The Sci-Fi and Fantasy Geek

General Ursus - Planet of the Apes

2009-02-13T21:29:00.001-08:00

Sideshow Collectibles is proud to bring you the Planet of the Apes 12-inch figures, the very latest from the Hot Toys Movie Masterpiece series! Each figure features Hot Toys' fully articulated 12-inch figure body and a generous number of accessories. These are some of the finest 12-inch figures ever created, featuring incredible likenesses and amazingly detailed costumes.

The General Ursus 12 inch Figure features:

Hot Toys 1/6 scale figure body with over 32 points of articulation
Authentic character likeness of General Ursus
Highly detailed clothing including cuirass, shoulder pauldrons and gauntlets
Removable helmet
Realistic ape hair
Rifle with removable magazine
Pistol
Interchangeable hands
12-inch figure stand with 'Planet of the Apes' logo

‘Tron 2.0’ Adds Original Castmember

2008-12-27T20:32:00.001-08:00

If any fans of the original “Tron” were worried this would be more of a flashy remake than a sequel, with pretty young things replacing their 80s favorites, they can take heart. ComingSoon.net reports that Bruce Boxleitner has joined the cast, reuniting with his co-star Jeff Bridges.

It’s easy to figure out who Boxleitner is probably playing — Tron himself. Yes, the title actually refers to a character, the program-within-a-program that must help Kevin Flynn survive the deadly computer game he was sucked into. Boxleitner played Tron and his human designer, Alan Bradley. What can I say? It was the Matrix before the Matrix, readers.

While plot details are being kept top secret, “Tron 2.0” is supposed to be the next chapter of virtual reality. Last week, we told you Olivia Wilde was playing a cyberspace worker who joins in the fight against the MCP, and that Beau Garrett was playing a virtual siren.

While the Master Control Program was supposedly defeated in the first film, it obviously resurrects — and if the test footage shown at San Diego Comic-Con, and the actresses’ roles are any indication of where the plot might go, it might be a world where people go voluntarily … only to find that it’s not all fun and computer games.

What role Tron/Bradley play in that, we can only guess. Will he be a corrupted programer, controlling the MCP? Will the MCP control him? Who knows! But wondering is half of the Movie Blog, right?

Are you interested in “Tron 2.0” at all? Got any guesses as to what it might be about? Or are you bored with virtual reality after the trainwreck of “The Matrix” trilogy?

VHS is completely dead

2008-12-27T20:16:00.001-08:00

The last of the somewhat big distributor of VHS films has shipped the beloved (and hated) tape for the last time.
Ryan J. Kugler, co-owner of Distribution Video Audio, Palm Harbor, Florida said "It's dead, this is it, this is the last Christmas, without a doubt."
However, VHS had an amazing run and I'm sure it is a testament to the fact that DVD will also be here for many years. When a format becomes as main stream as DVD and VHS it takes some time to kill them completely off.

Review of "Chuck vs. Santa Claus"

2008-12-18T22:24:00.001-08:00

Chuck
Mondays on NBC at 9/8
“Chuck vs. Santa Claus”
Written by Scott Rosenbaum
Directed by Robert Duncan McNeill

Warning: this review contains some spoilers. If you’d rather not know what the story is going to include, bookmark this page and read it after viewing.

Talk about a fulcrum (turning point). The sweet, funny comedy that was Chuck turned dark and angsty in the last five minutes of this end-of-the-year episode. How very typical of this show that an episode full of elves, shiny presents, and Santa comes down to a moment of true grief for Charles Bartowski and his little friend Morgan. The ending of this episode could have permanently harshed the mellow for Chuck, but the show’s consistently light-hearted approach (or maybe that should be “heartwarming” approach) spared us the kind of letdown that would turn me away. Instead, we are left wanting the next episode now, to find out whether Chuck can get past what he thinks of as a vast betrayal.

The episode takes place entirely within the Buy More, and this time we have the whole gang in attendance: Ellie and Awesome show up before opening time to do some last-minute Christmas shopping, as Chuck, the Nerd Herd, and the BuyMorians are preparing for a horde of crazed shoppers. Even Anna is back, midriff-baring elf suit and all. But before the store can even open, the entire store is taken hostage a la Die Hard. Ned Ryerson (cute call back to Groundhog Day) is a frightened little nebbish of a guy, recently laid off, who only wants to buy some Christmas gifts for his children. Played by Jed Rees (Galaxy Quest), he’s a quiet and almost self-effacing villain. Chuck, eager to avoid bloodshed, locks the store and tries to bond with the gunman. Meanwhile, Casey and Sarah find out about the hostage situation, and enter from the Castle, determined to spirit Chuck away to safety and then extract the rest of the hostages. Chuck, however, adamantly refuses to leave his sister and friends; in the ensuing argument, Ned’s gun fires and takes out one of Casey’s toes. Ouch.

The most interesting thing about this first half of the episode is how Chuck handles the crisis. He shows a little nervousness—understandable in the circumstances—but generally behaves with cool restraint. Brother-in-law-to-be Devin wants to take down the gunman. Chuck, who actually has experience in life-threatening situations, talks him out of it. Ned allows everyone to “telephone their loved ones”. Though played for laughs, this scene was creepily reminiscent of the desperate last phone calls from the 911 victims to loved ones. Ned calls his wife, Lester dials a phone sex line, Jeff calls his mother in prison, and Big Mike calls his cousin Al. Al turns out to be Sergeant Al Powell—the very same Al Powell who was a character in Die Hard, and played by the very same Reginald VelJohnson. Linking Big Mike to Al Powell was a stroke of pure genius that paid off several times in the episode.

Alas, poor Sarah has no one to call. As she tells Chuck in the opening, she doesn’t “do” Christmas, because in the Burton household, Christmas just meant “the annual Salvation Army con job”. Chuck meets Sarah in a quiet corner for some reassurance, and an early Christmas present—Chuck gives Sarah his mother’s charm bracelet. It’s not an engagement ring, but it’s proof of love. And charming (ahem) proof at that. This tender moment is broken up by the arrival of hostage negotiator Frank Mauser (Michael Rooker, Tombstone).

And at this turning point, surprises start popping up. No sooner does the negotiator walk into the Buy More, then Chuck flashes on him: Mauser is a Fulcrum agent. He’s not shy about it, either; he freely tells Chuck that he, Chuck, is the only reason this hostage situation is happening. It’s a ploy by Fulcrum to smoke out Bryce Larkin and the Intersect (apparently Fulcrum still believes that Larkin has the stolen database). While I was not entirely surprised to find that Mauser was a Fulcrum mole, I was completely floored when Ned turned out to be a Fulcrum agent. Kudos to Rees for completely convincing me of Ned’s mousiness. To save his sister from being killed by Ned, Chuck confesses quietly to Mauser that he has the Intersect in his head.

This is dangerous ground for Chuck. Mauser tells him he can save his friends and family only by going with Fulcrum. Chuck asks to say goodbye to his sister, whom he will never see again. Chuck knows that this is no ordinary crime; Fulcrum will leave no witnesses behind. He hints to Awesome that this time, violence is an option. Devin rounds up his troops, strategizes a game plan to take out Ned, and deploys as Mauser is taking Chuck out of the store. Morgan rises like Rambo from a pile of fake snow to take out Ned with a snow-blower. Meanwhile, Sarah and Casey foil Mauser’s attempt to abduct Chuck, and chase Mauser into a Christmas tree lot. With sweet Christmas carols playing in the background, Sarah Walker stalks the Fulcrum agent. When she finds him, he nearly knocks her out, but she finally gets the upper hand and holds a gun on him. Mauser mocks her, tells her that Chuck’s secret is out and Fulcrum will pursue him to the ends of the earth. I sat there wondering if this guy wanted Sarah to shoot him; sure enough, she does—just in time for Chuck to arrive and witness what looks like cold-blooded murder to him.

And this is a fulcrum, if you will, a turning point not just for the tone of the episode, but for Chuck himself. Unaware that Chuck has seen her shoot Mauser, Sarah brightly reassures him that he has been arrested and taken away. For Chuck, this is much worse than seeing Sarah shoot someone—she has lied to him. Despite his complete trust in her, despite giving her an heirloom bracelet from his mother, despite his love for her, Sarah Walker lies to him. There’s really no reason for her to conceal from Chuck the realities of the situation, but she does it as routinely as breathing. Honesty is the bedrock of Chuck’s character, something he values more highly than Sarah, apparently, can understand. Con artist, murderer, and now liar—the shine is off Sarah Walker for Chuck. Sitting disconsolately next to Morgan (whose own world is shattered when he sees Anna kissing Lester), he ends the 2008 season staring unhappily at his future, looking as lonely as a boy who has lost his dog. This was a surprisingly adult, bittersweet ending for the episode, deftly blending comedy and pathos.

I would call this easily one of the best episodes of Chuck so far. Well written, with direction (especially in the second half) that takes advantage of the pitch-perfect comedic timing of the cast, it has laughs enough, in-jokes enough, and physical comedy enough to entertain on a completely superficial level. At the same time, it deepens and complicates the emotional story of Chuck, his family, his friends, and Sarah Walker. It does so, however, at the risk of treading on soap opera territory. The “drama” of soap opera rests on people not telling one another things that they normally would; I will definitely need to see a good reason why Sarah felt she had to lie to Chuck. Otherwise, it becomes a mere plot device to keep them apart. And frankly, that train is leaving the station. The writers need to get over their prejudices and get Sarah and Chuck together and move on with this storyline. Endless frustration is not funny.

“Chuck vs. Santa Claus” also leaves some loose ends. “Ned” is still alive, and he knows Chuck is the Intersect. What if he gets free? Will there be a moment when Chuck realizes that everything would have worked out fine if he’d only done what Sarah told him to do? Will he blame himself for the death of Lt. Mauser? I look for this loose thread to be knitted up sometime in February (yes, February), when Chuck returns.

This episode was an early Christmas gift for NBC, rounding up 7.6 million viewers, an increase of more than half a million over last week. Unfortunately, it wasn’t enough to put NBC higher than second place for the night; sitcoms with laugh tracks still rule the airwaves. Still, even runner-up status beats the abysmal numbers Chuck has been struggling with all year. Here’s hoping a seven-week hiatus doesn’t result in slippage. See you next year.

True Blood around the world

2008-12-18T22:12:00.001-08:00

Harris sold a Sookie Stackhouse Companion to Ginjer Buchanan at Ace Books. Harris will edit the volume and write a new Sookie novella for it.

Since the launch of the HBO series True Blood, based on the Sookie Stackhouse novels, Bilmes has negotiated numerous foreign deals for the series, which is now available or forthcoming in 23 languages. In France, J’ai Lu has continued with the series, buying rights to the newest novel From Dead to Worse, as did Russian publisher AST (which also re-licensed the first two books), while Estonian publisher Keskus continued with Living Dead in Dallas, Dutch publisher Luitingh moved on to Dead as a Doornail, and Open Book in Korea added books number 3 through 8 to their list. Brazilian publisher Saraiva came on board to the series, taking rights to the second, third, and fourth Sookie novels, while Santillana in Spain took pocket rights to the first three books and volume rights to the remainder of the series. Portuguese publisher Navalha will launch with the first three Sookie novels, Norwegian publisher Cappelen with the first two, Japanese publisher Softbank with the first three, and Israeli publisher Kidmat Eden with Dead Until Dark. In the UK, the Hachette group has decided to consolidate the entire Sookie Stackhouse series under Jo Fletcher at Orion/Gollancz, moving the first four books over from their Little Brown/Orbit imprint. Gollancz will rejacket the books, beginning in early 2009, for the Australian market, to coincide with the launch of True Blood on the Showcase channel. Later in Spring 2009, they’ll launch in England, ahead of the British True Blood launch on Fox.

HBO offers other True Blood launch dates around the globe: 23 December 2008 on France’s Orange; December 2008 on Canal Plus in Spain; January 2009 in Israeli network DBS; 1 February 2009 on Be.tv in Belgium; 9 February 2009 on HBO Asia; February 2009 throughout Eastern Europe via HBO CE; and March 2009 for SVY (Sweden) and YLE (Finland) second airings.

In domestic publication numbers, Nielsen Bookscan records that a boxed set of the first seven Sookie paperbacks has been the #1 selling boxed set in the country for four straight weeks, with weekly sales thousands of copies ahead of the next closest title on the list. More than 100,000 copies of the boxed set have been shipped. From Dead to Worse, the most recent hardcover, now has 180,000 copies in print.

Moffat promises new Who monsters

2008-07-31T20:50:00.001-07:00

Steven Moffat has told Doctor Who fans to expect "new monsters" when he becomes the show's executive producer and lead writer. Moffat, who is replacing executive producer Russell T Davies, was speaking at arts and comic book convention Comic-Con in California. He told fans not to expect too many appearances from old characters.

"We're not in the business of being nostalgic, we're making nostalgia for the future, new monsters, new friends."

He was responding to their questions about the possibility of guest appearances from old characters - such as ex-Doctor Who companion Sarah Jane Smith, played by Elisabeth Sladen in the 1970s - as well as old enemies.

He told the San Diego convention: "Doctor Who is at its best when it's brand new and you've always got to remember that there's a new bunch of eight-year-olds watching every year and it has to be original - it has to belong to them."

But he said continuity when old characters did return was not difficult to achieve.

"Having taken the precaution of having memorised every single event in Doctor Who's history, it's fairly easy for me to keep continuity because I remember it all.

"In the end, a television series which embraces both the ideas of parallel universe and the concept of changing time can't have a continuity error - it can't.

"It's impossible for Doctor Who to get it wrong because we can just say 'he changed time, it's a time warp, it happens'."

'Just exciting'

Moffat has already written some of the most memorable Doctor Who episodes of recent times including Blink , of series three - which featured terrifying weeping angels - for which he picked up the best writer Bafta earlier this year.

Asked about his reputation for writing scary episodes he said: "If people are worried that because I'm taking over Doctor Who it's going to be just really, really frightening, if that's your concern then… tough."

He also spoke to fans for the first time about getting the job he has "always wanted".

The writer said the prospect of taking over from Davies for the fifth series - due to be shown on BBC One in spring 2010 - was "just exciting". It was announced he was taking the job in May.

"I suppose it should be daunting or nerve-wracking but it's not a real job like working in a hospital - it's just fun."

He added: "I mean it's hard work too but most things that are fun are hard work."

Last week, Moffat denied a newspaper report that he "quit" a deal to work on Steven Spielberg's forthcoming Tintin trilogy because of the doctor Who job.

A newspaper report that he had "turned down" a two-film deal with Spielberg was "a bit misleading", he told the BBC News website.

He had planned to finish Tintin before starting Doctor Who but was delayed by the US writers' strike, he added.

Davies will remain in charge of four specials to be shown in 2009.

Black Gate #12 available as free pdf for a limited time

2008-07-31T20:37:00.001-07:00

To promote the fact that Black Gate is now available as a pdf file, in addition to the usual print edition, issue #12 (Summer 2008) is being offered as a free download "for a limited time." To access the free magazine, subtitled "Adventures in Fantasy Literature," see blackgate.com, where you can download the magazine as one complete, 18.9 Mb file, or as two smaller pieces (10.8 and 8.2 Mb).

The contents of this issue include:

Fiction:
"Oblivion is the Sweetest Wine" by John R. Fultz
"Payment in Full" by James Enge
"Houses of the Dead" by Martha Wells
"The Wily Thing" by Constance Cooper
"The Soldiers of Serenity" by Todd McAulty
"Knives Under the Spring Moon" by Ed Carmien
"Whispers from the Stone" by Howard Andrew Jones
"Tumithak and the Ancient Word" by Charles R. Tanner (classic reprint)

Feature:
"Legends of the Ancient World: Orcs of the High Mountains" by Jerry Meyer, Jr. (a solo adventure game story)

Columns:
Gaming: Fantasy Game Reviews by Howard Andrew Jones
Book Reviews

Departments:
Editorial: "Solitaire Fantasy Gaming" by John O'Neill
Letters
Knights of the Dinner Table: "The Java Joint" by Jolly Blackburn, Steve Johansson, and John O'Neill (comic strip)

Cover art is by Bruce Pennington; interior art by Storn Cook, Mark Evans, John Kaufmann, Chuck Lukacs, Michael Vilardi, and John Woolley.

Black Gate is published quarterly by New Epoch Press; published and edited by John O'Neill; Howard Andrew Jones is the managing editor, and Rich Horton and Todd McAulty are the contributing editors.

Tech Company That Junked Unopened Rebate Claims Pays $10k In Fines

2008-07-31T20:28:00.001-07:00

It's no secret that most people hate rebate programs. They're a pain to deal with, so many people don't even send in the rebate forms -- and then, the various companies that receive them often go out of their way to find reasons to reject them. However, a tech company in San Jose named Vastech went a bit further than that. Rather than coming up with ways to void the rebates, it was caught having thrown over a thousand unopened rebate claims into the garbage. The company has now paid up on all the rebates that it had junked and has agreed to pay a $10,000 fine on top of that. To be honest, that seems rather low for deceiving the public.

Let's Sue YouTube

2008-07-30T19:07:00.001-07:00

While we all wait for the outcome of Viacom's billion dollar lawsuit against YouTube, it appears that some other media companies aren't waiting around. Italian media firm MediaSet, which just so happens to be owned by Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, has sued YouTube and Google for $779 million (almost as much as Viacom is suing for!). MediaSet claims that the 4,643 videos on YouTube that infringe on its copyrights have cost it 315,700 viewer days. Apparently, MediaSet prefers not to take into consideration (a) that most videos on YouTube are limited to under 10 minutes, meaning that it's a poor replacement for watching on TV and (b) that people who watch on YouTube aren't necessarily people who would have watched it on TV and (c) that folks who watch something on YouTube may, in turn, be convinced to watch a show on TV that they wouldn't have watched otherwise. Why bother with little pesky details like that when you can just sue a huge company that has a lot of cash. Given that the Italian government is already trying to put Google execs in jail over some YouTube videos, this looks like a larger Italian campaign against YouTube in general.

