droidworks is a book by michael rubin divulging the history and technology breakthroughs of george lucas and his various endeavors and companies. i have not read the book yet (just grabbed it today) but according to amazon, the book describes how george lucas created pixar, digital editing, and videogame avitars. that's right, you can thank star wars for world of warcraft and the guild. the best thing about this book is it has alot to do with star wars, just look at the title. the second best thing about this book is that you can get it from amazon or you can download it for free from the author's blog. seeing as how i am poor, i took the free option.

natalie portman has been cast as the nurse jane foster in marvel's upcoming movie thor! in the original comic storyline, jane foster is the love interest of thor's mortal alter-ego donald blake. also cast for the move are chris hemsworth as thor and tom hiddleston as the villain loki. the movie is schedule to be released on may 20, 2011 and i can not wait to go see it.

source article at marvel news
profile of thor by marvel comics

google's plans for world domination are moving steadily forward. they have recently announced that they will have their own operating system for netbooks which will be available in the second half of 2010. it will be designed for net-based use and will most likely be designed for cloud computing. i was not planning to ever get a netbook, but if i can find one of decent size with a google os i may just have to pick that up. today netbooks, tomorrow the world!

announcement on google's blog

yeah, its a fake trailer. its definitely a very cool one though. there is a green lantern movie in the works, not sure how far along it is but i do know that it has been pushed back to 2011.

just about everything, including humans, see by refracting (bending) light through a lens (right behind your pupil) to focus it onto the retina where rods and cones detect the image and send the info to your brain. this works great except when your trying to see in very muddy water. lobsters do not refract, they reflect. refracting takes the light that is immediately available directly infront of the pupil and it works great when light is abundant and the viewer can afford to ignore the stray light photons that do not fit the standard light-path.

the internet (via twitter) is abuzz with the news leaked out by "trusted sources" dollhouse is getting a second season!!!! the official word wont come out till monday but the word is already out. apparently it is one of the lowest rated shows on fox, according to the "live viewer" numbers, but once they looked at the dvr and internet streaming numbers, and considered the near certainty that every one of those numbers will be buying the dvds they renewed the contract. i'm not sure how they get the numbers for the ratings but they base their renewal decisions on them. we may have won this one but it was a close call.

no seriously, its the unofficial star wars day that is being discussed everywhere online. not only is it on the official star wars pages, but its also in wikipedia and nbc and a blog on the usa today site.

star wars day on wikipedia
official star wars blog
nbc la story on star wars day

wildstorm (a sub division of dc comics) is coming out with an ongoing series based on the fan favorite game, starcraft. from what i have read, a new group of fighters, the war pigs, are introduced into the starcraft universe, and apparently their mission is to assasinate the hero of the original game series, jim raynor.

wildstorm has successfully brought other video games to comic book form including mirror's edge, gears of war, resident evil, resistance, world of warcraft, etc.

starcraft comic at wildstorm

as part of their recent legal settlement, warner brothers is purchasing the pirate bay for thirteen billion dollars. all legal disputes will be forever waved and the pirate bay will continue to operate independent of their new owners. in other words, pirates win! the official press release is available for download from the pirate bay here or you can read about at torrent freak here. oh, and happy april fools!

ct/cat scans are a highly useful addition to a hospital medical arsenal. sadly, this technology is not without risk. the iodine based contrast that is often used in these studies can put a strain on the kidneys of the patient. the contrast is administered through an iv into the blood stream and is necessary for the arteries to be visible in the scan. for the average patient the strain is minimal and easily overcome without any medical assistance. for high risk patients, however, there is a risk of kidney damage from the contrast. at risk patients include, but are not limited to, the elderly, diabetic, and heart disease patients.