a subtle, vibrating alarm is out the bedroom window.

Bottom line: interested for sure, but need more information and real life testing.

Tim Cook announcing the Apple Watch

Tim Cook announcing the Apple Watch. Photo credit: Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Kid Gets Iron Man Prothstetic Hand: Excelsior!

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If this story by way of Geeklogie and KHON Channel 2 News in Maui doesn’t make you smile or bring a little tear to your eye, you’re as heartless as the Mandarin (the “real one” not the goofy British actor guy).

A three year old boy called Bubba was born with an impairment that left him with only one hand. It is all he has ever known and he was well adjusted and thriving. But, as the story reports, he knew he was different and always wanted a second hand like most people have. His grandmother found an uber cool non-profit called E-Nabling which creates prosthesis using 3D printing. Traditional artificial hands can run into the thousands of dollars, but this particular hand cost only fifty dollars to manufacture and they charged the boy’s family not one penny!

And, did I mention, they made it to look like Iron Man’s hand? Check out the video:

Can’t Fight Fashion: Wearables Will Be In the Classroom

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Hat tip to Web/mobile developer and Accessibility Evangelist extraordinaire Paul Adam for tweeting this article from The Chronicle of Higher Education entitled Apple Watch: Coming to a Classroom Near You? With Apple’s new iWatch and other wearables from Motorola, Samsung and others, the ever present phone will move to the wrists of some students. This opens up the educational pitfalls of distraction and even cheating, but it may also open up new opportunities in learning and education methods.

an iWatch from Apple

Apple’s iWatch. Photo credit The Chronicle of Higher Education

A Robot Riding a Hoverbike? Yes, Please!

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The Science Channel has a way cool video on their site of a 1/3 scale experimental quad-rotor hover bike. The air vehicle is designed by Malloy Aeronautics and is claimed to be more maneuverable than a helicopter. The video is amazing.

As a person with a disability who has always used wheelchairs and scooters, I have to wonder if a small version could have the right combination of size and thrust to take the place of larger mobility devices. Flying up some stairs would rock.

NFL Fandom by U.S. County

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Now, throw in that your dear poster here is an NFL nerd also, and, well, this is a map you know I’ve got to study. The Atlantic posted an article about a map of NFL team allegiances by county in the United States as of 2014 produced by the Facebook Data Science team. The data is based on Facebook “Likes” of official team pages. So, it is surely is not definitive proof of allegiances but it is still fun mapping it out.

Some things are not surprising (Packers in Wisconsin, Cowboys in Texas) but some might be a bit surprising such as the Jets having no plurality in ANY county…anywhere.

Well, maybe, it’s not surprising…

map of NFL allegiances by U.S. county

Map of NFL allegiance by county in the U.S. by Facebook Data Science team.

2000 Years of European Border Changes In 47 Seconds

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This is an interesting little history nerd thing that popped up in my Twitter feed the other day. (Hat tip to The Independent.) It’s a little video from New Scientist (sub. required) of a European map showing the borders of nations, empires, states, etc. over the last 2,000 years. It is amazing to see how much, and often, borders change.

And, with all the stuff Uncle Vladimir is stirring up in Ukraine, one wonders if a new map is coming…

British Royal Mail stamp honoring Noor Inayat Khan

Via NPR: “One Woman, Many Surprises: Pacifist Muslim, British Spy, WWII Hero”

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This Tuesday, PBS is showing a docudrama about Noor Inayat Khan, an Indian-American Muslim woman who in World War II acted as a spy for the Allies in Paris. She was raised a pacifist but chose to work for the British as a liaison to the French Resistance. The movie is called The Noor Inayat Khan Story and NPR did an interview with the movie’s creators.