Hobbit Chat

The producer and director for the upcoming Hobbit movie and its sequel, geniuses Peter Jackson and Guillermo del Toro, held a Q&A chat session about the films, and the transcript is now online. It's still very early days yet - they haven't even started writing the script - but so far I like everything I'm hearing. Most of the creative team are back, and with del Toro taking the Captain's chair there should be enough new creative input coming in to make this fresh while still having a sense of being part of the same universe in which LOTR took place.

I also think Guillermo is the perfect replacement for Jackson; if anything his relatively more intimate horror themed films seem quite close to the style needed for much of the Hobbit, making him a more apt choice than even Jackson himself. As for the sequel, that would depend on what it's about - apparently they'll pick events in the 60 year gap between the two stories. Still, I'm confident Guillermo will deliver the goods no matter what the second film is about.

This chat transcript reminds me of the original Q&A Jackson did way back in 2000 (as I recall), which is when a lot of people thought LOTR could be something special. This has the same vibe, and they're saying all the right things. Plus, this time they have a proven track record. These guys ain't no George Lucas!

It's going to be a long wait though - the first film is tentatively scheduled for 2011, exactly a decade after Fellowship of the Ring came out. I'll have to make some offerings to Cthulu to make sure that I don't get hit by a meteor, run over by a bus, fall down a manhole, be visited by a succubus, or have some other tragedy befall me during the next few years!

OLPC has been assimilated!

No, not by the Borg, but by Microsoft! In news that's been expected for some time now, it's been announced that the XO laptop will be made available with Windows XP as well, with even project founder Nicolas Negroponte admitting that in the future they may well end up being XP only. For the time being, though, the plan is for the machines to dual boot to either Windows XP or the customized Linux OS. Not that XP hasn't been customized - apparently Microsoft have done a bit of work to get their bloated OS (and this is XP; imagine Vista!) working on the modest XO hardware, and it's still not perfect - the innovative mesh networking technology doesn't function with it. The hypocrisy of this move from MS is astounding - this is the company that repeatedly slammed the OLPC project during it's initial phases as being a fundamentally flawed idea. Apparently with Microsoft software on the laptop, it's now a great idea!

I can kind of understand why this happened. The project hasn't come close to the $100 pricepoint initially envisaged - it's at around $180 now, plus orders haven't exactly been brisk. Apparently there was a lot of demand from governments for XP. Again, understandable - Windows is in a sense the de facto standard operating system, and many governments were reluctant to invest in laptops that weren't equipped with the OS used by most of the world. They figure their kids should have the opportunity to gain experience with Windows in order to be globally competitive. Fair enough. They should also realize, however, that by investing in Microsoft for a low cost today means an investment in Microsoft for a much higher cost in the future as well, when everyone growing up with these laptops is conditioned to associate their costly, properietary, and excessively restrictive software with 'computers' in general, and is thus incapable of using any alternatives. The continued establishment of Microsoft tech is like a vicious circle where everyone needs to use it because it's established, but it becomes all the more established because everyone keeps using it. Which is exactly why Microsoft will be well pleased that Windows XP is on these laptops.

Negroponte's explanations for this move make sense, but at the end of the day it can't be seen as anything but capitulation by OLPC to corporate behemoths. The big bad MS wins again, sinking their claws into the future knowing that the low price of this basic XP will guarantee continued revenue in the future.

OLPC is still a great project though, just one that's been sullied a bit by this news. Let's also not forget the influence it's had in helping to establish low cost laptops as a viable and quite lucrative market; indeed, even Microsoft has got in on the act to ensure their presence in this growing sector. The other good news is that the innovative user interface developed for the XO will live on as a multi platform technology no longer tied down to one kind of machine! Every cloud has a silver lining, I suppose.