Feldman Bares All In Lost Boys 2

2008-07-30T18:39:00.001-07:00

Corey Feldman, who appears in the upcoming DVD sequel Lost Boys: The Tribe, told SCI FI Wire that he reveals "a little more of the emotional backdrop of what goes on inside Edgar Frog's mind" as he revisits his famous role from 1987's original The Lost Boys.
"You've got a guy that's been over the trenches, that's been in the battles, and now this is his way of life," Feldman said in an interview at Comic-Con International in San Diego over the weekend.
Part of that new adult way of life includes a sex scene between Feldman as Frog and a male vampire during the course of the film. Originally reluctant to tackle the scene, Feldman credits director P.J. Pesce for "being adventurous in the idea." He added: "I think we pull it off. It just gives a little more inside of what he's thinking, what makes him tick."
Lost Boys: The Tribe is the sequel to the hit '80s teen vampire movie. Tribe focuses primarily on a new set of characters, with Tad Hilgenbrink and Autumn Reeser starring as newcomers to the vampire-infested town of Luna Bay. Angus Sutherland--brother of original Lost Boys star Kiefer Sutherland--takes on the role of the new head vampire, who has a love affair with Reeser's character.
Pesce's goal was to recapture the essence of what made the original film so popular, while providing viewers with a fresh story. "The thing that was so special about the first movie was the tone ... an open-eyed look at what if a family member was actually a vampire," Pesce said in a separate interview. "Well, it's such an absurd idea that it has to be approached with humor. Our number-one mandate that I gave to myself and to them was, 'What would you really do?' ... This has got to be truthful. Humor grows out of that, and that sense of absurdist ... realization that [one of] your family is a member of the undead."
Feldman added: "It's really its own movie. ... It stands alone. But it also certainly pays homage to the other movie."
Fans looking for familiar faces from the original film won't be disappointed. "There's lots of ... character tie-ins that we did," Feldman said. "Obviously, having Angus Sutherland playing the bad vampire is a nice nod to his brother doing the original. We have Corey [Haim] and Jamison [Newlander] there as cameos."

A ‘Monsters, Inc.’ Sequel

2008-07-30T16:38:00.001-07:00

They did it with “Toy Story” twice. They’re doing it with “Cars” next. They’ve been rumored to want to do it with “The Incredibles” for years. Pixar is officially in the sequel business these days, with further installments of some of their most popular franchises in the works. So how come we never hear about “Monsters, Inc. 2”? “We’ve thought about it,” “Monsters, Inc.” director Pete Doctor told MTV News about the possibility for a sequel. “We’ve got a couple ideas.” In the moment, those ideas are being filtered into a “Monsters, Inc” roller-coaster at the Walt Disney Resorts, which should open in a couple of years. But a movie? Doctor’s revelation, of course, is a far cry from an actual announcement. Or is it? When I followed up with Doctor about the nature of the ideas all he would say is “I can neither confirm nor deny.” (And he did it in a nervous voice). Is it a denial? A non-denial denial? An admission we’re on to something?

Robocop To Be Rated R

2008-07-30T16:24:00.001-07:00

In welcome news today from MTV.com comes word that the Darren Aronofsky-helmed Robocop reboot will probably be rated R. This is very good news. Some people were concerned that MGM would push for a more teen-friendly PG-13 rating for this “re-imagining instead of an R rating that would be more in line with the original film directed by Paul Vorhoeven from way back in 1987. As a matter of fact the original was so violent that it had to be trimmed down to acheive its R rating because the MPAA gave the first cut of the film an X rating. Producer Mike Medavoy had this to say about the film:

“Well I was involved with the original ‘Robocop,’ and it was an R, and the likelihood is that this will be an R. It’s likely to be an R unless the director cuts back on some of it.”

Based on Aronofsky’s previous work it’s not likely he’ll be going for a PG-13 rating.

The new Robocop film is not a sequel, so I guess we can stop calling it Robocop 4. Instead of “remake” or “reboot” Medavoy prefers the currently chic ”reimagining.” It will not be tied to anything that has come before in the series, so it will be the Batman Begins of the Robocop movie franchise.

Rumors of the film being shot as a 3D feature were also shot down.

Robocop is set to open some time in 2010.

Angelina Jolie as Catwoman?

2008-07-30T16:01:00.001-07:00

Even though most of us are still basking in the afterglow (more like after-gloom) of The Dark Knight, it’s never too early to start thinking about the next Batman film. Well, apparently we’re not the only ones looking ahead. According to fanboy site Comic Book Movie, actress/world savior/supermom Angelina Jolie is also hoping to become part of Christopher Nolan’s Bat-universe, by donning the super-tight tights and fierce claws of Catwoman for the third film in the franchise.

(Just picturing Jolie wearing the cat suit begins to erase the horrible memory of that Halle Berry flick.)

Best of all is the source from which this news has stemmed: former Catwoman Julie Newmar is quoted as telling the New York Daily News:

“Angelina would own the part,” said Newmar. “My industry friends tell me [she] has made inquiries about the role,”

Well, it seems as though Newmar is a lot more comfortable passing the torch than Jack Nicholson was. And let’s face it, Angelina playing Catwoman would be as sultry, badass, and downright sweat-inducing as any actress could possibly be in the role. Unfortunately, The Daily News article goes on to remind us that in a recent interview, Dark Knight writers David Goyer and John Nolan stated that, as of now, they are reluctant to include Catwoman in the third film. Maybe Angelina can change all that. The woman has been known to sway men in the past.

I for one think that Catwoman is a logical step for the next film. The Dark Knight left off with Batman being falsely accused of murder, sandwiched between cops and criminals, more alone than ever, with his only love interest having been blown to smithereens. A fella’s got to have some kind of relief, and a woman in a skin-hugging cat suit, who also likes a bit of midnight roof hopping, is never a bad place to start.

Is Google's Proprietary Tech Stack Destroying Its Acquisitions?

2008-07-24T15:55:00.001-07:00

While Google has bought plenty of small startups, almost none of those deals have amounted to very much. It almost seems like most of the startups disappear into Google forever. There are a few exceptions such as YouTube and (maybe) Writely. But the list of startups that have simply languished or died is much longer. TechCrunchIT is running an interesting post that suggests one of the key reasons: Google's proprietary tech stack. While Google is a big open source supporter for lower level infrastructure, once you get above that -- it's very much a strong believer in doing everything its own way. I've heard from friends at Google about the difficulty they've had learning to deal with Google's tech stack -- and certainly have heard how it's slowed down the progress of some Google acquisitions while they learn how to "transition."
In fact, some have pointed out that this is one of the side benefits to Google's AppEngine offering. Since it exposes some of Google's tech stack to folks for them to develop and run their applications, it will make it much easier to integrate them into Google at a later date. So, for startups whose strategy is to get acquired by Google (and, I should note, if you start with that strategy, you're probably going to fail), it may make sense to develop on AppEngine just because you're already signaling to Google that the integration costs are significantly lower.
Still, this highlights one of the major downsides to Google's belief that it can do everything much better than everyone else by starting from scratch: in doing so, it actually makes it much harder to capitalize on synergies from many acquisition targets. Yes, there are reasons to go against the "standard" way of doing things, but there are significant costs as well.

The MPAA Thinks You're Stupid

2008-07-24T15:42:00.001-07:00

Apparently the MPAA is quite worried that people watching a movie trailer might not understand that a gun pointed at the screen can't actually shoot through the screen. The organization is forcing preview trailers that show someone pointing a gun directly at the screen to actually change the video or cut that scene out of the ad. As the report at the AV Club asks, is the MPAA worried that someone from a century ago who's never seen TV or a movie is going to suddenly show up and freak out? Anyone who's seen the movie This Film Is Not Yet Rated knows that the MPAA works in mysterious ways, but this just seems ridiculous.

Whedon To Reshoot Dollhouse

2008-07-24T15:17:00.001-07:00

Joss Whedon, who is readying his new SF series Dollhouse for Fox, told fans on his official blog that he is shooting a new first episode to clarify the series' setup.
The original pilot episode, which some viewers found confusing, will now become the show's second episode.
"The fact is, I'm very proud of the ep we shot, and the series is making me crazy with the excitement," Whedon wrote. "But I tend to come at things sideways, and there were a few clarity issues for some viewers. There were also some slight issues with tone--I was in a dark, noir kind of place (where, as many of you know, I make my home) and didn't bring the visceral pop the network had expected from the script. The network was cool about it, but not sure how to come out of the gate with the ep."
Whedon was quick to point out that shooting a new first episode was his idea, not the network's. That was perhaps an effort to deflect comparisons with Whedon's previous series on Fox, Firefly, for which the network ordered Whedon to shoot a new first episode and use the pilot later in the show's initial season. Airing the episodes out of sequence was credited in part for that series' poor ratings.
Whedon said that he won't show clips from Dollhouse as originally planned at Comic-Con International, which starts on July 24, as a result of the reshoots.
As for the original pilot, it will air as a second episode relatively intact, Whedon said.
Dollhouse, starring Eliza Dushku, is slated to air starting in January 2009.

Moffat Looks Ahead

2008-07-24T14:22:00.001-07:00

Steven Moffat, who is set to take over the job of executive producer of the BBC's Doctor Who from current show runner Russell T. Davies, told SCI FI Wire that he is currently planning the fifth season of the new incarnation, due to air in 2010 following a series of five specials next year.
"It's all happening in this head," Moffat said in an interview at Comic-Con International in San Diego on July 23. "I know where I want it to start. I don't mean to make it sound very grand. It's very simple, just where I want it to be when it takes off. So [Russell's] arranged for that."
Moffat, who has written some of the most popular episodes of the new series so far, said that his new role as executive producer will require him to approach writing from an entirely different perspective.
"There are a bunch of things I've always wanted to see in Doctor Who, yes, but now it's slightly different--it's very different in my new position," Moffat said. "Obviously, I only turned up once a year, and practically my brief was to write, in effect, the Moffat episode--the one that's very different, the one that's a bit timey-wimey or a bit scary. And that's all they were expecting. And they would just tell me, 'Go, and do your thing.' So I would do my Moffat-y thing--whatever the f--k that is--in a very, very pronounced way. But you couldn't have a whole series like that. If you started a series with 'Silence of the Library' or 'Blink,' people would turn off. You can't have that as the first episode. It's just too grim. So it's different contemplating it from this position, very, very different."
The series will also continue to embrace a wide range of tones and genres, Moffat said. Rather than adapting the show to his particular writing style, he looks forward to experimenting with different voices to maintain the show's variety.
"That's not what the show's about," Moffat said. "Kids aren't rushing to their television sets to see how much of the Moffat voice will get through. All you can do is make exciting television episodes and experiment with different voices. I've quite deliberately and purposefully--it's not been an accident--had a very consistent voice in Doctor Who, because that enables Russell to manage me. He knows what he's going to get. He knew it was going to be dark before [he] got it, because that's what he said it was. 'You'll be doing a dark one.' Whereas Russell in Doctor Who will write everything from 'Partners in Crime' to 'Midnight,' and those two have nothing in common as far as voice is concerned. It's two totally different takes on the same show. And that's quite exciting for me, too, because I get to write episodes that I wouldn't normally write, that wouldn't be expected of me."
Moffat hopes that the long wait between seasons, punctuated by the specials, will make the audience more excited for its return. "Part of the reason behind the gap year was thinking, 'Starve them for a year. Make them want it back. Return it to event status.'"

Alice role for Australian actress

2008-07-24T14:02:00.001-07:00

Australian actress Mia Wasikowska is in final talks to star in director Tim Burton's Disney version of Alice in Wonderland, according to a report. The 18-year-old is set to land the role after a long search for the title character, the Hollywood Reporter says. The actress started out in Australian TV drama All Saints and stars in US series In Treatment. She also appears alongside Daniel Craig in war drama Defiance, due out later in the year. Burton's take on Lewis Carroll's classic fantasy novel will use a mixture of live action and animation and will be made in 3D. Filming is due to begin in November, the Hollywood Reporter said. Wasikowska has just finished filming her role as a young fan of aviator Amelia Earhart in Mira Nair's biopic Amelia, starring Hilary Swank and Richard Gere.

Doctor Who signing ban at Hamlet

2008-07-24T13:51:00.001-07:00

David Tennant plays the Danish prince in Shakespeare's' Hamlet

Doctor Who and Star Trek fans have been banned from having sci-fi merchandise signed by David Tennant and Patrick Stewart while they star in Hamlet.

The Royal Shakespeare Company (RSC) says only programmes and other Hamlet merchandise can be autographed at the stage door.

Tennant and Stewart are starring in the RSC production at the Courtyard Theatre, in Stratford.

The first preview begins later, and the play opens on 5 August.

Hamlet director, Gregory Doran, recently said fans arrive at the stage door with "bags" of Doctor Who merchandise for Tennant to autograph.

Disappointment

In a statement, the RSC said the level of interest in Tennant and Stewart meant "limits" had to be imposed.

Patrick Stewart has two roles in the production

"Due to the huge amount of interest in the RSC's current production of Hamlet, only Royal Shakespeare Company or production related memorabilia will be signed by members of the company," the RSC said.

"It is very flattering that there is so much interest in this production, but the sheer volume of requests means that we need to set some limits which will be as fair as possible for everyone.

"We apologise if this causes any disappointment."

Signs outlining the no autographs policy have reportedly been erected in the window at the stage door.

Tennant's performance in Hamlet has been hotly anticipated, with tickets exchanging hands on the internet auction site eBay for up to £215 each.

David Tennant talked to Andrew Marr in June about his new role as Hamlet

The 37-year-old Scottish actor, who takes on the lead role of Hamlet, made his debut as the Time Lord in Doctor Who in 2005.

His previous RSC credits include Antipholus of Syracuse in The Comedy of Errors.

Stewart is best known for playing Captain Jean-Luc Picard in Star Trek, but has a string of critically acclaimed stage performances to his name.

He plays two roles in the RSC production of Hamlet - Claudius and the Ghost.

Microsoft Gives Vista Backdoor Keys To The Police

2008-04-29T19:53:00.001-07:00

It's long been assumed that Microsoft has built in various "backdoors" for law enforcement to get around its own security, but now reader Kevin Stapp writes in to let us know that the company has also been literally handing out the keys to law enforcement. Apparently, they're giving out special USB keys that simply get around Microsoft's security, allowing the holder of the key to very quickly get forensic information (including internet surfing history), passwords and supposedly encrypted data off of a laptop. While you can understand why police like this, the very fact that the backdoor is there and that a bunch of these USB keys are out there pretty much guarantees that those with nefarious intent also have such keys. The second you build in such backdoors, no matter how noble the reason, you can rest assured that they will be used by criminals as well. No matter what, for those of you who didn't already know it, now you have more evidence as to why trusting Microsoft's "security" isn't such a good idea.

FOX Greenlights "Virtuality"

2008-04-15T19:40:00.001-07:00

According to various sources, FOX has greenlit a two-hour back-door Sci-Fi pilot entitled "Virtuality".

Ronald D. Moore (better known for his work on "Battlestar Galactica") wrote the "Virtuality" pilot with another BSG alum, Michael Taylor. They will also act as producers (not a bad gig, eh?).

"Virtuality" will center on the crew of the starship Phaeton, which is on a 10-year exploratory mission. The hook of the series is that the ship has "state-of-the-art virtual reality modules that let the crew escape their constrained surroundings". The series will revolve around the consequences of a bug in the virtual reality system.

To me, this sounds fairly interesting! With Moore at the help, I would expect great things. The virtual reality concept should allow the writers to explore a ton of cool concepts without bogging down in the typical starship plots - i.e. moving the ship from planet to planet to find new environments. Kudos to FOX for granting this concept a chance!

Starship Troopers 3: Marauder

2008-04-15T00:07:00.001-07:00

Starship Troopers 3: Marauder (aka "ST3") is an upcoming science fiction film written and directed by Edward Neumeier. The film is a sequel to Starship Troopers and Starship Troopers 2. Starship Troopers: Marauder will star Casper Van Dien (Johnny Rico) and Jolene Blalock (T'Pol from Star Trek: Enterprise) who plays Captain Lola Beck. Released directly to DVD. The film is currently stated for a release date of July 15, 2008.
Here is the movie trailer:

'OpenMac' Promises $399 Headless Mac... But Not From Apple

2008-04-14T22:37:00.001-07:00

A company called Psystar has started advertising a $399 computer called "OpenMac" which claims to be a Leopard compatible Mac built from standard PC-parts. For $399, you get a tower computer with the following specs:
- 2.2GHz Intel Core 2 Duo
- 2GB of DDR2 667 memory
- Integrated Intel GMA 950 Graphics
- 20x DVD+/-R Drive
- 4 USB Ports
- 250GB 7200RPM Drive
Many of the components can be upgraded, however. For example, the graphics card can be updated to a GeForce 8600GT 512MB for $155 more.
Psystar is marketing this as a cheaper and more expandable alternative to a true Apple Mac.

When comparing base configurations, the Mac Mini costs 150% of the price of the OpenMac while offering poorer performance, smaller storage space, and RAM. Not only that but the Mac Mini doesn't have the option for an nVidia GeForce 8600 video card like the OpenMac does so playing games on it is a lost cause.

The company claims that the machine is Leopard compatible with some "minimal patching" but does offer Leopard pre-installed. This is reportedly accomplished by using parts that are known to be compatible with Mac OS X Leopard, as well as the use of an EFI emulator.

With the EFI V8 emulator it is possible to install Leopard's kernel straight from the DVD that you purchased at the Apple store barring the addition of a few drivers to ensure that everything boots and runs smoothly.

Readers should note that these claims have not been independently verified, so this should not seen as an endorsement of this product. However, the technology appears to be derived from the osx86project, which has allowed hobbyists to install Mac OS X on their non-Apple PCs.
The concept is an interesting possibility, and will certainly draw the attention of Apple. The use of Leopard on non Apple-branded hardware is a violation of its End User License Agreement (EULA) and is specifically prohibited.
Update: Psystar appears to have changed the name of their product to "Open Computer". Whether this is a response to a direct request from Apple or is simply an internal company decision in recognition of possible trademark infringement remains unknown.

10 Freeware Software Nobody Knows About - But Should

2008-04-14T14:13:00.001-07:00

It’s always a shame when a great program is not heard about by most people - especially when it’s free. Here are the top 10 freeware software that many people still haven’t tried, but definitely should.

