Nerdweek

2009-09-27T21:07:00.001-07:00

William Safire died Sunday. I know little of his link to Nixon. But he loved & promoted language, and for that I mourn the end of his "book"-NIC

A Poet's Creed

2009-09-26T08:50:00.001-07:00

Got this e-mail from my friend, Ryan, who is an amateur writer and a humanist. It's tongue-in-cheek, and even if it wasn't, I'm just sharing it because it was so creative (and not because I think it's something anybody should actually do) - so please, no angry comments.

Here's the e-mail:

"Maybe I'll start a Church of the Word of Man. 7 deadly grammar sins. The 12 apostles (including Samuel Johnson, Shakespeare, Gutenberg etc). The Holy Book of the Oxford English Dictionary. A vat of holy ink by the door from which to fill your pen to spread the Word. Not the "word" of anybody. Just the Word.

"We believe in one Word, the Written, the Spoken, describer of the earth, of all that is seen and unseen. We believe in one Grammar, in Punctuation, the only way to write, eternally begotten of the Style Guide, Contractions from words, Abbreviations for Brevity, true Syntax from true Syntax, begotten, not made, one in being with the Dictionary. Through the Dictionary all things were defined. For us men and our perpetuation, It came down from necessity: by the power of the OED, It was born of the need for standardization, and became Law. For our sake It was amended under a panel of Experts; It suffered, died, and was buried in the depths of the Internet. Eventually It rose again: It ascended into bookshelves and is within reach of the Writer. It will come again in glory to judge the new words and the dead, and Its kingdom will have no end. We believe in the Poet Laureate, the master, the weaver of words, who proceeds from the masses. The inattention of the masses means It is neither worshiped nor glorified. It has spoken through Its Pages. We believe in one, Style Guide, most likely the first we were taught. We acknowledge one delete button for the forgiveness of transgressions. We look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the Word to come. A Pen.

"That was way too much fun. I'm sorry if your computer gets struck by lightning. -Ryan Thurman"

-NIC

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Water on the moon!?

2009-09-24T09:51:00.000-07:00

Check this one out from NPR:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=113159860

They're finding hydroxl, which is just one hydrogen, one oxygen atom, in sunlit areas of the moon. It's not water, but so closely related that it's a shock to find it in what's normally a very dry area of the moon.

-NIC

"Gollum"? I don't think so...

2009-09-24T09:49:00.000-07:00

This was about the strangest Lord of the Rings related story I've ever seen:

http://www.thaindian.com/newsportal/world/montauk-monster-mystery-creatures-body-found-in-panama_100249719.html

I feel terrible for the poor creature, whatever it was - hairless sloth or ring corrupted hobbit. (My money's on the former.)

-NIC

Harry Potter theme park!

2009-09-17T15:45:00.001-07:00

Universal Studios is promising about 20 acres of authentic Harry Potter experience come next spring. The theme park within Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida should boast three main attractions including "Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey" and a roller coaster based on the hippogriffs. It should also have many of the Hogsmeade shops fans know from the books and movies. This park could give Disney a challenge if it's done well, but I have my doubts. Universals' rides seem to often come off as pathologically lame. Best example: Back to the Future, which can be replicated at home with a big screen television and four strong friends willing to pick up the couch and shake it around. But we'll suspend judgment for Harry's sake. -NIC

Harry Potter World

2009-09-16T09:52:00.000-07:00

Universal Studios Theme Park in Orlando has announced that next spring will bring a Harry Potter themed area covering 20 acres for $200 million!

More later on this, but wow!

-NIC

New Tolkien Book

2009-09-13T17:49:00.000-07:00

Fellow Nerdlingers, I hang my head in shame. How on earth did I miss that this came out?

http://www.amazon.com/Legend-Sigurd-Gudrun-J-R-R-Tolkien/dp/0547273428/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1252889320&sr=8-1

Legend of Sigurd and Gudrun appears to be all about Norse mythology and not set in the world of Middle Earth, but it must still be worth checking out. Look for a review in a few months.

-NIC

Nerdweek in Review

2009-09-13T16:33:00.000-07:00

Highlights from this week:

-Lord of the Rings lawsuit resolved (At last, nerdlingers, we can be confident that we didn't buy fuzzy hobbit feet for The Hobbit release in vain)

-Viggo Mortensen needing to take a break from acting? (Maybe, maybe not, but please don't put him in The Hobbit!)

