Sam Raimi to Direct WoW Movie

Hot off a recent press release at this year's Comic-Con Blizzard has announced that none other than Sam Raimi of Evil Dead and Spider-Man fame will be directing their upcoming World of Warcraft movie. This could potentially be big news but it could also be tragic. I have no idea if in fact Sam plays WoW or any other Warcraft games so he could be stepping in blind on this one. Last time he did that we got the emo version of Spider-Man and an incredibly bad Venom. But who knows, his idea of campy fun could be exactly what this movie needs. Maybe if they steer away from Lord of the Rings and more towards a tongue-in-cheek parody which stays true to the storyline we'll all be happy.

Blizzard

Halo Anime Announced

Boy I really wish I were at the computer because Comic-Con is spewing forth geek news by the spoonful. The first tidbit I noticed and felt compelled to post was that Microsoft has announced that several anime shorts will be produced revolving around the Halo universe. No word yet as to the storyline will involve but the sudios have been announced: Bones, Casio Entertainment, Production I.G, Studio4 C, and Toei Animation. As a huge Halo nerd I'm highly looking forward to this one.

Joystiq

For those of you who feel that BBQ'ing is more than a weekend habit the Grillslinger is the thing you're looking for. Keep tongs, knifes and more importantly, beer close when they'll be needed.

Exia Finale

Gunpla Secret Base has finished up their review of the MG Exia and I'm still drooling a little. Personally I would pose it as the Exia Repair but to each their own. Some reports have stated though that the runners for the kit are laid out in such a way as to allow future kits such as the Astrea and Exia R2 to be made. So keep an eye out for those.

Part 7
Part 8
Part 9

Yay for Korea

So usually when the thought of playing a mmorpg (look it up if you dont know) comes to mind you may think of the horror stories people tell of WoW and how it's 6~7 gigs worth of crack that 13 year old kids cant stop playing. Well, thats actually true with WoW, thankfully this isn't about that. This is Aion a mmo that got started in Korea doing its best to keep guys interested in the pve/pvp content and trying to get the girls playing with the cute characters & outfits, which it did so quite well.



The races that you can play consist of:
A non playable race known as the Balaur, origianally created to care for both races, became focused on power & domination...blah blah blah usual story. Long story short they inhabit the main pvp zone so players can fight them there as well as the other faction to gain reputation & phat lootz.



The Elyos - "the The Elyos are a beautiful and radiant people. The Cataclysm separated them from the Asmodians and left them to thrive in a bountiful world bathed in golden light and starlight...The ascended forms of Elyos Daevas have stunning, angelic wings, and their immense strength belies their graceful appearance..." (typical human looking characters)



The Asmodians - "The Asmodians are a brave and hardy people. The Cataclysm separated them from the Elyos and plunged them into a world of ice and darkness. To survive such desolation is one thing, but to thrive and prosper as the Asmodians did is quite another. Asmodian skin is pale or dusky, and their eyes have adapted to low light by gaining an otherworldly glow that is most pronounced during combat. Ascended Asmodian Daevas are blessed with strength and the ability to fly, and their feathered wings are dark in color." (the fun race to play)




Classes span the usual areas in the beginning (warriors, priests, scouts, and mages) but once you hit level 10 you run through a quest to pick your subclass.

classes:
- Warrior
+ Templar - the tank/damage sponge/meat shield/aggro monkey/etc.
+ Gladiator - melee dps class with oversized objects used to hurt people
- Scout
+ Assassin - the poke them from behind with sharp objects class
+ Ranger - uses a bow & arrow
- Priest
+ Cleric - the healer...keep them happy to get loots
+ Chanter - a sort of a monk type class
- Mage
+ Sorcerer - the glass cannon
+ Spiritmaster - caster class with pets

All in all the beta as it stands now runs smooth as glass even at full graphics. The spell effects from the combo system that combat revolves around are really satisfying when you see them and hear the effects of the resounding thud that your weapon makes as it smacks the guy your hitting.

Gundam model general update

The Tokyo Toy Show is/was being held in Japan and a slew of model news came out. The biggest, at least in my personal opinion, of these is the Perfect Grade 00 Gundam. The series just wrapped up earlier this year and it's predecessor, the Exia, while getting Master Grade treatment, has not gotten the PG love. Also the PG Astray from Gundam SEED was released also earlier this year so it's quite a jump from the half a decade wait before the Astray.


Next is a Master Grade release that's been on everyone's minds for quite a while now. The Guntank is starting to finally show up in the trade and I for one couldn't be happier. This marks the last of three suits to get the MG treatment in the Operation V line and leaving just one suit left to get a MG from the original 0079 series (The remaining being the Zock (Unless you count mobile armors)).


Finally we have part six in Gunpla Secret Base's MG Exia review. Check out the gams on that beauty.

Ngee Khiong and Gunpla Secret Base

The manliest man to ever man

They breed a different type of man up in Wyoming. A man who not only served his country but fought off a mountain lion with a chainsaw. Seriously, my hats off to this guy. It doesn't say if the chainsaw was on but only says the lion was found with an eight inch gash while the man only had a single, shallow puncture wound. If I'm ever up in the Equality State I'm buying this guy a round. Then dressing up in a mountain lion suit and seeing what he does without his precious chainsaw. Semper fi.