Staving off Gattaca

"My father was right. It didn't matter how much I lied on my resume. My real resume was in my cells. Why should anybody invest all that money to train me when there were a thousand other applicants with a far cleaner profile? Of course, it's illegal to discriminate, 'genoism' it's called. But no one takes the law seriously. If you refuse to disclose, they can always take a sample from a door handle or a handshake, even the saliva on your application form. If in doubt, a legal drug test can just as easily become an illegal peek at your future in the company." - Vincent Freeman (Ethan Hawke), Gattaca, 1997

In a surprisingly lucid move, the US Senate is pushing through laws to prevent insurance companies and employers from discriminating against people based on their genetic makeup. So maybe the future depicted in the terrific Gattaca isn't quite on the horizon.

Hang on though, in that movie genetic discrimination was illegal but it happened anyway. I suspect that, eventually, it will happen in reality at some level or the other.

And while I generally abhor the notion, a part of me does wonder whether it might not be logical in some situations, such as working in particular environments or fields. But then, where would one possibly draw the cutoff lines for eligibility? And what of people like the character of Vincent in the film, who wish to do something with every ounce of their being and could perhaps do it better than someone who was genetically more acceptable?

It's a messy question, but I think it's one of those situations where ethics ought to trump cold logic.

*Edited to add the quote & clarity (proofreading is your friend!)

Tech Stuff

There's a brain control headset for gaming. It reads electrical impulses in the brain and can map facial expressions, emotions, and movements of a person directly into a gameworld. Needless to say - awesome! If the success of the Nintendo Wii has taught the gaming industry anything, it's that more intuitive and simple interfaces are the type of things that can lead to more entertaining, accessible, and innovative gameplay (which translates into greater profits, of course). And this type of interface should be just as usable for interaction with any computer system, not just games. This is the stuff of sci-fi come to life people! I for one welcome our new brain scan controller overlords!

There's also another interesting BBC article about the evolution of mobile phones as gaming platforms. Damn, these things are becoming more and more powerful; forget Tetris, we're talking genuine home console level gaming on mobiles. I guess it shouldn't be surprising, seeing how Sony's PSP did something similar by fitting last generation level console gaming into a handheld, but in the more limited and energy conserving form factor of mobiles? I'm impressed - I mean, these things have dedicated 3D graphics chipsets on board! Also cool are the potential interfaces, which include iPhone style touch interfaces and Wii style motion sensitive control systems.

Another (somewhat related) article is this one about how mobile smartphones will soon overtake laptops and become the mobile computer of choice. I have to confess, a few years ago I was one of those smug jackasses who'd sneer with contempt at gadget phones, arguing that there was no use for so much multimedia functionality. Phones should be for calls and texting, I argued. Well I'm eating humble pie, because to be honest the potential is huge and it's amazing what you can now do with these relatively affordable smartphones. They're getting some fairly powerful low energy consumption processors in there (even multicore!) that can match low end laptops in terms of basic functionality and applications both for work and for multimedia, including proper gaming (as above) and high def (720p) video. And this is on top of its use as a digital camera, a GPS device, and of course a phone! Yeah the size and interface are probably big stumbling blocks, but then some of these screens are decent sized and very high res, and there's even potential for a mobile projector. And there's always a roll up keyboard for typing. Even if you're not interested in mobile computing technology, the potential for more compact and energy conserving devices is something to be welcomed, as it will eventually filter through to the rest of the industry.

And finally, how could I not comment on the impending death of HDDVD? Yep, the format war is all but over and Sony and the Blu-Ray camp can rest easy. It's a good thing too, because the lack of a standard would have sucked and killed the possibility of there being a next gen successor to DVD. Actually, there still might not be - DVD is still pretty terrific and the leap from DVD to Blu-Ray is only in terms of picture quality. The leap from VHS to DVD was huge and allowed people to make the most of their existing televisions. Hi-def formats offer no significant new improvements apart from the picture (and sound), which require more expensive equipment to take advantage of in any case. And in the meantime, with ever improving video compression and global bandwidth increases, there's also the possibility that people will simply migrate from DVD to buying (or renting) movies online directly instead of moving en mass to a new disc format. Personally, I think Blu-Ray will take off but will never be as huge as DVD, and I think online video is still a long way off from becoming ubiquitous, simply because the network infrastructure isn't quite there yet and won't be for a while, and because there is no standard for online video distribution on the horizon.

And finally, a little humour to wrap up this post, courtesy of XKCD.

