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23 Feb 2012 19:27

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Culture: Scifi author shares his series’ ending with terminally-ill fan

  • “You’re going to put him in a coma”: See what happens when one Reddit user surprises his terminally-ill friend with an item that he might not have otherwise lived to see. Prepare to have your faith in humanity restored….and to finish off a box of Kleenex. (h/t 14kgoldnycsource

17 Feb 2011 14:09

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Culture: Science Channel nets rights to sci-fi cult classic “Firefly”

  • Firefly fans rejoice: The wonderful sci-fi series that lived far too short a life will be airing on the Science Channel, as they’ve acquired the rights for the show’s full run. They will be airing them in intended order (something Fox couldn’t manage), in high definition, and with supplemental scientific commentary from phyisicist Dr. Michio Kaku. Moreover, Nathan Fillion has reiterated that he’d like to play Mal Reynolds again, which may be a pipe dream, but hey! When you’re a fan of a long-canceled TV show, can you get hope for better news than this? source

16 Jul 2010 17:01

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Tech: WTF? Apple has these weird rooms for testing antenna signals

  • Out of the many frank things that came out of Apple’s rage-filled press conference today was the existence of these rooms where they test the signals of their cell phones. They look like the dream chambers of a science fiction author, not a real-world cell phone testing place. We wonder if this place is available for parties or weddings or that sort of thing. It would be one of the most awesome spaces ever for something like that. source

08 Sep 2009 20:10

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Culture: The truth about “Destination Truth”: It’s not very good

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Ok, we’ll admit when we’re wrong. It may take a bit of waterboarding and pulled fingernails, but we’ll do it. The clip that the Not-Sci-Fi sent for "Eureka" was a tease to the actual point of the episode: Carter gettin’ some. We’re sorry, PR people. But to punish us with a full episode of "Destination: Truth"? Since we didn’t know the show, the elaborate press kit caught our eye with its slick packaging, so we took a look at its third-season premiere.
  • A package deal In a nutshell: Paranormal Travel show in the vein of Ghosthunters, featuring “paranormal researcher” Joshua Gates and his team investigating claims of the supernatural, mainly in the area of cryptozoology. A team filled with AV techs and not a single person with any scientific background.
  • The best bits The first part where the team gets to the remote location and the last bit with the actual experts. Gates and his crew are going to some truly remote areas, and aren’t traveling in first class. In the first part of our preview, the top of a plane ripped off. Happens every time we fly, guys.
  • And …The end of each episode involves actual scientists going over the “evidence”. In this case, each of them at points telling him he was making facts fit his conclusions, and one clearly wondering why he wanted to identify chicken and a cow bones. Watch it tonight at 10 on Not-Sci-Fi. source

25 Aug 2009 11:06

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Culture: “Warehouse 13” still needs a little more to push it over the edge



Almost, but not quite, there. We have to admit that we’re still on the fence about "Warehouse 13." On one hand, its premise – that the Secret Service maintains a storage facility for objects like Indiana Jones’ lost Ark – is pretty darn nifty. The fact that the talented Jane Espenson (writer/producer on "Buffy," "Angel," and "BSG") is serving as the primary driving force as co-creator/writer revs our nerdy hearts too. …
  • The meh … But, as a whole, “Warehouse 13” hasn’t quite come together yet for us. Going for the “Eureka” vibe, the show has so far shown few episodes that offered more than the standard “artifact-of-the-week” fare. And the two leads, Eddie McClintock and Joanne Kelly, are capable at best.
  • The good Really, it’s the cool use of steampunk-style inventions-and Saul Rubinek’s scene-stealing Artie-that keep us watching each week. The upcoming guest appearances by Eureka’s Erica Cerra and Niall Matter (as a pair of gamblers in possession of an artifact) don’t hurt either.
  • The clipIn tonight’s episode, “Duped,” we also get to see that Myka (Kelly) is going to be going the evil twin/mirror universe route (with Louis Carroll’s mirror and everything!), only with less goatee and more cleavage. Sounds good to us. (Guest column by Micah Pearson. Thanks, man!) source

21 Aug 2009 14:18

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Culture: SyFy’s “Eureka” is a great show destined to be discovered



Why, SyFy? What is it with the channel formerly known as Sci-Fi? First they re-brand to that silly new new name, and now they fail at properly advertising a show.

  • Tonight’s show We love Eureka with a passion that is a little inappropriate (and probably illegal in a few states), and are really looking forward to tonight’s episode-where the very-preggers-yet-still-hot Allison (Salli Richardson-Whitfield) has her baby shower and-as the channel’s website states-the “Eureka-fied baby gifts push the envelope of eco-friendly design.” No, we don’t know what the hell that means.
  • A confusing preview The preview they sent out has absolutely NOTHING to do with tonight’s episode. Sheriff Carter (Colin Ferguson) and his fruitless attempts at relationships in this town are always great fun, but don’t you think they’d, oh you know, show us a tease of the actual story? Eureka airs at 9 pm EST on the channel formerly known as Sci-Fi. (Thanks to our friend Micah Pearson for the spiffy preview. – Ed.) source

13 Aug 2009 23:08

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Culture: Critics have a massively huge nerdgasm over “District 9”

  • 95% the movie’s current score on Rotten Tomatoes; OMG OMG
  • 83 the movie’s current score on Metacritic; nerds are gonna freak
 

11 Aug 2009 23:27

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Culture: Is “District 9” really an “Alien Nation” wannabe?

  • District 9 is indeed pretty good. In fact District 9 is a lot of things, most of them very positive. One thing it isn’t, though, is original.
  • CinemaBlend writer Josh Tyler • In an article called “Too Close To Call: 10 Ways ‘District 9’ Is An ‘Alien Nation’ Knockoff,” where he dissects the similarities (and differences) between the two films – and in the case of “Alien Nation,” the spinoff TV series. Our question: Are there worse things to be than an “Alien Nation” knockoff? We’re not talking about the worst movie of all time here. • source

06 May 2009 21:40

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Culture: Why you should be excited about the new “Star Trek” movie

19 Mar 2009 10:26

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Culture, Offbeat: BSG has officially jumped the shark. It did so at the U.N.

The cast of “Battlestar Galactica” came to the U.N. to talk about human rights, and, uh, Cylons. source