10. Sharepod

If you want to get all those files off your iPod and into your computer, then this is the program for you. Sharepod was used to show how to freely and easily transfer files from an iPod to PC.

9. ConTEXT

Not only is this a great notepad replacement, it is also a great help for software developers.

8. IrfanView

Simply put, this is a simple graphic viewer. It has many essential features like email, Thumbnail/preview option, various Effects, changing color depth, and, of course, an extensive file format support.

7. Windows Live Writer

Although still in beta, this makes blogging both easy and comfortable. It supports many blog services, including WordPress, Blogger, and TypePad, and also has a some very good plugins.

6. Foxit Reader

This is the adobe reader replacement. It is much faster than adobe reader, and much friendlier to use. Try this once, and you’ll never go back.

5. Snipping Tool

Comes installed in Windows Vista. This program lets you take screenshots of the whole screen, only a certain program, free-form, or rectangular snips. Immediately after taking the screen shot, you are given the choice of editing it and saving it into your computer. They couldn’t have made it easier.

[Edit: Some people pointed out that this isn’t necessarily freeware because you need to have Vista in order to use it. MWSnap can be used instead of it. Thanks TemporalBeing and everyone else who pointed that out.]

4. Blender

Did you ever see the amazing CGI movies Pixar makes, like Ratatouille? Well, with Blender, you can make similar computer generated graphics that will amaze everyone.

3. ImgBurn

ImgBurn is great tool to create image files from discs and burn images to discs. It even supports HD DVD and Blu-ray. There is no need to use an high cost programs for images.

2. MusikCube

This is what iTunes should be like. An easy to use, uncluttered, lightweight program, which will convert most people to it after seconds of use. The plugins that are available will make for an easy transition, like being able to grab ratings from iTunes or Windows Media Player and import them to MusikCube.

1. AutoHotkey

This is the one of the most essential programs ever - if you know how to use it. With AutoHotkey, you can write scripts that automate keystrokes, which can save you a lot of time. You can make it automate annoying internship jobs, like copying and pasting a bunch of text from one place to another, to more complex applications like Lifehacker’s Texter. The beauty of it all is that it very easy to learn and master.

Impressions: "The Sarah Jane Adventures"

2008-04-14T13:41:00.001-07:00

"The Sarah Jane Adventures" premiered on the SCI FI Channel last Friday night, kicking off this seasons 'Sci-Friday' slate. he show is based on the life of Sarah Jane Smith after her time as a companion to the Doctor is over. It' also should be noted that it is produced by Russell T. Davies, who also is in charge of "Doctor Who", so "Sarah Jane" was worth checking out on that fact alone.

Here are my first impressions of the show:

The Good

I was pleasantly surprised by the work of Yasmin Paige, who plays Sarah's young sidekick 'Maria'. Even though the show is about Sarah Jane, Maria steals the focus of every scene she is in. She will be the 'companion' to Sarah Jane's version of the Doctor - and that's a good thing.

I also like that Sarah has a stash of alien gizmos and gadgetry. Her 'Sonic Lipstick' fits perfectly in the series, while the other gadgets (probably with the help of 'Luke', the other sidekick) will provide a good basis for Sarah to defeat the alien of the week.

The Not-So-Good

There was a significant amount of overacting. I know the show is trying to skew to a younger audience, but, at one point, I found myself waiting for the villain to go 'Mwahahahahaha!'. I suspect that it will work itself out, as the actors, writers and directors get a feel for each other.

I also thought the debut was a bit long. The premiere was ninety minutes and overall, it was paced fairly well. I did think there was some fluff added to extend it out, though. It was like they had a good seventy-five minutes or so of episode (commercials included, of course) and instead of cutting it down to an hour, they expanded it. Not a bad decision, but still noticeable.

The Bottom Line

It's pretty good. If the acting/writing levels out, I think "The Sarah Jane Adventures" will evolve into a gateway drug to "Doctor Who" - it has the same feel, just on a younger, toned down level.

Blockbuster In Surprise Bid To Buy Circuit City

2008-04-14T13:33:00.001-07:00

The news came out early this morning that Blockbuster was making an unsolicited bid to buy Circuit City, which has left many scratching their heads, saying that the synergy isn't all that obvious. Circuit City has been in trouble for a while, and Blockbuster (while a lot healthier than Circuit City) has been facing its own series of challenges. While it's unclear what Blockbuster's plans are, the deal actually could make sense if Blockbuster was really looking distantly into the future about where its market is heading. It knows as well as anybody that video delivery is moving to the internet eventually -- at which point its business model gets a lot trickier. Yet, by owning a retailer selling hardware -- and the rights to content to be distributed to that hardware, things could actually get interesting. Now, I'll say ahead of time that I doubt this is where Blockbuster is heading, but with both movie distribution rights and the ability to sell hardware, it could embrace the economics of infinite goods, by packaging content (infinite) with hardware (scarce), creating a much more compelling offering, than competitors to either firm alone.

Lexi Alexander Gives Quick Punisher Update

2008-04-12T12:53:00.001-07:00

If you can believe it, the next Punisher film may be better than the previous one, and it's directed by a girl.

Ok... a woman. Ok, ok... a hot-looking woman.

On her personal blog, director Lexi Alexander gave a brief update on the status of Punisher: Warzone (aka Punisher 2 although it's the third Punisher movie). Among her comments was this one in reply to Ray asking how much the studio wanted to cut the movie:

"Well, thank God it went well and, although I'll probably have to compromise on a few minor notes, it’s not nearly as bad as some of my filmmaker friends predicted it would be. I guess I got away with an actual okay studio experience (knocking on wood since it’s not quite over yet)."

The release date has also been pushed back to December 5th from it's previous September 12th date. Lexi was told this was a good thing, since for some reason violent movies do well in December. Go figure.

For more details including some colorful metaphors, head on over to her blog below.

I don't know why, but I've good a good gut feeling about this one...

Source: LexiAlexander.com

George A. Romero's Diary of the Dead on DVD

2008-04-12T12:47:00.001-07:00

Genius Products will release George A. Romero's "Diary of the Dead" on DVD this May 20th. This is the fifth installment in Romero's "Dead" series.
Special features have not been announced yet.
Synopsis:
A group of film students document the rise of the living dead in George A. Romero's latest zombie epic.

Comcast To Save Jericho?

2008-04-08T21:33:00.001-07:00

Not only does Comcast bring you all your favorite television programming over the cable-ways, they also make deals that could possibly save some of your favorite programming for additional life on the airways.

Much like the DirecTV / NBC deal that's resurrecting Friday Night Lights (FNL) for a third season, Comcast and CBS are in talks to bring Jericho back to viewers. This particular tidbit is provided by anonymous "insiders" and it makes for an interesting tidbit, but I'm not sure we can hold our breath on this one yet. It's too early to tell if these new business models are really going to pay off.

As an example of "these new business models", let me touch on the Friday Night Lights scenario. Apparently NBC got enough mini-footballs in the mail from FNL fans to consider a resurrection of sorts, and probably helped illuminate the way for the DirecTV - NBC deal being brokered.

The deal is this: NBC's deal with DirecTV would keep Friday Night Lights on the air for a third season, first airing on DirecTV, then later on in "repeats" on NBC. In turn, DirecTV helps defray production costs of the show for the right to air FNL first. This keeps the show afloat, and the reruns are then played over on NBC. Everyone wins... if this works out.

Stargate May Have Another Spinoff

2008-04-08T20:22:00.001-07:00

When Stargate SG-1 ended after 10 years, I was surprised to find myself feeling abandoned to some degree. I became comfortable following the familiar characters and the evolving conflicts between humanity and its off-world relationships - kind of like going to work every day. Sure, we have Stargate: Atlantis, but it just isn't quite the same as Stargate SG-1. Atlantis is like a new job. Same 'ol, same 'ol, but a new place to do it in.

But if anyone out there wants to see a new twist on Stargate, there may be some hope for you.

A third live-action series is being conceived by Stargate: Atlantis co-creators Brad Wright and Robert C. Cooper called Stargate: Universe and they are looking to make it an independent storyline of the already established Stargate realm.

Instead of a planet or city-bound stargate, the series will take place on a ship that was part of an Ancient experiment probably millions of years ago, but abandoned due to the whole ascension thing.

The background of Stargate Universe is that the Ancients had one unmanned ship go out into the universe placing stargates, and there was a second ship to follow up and explore.

In the Stargate mythos, travelers use a 7-symbol gate address to travel from planet to planet. An eighth chevron allows for travel to different galaxies and by using the proper ninth chevron, travelers will discover the second unmanned Ancient ship.

The pitch for this new show was received well by Sci-Fi Channel but the writers strike was one hurdle that slowed things down. However the bigger hurdle is that the new series would be an expensive show to produce. Wright and Cooper feel they've done the Stargate series right so far and believe they can pull this off, but they don't want to settle for a cheaper version which they don't think would pan out as successfully.

If it does happen, things will go into motion after Atlantis has concluded its run, moving the franchise forward while still holding true to the established background and history.

Amazon: Buy Two Blu-ray Discs, Get One Free

2008-04-08T15:47:00.001-07:00

Amazon.com has a new "Buy Two Blu-ray Discs, Get One Free" sale up. Don't miss it. Offer valid through April 18, 2008.
You have 58 titles to choose from including hits like Blade Runner, Fifth Element, Pan's Labyrinth and many more.
Shop the sale!

Star Wars / Darth Maul 1:6 Scale Figure

2008-04-07T20:20:00.001-07:00

Darth Maul
Second Chance Opportunity

RAH
12 inch Figure

Item Number: 4362

Manufactured by: Medicom Toy

Price: US $149.99

Summary
Sideshow is pleased to announce that Medicom Toy Coporation has granted 1,000 pcs of the 12-inch RAH Darth Maul figure for the US market. The figure is highly authentic and film accurate, and ready to take life on your shelf in any dynamic pose that you desire. Medicom Toy's RAH body is one of the most articulated 12-inch figure bodies available, capable of nearly any pose that the human (or superhero) body can achieve.
Each Darth Maul figure includes interchangeable hands and a display base, a removable hooded cloak, and comes packaged in a beautiful window display box.
International customers are welcome to order.

Please note: The Medicom RAH series is highly detailed, very well articulated, and of exceptional quality, however, the Medicom 12-inch RAH line is not in the same scale as the Sideshow 12-inch figure line. Please note that the Medicom figures are crafted in a slightly smaller scale than the Sideshow figures.

Specs
License: Star Wars

Product Type: 12 inch Figure

Product Size: 12" H (304.8mm)*

Box Size: 14.00" H (355.6mm) x 7.00" W (177.8mm) x 4.00" L (101.6mm)*

Est. Shipping Weight: 3.00 lbs (1.36 kg)*

Sideshow Collectibles, Inc. - Star Wars / Darth Maul 1:6 Scale Figure

Witchblade: The Complete Series on DVD

2008-04-07T19:42:00.001-07:00

On July 22, Warner Bros. will release the entire two-season run of TNT's "Witchblade" starring Yancy Butler as a DVD boxed set.
Synopsis:
While investigating the murder of her childhood friend, NYPD Detective Sara Pezzini comes in contact with an ancient gauntlet, which melds onto her wrist and protects her from harm -- forever changing her destiny. It is the Witchblade, an ancient weapon that heightens her powers of perception and transforms into a formidable sword that is one with its wearer. With an arsenal of amazing powers -- and a mind of its own -- the Witchblade is both a blessing and a curse. Now Sara must learn its secrets in order to master its mystery before it masters her.
Based on the best-selling comic book of the same name, WITCHBLADE is a one-hour drama series starring Yancy Butler (Drop Zone, Hard Target) as the fierce and sexy Sara Pezzini. WITCHBLADE is produced by Top Cow Productions, Inc. and Halsted Pictures, in association with Warner Bros. Television. Ralph Hemecker (Millennium, The X-Files) serves as executive producer with Dan Halsted (Any Given Sunday, The Virgin Suicides) of Halsted Pictures and Marc Silvestri of Top Cow Productions.

017 - Ten Bad Tech Ads

2008-04-07T11:55:00.001-07:00

017 - Ten Bad Tech Ads
The Sci-Fi and Fantasy Geek - Ten Bad Tech Ads: The tech industry has a rich and hilarious history of being unable to promote itself as anything other than unutterably dorky. Originally I was going to call this 'The top ten worst tech ads', but as I hunted around and discovered these are pure gold. They are shockingly bad, but you'll derive so much pleasure from watching them it didn't seem right to use 'worst' anymore. Anyway, I've collected ten of my favorites -- in no particular order -- that made my laugh, either because they feature lyrics, awful singing, pathetic old technology, Steve Ballmer or some combination of all of the above. To watch videos I played tonight go to - http://thescifigeek.blogspot.com Promos played: Remember The 80s, Geek By Night, and Treks in Sci-Fi

Ark of Truth Soundtrack

2008-04-07T11:25:00.001-07:00

FreeClyde Music announced a limited release of the soundtrack to Stargate: The Ark of Truth, the straight-to-DVD movie based on SCI FI Channel's original series Stargate SG-1, featuring music by the show's longtime composer Joel Goldsmith. The CD drops on April 18, but can be pre-ordered online.
The CD features music recorded live with the Seattle Northwest Sinfonia and includes a 16-page full-color booklet with articles by Ark of Truth writer/director Robert C. Cooper, executive producer Brad Wright and Goldsmith. The CD will also feature original artwork by the FreeClyde team and photography from the film.
The first 100 pre-orders will be signed by the composer. The CD can be purchased at Goldsmith's official Web site.

Sci-Fi TV on NBC

2008-04-07T11:19:00.001-07:00

NBC unveiled a 2008-'09 television schedule that's dominated by new and returning SF, fantasy and horror programming, including a series revival of Knight Rider and a new anthology series called Fear Itself, as well as the renewal of Medium, whose fate had been in question.
The announcements came at the network's "infront" (the new nickname for upfronts) presentation to advertisers in New York on April 2.
The shows and miniseries will be part of the network's ambitious 52-week program strategy and will premiere anytime between this May and summer 2009.
The new series include Kings, Fear Itself and Knight Rider, all of which had been expected to make the schedule, as well as the surprise entries My Own Worst Enemy and The Listener.
Waiting in the wings is Merlin. Also on the way is The Last Templar, a Da Vinci Code-esque miniseries.
Returning shows include Chuck and Heroes, which had previously been announced and which will premiere in September, and Medium, which was reportedly on the bubble but will return next winter for a fifth season.
Speaking of the NBC slate in his presentation, Ben Silverman, co-chairman of NBC Entertainment and Universal Media Studios, said, "There is a ton of noise out there. There is a cacophony of crap. Even the sports pages are filled with scandal. We need to break through and deliver eternal themes and heroic themes and entertaining themes and escapist themes. We're going to give you real heroes and superheroes, and we're going to engage you with our content in a dramatic, emotional way."
Debuting on May 29:
Fear Itself. The show, a horror anthology series from the makers of Masters of Horror, will feature such stars as John Billingsley and Shiri Appleby and showcase the talents of directors including Brad Anderson, Mary Harron, Ernest Dickerson, Ronny Yu, John Carpenter and Stuart Gordon.
Shows on the fall 2008-'09 schedule:
Chuck, airing Mondays at 8 p.m. ET/PT.
Heroes, airing Mondays at 9 p.m.
My Own Worst Enemy, airing Mondays at 10 p.m. Christian Slater makes his television series debut as Henry Spivey, an efficiency expert and married father of two who learns that he has an alter ego named Edward Albright, an operative who speaks numerous languages and can kill with his teeth. The network is touting it as "Jekyll and Hyde meets Jason Bourne." Heroes veteran David Semel directed the pilot and will stay on as executive producer.
Knight Rider, airing Wednesdays at 8 p.m. NBC scored a hit with a two-hour backdoor pilot movie that aired in February, and the series picks up where the movie left off. K.I.T.T., the supercar with a mind of its own, returns, as do stars Justin Bruening, Deanna Russo, Sydney Tamiia Poitier and Bruce Davison.
Shows debuting in winter 2009:
Merlin, airing Sundays at 8 p.m. A fantasy series set in Camelot but inspired by 21st-century storytelling, Merlin stars Colin Morgan (Doctor Who) as the title character and Bradley James as Arthur, and it explores the characters' lives before they became legends. Co-stars include Anthony Head (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), Richard Wilson and Angel Coulby.
Kings, airing Sundays at 10. A modern-day spin on the King David tale, the show stars Christopher Egan as David and Ian McShane as the king. Michael Green (Heroes) penned the pilot and will executive-produce. I Am Legend helmer Francis Lawrence directed the pilot and will executive-produce the series as well.
Series debuting in summer 2009:
The Listener, airing Thursdays at 10 p.m. Toby Logan (Craig Olejinik of Thirteen Ghosts) is a 24-year-old paramedic and telepath who's always ignored his ability to hear people's thoughts ... until now. Having changed his mind, he uses his unique gift to help others.
Miniseries debuting in 2009:
The Last Templar. In this four-hour miniseries, four horsemen dressed as knights crash the New York Metropolitan Museum during the opening of an exhibition of Vatican treasures and swipe an arcane medieval decoder, thereby sending an archaeologist (Mira Sorvino) and an FBI agent (Scott Foley) on a wild chase for the secrets of the Knights Templar. Co-stars include Victor Garber and Omar Sharif.

Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs on DVD

2008-04-04T15:40:00.001-07:00

Fox will release "Futurama: The Beast with a Billion Backs" on DVD this June 24th. Don't miss this thrilling conclusion to Futurama: Benders Big Score!
Extras will include Audio commentaries, a "Long-Lost, Full-Length Adventure Produced for the Futurama XBOX Video Game," "Deleted Scenes," and lots more!
Synopsis:
Bender and the Planet Express crew must work to fix rips between their universe and another inhabited by a planet-sized, tentacle alien which soon takes over the Earth and uses it's ability to control Fry to command an entire religion which takes over and convinces the inhabitants of Earth to abandon the Earth to live in a pseudo-heaven, leaving the robots of the world to inherit the planet.

eBay Bans Auctions Of Digital Goods

2008-04-03T07:35:00.001-07:00

We've pointed out more than a few times how digital goods muck up traditional markets that are based on the concept of scarcity, and it appears that eBay has come to the same conclusion. It's now banned the direct sale of purely digital goods from either its auctions or its direct sales offerings. Instead, those who want to sell digital goods need to put up a classified ad on the site, rather than a transactional platform. The basic reason has to do with the (wouldn't you know it?) infinitely reproduceable nature of digital goods. That allows eBay sellers to list the same product many, many, many times over, since they have an infinite supply. This practice is screwing up listings and (more importantly) is being used to manipulate feedback ratings, and so eBay has done away with it.