Evil Incarnate

The BBC has interviewed George W. Bush, and it is very revealing indeed.

The full transcript is worth a read, as it highlights not only how terrible a speaker Bush is (I've read a fair few transcripts in my day, and this one is downright painful to read) but also the level of cognitive dissonance he maintains. He dodges questions, squirms for answers, and contradicts himself with frightening regularity.

Some choice excerpts (emphasis mine):

And you have committed troops - American troops around the world in other cases throughout... Afghanistan. Why not in this case?.

Mr Bush: Well, that's a good question. I mean, we're committing equipment, you know? Training, help, movement. I think a lot of the folks who are concerned about America into another Muslim country. Some of the relief groups here just didn't think the strategy would be as effective as it was. I mean, actually, believe it or not, listen to people's opinions. And chose to make this decision. It's a decision that I'm now living with. And it's a decision that requires us to continue to rally the conscience of the world and get people to focus on the issue. You know, you're right. I mean, we sent marines into Liberia, for example, to help stabilise the country there. And Liberia's on my itinerary where I'll meet with the first woman, you know, elected president in Africa - history. And - but, I just made the decision I made.

Lot of conviction in that response.

See, I happen to believe we're in an ideological struggle. And, those who murder the innocent to achieve political objectives are evil people.

Ooh, the irony.

Religious beliefs are... you know, the only religious belief you can hold is the one we tell you. And, oh, by the way, it's great. You can be a suicider. Well, hopeless people are the ones who get attracted by that point of view. And, therefore, it's in the world's interest from a national security perspective to deal with hopelessness.

Which is why he created a black hole of hopelessness in Iraq.

I think... when history marches on, there will be a little more objective look about the totality of this administration.

And he expects this to make his administration look BETTER in the future?

And I'm happy with Iraq. The... decision to move Saddam Hussein was right. And this democracy is now taking root. And I'm confident that if America does not become isolationist - you know, and allow the terrorists to take back over - Iraq will succeed.

To take back over? Amusing, seeing as how they only got in there after the invasion.

The Senate yesterday passed a bill outlawing water-boarding. You, I believe, have said that you will veto that bill.

Mr Bush: No, look... that's not the reason I'm vetoing the bill. The reason I'm vetoing the bill - first of all, we have said that whatever we do... will be legal. Secondly, they are imposing a set of standards on our intelligence communities in terms of interrogating prisoners that our people will think will be ineffective. And, you know, to the critics, I ask them this: when we, within the law, interrogate and get information that protects ourselves and possibly others in other nations to prevent attacks, which attack would they have hoped that we wouldn't have prevented?

My head is spinning. Huh? Also amusing is how the question is about how Bush is trying to prevent a law from being put into place, but he goes on about how they will act within the law. Of course you will, when the law is shaped the way you want it!

We're having a debate in America on whether or not we ought to be listening' to terrorists making' phone calls in the United States. And the answer is darn right we ought to be.

Yeah, way to tear down a strawman. Or maybe the real debate was about warrantless surveillance and providing telcos immunity for illegally handing over information to the government. Maybe it was about judicial oversight and checks and balances? MMMKAAAY?

Frei: But, given Guantanamo Bay, given also Abu Ghraib, given renditions, does this not send the wrong signal to the world?

Mr Bush: It should send a signal that America is going to respect law.

Eh?

We're a nation of law. Take Guantanamo.

Umm?

Frei: Can you honestly say, Mr President, that today America still occupies the moral high ground?

Mr Bush: Absolutely - absolutely. We believe in human rights and human dignity. We believe in the human condition.

Yeah. Take Guantanamo. Rendition. Iraq.

I happen to believe free societies provide hope.

Which is why you're busy taking away freedoms from your own people?

Could Monty Python have provided a more ludicrous scripted interview? I doubt it. Reading this seriously pissed me off. Reading some of the associated comments from readers where so many people defend the man makes me think mankind deserves him.

Videos du jour

I don't normally embed videos on this blog, but I'm going to make an exception this time (might become a habit, actually).

