Donate your brain to science!

From your friend and mine, Anonymous Coward: In a goodwill gesture, many Internet users donate their computer’s spare
CPU time to massively distributed computing projects such as SETI@home or Distributed.Net for the advancement
of science, but how many of us have donated our spare BRAIN power? Two
heads are better than one, and in the case of online, Internet-based
psychology experiments, many thousands of heads can rapidly speed the pace
of science. The American
Psychological Society is currently sponsoring a variety of quick and
easy online
experiments that range from simple and anonymous surveys to interactive, graphical
experiments. Online experiments can provide an entertaining way to
spend a coffee break but can also teach you about the human brain; each
experiment provides a scientific explanation of the study once
completed. Donate your spare brain power today!

Doom III Cleans Up at E3

With a promising mix of games at this year’s E3 convention, it makes id’s domination that much sweeter for John Carmack and company. Their latest project, Doom III: The Legacy, took home most of the awards from the gaming convention. Having finally downloaded a copy of the demo movie, I can see why!

[Update (1:26pm EDT): How callous of me not to link to the demo film. Here it is in Windows Media and QuickTime. Be forewarned, it’s a big beast!]

First look at “Treasure Planet”

Walt Disney Pictures, who seems to have ditched the fairy tale motif permenantly (or has run out of material), is working on finishing their 2nd Sci-Fi themed animated feature for 2002, Treasure Planet. The first, Lilo & Stich opens June 21st.

Based on the Robert Louis Stevenson classic Treasure Island, Disney’s Planet sets the stage with the same basic characters (Jim Hawkins, Long John Silver, etc.), with a Sci-Fi twist. As an example, the ships, while old-styled, cruise through space and the villianous Silver is a cyborg (silver, cyborg, get it?).

The teaser looks impressive, using Disney’s mastery of blending classic hand-drawn characters with 3D backgrounds and objects.

With that in mind, what classic novels/stories would you like to see updated with a Sci-Fi twist? My vote: Herman Melville’s classic, Moby Dick. Just let your mind wander the possibilites.

Fall Reviews Decided

Well, the article
requesting your opinions has scrolled off the main
page. The final vote is in: six votes for
Smallville, five for Birds Of Prey,
four for Firefly, two for Angel, and
none for Buffy. Statistically, the top three
are tied. (Uncertainty on a counted quantity is the
square root of that quantity.) So, I’ll review all
three pilots, and keep reviewing all three as long as
I have time for it. When I start to run out of time,
I’ll drop the one whose reviews get the fewest page
hits. (Or, if Fox stays true to form, I’ll stop
reviewing Firefly because it’ll have been
cancelled.)

LOTR:FOTR Four-DVD set extras announced

According to this
Cinescape article, the extras for the four-DVD
Lord Of The Rings: Fellowship of the Ring
release scheduled for November have been decided and
announced. The article also says that it’s been
determined that the release will include the 208
minute cut of the film. (There’s a cut of the film
that’s about half an hour longer than that which was
also a possibility.) When a firm release date is
available, I’ll let you know.