Hi-Sci-Fi

by Irma Arkus

Tintin has been one of most beloved comic book characters begging for a big screen interpretation.

This Belgian comic book by Hergé has been one of the international top sellers for decades, and I’ve spent many of my childhood summer days leafing through the Tintin intrigues.

It has been a long while since I’ve been reading the comics, but it looks like the film is well under way with two heavy weights at its helm: Steven Spielberg and Peter Jackson.

Estrenos deCines has released this conspicuous image of the two, obviously involved in planning an action scene for The Adventures of TinTin: The Secret of The Unicorn while wearing bowler hats.

While you may be running off to dust off your bowler hat, you should know that the film is scheduled to be released in December of 2011. Meanwhile, you should be relieved that Tintin will be played by Jamie Bell, a young, yet veteran actor. Simon Pegg as Inspector Thompson, and Nick Frost is right there with him as Thomson, better known as Dupond, a stereotypical bafoon of a police investigator who has a twin brother.

Andy Serkis, Cary Elwes, the line-up goes on and on. But then again, we are talking Peter Jackson and Steven Spielberg in bowler hats…[ Estrenos deCine]

by Irma Arkus

According to Anthony Aguirre, a collision between our universe and an alien one, decimating everything in its path, may have already happened.

Apparently, “there are tantalizing hints that our universe has already survived such a collision—and bears the scars to prove it.” Not only are initial theories prompting scientists to think differently about our universe, but about the concpet of multiverses as well.

Our universe, for example, is superbly uniform and smooth. Physicists say that the reason for such uniformity is fast expansion at high rate. Andrei Linde and Alex Vilenkin at Tufts University proposed that such expansion does not occur only once, but could potentially reoccur. Every such event would cause a bubbling of yet another space and time bubble, and this continuous bubbling would lead to ongoing creation of multiverses.

But more importantly, these would, however unlikely, run into other bubbles and collide with them.

The question posed then is whether our universe would survive such collision, or whether such an event already occured?

According to Vilenkin, “when you think about it, in an infinite multi­verse, with bubbles being formed all the time, sooner or later a bubble will form near the boundary of our bubble, and we will be hit,” Vilenkin says. “There’s the possibility of a benign collision when the cosmological characteristics of the alien bubble are similar to ours, so that it doesn’t destroy us but recedes away.”

But what are these scars? They are everywhere, physicists posit, and since the idea is relatively novel, they are still uncertain as to what it all means.

Microwave radiation for example, shows variable hot and cold spots, which may imply scars of an earlier collision.

Furthermore, New York University physicsist Thomas Levi, doing work on string theory, has also located a spot in the universe that defies explanations. Except that the explanation of a multiverse, and more specifically, a multiverse collision may lie at the heart of it. [Discover]

by Irma Arkus

This week’s episode of Stargate Universe has provided a few laughs, a little bit of relief from the “we are on a million-year-old spaceship and weeeze are gonna die!” dread.

Lou Diamond Phillips, for one, is utilized in a wise and sparse manner. The kind that implies he will no longer represent the fly in the ointment. In fact, the episode marked Everett Young’s coming into leadership position supported by remainder of the ancient ship’s crew. In other words, Young just pissed all over the Earth command post and he didn’t do it alone. He had help.

The idea was to dial up the gate during that precious moment when the ship is powering up, fueled by a sun. At that moment, Earth scientists say, you would have enough energy to get these confused and lost in space back home, and send the “right” crew in.

In fact, Earth is so unhappy about who is leading the crazed monkey people in ancient starship that they relieve Young temporarily of duty. Using communication stones, Young goes back home, begging his wife for forgiveness and some solace. Romance ensues. Bodily contact follows. FTL drives going of and on, and interrupting communication stones at the most inopportune moments. Like during the love-making session between Young and his wife.

Then there are others.

Eli attempts to go home and check on his mom, instead opting to pretend to be a co-worker. Chloe decides to revisit her friends, looking for a bit of solace and escapism, instead finding out that reality is not as half as pretty as she remembers it. Eli and Chloe have more moments that deepen their relationship, positing the question of how exactly strong is her connection to Matthew, or for that matter, what is it based on?

More importantly though, there is a melancholic realisation that being stuck on that dingy (yet technologically hyper cool ship) is perhaps more real and more relevant than half the little things they used to think about and obsess about.

Even Dr. Rush decides to play his cards this time around, going along with Earth’s plan to surge the gate with potentially alarming amount of energy, all in an attempt to regain the command of the ship. In reality though, he is betting on Young.

Hail Young. He is the new father. Hail the leader. Leader amongst them is found.

I guess this is the only problem I am finding with the show. Considering the personality clashes, the power structure up for grabs, is there noone amongst the writers who is willing to present us with some other system of decision making?

It seems that even on a far, far away ship, a million year old ship, destined to provide us with potentially years of entertainment, the only envisioned system of power, decision-making, and control is a direct hierarchy.