Yahoo! News

City of Heroes announces Issue 16: Power Spectrum

Just recently the newly renamed Paragon Studios announced the next upcoming expansion in their not-quite-as-popular-as-WoW game, City of Heroes. In this 16th expansion titled "Power Spectrum" players have finally gotten the biggest thing they've been asking for since day one: custom coloring of powersets. Now heroes and villains alike can have blue fire, purple ice or even neon pink radiation.

In addition to the aforementioned addition the game is also getting a few more tweeks. The previously added "Power Proliferation" gets expanded to allow such things as Brutes with claws (glee!), Blasters with radiation and more.

The last main additions are overhauls to the game difficulty slider and character creator screen. While the latter will have to be seen to be fully understood as to how it will work, the difficulty slider now can be set to make mobs based on how many of you there are and what level you want them to be. Essentially you can now see how well you can solo a map made for eight players with bad guys five levels higher than you. Fun times. Expect the issue to drop within the next couple months.

City of Heroes

Militarized moths

Man, Mother Nature never ceases to amaze me. First the Platypus now this. As if bats with their sonar wasn't cool enough now we have moths that can use active radar jamming. I wonder how long until we see bats grow AWAC domes for heads.

Listen to the story over at NPR.

Thank Gawd!

Police in Nevada saved us from a crazed naked Terminator!

Yahoo

More MG Exia

Once again we have an update to Gunpla Secret Base's review of the MG Exia. Today we move onto the arms and the sexy zombie Exia arm cloak.

Gunpla Secret Base

Comic updates for July 15th

Just as a heads up, I fully plan on doing a weekly update on comic releases each week. Possibly a comic release schedule but definitely 4 or 5 or more reviews for individual issues on a weekly basis. This week however I will not be able to get reviews up as I have personal affairs to deal with. Look for a mega review next week to kick start. While new comic day is Wednesdays obviously it will take a few days for me to catch up so look for the comic review post on Mondays.

- Simon

Beach front property for everyone!!

I really do love National Geographic, and not just for the indigenous nudity.

"This is a world you have never seen before a world normally hidden under miles of water, the landscape of the ocean bed. Combining the latest scientific data with state of the art CGI computer hardware and specially written software, we drain the water from the oceans to reveal the mountains, canyons, plains and volcanoes that are more dramatic than anything on dry land."

nat geo

Spider-Man #600

Hello, my fellow web-heads! Coming up next week, the 22nd, marks our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man's 600th issue. This personally is a huge milestone for me. Just recently we saw Thor get his 600th but to me Spider-Man has always been a much more relatable and entertaining hero. And not only that but this issue sees my favorite artists, John Romita Jr. make a return to his beloved franchise. JRJR knows his way around the web-crawler as his father started illustrating him back in the Golden Age.
Marvel

Mind the road

A man was driving and actually somehow managed to catch a pothole and die. Granted it was a rather large pothole. One around 600 ft. deep and named the Grand Canyon.

(CNN) -- A man died after his car plunged 600 feet off the edge of the Grand Canyon's South Rim, authorities said Tuesday.
About 5 million people visit the Grand Canyon in Arizona each year.

About 5 million people visit the Grand Canyon in Arizona each year.

The Arizona park's regional communications center received several reports of a car driving off the edge about 6 a.m. Monday, according to a written statement.

"Upon arriving at the scene, investigators found tire tracks leading to the edge behind the Thunderbird Lodge and received reports of a single occupant in a blue passenger car driving over the edge," the statement said.

Rescue personnel descended on ropes and found the vehicle about 600 feet into the canyon. The man's body was recovered shortly afterward, the statement said.

The incident occurred near the El Tovar hotel in a village on the canyon's South Rim, park spokeswoman Shannan Marcak said.

Authorities have not ruled the death a suicide, she said. "It has not been ruled anything at this time."

CNN

Not so Harry Potter

Tonight marks the midnight showing premiere of the newest Harry Potter flick, Half-Blood Prince. If you're like me you've got only a basic knowledge of the universe and want to more. Luck you that Film School Rejects have put up a quick guide to the last movies to bring you up to date.

Film School Rejects

And I'll form the head

Part four of Gunpla Secret Base's MG Exia review is up. This time it's all head.

Gunpla Secret Base

21st century meets 18th century

Wooden computers? What will they think of next?

Designer Marlies Romberg rebels against the world of plastic and aluminum with her final project at the Utrecht School of the Arts. Dear Diary 1.0 is a wooden table with the keyboard laser cut into it, a computer tucked neatly underneath, and a flat panel built into a wooden structure. The whole thing is just downright clever.

It's not clear whether this is a working model, but we do know it's made with wood and brass. One thing's for sure, the artist makes a good case for precision craftsmanship with her exquisite woodwork, a delightful counterpoint to today's increasingly plastic world.

