Danielle Riendeau's blog

Few things in this world are geekier than discussions (or more frequently, arguments) about preferred Internet operating systems. Which is why I can’t help but be amused by recent statements by Microsoft's partner group manager Simon Aldous that seem to indicate that Windows 7, Microsoft’s swanky new operating system, was directly inspired by Macintosh’s interface.

From PCR:

One of the things that people say an awful lot about the Apple Mac is that the OS is fantastic, that it's very graphical and easy to use. What we've tried to do with Windows 7 — whether it's traditional format or in a touch format — is create a Mac look and feel in terms of graphics.

MAC OS X

Of course, Microsoft issued a blog shortly after, claiming that Aldous’ big bold “admission” was just completely false:

Star Trek Voyager fans, prepare to have your heart rates accelerated to warp speed. Kate Mulgrew, the actress who portrayed the wonderful, dynamic, possibly lesbionic Captain Kathryn Janeway, has expressed an interest in appearing in a new Star Trek film. The Geek Files blog has the scoop:

Asked by Sci Fi Now if she'd consider a role in the new films, she said: "I would, I'd love to return to Janeway. I'd love to do her in a movie. I think he'd be wise to do it, don't you? He should get me and Picard in there. It's a brilliant idea.”

The latest Star Trek film covered its tracks in re-launching the “original” series with Kirk, Spock and the gang — but it also allowed for the possibility for other characters in the universe to appear. With a touch of creative sci-fi imagining, Picard and Janeway could totally make cameos.

In case you didn’t know, the greatest, geekiest holiday of the year is nearly upon us. Yes, readers, it’s time to get dressed up as someone (or something), eat tons of candy and watch horror films. And while that may or may not describe my own personal daily routine, it’s actually socially acceptable for one day every year!

In spirit of the holiday, the Figit blog put out a list of the 15 cursed movie objects that you never want to own. Among the items listed is the puzzle box from Hellraiser, the cursed painting from Ghostbusters 2, the TV from Poltergeist and the videotape from The Ring. It’s basically a laundry list of all the supposedly inanimate objects that can terrorize, murder, torture, hypnotize and/or eat the souls of our beloved movie characters. Spooky!

I’m going to go ahead and add another scary object to the list: the ankh from The Hunger, one of the most popular lesbian vampire movies ever to grace the screen. If you have one of those; sure, you’ll get centuries of youth and beauty, but only at the cost of becoming an undead wraith at the end of your tenure. Not worth it, even if you do get to sleep with Catherine Deneuve!

Referencing the old joke wherein the great tastes of peanut butter and chocolate collided for the first time, it looks like the world’s premiere search engine (Google) will soon combine with everyone’s favorite microblogging service (Twitter). If that doesn’t sound like sweet, delicious digital candy to you, well, I’m not sure you’re reading the right column.

In a blog post aptly titled “RT @google: Tweets and updates and search, oh my” Google VP of Search Products and User Experience laid out the deal:

We are very excited to announce that we have reached an agreement with Twitter to include their updates in our search results. We believe that our search results and user experience will greatly benefit from the inclusion of this up-to-the-minute data, and we look forward to having a product that showcases how tweets can make search better in the coming months. That way, the next time you search for something that can be aided by a real-time observation, say, snow conditions at your favorite ski resort, you'll find tweets from other users who are there and sharing the latest and greatest information.

There’s something wonderful about websites that display the worst of things. From the hilarious lamebook (which we’ve featured here before) to the guilty pleasures of looking at particularly unfortunate wedding dresses, it’s just plain fun to look at things gone wrong.

Thankfully, the internet has no shortage of these kinds of compendiums, with which we’re free to while away boring afternoons at work. Sure, some sites are mean-spirited, but stay away from the really leery ones, and you can find all sorts of guilt-free surfing.

There’s a grand new destination that I’d like to alert you to: Cake Wrecks. That’s right — it’s a blog dedicated to terribly decorated cakes of all shapes, sizes and colors. It’s not every day that your blog making fun of something gets a lush, hardcover book to display some of the best (worst) examples of poor taste, so let’s take a moment to salute some of Cake Wreck’s success:

Picture, if you will, the original Mercury astronauts. You know — the guys with the “right stuff” strutting down the runway. Now, imagine if the original Mercury astronauts were — gasp — women? Well, it could have actually turned out that way, according to a new post at Wired Science.