What a cop-out!

by Irma Arkus

In an unusual, yet not entirely unforseen manner, European Parliament has “softened” their position on Internet access as a fundamental right, allowing French Parliament to exercise the 3-strikes-and-you’re-out law.

The law, brought on by attempts of media conglomerates, including music and film distributors, to control “Internet piracy” was not applicable due to the fact that the European Parliament called acceess to Internet, a fundamental right.

Now, after a closed door meeting with big business, the European Parliament settled on a compromise saying that the “prior fair and impartial procedure” is required in order to disconnect users from access.

While political parties, such as the Green party are “celebrating” their apparent victory, it is obvious to anyone that business interests have successfully pressured the EU to partially accept the draconian measures made to punish potential “pirates.”

The very concept of considering access to the Internet as a fundamental right was seen as a relatively progressive move on the part of EU. While it puzzled North American lawmakers and big business, it did not fail in envisioning what Internet access represents to civil participants, even disobedient ones, in EU’s version of Information Society or Knowledge-Based society. [BusinessWeek]

by Irma Arkus

New Scientist is reporting on the asteroid that caused a “dramatic explosion” above Indonesia on Oct. 8th. Just how dramatic? About 50,000 tons of TNT worth of drama. The worst part is not so much that the asteroid in question had the power of three Hiroshima nuclear bombs, that could have devastated Indonesia and cost countless lives, but rather that the entry of the asteroid was undetected.

While this time, Indonesia has escaped a narrow destruction, due to the asteroid breaking apart in upper atmosphere, some 15 to 20 km above Earth’s surface, neither telescopes detected its entry or approach, nor any other instruments have detected its entry to the Earth’s atmosphere.

This is a cause for concern, say scientists, who point out that we’ve vested billions of dollars into developing expensive communications satellites that seem to spy on everyone these days. Maybe we could invest a few more dollars to ensure Earth’s safety. [New Scientist]

by Irma Arkus

If geeks are known for anything that it is for the countless hours spent playing timesuck games (I can think of an entire year and a half eaten by WOW), and successfully gaining weight based on diet of takeout, snacks and pop.

But an interesting article popped up comparing portions some 30 years ago, versus contemporary portions, and if you are trying to take off those last few pounds and finding it difficult, then maybe, just maybe, it is the portions that are the cause.

Divine Caroline’s Liz Monte has the scoop with appropriate photos and information on average caloric value of these delectable foods. Dietitians have been raving about portions for years already, telling us to eat only half of a average meal served in a restaurant, and then even move onto consuming only a half of that.

An average slice of Pizza was smaller, narrower, and contained some 350 calories less. Bahh, I say - I can eat 2 regular slices and then curse myself for hours later. The pros I hang with can finish a whole Xtra Large Za in a mere sitting. But I digress.

350 hundred calories may not kill you, but will definitely contribute to that ponch you’ve been jealously holding onto. But then there are worst scenarios: one of my favorite lines in a cafe is “I would like a giant cup of coffee,” so it is shocking when looking at comparison between the giant cup of coffee found at Starbucks (I don’t spend my money at Starbucks btw), measuring at 16 ounces and boasting 330 calories (and that’s with 2% milk! I drink whole!!!) versus the traditional 8 ounce cup with only 45 calories.

That leaves me with an almost extra 300 calories per cup of coffee, and that may not be such a concern, if it weren’t for the fact that I consume a LOT of coffee.

Check it out and share your woes. Photos above are up to scale. [Divine Caroline

That aside, you could always have a bigger problem with calories.

by Irma Arkus

Not sure how much trouble the magazine industry is in, but Playboy is most definitely attempting to reach out to new audiences by going Hentai. November Playboy features Marge Simpson on its cover, and an in-depth interview will give us “insight” into sexy, Julie Kavner-voiced life of the Simpsons femininity.

Let us forgo the fact that Playboy’s sexuality is cartoonish enough, after all turning women into “bunnies” for source of amusement is pretty Hentai already, but the Playboy’s homage to one of the most beloved cartoon characters in the longest running animated series may carry multiplicity of meanings.

The issue has plenty of geek appeal. Touted are the likes of Stephen King, Benicio del Toro and Tracy Morgan meant to appeal to an entirely new subset of potential, future Playboy readers. In fact, the issue is shamelessly attempting at ingratiating itself to “readership” period, except that it does so by sexualizing one of the least sexy, maternal, meek and family-oriented characters embodying the lackluster houswives of low-income families.

The Devil in Mrs. Simpson is drawn by Matt Groenig successfully sexualizing the maternal goddess of the Simpsons family. It has serious connotations as to what a growing audience of The Simpsons fans, mostly kids that grew into men we know today, is perceiving as sexy.

It may somehow appeal to their inner Homers, or insinuate that yes, all Homers can find their own Marge, a faithful companion who not only bears the burdens of raising a family on shoe-string budget, but also happens to be a great, feisty gal in the sack.

On the other hand, it just may be that Playboy is finally getting into Hentai, looking for lusty thrills in cartoons.