Second Futurama DVD In June

2008-04-02T14:26:00.001-07:00

Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment will release the second of four new Futurama movies, The Beast With a Billion Backs, on DVD June 24.
The company described the movie this way: In their latest extraterrestrial exploit, Bender, Fry, Leela and the crew encounter a repulsive, planet-sized creature with billions of probing tentacles and find themselves involved in a disturbing--yet sensuous--interplanetary love story.
The movie will feature guest voice performances from David Cross, Brittany Murphy, Dan Castellaneta and physicist Stephen Hawking.
Futurama: The Beast With a Billion Backs also features bonus materials, including commentary from Matt Groening and David X. Cohen and cast members Billy West, John DiMaggio and Maurice LaMarche, as well as director Peter Avanzino and producers Claudia Katz, Lee Supercinski and Michael Rowe. Other extras include a 30-minute "Lost Futurama Adventure" and behind-the-scenes featurettes "Meet Yivo!" (with David Cross) and "A Brief History of Deathball," as well as a sneak peek at the next Futurama movie, Bender's Game. The disc also contains storyboard animatics, deleted scenes and bloopers. Futurama: The Beast With a Billion Backs will carry a suggested retail price of $29.98.

Iron Man Robert Downey Jr Addresses His Past

2008-04-02T14:02:00.001-07:00

Robert Downey Jr., who plays the title character in Jon Favreau's upcoming Iron Man movie, told SCI FI Wire that he's aware that his personal history resonates with that of his character, millionaire playboy Tony Stark, who has his own history of substance abuse.
The tabloid-fodder Oscar nominee--who is perhaps better known for his prison sentence (on drug- and alcohol-related charges) and rehab stints than for his critically acclaimed performances in such films as Chaplin and The Singing Detective--addressed the issue in a question from SCI FI Wire on the film's Playa Vista, Calif., set last June.
Downey, who successfully completed rehab in 2002 and by all accounts has been clean and sober since, is ready for the inevitable question.
"I think when someone has had a fundamental change, and they're not just trying to backpedal and make it seem like 'I'm going to rehab again, everything's fine,' whatever, ... my thing is, what else is attractive [to me about the role] is, yeah, Tony Stark, he's been known to go bonkers and be so irresponsible that he's, like, too hammered to put on his shoes," Downey says in his typical elliptical way. "And [when they approached me,] I was like, 'Really?' And they were like, 'Yeah, really.'"
Even so, Downey downplays the significance of his personal history to the casting and the character. "There's so much stuff in this movie as it is that we decided not to do, like, the Pirandello thing," he says, referring to the Italian dramatist and his play, Six Characters in Search of an Author, in which the lines between actors and their characters are blurred. "But I get it. In a way, that's why it's, like, ideally suited for me, and I'm ideally suited for it."
In a well-known 1979 Iron Man comic arc, "Demon in a Bottle," Stark struggles with alcoholism, a first for a major superhero character.
That particular aspect of Stark's character won't come up in the first Iron Man movie, but will be addressed in any sequels, director Favreau says. He acknowledges the similarities between Stark and Downey's own personal histories, but added that the casting allowed him to go to new places.
"When we cast Robert--when he was approved and we got him to be in the movie and Marvel gave it the OK--it completely freed me," Favreau said. "Because I knew I was halfway there to having a movie that I could be proud of. ... I can't think of anybody better than him. He brings a reality, a humor, a panache, ... a life of experience. ... There's a lot of Tony Stark in him, and that's so much better than trying to teach somebody to pretend that they are funny or pretend that they are smart or pretend that they are talented." Iron Man opens May 2.

William Sanders sells collection to Norilana Books

2008-03-31T20:12:00.001-07:00

William Sanders sold East of the Sun and West of Fort Smith to Norilana Books, which plans to publish it in September 2008. The book will be a reprint collection, which Norilana calls "the definitive short fiction collection by award winning author William Sanders. It will gather into one volume all of his previously collected short work in addition to several previously unseen originals.

Supernatural Gets A Fourth Year?

2008-03-31T20:06:00.001-07:00

Sera Gamble, producer of The CW's Supernatural, told SCI FI Wire that the writers are brimming with story possibilities for the show's upcoming fourth season, which The CW recently announced.
"[Series creator and executive producer] Eric [Kripke] has some really strong ideas for how to expand the mythology next season," Gamble said in an interview. "We've been pitching ideas to each other that have [gotten] everybody really excited. ... First, we got deeply philosophical, and then we went back to 'Hey, how can we chop a bunch of people's heads off with these ideas?'"
Gamble added that the early pickup by The CW means that the writers can set things up as the third season winds down. "We're especially excited that we heard about the pickup early enough that we can start working on what we're going to be doing at the beginning of next season now, so we can thread some things in," she said.
The current third season, which was interrupted by the recently settled writers' strike, concentrated on the battle by Sam and Dean Winchester (Jared Padalecki and Jensen Ackles) against the demon army unleashed at the end of the previous year. Meanwhile, the season is building to a resolution of Dean's dilemma: He struck a deal with a demon to trade his soul for Sam's life. He has only a year to live.
Kripke told Gamble that he has "an idea for a good turn that the mythology could take [in the middle of next season] that's related to the demon mythology that we've been building and that we concentrated on in season three," Gamble said.
The producers are thinking in terms of a five-year arc for the series, Gamble added. "There are aspects of the mythology that have always been plotted out," she said. "There's approximately a five-year plan that's been in place since the show began."
But, Gamble added, the details of the fourth season are being honed now. "Additionally, we have a list of several monsters that we've been dying to do for a long time that we're going to get a chance to do now," she said. "I call it the beer-and-popcorn episodes. They're really like meat and potatoes. Like, sit down, watch scary things, blood spatter hits the camera, and people scream and clutch each other in fear. And that's the end of your hour," she added with a laugh.
The third season will resume with new episodes, starting April 24, building to the season finale, written by Kripke, in which Dean must face the deal he struck with a demon to save Sam's life. The strike-shortened season has caused the writers to abbreviate some of the planned stories, but Dean's fate will remain front and center as the season comes to a close, Gamble said, offering a few spoilers.
"The season finale takes place on the very last day before his card gets pulled by the demon," Gamble said. "It's a fight to the finish. Several of the players that we've been watching deal with this over the course of the season will be in the episode. We said we weren't going to make it easy for them, and we've made it pretty difficult, bordering upon impossible."
Will Dean survive and elude hell's clutches? "For all you know, [in the fourth season] it's going to be Sam with a flashlight in haunted houses with a special cell phone that calls hell," Gamble said with tongue in cheek. "Everyone has a theory. Everyone will find out soon enough. They just have to wait a few more months."

http://www.scifi.com/scifiwire/index.php?category=1&id=51330

Superman lawsuit

2008-03-29T07:19:00.001-07:00

You good folks might have heard a mention here or there about "some Superman lawsuit." But after the news just now coming out, I'm pretty sure you'll know more about it.

According to The New York Times:

"A federal judge here on Wednesday ruled that the heirs of Jerome Siegel -- who 70 years ago sold the rights to the action hero he created with Joseph Shuster to Detective Comics for $130 -- were entitled to reclaim their share of the U.S. copyright to the character."

Apparently, the international rights to Superman remain the property of Time Warner.

There's also the chance that if this decision sticks it will open a can of worms with the heirs of 'Supes' co-creator Joseph "Joe" Shuster in 2013.

And it's also become a question-mark as to whether or not the Siegels are owed any profits for film ventures like 2006's Superman Returns or its currently-in-development sequel Superman: The Man of Steel for 2010; not to mention, the increasingly looking-like-its-not-going-to-happen-anyway Justice League Mortal!

This thing will continue to be dragged out in the courts for years.

Time Warner (via their legal muscle) will probably get this decision over-turned. At least, that's what I see happening.

Source: The New York Times

New Star Trek Trailer With Indiana Jones

2008-03-28T20:43:00.001-07:00

Screen Rant has received word from someone who has been a reliable source in the past stating that "it's 100% that there will be a new Star Trek trailer with Indiana Jones."

According to the source, the new trailer will be a continuation of what we saw in the teaser trailer - showing further progress on the construction of the USS Enterprise with technicians working on the ship. There will be new audio, but no word on whether we will see or hear any of the cast
members.

So, that means we'll be seeing the new trailer in movie theaters on May 22nd, the release date for Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull.

As mentioned previously, the release date for Star Trek 11 has been pushed back from December 2008 to May 2009.

V for Vendetta heads to Blu-ray

2008-03-28T15:02:00.001-07:00

On May 20, Warner Bros. will release "V for Vendetta" on Blu-ray. Previously, the title was only available in high definition on HD DVD.
Synopsis:
Set against the futuristic landscape of totalitarian Britain, V For Vendetta tells the story of a mild-mannered young woman named Evey (Natalie Portman) who is rescued from a life-and-death situation by a masked vigilante (Hugo Weaving) known only as "V." Incomparably charismatic and ferociously skilled in the art of combat and deception, V ignites a revolution when he detonates two London landmarks and takes over the government-controlled airwaves, urging his fellow citizens to rise up against tyranny and oppression. As Evey uncovers the truth about V's mysterious background, she also discovers the truth about herself and emerges as his unlikely ally in the culmination of his plot to bring freedom and justice back to a society fraught with cruelty and corruption.

Sequel Cataclysmo and the Battle for Earth to be released next week

2008-03-28T12:17:00.001-07:00

Independent filmmaker Kevin Christensen writes "I recently directed a science-fiction action comedy feature film called Cataclysmo and the Time Boys. It's inspired by Flash Gordon and Buck Rogers, about two men from 500 years in the future who are sent back in time to the present to stop a worldwide catastrophe called 'Cataclysmo.'" The film has been serialized into 24 5-minute episodes, and the entire film is online at webserials.com and on youtube.

On 4 April, he'll release the sequel, Cataclysmo and the Battle for Earth, in which "Johnny, Bucky, and Samantha return to save Earth from the devastating effects of Cataclysmo. In their greatest battle yet, our heroes face off against a worldwide army of gorillas… but the real trouble begins when they realize that they may not be alone.…"

Cerra Flies To Dark Swarm

2008-03-28T09:55:00.001-07:00

Erica Cerra, who plays Deputy Jo Lupo on SCI FI Channel's original series Eureka, told SCI FI Wire that she'll co-star in the upcoming SF film Dark Swarm.
Dark Swarm follows a group of people who've survived an attack on Earth by carnivorous alien creatures and who prepare to make one last stand against them.
"It's all CGI," Cerra said in an interview. "It's supposed to be really cool. It's an all-green-screen sort of film. I don't know how much of it I can give away. But the basic setup is that there is something sort of taking over the Earth. ... Initially, they're under the impression it's a swarm, but then they start to kind of unravel what exactly it is."
Cerra is joined in the cast by popular genre actors Christopher Judge (Stargate SG-1) and Ed Wasser (Babylon 5). Tim Pyle (Decaying Orbit) has co-written and will direct. Pyle will also handle the visual effects, as he's done on such productions as Jimmy Neutron: Boy Genius and the SCI FI original miniseries Children of Dune.
Asked if she's a hero or a victim in the film, Cerra laughed and replied: "Both."
Dark Swarm goes into production this summer with an eye toward a 2009 release.

Jericho Looking For New Home

2008-03-26T19:48:00.001-07:00

Carol Barbee, executive producer of CBS' canceled post-apocalyptic series Jericho, told SCI FI Wire that talks are ongoing to find the show another home, perhaps on a cable network.
"I can't really say [much] about specifics, and, ... partially, it's because I'm not the one having those conversations," Barbee said in an interview on March 24, the eve of the show's final episode. "[CBS] Paramount [Television, which produces the show,] has been pursing it, and our agents have been into that, so, you know, I am pushing those people and coming up with ideas to have those people pursue."
Barbee wouldn't offer details about any talks. "There were several ideas that have been floated, and there was some interest, but we'll have to see," she said. "It wasn't something that could be sewn up before we were going to air the finale. ... It would have been better had we been able to announce one with the other, but it just didn't happen that fast."
Barbee said that she and the show's cast and crew got official word of the show's cancellation at the end of last week, in time to choose one of two endings for the season finale: A cliffhanger or a series ender. "We were told that they were having a meeting on Thursday, ... internally at CBS, to decide which of the endings to show for this Tuesday night's finale, and then we were given the heads up after that meeting that they were going to show the alternate [ending, with the series finale], which obviously to us meant that we were going to finish our run on CBS," Barbee said. Barbee asked CBS to delay its formal announcement for 24 hours so she could inform the cast and crew; the news broke on Friday.
If Jericho is not picked up for another season by a TV network, Barbee said that she could envision it living on in some other form. "There's definitely an Internet series to be had, and we always talked about a graphic novel, and ... a movie," Barbee said. "I mean, there are lots of things that I could easily see as a way to continue the story."
But time may be running out. Jericho wrapped its second season of episodes back in November, just as the writers' strike was beginning. Since then, the cast and crew have been freed to pursue other projects, and the show's sets and backlot have been dismantled and either destroyed or put into storage. Barbee herself has moved on to another series, Swingtown, created by Jericho alumnus Mike Kelley, about the lives of couples experimenting with sexual and social mores in a 1970s Chicago suburb, which will air on CBS this summer and is shooting on the same stages once occupied by Jericho.
Looking back on Jericho, Barbee was pleased that it attracted a core of die-hard fans who were responsible for getting CBS to resurrect the show for a second season. "We appreciated the second life that we had, and we feel like we've made the most of it, and we will just be forever indebted to the fans for taking us on this amazing ride," she said. "I think it will always be a highlight in our careers, that we got to be a part of that." Jericho's finale, "Patriots and Tyrants," airs March 25 at 10 p.m. ET/PT.
(Fans wishing to write SCI FI Channel about picking Jericho up should NOT use the scifiwire@scifi.com e-mail address, but rather should send snail mail here: SCI FI Channel, 21st Floor, 30 Rockefeller Plaza, New York, NY 10112.)

Sanctuary Is All New

2008-03-26T15:39:00.001-07:00

Amanda Tapping, star and executive producer of SCI FI Channel's upcoming new series Sanctuary, told SCI FI Wire that the show will differ significantly from the Web series on which it is based.
SCI FI Channel announced in late January that it had ordered 13 episodes of Sanctuary, which was created by Damian Kindler and co-written by Martin Wood, both of whom, like Tapping, are veterans of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis.
Tapping will reprise her role as Dr. Helen Magnus, an apparently immortal doctor and scientist who seeks to locate, aid and protect supernatural creatures. To adapt the high-definition digital Web series for television, SCI FI has ordered up a new pilot.
"The fact is it's already evolving," Tapping said in an interview at the channel's upfront presentation to advertisers in New York earlier this month. "Our pilot that we're now going to start shooting is very different from what you've seen on the Web. But [Magnus] is still this crazy character. She's 157 years old, and she's very eccentric and very sexy and very unapologetic. I love it."
Tapping, who will continue to guest-star on Atlantis as Col. Samantha Carter, said that the transition to television opens up all sorts of possibilities for Sanctuary.
"It gives us a good home base," Tapping said. "SCI FI is the perfect fit for this show and for me, because I have worked with the network for so long. It made so much sense to stay with this network. They understand the genre. They understand the fans. And now they understand multimedia platforms in terms of utilizing social networking, which is what our company is all about. So it's a perfect fit." Sanctuary will premiere later this year.

Batman: The Movie (1966) on Blu-ray

2008-03-26T14:52:00.001-07:00

Bring out your shark repellent because on July 1, Fox will release the 1966 "Batman: The Movie" starring Adam West and Burt Ward.
Special Features Include:
Commentary by actors Adam West and Burt Ward
Commentary by screenwriter Lorenzo Semple, Jr.
Isolated Score Track 5.1 DTS HD Master Audio (Lossless)
All-new high-definition featurettes:
Batman: A Dynamic Legacy
Caped Crusaders: A Heroes Tribute
Gotham City's Most Wanted
2001 35th Anniversary Piece Featuring Interviews with Adam West and Burt Ward
The Batmobile Revealed with George Barris
The Batmobile Interactive Tour - A 360 Degree Navigational Tour
Batman on Location: Mapping the Movie
Holy Pop-Up Trivia Track, Batman!
Original Teaser and Theatrical Trailers
Galleries:
From the Vaults of Adam West
Interactive Pressbook
Posters
Production Stills
Behind the Scenes
Premiere
Also available to collectors will be a limited edition of only 5,000 copies with a 1/18th scale Batmobile from Hot Wheels®.
Synopsis:
From the height of the television show's popularity, this full-length movie features all four of Batman (Adam West) and Robin's (Burt Ward) most dastardly and cunning adversaries: the Penguin (Burgess Meredith), the Joker (Cesar Romero), the Riddler (Frank Gorshin), and the Catwoman (Lee Meriwether), joining forces to take over the world thanks to a De-Hydrator that turns people into piles of dust. The dynamic duo pull out all the stops, with a BIFF! and a KA-POW!, to stop the bad guys.

Star Trek Movie Using iPhone As Starfleet Communicator ?

2008-03-21T13:36:00.001-07:00

According to sources from the iPhone Savior website working close to the production, a slickly modified version of iPhone is being used as the new communicator in the upcoming Star Trek movie prequel.
According to the site, video chat was mentioned along with a lifeform detector and hints that the device may also be able to transport crew members.
iPhone Savior website is making efforts to confirm communications supposedly coming from on location in Iceland. It makes sense that Apple's wildly popular iPhone which is clearly a quantum leap beyond other smartphones would be the favored device for Star Trek.
This information is preliminary, of course, and entirely rumor.