Unbeknownst to myself, my Sally Ride-era sisters (yes, we’re spoiled), there was actually a Women in Space program (WISP) in the late 1950s and early 1960s, and a “Mercury 13," a corps of women who performed as well as. And, in many cases, better than the men who actually went on to make space history.

From the post:

"They were all extraordinary women and outstanding pilots and great candidates for what was proposed,” said Donald Kilgore, a doctor who evaluated both male and female space flight candidates at the Lovelace Clinic, a mid-century center of aeromedical research. “They came out better than the men in many categories. … The results of the women’s tests are described for the first time in an article published in the September Advances in Physiology Education, and show just how capable they [were].”

I’m not ashamed to say it — Felicia Day is my newest celebrity crush. If you watch her web series, The Guild (about a cast of online gamers), you’ll know why — she’s smart, talented, and, as the writer and creator of the series, geeky as can be.

Best of all though, she’s a gamer. She’s a real, honest-to-goddess hardcore video game enthusiast, out there making quality entertainment for dorks of all stripes. Imagine my excitement when I stumbled upon this Wired interview (written to herald the coming of The Guild on DVD), in which she extols the annoyances of Hollywood stereotyping and the pleasures of a good, geeky life:

In general, there’s nothing more frustrating than that stereotypical gamer — the teenager in the basement with his mom getting him Hot Pockets. That’s why I wrote the show as well; because that stereotype is not accurate. Every quirky girl doesn’t have to be the best-friend character. It’s a very limiting and self-fulfilling prophecy. People only write things that will get green-lit so they write to those stereotypes. And that’s why I think that the audience is crumbling. Because the things they perceive that the audience wants aren’t necessarily what the audience wants. I don’t identify with a lot of the things I see on TV nowadays. I’d probably rather be gaming, to be honest with you.

Amen, sister!

Buffy fans, have you enjoyed your Season 8 of the comic series continuation of the beloved cult TV hit? Well good, because I have some delightful news for you: Joss Whedon (series creator and überdork himself) has confirmed that there will be a Season 9 — after the full run of the current series is over.

From Splash Page:

“Well, 40 issues was always the goal, and that’s how we’re playing it," Whedon said of the current Season 8 run. "We’re around issue 30 now, we’ve got about 10 to go, five of which I have to write, so I have to get on that. Then we’ll pause for breath and then we’ll start Season 9. I have had for a long time a conception for Season 8 that is very different from Season 8. It may not run as long, because 40 issues sounds great until you realize that it’s four or five years."

Geeks, I have some good news and some bad news.

Let’s start with the bad. Cinephiles and LGBT folks everywhere should be very displeased with the unfortunate news that some jerk(s) in South Africa have torn down posters for the 16th annual Out In Africa Film Festival. Featuring funky illustrations of happy, same-sex lip locking, over 700 were ripped from lampposts around Cape Town.

From the festival’s site:

An outraged Out in Africa South African Gay and Lesbian Film Festival director Nodi Murphy has lodged a complaint with police. Some stupid twits with more time on their hands than brains trashed our gorgeous posters. And for what?

Murphy also expressed hopes that the perpetrator(s) get served with community service for their boneheaded deeds.

I would be a very bad geek columnist if I didn't touch on this week's biggest and most shocking bit of news: Disney, purveyor of all things cute and cuddly, just purchased Marvel, the studio behind some of the most bad ass superheroes, as well as their comic books movies, video games and action figures).

Holy cannoli, Batman! (I can say that because Bats is a DC character, and hence immune to the whole deal.)

There's certainly been a big geek response on Twitter. Many fans are not happy about this particular arrangement. Disney has that family image that say, Wolverine fans aren't taking too kindly to.

In the immortal words of Douglas Adams (he of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy fame): "Don't panic." Disney is probably (well, hopefully) smart enough to know that mixing Mickey Mouse with Magneto is a bad idea. Just look at the way that Pixar operates largely independently, and produces consistently excellent films, many of which are bona-fide geek favorites. (Wall-E, anyone?)

If you need a salve, take heart — you can watch the first episode of the Spider Woman motion comic right on Marvel's site for free.

I’ve got some bad news, Jessica Biel fans: It seems that the sexy starlet has been named “the most dangerous celebrity” on the Internet. It has nothing to do with any of the “usual” things celebrities do to stir up trouble, it’s the chances that some malicious cyber criminal has laced one of her pictures with malware. Apparently, fans searching for Biel online have a one-in-five chance of hitting a website or download that contains a nasty surprise.

