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Earth: A Very Special Place In the Void

You know that “I’m an insignificant dot in the middle of this enormous universe” feeling you get when you stare up into the night sky a little too long? Well, some Oxford scientists think you might be a little more special than that – or at least, the planet you live on is. Their radical…

Put On Your Thinking Stetson And Write About Women Of The Space West

Got any thoughts on the portrayal of women in space Westerns? Post a blog post and then submit it to the 22nd Carnival Of Feminist Science Fiction, the latest in a series of collections of blog posts and essays on feminist SF topics. The latest version will be posted at the SpaceWesterns.com Sideshow, and editor…

Why Android Will Soon Kick Ass

When the T-Mobile G1 was shown off in NYC last week, it didn’t have the gusto of a Stevenote. There was no “boom!”—no “one more thing!” And as a result, many (including us) felt a bit underwhelmed, and were quick to interpret the device’s inconsistent GUI as an indicator that the lack of attention to…

True Blood Delivers Super Fem Vikings And Penile Eggplant

This week’s episode of the vampire-drama, True Blood, definitely made up for last weeks “johnson” moments. “Escape From The Dragon House” finally introduced the ancient vampire viking that I’ve been waiting weeks for, and apparently he’s a goldielocks-esque skinny owner and operator of an indoor goth-kids bar — sorry, vampire bar — Fangtasia. The vampire…

Are These Screens from the New Nintendo DS?

This allegedly leaked photo of new Nintendo DS screens has played a game of Google Translate telephone before making its way to Giz wearing red sox and green hair, but from what we can make out from the source, the big difference in the updated display is a shift in screen size from 3 inches…

iPod Touch Survives Brutal Pickup Truck Crushing

Believe it or not, this iPod touch is alive after being crushed by a pickup truck almost beyond the point of no return And I don’t mean “alive” as in a Connect-it-to-your-computer-and-see-if-it’s-still-functioning kind of way. I mean that it actually works, screen included: And it actually looks good below all that shattered glass. It will…

Branagh To Direct Thor? Plus, What Is Marvel’s Next Big Movie?

Maybe it’s the promise of faux Shakespearean dialogue, or perhaps just the lure of a truckload of money being backed up to his house, but arthouse Kenneth Branagh is in talks to take on the director’s chair for Marvel’s 2010 summer blockbuster Thor, in which the thunder-wielding Norseman is actually an alien. And that’s just…

Sprint’s Xohm WiMax Will Neuter Heavy Downloaders

For all the talk that Sprint’s freshly launched Xohm WiMax would be the openest internets ever and can totally replace your ISP, when it comes to bandwidth-sucking apps, that’s not the case. It’ll neuter file-sharing applications, or anything else—like VoIP—that uses a lot of bandwidth. To ensure a high-quality experience for its entire subscriber base,…

UFO Festival Lands in New Jersey

In two weeks, UFO enthusiasts will flock to Jersey City for the 2008 Culture of Contact Festival, a three-day conference on alien encounters and extraterrestrial life. But don’t expect any conspiracy-filled Powerpoint presentations or Roswell-style alien cosplay. Instead, the festival will focus on extraterrestrial-inspired arts, what an Obama presidency would mean for UFO disclosure policy,…

Sony’s BDP-S350 Blu-ray Player Officially $300 and BD-Live Capable

Not only did Sony’s mainstream BDP-S350 Blu-ray player finally get its firmware update to be fully compatible with the net-interactive BD-Live (BD 2.0) content already hitting stores, but it also got that $100 price reduction we told you about. Even on the MSRP-only Sony Style site, it’s $299.99, which means it could be found even…

Kodak Zi6 Pocket Camcorder Lightning Review

The Gadget: The Kodak Zi6, a cheap pocket camcorder that records 720p HD video, vying for title of best camcorder under $200. https://gizmodo.com/kodak-zi6-might-be-best-pocket-camcorder-yet-5023649 The Price: $180 The Verdict: When I got my first look at the Zi6, I had an inkling it could be the best “cheap” pocket camcorder yet, and I was right. I’ve…

Jason Stoddard was one of the originators of this whole “science fiction should be more happy” meme, and now he’s posted a manifesto about it. Twenty Epics co-editor David Moles summarizes it as “The problem with contemporary science fiction is that it doesn’t love capitalism enough.” (To quote Stoddard, “Why can’t we include characters who…

3D Maze Ball: A Worthy Waste of Five Minutes

We doubt that this “3D Balance Control Intellect Ball” will keep you occupied like a Rubik’s cube for hours on end, but its tactical, 3D maze should mush your mind in just the right way and forcibly limit your normally adept problem solving techniques to find the solution in a childlike manner. 7.5-inches in diameter,…

The Dark Knight Blu-ray: Crushing Nielsen Ratings December 9th

Rumors and logic speculated that Warner would release The Dark Knight in time for the holiday season, and the Blu-ray two-disc and collectible limited edition will indeed go on sale December 9th, the same day as the standard DVD release. The standard, two-disc edition will be Warner’s first BD Live disc, and it’ll pack all…

Competing Forever War Threatens Joe Haldeman’s Eternal-Conflict Monopoly

It’s nice to bring out a shiny new edition of a SF classic, as St. Martin’s Press will of Joe Haldeman’s 1974 smash The Forever War next March. Before the re-debut and related fanfare can happen, though, NYTimes reporter and title-ruiner Dexter Filkins had the temerity to release his own spirited take on the global…

Dell Inkless Bluetooth Printer Revealed by FCC

An otherwise nondescript filing for a Bluetooth printer on the FCC’s site reveals that it’s really not nondescript at all when you look through the product shots—the system is a Zink-technology-based inkless printer branded with a Dell logo. You can’t really see how it could possibly work from this first shot (which appears to be…

Space Herpes Is The Final Cylon On Battlestar Galactica

Oh those crazy Battlestar Galactica survivorsand their wild sex parties. It seems like nothing gets them hotter than the near-total annihilation of the human race. The BSG “yearbook” that the cast and crew received at the show’s wrap party includes a “frak tree” showing who’s had sex with whom. You can’t see it, because it…

Criterion Considering Movie Downloads

Last week, while visiting Criterion Collection headquarters to observe their transition to Blu-ray, I brought up the subject of digital downloads. To my surprise, they let slip a little detail that sheds light on how a master disc maker like Criterion will manage in an all-download future.As we’ve seen, even “HD” digital downloads are far…

Is Quantum Of Solace Science Fiction?

As we’ve noted before, the James Bond movies have veered in and out of the science fiction genre, like an Aston Martin on a high-speed mountain chase. On the one end, you have Moonraker’s crazy space battles and the laser satellites of Diamonds Are Forever and Goldeneye. But other Bond films, including Casino Royale, stick…

Toshiba HD DVD Players Get Firmware Update

There is nothing wrong with your computer. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. You have not awaken in a crazy, alternate reality where HD DVD won the format war. But Toshiba has unrolled the firmware 4.0 update for its HD DVD players to improve playback issues like a pause bug. We’d make fun of…