Watch out for Playboy issue featuring Marge in November. The publication will make the Simpsons coverage available online.

by Irma Arkus

You know how we bemoan the wretchedness of Hollywood treatments of Isaac Asimov and Phillip K. Dick works for the silver screen? Well, now the fans of Iain M. Banks can join the horrified and disappointed masses, as “The Culture” is apparently being prepped for the big screen.

Iain M. Banks has a huge following in Europe, less so in US, yet his books are considered instant sci-fi classics, imbued with both provocative prose and interesting ideas.

“The Culture” saga begins with the “Consider Phlebas,” one of Banks’ first novels published in 1987.

The novel, considered a beginning of a beloved space opera, features Bora Horza Gobuchul who is in opposition of the very culture he represents. A changling, Horza plays with his personal appearance and gender, and ultimately has to engage in a war between Culture, a technology-dependent, hedonistic society criticised for being endlessly boring and atheistic; and Indirans, made of religious zealots set on expansion of their empire.

The Culture could probably feed some 10+ films, and it is primarily shaped by socio-political ideologies of Iain M. Banks himself, prone to supporting socialist ideals and his evident lack of theology. The Culture, initally despondent to war, ultimately stands up to Indiran invasive efforts, but from a moral standpoint.

Now, Banks’ “A Gift From The Culture” short story is treated to an adaptation by Dominic Murphy, and Shane Smith.[ScreenDaily]

This week, we chat with Steve Anderson of SaveOurNetcoalition and he gives us the goods on Fresh Media Fresh Media, an event dedicated to new and changing state of digital art and media. We also discuss the recent CRTC decision on Net Neutrality in Canada.

Currently, media in Canada is experiencing a major crisis, as CanWest, one of the few and overwhelmingly penetrative media conglomerates has declared bancruptcy due to seemingly insurmountable debts.

Prior to kicking the bucket, so to speak, CanWest did its best to cut down on “corners” by closing local television stations, cutting newsrooms and engaging in mass layoffs. One of the requests forwarded to the CRTC was to eliminate costs by adjoining the newprint and broadcasting news rooms, working with only a fraction of journalists who would potentially occupy a small rooom in a basement somewhere in Toronto.

While the CanWest proposal never saw the light of day, it is worthwhile noting that similar redundancies have been committed by variety of news agencies across Canada. As a result, we are currently experiencing a disappearance of local news coverage.

However, there are select few, such as the chosen panel participants at Fresh Media, who see an opportunity. In this time of economic crisis, online-only publications such as the Tyee or Rabble, are gaining ground by producing the local content relevant to readers.

That said, these select few are neither freelancers nor new graduates with irrelevant, unnamed blogs. They are professionals who not only have full time, financially supportive jobs, but are working in the for-profit media.

According to Statistics Canada, independent enterpreneurs are doing really well, if they happen to be in the upper 10th percentile. The rest though, are having tougher times selling their wares, be it twitter or pen.

by Irma Arkus

Today’s big news (do we even have news any more?) is that Hulu announced cash for content in 2010.

This remarkably stupid idea of exchanging content that is virtually delivered for free through advertisements, as suddenly something that can be flogged for money, is an outcome of a failing industry attempting to not only bounce back, but make a lot of extra cash while doing it.

It is understandable that there is an exchange of money somewhere, but isn’t the Internet a better, savvier and more targeted delivery of content than any TV network available? Thus far, networks have been charging advertisers for making viewers available to see their product placements. But now, the TV productions are attempting to sell actual content rather than advertisements…and that, my friends, is INSANE.

The reason why radio and television became as popular as they did in the first place was because the content was free. That, and the fact that some of it was quite informative.

These days, Television as we know it is practically drowning in obscurity. While digitizing of traditional signals has created extra spaces on bandwidth, the entry to these spaces is still relatively pricey.

But it is only a matter of time until these signals become nest for more reality shows, dead end comedies and nostalgia reruns. I am personally awaiting the “bringing back the 1920s” channel. And I sincerely hope it is clustered between foot fetish channel and more pr0n.

BBC for example is planning to engage in independent content distribution over its already available players. However, currently the content from BBC is strictly reserved as based on country lines. It has however awakened to the fact that many people outside UK are following faithfully some of their more popular programs. Dunno if you have been paying attention, but the sudden influx of British actors as protagonists of most of top 5 network shows, is not an accident, but rather an outcome of global audience paying more than lip service to some unique UK productions.

The outrageous part though, is how much BBC intends to charge for their content. According to a Telegraph article: “executive say that global audiences would be prepared to pay $10 for an episode of hit programmes like Torchwood.”

Do ignore the spelling / grammar errors in this article, but pay attention to this remarkably eccentric statement - they are willing to charge us up to $10 per episode of something as low budget as Torchwood.

