(Publicado por News Telegraph)
A once in a lifetime chance to see a transit of Venus, the passing of Earth’s sister planet in front of the sun, takes place next month for the first time in 122 years.
For six hours on June 8, the small, intense silhouette of the Earth’s sister planet will edge slowly across the disk of the sun. No living person has seen a transit of Venus, one of the rarest events of the astronomical calendar. The last took place in December 1882 and there have been just six since the invention of the telescope.
Continue reading “Venus transit 'chance of a lifetime'”
Hey, you “Indiana Jones” fans. Before you rush on out to buy that Indy 4-disc DVD set (which goes on sale today), why don’t you offer up a little thanks to the guys who supposedly kept Steve Spielberg and George Lucas from digitally altering “Raiders”: “South Park” creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone.
Okay. Quick show of hands here: How many of you actually like the new improved version of “The Lion King” that made its DVD debut earlier this month? Particularly that Jeese-I-thought-that-this-was-a-lousy-song-in-the-Broadway-show-but-it’s-even-worse-now new musical number, “The Morning Report”?
For the life of me, I can not understand why – these days – certain movie makers feel that they MUST revisit their earlier films and make unnecessary changes and additions. In Disney’s case, this usually involves reanimating various sequences that supposedly weren’t up to snuff but actually contain some questionable content that the Mouse wants quietly excised. Or folding in a new song – with the hope that this move will be enough to convince people who already own this particular picture on video to now spring for the DVD.
Continue reading “Did Stan, Kyle and Cartman really save “Raiders of the Lost Ark”? (by Jim Hill)”
(Via Wired News)
When Raph Koster posted a report last week in the Star Wars Galaxies forums that painted a picture of the nuts and bolts of the massively multiplayer online world’s economy, it was one of the first times the public has been allowed to see behind the scenes of such a game.
In doing so, Koster, chief creative officer of Galaxies publisher Sony Online Entertainment, opened the door to a public discussion about whether the health of virtual worlds depends on their economies functioning like those of stable real-world countries.
To Ed Castronova, an associate professor of economics at Cal State Fullerton and a leading expert on virtual economies, the Star Wars Galaxies data showed, more than ever, that the health of such economies doesn’t have to meet real-world standards in order for the games themselves to be strong.
Continue reading “Fun in Following the Money”
(Via The Guardian)
Google, the world’s most popular internet search engine, is about to offer shares to the public. It has built its reputation on being the fastest and most accurate way to find information. But is the internet really the quickest way to access facts – and get them right? We put Google to the test against more old-fashioned methods.
Question 1: List the titles of all the books written by Piers Morgan, editor of the Daily Mirror
Continue reading “On your marks, get set, search …”
(Vía Harek)
My so called life* 