She’s certainly not the only celeb who bears caution. The full list is available at CNET, and includes Beyonce, Jennifer Aniston, Jessica Simpson, Megan Fox, Angelina Jolie, Reese Witherspoon and our beloved Lindsay Lohan. In fact, of the top 15, only two men appear (Brad Pitt and Tom Brady, for those keeping count). It seems that women just make better bait for unsuspecting fans. That, or something about the nature of rumors, gossip and celebrity stalking just seems to center on the fairer sex. Women’s studies and media studies professors, get on it!

In any event, search safely. It bears saying that these aren’t necessarily searches for “naughty” photos (remember the infamous Anna Kournikova picture that was really hiding a virus?) — these are just ordinary search engine inquiries for celeb photos or information. Cruise in peace and safety.

Have you ever found yourself reading a print magazine and thought, "Hey, this is nice, but I really wish it were louder!” If so, you have very strange sensibilities — and you should get ready to run out and buy the September 18 issue of Entertainment Weekly, wherein CBS (and Pepsi Max) have planted the very first Video In Print (or VIP) promotion.

VIP (their clever marketing slogan, not mine) consists of a tiny screen that plays a short promo clip. It’s part of a multi-page spread hawking the CBS lineup, and it’s very loud. If you like to ingest your print media in peace, stay away!

Now, the video-enhanced run is only available in certain regions (New York and LA), and, of course, it’s just an advertisement. The only reason it’s so noteworthy is that it’s bridging the print media divide in the opposite direction of the general trend.

I have to say, I’ve seen some mighty strange tech commercials in my day. I’ve seen long, flowing underarm hair used to hawk cell phone service, and watched weird, 1980s flavored Big Brother imagery cleverly put forth to herald the coming of the Macintosh. I’ve viewed some seriously odd spots for videogames and even pens.

Friends, I have to tell you that today’s find truly takes the bizarre cake.

Imagine if you will, the brainstorming session that birthed this Msi X Series laptop commercial.

Hello, fellow geeks. I’m returning today from a whirlwind road trip of the United States of America, a vacation made especially geeky by my party’s use of gadgets. Sure, we had paper maps and good old-fashioned wanderlust to help us, but I very much doubt we’d have made it out of our own state if it weren’t for one very special device.

I’m talking, of course, about the ubiquitous, nigh-omniscient GPS device.

Before the excursion, I was weary of these little gems. As much as I’m a fan of all things electronic, I used to be a real purist when it came to driving directions. I’d get a map (most likely via computer, natch), plot out my route, and go on my merry way, turning my nose up at fellow drivers with their windshield-mounted “easy buttons."

I also used to get lost and end up in sketchy liquor stores asking for directions, but that’s a different story.

Now, I’m a believer. “Carmen” as my friend’s GPS came to be called, was a total Godsend. Her cool, British demeanor and ability to find us vegetarian food at 12 a.m. in the middle of nowhere won my heart in a matter of hours.

Geeks, how do we feel about a comic book series aimed squarely at women? A series that combines super heroics with Sex and the City-style girl talk and relationship antics? Patronizing or totally awesome?

Well, it’s happening. Written by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa, the four main characters look like spandex-clad ass-kickers of the first order. We’ve got Photon, Firestar, Black Cat and Hellcat, all ladies living dual lives as super-powered do-gooders and “regular” modern women.

Before you judge, check out this quote from Aguirre-Sacasa, as reported at The Geek Files:

The pitch started as Sex and the City in the Marvel Universe, and there's definitely that "naughty" element to it, but I also think the series is doing to a deeper place, asking questions about what it means — truly means — to be a woman in an industry dominated by testosterone and guns. (And I mean both the super hero industry and the comic book industry.) But mostly it's just a lot of hot fun.

I’m sure that I don’t need to tell you this, but a new Harry Potter film was released this week — mainly to positive reviews and an orgy of fan-related activity. Whether you love or hate the franchise, you have to give it props for its geek cred — and for its excellent visual effects.