While Hulu and BBC are counting money that they haven’t made yet, one should wonder whether this particular model is applicable to current economic recession, when everyone is cutting down on all extras, especially the entertainment costs. However, I do not wish to discount this model either. Apple for example, is doing wonderfully with its iTunes, so people are obviously prepared to pay a minimal fee for watching an episode of a show. But then those numbers, yes, iTunes numbers, still fail to live up to downloads of torrented or online streamed episodes of these same shows. The discrepancy between the two is so large that many critics are demanding that they be taken into account when calculating ratings.

My point is, either you have ads, and we get it for free. Or you make us pay for it, and we own it, play it endlessly and watch it ad-free.

How do you like to watch your TV? [Telegraph

by Irma Arkus

Large Hadron Collider, the multi-billion dollar machine that just won’t start up, has been plagued by numerous problems since the moment of announcement that “she’s ready to go captain.”

Last year, we’ve patiently awaited its start, and since then, the damn thing was breaking and facing numerous technical issues.

But a pair of physicists, Holger Bech Nielsen, of the Niels Bohr Institute in Copenhagen, and Masao Ninomiya of the Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics in Kyoto, Japan, say that this may not be an accident, but rather that the Higgs boson particle is so dangerous, that the time itself is rippling, trying to stop the collider from starting in a roundabout time-travelling sort of way.

In fact, they’ve written two papers on the subject: “Test of Effect From Future in Large Hadron Collider: a Proposal” and “Search for Future Influence From LHC,” available on arXiv.org.

According to the NYTimes musings: “It must be our prediction that all Higgs producing machines shall have bad luck,” Dr. Nielsen said in an e-mail message. In an unpublished essay, Dr. Nielson said of the theory, “Well, one could even almost say that we have a model for God.” It is their guess, he went on, “that He rather hates Higgs particles, and attempts to avoid them.”

In other words, the physicists say that god, or rather some angry deity, is putting halt to the CERN collider because it hates the idea of Higgins Boson particle, thus engaging in time travel to halt it from being found.

As farfetched as this may sound, they say that this may explain why US abandoned its plans in 1993 for a similar collider after already investing billions of dollars.

My question though is, if something doesn’t want us to turn the damn thing on, why not stop the project at its inception? Why wait until its built?[NYTimes]

by Irma Arkus

Yesteday I was mesmerised by a headline, as was the rest of the world, describing a frantic father calling Fox News to help him retrieve his adventurous boy who flew off in a makeshift helium balloon.

The drama was accentuated by Fox Newscasters giving some rather violent advice in parenting, including the suggestion that the father should apply some physical violence in teaching his son a lesson.

But the drama continued, and the more it did, the more we wanted to find out just what kind of family this is, that has an attic, a helium balloon parked, and a father, Robert Heene, who is a supposed “Psyence Detective.”

Did you say “Psyence detective?

Not only did I learn about “psyence,” but I also learned about Heene’s personal belief development: he describes that his firm belief in aliens is a result of an incident at a fast food restaurant where he hit his head against the tile floor and lost consciousnes.

Precious. Watch the Heene’s below:

Balloon Boy on Wife Swap 1 of 5by sdwfdura

UPDATE: Oct 17, 2009 10:17 pm

The assistant of Heene’s, Robert Thomas, has worked on the UFO-like baloon, apparently as a form of a promotion for their TV-show pitch.

He also describes Heene as a man experiencing paranoias and getting more desperate for money. Also, Thomas’ familiarity with the family places serious doubts that Falcon, the child in question, would have hid from his father to begin with.

The Gawker exclusive also has two audio interviews with Thomas worth listening to HERE.

by Irma Arkus

On my bookshelf I have a few magazine holder, but I also happen to have a few boxes pretending to be magazine holders. Nice, shiny, quite large enough for paperwork, and they have Adobe logo all over their covers.

These, my friends, are remnants of previous purchases of software releases by Adobe. Complex packaging, retail distribution, manifold of CD’s in their hard jewel-cases…those are things of the past. The truth is, while the music industry is lamenting the death of CD sales (those were some good times, 20+ years of selling plastic for high dollar) companies such as Adobe have dropped it all for the joys of digital-only releases.

CMO Ann Lewnes explains that the switch from physical distribution of software releases to a sleeker, humbler, digital-only release, has its benefits. In her recent interview with Advertising Age, Lewnes says that the cutting of tedious traditional release saved some 3 million dollars, and also expanded the reach of CS4.

While Adobe is relying on product launches to an already steady buyer market. Lewnes is very much aware of that, but points to the actual Launch Party, a costly event that would have a limited reach, that when done online only, managed to attract millions of interested people.

The response to this is that the launch event when done digitally, attracts specific social node marketers, who influence in turn, other millions of people and their purchasing habits. But Adobe is a well-oiled machine existing in a rather narrow market, and CS4 is a line of products that one can say, has little or no competition, and the techo-babble-wizards that love Adobe will continue to endorse this product line regardless of whether they taste the foie-gras this year.

Adobe is moving forward, but it may be one of rare companies to be able to do so. Regardless, the article and the video short are interesting to view, and they do indicate a smart way of cutting down on unnecessary costs related to product packaging, offering, releases and launches. [AdAge]

Not only is Sam Raimi working on another two additional Spiderman feature films, but recent announcement is that there is a 6th one in the planning stages.

