Out of the Blue

Today is the 40th anniversary of the command module for Apollo 17 setting down, marking the last time man landed on the moon. One small step for (a) man. Too bad we've lost our stomach for giant leaps. Speaking of the calendar, I want to wish a happy Hanukkah to all who are celebrating, as we are now amid the festival of lights, which began on December 8th and runs through sundown Sunday.

Leaping Links: Thanks Ant and Acleacius.
Play: Liquid Measure 3.
Links: Pointer Pointer. I laugh every time. Thanks jimnms.
Stories: Shyamalan's new sci-fi flick doesn't look immediately terrible in new trailer. Thanks Neutronbeam.
Science: Smart Cups Detect Date Rape Drugs. Now we need drugs to detect dumb cups.
Media: Newegg TV- -Tech The Halls- Compilation Album.
Mission vs Bond.
Auction: A collector is selling every Super Nintendo game for $24,999.
The Funnies: Dilbert.
Follow-up: "Skyfall," "Twilight" Break More Records.
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38 Replies. 2 pages. Viewing page 2.
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18.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Dec 11, 2012, 16:44
mch
18.
Re: Out of the Blue Dec 11, 2012, 16:44
Dec 11, 2012, 16:44
mch
 
MrGrosser wrote on Dec 11, 2012, 15:57:
And uhhhh didn't they say 12/21/2012.. no the 12th?

Thought so as well.
17.
 
Re: Shyamalan's new sci-fi flick
Dec 11, 2012, 16:07
17.
Re: Shyamalan's new sci-fi flick Dec 11, 2012, 16:07
Dec 11, 2012, 16:07
 
Shok wrote on Dec 11, 2012, 09:50:
I would love to watch the trailer for that new flick but it looks like the Sony copyright bots took it down from youtube. Great marketing there guys.

caught a glimpse of it yesterday on yahoo, it looked pretty bad to me.

I'm not a will smith fan and I know his kid pulls in money at the box office but it seems like they're really leaning too hard on the "father and son" dynamic duo.

It's got to be more than a coincidence when studios release two movies that look so similar around the same time. You've got this one, after earth and tom cruise in oblivion.
Avatar 6174
16.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Dec 11, 2012, 15:57
16.
Re: Out of the Blue Dec 11, 2012, 15:57
Dec 11, 2012, 15:57
 
And uhhhh didn't they say 12/21/2012.. no the 12th?
Avatar 21946
15.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Dec 11, 2012, 15:41
PHJF
 
15.
Re: Out of the Blue Dec 11, 2012, 15:41
Dec 11, 2012, 15:41
 PHJF
 
You fool, everybody knows the Mayans used GMT.
Steam + PSN: PHJF
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14.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Dec 11, 2012, 15:18
14.
Re: Out of the Blue Dec 11, 2012, 15:18
Dec 11, 2012, 15:18
 
Today here it is 12/12/12, all is fine don't worry about the end of th
Um .. Behind you...
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13.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Dec 11, 2012, 14:32
13.
Re: Out of the Blue Dec 11, 2012, 14:32
Dec 11, 2012, 14:32
 
I love this QuiBids ad that has "AWESOME BLACK FRIDAY DEALS!"

Creston
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12.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Dec 11, 2012, 13:42
12.
Re: Out of the Blue Dec 11, 2012, 13:42
Dec 11, 2012, 13:42
 
How is FF4 Complete anyway? I was thinking of dusting off my PSP and giving it a whirl soon. I'm a bit worried After Years/etc will ruin my memories of the game though, any good?
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11.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Dec 11, 2012, 12:50
11.
Re: Out of the Blue Dec 11, 2012, 12:50
Dec 11, 2012, 12:50
 
The "collector" who is selling that SNES collection is none other than "byuu", the creater of the bSNES emulator, which is hands down the most accurate emulator available for the SNES, and one of the most impressive emulators ever created, as it replicates the SNES' internal components almost *exactly* cycle-for-cycle, unlike most emulators that use software hacks to get most things working smoothly.

With a program like bSNES under his belt, I can see why he is selling off all his games, as the program literally runs every single one of them as well as the original console did.
Avatar 56178
10.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Dec 11, 2012, 12:44
10.
Re: Out of the Blue Dec 11, 2012, 12:44
Dec 11, 2012, 12:44
 
Hoping I'll live long enough to see us have a manned mission to Mars, but even assuming I live another 30+ years, it doesn't seem that likely...
“Extinction is the rule. Survival is the exception.” -- Carl Sagan
9.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Dec 11, 2012, 12:25
Jim
9.
Re: Out of the Blue Dec 11, 2012, 12:25
Dec 11, 2012, 12:25
Jim
 
Nice to recognize the Apollo 17 landing, although it's a good thing the command module didn't make the actual landing or else they'd still be there (the CM stays in orbit while the LM separates and lands). This reminds me of an interview with Jim Lovell during the 40th anniversary of Apollo 8. Someone asked him if his crew had considered executing an unplanned landing. I think his response was simply "no, because we didn't have a LM."

And speaking of lunar landings, we will be making 2 of them next week, as Ebb and Flow (the twin GRAIL probes) reach the end of their mission and will be deliberately crashed into the lunar surface.
Jim
8.
 
