Celebrate Your Geekdom
from Weta:
Blast a Buffoon!
There is always someone in the Universe that you would really like to endanger with something sharp, correct?
Well how about doing so with the business end of one of Dr. Grordbort’s Infallible Aether Oscillators?
And in an environment with little or no risk of legal action by blubbering relatives?
Sounds like Nirvana?
What are you waiting for, man — fire up that Particle Smasher and get busy playing our online game!
from StarWars.com:
StarWarsShop’s Dark Side Days event is seducing shoppers with 25% off ALL in-stock merchandise for two days only — that’s just two days to get that $25 Force Action Lightsaber for under $20, that $60 Koto Commander Rex maquette for $45, or that $130 LEGO AT-AT for under $100! And that’s just for starters — remember, ALL in-stock merchandise is 25% off — there are NO exclusions — but you have to act FAST!
Discover the power of Dark Side Days at StarWarsShop Friday and Saturday for some of the best holiday deals you’ll find anywhere on Star Wars merchandise — you WILL be turned.
Browncoats: Redemption Trailer from browncoatsmovie on Vimeo.
The fan-funded film is set shortly after the events of Serenity, when the Alliance’s power and standing in the ‘verse has been shaken by the announcement of what took place on Miranda. Browncoats: Redemption expands the lore of the ‘verse by following the crew of the ship Redemption, self-professed Browncoats who’ve “kept their noses clean” — until now.
Planned for a 2010 release, with its unveiling at next year’s DragonCon in Atlanta, the Browncoats: Redemption team hopes to not only fuel interest in the Firefly ‘verse but raise funds for charities. 100% of the film’s proceeds (after production costs) will be split between the charities Equality Now, Kids Need to Read, The Dyslexia Foundation, The Al Wooten Jr. Heritage Center and Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation. Early projections based on previous Firefly/Serenity related DVD sales have the filmmakers hoping to donate upwards of $80,000 to each charity (based on a $15 DVD price tag).
The team has been posting behind-the-scenes videos on their YouTube Channel, and now you can get a first look at the Redemption crew in the newly released Browncoats: Redemption teaser trailer.
Trying to figure out what the perfect gift will be for your favorite geek? Check out some of these awesome gift ideas.
Electronic Gadgets:
The Kindle Wireless Reading Device is presently the #1 Bestselling, #1 most wished for and #1 most gifted item on Amazon.com. At just over 1/3 of an inch thick it’s thinner than most magazines and weighs less then a paperback book. With wireless 3G technology, you can download your new books digitally in under 60 seconds from anywhere in the world! It reads like real paper without a glare (even in strong sunlight) and holds up to 1,500 books at a time. With over 360,000 books now available for download, Kindle will keep any book lover happy for years to come!
This 8 GB MP4/MP3 Player from Pyrus Electronics includes an FM radio, camera, voice recorder and features a 2.8 inch touchscreen. They also have a 4 GB version and for under $10 you can get an MP3 FM Transmitter (with remote) that plugs right into your cigarette lighter and transmits your favorite MP3s to your radio. It uses an SD card so your only limit is how big the card memory is.
The Electronic Lab 130-in-One Project is a fun way to learn about electronics and study the wonders of science. This kit will give you a jump-start on a great hobby with no prior electronics knowledge needed. Project components are assembled on a built-in breadboard by connection to spring terminals — no soldering needed — and use safe, low-voltage batteries. Comes with built-in speaker, 7-segment LED digital display, integrated circuits, rotary controls and clearly written instructions with schematics/diagrams.
The Genius PenSketch is a brilliant drawing and graphic editing tool. I’ve owned the previous model of this 9×12 tablet for almost three years and it’s been incredibly helpful and easy to use with any artistic project I’ve worked on. It has a USB connection and includes a wireless mouse, rubber-coated pen and software. This handy tablet includes lots of customizable features that I haven’t even begun to explore yet. While everyone dreams of having the massive, professional graphic tablets, Genius has provided an affordable, high-quality product that will help you master your digital graphic arts skills before spending the really big bucks on a professional set-up.