But now, the question begs, who will be the villains in all these upcoming Spiderman films? According to a recent MTV poll, the fans demand The Lizard, and Carnage as the featured bloodthirsty evildoers.

My question is: who would you like to see bash a bit of Spidey?

by Irma Arkus

Stargate Universe is undoubtedly one of the best surprises to grace our small screens in years. Following the mythos established by the previous two successful series, Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis, SG:U took a turn in its approach and managed to singlehandedly unite fans pining for Moore’s version of BSG, with the rabid Stargate followers.

What it offers in terms of viewing is spectacular writing, combined with excellent casting and borrowed stylistic choices that made BSG stand out as a remarkable show. That is all added to generous helping of science fiction and alien worlds, as well as excellent human tales.

Unlike the previous incarnations of Stargate, SG:U takes a serious turn, depicting not a happy family unit, but rather randomly collected souls trapped on a ship of the Ancients, a race long gone, responsible for seeding the universe with their Stargate technology. Despite the evident military presence, and a few techno-gadgets acquired by humanity, the survivors, most comprised of non-military personnel, find themselves on the other side of a gate without a clear chain of command, causing major temper flares and continuous conflict.

Casting is superb.

Robert Carlyle is Dr. Nicholas Rush, a brilliant yet egotistical scientist whose loyalties seem to reside more with his own thirst for knowledge and discovery, rather than with the human survivors surrounding him. Dr. Rush seems to, for the most part, have his heart in the right place, but his lack of social skills makes him a jagged personae that is hard to ascribe to a leadership position.

A relative newcomer, Brian J. Smith is playing a writers’ favorite, Matthew Scott. Matthew is an officer who is a positive presence, a sort of uniting presence on board, but one sorely lacking in experience that would make him head the rag-tag team. What he lacks in expertise (of any kind) he makes up for in heart and

David Blue, a familiar face to those watching an occasional Ugly Betty or Moonlight episode, is a welcome and comforting comic relief, brought on board the accidental expedition because he literally played too many video games.

Justin Louis, on the other hand, is an amazing casting choice for a veteran military commander, who is also handicapped by a physical injury when boarding the ship. His leadership is innate and well suited, but still questioned by Colonel David Telford (Lou Diamond Phillips) who is actually still on Earth.

This is all nice and dandy, but the real writing and character development are seen in Ronald Greer.

Played by Jamil Walker Smith, Greer is a military grunt. Gruff, violent, and a bully who displays a surprising amount of loyalty, Greer is a fantastic character, whom you love to hate at one moment, and then surprisingly find an ounce of respect the next, cleverly showcasing the kind of unmatched skills of the writers who will take Stargate Universe to an entirely new and unprecedented heights.

The show is also chock-full of familar faces. Richard Dean Anderson is aging gracefully, dispensing occasional advice as the Liutenant General Jack O’Neill, and he is joined by a line or two from Michael Shanks and Amanda Tapping. Together they solidify SG:U as part of the Stargate family, giving it grounding and relation to the rest of the franchise, something that Star Trek Enterprise, for example, failed in miserably.

These few, precious characters, together with politicians, bureaucrats, soldiers and diplomats, make up the haphazard crew of an Ancient ship, removed billions of light years across not one, but numerous galaxies away from Earth.

Their very landing on the Ancient ship - a rough, tumbling and frightening fall into the unknown darkness through the familiar and previously comforting Stargate - instantly gives rise to a differentiation of SG:U from other shows in the franchise, and solidifies a beginning of what is surely to be an amazing science fiction adventure.

Now tune in. It’s good for you.

*************************************

So, this review got posted on Reddit.com here here and me being a total klutz, I forgot to turn the comments on, so you can see there what other peeps thought of the SG:U show.

by Irma Arkus

So, my dreams ARE coming true - Red Dwarf is returning, as hinted in the recent reuniting special, and the new series will hit the screens in 2010.

“Back to Earth” has done so well on the small screens and DVD sales, that the beloved show will be revived for 2010!

Robert Llewellyn confirmed that Series 10 has been commissioned and the filming will start next year.

Scripts are written and polished at the moment, as the news of the series revival gain momentum.

I personally, cannot wait.

Today, the BBC unveiled a new logo for upcoming Doctor Who. I guess they’re keeping the phone booth.

by Irma Arkus

Heroes premiere has brought back the familiar faces, in a familiar fashion, and that just might not be enough to start-up a dying franchise.

After such poor story-telling for two whole seasons, and introducing so many characters that even devotees’ heads were swimming in confusion, it is hardly believable that we will suddendly get swept up in Heroes craze again.

Yeah, the Heroes times were good once upon a time, but they are no longer around.

Still, I gave the fourth season a shot, and it looks like the writers at least, are back on track.