First up, I was reminded about Neil LaBute - by most accounts a good film director and an even better misogynist - while reading about his film In the Company of Men. This led to me perusing his IMDB profile, where I was also reminded that he directed the Nicolas Cage 2006 remake of creepy and weird 70s horror flick The Wicker Man. Now, I haven't seen the Wicker Man remake, but I have seen this hilarious Youtube video, "Best Scenes from The Wicker Man". If you've never seen a man in a bear costume bitch slap someone, then you need to see this clip. MAJOR SPOILERS for the Wicker Man, btw, but if you give a damn about that fact, you need to go see a doctor ASAP.



I've posted about this clip before, over a year ago, but it never gets old!

Next up is the just released trailer for one of the most anticipated films of the year, Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.



There are links to high quality versions at Dave's Trailer Page. There are a couple of things I don't like about the trailer - Indy's quip when he falls onto the truck feels off, and some of the effects look wonky (including, bizarrely, Ray Winstone's pants) - but overall it's pretty cool and looks old school with modern effects (kinda like Jackson's King Kong - there's even a cliffside scene in this trailer that looks reminiscent of Kong). And I can't deny that when that iconic Indy theme music kicks in, I get a little excited at the prospect of there being a new Indiana Jones movie. Oh, and Evil Commie Cate Blanchett? Awesome.

Anonymous is for real

I saw this video recently where a group called 'Anonymous' claimed that they would destroy the Church of Scientology - that pseudo religious cult that seems way more evil and harmful than regular religions. I thought this was just a practical joke of sorts, but it turns out that these guys mean business. This Newsweek article offers some insight into the group (warning: there's a picture of Mad Tom Cruise in the article that may be harmful to your psyche), which has apparently been around for a few years and has a membership numbering in the thousands. And yesterday the groups members took to the streets in front of various Scientology centres around the world in peaceful protest. The BBC article's photos indicates that the protesters wore Guy Fawkes masks to protect their identities, creating a scene somewhat reminiscent of the climax of the excellent 'V for Vendetta'. Intriguing. It seems that 'Anonymous' started off their campaign last month with some illegal activities against Scientology but have now shifted to more civilized methods. I don't know if any of this will be effective, but I hope they succeed with their goals. And stick to legal activities.

The Preciousss is back and in good hands?

The idea of 'The Hobbit' being directed by anyone other than Peter Jackson sounded crazy after his resounding success with 'The Lord of the Rings', but word is that master fantastician Guillermo Del Toro (of The Devil's Backbone, Blade II, Hellboy, and Pan's Labyrinth fame) is set to helm Tolkien's first Middle Earth adventure as well as another film that bridges the gap between it and 'Rings'. That second film sounds a bit iffy, but with Jackson still a producer and involved creatively (as well as his cohorts Philippa Boyens and Fran Walsh) and the Weta team in New Zealand doing their magic, I am ecstatic. 'Rings' was one of the best film experiences ever, and to have more from Middle Earth directed by an equally assured (but unique and different) hand... well, that's as good as the news could get.

Now I hope Del Toro is confirmed and that this project pans out. No pun intended.

SpaceShipTwo Unveiled

Sweet...

One step closer to achieving true space tourism - the space plane and launch vehicle [BBC] for Virgin Galactic's space tourism programme, SpaceShipTwo and White Knight Two respectively, have been finalized and unveiled. They look pretty cool. The first passenger flights are scheduled to start in 2010, and seats cost $200,000 at the moment. My piggy bank is still only half full (I'm silently cursing myself for stealing a few coins from it now and then to fuel my unhealthy confectionery addiction. Damn my weakness!), so it'll be a while yet before I have enough money to make this dream trip become a reality. Hopefully, costs will come down to earth before I become too old and fragile to embark on such an endeavour!

Cool stuff for free on the Interweb

First up, Boing Boing has a story about the US Library of Congress publishing a bunch of copyright free historical photos on Flickr with the aim being to have people label them, which will be useful for the purposes of preservation. The photos, which are from the 1910s and the 1930s-40s, are fantastic and well preserved and definitely worth a gander. And remember, they're copyright free so anyone can use em!

