My body has been invaded by strep-bearing nanites that are sapping my ability to type coherently and without hallucinating. So I will transmit this post in compressed bullet-point form (I wanted to use the phrase “stuttered tight-point” right there, but I don’t think that actually means anything outside the Culture novels of Iain Banks).
— There’s a first review of Transformers at Ain’t It Cool. It may also ultimately prove to be the longest. Warning: naked display of fanboy lust. Contains the sentence, “It had a little geek chubby, I couldn’t stop smiling.”
— David Kushner goes behind the scenes at Second Life. Apparently its founder, Philip Rosedale, is eccentric. I’ve never been much tempted by Second Life — I tend to think of cyberspace as a way to display data, not a virtual environment — but my sister — under her Second Life name — is fascinated by its potential as an artistic medium. Apparently Sun and IBM agree with her. Pretty sneaky, sis.
— Stephen Hawking can fly, and not even in Second Life. He did 6 parabolas on the Vomit Comet, then 2 more just ’cause.
— USA Today has a largely content-free first look at Robert Downey, Jr. as Iron Man. At least it comes with a photo.
— I don’t agree with this, even remotely, but it’s interesting to hear somebody articulate challenge the critical orthodoxy and trash Apple’s approach to design. Sample quote: “Basically the iPhone is a 1996 Ford Taurus — that car in which all design problems, from logo to windscreen, were solved with an Illustrator-stretched oval.”
— What’s bugging the bees. It wasn’t cell phones after all. Nope. Fungus.