Stane or Ballmer?

Obadiah Stane description from the Iron Man website: “As … a top executive in Stark Industries, Stane is a calculating genius who is willing to do whatever it takes to get the job done.”

From the people who brought you Luthor or Larry?

Damn You! Damn You all to Hell!

Rest in peace, Charlie.

Arthur C. Clarke, 1917-2008

Read the complete article on ZDNet (click)

The Gary Gygax Geek Process Flow

artwork: Sam Potts, The New York Times (click drawing to expand full size)

I’m ashamed to say that I’ve often ventured into the right side of that flow chart more than the left side.

What Superhero Are You?

Fighting for Truth, Pastrami, Pizza, Burgers, Hot Dogs… and Jersey.

SciFi.com Lance Thunderbolt Hero Creator (click)

It’s a Food Seasoning, Light Fixture and Air Purifier!

Recently, on a trip to H-Mart (Han Ah Reum) in Little Ferry, NJ, we saw these weird things in the adjoining market:

These are lighting fixtures made out of mined salt deposits, and they come in all different sizes.

I happen to think they are weird looking, although I wouldn’t mind one in the living room. Its kind of creepy in a Aliens/Pod People kind of way. Supposedly, they also purify your air, but I’m not sure how that works. I’m guessing its pseudoscience.

Chinese Now Snacking On Space Spuds

Photo: A Purple Orchid potato, similar to the type that is being highly coveted in China.

Entrepreneurs in Shanghai are pushing the city’s latest food fad for Valentine’s Day - a purple potato grown from seeds taken on a space mission.

The sweet potato seeds were part of experiments on China’s second manned space mission, Shenzhou VI, last year.

The potatoes were then grown on the beaches of southern Hainan Island.

Supporters say space-grown produce can be more nutritious and hardier, though sceptics say similar results can be obtained in Earth-bound laboratories.

A Shanghai food and drink association invited 30 local chefs to try out a variety of recipes for the Purple Orchid III potato.

They included salads, appetizers, desserts and even an iced drink, the China Daily newspaper reported.

BBC News: Lift-off for Chinese Space Potato

The Doomsday Seed Vault

The $5m Svalbard International Seed Vault, to be excavated out of the side of a mountain in the arctic circle and built by the Norweigian government will be our last hope of restoring food crops in the event of a global catastrophe. (artwork from Global Crop Diversity Trust)

Construction begins in March, and the seed bank is scheduled to open in 2008.

The Norwegian government is paying the $5m (£2.5m) construction costs of the vault, which will have enough space to house three million seed samples.  (Source: BBC News)

See inside the Vault (Global Crop Diversity Trust Web Site)

BBC News: ‘Doomsday’ vault design unveiled (click)

Luthor or Larry?

Oracle Billionaire CEO Larry Ellison, or Supervillain Billionaire Lionel Luthor from Smallville?

You be the judge.

Spread the word: digg this story

Goodbye, Robocar.

Photo: The futuristic Ford Taurus played the role of the OCP police cruiser in the violent and controversial 1987 Paul Verhoeven Sci-Fi movie “Robocop”, set in a dystopian near-future Detrioit. The Taurus was only just introduced when the movie began filming in 1985. Trivia: the main competitor of the Ford Taurus at the time was the Pontiac 6000, which is parodied by its movie counterpart, the “6000 SUX”.

DEARBORN, Mich. — Sometime next week, the assembly line at a Ford plant near Atlanta will come to a halt, signaling the end of a family sedan so revolutionary that its 1985 debut changed forever the way cars look, feel and drive.

Say goodbye to the Taurus.

After 21 years and sales of nearly 7 million cars, Ford Motor Co. is giving up on what some call the most influential automobile since Henry Ford’s Model T.

The Taurus is credited with moving America away from boxy V-8 powered gas-guzzling bedrooms-on-wheels to aerodynamic, more efficient cars with crisper handling.

End of the Road for Ford Taurus (Fox News)