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Things To Do

It occurs to me that every week I hit Friday and then look around to see what there is to do that weekend, and often I miss the chance (event tickets sold out, too late for airplane or hotel bookings, etc). So I thought that if I checked it out on Wednesdays instead, that additional 48 hours might increase the number of things I actually managed to get to. Since I already know I have issues with scheduling time for new tasks (I don’t really have any problems with scheduling new tasks; just with following through on the tasks once they are scheduled), it would be useful if I re-purposed a task I am already in the habit of completing on that day. So my Wednesday blog entry now becomes my Events/Things To Do task for each week. I’ll figure out the format, included events, structure, and organization as I go along. For this first one, I’m just going to throw events into the entry will-he, nil-he and observe the results with an eye to improvement.

In a few weeks the Sci-Fi London Oktoberfest film festival will be happening! This one is world-class, and all about Sci-Fi/Fantasy/Anime/Horror. Most film festivals have some SF/F/Anime/Horror films involved, so it’s worth noting that this weekend is the start of the Pusan International Film Festival (it runs for a week), and yes, there is a choice of English on the site, for those who can’t read Korean. A few of the more interesting movies are Running On Karma, Tokyo Taxi and 15 Malaysia.

There are also some conventions worth mentioning. In Huntington, WV, Tsubasacon runs from the 9th to the 11th, an Anime Con. Just to the east is the Baltimore Comic Con, a comic and sci-fi event. In Philadelphia, also from the 9th to the 11th is VGXpo, a video gaming convention. Orlando, Florida has the Spooky Empire Ultimate Horror Weekend, while St. Augustine, FL, has EXPCon, a combination Gaming/Anime convention. In the southwest, a gaming convention called RinCon happens in Tucson. In Romulus, Michigan, which is really the Detroit airport hotel center, ConClave 34 takes place, a Sci-Fi Con also celebrating the International Year of Astronomy.

I don’t see much interesting opening in movie theaters this weekend, except perhaps that Zombieland will expand to more screens in more towns. Going to think about this bit; a movie is definitely something you go to, but do VOD and DVD releases new that week count? They are Things To Do, but not events you have to go somewhere to join in on. And where do new TV/Radio programs fall into the grid, be they broadcast, cable, or online? I have a week to figure it out before I try to do this again; any recommendations anyone feels like passing my way would be appreciated.

Dr Hoo, Splice trailer

I can’t watch the video on the Dr Hoo YouTube Page, probably because I am not in the UK. But I can watch the short promo on their Facebook page, which gave me the link to the home page on Virgin where I also can’t watch anything. But that’s OK, because it was announced at MIPCOM today that IODA cut a deal to distribute it worldwide, so it should be available on ITunes and Amazon soon. Thanks to Marketwire for the details on that one. The first trailer is out for Splice, a movie about genetically engineering a new organism into existence with a few surprises for the scientists.

TeacherTube Data

We’re glad you made it; welcome to the future! Right now a lot of the backbone that feeds the routers that feed the cable modems and other WAN/LAN interfaces runs at 10Gig. That isn’t because the switching technology can’t support higher throughput, but rather the ability to encode data for a higher bitrate and throughput has been lacking… until now. Over at Cornell a team has developed a Time Lens system, a chipset that takes that 10Gig baseline data rate and uses an optical split-and-recombine setup to turn it into a 270Gig output to the same optical distribution system. True Broadband may be on the horizon at last, and the same technology could help speed up the end-users computers as well. And here is another fine production that makes you think from TeacherTube.

2009 Ig Nobel Prizes, favorite SG moment

Once more, the team from the Annals of Improbable Research have handed out another year’s Ig Nobel Prizes. From the Gas Mask Bra to Tequila Diamonds, this years winners share a trait in common with each other and all previous winners. First they make you laugh… and then they make you think (mostly about how gullible some grant organizations may be, but every so often about the real-world problem that inspired the research in the first place). Some of the winners are just plain silly, and some, like the financial and mathematical winners, are very scary, but the fact that real scientists do this kind of thing gives me hope for the world. And then there is why people explore other worlds… one of my favorite SG1 moments starring Adam Baldwin, this video embed was inspired by SciFi Fangirl’s posting last night.

Steampunk Month at TOR, Sagan Trance

TOR has set up their very own Steampunk Month. October is a great month for it, since the SteamCon happens towards the end of it on the left coast, while the Steampunk Fashion and Design Event happens on the other. There are already a lot of great Steampunk links, articles, and stories on the TOR site, and this is only the second day of the month! Then there is this wonderful tribute to Carl Sagan and Steven Hawking…