CBS has canceled Jericho

2008-03-21T13:31:00.001-07:00

CBS has canceled Jericho, according to The Hollywood Reporter. Producers have been told the show is ending its run on the broadcast network, sources told the trade paper.
CBS will air the season finale on March 25 with an ending that helps give closure to fans.
After the first season concluded with an abrupt cut to black, fans famously inundated CBS with tens of thousands of pounds of peanuts to urge the network to continue the show. For the seven-episode second season, producers shot two endings: one that leaves viewers in suspense for a third round, another that is more conclusive.
The ending that will air Tuesday night doesn't entirely slam the door on the series, but it is different from the cliffhanger version, sources told The Hollywood Reporter. It also doesn't preclude the possibility of Jericho's finding a second life on cable, though the economics of the production will likely prevent a continuation of the show.

Buffy Spinoff Still Alive

2008-03-21T13:29:00.001-07:00

Buffy the Vampire Slayer creator Joss Whedon told fans that a spinoff project is still a possibility when asked about the raft of rumored spinoffs that never came to fruition after the show left the air nearly five years ago.
Asked about future Buffy TV or film projects, Whedon said, "My answer would be, like, there are so many stars that would have to align [for them to happen]. But, you know, there's a reason I worked with all of these people for so long. They're enormously talented. And clearly, from the comic, it's a story that I can't let go of. I think it would be really cool."
Whedon spoke as part of a panel at the William S. Paley Television Festival March 20 in Hollywood that reunited him with his Buffy cast members Sarah Michelle Gellar, Nicholas Brendon, James Marsters, Emma Caulfield, Michelle Trachtenberg, Charisma Carpenter, Seth Green and Amber Benson and fellow producers Marti Noxon and David Greenwalt.
Once the cult hit Buffy went off the air, reports circulated that Whedon was variously developing a spinoff series that would feature the vampire Spike (Marsters) or a British show that would feature the character of Rupert Giles (Anthony Stewart Head). None came to pass.
Since then, Whedon and several of his writers and artists have picked up the story of Buffy Summers and her "Scooby Gang" in a series of comics for Dark Horse, characterized as "season eight" of the TV show. Whedon let loose a spoiler that Green's character, the werewolf Oz, would appear in a future issue of the comic.
TV Guide critic Matt Roush, who moderated the Paley reunion panel discussion, asked whether the comic--which has morphed and developed the Buffy mythology well beyond the show's season finale--would ultimately affect any Buffy spinoff TV shows or films.
"Hypothetically, if you could make things align, that would be fun," Whedon said, adding: "And it would be lovely to make it all tie in. But if I had to shoot down everything I'm doing in the comics because we were doing a project [and] I was filming with these actual people, I wouldn't lose a lot of sleep."
Before the panel discussion, fans screened the musical episode "Once More With Feeling." Whedon later said that he had just wrapped production on another musical project. "I literally drove here from wrapping the shooting on a little independent short of my own called Doctor Horrible's Sing-Along Blog, my next musical, starring Neil Patrick Harris, Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day. And it's going to come out somewhere, at some point, possibly on a computer. We haven't figure that out yet. And it's awesome." Noxon admitted that she also has a small part.
Could Buffy wind up in musical form on Broadway? "I would love to take a Buffy to Broadway," Whedon said. "It would not be this ['Once More With Feeling']. This is an episode of television. ... You would have to start from scratch. I've spent some time daydreaming about it, because I'm me."
Would any of his Buffy cast be on board? Most raised their hands--with the notable exception of Gellar, who smiled, shook her head and said, "I'm out."

2008 Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge

2008-03-20T15:15:00.001-07:00

AtomFilms, in partnership with Lucasfilm, has announced their 2008 Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge. AtomFilms' Marketing Coordinator, Kate Zuparko, said "Star Wars fans should submit their parody, fan fiction, or mash-up (new this year: we even have a special tool for fans to create a mash-up online) by 27 May for consideration in this year's Star Wars Fan Movie Challenge. Top fan movies will be selected by AtomFilms and Lucasfilm, including George Lucas as one of the judges! Awards will be announced at San Diego Comic Con on 24 July."

The contest announcement says that they're looking for "Star Wars themed action, comedy, downright depressing, or demented video." They prefer entries to be under 5 minutes in length, parodies of the entire Star Wars universe (films, comics, and books) are fine, as are films about Star Wars fandom. They're allowing some use of Star Wars music, but no nudity, and no SAG actors. Use of the Star Wars mash-up tool on starwars.com is permitted. For more details and complete rules, see this page.

AtomFilms, a service of MTV networks, formed ten years ago as an online video site. It is now "a daily source of original weeb shows, animation, and short films." They also license and develop content from independent creators, providing "a pipeline to the big timme." Last year, they added a section called AtomUploads, which "enables users to immediately post and share their own videos, while helping [Atom] find new content that's right for commercial distribution on AtomFilms."

"Bionic Woman" - Done

2008-03-20T15:08:00.001-07:00

Evidently, the rumors are true - "Bionic Woman" is dead.

Although NBC has not issued an official release, series executive producer David Eick told SCI FI Wire that the network has indeed canceled the show.

Here's his quote:

"I just felt that the process was so frustrating, and the conditions under which we were making that show never really came to fruition in such a way that I felt like we could make the show well..."

"We just didn't ever bring it all together like we did with Battlestar. At a certain point, when it becomes that frustrating, I think you're better off to say, 'Let's try again another time,' and let it go."

Although I was not surprised by the news (I thought that "Bionic Woman" has had no chance of returning for a while), I did recently see some positive news on the show.

Caprica Gets Green Light

2008-03-19T12:49:00.001-07:00

SCI FI Channel has given a green light for production to begin on Caprica, a two-hour backdoor pilot and Battlestar Galactica prequel from executive producers Ronald D. Moore and David Eick. Production is slated to begin in Vancouver, Canada, this spring.
Set 50 years before the events of Battlestar Galactica, Caprica follows two rival families--the Greystones and the Adamas --as they grow, compete and thrive in the vibrant world of the 12 Colonies. Enmeshed in the burgeoning technology of artificial intelligence and robotics that will eventually lead to the creation of the Cylons, the two houses go toe to toe.
"I'm thrilled with the chance to expand on the Galactica world and get deeper into the origins of the story we've been telling," Moore said in a statement. "It's also great to have a chance at doing a completely different kind of science fiction series, one that's even more character-oriented and doesn't rely on pyrotechnics to carry the story."
In his own statement, Eick said: "While Caprica will have its own personality, it will carry on Battlestar's commitment to pushing the boundaries of the genre, and we're thrilled that SCI FI has seen fit to giving us another opportunity to tell character-driven stories in challenging ways."
The fourth season of Battlestar Galactica kicks off on March 28 at 10 p.m. ET/PT with two back-to-back half-hour specials, with the first new episode premiering the following week, April 4, at 10 p.m.

Top ten bad tech ads

2008-02-22T20:06:00.001-08:00

The tech industry has a rich and hilarious history of being unable to promote itself as anything other than unutterably dorky. Originally I was going to call this 'The top ten worst tech ads', but as I hunted around and discovered these are pure gold. They are shockingly bad, but you'll derive so much pleasure from watching them it didn't seem right to use 'worst' anymore. Anyway, I've collected ten of my favorites -- in no particular order -- that made my laugh, either because they feature lyrics, awful singing, pathetic old technology, Steve Ballmer or some combination of all of the above.

Steve Ballmer sells Windows 1.0
You've got to love Steve Ballmer. Anyway, this video is him selling Windows 1.0. And while it's funny for all the wrong reasons, you have to respect Ballmer for not caring what people think of him. We can't imagine Jobs doing this.

Don't copy that floppy
We've all heard how piracy is killing the music/movie/book/software (delete as applicable) industries, but this advert was the first of its kind. It was designed to educate people about all the hard work that goes into making games for the PC. 'Don't copy that floppy' follows a couple of young children on a voyage of discovery that covers morality, economics and the art of song. It's actually much less annoying and patronizing than the ones that have followed since.

The Ellen Feis Apple switch advert
My next video documents a few moments in the life of one girl who lost her school work to a crashing computer. Ellen Feis became an Internet and TV star in 2002 when her 'switch' Apple advert became an Internet phenomenon. Geeky boys loved her, the tech press questioned her sobriety and everyone else wondered why the hell she didn't press Ctrl+S more often. However you look at it, she became a star for losing her homework, but looking at her eyes, we question how good it would have been if it hadn't gone missing.

Keeping up with Commodore
Are you keeping up with Commodore? Well, are you? In this brilliantly cheesy advert from the 80s we see lots of people smiling, pointing and generally enjoying the life and the flexibility afforded to them by owning a Commodore personal computer. Ultimately even Commodore couldn't keep up with itself and went bust. Lamented by many as one of the great tragedies of personal computing, many of us still miss the Amiga -- and these fabulous adverts.

MS DOS 5 Upgrade promo video
One of the best clips here isn't really an advert, more a promotional video. We're introduced to the joys of MS DOS 5 by some bloke who looks like David Arquette and a trio of back up singers. All involved are yapping about why you should upgrade to the latest version of DOS through the medium of crappy white-man rap.

Movie piracy is a crime
Okay, this isn't so much a tech advert, but it is one of the most annoying things ever to be seen on TV. Usually it's found on any DVD you buy from a shop, so is of course perfectly marketed at people who don't break the law. Generally the Internet pirates remove it from the start of the films they rip for Internet distribution. I'm sure you'll see the irony in that. This ad was the one I used in the podcast parodied by the show The IT Crowd.

Atari Pole Position
This truly magnificent advert is one of several Atari ads that had an unusually keen sense of humor. We love the way the real racing footage is mixed seamlessly with the in-game footage. As if no one would notice the difference between the two.

BT Slimtel
Those of you old enough to remember a time when everyone didn't have a mobile phone will probably remember how huge home phones were. Many of the UK's telephones were still rotary dial things in the 80s and this advert attempts to tempt you into buying a new, slim, touch-button phone.

Kevin Costner flogs Apple kit
Although Ellen Feis made everyone hate Apple while it was floating around the memeosphere, this Apple advert features someone who should really have known better. There are two main things wrong with this advert. First HE DOESN'T KNOW HOW TO USE A MOUSE and second, it's so boring I nearly jumped out of the office window waiting for it to end.

Amstrad Studio 100
My final advert is comedy gold from Amstrad, the company founded by Sir Alan Sugar. Here we see more hopeless ad-agency rap and some magnificent exploding product shots, not something you really see much of these days. I can only assume this ad was the result of an awful lot of Friday night drinking at a Karaoke bar in central London, where someone with a looming deadline met a chap called Dave who reckoned he had a talent for rapping.

15 Unreasonably Useful Websites

2007-12-16T12:07:00.001-08:00

The following is a continuance of my previous article, “15 Ridiculously Useful Websites.” The response to that article was overwhelming. The comments left by those who read it made one thing very clear: the list was incomplete. Although I did not initially write the article with the intention of listing the 15 best sites on the web, that is how my message came across - my fault. I have decided to respond to your comments with a series of follow-on lists containing more useful and entertaining corners of the web. I hope you enjoy them:

Musictheory - A grass roots website that contains lessons, trainers, as well as several other utilities.

iLike - iLike is a music site where you can organize share and discover new music. There is an iLike side bar available for Windows Media Player as well as iTunes. You can even upload your own music to the site if you would like to.

Youtube - This is an obvious one. Watch videos of just about anything for free.

Freedocumentaries - This is an awesome catalog of documentaries about many different subjects. You can browse the films by region, theme, or title. The videos are free and are accompanied by a brief description, comments, and sometimes a link to a related page.

Buzzillions - Product reviews by consumers who have been verified by the retailer they purchased the item from. You can search for specific items or go through a preference-based menu to find products and reviews that are lined up with your intentions/interests/user level.

Craigslist - No matter what you need, chances are, you can probably find it here.

Farecast - Farecast provides predictions and trend analysis for airfares and hotel fees. In their own words, “Know When to Buy™: Our airfare prediction shows if fares are rising or dropping. Based on the prediction, we provide a recommendation to buy now or buy later. Know Where to Stay™: Our Rate Key™ indicates whether or not today's rate for a specific hotel is a deal. It compares an individual hotel's current rate found to its observed historical rates.”

Download - Offers a central location to find free downloads for subjects ranging from antivirus/firewall to audio/video & gaming software.

Pixalo - A great photography site that helps photographers no matter their skill level. It has a community forum were you can get equipment reviews and answers to your questions. The site also offers a free members gallery where you can upload your own photos.

Rutomail - This site is full of links to other sites. The links are organized into various categories including business, lifestyle, and Internet, etc...

Gyminee - A fitness website that allows you to set goals, track your progress, monitor and plan nutrition, and even invite or find new friends to coordinate with.

Roughguides - A pretty good travel website that provides many different ways of researching destinations.

Bugmenot - Type in a website that requires a username and password; Bugmenot provides you with a name and password to use…free. Useful for big websites, not really for obscure ones.

Wikipedia - Another seemingly obvious site…A user-dependant research site. Wikipedia is very adaptive in that you can cruise through a subject by clicking on embedded links to visit related articles and topics. This allows the researcher to see the topic from many different perspectives.

IMDB - Seriously, this is one of the most comprehensive movie information databases on the net. It is very, very thorough.

Torchwood edited versions for the family

2007-12-03T20:35:00.001-08:00

BBC2 is to screen a specially edited pre-watershed version of Dr Who spin-off Torchwood aimed at younger audiences.
Each episode of the show, which moves to the BBC2 from BBC3 for a second series next year, will be repeated with an edited version that is toned down in terms of its violence to make it more family-friendly.
Its creator Russell T Davies has ruled out removing any scenes involving same-sex relationships.
Speaking today at the launch of the second series, Davies said: “We’ll cut the swearing and cut the violence, but no we will not be cutting the kissing, so no story there.”
BBC2 controller Roly Keating said the decision to repeat each episode with a pre-watershed one was prompted by demand from “families and younger viewers”, adding the move meant “everyone can enjoy the new series”.
When the second run starts next year, the regular cast of Torchwood will be joined by Buffy and Angel star James Marsters.
Other actors lined up to make guest appearances throughout the series, which is filmed in Cardiff, include Alan Dale, Richard Briers and Nerys Hughes.
BBC Wales controller Menna Richards said: “The first series of Torchwood was a huge hit with audiences. We’re extremely proud it’s produced in Wales and its success is a reflection of the huge wealth of talent and creativity that exists here.”
When Torchwood was aired on BBC3 last year it achieved the channel’s highest ratings in 2006, with an audience of 2.5 million for the first episode.

Top 10: Free Video Rippers, Encoders and Converters

2007-12-01T16:55:00.001-08:00

So many video file formats, so many handheld video players, so many online video sites, and so little time. To have your favorite clips how you want them—whether that's on your DVR, iPod, PSP or desktop—you need the right utility to convert 'em into the format that works for you. Commercial video converter software's aplenty, but there are several solid free utilities that can convert your video files on every operating system, or if you've just got a web browser and a quick clip. Put DVDs on your iPod, YouTube videos on DVD, or convert any video file with today's top 10 free video rippers, encoders and converters.

10. VLC media player (Open source/All platforms)

Ok, so VLC is a media player, not converter, but if you're watching digital video, it's a must-have—plus VLC can indeed rip DVD's, as well as play ripped discs in ISO format (no actual optical media required.) VLC can also play FLV files downloaded from YouTube et al, no conversion to AVI required. Since there's a portable version, VLC's a nice choice for getting your DVD rips/saved YouTube video watching on wherever you go.

9. MediaCoder (Open source/Windows)
Batch convert audio and video compression formats with the open source Media Coder for Windows, which works with a long laundry lists of formats, including MP3, Ogg Vorbis, AAC, AAC+, AAC+V2, MusePack, WMA, RealAudio, AVI, MPEG/VOB, Matroska, MP4, RealMedia, ASF/WMV, Quicktime, and OGM, to name a few.
8. Avi2Dvd (Freeware/Windows)

Make your video files burnable to a DVD with Avi2Dvd, a utility that converts Avi/Ogm/Mkv/Wmv/Dvd files to Dvd/Svcd/Vcd format. Avi2Dvd can also produce DVD menus with chapter, audio, and subtitle buttons.
7. Videora Converter (Freeware/Windows only)

Videora Converter is a set of programs, each designed to convert regular PC video files into a format tailored to your favorite video-playing handheld device. The Videora program list includes iPod Video Converter (for 5th gen iPods), iPod classic Video Converter (for 6th gen classic iPods), iPod nano Video Converter (for 3rd gen iPod nanos), iPod touch Video Converter, iPhone Video Converter, Videora Apple TV Converter, PSP Video 9, Videora Xbox360 Converter, Videora TiVo Converter, and Videora PMP Converter.
Honorable Mention: Ares Tube for Windows converts YouTube and other online videos to iPod format.

6. Any Video Converter (Freeware/Windows only)

Convert almost all video formats including DivX, XviD, MOV, rm, rmvb, MPEG, VOB, DVD, WMV, AVI to MPEG-4 movie format for iPod/PSP or other portable video device, MP4 player or smart phone with Any Video Converter, which also supports user-defined video file formats as the output. Batch process multiple files that AVC saves to a pre-selected directory folder, leaving the original files untouched.
5. Hey!Watch (webapp)
Web application Hey!Watch converts video located on your computer desktop as well as clips hosted on video sites. Upload your video to Hey!Watch to encode it into a wide variety of file formats, like H264, MP4, WMV, DivX, HD Video, Mobile 3GP/MP4, iPod, Archos and PSP. Hey!Watch only allows for 10MB of video uploads per month for free, and from there you pay for what you use, but it's got lots of neat features for video publishers like podcast feed generation and automatic batch processing with options you set once.
4. VidDownloader (webapp)
When you don't want to mess with installing software to grab that priceless YouTube clip before it gets yanked, head over to web site VidDownloader which sucks in videos from all the big streaming sites (YouTube, Google Video, iFilm, Blip.TV, DailyMotion, etc.), converts 'em for you to a playable format and offers them for download. Other downloaders for online video sites buy you a Flash FLV file, but VidDownloader spits back an AVI file.
3. iSquint (Freeware/Mac OS X only)

Convert any video file to iPod-sized versions and automatically add the results to your iTunes library. iSquint is free, but readers have praised the pay-for iSquint upgrade, VisualHub, which offers more advanced options for a $23 license fee. Check out the feature comparison chart between iSquint and VisualHub.
2. DVD Shrink (Freeware/Windows only)

Copy a DVD to your hard drive and leave off all the extras like bonus footage, trailers and other extras to save space with DVD Shrink. DVD Shrink utility to rip your DVDs to your hard drive for skip-free video play from scratchy optical media.
Honorable mention: DVD Decrypter (beware of advertisement interstitial page), which Windows peeps can use to copy DVDs to their iPods.

