Fantasist's Scroll

Yep, you can bid on a space mission on eBay.

Seriously. Of course, I’m not sure what the average Joe would want with a satellite, but you never know. It does have a camera, according to this article on Wired News, but is it really worth the price? Well, I guess we’ll see.
Personally, I like it. Sure, I’m not going to bid on it, but I like the idea of privitizing space this way. After all, how else are we going to get out there? What’s more, how else are we going to make it cheap? Cars and planes used to be horribly expensive, until everyone started using them. Now, almost every family owns a car and everyone flies somewhere. Okay, maybe not in their own plane, but still… Combine this with a little space tourism and we might actually start to get out into space!

Okay, this rocks!

According to this article on IGN.com, Farscape is making a comeback. There’ve been rumors, but now the production office “down under” has actually opened up again and work has started. Now, rumor has it that the new project is a mini-series, not a full-blown series, but still, it’s something! I mean I really hated how the series just ended without resolving anything.
Another interesting tidbit is that this will be a project totally independant of the SciFi Channel, who broadcast the original series. That, of course, begs the question: Where will the series run? If it runs on the SciFi Channel, I hope they get gouged on the price. It would be poetic justice if they spent more on the mini-series than it would have cost to finish the last season. In any case, it’ll be cool to see the show again.

Gear for the soldier of the future.

First, the US Army Landwarrior program is getting an upgrade to Linux. According to this article on National Defense Magazine, they’ve decided that Linux is cheaper and more reliable than a Windoze solution. Cool. Open Source soldiers.

Second, this article on Australian IT, about a “power glove” meant to give emergency personnel information they can use to be better and more effective. It’s small, light and modular. The system uses wireless communication to link all the parts together without useing wires! And, it has a helmet with a camera!!

Go, read, think, write about it.

That’s how it was described to me once.

When I asked an electrician I knew to explain to me why electricity didn’t fall out of the outlets if there wasn’t a plug to stop it, he gave me some story about how electrity flows like water. Well, now, according to this article on the BBC, electricity may flow from water. It’s not hydro-electric power plants, but it is electricity generated from the flow of water. Fascinating and new, so no one knows what the implications are yet. Perfect fodder for a near-future science-fiction story!

Wow, they’re really on this!

Here’s another article on war in space. This article on the Oakland Tribune site is about a high-powered laser that they’re developing into a weapon. So, we may have Star Wars yet! (The government program, not the movie, you goof.)

That’s the next military frontier.

Or, at least, according to this article on the Sydney Morning Herald it is. Experts in the article indicate that the increasing value of our satellites, and other space-based resources, mean that the next big, battle frontier will be in outer space. That and the fact that the Chinese have sent an astronaut into space. Exciting times. Is it science-fiction, or science-fact? The future is now.

At least, in a limited capacity.

After much thought, and reworking of code, I’ve decided to bring back the popular ConLang Word Generator. It functions basically the same, but will only generate a maximum of 25 words at a time. Hopefully, that will not be too big a burden on the server.
However, rest assured that if I get even the slightest hint of trouble, I’ll have to take it down. It was pretty touch and go last time I had a popular script running that killed my web host’s server, so I’m not taking any chances this time.

And, stay tuned for a new, totally different, word generator! Coming soon to a web page near you!!

They’re bringing him back for his 40th anniversary!

No, really, a new Dr. Who series is going to be done for the BBC. For those of you who are big geeks like me, you already know who Dr. Who is. For those of you who don’t… Well, it’s about time you were educated.
Though it’s hard for me to believe that the Good Doctor has been around for fourty years, he apparently has. And, he’s still popular enough that BBC1 will be airing a new series based on the classic series. The series was about an immortal, time-travelling, space travelling alien who was out to protect the universe from any and all baddies. At his disposal to aid in this duty were the TARDIS and his sonic screwdriver, among other toys. And, of course, his ever-faithful humanoid companions. (Not all of them were actually humans from Earth.) Oh, the memories this brings back!
You can read more about this at the Official BBC Dr. Who Website.