Archive for December 22, 2008

Dr Who and the Return of the Krotons. Review

Posted: December 22, 2008 by datechguy in doctor who
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Since this item is not “for sale” but is a special episode for subscribers to the Big Finish Doctor Who series this review will be here rather than at Amazon.

Return of the Krotons continues the adventures of the 6th doctor with his companion Charley Pollard who still has a secret about his future. They find themselves in a human colony during the time of the solar flares. (See Doctor Who the Ark in Space and The Sontaran Experiment. With the 4th doctor) and as always start to poke around.

The human commander Cobden (played by Dr who Vet Philip Madoc who ironically appeared in the original Krotons episode 40 years ago.) seems obsessed with a headset and the energy it produces. It turns out that rather than manipulating the technology as an energy source it is he that is being manipulated by the Krotons to re-power their ship.

Colin Baker as the Doctor and India Fisher as Charley Pollard are their normal excellent selves, the now familiar team continues to impress, however the hints concerning Charley’s true relationship with the doctor continue to come out and the doctor continues to take them in.

There is also a very nice 11 min interview with Philip Madoc after the adventure.

Nick Briggs wrote and directed this story and also plays one of the Krotons voices. It is a good short (1 cd) story and worth your time. Since you can get a subscription staring with any issue it would be worth your while to begin one to get this episode. If you don’t already have The Condemned or The Girl who Never Was you might consider starting with one or the other to get up to speed on what is going on.

My gut says there is a climax coming soon I don’t know how soon but since one doctor or another has been traveling with Charley since January 2001. Of course the only problem with the continual adventures of Charley is that we don’t see any adventures with Peri, Mel, Evelyn or even Frobisher with Doctor 6 but there is nothing stopping them from throwing in an adventure or two of the others in between.

Either way it is worth your time and a listen.

A Coincidence I’m sure

Posted: December 22, 2008 by datechguy in opinion/news, tech
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For the last week whenever I’ve attempted to go to Lucianne.com a conservative news site my Google has been screaming bloody murder warning me of dire consequences.

Today when I tried to go there was no such warning, considering the format of the previous warning I was quite surprised, until I started checking out the articles.

Apparently yesterday the site Newsbusters reported on this implying that this was due to Google’s well know liberalism.

And lo and behold less than 24 hours later no blocks! I presume that Google no longer considers this site unsafe and that the fact that it block was reported on was just a coincidence.

You might remember just a week or so ago when Glenn linked to the registers story on Google stating that google staff will pick and choose what appears in search results. A person working at google wrote him calling the Registry trash and denying it.

I wonder if he will send Glenn a follow up mail on this one?

Now in the end you still need to be careful, there are plenty of sources for news on the net and its a lot easier to prevent an infection that to remove one but it is amazing that I’m not getting that warning anymore.

Speaking of the Handsome Mika

Posted: December 22, 2008 by datechguy in opinion/news
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Howard Kurtz today talks about Mika Brzezinski and her gigs on both Morning Joe and the New Radio program that I haven’t listened to yet.

“I’ve been in a box as a journalist for 20 years,” she says. “That is a very safe and lazy place to be. You can hide behind objectivity. It is much harder to put yourself out there.”

Brzezinski’s comeback occupies the eroding line between news and commentary, but it reflects more than that. In a fickle culture that swoons over celebrities and spits them out, media people can be hot and then, suddenly, not –particularly women who reach a certain age and are supplanted by younger rivals.

The fact that she puts is not shy about her opinions out there makes me trust her on a subject more than any other liberal who pretends otherwise.

Revenge of the nerds

Posted: December 22, 2008 by datechguy in tech
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There is an old saying to never get into an argument with someone who buys ink by the barrel. Today the argument would be never get into a fight with a techie:

As a prank, students from local high schools have been taking advantage of the county’s Speed Camera Program in order to exact revenge on people who they believe have wronged them in the past, including other students and even teachers.

Students from Richard Montgomery High School dubbed the prank the Speed Camera “Pimping” game, according to a parent of a student enrolled at one of the high schools.

Originating from Wootton High School, the parent said, students duplicate the license plates by printing plate numbers on glossy photo paper, using fonts from certain websites that “mimic” those on Maryland license plates. They tape the duplicate plate over the existing plate on the back of their car and purposefully speed through a speed camera, the parent said. The victim then receives a citation in the mail days later.

As technology improves expect more and more of this kind of stuff from kids.

Via slashdot. I’m not a fan of speed cameras. Johnny English has the right idea at 6:53-7:10 below

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