By Roy Mathur, on 2014-06-10, at 00:08:00--00:00:00 (I don't understand that either) BST, for Roy's Rocket Radio
This is, of course, the only piece of news worth mentioning because it's taking up so much time. I swear, I'm starting to dream in prose. Yeah, not DreamInCode like that blog, but dream in prose. The characters in the book are starting to feel more real that reality itself. Sometimes the narrative just write's itself with me merely tapping the keys, which is weird.
That's the good bit. The bad bit is that I am absolutely and utterly shattered and sleep like a dead man every time I close my eyes.
1st Doctor, Series 2, 7 1-4, 1965
Broadcast: 24 April--15 May 1965
Writer: Glyn Jones
Director: Mervyn Pinfield
Producer: Verity Lambert
Cast: William Hartnell as the Doctor, Jacqueline Hill as Barbara Wright, William Russell as Ian Chesterton and Maureen O'Brien as Vicki (companions).
Synopsis: The team land on a planet of derelict spaceship. The doctor and his companions are, spookily, out of sync with time and later find copies of themselves in glass cases. They then try to avoid the fate which will eventually bring them to that end and, in the process, find out that the planet is actually a space museum run by the Moroks who have taken over the planet Xeros from the peaceful Xerons. The Moroks are scientific, but warlike and use the Xerons as slaves. The Doctor is captured, subjected to a horrible high-tech embalming process intended to prepare him for diplay as a museum exhibit. Ian rescues the Doctor, Vicki helps the Xerons fire up their revolution against the Moroks who are defeated. The Xerons take their planet back and the team continue their journey with a souvenir/loot of one of the devices from the museum. The Doctor says it's a 'time and space visualiser' and says that he's going to tinker with it and they will find out what it does in 'all in good time'. It ends ominously with a scene on aanother planet and a warning from the Daleks.
My View: Stuffed and displayed in a case by scary scientific types? Where have we seen this before? Planet of the Apes (1968). Apart from this, there are some scenes I enjoyed, like the Doctor hiding in a hollowed out Dalek casing on display. Funny wardrobe department decisions: the evil Moroks look like scientific older teddy boys and the Xerons like young mods. Felt a bit formulaic, but then the show is formulaic, which is the whole point. I'm also starting to get used to hyper-intelligent future-earth girl Vicki, but I still miss Gallifreyan Susan! I hope she's okay back on that alternate earth.
The big news of last week was the duel between the Red Viper and the Mountain and it's unexpected outcome. The rest of last week's episode felt like filler in comparison. This week We get to find out, finally, what happens to Tyrion. Dramatic stuff as usual. Not much else to say without spoiling things, so I won't!
My biggest problem with the show now, is that there is not enough magic. I realise that this is one of the reasons the show is successful, especially with people who otherwise would not be fantasy fans, but for me, I wish there was more magic. I'm particularly interested in the White Walkers, especially after that "sacrifice" scene a couple of weeks back. But, I suppose, if there's something you want to see, then write it yourself. Though my own 'Great Fantasy Novel' will have to wait because the next book I write after this one will be a SciFi space opera.
Following CES 2014 way back in January (Jan 6-10 in LV), remember? There was all the Oculus Rift buzz, that a few months later ended in Oculus VR being acquired by The Zuck. Then there was Valve talking about their upcoming Steam Machines... Oh dear, and on that note we begin with a big tech round up this week.
IGN, BBC, the Verge, Wired etc. all reported Valve's 28th of May announcement that the Steam controller delayed until 2015 (see http://steamcommunity.com/groups/steamuniverse#announcements/detail/1820891223906967821).
Pah! Steam Machines? Vapourware! Valve are going to lose momentum, in fact I think they already have because I'm tired of talking about Steam OS, Steam Machines and the Steam Controller. I just hope that when the whole line gets sorted out, they do something really special.
Personally, I like the crude, but ultra simple GOG setup if all you want to do is play PC games. Who needs the complication of anything else?
COMPUTEX Taipei, or Taipei International Information Technology Show was held from June 3--7. Wearables were big, possible in reaction to Google Glass, or perhaps it was the other way round with Google just wanting to getting there first, or perhaps it's just the Zeitgeist. (Do you remember the Twiddler chording keyboard). E.g. ChipSiP SiME Smart Glass---a proper Android wearable computer, i.e. runs apps).
Also thinner tablets were a thing with Intel showing off an ultra-thin Windows 8.1 hybrid reference design thinner than the iPad Air.
Electronic Entertainment Expo, from June 10 to 12, 2014 in LA is the biggest yearly video gaming show. Obviously they'll be a lot of coverage by GameSpot, Penny arcade and, well everybody and I'll try and remember to chat about it next week, depending on how much time I have free. The best coverage appears to be from GameSpot who have lots of live video feeds and that's where I'll go to catch up with news from the conference.
Things to look at for are news about upcoming multiplatform release of Mortal Kombat X (2015), MS Halo 5: Guardians (2015) and Grand Theft Auto V (Xbox 360 and PS3) coming to PC.
(WWDC2014) June 2-6 San Francisco. Apple announced Mac OS X 10.10 Yosemite and iOS 8, free upgrades (though why I'm even mentioning that they are free again...). Both arrive in Autumn, though as a dev you can get the beta now. I am a registered Apple dev and I'm not going to bother. I'm not testing your OS Apple! The upgrades apparently brings closer the inevitable merger(?) of the two OSs.
Apple announced the acquisition of Beats on May 28th. According to Macrumors "Jimmy Iovine and Dr. Dre will join Apple as full time employees, with both reporting to iTunes head Eddy Cue". Of course, I'm a bit sceptical about all this as I think Beats are expensive overrated, but well-marketed gear (hey, like Apple). Wait, maybe they can fix iTunes!
It's a necessary evil, but it generally sucks. Things turn up late or don't turn up at all, or are damaged on arrival. As far as I'm concerned, the less humans in the chain the better, and I know the Amazon drone thing was a PR stunt, but bring it on.
Heard a bit of gossip about this via Wired and Re/Code. The cars do look very, very cute, but what made me laugh, was that these are supposed to navigate, partly via Google Maps, which is getting better, but is still pretty dire.
What happened to that Milton Keynes driverless car scheme that was announced last year? Well, apparently it's coming in 2015, (see: http://www.transport-network.co.uk/Driverless-vehicle-project-appoints-manufacturer/10446#.U5Qq9BAmQTA).This, unrelated to Google, driverless car design, is also pretty cool looking, but more like a futuristic space helmet than Google's cute, mini-pod/VW Kombie look.
I chatted to Mum about this ages ago. Her take is she prefers to be in control. Me? It couldn't happen soon enough. Imagine being able to sleep on your way to somewhere. Once the thing comes out, and if I can afford it, that will be it. I will leave home and be on the road forever.
Got an idea? Want to be on the show? Get in touch: roy.mathur@gmail.com
Review of either Maleficient or X-Men: Days of Future Past, along with the continuing Doctor Who Marathon and a bit on E3.