While admittedly, the two hour prolonged special was, for the lack of a better word, boring, the overly-complicated plot lines have been somewhat simplified, and the core characters have been brought back.

Peter Petrelli is still one-power-at-a-time kind of guy. And labouring to the point of exhaustion as an ambulatory worker. He is staying away from dear mommy, and brother, because Noah is actually Sylar, whose mind has been bent to imagine himself being Noah - courtesy of Matt Parkman who made a deal with mommy Petrelli.

The return of Nikki Sanders is something to rejoice in. Nikki was killed at end of last season, in a beautiful, self-sacrificing act. But miss pure H20 has regained consciousness, and now, like Storm, she cannot be killed, just drained.

Claire is also back, and in college. Suspicously, part of me wanted for the show to perhaps try cutting down on so many arbitrary characters, and settling on a little bit of college growing pains. But thankfully, even the writers took better aim at Claire’s destiny, and her college experience was quickly marred by a suicide of a creepy, over-achieving roommate.

But who can resist introducing new characters? Not writers for Heroes.

A far crisper, cleaner, more sanitized version of Carnivale shows up, bearing familiar faces. Robert Knepper, sporting the worst Irish-y accent, reveals himself to be a man with a dark plan involving our Heroes. He is going to be the organizing force that will tap into the Heroes we know (and used to kind of love, says Irma resentfully!)

Which brings me to the two cutest characters alive: Hiro Nakamura and Ando Masahashi are back in Japan, rescuing cutenes for the world.

All is going to be alright, if the start, though lackluster, continues to weave in a great story. Then we’ll all be glued to our screens again.

by Irma Arkus

Few days ago, Lilly Allen surprised the media by being relatively upfront over the fact that her recent album has been a download favorite. On her blog, she writes “I think music piracy is having a dangerous effect on British music…For new talent though, file sharing is a disaster as it’s making it harder and harder for new acts to emerge.”

Whoow Lilly, the last time we checked at HiSciFi, the new talent has been emerging using exactly these very tactics you criticise. New bands are constantly gaining new audiences (and landing those juicy contracts) by releasing their first albums via torrents and mp3 sites such as myspace.

But what do I need to say, when Dan Bull has it covered:

This week we bring you Starz Animation who made the animated feature “9” come to life.

The animated feature “9”, created and directed by Shane Acker, has been awaited in anticipation by fans of fine animation, and it has set a new bar for animation.

We are joined by David Steinberg of Starz Animation who is calling us from Starz Animation Toronto studio, a facility that made “9” into the animation feature of the year.

We also have Jason Christie, author of iRobot poetry whose work, though published for 3 years now, has only been gaining fans. Not only is his work turned into a theatre play, but there are fans who animated the poetry.

by Irma Arkus

One of the most anticipated premiers is the second season of Fringe. So, I present you with review of the first episode, because tonight is the night!

Starting with a man appearing from “somewhere” only to run into a man’s home, rendering him unconscious, then proceeding to crush his own facial bones like crunchy playdough, and then inserting a small, three pronged device onto the upper palate of his mouth and that of the unconscious man, turning himself into an identical looking man. Meanwhile, the scene of the initial accident is determined to be between the crunchy faced man and Olivia’s vehicle in which she appears not.

Bishop evaluates the car, and realizes that there is a kind of time lag involved. Olivia suddenly appears (a delayed reaction of kind), rupturing the windshield of the car hours after the accident, only to be confirmed dead upon examination by a physician.

So…I kid you not, Olivia dies in first 3 minutes, and that is one hell of a start for a show that features her as the major protagonist.

Appearance of another young, sexy, female FBI agent allows Peter to gives her and us the summary/introduction of the Fringe division.

Turns out, the Fringe division is also in danger of having all of its funding cut and Massive Dynamics is intent on keeping it open and working.

The crunchy faced man is determined to be from a parallel universe, a soldier, and not necessarily a male either. He unveils that a communication method between the two dimensions exists, and is ordered to kill Olivia, who has incidentally just recovered from being clinically dead.

The crunchy faced man has not only some very soft facial features, but an incredibly bouncy step too. Pretending to be a nurse, failing to kill Olivia by strangulation, she jumps out of the building, landing on her two feet like a cheetah. Eventually, she gets shot by Charlie who tends to watch over Olivia like a guardian.

The nurse is found dead, killed by Charlie, and next to her body is the three pronged device which allows for metamorphosis of these warriors from the other side. Peter uses the technology for a political manouver, extracting more funds for the Fringe division.

At very end, Charlie turns out to be possibly, maybe, someone entirely else.

The End. Now you’re ready to watch more Fringe!

by Irma Arkus

The latest update on the upcoming Marvel films, is that everything old is new again, and superheroes are lining up to collect the box office cash.

Sam Raimi is coming back for another stab or two at Spiderman. Yes, Spiderman 4 is about to return, as are the usual suspects: Toby Maguire is definitely returning for the role, despite the initial hesitance, and so is Kirsten Dunst. Not only are these two engaged in Spiderman 4, but there is also Spiderman 5 planned for 2013.

