Wednesday, January 16th, 2008

Time	Event
10:10p	Reals - as in 'real superheroes'... There's so many of 'em now there's a collective word for them. I am unsure if this is a good thing. (Yeah, I like comics. And I'm a combat-magician-for-hire, which is pretty damn comic-booky. But the words of Edna Mode resonate in my mind... "No capes!") ' By most observers' reckoning, between 150 and 200 real-life superheroes, or "Reals" as some call themselves, operate in the United States, with another 50 or so donning the cowl internationally. These crusaders range in age from 15 to 50 and patrol cities from Indianapolis to Cambridgeshire, England. They create heroic identities with names like Black Arrow, Green Scorpion, and Mr. Silent, and wear bright Superman spandex or black ninja suits. Almost all share two traits in common: a love of comic books and a desire to improve their communities. It's rare to find more than a few superheroes operating in the same area, so as with all hobbies, a community has sprung up online. In February, a burly, black-and-green-clad New Jersey-based Real named Tothian started Heroes Network, a website he says functions "like the UN for the real-life superhero community." ' No mention of Teriffica though. (From Whitechapel) Current Mood: amused, nauseous Current Music: Limbik Frequencies - Radio Elektro[u]nique (2 Comments | Comment on this)
10:15p	Torchwood in 'not completely shit' shocker! Yes, we watched it. Looks like they've finally worked out what the show is. It's a comedy. A low-brow, Angel-rip-off queer-friendly comedy about incompetence and sexual harassment. This may work. But... Ianto described by James Marsters as 'eye-candy'? Nah... Current Mood: see below Current Music: Puscifer - DoZo (Comment on this)
10:24p	What he said... My esteemed colleague Astvinr, commenting on Gordon Brown declaring his scheme to have all UK citizens presumed to consent to organ donation - i.e. you have to carry a card stating you don't want to be harvested: ' It unnerves me that the government has taken it upon itself that our bodies are its property, but much more because I remember watching a Panorama programme many years ago when the whole question of brain-stem death was first discussed. They talked to a worryingly large number of people who had been declared brain-dead, had listened in horror as doctors discussed the use of their organs, who were powerless to move, speak or indicate that they were not only still alive, but still conscious. Now, of course, those people did get better and it may be so that the power of doctors to be 100% sure that brain-death is true death has improved since then... but I'll err on the side of scepticism, thank you. ' Current Mood: concerned Current Music: Puscifer - Rev 22-20 (Comment on this)
10:36p	None more black You know that T-shirt slogan, "I'm only wearing black until they invent a darker colour"? Here it is. ' The "darkest ever" substance known to science has been made in a US laboratory. The material was created from carbon nanotubes - sheets of carbon just one atom thick rolled up into cylinders. Researchers say it is the closest thing yet to the ideal black material, which absorbs light perfectly at all angles and over all wavelengths. ' Yes, I want some. Preferably in a trenchcoat. Current Mood: pleased, less queasy Current Music: Bowie - Bring me the head of the Disco King (Comment on this)
11:11p	Performance enhancing drug. Designed for computer gamers. 'German PC builder Tomarni specializes in super-silent machines as well as, it seems, some gaming systems. Having tweaked all that there was to tweak to achieve "maximum performance" on the PCs themselves, they claim it was time to face up to the real weakest link: that damn human user. The solution? A performance-enhancing pill called FpsBrain. Here it is, in Tomarni's own words: Being ambitious computer players ourselves, we are almost daily working on optimizing our computer systems in order to achieve maximum performance. Despite all the investment, one factor has not been considered: the player himself. FpsBrain was developed to maximize the playing skills of the computer player. ' That's Fps as in First Person Shooter - my gaming drug of choice. Another reason for me to never game online - having my ass handed to me by pre-teens would be bad enough, but this... Current Mood: whiskey tango foxtrot Current Music: Imagine - A Perfect Circle (Comment on this)

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