Category Archives: Geek

ZOMBIE ANTS

Leave a reply

Just a reminder that truth is always stranger and that Nature is capable of horror far beyond our imagination.

The oldest evidence of a fungus that turns ants into zombies and makes them stagger to their death has been uncovered by scientists.

The gruesome hallmark of the fungus’s handiwork was found on the leaves of plants that grew in Messel, near Darmstadt in Germany, 48m years ago.

The finding shows that parasitic fungi evolved the ability to control the creatures they infect in the distant past, even before the rise of the Himalayas.

Doesn’t this sound like a great plot for a novel?

The fungus, which is alive and well in forests today, latches on to carpenter ants as they cross the forest floor before returning to their nests high in the canopy.

The fungus grows inside the ants and releases chemicals that affect their behaviour. Some ants leave the colony and wander off to find fresh leaves on their own, while others fall from their tree-top havens on to leaves nearer the ground.

The final stage of the parasitic death sentence is the most macabre. In their last hours, infected ants move towards the underside of the leaf they are on and lock their mandibles in a “death grip” around the central vein, immobilising themselves and locking the fungus in position.

TOYING WITH STAR WARS

Leave a reply

There are always those willing to take shots at those have been successful, and often it is hard to separate the chaff of sour grapes from the wheat of genuine criticism. But, this interview seems to me to be pretty spot on, and it confirms my observations of the Star Wars movies and their artistic curve.

“Star Wars” was born a long time ago, but not all that far, far away. In 1972, filmmakers George Lucas and Gary Kurtz were toiling on “American Graffiti” in their San Rafael office when they began daydreaming about a throwback sci-fi adventure that channeled the old “Flash Gordon” serials as opposed to the bleak “message” movies that had taken over the genre.
“We had no idea what we were starting,” said Kurtz, who was the producer of the first two “Star Wars” films and also a second-unit director. “That simple concept changed Hollywood in a way….”

There was a bittersweet tinge to Kurtz’s voice, and it’s no surprise. This year is the 30th anniversary of “The Empire Strikes Back,” the “Star Wars” sequel that many fans consider the pinnacle moment in a franchise that has pulled in $16 billion in box office and merchandising. But 1980 was also the year that Kurtz and Lucas realized the Jedi universe wasn’t big enough for the both of them.

“I could see where things were headed,” Kurtz said. “The toy business began to drive the [Lucasfilm] empire. It’s a shame. They make three times as much on toys as they do on films. It’s natural to make decisions that protect the toy business, but that’s not the best thing for making quality films.”

He added: “The first film and ‘Empire’ were about story and character, but I could see that George’s priorities were changing.”

I have always considered Empire Strikes Back to be the best of the films, but I won’t pretend that I haven’t enjoyed all of the movies. I did cringe through the love scenes with Anakin and Padme (“Your skin is smooth like silk…not like sand, which is rough” haha) but there was always enough action and sword fights and sweeping alien vistas to make me feel like my admission cost was well spent. I even loved the Ewok movies as a child.

But what is apparent is that, whatever Lucas may claim, the series was not planned out meticulously from the start. Like a politically driven education curriculum, there has been a great deal of revisionism and forcing things to fit into one narrative. Unlike many movie makers who often have to ignore or gloss over unfortunate omissions and mistakes or inconveniently incompatible plot points when making a sequel or prequel, Lucas can afford to go back and digitally edit out the things that give a lie to his claims of consitency. In fact he is slowly eliminating the need for actors! From digitally enhanced acting in the movies, to his moves to animated and CGI series, the moment he can convincingly generate a human voice there will be a lot of people out of work!

As for the claims that merchandising influenced the plot, may I introduce Exhibit A: Jar Jar Binks? What other purpose did that character serve than to give children something to laugh at, well other than to drive adults mad with frustration? It’s harsh but when he got his tongue stuck in the pod turbine I was so hoping it would get turned on and he would be shot out in a ball of green slime. Exhibit B would be the Ewoks, after all it was originally meant to be the Wookies in Return of the Jedi but they aren’t quite as marketable.

Saying all that, you can’t diminish the success or the entertainment value of the Star Wars franchise, it has brought a lot of joy to a lot of people. My problem with Lucas is his claims that it is something it is not (oh an the truly horrendous and evil philosophy underpinning the mythos…but that is a post for another day, when I will attempt to prove the real villain is Yoda).

REVIEW: EX-HEROES

4 Replies

EX-HEROES – by Peter Clines

When I read the blurb for this book and saw it was super heroes vs zombies, I have to admit that I didn’t expect much in terms of quality. I thought I would read the sample chapter and then forget about it. Never have I been happier to be proven wrong. Not only did I buy the full copy and devour it, I have read again since and it is one of my favourite books.

