by Irma Arkus

I am running a tad late reporting this, as Leo Awards were held a few days back, but the fact that so many awards were handed to science fiction shows is worty of note.

Unlike in other parts of the world, where science fiction gets a mere mention for a great FX, CGI or costumography, Canada seems just fine with its huge number of science fiction productions.

Indeed, this year’s Leo Awards honoured quite a few achievements on popular sci-fi shows and fan favorites.

Amongst notable winners, Brad Wright won for Best Screenwriting in a Feature Length Drama for his work on “Stargate Continuum,” joining Paul Sharpe, Iain Pattison, Graeme Hughes for Best Sound on same production.

None other than Michael Shanks won for Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Feature Length Drama, also for “Stargate Continuum,” while Amanda Tapping won for Best Lead Performance by a Female in a Dramatic Series for Sanctuary “Requiem.”

Joining our Stargate champions on Leo Awards is also Tyler Labine, winning Best Lead Performance by a Male in a Dramatic Series for Reaper “Coming to Grips.”

I am still coming to grips that Reaper is considered a “dramatic series,” rather than comic relief.

List of other winners as following:

Best Dramatic Series
Stargate Atlantis
Joseph Mallozzi, Paul Mullie, Brad Wright, Robert Cooper,
Carl Binder, Martin Gero, Alan McCullough, John Smith – Producers

Best Direction
in a Dramatic Series
Robert Cooper
Stargate Atlantis – Vegas

Best Screenwriting
in a Dramatic Series
Alan McCullough
Stargate Atlantis – The Queen

Best Cinematography
in a Dramatic Series
Michael Blundell
Stargate Atlantis – Vegas

Best Picture Editing
in a Dramatic Series
Mike Banas
Stargate Atlantis – Vegas

Best Overall Sound
in a Dramatic Series
Kelly Cole, Patrick Ramsay, Bill Mellow,
Joe Watts, Hugo De Le Cerda, Kevin Belen
Stargate Atlantis – Enemy at the Gate

Best Sound Editing
in a Dramatic Series
Steve Smith, Matthew Wilson,
Kirby Jinnah, Jay Cheetham, Jason Mauza
Stargate Atlantis – Enemy at the Gate

Best Production Design
in a Dramatic Series
James Philpott
Smallville – Quest

Best Costume Design
in a Dramatic Series
Valerie Halverson
Stargate Atlantis – The Queen

Best Make-Up
in a Dramatic Series
Todd Masters, Nicholas Podbrey,
Sarah Pickersgill, Harlow MacFarlane
Sanctuary – Warriors

Best Visual Effects
in a Dramatic Series
Mark Savela, Shannon Gurney,
Kodie MacKenzie, Viv Jim, Dan Weir
Stargate Atlantis – First Contact

Best Guest Performance by a Male
in a Dramatic Series
Ryan Robbins
Sanctuary – Edward

Best Guest Performance by a Female
in a Dramatic Series
Gabrielle Rose
Sanctuary – Edward

by Irma Arkus

The Church of Scientology has stepped on too many toes, as it has officially been banned from contributing in any fashion to Wikipedia entries. While Wikipedia previously banned individuals from promoting their own agenda by re-editing the entries on Wikipedia, this is the first time that a high-profile organisation has been banned from doing so.

Today, the Arbitration Committee has blocked all IPs associated with the Church of Scientology.

The surprise move should actually not be such a surprise, as according to The Register article: “multiple editors have been “openly editing [Scientology-related articles] from Church of Scientology equipment and apparently coordinating their activities.” Leaning on the famed WikiScanner, countless news stories have discussed the editing of Scientology articles from Scientology IPs, and some site admins are concerned this is ‘damaging Wikipedia’s reputation for neutrality.’”

The main concern over the Church of Scientology contribution is the fact that “the [Church of Scientology] Office has organized massive efforts to remove Scientology-related materials and criticism from the web.”

This is not the only public relations crisis that the Church of Scientology is dealing with at the moment. The Church of Scientology could be dissolved in France, should the seven of its French leaders be convicted of organized fraud and illegal pharmaceutical activity.

The case in France may provide some illuminating information on how exactly the Church of Scientology gained so much power and money in a matter of decades, as the court case involves three plaintiffs who describe their astronomical expenditures for books, electrometers and “purification packages.” In one case, a plaintiff describes spending all her savings, and even taking out loans, in the sum of some $30,000 to purchase all that the church required of her. Upon changing her mind and deciding to leave the church, she requested a refund, and the church leadership refused her request.