DVD Goodies:
Farscape: The Complete Series
Probably the best news I’ve had in years, Farscape is finally out on DVD at an incredible low price. Remember when IF you were lucky enough to find it at your local store, it had a hefty $120 per season price tag? Even online sources like eBay charged an average of $80 per season. Now, to celebrate the 10th Anniversary, Jim Henson’s Creature Shop and A&E Home Video have partnered to bring you the complete series for under $100! Tack on Farscape: The Peacekeeper Wars and you’ve got a complete set! Still need more Farscape? Check out the books and comics that complete the back-story and fill us in on events since The Peacekeeper Wars.
Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: The Definitive Collection
One of Jim Henson’s finest works is The Storyteller series, originally airing on HBO in 1987. The Definitive Collection includes 13 stories, 9 based on European fables, and 4 slightly grittier takes on Greek myths.
Jim Henson’s Fantasy Film Collection includes three of Henson’s best fantasy films: Labyrinth, MirrorMask and The Dark Crystal, all for one great, low price.
Pushing Daisies: The Complete First and Second Seasons is a MUST-have for anyone who loved other Bryan Fuller productions such as Wonderfalls and Dead Like Me.
Other great film ideas:
V: The Original TV Miniseries and V: The Complete Series
See where it all started with the original series!
Ultimate Sci-Fi Collection
This 20-disc set includes: Escape From NY, Mad Max, Rollerball, The Abyss, Alien, Aliens, The Day the Earth Stood Still, Fantastic Voyage, The Fly, Independence Day, Journey to the Center of the Earth, The Neptune Factor, Planet of the Apes (1968), and Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea.
Babylon 5: The Complete Television Series and the follow-up Crusade: The Complete Series.
Sanctuary: The Complete First Season
The little web series that could! Sanctuary made its jump from the web to television. This 4-disc set includes the entire first season plus many extras, including the original web series.
Earth 2: The Complete Series
A great show that ended too soon. Definitely worth adding to your sci-fi collection.
The Ray Bradbury Theater: Complete Series includes all 65 episodes of this wonderful show.
Some of my other all-time favorites that your favorite geek might like: Krull, Tin Man, Willow, The Philadelphia Experiment, The Final Countdown, Time After Time, Stargate SG-1: The Complete Series Collection and Young Frankenstein.
Board and Card Games:
Fluxx 4.0
Looney Labs produces lots of great games that are fun to play. One of their most popular, Fluxx, has been updated with a new release and new art work, but the same great fun. Additional versions of Fluxx include: Martian Fluxx, Monty Python Fluxx, Zombie Fluxx, EcoFluxx and Family Fluxx.
Battlestar Galactica, based on the hugely popular recent series, is a semi-cooperative board game for 3-6 players.
The Dread Pirate Bookshelf Game is played on a wonderfully illustrated and aged treasure map with cast metal playing pieces, replica doubloons, wooden dice, treasure bags and pirate treasure. This attractive Bookshelf Edition comes packaged in an aged wooden book that will look great displayed in any room of the house.
World of Warcraft: The Adventure Game
Can’t talk your friends into playing World of Warcraft online with you? Maybe they’ll enjoy an exciting and fast-paced journey through the world of Azeroth with this awesome board game based on the popular online game.
Starcraft: The Board Game
Whether you choose to lead the versatile Terran, mysterious Protoss, or voracious Zerg, in Starcraft: The Board Game you’ll command an army like no other in the universe. Based on the popular computer game, here’s a fun way to get your friends hooked on another game classic!
Music:
Battlestar Galactica: Season One, Season Two, Season Three and Season Four soundtracks feature the mesmerizing music of Bear McCreary.
Requiem for Delinquency: Hob’s End is a great electronica album in the vein of Delerium and Enigma, with hints of Dead Can Dance.
The Best of Delerium features some classic cuts from one of my all-time favorite groups.