DVICE

Who thought this was a good idea? [update]

Upcoming Military Robot Could Feed on Dead Bodies - Science News | Science & Technology | Technology News - FOXNews.com

It could be a combination of 19th-century mechanics, 21st-century technology — and a 20th-century horror movie.

A Maryland company under contract to the Pentagon is working on a steam-powered robot that would fuel itself by gobbling up whatever organic material it can find — grass, wood, old furniture, even dead bodies.

Robotic Technology Inc.'s Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot — that's right, "EATR" — "can find, ingest, and extract energy from biomass in the environment (and other organically-based energy sources), as well as use conventional and alternative fuels (such as gasoline, heavy fuel, kerosene, diesel, propane, coal, cooking oil, and solar) when suitable," reads the company's Web site.

That "biomass" and "other organically-based energy sources" wouldn't necessarily be limited to plant material — animal and human corpses contain plenty of energy, and they'd be plentiful in a war zone.

EATR will be powered by the Waste Heat Engine developed by Cyclone Power Technology of Pompano Beach, Fla., which uses an "external combustion chamber" burning up fuel to heat up water in a closed loop, generating electricity.

The advantages to the military are that the robot would be extremely flexible in fuel sources and could roam on its own for months, even years, without having to be refueled or serviced.

Upon the EATR platform, the Pentagon could build all sorts of things — a transport, an ambulance, a communications center, even a mobile gunship.

In press materials, Robotic Technology presents EATR as an essentially benign artificial creature that fills its belly through "foraging," despite the obvious military purpose.

[UPDATE] Apparently it can't eat people, in your face Skynet!

"Despite the far-reaching reports that this includes “human bodies,” the public can be assured that the engine Cyclone (Cyclone Power Technologies Inc.) has developed to power the EATR runs on fuel no scarier than twigs, grass clippings and wood chips -- small, plant-based items for which RTI’s robotic technology is designed to forage. Desecration of the dead is a war crime under Article 15 of the Geneva Conventions, and is certainly not something sanctioned by DARPA, Cyclone or RTI."

EATR will be powered by the Waste Heat Engine developed by Cyclone, of Pompano Beach, Fla., which uses an "external combustion chamber" burning up fuel to heat up water in a closed loop, generating electricity.

The advantages to the military are that the robot would be extremely flexible in fuel sources and could roam on its own for months, even years, without having to be refueled or serviced.

You too can be Amuro Ray

So as you may or may not know, there's a life-sized replica RX-78-2 Gundam statue in Japan right now. But that's not the news, the news is that they're hosting a rather awesome auction involving it soon.

The planners of the 1/1-scale, "life-size" statue of the Gundam anime robot are auctioning the opportunity for one person to have a photograph taken at the statue's shoulder. The Green Tokyo Gundam Project will be adding the Tokyo 2016 Candidate City logo to the statue on August 1, to promote Tokyo's bid to host the 2016 Olympic and Paralympic Games. The winner of the charity auction on Yahoo! Japan will take part in the Tokyo Olympics bid logo ceremony in a high-altitude construction lift. (The statue stands at 18 meters or 59 feet.)

Anime News Network

Seeing less Green Hornet

So apparently, Stephen Chow was signed on to play Kato in the upcoming Green Hornet movie and has now dropped out. There's some speculation that he was denied full creative input as director and didn't like the direction the movie was heading.

I didn't even know he was a part of the movie and had I known I would've been much more invested in the film's progression. Now that my hopes have been lifted and dashed in just under four seconds I'm going back to my sad little world.

Twitch

Natalie is Jane

While not the newest of news we've now seen Natalie Portman join the cast of the upcoming Thor movie project joining Star Trek's Chris Hemsworth (playing the title character). Ms. Portman will be portraying Jane Foster, love interest to both Thor and Thor's alter ego, Donald Blake.

I do like Natalie a lot and have always thought her worst role, the Star Wars prequels, was more due to the shitty dialogue than her acting talent. This looks like a good addition. I'm still not sold on Hemsworth, but I was skeptical on Ledger as the Joker and look what happened there.

Why won't darwinism kick in yet

Another idiot teenager, Alexa Longueira, avoided being awarded a Darwin award recently when she fell through an open manhole while walking and texting.

"Like, there was no warning about a big, open hole," she said.

It was a big, open manhole.

Alexa tumbled six feet underground and landed in four inches of raw sewage."


Now I'm not what you would call..intelligent, but when walking I have this urge to actually see if I might actually fall or trip over something while I'm spending any time outside the dark sunless room that is my sanctuary.


abclocal

Robots laid off in Japan

Yes, even things that never really needed money to begin with are now feeling the economic crunch. Many of those cute and adorable robots along with robots that didn't do vita tasks and some robots that made other robots are being laid off "as companies protect their human workers.” Selfish and uncaring companies like these have now forced people to interact with real people while poor jobless robots are relegated to begging for spare parts on the sidewalks of major cities. Well I hope that the packs of feral Aibo dogs find and go after those greedy humans.

Then again, those greedy humans do make my anime, giant robot models, and tentacle porn...Yea, screw those lazy jobless robots. Go humans!!


nytimes