Moreover, the issue that will be addressed in French court is not only the appetite for money, but also the willingness of the leadership to provide curatifs, mainly vitamins peddled at high costs to their followers. In this case, Church of Scientology acts as a “pharmacy.” [The Register, The Associated Press]

by Irma Arkus

According to FDA, Cherrios labeling statements are so exaggerated that the product in question, the doughnut-shaped cereal, is technically an unapproved drug.

Labels by General Mills describe Cheerios as following:

• “you can Lower Your Cholesterol 4% in 6 weeks” ”
• “Did you know that in just 6 weeks Cheerios can reduce bad cholesterol by an average of 4 percent? Cheerios is … clinically proven to lower cholesterol. A clinical study showed that eating two 1 1/2 cup servings daily of Cheerios cereal reduced bad cholesterol when eaten as part of a diet low in saturated fat and cholesterol.”

That, accoring to FDA, makes Cheerios a drug, intended for use in lowering cholesterol and treating hypercholesterolemia, and that is not what the product is intended for.

There are medical statements on both front and back of the cereal box.

General Mills already has a statement posted on their site, but there is no budging from the straightforward FDA letter.

by Irma Arkus

Intel has been charged by EU and fined for anti-competitive prices. The fine is largest to date, reaching the sum of $1.06 billion, and establishes that Intel has been paying off manufacturers and retailers to use Intel chips instead of AMD.

The Intel’s anti-competitive behavior has been confirmed for the period between 2002 and 2007. [BBC]

by Irma Arkus

Overwhelming amount of articles have appeared today, purporting that billions of dollars are “lost” due to piracy of software and cultural materials.

The IT industry lost some estimated $9 billion last year.

While the articles tout “piracy” as the overwhelming cause, the majority of money pinpointed as a source of this “lost” revenue are major movements toward PC trade in developing countries such as China and India.

Ars Technica provides for some hard analysis of the figures, including pointing out the obvious inconsistencies: “The US showed the lowest level of PC software piracy at 20 percent, and was joined on the bottom end of the scale by Japan, New Zealand, and Luxembourg. Still, the BSA claims the US had the highest dollar losses at $9.1 billion due to its being the biggest software market.”

The reason? US consumers pay top dollar for the software.

The figures themselves are overwhelming because they are based solely on RETAIL prices of software and some really fuzzy accounting principles.

In one article, BSA translates the potential $9b revenue as a loss of $24b dollars in taxes. This of course, would only occur whence corporations actually do declare incomes and eliminate offshore tax havens. And even then, the sum of money still would not translate into a magical $24billion.

For one, the estimates imply that all software will be sold at retail prices.

Secondly, the jobs estimated to be lost by the piracy of software, exclude the estimated jobs created by the use of software.

Similarly, the movie industry moans about the lost revenue due to the downturn in ticket sales, but not only does the research keeps on confirming that distribution of films illegally also fuels the DVD sales, but the actual sales of DVDs are underreported as part of those revenues. [ArsTechnica]

by Irma Arkus

The SciFi network is changing its name to SyFy. The reason?

Apparently, the genial marketing excercise will broaden the appeal of a network specialising in supernatural and science fiction materials to encompass housewives who have lost their remotes, children who do not know the meaning of words “science” and/or “fiction,” and people who are ashamed of watching science fiction in general.

The arrogance of such a rebranding exercise usually results in disenfranchisement of the already existing fans.

And what is SyFy anyways? Any ideas?

by Irma Arkus

NYTimes has a panel with Joss Whedon, and it is open to its members. You get to ask questions, rate existing questions, and eventually get answers from Joss Whedon himself.

Check it out here.

by Irma Arkus

A more unusual approach by Canada’s Finance Minister is drawing attention, as Jim Flaherty issued a public invitation to all who want to express their opinion for fiscal stimulus, to be included in Budget of 2009.

So, if you know of anyone who already has millions, or billion of dollars, lets all get together and make sure that we give them more money. Alright! Lets go!!!

See link for more information.

Oh, you guys missed us. I know. But happy new year! You may have been wondering what’s going on, so I’ll give you the downlow. We’ve had “snowmageddon” for a few weeks – I am not kidding, that is what they actually called it – for a few weeks, Vancouver has been covered in the white stuff and if was the cause of much panic, and no-show.

So, what did I do? I went for a much deserved, and long awaited vacation.

Don’t ask too many questions. Just know that I’ve missed doing the show, and everyone is antsy to get rolling again. So, show time!!!

Sincerely,
Irma Arkus

by Irma Arkus

Turns out, Japanese ARE attached to their gadgets. According to AHN, recent polls reveal Japanese to have such profound attachment to their cell phones, that 41.2% percent of users admitted to using their mobiles in the bathtub.

Read more here, or just click on photo to get a full size kawaii image