1. Handbrake (Open source/Windows, Mac)

Back up your DVD's to digital file with this open source DVD to MPEG-4 converter app. See also how to rip DVDs to your iPod with Handbrake.

What's your favorite way to convert video to the right format? Did I miss any good ones in this list? Let me know in the comments.

'Journeyman' Heading For Axe, Admits Creator

2007-11-29T13:55:00.001-08:00

Journeyman is at risk of being axed due to poor ratings and the current writers' strike, according to the show's creator Kevin Falls.
The man behind NBC's time-travelling series, (which is currently airing on Sky One in the UK) admitted that the 12 episodes currently filmed may be the last. Falls told Premium Hollywood that further production on the show is "a long shot... given the strike and our questionable numbers".
However, Falls added that the twelth episode would function as a finale to Journeyman, which stars British actor Kevin McKidd, best known for his role as Tommy in Trainspotting. "We wrote it in a way so it could be the series-ending show. I mean, it wouldn’t answer every question, but it would give you a lot to chew on.... in the case we would actually go on to a second season, we didn’t want to turn over every card," he said.
Kevin Falls said:
NBC has decided to air the 12th episode (”Perfidia”) on Wednesday, December 19th at ten o’clock. That means our 10th episode will air on Monday the 10th (”Home by Another Way”), the 11th will air on 17th (”The Hanged Man”).
The decision to air the 12th episode had a lot to do with the passion of our fans through SaveJourneyman.net, the online petition and letters and emails to NBC executives.
There’s still no news on our long term future, but we can promise you this: three terrific episodes inside of ten days. Oh, yeah, and you’ll get some answers, too.
Your comments and pro-active attempts to save the show are very much appreciated by me and my fellow Executive Producer Alex Graves, Kevin McKidd and the cast, writers and crew. But more importantly, it’s working.
But don’t rest. We need you. We want a back nine–and beyond.

NBC gives Journeyman two weeks notice!

2007-11-28T21:32:00.001-08:00

We're hearing that the next two weeks are crucial for NBC's Journeyman. While nothing official has been decided, the rumor is that if the Nielsen numbers don't rise for the Nov. 19 and 26 episodes, the network will yank the show, without airing all the episodes produced.
The network is only interested in the live Nielsens, not DVR viewers or downloads, says a show staffer. This is a problem for the show, because the majority of emails the show gets is from fans who watch online. Since ads touting the ability to watch Journeyman for free online are common, that's hardly surprising.
The show staff is hoping for the best, according to our source. "I feel like we take the fan community very seriously. [For example], when Langley appeared on the show, he got a huge response as someone who could give answers, not more questions. We went back and added more of him. We've been loyal to our fanbase."
Now it's time to see if the fanbase will be loyal to the show. Want to help? Check out the Fans of Journeyman Facebook group. Of course, the only way to truly save the show is to watch tonight and next week, and make sure everyone else you know tunes in too.

Tom Cruise to star in 'Doctor Who' episode

2007-11-27T13:57:00.001-08:00

Tom Cruise is set to star in a special episode of hit British TV show 'Doctor Who'.
The 'Lions for Lambs' actor is among a host of top US stars, including Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and Madonna, who the BBC are hoping to get on board for three installments of the British sci-fi series to be filmed next year.
An insider told Britain's Daily Star newspaper, "BBC producers know they can't pay these stars what they are used to, but what they can offer is an exciting role in a real cutting-edge show. And the big stars love that kind of kudos."
'Doctor Who' already has a track record of attracting top stars for cameos. This year's Christmas special, 'Voyage of the Damned', will see Kylie Minogue play a waitress at the 1912 launch party for the famously doomed ocean liner Titanic, which sank after hitting an iceberg on its maiden voyage.
The three 'Doctor Who' specials will be shot in 2008, but will not hit screens until 2009.
The three episodes are rumored to be the final time actor David Tennant will play the time-travelling Doctor.
It is also believed 25-year-old actress Billie Piper - who quit the show in 2006 to pursue other projects - will return to play his sexy sidekick Rose Tyler.

Trek's Sarek Is Cast

2007-11-19T20:26:00.001-08:00

Ben Cross has been cast as Sarek, the Vulcan father of Spock, in J.J. Abrams' upcoming Star Trek feature film, StarTrek.com reported.
He will be paired with Winona Ryder, portraying Spock's human mother, Amanda Grayson. (Variety had earlier incorrectly reported that Ryder would play a Vulcan.) The young Spock will be played by Zachary Quinto.
Sarek was first played by Mark Lenard in the original series and subsequent movies.
The film, currently in production under the direction of J.J. Abrams, is scheduled for release on Christmas Day 2008.

Come on, you scuzzy data, be in there!

2007-11-15T15:05:00.001-08:00

The quest to build the ultimate list of Most Quotable Lines from 80s Movies continues -- with much rejoicing. This has got to be the most enjoyable list to put together. Lots of the old standards coming back to life.

But where are all the sci-fi movie lines? Surely you haven't forgotten the magnetism of Blade Runner or the charisma of James T. Kirk.

Here are some 80s sci-fi lines to consider for our list:

"Judge me by my size, do you?" (The Empire Strikes Back)"Quite an experience to live in fear, isn't it?" (Blade Runner)

"Scotty, I need warp speed in three minutes or we're all dead." (Star Trek 2)

"Game over, man, game over!" (Aliens)

"Terrific. I'm about to get killed a million miles from nowhere with a gung-ho iguana who tells me to relax." (The Last Starfighter)

"Come on, you scuzzy data, be in there." (Tron)

"Bloodshed is my life." (Explorers)

"Khhaaaaan!" (Star Trek 2)

"Why, you stuck up, half-witted, scruffy-looking nerf-herder." (The Empire Strikes Back)

"Time to die!" (Blade Runner)

"Now witness the firepower of this fully ARMED and OPERATIONAL battle station!" (Return of the Jedi)

"Greetings, Program!" (Tron)

"Call me Snake." (Escape from New York)

"Flash, Flash, I love you, but we only have fourteen hours to save the Earth!" (Flash Gordon)

"The sleeper has awakened!" (Dune)

Science Fiction Geek Pick-up Lines!

2007-11-14T21:24:00.001-08:00

Forgive my Kirk-like boldness, but you wanna go back to my mom's place and watch 'Dr. Who'?

You, me, here... this couldn't be any better if I programmed the holodeck myself!

I can't help it -- my eyes are trapped in the gravitational field of your breasts!

Why don't we head to my bedroom, peel back my Star Wars sheets, and discover what a true Jedi can do with his light sabre?

What's a girl like you doing in a place like this when there's a Farscape marathon on right now on the Sci Fi channel.

I've been told I have the cool sexual prowess of a Romulan.

"Urkuk lu Stalga." That's Klingon for "I love you baby."

Once you make love to a man with Vulcan ears on you never go back.

How 'bout I slip into something more comfortable... like these STAR TREK VOYAGER pajamas!

Not only can I beam you aboard, I can beam you a woody.

Someone must have shot you with a phaser set on 'stunning'.

Tell me of this thing you humans call (pause) love.

Your mouth says, 'Shields up!', but your eyes say, 'A hull breach is imminent.'

Earth woman, prepare to be probed!

Nice Asimov.

If you have a great geek pick-up line leave it in the comments, us geeks need all the help we can get.

Top 10 PSP File Sharing Softwares for Windows

2007-11-12T20:19:00.001-08:00

µTorrent is an efficient BitTorrent client, designed for Windows. It needs as little CPU, memory and space as possible and offers good functionality that advanced clients expect. It has most of the features present in other BitTorrent clients. There are various icon, toolbar graphic and status icon replacements available.

StrongDC++ is a free client for sharing in Direct Connect network. It is based on CZDC++ and has partial file sharing, download/upload speed limiter, safe segmented downloading and other interesting features. StrongDC++ is an Open Source so you can download a source code and modify it.

eMule is one of the biggest p2p file sharing clients around the world. It is based on the eDonkey2000 network but offers more features than the standard client. eMule is easy to configure, but also, with many options and controls, good for the advanced user. Thanks to its open source policy many developers are able to contribute to the project, making the network more efficient with each release.

LimeWire is a free file sharing Gnutella client for Windows, Mac, OSX, Linux. It allows you to search for multiple files at the same time and it is compatible with all major platforms and running over the Gnutella network. LimeWire is a fast, easy-to-use and open source code, so is freely available to the public.

Soulseek is an ad-free, spyware-free, just plain free file sharing application. It is good p2p software for finding non-mainstream music. It was created by a former Napster programmer, Nir Arbel. It's virtual rooms allow you to meet people with the same interests, share information, and chat, so it is a great way to make new friends.

Azureus implements the BitTorrent protocol using java language. It comes with many features for both beginners and advanced users. Multiple torrent downloads, upload and download speed limiting, advanced seeding rules, only uses one port for all the torrents, and others. Azureus has many useful plugins and supported languages.

Shareaza is a multi-network peer-to-peer (p2p) file sharing client supporting Gnutella2, Gnutella, eDonkey2000 (eMule), HTTP, FTP and BitTorrent protocols. It has the ability to simultaneously download parts of the same file from multiple networks. Shareaza is the most sophisticated file sharing system you will find on the network.

Ares is a free open source file sharing program that enables users to share any digital file. It has powerful library organizer, built-in audio/video player, filesharing chat rooms. Ares automatically finds more sources and downloads files from many users at once.

BitComet is a BitTorrent client, which is powerful, fast and very easy-to-use. It supports simultaneous downloads, download queuing, selected downloads inside a torrent package, fast-resume, speed limits, port mapping, peer exchange and IP filtering. BitComet available in 43 different languages and the current preview release comes bundled with the BitComet FLV Player.

KCeasy is a windows p2p free and open source file sharing software which uses giFT. Its plugins allow giFT to support different kinds of file sharing networks. KCeasy is giving you all the files on Gnutella, Ares and OpenFT. KCeasy works only on windows but there are similar programs for other platforms.

50 Widgets For Your Blog

2007-11-10T15:00:00.001-08:00

Widgets are a handy, easy and simple way to add some flare to your blog. Whether you’d like to display the number of currently online visitors to your site or simply the weather report for Los Angeles, you can do it with widgets. I’ve assembled a list of 50 useful or simply cool widgets for your pleasure. And remember, the first rule of widgetizing your blog is - don’t overdo it!

MyBlogLog’s Recent Readers - this widget can easily be called a hit amongst blog owners; its popularity even managed to convince Yahoo into buying MyBlogLog. The widget lets you see the avatars of recent visitors to your blog, provided they’re also members of MyBlogLog.

Mashable - get the latest social networking news.

Flickr Flash Photo Stream Badge - display images from your Flickr profile with a handy Flash photo stream.

Preview Anywhere - see a live preview of outgoing links in a small popup which activates on mouseover. Some find this annoying, while others might find it useful.

Twitter Badge - if your life is so interesting that everyone must know what you’re up to all the time, then a Twitter badge is the ideal counterpart to your blog. It’ll proudly displays your recent tweets.

Digg News - display the latest Digg links on your blog. Themeable and fully customizable.

FEEDJIT - real time traffic data directly in your blog’s sidebar.

LineBuzz - inline comments for your blog. Very handy for blogs with frequent lively discussions.

Flixn - display a stream directly from your webcam, so your blog visitors can always see what you’re up to.

3Jam - lets your visitors send messages to your mobile phone, without them knowing your phone number.

Jaxtr - with Jaxtr, your visitors can actually call you to your mobile phone; again, your number stays private.

LinkedInABox - show off your LinkedIn profile. Perfect for personal blogs.

Box Widget - enable visitors to use box.net’s online storage directly on your web site.

Price of gas - displaying gas prices on your blog might seem unnecessary to some, but it’s cool if you have a traffic/travel related blog.

iBegin Weather Widget - Display weather information in your sidebar. Just like with Price of Gas, works great with travel-related blogs.

ClockLink - display time in various time zones with these nifty Flash clocks.

Film Loops - display the latest loops from your FilmLoops account.

Daily Painters - display paintings from famous painters on your blog.

WhoLinked - show your visitors which sites have recently linked to your web site. Works with all major blog platforms.

Criteo AutoRoll - displays links to blogs similar to your blog.

Bitty Browser - embed a cute, fully functional mini web browser to your blog.

Leafletter - create a mini website and embed it into your blog.

WikiSeek - search Wikipedia with this simple widget.

FeedCount - show off the number of visitors to your blog with this handy little button.

Technorati Link Count - display the number of links your website has from one of the biggest blog authorities - Technorati.

MyPageRank - another good way to show how “big” your blog is is to show off your Google PageRank.

CheckPageRank - in addition to showing your PageRank, this widget also shows your Alexa ranking.

BlinkxIt - embed a link to related videos directly into your website.

Skype button - display your Skype online/offline status on your blog.

RockYou Horoscope - not something I would personally use, but some people are into horoscope. Hell, most people are into horoscope. Anyway, this widget shows horoscope (doh!) and does it in a nicely designed colorful box.

del.icio.us Tagometer - display how many times have del.icio.us users saved your page.

del.icio.us Linkrolls - this badge shows your latest bookmarks from del.icio.us.

Timelines - need to create a timeline? Seek no further. This widget makes it really easy.

PollDaddy - PollDaddy lets you create beautiful polls in no time, and display them at your blog.

Vizu - another poll-making widget, compatible with all major blog platforms.

AnswerTips - display definitions from Answers.com for various terms on your blog. The definitions are shown in bubbles which are activated on doubleclick.

AnswerBoxes - give your visitors a chance to enter a term themselves, and get a definition from Answers.com

Now Playing - if you got to share your current playlist contents with the world, Sigamp will do the trick. Works with most popular music players, including Foobar, Winamp, iTunes and others.

BuzzBoost - display headlines from your RSS feed on any website.

LibraryThing - show off the latest books you’ve been reading.

Plaxo Address Book - let your most faithful visitors access their address books direclty from your site.

AuctionAds - a widget that displays auctioned items on eBay, and gives you a percentage of the price paid when sometimes buys an item.

aStore - similar to AuctionAds, only for Amazon. Create a mini-store on your site and receive profit when someone buys an item through your store.

Plazes - show your current location on a Plazes map.

Stockalicious - track your portfolio with this widget, and share it with others. Let everyone know how much money you’ve lost.

Yahoo! For Good - create a charity badge and ask for donations for a worthy cause.

Giftspace - your friends never know what to buy you for birthday? Let them know what you really want with this nifty widget.

MixMap - see where are the visitors to your MySpace profile from on a map.

Google Map Widget - display a searchable Google Map on your website.

Google Video Search - add a video search form and selected videos to your web site.

Odeo player - display an Odeo player for and podcast right there in your sidebar.

Doctor Who Daily

2007-11-05T16:03:00.001-08:00

Doctor Who Daily
http://www.drwhodaily.com/main/index.php

Official news and tantalizing gossip on Doctor Who, Torchwood and the newest Who-based spinoff, The Sarah Jane Adventures, is the stock in trade at Doctor Who Daily. Run by devoted fans of the long-running 1963 series and its successful new incarnation, this site is an upbeat gathering place where web surfers can discuss the show, participate in polls, download screen grabs and generally celebrate the 2005 revival of one of SF's best-loved TV programs.

As its name suggests, Doctor Who Daily features a frequently updated news blog that tracks guest-star and other casting announcements, official BBC press releases, story rumors, award nominations and even the release of media tie-in products for the show. Site visitors can explore the ever-expanding gallery of images of the Doctor and his various companions and watch previews of upcoming episodes. In the site's discussion forums, members chew over Who news together, reacting to new episodes as they air. Spoilers are clearly marked, and the atmosphere is chatty but never overcrowded.
Boasting as it does one of the best-established and most loyal fan communities in the genre, Doctor Who has naturally inspired any number of Web pages. Some of these try to offer a little of everything to visitors. Doctor Who Daily's focus, on the other hand, is more specialized; it is very much a site for talkative aficionados of the program. There is nothing wrong with its news blog or other features, but the discussion forums are the real heart of this site. For Whovians looking to share a spirited conversation about any portion of the Doctor's long and colorful history, the regulars at Doctor Who Daily are a ready, willing and welcoming community of fellow travelers.

Cyberman Voice Changer

2007-11-04T19:25:00.001-08:00

The morose metal men may have lost their emotions, but it's easy to get emotional about a toy so cool it could easily be mistaken for an original prop

Cyberman Voice Changer
By Character Options and Underground Toys
MSRP: $50-$70

The planet of Mondas had left the orbit of its sun, and its inhabitants decided that to survive the increasing cold they had to exchange some of their humanoid parts for mechanical devices. The last to go were their emotions. Emotionless machine-humans, they managed to make a propulsion system for their planet, which they led on a conquering mission. This was the premise of an early episode of the classic British TV science fiction program Doctor Who. These recurring villains have returned over and over during the series' original 26-year run, changing a little with each new episode they've starred in.

I'll be surprised if this isn't one of this year's favorite Halloween masks ...

