I shot first...

and Toto too...


It's time we take a break from social talk for the week and turn to something much more important, and more vital to everyone of us alive. To put right a wrong that has been done to us all. To rise up and let our voices be heard one last resounding time with all the combined might of the Imperial navy and Rebellion behind us. “ HAN SHOT FIRST!”

 

May be common knowledge to all of us, yet apparently there is one person who just does not seem to get it. Or actually has shown more and more to not get his own creation anymore. Yes we talk of ol' George himself. Many of us are pretty frustrated with the endless changes to the Star Wars series that seem to undermine it's entire tale for the sake of marketing. Many of us feel our childhoods raped by some of the directions he has gone with our beloved characters. Even Indiana Jones seems to have gotten hit with the whole mess. As you can see above in the picture that it may seem George was finally getting the hint. No, he was trolling us.

 

We all saw Han shoot Greedo in the Cantina. Greedo ws going to turn in our roguish hero to the Hutts, and in the true style of outlaw hero shot the bounty hunter in a sleazy dive bar and oh so casually leave a tip to help with “ clean up” THAT is how it happened. Not this oddly done magick snake like movement and pause to dodge greedo's shot then return fire. No, NO, BAD Mr. Lucas. Well sadly George has decided to back up his assault on our lived by offering this:

 

"The controversy over who shot first, Greedo or Han Solo, in Episode IV, what I did was try to clean up the confusion, but obviously it upset people because they wanted Solo [who seemed to be the one who shot first in the original] to be a cold-blooded killer, but he actually isn't. It had been done in all close-ups and it was confusing about who did what to whom. I put a little wider shot in there that made it clear that Greedo is the one who shot first, but everyone wanted to think that Han shot first, because they wanted to think that he actually just gunned him down."

 

He may want to get his eyes checked or something, because in any “version” I see Han shooting first, clearly. The poor Rodian bounty hunter never pulls the trigger or stiffens his arm to fire. Thus meaning he never actually shot...that all adds up to ...wait or it.... wait for...... you know I also never never got the point of the remastered “ jedi rocks”, what was so wrong with the original version that.....no, no I'll save that one for later.

 

SWTOR Same gender romance update

so...any news?

Star Wars: the old republic has been out now for over a month, and has seen it's first major update, as well as many weekly patches and fixes. The sales figures are looking good, and EA/Bioware and Lucas Arts can keep pushing into the ancient lore of a galaxy far far away. From the early days as reported earlier Bioware has confirmed the inclusion of same sex romances as options for the characters. This has been a known feature since 2009. The feature however is still absent. What is going on? Many ask.

Here I will give the low down on what the average player knows, and those who may not play games but are cheering on the social advancement should know.

The very basic timetable of the whole same gender romance topic on the SWTOR boards goes like this:

  • 2009: There is a discussion why the words gay and lesbian filtered, Stated that while the game will include the romance options, the words themselves do not exist in the Star Wars universe it is simply a relationship between those of the same gender ( despite crossing species lines)

     

  • 2009-August 2011: A thread dedicated to same gender romances lives on and grows large. It runs smoothly with many insightful ideas on ow to apply the romances, and concerns about it feeling cheep, and very few negative replies.
     

  • August 2011: A developer interview officially announces that same gender romances will not be in the game at the time of it's launch, but added in at a later date. In response the game's forums grows rather angry followed by a massive show of support from the player base and many many blogs.
     

  • September 2011: With high tensions and more questions Bioware is forced to make several statement on the issue. These coming directly from the companies staff:


“ First of all, this is definitely not an audience that consists of a 'couple of people' and we're aware of that. We take this decision very seriously.
Second, it's very important to realize that this is just one of many, many content additions that will be going into the game post launch. The vast majority of our content will be of interest to the vast majority of our potential audience. However, one of the amazing things about MMOs is that over time we can get to add things that are exciting and interesting to smaller audiences. Normally, that's not something that's addressed too far ahead of time. In this case, we felt the addition was warranted and should be addressed early. There will be plenty of content for all to play and enjoy. “

“we can't guarantee that a character you play at launch would have romance options 'unlocked' for an existing companion. It's something that will be taken into consideration when making design decisions. Not a promise it'll happen, but we'll take that feedback and relay it through to design. We fully intend to do justice to the story in our storylines. :D
As you may have heard, we take story very seriously - this included.
Lastly for those of you who seem concerned that you will be 'tricked' into any romance arc in the game - all romance choices are clearly marked. You will be aware you're making those choices as you make them. “ -Stephan Reid : Senior Community Manager

“ Due to the design constraints of a fully voiced MMO of this scale and size, many choices had to be made as to the launch and post-launch feature set. Same gender romances with companion characters in Star Wars: The Old Republic will be a post-launch feature. Because The Old Republic is an MMO, the game will live on through content expansions which allow us to include content and features that could not be included at launch, including the addition of more companion characters who will have additional romance options “ - Allison Berryman : Senior Community Coordinator.
 

