GParted is a world class rescue and partitioning tool that will allow you to save your old computer operating system, and failing that will allow you to export the files off of your old hard drive and back them up to external media. It may not be as intuitive as a lot of other Linux builds, requiring you to go through a bit of a learning curve before you can use it, but trust me when I say it is well worth the time and effort spent to get there. And since it is a Live Disc application, you never need to install it to a hard drive. Download it, copy it out to any media type your computer knows how to boot from, and run it from there. Myself, I have almost never used it to partition a hard drive, because I so rarely do that. But rescue files off a corrupt disc, external drive, or memory stick? That I do pretty much every day, and this is one of the better tools in my arsenal for that task. Try it out and see if you don’t find it useful as well.
Terrestrial Human
Another variation of Nerdcore has crossed my attention horizon, so I have to mention Epic Rap Battles of History, a very amusing project. I selected a few of my favorites to give you the idea, including Sir Isaac Newton vs Bill Nye and Nikola Tesla vs Thomas Edison, but they are just the tip of the iceberg. Visit their web site to check them all out and vote, and be sure to check out Steve Jobs vs Bill Gates on their YouTube page.
Using the Asteroid Zoo web site, you can contribute to the hunt for asteroids by simply applying your Mark II Eyeball and its Wetware computing processing which evolved over millions of years to spot patterns such as the visual differences caused by things that move. It was refined to help us spot things trying to eat us, things falling on us, and things we could eat, but it also makes us the optimal processing instrument for spotting planets, comets, meteors, and asteroids from sky survey photographic sequences. What makes spotting such objects useful and worth your time? The answer depends on whether you are an optimist or a pessimist. The pessimist will be looking for things trying to fall on us, alerting NASA, the ESA, and others so we can destroy or deflect them before they can impact and damage our world. The optimist will be looking for low flying rocks that we can capture and mine for resources such as metals and volatiles (fuel and food). Whatever your reason, it contributes to humanities knowledge and the protection of the world, so it is a good thing. Thanks to the folks at Planetary Resources for making it possible, and thank you if you contributed to the programs Kickstarter funding.
What would Doctor Who have been like if it was done in America? Sam Vestey took a stab at answering that question, using Final Cut Pro X and Adobe After Effects CS5 to build his own little 50th anniversary tribute. I think he did an excellent job on the audio/video production, and made some great choices about which video clips to present for each actor. He was inspired by SmugMode’s photo mashup of The First 8 Doctors and The Modern Doctors.
For action we have The Purge: Anarchy is the sequel to The Purge, with a simple premise: for half a day all crime goes without punishment. This distopia does allow for some pretty exciting footage on the screen as the various protagonists attempt to survive the night, without having to remake Escape From New York yet again. Which allows them the dubious honor of remaking their own movie instead, which was probably inspired by Escape From LA. If you prefer family friendly animated silliness with your fantasy adventures, Planes: Fire & Rescue might be the choice for you this week. The animation work is quite well done, but somehow the planes/cars franchise hasn’t really engaged me, I think because they are a little too heavy handed with their story lines. If you are looking for a film to share with your kids, this is definitely your best choice. Finally, some theaters will get Mood Indigo, a romantic fantasy about an inventor who finally falls in love with a woman, only to discover she is dying from flowers growing in her lungs. I had to grin at the mouse sidekick to the chef, at the very minimum. If this one is playing near me, it will be getting my money as the best film option available. Strangely enough, although the movie is French/Belgium, the working home page I found for it is in Japan; there is also a US Outlet Home Page. The two other films from this director I really enjoyed were The Science of Sleep and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, and this looks like it might be just as good as either of those.
In movies, the animation Rio 2 is a family friendly action/adventure worth the time to check out. Just like the original feature, the new one is very heavy with musical talent, both on the vocal and instrumental levels, as is fitting for the town where it takes place. In both films the animation is integrated with the music to an extent I have hardly ever seen before. I particularly like the aerial ballet work. A Winters Tale is a romantic Fantasy that I missed at the theaters, and am looking forward to seeing on disc.
For TV, Orphan Black: Season Two is the definite winner, and I have a hard time understanding why Tatiana Maslany was not nominated for half a dozen Emmy Awards after the insanely complex series of characters she has been portraying.
In Anime, Deadman Wonderland: Complete Series is a twisted little story about the unjustly imprisoned who are forced to fight to the death for the entertainment of the public and the enrichment of the networks. Not exactly a new premise, the plot has been around since at least 1975’s Death Race 2000, and renewed with The Running Man (the 1987 film with Arnold Schwarzenegger, or the 1982 Steven King book it was based on, your choice). Also this week, Mononoke: Complete Collection is a sequel to 2006’s Samurai Horror Tales, and tells the story of a medicine seller who travels the provinces looking for the evil spirits he is charged with defeating. When he finds one, he goes through a three stage process to banish it, the final step being to wipe it out with his sword. The tale takes place during the Edo period so this is a bit confusing to the locals, since society is broken up into four classes, and only the highest class, the Samurai, are allowed to use swords. The lowest class, merchants such as the medicine seller, would never be allowed near them; and yet, here he is, heavily armed to protect his fellow breathers.
Finally this week, To Love Ru: Darkness brings season three of the battle of the royal daughters of the planet Deviluke over the fate of the human Rito Yuuki. This one is a definite romantic comedy, and when the Golden Darkness shows up with an army of possessed high school students, things get really wild.