Some samples (which are slightly cropped on the right side due to their width being larger than the damned column):


Delano, Jack,, 1914-, photographer.

General view of one of the classification yards of the Chicago and Northwestern Railroad, Chicago, Ill.

1942 Dec.



Bransby, David,, photographer.

Woman aircraft worker, Vega Aircraft Corporation, Burbank, Calif. Shown checking electrical assemblies

1942 June



Sherwood, Mark,, photographer.

North American's P-51 Mustang Fighter is in service with Britain's Royal Air Force, N[orth] A[merican] Aviation, Inc., Inglewood, Calif.

1942 Oct.



Vachon, John,, 1914-1975,, photographer.

House, Houston, Texas

1943 May



Vachon, John,, 1914-1975,, photographer.

Workers leaving Pennsylvania shipyards, Beaumont, Texas

1943 June



Bain News Service, publisher.

Around the block for 2 cents [car]

[between 1910 and 1915]



Bain News Service, publisher.

Miss Moore [tennis]

[between 1910 and 1915]



Bain News Service, publisher.

Olympic

[between 1910 and 1915]



Bain News Service, publisher.

Jap [sic] torpedo boat, driver ashore

[between 1910 and 1915]



Bain News Service, publisher.

J.M. Johnson in Bleriotype [plane]

[between 1910 and 1915]

---

Not sure how long these have been available, but the 'Daily Bits' has a list of comics that are free or have freely available first issues. Some are online comics, others are downloadable files. I haven't had time to check 'em out yet - except for 'Fell #1' - but I'm looking forward to sampling the likes of 'Deadman', 'Y: The Last Man', 'Sandman', 'DMZ', 'Hellblazer', and 'Swamp Thing'.

---

And finally, Lawrence Lessig, founder of Creative Commons and advocate of reduced copyright restrictions, has released his 2001 book The Future of Ideas for free under a CC license. Naturally, I haven't read it yet, (and I'm not sure I want to read 300 pages of book on a screen), but it's probably worth a read. Once I finish the 50 or so other books I have waiting for me, that is.

Fight the Future - Part 2

(Image from USA Today)

USA Today has a promotional photo from the forthcoming X-Files movie, which IMDB has unceremoniously dubbed 'Untitled X-Files Sequel', that is being released a decade after the first film came out! After watching the final episode of the series all those years ago - an episode I can only describe as 'very, very poor' - I never imagined that I'd look forward to more X-Files. But here I am jonesing for the 'Untitled X-Files Sequel', which promises to be a standalone without any of that conspiracy bollocks that became more convoluted than a bowl full of noodles and chilli sauce. The standalones were the ones that made the show one of my favourites back in the day.

Yeah, the picture isn't particularly exciting, but it's Mulder and Scully, back in action again! Scully clearly still knows how to look hot in men's clothes, while Mulder looks like he's trying to convince his partner to believe one of his wacky (and invariably correct) theories while wearing a coat that looks like it was stolen from a hobo. Unless Mulder is a hobo now?

The movie comes out in July and in addition to David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson it also stars Amanda Peet, Xzibit (huh?), and Billy Connolly (wtf?). The truth is out there!

Get Screwed by Blu Ray

Everyone's probably aware (to some degree) of the format war in the next generation of DVD technology between Blu-Ray and HD-DVD. Well, the 'war' is probably coming to an end with Blu-Ray as the victor, now that almost all of the movie studios are supporting it.

Unfortunately for many of the people who made Blu-Ray the better selling format, they're going to get shafted along with HD-DVD supporters, because it seems that some of the players that were on the market till the end of last year will not be able to support all of the special features being incorporated in the new 1.1 and 2.0 Blu-Ray 'profiles'. The Blu-Ray group's lame ass is excuse is that, apparently, they had to release the players early before all of their standards were finalized in order to compete with HD-DVD . Well ain't that just swell? HD-DVD, on the other hand, already had similar features finalized and in place! The Blu-Ray folks words of consolation to their suckers customers are that these people will still be able to enjoy the movie itself in high def and they probably didn't buy into the technology for the special features in any case. And yet these features are touted as being among the benefits of the Blu-Ray format!