It is from this point on that nothing changed. Any new threads were swiftly closed and given the last reply. E-mail inquiries are reported to be getting the same reply as well. This has left many fans, and advocates scratching their head. On one hand Bioware came across as a champion of the people, promising a very swift action and on the other hand seem to be pushing the issue as far to the back burner as possible in a way that is quite disturbing when reading between corporate lines.

 

To further stir the pot the Evangelical group known as the Family Research Council released a statement regarding the game and it's inclusion of same gender romances. The group, often considered a hate group bragged about 300 some pages of players hating the idea and fighting it on the official SWtOR forums, and calling on players to think of the children claiming parents and forum-goers alike are bothered by this "Star Warped way of thinking," and rallied them to "show companies who the Force is really with!" by basically spamming the games message board.

 

Now for the record as someone whom lives on the said game forum I can assure everyone alike that these “ 300 pages of protesting the feature” do not exist. In truth the opposite is more accurate, and in total the support goes well above the 300 pages worth mark. Also the site requires a payed copy of the game and active subscription to post in the forums. All that said and down however there is still no exact date of when the feature will come into play, however I can assure everyone that I will cover the situation as things develop.

 

Love in all forms

spreading it all over the universe baby.

  Reproduction comes in all forms, Sci-fi writers have always done a wonderful job of illustrating this. From the A-sexual Hutts of Star Wars, the mono-gender Asari of Mass Effect, the self replicating...er...replicators of Stargate and countless other forms all have their place. Love and romance sometimes reflects this, sometimes not- but is it that there is a lack of romance forms in sci-fi or is it simply something that is largely ignored because “ it's common sense that all forms of love are afoot “

 

outside of one character in Star Wars – the lore seems void of any same gender romances, while saturated in hetero ( be it xeno-romantic with non-humans) relationships. Is it because lucas film is playing it too socially safe? There are moments in books, comics, and games that more than hint that some characters may lean one way or another without directly saying it. Does it mean that it's a universe without? Obviously because of the before mentioned character, and Bioware's recent announcement confirming same sex romances in the new Star Wars MMO the Old Republic confirms that yes, the galaxy is open to it.

 

That example aside I personally don't think the mention, or non-mention of these forms of relationships really matter. Writers for centuries have left the genre fairly wide open as if to allow future cultures bleed their own social norms into the background. Granted I doubt H.G Wells or Jules Verne were putting the ideas on the forefront of their work-yet also never aimed to focus so heavily on the exact issue as to say “ my reality has no such thing!” They were more concerned with telling the story of the human condition on a much grander scale. While it would do wonders for the GLBT community to see more mainstream, and epic heroes at the helm, there still is that little gap that the best of writers leave for us to fill in on our own. If it helps I should have it known I'm an avid “femshep” user in Mass Effect with a fierce loyalty to her Asari lover Liara. Yeah take that stereotypical action heroes.

Gay robots?!? MY WORD!

Are we seeing too much or is Hollywood sneaky that way?

Prissy protocol droids, naked terminators, android fighting to understand himself and what it means to be human while lovingly petting his fur baby cat. Sometimes you just have to stop and wonder what it is that makes so many droids in sci-fi come across this way. Sure it's sort of easy to see how C3-p0 can come across this way, as well as his parodied counterpart on Red Dwarf ( c'mon!An American film with a prissy British nanny droid/ British series with a prissy nanny American droid. I can't be the only one seeing it ) picked up that flag, but what about the others?

 

Sure many are questionable depending on how you want to look at it. The fact droids are given a form of sexual identity to start with is already odd- yet understandable as humans need something to identify with. Add the fact that we need a human to act the part most of the time. I really hate to think that this is something with a truth to it. Not that one can't be programmed to fit a certain social or cultural niche ; that would be an end user thing. The idea that Mr. Data, the T-whatevers, the C-po line all are written to have subtle ( or not so subtle) hints is silly to me and really smells more like a cry for attention from the same people who started screaming about Burt and Ernie or Marty McFly and Doc. Perhaps it's time people stopped looking for something thats not really there and take them for what they are suppose to be: Human like machines given “ some” human personality to make them appeal to readers and audiences without being a more realistic bland emotionless piece of technology.

Not too sure they foresaw this.

Timeless is sometimes a bad thing or is it?.