If there isn’t a grain of sand in Spiderman 4, I’ll be severely disappointed.

The First Avenger: Captain America is bringing Steve Rogers onto the big screen. Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely are screenwriting, and both are known for their extensive contributions to one of the most infuriating film franchises to date: The Chronicles of Narnia.

No announcements on casting choices yet, and the inital call for Barrowman to pick up the cape have been largely panned by homophobic American audiences. The film is set for 2011 summer, but it seems to be still oscillating between the ears of writers and executives, because there seems to be no progress in producing the actual film yet.

Let us hope that Captain America is not depitcted as yet another coming of Jesus.

Thor, on the other hand, has been set for 2011, and seems to already heading in full force. Not only is Kenneth Branagh directing, but casting is chock full of impressive names: Natalie Portman is playing Jane Foster, Samuel L. Jackson is returning as Nick Fury (and will be doing that a lot), Tom Hiddleston is Loki, Brian Blessed as Odin, and even Thor has been cast with Chris Hemsworth *grumble grumble*

Meanwhile, we are all awaiting Iron Man 2, hoping that Disney’s acquiry of Marvel will not have such a large impact on future of superheroes everywhere. And that, my friends, is wishful thinking.

This week we bring you Geoffrey Glass who is an outspoken critic of lobbying efforts by movie and record industry to reform copyright in Canada. The corporate efforts to reform copyright are astounding, as recent Townhall meetings in Toronto were filled with pro-corporate lobbyists who simply pushed out the consumer advocacy and artist perspective.

Now is your time to be heard. Visit FairCopy.ca or SpeakOutOnCopyright.ca

The simple way to respond?

SEND EMAIL TO: info@copyrightconsultation.gc.ca

by Irma Arkus

It is time for the CJSF, our host station, awards!

And you are invited to throw in your vote as well!

VOTE HISCIFI! Vote for Irma!

I will chop off your legs and replaced them with artificial limbs made of PURE GOLD!!!

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Ahhhh, nothing like a day of self-promotion…

by Irma Arkus

We all watched LOTR in awe…and immediately concluded that Peter Jackson absolutely must make The Hobbit. At least that was what I had at the back of my brain when I peeled my butt off the theatre chair after watching Jackson’s magical New Zealand elf parade.

Unlike JJ Abrams with Star Trek, Peter Jackson actually DID bother to READ the books, and even (I know, shocking!) do some additional research.

“Here is someone,” I thought, “who did his research, aaand happens to be a total geek.”

I was in love. And so was the rest of the world.

But who knew that The Hobbit was also embroiled in lawsuits and legalistic schemes?

Your copyright laws in effect: Tolkien’s estate trustees filed a lawsuit against New Line production. They demanded up to $150 millon of theatre proceeds for the LOTR movie.

That too happens when you read btw.

Additionally, the trustees blocked the filming of The Hobbit until settlement.

OK. So, in the end Peter Jackson did not end up filming the Hobbit, but the settlement has been resolved and Guillermo del Toro (another one who reads apparently), will proceed to direct The Hobbit.

According to Christopher Tolkien: “New Line may now proceed with its proposed films of ‘The Hobbit.’”

Thanks Mr. Toklien for sharing your dad’s work of literature 36 years after his passing… [Reuters]

by Irma Arkus

Excitement a plenty this week, with announced Lena Headey joining the cast of most excellent George R.R. Martin’s “Game of Thrones” in production by HBO.

The announcement delights the fans of novel and actress alike, as Headey, according to Martin himself, fis an excellent choice of casting for the Queen.

David Benioff is penning the adaptation for the series, and the roster of actors is growing, and impressively so.

by Irma Arkus

“Fanged frogs, grunting fish and tiny bear-like creatures” have been identified in a volcanic crater in Papua New Guinea.

The pristine habitat is host to numerous species unafraid of humans, untouched by civilisation. Until now that is…

A giant rat, potentially largest in the world, has been identified along with numerous species of frogs, birds and insects never seen before.

Papua New Guinea’s forests are currently undergoing a devastating deforestation efforts, disappearing at an alarming rate of 3.5% a year, and yet they represent untold plethora of fauna and flora that has not even been encountered or recorded. [Guardian]

This week on HiSciFi, with Irma and Tarek in the studio, we bring you a glimpse into past, as we explore 1970s Planet of the Apes TV show, as well as discuss the Aggression Theory.

We also discuss the keyword of the past week - GEOENGINEERING. What is it and what it may mean for you?

And Copyright in Canada - what can you do to prevent corporations mandating copyright law reforms in Canada?

And we give you the latest update on the Green Hornet!!!

OPEN PUBLIC COPYRIGHT CONSULTATIONS ARE OVER on SEP 13th - PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE visit FAIRCOPY.CAFAIRCOPY.CA and send in your responses NOW.

by Irma Arkus

As I’ve fallen behind in reporting (blame me, blame Canada…) I decided to throw you “What Irma’s been worrying about today” list. So, here goes nothing:

Geoengineering - fully intend to explore this during the show, but probably will not get a chance to really get anguished on air, or go into details.