As far as I'm concerned, I don't give a rat's ass about either of these formats. I'll probably eventually switch to one of them when it becomes ubiquitous, but for now, regular DVD is more than good enough for me*. And it ought to be good enough for anyone who doesn't have a high-def display to take advantage of the high-def content. By the time DVD finally draws its last breath, this 'next gen' hardware ought to be cheap enough to make a smooth transition, and who knows, online distribution might have taken off in a big way as well. No matter what, I don't think this stuff is an investment worth making right now; unless, of course, you have an uber-rich uncle who just croaked and left you a fortune (in which case, hello friend!).

*Though I have to admit that the HD content does look stunning if you have the kit for it.

CES Wrapup

The Consumer Electronics Show ended a few days ago and the BBC has a wrapup of the best gadgets that were on display. I have to say, if that's the best of the bunch, it looks like it was a fairly unimpressive show this year. OK maybe the BBC aren't exactly the vanguard of tech news, but I haven't seen anything all that exciting on tech savvy sites either - I haven't been following the news all that closely, but big news has a way of grabbing your attention.

Out of this bunch, wireless HDTV connections look interesting but nowhere near as cool as the possibility of wireless power; the force feedback video game vest and the 'real' air guitar look like fun; most interesting is the ASUS Eee PC, which has been out for a while now and whose success is an indicator that more basic, robust, low power laptops are a viable market. In less than a couple of years I'd imagine every computer manufacturer is going to be in on the act in a big way with similar offerings and prices will fall, by which point even I might bite the bullet and get a so called 'subnotebook' (and maybe even be able to afford one without having to sell off a vital organ!).

The Darwin Awards

The compilation of 2007's Darwin Awards are up now. The Darwin Awards are... well, I'll quote the site directly:

Named in honor of Charles Darwin, the father of evolution, the Darwin Awards commemorate those who improve our gene pool by removing themselves from it.

Removing themselves from it, usually in quite amusing ways. Yes these poor sods gave up the ghost, and maybe it's a little mean to laugh, but they did it in such ignominious style! All of the winners are quite amusing, but the top rated one, 'coitus interruptus', is the cream of the crop!

Rootkits - not just for dentists!

As if there weren't enough reasons to not use Microsoft's Internet Explorer, here's one more [BBC News].

Security experts are warning about a stealthy Windows virus that steals login details for online bank accounts.
...
Many are falling victim via booby-trapped websites that use vulnerabilities in Microsoft's browser to install the attack code.

To be fair though, this apparently only applies to unpatched browsers. But hey, the article gave me an opportunity to have a go at the evil MSFT empire, so sue me!

The interesting thing about this virus is that it is classified as a rootkit, a type of program that is very difficult to detect and remove. We can all expect to see more of these nasties in the future. The days of ostentatious malware are well and truly over, with clandestine and insidious malware designed to steal your data or use your computer's resources being the new modus operandi of these fiends.

Why Intel are a bunch of dicks!

The BBC reports on how "Intel 'undermined' [the OLPC] laptop project". Intel, screw you. I have little doubt that Intel are the wrongdoers in this scenario. These are, after all, the same pricks who publicly badmouthed the very idea of such a laptop a couple of years ago before suddenly churning out one of their own.

Here's OLPC's press release regarding the matter (from http://wiki.laptop.org/go/Intel#INTEL_RESIGNS_FROM_OLPC):

January, 4 2008 - We at OLPC have been disappointed that Intel did not deliver on any of the promises they made when they joined OLPC; while we were hopeful for a positive, collaborative relationship, it never materialized.

Intel came in late to the OLPC association: they joined an already strong and thriving OLPC Board of Directors made up of premier technology partners; these partners have been crucial in helping us fulfill our mission of getting laptops into the hands of children in the developing world. We have always embraced and welcomed other low-cost laptop providers to join us in this mission. But since joining the OLPC Board of Directors in July, Intel has violated its written agreement with OLPC on numerous occasions. Intel continued to disparage the XO laptop in nations that had already decided to partner with OLPC (Uruguay and Peru), with countries that were in the midst of choosing a laptop solution (Brazil and Nigeria), and other countries contemplating a laptop program (Mongolia).