Pure Chill Out is a collection of chill, electronica and ambient music. This is another CD that is always in my CD wallet when I travel.
Café del Mar, Vol. 15 is the latest entry from this great music anthology. It’s perfect for playing games online, drawing or whatever else you find yourself geeking out with.
Final Fantasy XI Premium Box features 7 discs of the beautiful in-game music from the Final Fantasy series.
What would be on your wishlist? Feel free to comment!
from Shout! Factory:
Buy any two DVD or CD Box Sets (over 120 to choose from) and get one FREE!
Whether you’re shopping for yourself or planning your holiday gift guide, Shout! Factory has the perfect purchases for you.
This sale only lasts until Monday, so start shopping today!
from The Guild:
SEASON FINALE! The Guild Season 3 Episode 12: “Hero” is now up on MSN.
Streaming on MSN / Bing | Downloadable on Zune
Also, one last time, here’s the MSN Parallel Universe hub.
Oceanography is given a playful spin with Message in a Bottle, a kit that will appeal to science geeks who still appreciate the art of sending and receiving handwritten letters on fancy stationary via snail mail.
The kit’s recycled glass bottle can be tracked by registering it at the official Message in a Bottle website. Mark your location on the enclosed laminated map with the included waterproof pen, then turn the map over and fill in the logbook with your bottle’s registered name and launch data. A greeting message, saying hello in several languages, is printed on this page along with an URL, so when someone discovers your bottle they can look it up at wheresmybottle.com and let you know where it washed to shore. The finder then adds their location to your map and updates the logbook before sending the bottle on its way again.
Part of the fun of sending a message in a bottle is personalizing the contents. A small memento representing your hometown makes your bottled message more meaningful to its recipients, as will something that reflects your personality and interests. Write your message in the form of a poem, paste a photobooth picture of yourself to the inside of the bottle or, if you’re a sci-fi fan, incorporate the Vulcan IDIC symbol to spread some universal peace. You’ll have a greater chance of a response if your bottle is easy to spot in the water, so decorate with lots of bright colours. Filling the bottle with neon pink and orange pom-pons, or shiny items that reflect the sun, is sure to attract attention. Once you’re done, pop the cork into the bottle, seal it with wax, and toss it into a current that will carry it out to sea.
While waiting for a reply, learn more about the conditions your bottle will be experiencing by reading the kit’s accompanying Message in a Bottle book. This 71-page pocket guide details the history of how people have used and studied water over the ages, shares real-life stories of message bottles, and offers a few other water experiments to try. Philip Richardson, a leading oceanographer from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, contributes explanations of currents, tides, and water-related weather in understandable scientific terms, and offers tips for a successful bottle launch. He also suggests ways to help raise environmental issues and conserve the world’s watery ecosystems. If the aliens of V are willing to travel across the universe to try to steal Earth’s water supply, then it’s surely a resource worth protecting.
If you prefer a little more paranormal in your science, then a close encounter with the My Crop Circle kit will really set off your PKE meter.
Create Your Own Natural Phenomenons
Plant It. Water It. Witness It.
My Crop Circle works much like a Chia Pet. You just moisten the dirt-free mat of “alien growing matter”, place it in the desktop growing tray, and evenly sprinkle the packet of grass seed over the surface. Wait a few days for the grass to sprout (while remembering to keep watering daily), then press one of the five included crop circle templates onto the growth. In addition to providing entertaining information on the history, science, and pop culture relevance of crop circles, the 64-page Everything You Always Wanted to Know About Crop Circles guide book has several photos that you can copy patterns from instead, or you can get creative and design your own extraterrestrial templates. Let the grass grow up around the template’s edges, then remove the stencil to reveal your very own miniature crop circle. “…You can be first in your office to cause a controversy, garner widespread curiosity, and freak out your colleagues just a little bit.”
Recommended Reading Level: Ages 10 and older.