In 2005, the series returned under new direction after 16 years of absence as a weekly TV series. In season two of the new series (considered by fans season 28), this old enemy of the Doctor returned again in a newer, sleeker form to fan applause everywhere. While the new Cybermen differed from the originals by being created by a human on an Earth in an alternative universe, their fundamentals remained more or less the same—they were cybernetic humans whose emotions had been removed.
After having created several nice action figures based on these metallic villains, in both 7-inch and 12-inch scales, U.K.-based Character Options has created a wonderful almost-full-head mask of the newly designed Cyberman, which repeats actual sound clips from the new TV series and modulates your own voice into Cyberspeak.
This Voice Changer mask is molded from solid plastic and fits most heads, from small to large. Three buttons on the side of the helmet perform three separate tasks. One fires the Electronic Stun Grip sound, another plays one of nine phrases from the TV series in that dreaded cyber-voice, and the third modulates your voice to simulate that voice.
The helmet operates with two included AA batteries, and it lights up with blue LEDs just like the Cybermen from Doctor Who.
You will like us—and become like us

This Cyberman Helmet is quite attractive. It is molded beautifully to capture each and every feature of the newly re-envisioned version of the Doctor's second-most-sinister cybernetic enemy (they have to take a back seat to the evil Daleks, I'm afraid). These helmets look good enough to actually be used in the show. There are no exaggerated features or extra junk thrown on (with the exception of the three small buttons on the left jawline). If the helmet had a complete back (it is open enough at the rear to fit a head inside), it could easily be mistaken for an original prop.
The helmet is meant to fit most sizes of head using an adjustable head strap such as you'd find in sports or construction helmets. Fitting a head inside the gap is not difficult, though if you wear glasses it becomes a chore. Best to remove those before donning the Cyber-helm. The nose fits against a rubber guard that allows for a comfortable fit. Just at the mouth is a recessed microphone. Pushing the center button then modulates anything spoken into the microphone. The sound is accompanied by a blue LED lighting up in an effect that accurately captures a speaking Cyberman.
The voice modulator can't cover your speech, so some of your natural voice leaks out, but it does alter it and the speaker sends out the altered voice. The effect is good overall. There is a slide switch that controls the pitch of the modulation, so different voices can use different settings to achieve the same Cyberman sound.
If I have one complaint about this item, it is the fact that it isn't constructed from two pieces like the Darth Vader voice changer (previously reviewed). If a rear section of the helmet could have snapped to the front, concealing the entire head, it probably would have been a bit nicer. But that would make it harder to put on and take off. Erring on the side of easy functionality was probably a good idea.
I'll be surprised if this isn't one of this year's favorite Halloween masks in the U.K., and now that Underground Toys is distributing the Character Options toys here in North America, perhaps you'll see a few here too.
So this Halloween, prepare to be upgraded ... or deleted.

When the first pictures of the new Cyberman were released prior to season 28, fans were universally excited. The re-envisioning of this old foe was very well executed. I, for one, was just as excited to see the nice job Character Options did re-creating the new look of this old villain. As for its use as a Halloween mask, visibility is limited in the helmet, as you only have the plastic eyes to see from. Proper strap adjustment will maximize visibility, but even then it is very limiting. As with any Halloween mask, be very careful using it, as limited vision can cause accidents. —Sean

OPEN SOURCE GOD: 480+ Open Source Applications

2007-10-23T13:41:00.001-07:00

Open source software is booming: here we round up over 480 open source applications for you to use or build upon.

Feel free to add more apps in the comments.

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Accounting

Adaptive Planning Express - An open source solution enabling medium sized companies to automate budgeting and forecasting by moving beyond traditional applications like Excel.

Buddi - A simple budgeting program for users with no financial background.

CheckItOut - A Ruby on Rails application to manage personal money accounts.

FrontAccounting - A professional web-based accounting system for ERP chain; written in PHP with use of MySQL.

GFP - A free java based personal finance manager with the ability to run on any operating system.

GnuCash - Open source financial accounting software to manage personal and small business expenses and incomes.

Gnumeric - A free spreadsheet program for the GNOME desktop providing several customization features and import/export facility from other spreadsheet programs.

Grisbi - Grisbi is an open source personal finance manager developed to run on any platform and suit the needs of all users.

jGnash - jGnash is an open source personal finance manager that will help you monitor and keep track of your accounts, including investments.

KmyMoney - Easy to use, accurate open source personal finance manager built to suit the needs of non-technical users. It provides all the features available in a commercial application.

Librepos - A multi-user POS application designed for touch screens, customer displays and barcode scanners.

NOLA - An integrated, all-in-one package for an organization’s inventory, POS, accounting, contact management, billing etc.

TurboCASH - Flexible small business accounting software fulfilling the major needs of any business.

Content Management Systems

80 + Open Source Content Management Systems - A complete roundup of Open Source CMSs from Mashable.

CRM (Customer Relationship Management)

Anteil - Cost effective open source solution for managing and improving customer relationships.

CitrusDB - CitrusDB is a PHP & MySQL based open source customer database solution.

CiviCRM - The world’s first downloadable constituent relationship management system; fund raising software that allows users to manage information about donors, volunteers etc.

Compiere - Offers integrated ERP and CRM suite that enables users to automate the financial, distribution and other needs of their businesses.

Daffodil CRM - Organized and effective way of managing cost-effective customer relationships.

Hipergate - Serving developers, consultants and enterprises to assist them in project management, sales force automation and customer relationship management.

IGSuite - A web-based integrated CRM suite that includes solutions like mailing lists, calendar, contact management and task lists.

Keen CRM/ERP - An advanced, feature packed, comprehensive customer relationship management solution for small companies.

Ohioedge CRM - Ohioedge CRM is an enterprise level open source CRM solution.

OpenCRM - OpenCRM is an open source CRM solution for tracking clients and project management.

OpenCRX - A cross platform professional CRM solution with bug tracking and activity management features.

SellWinCRM - An open source CRM project giving a high level of customization for customers.

SourceTap CRM - SourceTap CRM is a flexible sales force automation solution developed to meet the requirements of sales managers and representatives.

SugarCRM - An open source CRM solution allowing users to track opportunities and manage existing customers while keeping a check on other activities.

Turquoise CRM - Lightweight CRM software built over LAMP with Business Intelligence functionality.

Tustena CRM - Tustena is an enterprise level open source CRM solution written in C#.

vtiger CRM - Built over LAMP/WAMP, Vtiger provides excellent business enhancement utilities and is compatible with multiple platforms.

XRMS CRM - XRMS is an advanced level open source CRM solution that includes a Business Intelligence suite and advanced plugin architecture.

Desktop Environments/ Shell replacements

bbLean - A new version of Blackbox for Windows.

BlackBox For Windows - An alternative shell for Windows that is based stylistically on the Blackbox window manager for the X Window system.

Blueberry 3D-Desktop - Made using Delphi; its main objective is a 3D OPENGL engine in replacement of the Windows desktop.

CyGNOME - A nice tool which ports GNOME desktop to Windows.

DM2 - Provides useful enhancements for Windows in daily work like minimizing windows to floating icons, freeing the taskbar etc.

Geoshell - A shell replacement for Windows that replaces the standard desktop interface items like start menu, taskbar, system tray etc.

KDE-Cygwin - KDE’s port in Windows desktop environment.

LiteStep - A powerful Windows shell replacement under GPL and inspired by AfterStep.

SharpEnvironment - A tool that enables users to personalize every pixel of visible space and customize a single theme in multiple ways with real-time wallpaper effects, icon sets etc.

Virtual Dimension - A fast and fully featured virtual desktop manager that acts as an enhancement to the Windows manager.

xoblite / Blackbox for Windows - An advanced level Blackbox for Windows that is integrated with a system bar.

Email Clients

Columba - A java based email client featuring a user friendly graphical interface.

Daffodil Organizer - Highly flexible way to organize emails; includes import facility from Microsoft Outlook.

Evolution - More popularly billed as the Outlook of Linux, its calendar, address book and other features make it a good option as an email client.

ICEMail - Open source java client with support for the latest email standards.

Mahogany - Cross platform email client supporting UNIX and Win32 platforms.

Mutt - A small and powerful text based email client for UNIX operating systems.

Penelope - The open source version of Eudora currently under beta and planned for full release by this year.

Phoenix Mail - One of the older open source email clients developed using Borland Delphi.

Sylpheed-Claws - An open source email client with an interface similar to Outlook Express; works as an RSS feed reader too.

Thunderbird - A secure email client with several customization options to fit the user’s needs.

Zimbra - Zimbra is currently one of the biggest names in open source, and is the future collaborating and messaging software. Now owned by Yahoo.

Encoding, Conversion & Ripping Tools

Alba Extractor - Alba Extractor is a useful utility for wrapping various mp3 files into one unit for ease of sharing on programs like NapShare etc.

Audacity - Audacity is an open source, cross platform audio editor and is a good solution for creating and editing podcasts.

Avidemux - A free video editor for tasks like cutting and filtering; has support for file types like AVI, DVD etc.

AviSynth - A powerful tool for editing and processing videos.

BonkEnc - A useful application for ripping CDs, encoding and converting audio files to various formats. Users can produce mp3, mp4, FLAC files to name a few.

CD-DA X-Tractor - An open-source CD ripper for 32-bit windows platforms that offers extremely high quality.

CDex - A popular open source digital audio CD extractor.

DivFix - DivFix is a utility for watching partially downloaded DivX movies.

DivXRepair - Based on the VirtualDub model, it cuts off the bad parts and re-assembles the AVI file.

Dr. DivX - The goal of Dr. DivX open source project is to create a portable application with the capability of transcoding many video formats.

DScaler - The DScaler project is an effort to receive top quality videos from Windows computers.

DVD2AVIdg/MPEG2DECdg Decoding Fix - An MPEG decoder suite used for decoding MPEG1 or MPEG2 streams from sources such as DVD VOBs.

DVDx - Popular DVD backup software that converts DVDx movies to high quality DVD movies.

FFmpeg - A complete recording, conversion and streaming solution for audio and video.

GiantDisc - GiantDisc is an open source software package designed to manage thousands of audio tracks.

GNUMP3d - Open source server for streaming mp3s and media.

Gordian Knot - Gordian Knot is an integrated Bit rate calculator package tool for Divx/XviD encoding.

GramoFile - A CD recording utility running on Linux and some other operating systems like UNIX. It enables users to put sounds from gramophone records on CD.

HGRip - A one click solution for converting DVD to XVID files.

JMAC - JMAC is an open source Java implementation library of Monkey’s Audio compression decoder.

LAME - LAME is an MP3 encoder.

Mixere - Mixere is a free, open-source application for mixing audio files. It runs on Windows NT/2000/XP, and supports WAV, AIFF, MP3, Ogg Vorbis, FLAC and Mod audio files.

MMConvert - A multimedia format converter useful for converting media files from one format like AVI/WMV to another format.

mpgtx - A command line MPEG audio/video toolbox useful for joining audio and video files which include MP3, MPEG1, MPEG2 etc.

Mp3splt - A terrific utility to split MP3 and Ogg files from anywhere without decoding.

Mp3Wrap - A useful alternative to wrap two or more mp3 files into a single large mp3 without the loss of file names and other information.

Musepack - A high quality audio compression format.

MusicBrainz Tagger - Provides a database to create a comprehensive music information site. It can be accessed via the client or the internet.

NanDub + BRC - NanDub+BRC includes a bitrate calculator and offers users several advantages as their need for opening separate pieces of software is eliminated.

Open Sound World - A scalable programming environment allowing musicians, researchers and sound engineers to process sound.

OptimFROG - OptimFROG is a zipping utility for audio compression programs; used to reduce the size of audio files.

ShrinkTo5 - A cross platform open source DVD copy engine; allows users to create copies.

SmartRipper - A useful utility for extracting DVD VOB files; loaded with nice features for splitting VOB files, angle processing etc.

Taksi - Taksi allows users to take screenshots and record videos of favorite games and 3D-graphics applications.

Virtual VCR - A compact video capture application designed to work with TV tuner and video capture cards.

WavPack - WavPack is a high quality audio compression format and provides lossless compression.

YAAI - One of the best tools to display information about AVI files; enables users to see data like framerate, used codes, author information etc.

ERP

ADempiere Bazaar - Adempiere is a community for open source developers contributing improvements of various applications like Compiere, Helpdesk and Supply Chain etc.

JERPA - JERPA is a Java based advanced level architecture model for ERP software.

JFire - An exchange platform including ERP, CRM and accounting written in Java.

Openbravo ERP - A web based ERP for small and medium enterprises; built on proven MVC architecture facilitating code maintenance and customization.

opentaps - An open source ERP and CRM suite including eCommerce, inventory, warehouse, ledger etc.

Postbooks - A fully integrated ERP solution for small and medium businesses; features a graphical client which runs on Linux, Mac and Windows.

Plazma - Plazma is a Java based ERP and CRM solution.

Sequoia Open Source ERP - The flexible ERP software from Sequoia brings advanced features and scalability for enterprise software along with low TCO.

Tiny ERP - Packed with features like GTK2 client, distributed server, dynamic GUI.

Value - Value is an open source ERP/CRM system and features modular capabilities along with seamless integration.

webERP - webERP is flexible integrated business management software that covers accounts receivable, accounts payable, inventory management and other accounting requirements.

Wyatt - Wyatt is a cross platform ERP package written in Java with J2EE compliance.

Filesharing & FTP

ABC - An enhanced client for the BitTorrent file sharing protocol.

Ares - A file sharing utility enabling users to share digital files like images, audio, video, software and documents.

Azureus - Java enabled BitTorrent protocol packed with special features for beginners and advanced users.

BT++ - An advanced version of the BitTorrent peer-to-peer file sharing protocol with cross-platform support; written in Python.

Cabos - Cabos has an intuitive user interface and is a Gnutella file sharing program based on Limewire.

CoreFTP - A FTP program that enables uploading/downloading/deletion of files and directories, integration with browser, file permission handling etc.

cURL - A command line utility allowing file transfer via FTP, LDAP etc. Users can also use the GET and PUT methods for file downloading and uploading.

Cyberduck - An open source FTP client with support for drag and drop, uploading and downloading, remote file transfer etc.

DC++ - Windows based open source client for unrestricted file sharing over the internet.

eMule-Project.net - A reliable and trusted peer-to-peer file sharing application allowing users to connect from different clients.

FileZilla - FileZilla is a free, fast and reliable open source FTP solution for Windows.

Freenet Project - A free and secure decentralized network of information publishers and consumers.

FrostWire - A completely open source peer to peer client; features community chat room and iTunes integration.

Fugu - An open source graphical front end for secure file transfer; provides support for Mac operating system.

G3 Torrent - A BitTorent client written in Python.

Gnucleus - One of the oldest Windows based open source peer to peer file sharing clients related to Gnutella.

HeavyMole - An advanced level peer to peer file sharing application with features like distributed chat, filtering of answers and advanced query language.

iFTP - i.FTP is a Windows FTP client that comes with source code. There is also an earlier version for BeOS that works with portable media like USB keys.

JFtp - JFtp is a graphical Java network and file transfer client.

KazaaSearch - Search for music, software, images & video with this powerful peer to peer file sharing client.

KCeasy - The windows version of giFT filesharing system that also offers support for other filesharing networks.

Krimpy - An IRC based (internet relay chat) open source file sharing client enabling users to share music, pictures, videos and other files.

Lime Wire - A multi-platform Gnutella file sharing client enabling users to share their files, download MP3s and other audio files.

MLdonkey - 100% open source cross-platform P2P client running on Linux, UNIX, Windows and Mac.

MUTE - A secure, peer to peer file sharing network with easy search and download functionality.

MyNapster - Comes with connection capability to Gnutella for file sharing, IRC for chatting and supports resumption & multithreading of downloads.

NetMess - Has the ability to detect clones and work through HTTP proxy and firewalls.

Prozilla- An open source Linux download accelerator that provides download support via HTTP and FTP protocols.

Shareaza - A flexible file sharing system consolidating features from four different networks: EDonkey2000, Gnutella, BitTorrent, Gnutella2.

TAC2 - Expanded as Tango & Catch 2 (TAC2), works as a search engine independent client for searching on Linux and Windows.

TorrentSpy - Gives BitTorrent power-users all the information in one place along with real time ability to monitor the number of live users.

Waste - Secure collaboration tool allowing idea & data sharing between users through a chat interface.

WinSCP - Another open source SFTP & FTP client for Windows; provides safe file copying between local and remote computers.

XNap - Written in Java, XNap provides a plug-in enabled framework and client for P2P applications.

Graphics-Design & Modeling Tools

Ajax Image Editor - Open source image editor using PHP.

ArgoUML - ArgoUML is a popular open source UML modeling tool compatible with any Java platform.

Avidemux - A simple video editor with support for DVD/DivX conversion and editing.

Blender - 3D animation and modeling suite with various tools for modeling.

Bluefish - A powerful editor for programmers and web designers enabling them to write websites, scripts and programming code.

BRL-CAD - An open source CAD system centered on constructive solid geometry (CSG) modelling.

Cinelerra - A professional open source video editing tool with features for capturing, editing and compositing.

CinePaint - Professional graphical editing application targeted towards the movie industry.

Cornice - Cross platform image viewer initially developed for Linux; similar in functionality to ACDSee.

Dia - Open source drawing tool for UML diagrams, similar in functionality to ‘Visio’.

Flowchart Studio - Allows the user to draw a flowchart through graphical editor.

F-Spot - A feature rich personal photo management application for GNOME desktops.

Gaphor - Simple modeling environment that enables users to create intuitive UML diagrams for documentation purposes.

Gimp - The oldest, and most famous, open source graphic application with over 100 plug-ins and powerful paint tools.

Gimpshop - Gimpshop changes menus and dialogs in a manner similar to its competitor, Photoshop.

GQview - A lightweight image viewer with easy navigation, zoom and thumbnail preview features.

i.Mage - i.Mage is a handy graphics editor featuring easy pixel & image editing.

ImageMagick - Allows for the creation, editing and composition of bitmap images.

imgSeek - imgSeek is a photo management and viewing application with search support.

Imgv - An open source, feature rich image viewer providing support for a variety of image formats.

Inkscape - An open source vector graphics editor similar in functionality to Illustrator. It provides support for all drawing features like any commercial product.

Inquisitor - A fast visual web picture ripper, downloader and offline browser.

Jahshaka - Powerful open source movie editor with real time media playback and visual effects.

Karbon - Part of the open source KOffice suite, makes a great choice as a vector drawing application.