The light version goes something like this: Royal Society says that things are grimmer than anticipated. This kind of fits within new scientific reports that are quite clear on state of global environment being more dire in reality, than the proposed worst case scenarios spelled out a few years back.

For one, methane is cause for concern, it being a major greenhouse gas and all, and as its reserves are kept in liquid state either at bottom of Arctic Ocean, or in Russian steppes, warming of these areas ultimately means release of untold quantities of methane gas into atmosphere, pretty much cutting down our chances of survival as species, as well as that of others who have the misfortune of occupying this planet at the very same time.

This ongoing tragedy is revolving through scientific journals and news practically on daily basis, but Royal Society this week came out of its usual quiet narration, and announced (and who knows who heard it?) that should drastic steps toward reduction of CO2 levels not be taken, geoengineering may be the only step we can take, no matter how *dangerous, stupid, irreversible, harmful and altering to Earth itself it may be.

Geoengineering may sound cool in theory, offers no reason for joy in reality. Not only does it offer no guarantee of reducing temperature or CO2 levels, but the proposed “solutions” involving geoengineering are so disturbing that we may end up paying for it for generations to come.

Star Trek - I keep on getting disturbingly pissy about this, mostly because I hate the Abrams’ lack of any insight into what Star Trek, as initally imagined by Rodenberry, is about. Oh sure, Shatner’s Kirk is a vagabond, a daredevil, everything that McCain tried to persuade America he is during the elections and more, but the crew of Enterprise also had a moral centre, a moral obligation to assist other cultures and attempt to understand them, and that was wiped clean off of the tabula rasa presented to us by Abrams.

I weep for Nero. The rest of them can burn in hell.

I’ve offered thorough critiques of the film before, but to indulge the rest of you, I will do so again in near future.

The news though, keep dripping in regards to Star Trek - mostly because of the anticipated DVD release, and the continuously held promotional panels.

One thing has been confirmed though, Leonard Nimoy did not incidentally appear very old in the film, but rather IS old. He firmly announced that he will not be returning for another appearance in the upcoming Star Trek.

Green Hornet - Stephen Chow is no longer attached to the project. This makes me mildly sad, because I really looked forward to Chow’s breakthrough into North American film market, and this was supposed to have been “it.” Chow’s “CJ-7” was fantastic in every way. Polished, funny, interesting, enchanting…I loved it to bits, and was hoping to see more of Chow’s ingenuity on screen. And he would have made an amazing Kato to boot.

But not all is lost, and I will fill you in during the show.

Planet of the Apes - announced is yet another remake. No joke. Have no idea why or how, but here we are.

After finding this out, I made an effort to procure the TV series of the franchise, and while short-lived, it had some rather interesting ideas…and not necessarily ape-related ones either.

The show was written during the era of energy crisis in the 1970s, and it reflects through and through. For one, a lot of contemporary concerns regarding alternate energy are reflected in the series, creating some sort of a temporal “worry bridge”?

From solar-powered lights, to nuclear-powered subways, humanity of future/yesteryear was heavily reliant on solution to gas, in form of nuclear power supply, and has incidentally also met its end at hands of its savior.

The funny bit is the premise of the show. The astronauts, played by James Naughton and Ron Harper, are continuously spreading their philosophy, which reads something like “why can’t apes and humans just get along?” but in reality sounds like “we want peace and collaboration between sentient species.” That may sound fine and dandy, but in this alternate future, it seems to me that peace has finally been established with apes in position of superiority.

The ape masters may treat humans like pets or slaves, but there are certainly no massive wars, and they seem to be positively nicer than your average CEO.

All that and more…tune in!

by Irma Arkus

According to CNET, MPAA is facing a court decision in San Francisco where the judge isn’t buying the position of copyright violations by filesharers of IsoHunt.

IsoHunt, one of largest torrent search engines operating in Richmond, British Columbia, has been targeted by lawsuits. Now that the Pirate Bay Four trial has concluded in favour of the plaintiffs, primarily composed of lobby groups including MPAA, the move on the part of associations was to take down as many torrent sites available.

But the San Francisco case isn’t moving favorably, as the judge presiding over the case stated that MPAA lawyers have not presented direct evidence of copyright infringement by IsoHunt users.

Currently, it is established that what users do with content after visiting IsoHunt is unknown and undetermined, and that the visiting of site or torrent download does not necessarily translate into a copyright violation.

This certainly does not directly tie IsoHunt to the very act of copyright violation. However, during the Pirate Bay Four trial, a much different strategy was implemented, one based on “copyright infringement assistance” after which it was ruled that the torrent site is “assisting” users to infringe upon copyrights.

Isohunt attorney Ira Rothken seeks a jury trial based on a novel approach, the merits of the torrent search site: “I believe there has not been a single case in U.S. law where there has been a decision on the merits of a Torrent search engine.” [CNET