Order now at Amazon.com:
Message in a Bottle
My Crop Circle
Message in a Bottle and My Crop Circle are distributed by Applesauce Press and Cider Mill Press Book Publishers, independent publishers distributed by Simon & Schuster.
from Effinfunny:
We’re pleased to announce that Effinfunny and The Legend of Neil won the Streamingmedia.com’s Readers’ Choice Award for “Best Online Video Startup Company — Content.” To prove that we’re not lying check out the link here. Unfortunately we weren’t able to attend the event, but we’d like to thank streamingmedia.com and its readers, our web-Mom and Dad, our web-God and-(cue music) HEY DON’T PLAY US OFF OUR OWN BLOG! Well, thanks to all for making Effinfunny and The Legend of Neil a success!
from ThinkGeek:
We who are about to die of food coma salute you,
We’re happy the Hadron Collider is back on track, pending no more incidents with airborne carbohydrates. The possibility of Black Hole Friday will be a subject of Thanksgiving dinner debate! In the meantime, we’re launching you into the holidays with awesome news. There’s the synthtastic Bliptronic, the epic JetBib, two totally sweet contests (Bricktastic! and Bring the Rock!), and a preview of our holiday catalog, complete with 42% more zombies. We didn’t think we could fit that many zombies in, but rotting flesh compacts pretty well. Enjoy!
Find more What’s New items at ThinkGeek!
from RiffTrax:
Win a FREE Trip for Two to San Diego, watch RiffTrax LIVE: Christmas Shorts-Stravaganza on December 16 and MEET the RiffTrax stars and special guest “Weird Al” Yankovic! Two free round-trip tickets, transportation and lodging included!
Buy a ticket to RiffTrax Live by December 4, select “Like and “Share” on our Facebook post, and you are automatically entered to win*. Sweepstakes runs for two weeks only (from November 23 – December 7).
Official Rules | Enter to Win | Buy Tickets Now
*No purchase necessary.
from StarWars.com:
Relive the pivotal moments of Star Wars: Episode IV A New Hope on your iPhone or iPod Touch in Star Wars: Trench Run, a brand new game now available at the iTunes store for $4.99. Click here to check it out. Developed by Infrared5 and distributed by THQ Wireless Inc., Trench Run lets you skim the surface of the Death Star trenches as you seek to target a small thermal exhaust port less than two meters wide. Can you reenact the shot heard ’round the galaxy? Is the Force with you?
Trench Run uses simple motion controls and realistic game play to put you in the action. Tilt your iPhone or iPod touch to maneuver your X-wing. Tap one side of the screen to fire weapons, and tap the other to call on the power of the Force, which slows the action down allowing you more control. The game features two main play scenarios — flying in the trench, and dogfighting with TIE fighters high above the Death Star surface.
Features of the iPhone / iPod Touch version:
Watch Star Wars: The Clone Wars right now at StarWars.com!
from RiffTrax:
Like the odometer on your 1984 Plymouth Reliant rolling back over to zero, the Star Trek series gets a reset! The previous thirty-eight films had barely begun to scratch the surface of these fascinating characters, and so Star Trek is back to answer all your burning questions: What’s Scotty’s favorite brand of bacon? Why does no one seize the moment and slap the hell out of Chekov? Why does Uhura jam that huge piece of machined steel into her ear? Was Spock’s mom younger than him, and which uncle taught him that nerve pinchy thing?
A tour de force of shameless retconning, Star Trek nevertheless introduces a bold new sci-fi innovation: time travel! And black holes! And characters meeting themselves! And ice planets! And evil nemeses who vow revenge! And ship flybys! These are by themselves very compelling reasons to watch, but Star Trek gives you an even more compelling one — to learn Uhura’s first name. Sure, you never knew she didn’t have a first name, it was never an issue for you, and you haven’t even given it one millisecond’s thought, but at last you get to find out! (It’s Nyota, by the way.)
Mike, Kevin and Bill self-consciously tug down their red Federation uniform tops and go boldly into Star Trek!
Get it here.
And don’t forget about RiffTrax Live on December 16th! Tickets are now on sale!