I stumbled on a little Potter-related arts/tech project that may be fun for fans and families. You know those cool “moving pictures” that appear in the newspapers and fliers all around Hogwarts (and surrounding vicinities)? Well, you can make your own hilarious/amazing movable mug shots thanks to this very quick and easy tutorial on Photojojo. All you need is a camera, some editing software (you can easily use a free program like JayCut) and your lovely face.

Geeks who want to spice it up, keep a few things in mind: First, costumes are encouraged. Never underestimate the power of an awesome hat. Second, choose your background wisely. A bright, solid color is best, unless you have some advanced trickery in mind.

Thus far, summer 2009’s geek movies have been all over the place. We’ve had the excellent (Star Trek) to the kind of okay (X-Men Origins: Wolverine) to the truly awful (Terminator Salvation, Transformers 2). Come August 14, I’m hoping to add another to our first category: District 9.

A new trailer was just released for the serious sci-fi flick (coming via Lord of the Rings Auteur Peter Jackson, and directed by Neill Blomkamp), in which a vaguely menacing human corporation holds a mysterious Alien population captive. Here’s the kicker — all of this takes place in South Africa, adding a not-so subtle layer of social/racial commentary to the mix. While the plot details are still scarce, the many allusions to Apartheid (like the “humans only” signs littering the landscape) and the semi-documentary style all lend an air of believability and gravitas to the trailer.

Deep, interesting science fiction with real-world social commentary and alien mech suits? Sign me up! Like Children of Men, it looks like something you may be able to take your “serious movie” friends to, or, at the very least, be able to avoid the usual snorts of derision. Maybe I should stop showing up to opening nights in my Starfleet uniform.

Comic-Con San Diego will soon be upon us, that great Mecca for all things geeky (it’s all about “comic art, films, and science fiction”). As usual, I’m watching this year’s show from afar, with my mouse hovering over the refresh button at my favorite nerdy blogs.

By all accounts, it’s a great time, but I’ve never truly been upset about my absence until I read about one particularly wondrous event scheduled for this year’s show: A “slave Leia group photo and video shoot." Women will gather, don Princess Leia bikinis, and smile pretty for the camera.

This means that hundreds of sexy rebel princesses, all decked out like it’s 1983, will be posing for pictures and participating in the ultimate nerdy/sexy video shoot. I’m swooning already, and I’m 3,000 miles away.

We’re smack in the middle of the summer movie season, and things aren’t looking too hot at the moment. I’m speaking specifically about Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, which has about a .3% chance of being any good, based on the buzz I’ve heard thus far.

In fact, this AWL review makes my top 10 list of “greatest movie reviews of all time”, claiming that “All told the script is way too crude for children; but also, far too childish for teenagers. At least people of every age and gender can have a relationship with Megan Fox's phantasmagorical rack.” I can’t top that, folks.

I realize that this is the second week in a row that I’ve mentioned Megan Fox in this column, a young woman who often says things that we don’t agree with. I’m fairly certain that this has to do with the fact that my old Electronic Gaming Monthly (a long-running video game magazine that went kaput last January) subscription has been inexplicably replaced by Maxim, a publication Ms. Fox has graced with her presence many times.

You know, it can be lonely being a geek. Sometimes the so-called “normal” folks of the world look at you as if it’s somehow weird to do things like worship Katee Sackhoff and drool over new gadgets and gizmos.

Well, just yesterday I read something that should hearten us all: Megan Fox, of the Transformers flicks, just told The Hollywood Insider that she’s a total comic book nerd:

My sister used to collect comics when I was a kid, so I got obsessed with it through her. And I really like to draw so I'm obsessed with a lot of the artists that do comic books. It's just a good world. It makes me feel good. I love Comic Con. I loved Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. It was such a big part of my childhood. I just enjoy it. I don't know.

Put that in your pipe and smoke it, geek-haters! When a gorgeous, successful young actress can profess her love for such wonderfully dorky literature, you know we’ve made progress in this world. Elsewhere in the interview, she mentioned her role in Diablo Cody’s new film, Jennifer's Body, about a semi-lesbian, demon-possessed 16-year-old — but that’s a post for another day.

Last week, I was able to attend the legendary E3 conference — that is, the biggest, baddest, most important video game industry event on the planet. I saw more games, gadgets and scantily clad women than I could shake a Wii remote at, so I’d like to take this opportunity to offer up my take on the best and brightest offerings.