Re: Shyamalan's new sci-fi flick
Dec 11, 2012, 11:31
nin
8.
Re: Shyamalan's new sci-fi flick Dec 11, 2012, 11:31
Dec 11, 2012, 11:31
nin
 
Pointer Pointer. I laugh every time. Thanks jimnms.

Wow! That's pretty wild, actually!


7.
 
Re: Shyamalan's new sci-fi flick
Dec 11, 2012, 11:28
7.
Re: Shyamalan's new sci-fi flick Dec 11, 2012, 11:28
Dec 11, 2012, 11:28
 
Rigs wrote on Dec 11, 2012, 11:01:
I consider Signs to be one of my all-time favs, right up there with Poltergeist. I think the music and ambiance is what really does it, for me at least. Mel's character is a bit...odd, but I've seen worse. A guy loses his wife, blames God, loses his faith and then has to deal with an alien invasion alone with his kids and brother while thinking God has abandoned them. I can relate...kinda. M. certainly went for the 'implied' route when it came to scary, which is much more effective than outright showing the very thing you should be afraid of. I think it worked fine, I don't understand the absolute hate for it from some. It's got it's flaws, yes, but it's still pretty good. I look at it not as a blockbuster movie but maybe told as a kind of short-story...In that context, it works very well...

=-Rigs-=

It has really rigid dialogue where characters don't project much emotion, it's an M. Night writing problem in general if you look at his movies as a whole. There's a muted, lifeless feel that can be pretty divisive and there were some absurd plot holes as well. You can usually ignore stuff like that but a few were especially cumbersome as they seemed in service to a twist device moreso than the story itself. I enjoyed it enough to think it was a slightly above average but I wouldn't even put it in a top 100 list to be honest. Certainly not as bad as his detractors say (lets reserve that for The Happening) but not exactly worthy of praise either. He has done and can do a lot better, I hope he does too as the world needs better sci-fi than Star Trek action movies. My 2 cents anyway

Poltergeist owns though and has aged surprisingly well

Avatar 51617
6.
 
Re: Shyamalan's new sci-fi flick
Dec 11, 2012, 11:11
nin
6.
Re: Shyamalan's new sci-fi flick Dec 11, 2012, 11:11
Dec 11, 2012, 11:11
nin
 

Assn Creed 3 for $33 (360, PS3) today at amazon, if you're so inclined.

5.
 
Re: Shyamalan's new sci-fi flick
Dec 11, 2012, 11:01
Rigs
 
5.
Re: Shyamalan's new sci-fi flick Dec 11, 2012, 11:01
Dec 11, 2012, 11:01
 Rigs
 
I consider Signs to be one of my all-time favs, right up there with Poltergeist. I think the music and ambiance is what really does it, for me at least. Mel's character is a bit...odd, but I've seen worse. A guy loses his wife, blames God, loses his faith and then has to deal with an alien invasion alone with his kids and brother while thinking God has abandoned them. I can relate...kinda. M. certainly went for the 'implied' route when it came to scary, which is much more effective than outright showing the very thing you should be afraid of. I think it worked fine, I don't understand the absolute hate for it from some. It's got it's flaws, yes, but it's still pretty good. I look at it not as a blockbuster movie but maybe told as a kind of short-story...In that context, it works very well...

=-Rigs-=
Survivor of the 12/10/21 Mayfield EF4 tornado
'Sorry, we thought you were dead.'
'I was. I'm better now.'
Avatar 14292
4.
 
Re: Shyamalan's new sci-fi flick
Dec 11, 2012, 10:22
nin
4.
Re: Shyamalan's new sci-fi flick Dec 11, 2012, 10:22
Dec 11, 2012, 10:22
nin
 
Shok wrote on Dec 11, 2012, 09:50:
I would love to watch the trailer for that new flick but it looks like the Sony copyright bots took it down from youtube. Great marketing there guys.

What will the goofy plot twist ending be this time?????

3.
 
Re: Shyamalan's new sci-fi flick
Dec 11, 2012, 10:00
3.
Re: Shyamalan's new sci-fi flick Dec 11, 2012, 10:00
Dec 11, 2012, 10:00
 
Shaylaman made two great movies, well two and a half if you can ignore the fact that despite traveling interstellar distances aliens are alergic to water yet invade a planet that is 80% covered in water, dont wear clothes (or some kind of water protective underware at least?), and cant work a doorknob to save their life...Obviously the revealing 'twist' in the last part of the movie should be outright ignored and forgoten and you should just imagine that "Everyone dies at the End..."
I have a nifty blue line!
Avatar 46994
2.
 
Re: Shyamalan's new sci-fi flick
Dec 11, 2012, 09:50
2.
Re: Shyamalan's new sci-fi flick Dec 11, 2012, 09:50
Dec 11, 2012, 09:50
 
I would love to watch the trailer for that new flick but it looks like the Sony copyright bots took it down from youtube. Great marketing there guys.
Avatar 9616
1.
 
Re: Out of the Blue
Dec 11, 2012, 09:39
1.
Re: Out of the Blue Dec 11, 2012, 09:39
Dec 11, 2012, 09:39
 
Just watched a good documentary on PBS about the Apollo 17 mission. So very cool.

The Apollo 17 Hammer Throw. My understanding is this is something of a tradition for geologists.

And apparently geologists are the coolest, sexiest men alive!
"The horse I bet on was so slow, the jockey kept a diary of the trip." - Henny Youngman
38 Replies. 2 pages. Viewing page 2.
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