Kino - An open source non-linear video editor that comes with easy importing of DV video and provides video and audio transition effects.

khtml2png - A command line utility for creating PNG and JPEG images out of web pages.

Krita - An open source image editing and painting program with advanced features.

KToon - 2D animation toolkit with focus towards animation industry.

NVU - A complete cross platform web authoring system which makes it very simple to create web pages and manage a website without any technical expertise.

OpenLaszlo - An excellent development environment for web applications as it can generate Macromedia and AJAX files for webpage use.

Paint.NET - .NET based open source bitmap application with an intuitive user interface for drawing and editing.

Page Scavenger - A simple Windows application useful for downloading images from free hosting services via webpage links.

Pixie - Open source RenderMan renderer.

Potrace - An open source project useful for converting bitmap images to raster or vector drawings.

QCad Community Edition - A simple, easy to use open source 2D CAD application.

Quanta Plus - A feature rich web development environment.

Seashore - A basic open source image editor with simple functionality and features.

Scribus - Open source cross-platform desktop publishing application.

Skencil - A flexible open source, interactive vector drawing application for illustrations, diagrams and other purposes.

Synfig - An open source 2d vector animation program for artists to assist them with making cartoons.

UFRaw - Unidentified Flying Raw is an open source photo converter that can be used as a standalone application or as a plug-in.

VirtualDub - An open source video capture and processing utility with basic features.

Violet - Violet is an easy to learn and use open source UML editor.

Xara Xtreme - Powerful, general purpose graphics application for Linux and other UNIX platforms.

Media Players

AlsaPlayer - AlsaPlayer is a new type of PCM player for Linux/Unix featuring fully pluggable framework for various media types.

Amarok - Audio player for Linux.

Cog - Quite often referred to as a potential iTunes alternative; an interesting open source audio player with support for various formats.

Coolplayer - A fast audio player for the Win32 environment.

Delphamp - Delphi based open source media player. Like a Winamp clone, also features support for Winamp skins.

DigitalDJ - DigitalDJ is a front-end MP3 player based on SQL. It can create playlists and manage CD databases in MP3 format.

Foobar2000 - Advanced level Windows based audio player with support for Unicode and popular audio formats.

Gamp - Gamp is a Gnome audio player written in C and includes support for MP3, Ogg, vorbis etc.

Grip - Grip is a CD-player and ripper for the Gnome desktop, and features an automated front end for MP3 encoders.

Guliverkli - Its interface is similar to Windows media player, however it also offers advanced features like switching of audio streams in mp4 files.

HelixPlayer - An open source media player for various operating systems like Linux, Solaris and Symbian.

Juice - Juice is a premier podcast receiver and allows users to capture and receive podcasts anytime.

Media Player Classic - An advanced version of Windows Media Player 6.4; offers features like real time zoom, support for AVI subtitles and support for QuickTime and Real video.

Mixxx - An open source DJ mixing tool, very useful for professional and amateur DJs.

Miro - The only video player which provides you with the option to download YouTube videos, play video files and play live Internet TV.

MPlayer - Written in Python; one of the best media players under the GNU-GPL license.

MP3Gain - MP3Gain assists users by normalizing the volume of mp3 files; it also does statistical analysis to determine the loudness of a file to the human ear.

musikCube - MP3 player based on embedded SQL database engine and packed with innovative features.

NotifyCD - NotifyCD is a small system tray based CDDB supporting CD player for Windows 9x/NT/2000.

OggPlay - OggPlay is an open source audio player for smart phones.

Plainamp - Plainamp is an open source media player for Microsoft Windows.

SnackAmp - A music player running on multiple platforms; features a web server and powerful playlist.

Songbird - Songbird is a multi-utility open source application; acts as a desktop web player, a jukebox, and a web browser.

SysTrayPlay - Also known as STP, ths is a small MP3 player program with a grey button in the taskbar that occupies very little memory.

VLC media player - Highly portable cross platform multimedia player & streaming server with support for variety of audio and video formats.

Vorbis.com - Open source professional audio encoding and streaming technology.

XboxMediaPlayer - XboxMediaPlayer is an open source multimedia player from Microsoft useful for viewing various video/audio/picture files like VOB, AVI, MP3 etc.

xine - Xine is an open source multimedia player for playing CDs, DVDs and streaming multimedia over the internet.

Zinf - Powerful and effective audio player for Linux and Windows. Supports various file formats such as MP3, Ogg and WAV and also features a download manager and a music browser.

Messengers & Communication Clients

Adium - Mac OS X open source instant messaging client that aggregates the popular IM networks.

aMSN - MSN Messenger’s open source clone for Linux users.

Ayttm - Ayttm is an instant messaging client with all-in-one chat functionality for major instant messaging services.

Coccinella - A Jabber client with integrated whiteboard features; includes features like file transfer, multi-user chat etc.

Kopete - Part of KDE desktop; a wonderful instant messaging application with voice and video capabilities.

Gaim - A very flexible instant messaging application compatible with Linux and Windows offering support for AIM, ICQ, MSN, Yahoo and others.

Ineen - Ineen is a feature loaded open source audio and video conferencing desktop tool.

IRSIM - Uses PHP and mySQL and provides interaction with multiple messaging clients.

Java Jabber Server - A nice open source Java implementation of Jabber instant messenger.

Kopete - Kopete is a flexible instant messenger and multi protocol system with support for AIM, Yahoo, IRC and MSN.

Licq - A C++ based multi-threaded ICQ clone; uses an extensive plug-in system.

MIMP - Mobile version of IMP; functionality includes mailbox viewing, message viewing, deletion or composition of new messages.

Miranda IM - Fast and handy multi-protocol messenger for Windows.

Openfire & Spark - Real time cross-platform IM client and server based on Jabber protocol.

Pidgin - Covers multiple protocols including AIM, ICQ, MSN, IRC, Jabber etc.

PlanetaMessenger.org - Java based open source instant messenger offering plug-in support for various IM networks.

Psi-im - An open source instant messaging client developed for Jabber. Has communication capabilities with AIM, MSN and ICQ etc.

SIM-IM (SIM Instant Messenger) - Free software package providing plug-in based messaging with support for various protocols.

Spark - Open source instant messenger with integrated support for group chat, telephony and security.

TjK - A portal based open source version of AOL Instant Messenger, originally developed for UNIX users.

Tkabber - Open source client for Jabber instant messaging and works on many platforms e.g. Linux, Windows and Mac etc.

WengoPhone - WengoPhone is a popular VOIP soft-phone client for making free PC-to-PC calls over the internet.

XChat - An IRC chat client for both Windows and Linux.

Yafumato Web Messenger - A web-based open source client allowing users to connect to AIM, Gtalk, MSN and Yahoo.

PDF drivers & Tools

CC PDF Converter - Enables users to convert Word, Excel, IE and any other file formats to PDF.

Evince - Evince is a document viewer with support for multiple document formats including PDF.

Jarnal - Jarnal is an open-source application enabling annotation of a document.

okular - A universal document viewer based on KPDF for KDE.

PDFCreator - Create PDF files from just about any Windows utility.

PDF Download - A Firefox extension for improving your surfing experience. A click on a PDF file link enables you to view it inside or outside Firefox.

Pdftk - Pdftk is a command line utility allowing users to merge PDF documents, split PDF documents and do many other things.

qvPDF - Windows based PDF creator implemented as a printer driver.

Sumatra PDF - A simple and fast application to view PDF files.

Xpdf - An open source PDF viewer for the UNIX operating system. Also works under Windows as a command line tool.

Personal Information & Task Managers

Aethera - Aethera is a PIM application with communication features like send/receive email, send/receive tasks and appointment requests etc.

Chandler - Turns your inbox into a task list.

KAddressBook - An address book application for the K Desktop environment.

Kontact - Supports news, email, calendars, to-do list; a personal information manager for KDE.

KOrganizer - A personal organizer of the KDE desktop environment; has the ability to manage calendars and to do list.

Nag - Nag is a task list manager for multiple users and allows them to create many task lists which can be shared between users and groups.

OneOrZero - Easy to customize cross platform, enterprise level task management and help desk solution.

OpenSync - Open source synchronization framework for managing PIM data such as contacts, calendar, tasks and notes.

PTM - An open source time tracking tool.

Task Blocks - A simple task scheduling application to ensure that user tasks do not overlap.

Task Coach - Task Coach is an open source personal task manager providing features to deal with complex tasks.

TaskFreak - Simple web-based task manager written in PHP.

Total Text Container - An open source information manager; stores notes, passwords, images, calendar events etc.

Project Management

Achievo - Easy to use and customize open source web-based project management application for business environments.

AgileTrack - Java based application for monitoring and tracking activities in a software development environment.

ASTS - A set of web based management tools for recording project activities and tasks.

Austin - A command line utility for manipulating project timelines in XML.

dotproject - Open source Project Management application developed and supported by a group of volunteers.

Double Choco Latte - A basic project management application used to track the history of work orders, projects, accounts etc.

eHour - User friendly web-based tool for keeping track of time based activities; ideal for consulting companies.

FreeMind - A mind mapping application useful for brainstorming sessions.

FUTURe - A time management application for individuals and groups.

Ganttproject - Written in Java, and using XML file format; enables project planning through a Gantt chart.

JIRA - JIRA is a project management & task achievement application for making team processes easy.

jxProject.com - Cross platform project management tool with sharing options.

IPM - A simple project management application built in PHP4 and requiring Apache 1.3x and MySQL.

Memoranda - For users handling multiple projects on a daily basis Memoranda is an ideal tool.

NetOffice - An online project management application for managing tasks, projects, team tracking and collaboration between teams.

Open Workbench - Excellent Windows-based application providing project scheduling functionality for enterprise users.

Planner - Project management tool for the Gnome desktop that is useful for project scheduling, planning and tracking.

phpCollab - An open-source internet-collaboration tool for project teams allowing them to share information amongst each other.

project-open - A web-based project management system for small consulting and service companies. Covers sales, project planning, collaboration and CRM.

Projectory - Projectory is an open source web based project management tool for tracking software projects through development phases.

Projman - A project management tool for reading project descriptions and their scheduled tasks.

Rapla - Highly configurable event and resource management application primarily targeted towards universities.

Taskjuggler - A powerful tool with redefined approach towards project planning activities, taking it far beyond the commonly available tools for Gantt charts.

Trac - Wiki and issue management system for software development projects.

TrackIt - An open source web based project tracking tool to maximize flexibility and customization.

TUTOS - Organization management tool for satisfying the requirements of small groups, teams and departments.

User Story .NET - A tool for extreme programming projects in user story tracking.

WebCollab - An easy to use collaborative project management system enabling users to work together.

WebPBC - Web-based project management tool for small businesses to do budget allocation of projects.

XPlanner - Another web-based project management tool for eXtreme programming (XP) software development practices.

Reporting Tools

BIRT Project - An Eclipse-based reporting system.

DataVision - A reporting tool that works with any database and generates customized reports.

Jasper Reports - A leading open source reporting engine delivering rich screen content and printer into various file formats: PDF, HTML and XLS etc.

JERT - JavaEye Reporting Tool is a web-based database reporting tool with sharing features. It enables users to create flexible reports without any programming knowledge.

iReport - iReport is an easy to use visual report builder designed and written purely in Java.

openi.org - Pronounced as “open eye”, this is a web-based open source OLAP reporting tool enabling organizations of different sizes to manage and organize their data.

OpenSMART - Similar to Tivoli, a monitoring and data reporting tool for servers.

Pentaho - Open source business intelligence tool enabling organizations to operate more effectively by providing reporting, analysis, workflow capabilities.

Rapid - I - Offers all types of data mining services (from analysis to customization) helping customers to improve their profitability and efficiency.

SpagoBI - Focused business intelligence solution for the enterprise providing complete set of analytics (e.g. reporting, data mining, dashboards etc.)

xTuple - Open source SQL report writer compatible with Windows, Linux and Mac.

RSS

Aggie - Aggie is a desktop based open-source news aggregator that downloads the latest news in a webpage.

AmphetaDesk - A cross platform, open source news aggregator that downloads news items on the user’s desktop.

BlogBridge - A powerful and flexible desktop based open source feed reader for Windows, Linux and Mac.

BottomFeeder - RSS news aggregator client written in Smalltalk and compatible with Linux, Windows, Mac and Solaris.

Gregarious - A web-based RSS/RDF/Atom feed reader designed for users to run on their own web server.

JRssReader - A fast, Java based RSS & RDF reader; offers compatibility with multiple platforms.

NewsFeed - Flexible RSS/RDF/Atom aggregator for different operating systems like Linux, MacOS and FreeBSD.

NRss - an “open source Microsoft .NET Framework / Mono class library for reading a RSS feed into a tree of objects mapped to elements in the RSS feed.”

RSSOwl - Java-based open source news reader.

Syndirella - Syndirella is an open source desktop information aggregator providing a user friendly environment for reading information from multiple sources or feeds.

ThinFeeder - Very powerful and tiny open source aggregator for RSS/Atom developed in Java language.

System Utilities

7-Zip - High-compression open source archive utility for Windows with support for 7z, ZIP, GZIP, TAR files etc.

Amanda - Network backup solution.

Bacula - Set of open source computer programs for managing network backup system for Linux/Unix, Mac and Windows clients.

BiGZip - Free compression utility based in Java.

Burn - An open-source CD and DVD burning application allowing users to create audio, data and video disks in different file formats.

CamStudio - Open screen casting application allowing users to capture audio and video and store it later for playback.

CDRDAO - Open-source tool with advanced features for recording audio or data CDs.

coLinux - Cooperative Linux allows users to run Linux parallel to Windows on any machine.

Cream - An open source text editor with interactive user interface, pull-down menus etc.

G4U - Open source cross-platform hard disk image cloning application.

GrenEye - A file slicing and compression utility.

GNU zip - A compression utility.

GParted - Fantastic open source partition manager with direct boot facility option from CD or USB.

Handbrake - A multiplatform DVD to MPEG-4 converter/ripper with ability to process unencrypted and whole DVD files.

InfraRecorder - A freeware CD/DVD burning application for Windows.

Info-ZIP - Provides high quality, portable versions of zip files compatible with DOS.

Inno Setup - Another open source installer for Windows applications with integrated Pascal scripting engine.

InstallJammer - Useful for creating self-contained cross platform installation packages.

jEdit - A cross platform open source text editor written in Java with consolidated features from major editors.

Emacs - An extensible, customizable, self-documenting open source text editor.

K3b - An open source application for creating/burning CDs and DVDs; packed with features like DVD encoding, copying and audio CD creation.

Launch4j - An open source wrapper for jar files that supports Mac, Linux and Solaris.

Nagios - An open source network monitoring service for hosts, networks and services which use plug-ins.

NeDi - Open source network discovery, inventory & management framework utilizing scheduled discovery for network examination.

Notepad++ - An open source alternative to Microsoft Notepad with features well suited to development and design.

NSIS - A flexible open source tool for developing Windows installers.

Open-source ARJ - A cross-platform open source implementation of the popular ARJ archiver.

OpenNMS - A network management platform for monitoring services and their hosts.

OpenVZ - A terrific alternative to any commercial visualization offering; offered only on Linux.

Pandora FMS - Complete network and node monitoring solution composed of three parts: agents, server and console.

Partition Image - Disk cloning Linux utility helping users to create an image of partitions. The image file can be compressed, split and it is compatible with Linux and Windows.

SciTE - An open source text editor enabling developers to edit code.

UPX - A high-performance packaging utility with a high compression ratio for different executable formats.

VirtualBox - A high performance, feature rich, open source visualisation product for enterprise as well as home use.

Wireshark - Top quality network protocol analyser enabling users to capture LAN packets.

Xen - A high performance open source enterprise visualisation solution.

Xming - X-Windows server for Windows; has all the features of a commercial product.

Xvidcap - Linux based screencast application allowing users to capture portions or the entire screen of a Linux desktop.

Zenoss - A top class network and system monitoring solution with all the features of a commercial monitoring system.

Zzip - A compression tool with the ability to compress files with a high compression ratio.

Office

AbiWord - Has an interface that is very similar to Microsoft Word for easy migration; also allows importing and exporting from Microsoft Word.

Agnubis - The PowerPoint of GNOME; comes with easy integration options with other packages in GNOME office suite.

Andrew User Interface System (Andrew) - A popular graphical user interface system integrated with word processor, an html editor and browser.

AxPoint - Presentation tools from the developers of Apache AxKit.

Bruce - Presentation tool for Python programmers allowing them to code and create interactive PowerPoint sessions.

Imposter - Imposter is a standalone viewer for viewing presentations created by Impress software.

Impress - Fantastic tool for creating multimedia presentations with 2D and 3D effects.

Kivio - A part of KOffice suite; helps users in flowcharting, network diagrams and other graphics needs.

KPresenter - The presentation package bundled with KDE project; powerful and fully featured.

KWord - A word processor with a frame-based layout capability; part of the open source office suite KOffice.

MagicPoint - A presentation tool based on X11; very useful for making simple presentations which can be easily edited by any text editor.

NeoOffice - A special version of OpenOffice for the Mac.

S5 - A simple slideshow system having easily accessible markup. It can easily adapt to user themes and enables you to create your own slideshow themes.

WebHuddle - An open-source web conferencing and presentation tool with support for VOIP, chat and PowerPoint.

Web Browsers

Browser3D - An interactive web browser enabling users to interact with a real 3D environment and add their own 3D environment.

Camino - The functionality and features of this powerful browser match the capabilities of Safari.

CxBrowser - A useful open source web browser implemented under Mozilla Activex control component and written entirely in C#.

Epiphany - Developed for the GNOME computer desktop; competes with KDE for Linux.

Galeon - The first web browser for GNOME computer desktop; now comes as an extension to Epiphany.

K-Meleon - Perfect web-browser for operating systems which are incompatible with Mozilla or Firefox suite of browsers.

Konqueror - Part of the K Desktop Environment (KDE); a great browser for Linux with similar features to Firefox.

Lynx - Cross platform browser compatible with UNIX, Windows and Mac.

Mozilla Firefox - Fast, powerful and secure web browser compatible with Linux and Windows.