Topic: Personal Stuff/Random News

So... quick miniature movie review. I may sit down to do a longer one soon but for now this is where it's at.

Star Trek Into Darkness.

So... first thing. We already know this is a reboot. This is not your mother and father's Star Trek. This is not a TV series, this is not shiny happy utopian-future. Things in the background are different, character motivations are different, some characters actually GET to have motivations now instead of being setpieces. Go with it.

Second thing. Yes, they brought back a villain. Yes, it's exactly who you think it is. Yes, the reveal happens pretty early and no, you won't care. Again: things are different. The federation has gone in a different direction because they got the #$%#$ scared out of them twice and pulled a Brave Sir Robin when Kirk was still in diapers, and have proceeded to go all Sir Lancelot The Homicidally Brave since the destruction of Vulcan.

The Klingon scene is brief but it's good to see them get screen time and it's good to realize they can be a creditable villain again.

Yes, there are shout-outs to fans in this movie. Nods to what has gone before and nods to what is different. You know what? I don't really care. This was a GREAT movie. I enjoyed the heck out of every minute of it. I enjoyed the realization that this isn't going to be the same Trek we've seen before, and I enjoyed the idea that this might, actually, have some chance to start the series getting back to TV where it really belongs.

Go see the movie. Set aside the worries, set aside the "but that's not canon", set aside the differences. Enjoy it for what it is.

Second star to the right, straight on til morning.

He's not really gone. Just making movies spookier in a different way.

But alas... RIP Ray Harryhausen, 92 years old.

Here are some indie game developers with their own take, plus a little trickery.

I'm amazed this idea came from a Republican - the thought is to make grade-appropriate science fiction mandatory reading in schools.

I agree. Let's stimulate some young minds!

Ever wondered what happens when you rely on "the cloud" too much? One reporter recently found out:

A few minutes into my Google-less existence, I realized how dependent I had become. I couldn’t finish my work or my taxes, because my notes and expenses were stored in Google Drive, and I didn’t know what else I should work on because my Google calendar had disappeared. I couldn’t publicly gripe about what I was going through, because my Blogger no longer existed. My Picasa albums were gone. I’d lost my contacts and calling plan through Google Voice; otherwise I would have called friends to cry.

... Sure, it had occurred to me when I had moved my work and memories into the “cloud” that I was relying on other people to keep them safe on their servers. But I figured a company with $50 billion in revenues and the modest aim to “organize the world’s information” had to run a tight ship. Anyway, it seemed implicit that in allowing Google to use my data, I could rely on Google to hold on to it—and to give it back.

In reality, I discovered, Google assumes no responsibility over user data nor is it required by law to do so. In the same notice informing me that it had disabled my account, Google told me for the first time that it reserves the right to “terminate your account at any time, for any reason, with or without notice.”

Emphasis added.

Moral of the story: don't rely on "the cloud" for your storage. It can easily turn on you.

This is an absolutely brilliant and nigh-exhaustive rendition of the list of EA's crimes against gaming.

You owe it to yourself to read it. EA's done the gaming world an amazing amount of hurt, and even I'd forgotten a lot of this.

You owe it to yourself to check out this 4 billion pixel panorama from the Mars Curiosity Rover.

Don't wait. Just do it.

Capcom is remaking Ducktales, the old NES game, as a 3d-rendered title.

The gameplay looks surprisingly sharp.

EA just fired their top man.

Yes, that's right. Chucked him right out the door. First casualty of the insanity of the launch of SimCity.

No word yet on whether or not EA will chuck the sort of DRM schemes that created this situation along with him.

Because it needed saying, and I can't say it any better.

We should be able to unlock anything we own.

Seriously.