Bigger than Trek?

[Battlestar Galactica, SciFi]

With firm TrekNews hard to come by this SciFi channel
press release is like Nerd Cubits!

"SciFi Channel announced the development of Caprica, a
spinoff prequel of its hit Battlestar Galactica, in
presentations to advertisers in New York on April 26.
Caprica would come from Galactica executive producers
Ronald D. Moore and David Eick, writer Remi Aubuchon
(24) and NBC Universal Television Studio.'

'Caprica would take place more than half a century
before the events that play out in Battlestar
Galactica. The people of the Twelve Colonies are at
peace and living in a society not unlike our own, but
where high technology has changed the lives of
virtually everyone for the better.'

'But a startling breakthrough in robotics is about to
occur, one that will bring to life the age-old dream
of marrying artificial intelligence with a mechanical
body to create the first living robot: a Cylon.
Following the lives of two families, the Graystones
and the Adamas (the family of William Adama, who will
one day become the commander of the Battlestar
Galactica), Caprica will weave together corporate
intrigue, techno-action and sexual politics into
television's first science fiction family saga, the
channel announced."

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Does She Work For Kenneth Fitzherbert*

[news, weird]

News of the weird: "In Cardiff, Wales, in March, Sabrina Pace, 26,
sued the manager of the car rental firm where she works because,
following her breast-augmentation surgery, she couldn't get the
manager to stop paying attention to her breasts."
–[News Ltd (Sydney, Australia), 3-27-06]

http://www.newsoftheweird.com/archive/

(*aka 'Mr. Tits Pervert' from 'Bridget Jones')

Oh, Canada

[politics, Canada, war]

(From Yahoo!)
"Canada's new Conservative government barred the media from covering
the return Tuesday of the flag-draped coffins of four soldiers killed
in Afghanistan, angering political opponents and some families.

The government also has stopped lowering flags to half-staff outside
Parliament each time a Canadian soldier is killed, prompting Liberals
to accuse Prime Minister Stephen Harper of trying to play down the
growing human cost of the Canadian mission in Afghanistan."

The new Canadian government has learned from Bush how to hide the war
quite quickly, don't you think?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060425/ap_on_re_ca/canada_fallen_soldiers

Advertisements Coming to iTunes?

[Apple, iTunes, podcast]

American Public http://www.blogger.com/img/gl.link.gifMedia's "Marketplace" and Advertising Age are reporting Apple will soon be adding ads in the bottom left corner of iTunes when listeners are sitting at their computers. "The introduction of visual ads could be
the first step to allowing ads in other content areas or on iPods," the AdAge article states.

I guess I would prefer an ad in a window (that I probably would run minimized anyway) than within the actual podcast – but if I paid for content I would be fairly cross if ads started creeping in. Free content supported by (well done) ads – now that would be OK by me!

Apples to Apple

[organic, apples]

94139. What is it? The PLU of organic Granny Smith apples on sale at
Safeway this week. Same price as 'conventional' Granny Smith apples
and sooo much yummier. Consider yourself schooled.

Oddly, after a quick A9.com search, I see it is also a ZIP code in San Francisco as well as underwear in Taiwan.

The Sounds of Things

[mp3, sound, Macintosh, THX]

An interesting look into the sound design of some very familiar
things in our lives that all started with the rebooting of a Mac.

http://musicthing.blogspot.com/2005/05/all-this-week-tiny-music-
makers.html

Hey Aggies - It's a Hole in the Ground!

[ucd, football, stadium, webcam]

Get ready to say goodbye to Toomey Field, Ags, the (currently named) Multi-Use Stadium is under construction.

This $29,750,000 project is slated to provide a facility with 10,000 seats expandable to 30,000 (in case the Rolling Stones or the Olympics come to town) and a complete locker room for game-day activities, a press box, food and merchandising space, and public rest-rooms (good idea). The project should meet current and future needs of the Intercollegiate Athletic Program at UC Davis and will be home not only to UC Davis Football, but also Women's Lacrosse and regulation soccer. Citing the many rainy days of March and April, UC Davis officials announced late Wednesday (4/19/06) that construction delays are likely to push back the opening of the multi-use stadium until early 2007.

The Multi-Use Stadium will be located at the southwest corner of Hutchison Drive and La Rue Road.

Watch them at work via web-cam.

Surely You Can't Be Cereal

[iTunes, iTMS]

The logically named Free iTunes Downloads blog has noted General Mills' cereal is giving away a free song in specially marked packages of cereal, plus you can also try your hand at an online instant win game for a $100 Apple gift card (use UPC code 18000-99973 for alternate entry).

