The Great Geek Manual

The future masters of technology will have to be light-hearted and intelligent. The machine easily masters the grim and the dumb.

- Marshall McLuhan, 1969.

Comics

• The ISS counts down the second half of its list of The 14 Most Abominable Superhero Creations of the 1990s.

Film

• Could the Star Wars franchise really be re-booted? I seriously doubt it. No need to re-introduce even more Jar-Jar factor. Still, io9 makes the argument.
• Den of Geek does a great job of rounding up a list of upcoming sci-fi movies you might not know about, including 12th Man, Cargo, and Splice.
• In the latest issue of Forbes, Michael Bay swears he’s not a Commercial Whore… then he admits that his loyalties are second only to Lucas.
• ScreenRant argues that The Technology Of Science Fiction Is Here Now.
• The Top 10 Existential Movies of All Time, for your approval.

Internet

• Both Spike TV and VGChartz have posted galleries of the Booth Babes of E3 2009. They’re more shameless than ever, and not even as hot as previous years.
• The Mirror reports on a Dr Who fan has flashing blue light on Tardis coffin at his funeral.
• Will customers be asked to pay for Hulu? If so, who’ll stick around for the show?

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1637
“Discourse on Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason, and Seeking Truth in the Sciences“, is published by René Descartes. In this seminal work, he expresses his disappointment with the limitations of theology. He makes it clear that his respects lie with logic, geometry, and algebra, because of the certainty which they offer. Descartes’ ideas swept aside ancient medieval traditions of philosophical methods of investigation and ushering in the “scientific revolution” of Galileo and Newton. Read or download the text at Project Gutenberg.

1786
The first commercially-made ice cream in the US is advertised in New York City by Hall of 76 Chatham Street.

1887
Herman Hollerith receives a patent for his punch card calculator.

1912
Carl Laemmle, a German Jewish immigrant who settled in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, merges the Independent Moving Picture Company, which he founded, with with eight smaller companies to form the Universal Film Manufacturing Company, which would later become Universal Pictures Company, Inc. The new studio will be horizontally integrated, with both movie production and distribution capacities.
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Software is a great combination between artistry and engineering. When you finally get done and get to appreciate what you have done it is like a part of yourself that you’ve put together. I think a lot of the people here feel that way.

- Bill Gates

Book: Blood of Ambrose
ISBN-13: 978-1591027362

Author: James Enge
Publisher: Pyr
Genre: Sword and Sorcery
Release: April 21, 2009
Length: 401 pages (Paperback)

Verdict

It may be that, with the recent passing of David Eddings, my mind is simply pre-occupied with nostalgic memories of my favorite childhood reading, but in my opinion, Blood of Ambrose bares a remarkable resemblance to the series of the late David Eddings. Fans of both The Belgariad and The Malloreon will find the story as familiar as an old friend. Those who have never had the pleasure of reading Eddings’ popular series, will find a fast-paced tale with little in the way of depth, but a great deal of adventure.

This novel is a great standalone fantasy novel for younger (teen / preteen) audiences and older fans of the late, great David Eddings.

Synopsis

Official: Centuries after the death of Uthar the Great, the throne of the Ontilian Empire lies vacant. The late emperor’s brother-in-law and murderer, Lord Urdhven, appoints himself Protector to his nephew, young King Lathmar VII and sets out to kill anyone who stands between himself and mastery of the empire, including (if he can manage it) the king himself and his ancient but still formidable ancestress, Ambrosia Viviana.

When Ambrosia is accused of witchcraft and put to trial by combat, she is forced to play her trump card and call on her brother, Morlock Ambrosius—stateless person, master of all magical makers, deadly swordsman, and hopeless drunk.

As ministers of the king, they carry on the battle, magical and mundane, against the Protector and his shadowy patron. But all their struggles will be wasted unless the young king finds the strength to rule in his own right and his own name.
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Book: Dead and Gone
ISBN-13: 978-0441017157

Author: Charlaine Harris
Series: Book Nine of The Southern Vampire Mysteries
Publisher: Ace Hardcover
Genre: Urban Fantasy / Paranormal Romance
Release: May 5, 2009
Length: 320 pages (Hardcover)

Verdict

Harris’ Southern Vampire Mysteries continues to be one of the most engrossing and entertaining on-going series the fantasy genre has to offer, and it’s seriously doubtful that anyone who read the first eight books of this series will want to stop now. Harris just does too good of a job building potential into her stories for her deservedly loyal fanbase not to dive head first into the next installment.

Dead and Gone is a page-turner that does the series credit by keeping readers guessing. It’s one of this summer’s must-read novels.

Synopsis

Official: Except for Sookie Stackhouse, folks in Bon Temps, Louisiana, know little about vamps—and nothing about weres.

Until now. The weres and shifters have finally decided to reveal their existence to the ordinary world. At first all goes well. Then the mutilated body of a were-panther is found near the bar where Sookie works—and she feels compelled to discover who, human or otherwise, did it.

But there’s a far greater danger threatening Bon Temps. A race of unhuman beings—older, more powerful, and more secretive than vampires or werewolves—is preparing for war. And Sookie finds herself an all-too human pawn in their battle.
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Our earth is round, and, among other things, that means that you and I can hold completely different points of view and both be right. The difference of our positions will show stars in your window I cannot even imagine. Your sky may burn with light, while mine, at the same moment, spreads beautiful to darkness. Still we must choose how we separately corner the circling universe of our experience. Once chosen, our cornering will determine the message of any star and darkness we encounter.

- Introduction to the “Corners on the Curving Sky” by June Jordan, 1970.