“I want a little black book and the gay nightlife” That quote by the quirky sidekick character “ Winky” from the classic man hunt in space got me thinking. Not that I make a habit of doing so mind you. I was starting to notice little things that separated classics- from cult classics. Granted I'm sure it was MST3K that helped preserve several of these films more than the film itself.

In most of these classics I noticed one major thing- the heavy use of the era's slang and other terminology. Terms like “ Strapping gay lad” and “ feeling a bit queer” had totally different meanings in the 50's when most of these films and serials were being produced. Things that spoke tot he everyday person of the time. Yet the classics that survived from then as iconic films ( as many today) seem to be written in a way that avoid writing that place them in a specific era.

I do admit to being rather fond of the films in the new context. The wicked delight comes from knowing that what is being said is not what I'm taking it to mean, yet it adds such a wonderful new spin to the whole thing. I highly suggest a night of watching older b movies and just letting your mind take things as they first come and ride with it; trust me it pays off oh so often.

Can they pull it off twice?

Bioware to pump Same sex romance back into the Star Wars universe.

Most people who know gaming are fully aware that Bioware, makers of such iconic games such as the Mass Effect and Dragon Age series, the original Knights of the Old Republic as well as others are not afraid to tell a deep character story including romance options into their games. More over they have never been too shy about including same sex romances. While one can argue that there are times the gaming giant seems to “ tip toe” with the issue, or pander more to the female/female options more than the other to win over the 16-35 year old male demographic more- the fact remains that they are still one of the only companies to approach the subject in a way that feels more ' natural' and not overloaded with a stereotyped characterization many other games have used. “ oh, a gay male quest giver? write him as flaming as you can for lols!”

 

What makes Bioware stand out more in this field came with the launch of Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic back in 2003 with the introduction of the Cathar Jedi Juhani, whom earns a special place by being the first, and only Star Wars character to walk the same sex line. Her role starts as a Jedi on the brink of slipping to the dark side after an impassioned slip of control where she strikes her female master down. In a wash of grief and pain over such an act she allowed herself to be consumed. Having the option so save her, or kill her both lead to eventual scenes that reveal her romantic connections to her master- including a scene where said master challenges the player to win back the hand/revenge for the murder of her beloved.

 

As with most Bioware games a player had the ability to start romance plots with several of the companions. Interestingly enough only a ' female Revan' ( the players character) could trigger the romance options with Juhani. At a time both gender versions of Revan could romance the Cathar, however this was considered a bug, and was fixed through patching so that only a female Revan could continue the romance. The romance itself lacked any real substance in the eyes of many fans of the series. Limited to the simple lines; "I. I. I care for you. I do not know why. I do not know if anything will be possible or if you even return what I feel, but I do know it is there."

 

Fast forward a few years- and a slew of movies and games that arguably place a lack luster, detached and stale feeling to romance in general ( many site that this is a reflection of George Lucas's troubles following his own divorce shortly after the release of the first film.) Bioware once again were able to get their hands on a Star Wars franchise. This time continuing the lore started in KotOR with the MMO spin off “ the Old Republic” and in true bioware flare once more included companion characters to interact with and even romance; something new entirely to the MMO genre. Fans wondered if Bioware would follow their normal pattern of allowing same sex romances- even though it seemed more taboo than not in Star Wars given the brands fickle and sometimes negative outlook on love in the first place. Bioware however stated that they would indeed be bringing that option to the game. However while in Beta, and at launch said option never appeared, leading many to wonder if Lucas Arts, or EA- Biowares parent company had stomped the content out. Stephen Reid - Senior Community Manager for Star Wars: The Old Republic had this to say

”Due to the design constraints of a fully voiced MMO of this scale and size, many choices had to be made as to the launch and post-launch feature set. Same gender romances with companion characters in Star Wars: The Old Republic will be a post-launch feature. Because The Old Republic is an MMO, the game will live on through content expansions which allow us to include content and features that could not be included at launch, including the addition of more companion characters who will have additional romance options.”

 

Will they deliver as promised? My Jedi Sentinel seems to be wanting to spend a great deal more time around Kira. Nobody can say for sure at this point, simply due to the nature of gaming it could be mere weeks or years away. None the less still an important and much appreciated step in celebrating the diversity and universal needs for companionship of our culture and species, and transporting it to a galaxy far, far away.

New Calendar Proposal.

Remembering dates will still escape most of us.

Astrophysicist Richard Conn Henry and applied economist Steve Hanke of Johns Hopkins University have proposed a new calender system to better keep dates in line. Most of us now are use to the current system where a date will fall on a different day of the week. Christmas will always be on the same date, however may be on Monday one year and Wednesday the next. The proposed system would keep that holiday on the same day year after year.