Most zombie novels tend to dwell on the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse and with the day to day life of those who survived, but the author cleverly uses flashback chapters to illustrate the extent of upheaval of society, without letting it bog down the main story. It also fleshes out the characters, so instead of two dimensional comic book heroes you get a real sense of personality and of strengths and flaws.

While the heroes do echo some of the more famous ones you would have been brought up on they are not just fascimiles slightly modified to avoid copyright infringement. They are cleverly constructed and would be worth a comic book of their own.

There is definitely no shortage of action, and not just fights with standard zombies, it is more than just a splatter fest. You really get a sense of their rising despair as the heroes fought to stop the zombie plague and save the world, their regrets at failing, the cost to them as heroes and as people. But, you also will end filled with what super heroes are all about, hope.

I will be going into this further in a future post, but there is one speech which really shows that the author understands what a hero is, and what they symbolise.

The book features some clever twists in the plot, the origin of the virus for one, and some bits that will make you laugh and some that nearly made me cry.

If you love super heroes and zombie novels and well written books…buy this book. I really want to read more set in this world, so hopefully there will be a sequel soon forthcoming.

The author, Peter Clines, also has an excellent blog on writing that is well worth checking out.

Grande Chile!

Leave a reply

From Slashdot:

Chile has become the first country in the world to approve, by 100 votes in favor and one abstention, a law guaranteeing net neutrality (Google translation; Spanish original). The law states [submitter’s translation]: ‘No [ISP] can block, interfere with, discriminate, hinder, nor restrict the right of any Internet user of using, send, receive or offer any content, application, or legitimate service through the Internet, as well as any activity or legitimate use conducted through the Internet.’ The law also has articles that force ISP to provide parental control tools, clarify contracts, guarantee users’ privacy and safety when surfing, and forbids them to restrict any liberty whatsoever. This is a major advance in the legislation of the country regarding the Web, when until last year almost anything that was performed online was considered illegal.

This is the sort of law I would love to see in Australia. One that takes step to protect people from seeing things they don’t want to (or want their children to), but does not try and limit what information users can access. It’s getting close to the correct balance.

There are two massive threats to our online rights in coming years. One is that providers may seek to limit user access to competing products and information, the other that governments may try and decide what information they want their citizens to have access to. Chile is moving in one direction, and Australia in another. Sadly, I think we are moving in the wrong way.

boo.com

Leave a reply

It’s hard to sympathise with their complaints.

BEIJING — A Chinese government-backed think tank has accused the U.S. and other Western governments of using social networking sites like Facebook to spur political unrest and called for stepped-up scrutiny of the wildly popular sites.

Newsflash to the Chinese government: The reason why Facebook and sites like it foment unrest is because it allows people to express their views, and freedom of expression is to totalitarian governments like Kryptonite is to Superman. It’s why I oppose censorship even of viewpoints I find repugnant.

Hopefully the Australian government continues to backpedal on a similar issue. Governments should not control what information people can access, it’s as simple as that.

Wonder Woman Reboot

Leave a reply

The geekosphere is all a-twitter with discussion of the recent announcement that Wonder Woman will be taken in a new direction, with a radical reboot of her continuity and a costume redesign (which personally I don’t really like). There is an in depth interview with the new writer here.

Every mythos needs a reboot at some point, if only to trim away the dead wood of lame storylines. But, I think sometimes publishers tinker for the sake of tinkering, and in their desire to be “edgy” or “relevant” they lose sight of the heart of the character. DC need to be careful here, as Wonder Woman is one of the “Big Three” and they don’t want to stuff it up. Of course, I can take a degree of cynical amusement in the fact that they have given themselves a “Get out of jail free” card. As far as I can understand, the premise of the reboot is that Wonder Woman’s timeline has been altered and she is trying to restore it, so if this proves a dud  they can just say she has fixed it and go back to where they started from!

I don’t have a lot invested in this change, I don’t actually read that many comics. For a more passionate viewpoint and some very good reasons why this is a bad thing, it is worth checking out Ragnell’s article at Written World. Be warned, though, don’t click on that link if you can’t handle swearing! I have the bad feeling she is right about how this will turn out, but Wonder Woman has survived Nazis and gods and even The Paper Man (cue ominous music). I am sure she can survive this.

Flying cars?

Leave a reply

As much as the idea of flying cars appeals to the geek within, anyone who spends any time driving in Melbourne, especially Box Hill, knows that far too many drivers can’t handle piloting a vehicle in two dimensions, let alone three! God help us all if we have to deal with flying cars on the daily commute.