Last week’s post about Anonymous and the government’s overreaction to their movement was pretty depressing, so this week’s post is just a list of some cool things.
I first found out about Phillips’ art through a free press publication called Eleven PDX. Her work is unique, colorful, and beautiful. I wouldn’t at all be surprised if she becomes a very well known artist very soon.
Our new Fiction Friday serialized novel, The Killswitch Review, is a futuristic murder mystery with killer sociopolitical commentary (and some of the best sex scenes we’ve ever read!). Written by bestselling sci-fi author Steven-Elliot Altman (with Diane DeKelb-Rittenhouse), it offers a terrifying postmodern vision in the tradition of Blade Runner and Brave New World…
By the year 2156, stem cell therapy has triumphed over aging and disease, extending the human lifespan indefinitely. But only for those who have achieved Conscientious Citizen Status. To combat overpopulation, the U.S. has sealed its borders, instituted compulsory contraception and a strict one child per couple policy for those who are permitted to breed, and made technology-assisted suicide readily available. But in a world where the old can remain vital forever, America’s youth have little hope of prosperity.
Jason Haggerty is an investigator for Black Buttons Inc, the government agency responsible for dispensing personal handheld Kevorkian devices, which afford the only legal form of suicide. An armed “Killswitch” monitors and records a citizen’s final moments — up to the point where they press a button and peacefully die. Post-press review agents — “button collectors” — are dispatched to review and judge these final recordings to rule out foul play.
When three teens stage an illegal public suicide, Haggerty suspects their deaths may have been murders. Now his race is on to uncover proof and prevent a nationwide epidemic of copycat suicides. Trouble is, for the first time in history, an entire generation might just decide they’re better off dead.
Strange things are happening over at Marvel Comics as a Doctor Strange movie is in motion. Marvel Studios already exploited their rights to most of the mainstream heroes, and, as they look toward the studio’s future, they’re going to have to start pulling from the lesser known source material. It looks like Doctor Strange is going to be the first of them, tentatively seeing a 2013 release date.
Hello again, fellow gamers! This month I’d like to bring you a variety of very different games, ranging from cute to badass. I’ve spent a lot of time this month neglecting WoW but playing some extremely fun games nonetheless. Here’s a selection of the best games I’ve played recently:
Most gamers have some sort of guilty pleasure game they enjoy. For me it’s pet simulation games. Sadly there aren’t many good free ones available. That’s why I was delighted to discover Touch Cats! It’s a basic pet game: you feed, groom and play with the cats you adopt to increase their happiness bar. You can check in on the game once a week or many times a day, though, with the game’s daily goals, checking in a couple of times a day has its rewards. There’s a lot about the game that makes me recommend it. At the top of the list are the missions you can send your cats on. Your cats can regularly search your virtual home for coins and items, and the items can be used for detective and rescue missions the animals can go on to collect rewards (generally clothing items and coins). Connected to this is another plus: the social aspect of the game. You can complete these missions solo or recruit friends and random users to help you. Once you’ve added friends you can also send your cats to visit other kitties in your neighborhood. All in all, Touch Cats is a simple yet adorable and addictive game.
I was reading a news article about Anonymous in which some supposed expert, Gabriella Coleman, made sweeping generalizations about the motives of the loose collective. While discussing the skill sets of those involved, she talked about how some are programmers or security researchers, while others “are skilled at video editing and design.”
My fucking eyes rolled so hard I thought the right one was going to pop clean-out of the damn socket. O RLY? Like fucking iMovie and Photoshop? Like that shit is super hard to figure out?
Embarrassing. The government is arresting kids for playing what is the equivalent of a high school prank on a mass scale (if you’re phishing for a Mr. Big in the hacker world – I hear Rupert Murdoch’s a pretty soft target these days). And it remains to be seen if they’re even arresting the correct people. (In response to the FBI’s arrests, hackers have released loads of data that was obtained from ManTech – a security firm paid over $100 million by our government for clearly failing to protect NATO information.)
But regardless of whether they’ve got the right Guy (pun intended), they’re doing it wrong.
It was the comic world that ruled geek news this last week as San Diego Comic Con was in full swing. Major players from all realms of nerdom gathered to share their latest updates. With such a huge event, I can’t possibly cover all the announcements, but here’s a full recap for your convenience.
Out of all the videos released at this year’s Comic Con, the trailer for The Last Airbender: Legend of Korra was one of the most anticipated (see above). The brand new video gives just over a minute’s look at the world of Avatar some 70 years after Aang.
The bulk of this blog post isn’t about San Diego Comic-Con, I’m just using it as an excuse to get you to click on the title. And it worked. Fooled you, motherfuckers! You might as well stick around though, I mean, you did already click on the title, and you are already reading this sentence. The next one’s pretty good, you should read it too.
Comic-Con can actually be a lot of fun, but it’s expensive as hell and crowded as five pounds of shit in a four pound bag. If conventions are your type of party, there are smaller conventions around the country that are legitimately well-attended, where you’ll have the opportunity to meet with other fans and actually speak to creators about their work. If, however, you’re looking to blow a few thousand dollars, and can get a decent group of your friends to do the same, plan a year in advance, and set aside hundreds in cash for stuff on the show floor, then yes, San Diego Comic-Con is fucking awesome. If attending, my top three picks for things to get at SDCC are Mr. Hipp Strikes!, Any Empire by Nate Powell, and the 2011 Color Ink Book.
But, if you’re like me, and don’t really want to deal with all of that noise this year, next, or ever, unless absolutely necessary, then here’s some cool stuff that you can do this weekend that will still be pretty fun.