-Pac-Man record broken (Ah, a life well lived)

-Shuttle returns home after delays in California (I'm going to Disneyland!)

-NASA releases Hubble photos after $1 billion upgrade (So Nerdlingers everywhere have even more telescope posters to put on their walls!

New review on Suite101.com

2009-09-13T16:19:00.000-07:00

Just posted a review of a text-based multiplayer online game called Lords at suite101.com

Check it out at this link:

http://internet-games.suite101.com/article.cfm/lords_free_online_strategy_game_review

You can also use the widget link on the left-hand side.

By the way, the suite101 story about the Beatles Rock Bank will be delayed or eliminated as an article. The research is not going well, the part time job that allows me to do this site had unexpected problems, and I simply can't stare at a computer screen anymore.

Thanks for understanding, fellow Nerdlingers.

-NIC

Facebook Gets Facelift

2009-09-13T11:50:00.000-07:00

Facebook has released a new streamlined version of its site - Facebook Lite. Basically they've trimmed the site down to its primary functions of social networking and sharing photos and videos.

It reminds me a lot of the mobile Facebook, which leaves me a little ambivalent about the new site. It's nice to have a clean look at those functions that I came to the site for in the first place. At the same time, the "fan" feeds are completely missing and there's no access to any of the optional applications.

Let's cut to the quick - Facebook Lite is the drive-thru lane for the social networking site - when you just want to post, get your updates and go. The full site is the sit-down meal with the hoidy-toidy French waiter.

-NIC

Turn Blue and Run! - Pac-Man has a new champion

2009-09-12T07:59:00.001-07:00

So you think all those Olympic athletes are amazing? Ha! Those world records fall all the time. If you want to meet an athlete, try appropriately-named David Race of Beavercreek, Ohio, who Sept. 11, 2009 became only the 6th person to achieve the Pac-Man perfect score of 3,333,360 and in a new record time of 3 hrs, 41 mins and 22 seconds. This beat out the previous record in 2000 by Chris Ayra of 3 hrs, 42 mins and 4 seconds.

Take a moment to consider what this achievement means, and you'll see why only six people have done it in the nearly three decades since the classic game came out in May 1980.

To log a perfect score, the player must navigate the Pac-Man through 255 levels, eating every dot, every bonus fruit and every ghost along the way. And, finally, to quote Mirage from "The Incredibles" - "And don't die."

This takes incredible timing and skill to pull off as every level becomes more and more difficult. Then the player has to get as much score as possible on the infamous kill level -256- which has half the screen garbled (!) because of a programming error. This level is largely thought to be impossible to pass, even if you can navigate the right side blind, because there simply are not enough dots available to pass the level.

The first person to achieve this was Billy Mitchell in July 1999 and because there is an upper limit on the score, the only way to best him is to do it faster than his six hours.

Call it trite and pointless, call it nerdy, but managing to do this deserves at least a pat on the back.

Mr. Race... *Pat**Pat* Well done.

-NIC

Good news/Bad news (?) for "The Hobbit"

2009-09-11T09:56:00.000-07:00

Wednesday we found out that the lawsuit that the Tolkien Trust and HarperCollins brought against New Line Cinema back in February 2008 has been resolved out of court. The suit claimed that no royalties had been paid from the blockbuster Lord of the Rings film to the Tolkien estate and wanted $150 million. Some reports appear to show that the estate got that amount from the settlement, others say it is "undisclosed." Christopher Tolkien has said this will allow production on "The Hobbit", slated to begin production in 2010, to proceed.

(Tangental rant: Would someone please get the mainstream media to stop referring to films such as "The Hobbit" and "Angels & Demons" as "prequels"? It makes a wonderful piece of literature play second rate to later - albeit also great - work in the series just because the later stuff happened to get the first shot at the big screen. How about "prelude" instead? Also, no more referring to the Harry Potter movies on billboards as "Harry Potter 2", "Harry Potter 3", etc. It suggests that they just keep coming up with new sequels to keep the money flowing, when in fact there's already a body of existing work. Try abbreviating the subtitle, if you have to. "Harry Potter: HBP" for Half Blood Prince, for example. End rant.)

This is good news for the future of the movie, but I'm baffled about why it even got to this point in the first place. Either the Tolkien estate is wildly over exaggerating its claims, or someone at New Line really dropped the ball.