So start groovin'!

Not Dead Yet, Jim

[Star Trek, movies]

The as-yet-untitled "Star Trek" feature, the 11th since 1979, is
aiming for a fall 2008 release through Paramount Pictures, the Viacom
Inc. unit looking to restore its box-office luster under new
management, the trade paper said.

The project will be directed by J.J. Abrams, ("Mission: Impossible
III" and TV shows "Alias" and "Lost") will also help write and produce.

Daily Variety said the action would center on the early days of "Star
Trek" characters James T. Kirk and Mr. Spock, including their first
meeting at Starfleet Academy and first outer-space mission.

In Your Dreams

[sleep, dreams]

So when you dream about a co-worker do you tell them about it?

What about if it involves playing a game of cricket inside with a wadded up
napkin?

Just wondering....

"Blinding Me With Religion", or "Losing My Science"

[evolution, religion]

Not a Thomas Dolby/ R.E.M mashup, this is Kirk Cameron turning back the pages of civilization to a simpler time when all you needed to know was in a single book.

Funniest part is that he asks how can you take things like the Big Bang on faith when you know religion has the real answers for you. Anyone else spot the hypocrisy here?

Watch and enjoy.

Mashed Smashed Trashed, Indeed

[Black Eyed Peas, Salt'n'Peppa, mp3 mashup]

Just when I had about got this song out of my head (Thanks Verizon!)
along comes the digitaleargasm blog with a link to "Black Eyed Peas
vs Salt'n'Pepa - 'Push my humps (dj briguy's mashup mix).' "

Guilty pleasure of the day (along with all the left-over easter candy
people have brought in) and why I have headphones at work, people.

http://digitaleargasm.blogspot.com/2006/04/mashed-smashed-trashed.html

If Signs Could talk

[flash animation icons]

'airport' by iain anderson (a story of a trip done all with
informational icons)

http://funwithstuff.com/dswmedia/airport.html

Just The Thing For Downtown Living

[Vespa, scooter, hybrid]

Just when you thought the Windows XP on a Macintosh had the corner on what sounded like an April Fool's day gag, RetroThing (retrothing.com) is reporting that Vespa's (via parent company
Piaggio) really is now testing two prototype HyS hybrid gasoline/electric scooters (http://www.retrothing.com/2006/04/introducing_two.html) in Milan just days after joking about it (http://www.retrothing.com/2005/06/vespa_introduce.html).

Based on their Vespa LX 50 and the Piaggio X8 125, "the combination of electric and gas engines provides approximately 25% more power, helping to alleviate fuel consumption when starting or accelerating while reducing gasoline consumption by 20%." The scooter can also operate be switched into a low-speed "electric only" mode.

The vehicle can charge its batteries from the gasoline motor while traveling at normal road speeds and can connect to a standard 220V (European) household plug to recharge the electric cells in about three hours. Plugging in your scooter reduces operating costs by about half, versus the gasoline only version. Two 12V 26Ah batteries are located under the LX 50 HyS seat, where riders usually store a helmet.

No word yet on pricing or American availability, but how cool would this be for runs to the local pizza place or corner market?

It Can't Rain All the Time

[weather, california]

Unlike the urban legend that the Eskimo have an unusually high number
of words for snow, I am seriously thinking that soon the average
Californian will have names for rain that other cultures can only
dream of.

Is That the Sun I See?

[California, rain, weather]

A rare moment of sun here in Northern California, so I thought I better document it!

Goodbye Budget Living

["Budget Living", magazine]

Looks like one of my favourite magazines, Budget Living, has folded.



This is quite sad as they were a great source of cheap yet stylish gifts, fun party ideas, and chic yet affordable places to see and stay. I think BL was the first place I read about the hip & trendy "Farmer's Daughter Motel in LA (which is mentioned in this month's Sunset).

Budget Living seemed to be doing quite well, often stories from the magazine were later featured in the San Jose Mercury News, but maybe this didn't help the bottom line as much as one might think. After the founding editor Sarah Gray Miller left content went a little too much toward women's clothing for my taste (MediaWeek called it a 'Women's lifestyle monthly' so perhaps this makes sense) but then seemed to settle back into the old vibe, but I guess in the end the numbers just didn't add up.

Budget Living was 4 years old and leaves no survivors. (But had a
heck of a wake as seen on Gawker.)

30 years ago (today)