Best Game for Lesbians: "Bayonetta"

Bayonetta is a crazy-fast action game starring a sexy vixen that takes names and kicks a whole lot of demon backside. OK, so the game wasn’t exactly designed with lesbians in mind, but it looks like a fun, solid action game — and the central character is very easy on the eyes.

Best title for a game: "Robacalypse: Beaver Defense"

Yeah, I actually thought this was a joke, (beaver defense?) but it was actually an excellent looking “tower defense” style strategy game for WiiWare (there’s an iPhone version in the works as well, but they drop the subtitle on that one). Seriously, it was incredibly fun, with a beefy variety of options, maps and strategic elements.

Do you ever wonder why people are compelled to act so awkwardly when we find ourselves in close quarters with strangers? For example, why do we all act like anti-social weirdos, staring at the ceiling when we ride in elevators? Turns out, it’s evolutionary.

Biologist Dario Maestripieri has a truly fascinating little feature over at Wired detailing his research on macaque monkeys and their oddly similar behavior. According to his research, our discomfort with strangers in closed spaces is a primate-wide trait — and though the elevator is a new invention (evolutionarily speaking), being in small spaces with other primates is not (think caves!). It behooves us to make small talk or to ignore each other entirely — avoiding any risk of violent contact.

In fact, when the monkeys in Maestripieri’s study made successful friendly contact — initiated by the macaque equivalent of a smile — they engaged in grooming activity, which sounds pretty excellent, all things considered:

One monkey brushes and cleans the other’s fur, gently massaging the skin and picking and eating parasites. Grooming can both relax and appease another monkey, virtually eliminating the chance of an attack.

You wouldn’t bite your masseuse, would you?

As I run through the internet in search of geeky stories to entertain myself, I frequently come across stories about real life space explorers. You know, the guys and girls who have The Right Stuff — astronauts. So when I came across this little item detailing a new system that allows astronauts aboard the international space station to actually drink recycled sweat and urine, I stopped in my (virtual) tracks.

So momentous was the unveiling of the device that three of the officers aboard the station actually held a video conference and a “ceremonial first sip” of “yesterday’s coffee." It’s an incredible technology — and surely a useful one in the resource-strapped environment of a small space station. However, I couldn’t ignore the humor in the situation. Nor could I ignore the fact that no women were present for this little ceremony — and hey — how exactly does one recycle sweat, anyway?

I have to admit, I spent my childhood wanting to be an astronaut. I basically worshipped Sally Ride (the first American woman in space) and totally scored an autographed picture of Shannon Lucid, the woman who had once broken an American endurance record for most time spent in space. I’ve always thought that flying in space was among the most badass professions — and of course, the closest thing we have to Starfleet in the real world. So kudos to you, recycled urine drinking astronauts. I raise my cup of cold, day-old tea to you.

Everywhere you turn, the news is dire. The tanking economy has been the number one story since last September, with the miserable repercussions affecting everything from the job market to the price of ice cream. If it’s not the recession, it’s swine flu or a natural disaster or worse — more bad news about lesbian movies or queer TV characters that turn out to be “not so gay” after all.

After a particularly rough week, I was looking for a few geeky sources of happiness. I found them in the new Star Trek film (so much fun) and in a very timely link to Happy News, thanks to a piece on Geeksugar.

Happy News is a total godsend in such crappy times. Instead of the doom and gloom of your usual headlines, the site features quirky or cute or even monumental news that promotes positive vibrations. They report on anything and everything happy, feature their own columns, and link to good news from a wide variety of (reputable) news sources.

After browsing for a few minutes, I learned of the very first tweet from outer space:

I was all set to gush about how cool this fan-made Lord of the Rings film looked (for those who equate “fan film” with “I shot this on my 1986 camcorder and dressed my dog as an orc” you’ll be quite surprised), but then I realized that the Webby Awards had been announced, and my inner web geek is far stronger than my inner Lord of the Rings fangirl, so here we are.

Though you can glance at the full list of winners for yourself, there are quite a few very cool women-oriented highlights that stood out to me.

On top of the list was The International Women’s Media Foundation and WomensLaw.org, which earned the People’s Voice Award for “Best Association” and the overall award in the legal category, respectively. The IWMF Network is all about “strengthening the role of women in the news media worldwide as a means to further freedom of the press” a statement that makes this geek blogger very proud and happy for the existence of the Webby awards in general. On that note, WomensLaw.org offers legal information and advice to disadvantaged women throughout the US.