"Heya, Bruno! Didya evah get th' guy paid that wrote this thing? Huh? Whadda mean it was my job?"

Really, now, how do you make such an epic series and forget (fail?) to pay Tolkien's family?

At the same time, we heard from Viggo Mortensen, who played the major role of Aragorn in "Lord of the Rings." According to his interview in Men's Journal, it sounds like he's growing tired of the acting life and is thinking about taking a hiatus. As many blogs have said, is it possible that a double for Viggo will have to be found for "The Hobbit"?

In a word - No!

I wish some of the news outlets and bloggers would actually pick up a copy of the book the movie will be based on. But, fellow Nerdlingers, you know the truth. Aragorn does not appear in the pages of "The Hobbit." In fact, by my count, the only major characters we should see are Elrond, Gandalf, Gollum and, of course, Bilbo.

Some bloggers have gone back and admitted, yes, they know Aragorn isn't in "The Hobbit" but who knows what the producers were considering, right?

If the producers were considering this, shame on them. You can only tinker with a classic as this so much before the Nerdlingers rise up and revolt.

If Viggo taking some time off or quitting acting altogether prevents the producers from creating a mockery of The Hobbit, it just might be as significant of a contribution to the franchise as his acting in "Lord of the Rings."

One final note, why are the names being bandied about to play Bilbo actors barely out of their adolescence? Bilbo is in his 50s in "The Hobbit", which is well into adulthood for Hobbits. Some other rumors have pegged Martin Freeman, and I'll admit he certainly looks the part.

Signing off...

-NIC

2009-09-10T22:24:00.001-07:00

Articles coming soon at suite101.com: Why Beatles Rock Band took so long, Lords game review, podcast pick Escape Pod, book Allies & Enemies.

2009-09-10T21:01:00.001-07:00

Grrr. I had a great post on the New Line/Tolkien lawsuit & Viggo, but closed my mobile browser accidentally & lost it all. Expect more Friday.NIC

What am I doing here?

2009-09-10T09:50:00.000-07:00

Greetings, Fellow Nerdlingers,

Your Nerd-in-Chief calls. Answer.

Before I get too far here, I should explain what this blog is going to be all about and what I'm trying to do here.

I am a nerd. I am proud of being a nerd and you should be, too.

Here's what "Nerd" means in broad strokes for the purposes of this blog.

A nerd is someone who has an intellectual mind and an obsessive temperament.

A few examples:

-An intellectually minded person occasionally checks up on his favorite author. This is not a nerd.

-An intellectually minded person reads every book by his favorite author, every commentary and scrap of bar napkin that author ever wrote on and has Google alerts set up tied to their cell phone so they know the instant anything happens related to them. This is a nerd.

-A sportsman plays baseball night and day, sets up a fantasy team and reads all the box scores. While obsessive, this is not a nerd because it's not an intellectual pursuit.

-An intellectually minded person buys every resource book for their favorite fantasy role playing game and holds sessions with like-minded people once a week. This is a nerd.

Being a nerd is not a bad thing, but it has been maligned by those who equate it with anti-social wierdos with no ability to find a date. It's time to reclaim the term, and that's what Nerdweek is all about.

What you will find on this blog:

-Daily links, news tidbits and commentary on the topics that I'm a nerd about. You'll figure out pretty quickly what these things are, but there will probably be a post soon with a more comprehensive list.

-Weekly "Nerdweek in Review" with a roundup of the biggest stories and happens of concern to nerds everywhere.

-In the tongue in cheek, self depreciating spirit of "What white people like" blog -"What nerds like" postings on an several-times weekly basis. These will be a fun look at the kinds of things nerds obsess about and I hope you're able to find a bit of yourself or a nerd you know in them.

-Links to my work at http://www.suite101.com/. Because of my contract with them, I cannot provide the full text, but I can provide a link to this free content there. I do a monthly reviews on the following: Podcast Picks, Sci Fi and Fantasy Finds (book reviews) and Fun and Free Online (free and fun online games, programs and applications) as well as other occasional topics that strike my fancy. Also, discover my secret identity (revealed!)

Of course, there will be many who disagree with my definitions of what a nerd is. That's great and I welcome feedback and discussion. Just keep in mind that vulgarity and rudeness will get you deleted out of hand. A civil discussion and critique will get you kudos.

I look forward to writing for all the nerds out there. Enjoy!

Nerd-in-Chief (NIC)