Under the new system every third month would have 31 days, with the rest of the months having 30, giving us 364 days. They dropped the 366-day leap years in favor of an extra week at the end of December every five or six years. The whole concept was initially designed to keep things simple, and allow more direct calculations of time for people. Other proposals have come and gone; many requiring new days of the week and breaking a system everyone has become all too comfortable with.

“Rescheduling happens every year because it has to happen, but it doesn't really have to happen every year if you have the kind of calendar that we're proposing," Hanke added – demonstrating that their proposal would go a long way to keeping things as simple and accurate as possible. One only has to wonder how willing people would be to adopt the new system. I'm sure the Calendar companies are watching this one closely. Not that they really need to worry about printing anything for 2013 unless the post Apocalypse mutant hoards also want adorable kittens in precarious situations to brighten their days.

True Holograms at Last!

The joys of laser plasma tech.

From the early days of Sci-Fi the public has been shown the heavy use of full 3d holographic displays. Many of us who grew up seeing them in Star Wars, Star Trek and other works of science fiction have had this itch to see them in day to day use. We are not talking the 2d holograms projected on a special glass or anything, we're talking full blown free floating 3d images here. Thankfully those days are coming sooner than you think.

 

Co- developed by AIST and Keio University; the 3D laser projection system works by concentrating laser light to produce a plasma that excites oxygen and nitrogen in the air, allowing it to be the first system to produce an image without the need of a screen. Though the technology is new and still being worked on it's a impressive step forward to the fully rendered 3D displays we see in film and games. Current frame rate of the images is limited to 10 to 15 frames per second, making it look choppy to our eyes, researchers state however that they are currently working on improving it to the 30 fps level.

While I don't expect to see a holodeck or anything in my lifetime, I'm glad I'm finally starting to see things promised to me all through my childhood that “ the future” would hold. Now, If only we can have the hover boards and flying cars we were promised I can stop watching Back to the Future 2 and yelling ' SHENANIGANS!' at the top of my lungs every time I see what a let down the 2000's have been compared to what they predicted in the film. Check out video of it in action here:

 

The Force is strong this season

Star Wars Snow Flakes.

Strange and epic all at once. Bringing you the chance to touch with your inner Jedi or Sith has never been more festive! And more importantly easy to do from your couch. And you thought the only good décor for the holidays was dressing your living room up as the ice planet Hoth. I know I have.

 

After looking about for holiday ideas and paper crafts to fit my creative ( read that as cheep ) sense of style, it was not long before I stumbled upon a series of Star Wars themed snowflake patterns. The faces of Admiral Ackbar, Varder, Storm troopers and others just too appealing to the odd geek heart. Anthony Herrera the designer of the patterns has offered them up for your printing and cutting pleasure. Sure it's not a traditional way to decorate the house, but it is so much more fun.

 

A good bit of advice however; make sure to have a good sharp exacto knife on hand for some of the finer details. It's also a good idea to make sure that should you choose to print off the patterns to use regular paper or even something finer if you have it. The very last thing you want to do is to try and cut through layers of card stock. Something tells me that would ruin the fun quickly.

 

Be sure to check out Anthony Herrera's page for the patterns and to snoop around at other crafty goodies for the odd at heart he may have lurking about.

Asteroid 2055 YU55

"The closest it came to Earth was 201,700 miles away."

Monday, November 7, 2011 was an exciting day for astronomers. It has been speculated for years that one day the Earth will be brought to an end. The end of the world is a topic that people never seem to tire of. Many people have thought that this would happen with an asteroid. Movies have been made about it, books have been written about it and many conversations and debates have been about the destruction of Earth by an asteroid. Much of this speculation was made jokingly, never imagining it could actually happen. The destruction of Earth is something that movies and books use to entertain us. However, on Monday, an Asteroid 2005 YU55 that was over 1,300 feet wide passed by Earth. The asteroid was closer to Earth than the moon was during that period of time. The closest it came to Earth was 201,700 miles away. While the asteroid came closer to Earth than one ever has in the past, NASA insists there is no need to be concerned.  While studying the great asteroid, NASA claims 2005 YU55 is incapable of hitting Earth within the next several hundred years. The next expected large asteroid is supposed to happen in 2028. Even though NASA reports that the destruction of Earth by an asteroid is unlikely, at least in the next several hundred years, this even has many people worried. More preparations are being made by survivalists. The people who call themselves survivalists are prepared for the end of the world. They feel that through preparation, they can survive anything. Then there are the people who take a wait and see approach. How are you handling this event? Are you thinking it is a sign of the end of the word? Do you think it was just a close call?

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