Intel was unwilling to work cooperatively with OLPC on software development. Over the entire six months it was a member of the association, Intel contributed nothing of value to OLPC: Intel never contributed in any way to our engineering efforts and failed to provide even a single line of code to the XO software efforts – even though Intel marketed its products as being able to run the XO software. The best Intel could offer in regards to an "Intel inside" XO laptop was one that would be more expensive and consume more power – exactly the opposite direction of OLPC's stated mandate and vision.

Despite OLPC's best efforts to work things out with Intel and several warnings that their behavior was untenable, it is clear that Intel's heart has never been in working collaboratively as a part of OLPC. This is well illustrated by the way in which our separation was announced singlehandedly by Intel; Intel issued a statement to the press behind our backs while simultaneously asking us to work on a joint statement with them. Actions do speak louder than words in this case. As we said in the past, we view the children as a mission; Intel views them as a market.

The benefit to the departure of Intel from the OLPC board is a renewed clarity in purpose and the marketplace; we will continue to focus on our mission of providing every child with an opportunity for learning.

OLPC Update

The OLPC saga continues, and things are looking a little grim according to this BBC article. The likes of perennial bad guys Microsoft and Intel seem to have taken off the gloves and entered the ring, and have already fired off a few low blows. They've also influenced the referees it seems, since demand for the thing isn't quite what was expected. It's not all doom and gloom however, and there is still optimism for the project.

An interesting related story tells of the pros and cons of the laptop in the wild, as evinced by its use in a 'test school' in Nigeria.

Yet another reason to love Google

The BBC reports that "Search giant Google is investing hundreds of millions of dollars in renewable energy technologies." You can add that to their exemplary array of online services and applications, their good behaviour (yeah yeah there have been a few supposed blips like the whole China thing), their book digitizing project, their open standards mobile phone platform initiative, their unobtrusive use of ads, their association with other cool projects (like Firefox and OLPC), and their generally fun corporate image.

Trek Casting Finished!

Following on from this post, the cast for Star Trek 11 - The Reimagining has been finalized. Everyone I mentioned in the previous post has been confirmed, including the previously rumoured Chris Pine as Jim Kirk! And the final crewmember to be confirmed is... Russell Crowe as Leonard 'Bones' McCoy! Just kidding, it's actually Karl Urban, the manly man who played Eomer in Lord of the Rings, fought imps in Doom, and took on Jason Bourne in 'The Bourne Supremacy'. In a weird cast, Urban's choice seems weirder still. This is going to be one strange movie! I'm anticipating and dreading it in equal measure. Next up, I'm sure, will be some shots of the crew in costume and probably in action, before we get a trailer to see them in motion, which will probably be months down the line but potentially sooner than with most movies given the rabid fanboy curiosity (and potential for negative publicity if they don't show something).

Trek Casting

After some decidedly mixed early casting news - Leonard Nimoy cameo, yay! Zacharay Quinto as Spock, ugh! - and rumours about who would play the legendary Captain James Tiberius Kirk - Matt Damon, excellent! - some solid news is finally coming out.

The villain, named Nero, has been cast and it is none other than former irradiated Hulk and Achilles victim Eric Bana! Seriously cool news, as Bana has been great in everything I've seen him in and I can buy him as a menacing villain. Second cool bit of casting news is that Simon Pegg, he of Spaced, Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz fame, will be playing Scotty! This is cool and also completely and utterly bizarre and will have to be seen to be believed - is Scotty going to be comic relief? Some guy named John Cho has also been cast as Sulu.

They join the already announced Anton Yelchin as Chekov and Zoe Saldana as Uhura. The big question remains - who will step into the 'hold your stomach in' tight fitting pants of Kirk? Some guy named Chris Pine is rumoured to be a potential candidate for the part. An unknown sounds like a good idea. This film will rest on the shoulders of whomever plays Kirk and the camaraderie that the central trio has together. And also on whatever J J Abrams and his writers bring to the table as well of course.

This film is looking weird but interesting. Surely it'll at least be better than the last one, right?