Google Inc. launched the beta build of their web browser, Chrome. A browser built from the ground up to encompass all of the best browsing features and is built on today’s top of the line open source technology including Apple’s WebKit 3 and Mozilla’s Firefox engine.
“Under the hood, we were able to build the foundation of a browser that runs today’s complex web applications much better . By keeping each tab in an isolated “sandbox”, we were able to prevent one tab from crashing another and provide improved protection from rogue sites. We improved speed and responsiveness across the board. We also built V8, a more powerful JavaScript engine, to power the next generation of web applications that aren’t even possible in today’s browsers.”
Wizards of the Coast begin releasing little tidbits of information on the next set to their everpopular, ever expanding Magic: The Gathering, yesterday. Up until now, the only major things known about Shards of Alara were the inclusion of a new rarity, the Mythic Rares, and the new formats in which the cards would be packaged: Intro Packs, Larger Fat Packs, and the traditional booster. Now they have released a Visual Spoiler for a handful of the cards, information on the set’s background story, and prelease event dates. Fun stuff for any fan of the game.
I’m finding it hard to believe how quickly this year has gone by. Beyond we are from the days of doomsday projects threatening the existence of the human race and of grown men running around dressed in tights (or body armour). Now we’ve entered the less profitable season of Oscar bait and other award contenders*.
While the big guns prepare to strut their hopefuls (Warner Bros. with Ridley Scott’s “Body of Lies” and a potential dark horse with “The Dark Knight”; 20th Century Fox with “Australia”), Universal’s Focus Features is rolling out the new film directed by Gus Van Sant, his first commercial film since Finding Forrester (oh, and he directed Good Will Hunting as well), “Milk”.
Starring Sean Penn in titular role, the film goes back to San Francisco in the late 1970s as Harvey Milk, California’s first gay politicial, is assassinated by rival and fellow city supervisor, Dan White, played by Josh Brolin. Also along for the fun filled ride are James Franco, Emile Hirsch, and Diego Luna. Based on the trailer alone, the film is poised for many accolades and has potential as a definite Best Picture contender as well as Best Actor for Penn. Take a look and discuss it with us in our Movies forum!
*Of course you could be a cartoon bunny or some sort of nonsense like that. But in my book, you really don’t count. Especially if you’re voiced by an annoying comedian. Then I only wish years of misery upon you.
What have Woody Allen’s movies been missing lately? Apparently, it’s Javier Bardem and Penelope Cruz.
Vicky Cristina Barcelona (titled after the two main characters and the city in which the movie takes place) is an inspired, quietly beautiful character study. Rebecca Hall’s Vicky is a repressed, structured woman engaged to a white collar boy shouldered in amongst the suits of corporate America. She and her best friend Cristina (Scarlett Johannson) go to Barcelona, Spain for two months during the summer to study and enjoy the sights.
Cristina is a sexually adventurous woman who can’t seem to find any sort of satisfaction in conventional relationships. She doesn’t know what she wants; she only knows what she doesn’t want. (more…)
The first trailer, and only footage ever seen, for Kevin Smith’s next film “Zack and Miri Make a Porno” was released today. Check it out below, thanks to Trailer Addict. Be warned, this red band trailer is rated R and is NSFW.
I love Millar’s line about if he was given superpowers that he would “kill who ever John McCain told me to kill.” Pretty much! I mean, who wouldn’t want to have super powers? Well dude’s always spewing gold (it’s comments like those that make you either love or hate the guy) and in this interview with G4, he talks it up about everything from his latest comic book ‘War Heroes’ to the latest on his much talked about reboot of the ‘Superman’ franchise on the big screen. And during the whole interview, dude’s holding a beer. Ah, to live the rock star life of a comic book writer…
• Comic creators, rallied by Brad Meltzer, former ‘Justice League of America’ writer, are getting together to protect the Cleveland, Ohio house in which Superman was created. Newsarama has a video regarding the project, and Comic Book Resources (CBR) has a related article. More information can be found at OrdinaryPeopleChangeTheWorld.com.
• One more reminder for those who have somehow not noticed: ‘The Dark Knight’ has broken the 500 million dollar mark at a rate exceeding ‘Titanic’, and looks as though it may supercede the former giant as best-grossing film of all time… except for the fact that the holiday season is rolling in soon and Warner Brothers will probably spoil its chance by pulling the film from theatres to release DVDs. CBR has the goods.
• Erik Larsen’s ‘Savage Dragon’ endorses Barack Obama for President of the United States. Seriously.
• Brian Azzarello, acclaimed writer of ‘100 Bullets’, has a few things to say regarding ‘The Dark Knight’.=
If you are among those who frequent the land of sports entertainment, this is definitely not good news. WWE star Shawn Michaels, who happens to be a part of the biggest storyline on WWE programming this year and is among the highest level of talent and recognition in the company, has reportedly suffered a torn triceps muscle that could keep him sidelined for up to six months…
Any gamer knows the summer season can be a slow one. During such a lack of new game releases, we turn to our families and the outdoors. We go on vacation or travel to the shore for a day of relaxation. We return home with our pale skin burned to a dark red hue by the powerful rays of the sun. We gaze mournfully at our game systems whom we begin to miss so very much.
Well, this fall, gamers can rest easy. The upcoming season of releases could be one of the busiest gaming seasons in many years. Let’s take a look at some of the bigger titles to be released this fall.
After hearing that Nasa was going to scrap their long-running Shuttle program in 2010, and not implementing the “step-backwards” space capsule program in 2015, I know I at least thought that our government no longer really cared about our space program. But news today has peaked my interest:
“CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (AP) — NASA’s staff will study whether the space shuttle program could continue operating past its scheduled retirement in 2010, according to an internal e-mail sent this week.
The e-mail obtained by The Orlando Sentinel describes NASA Administrator Michael Griffin’s order for a study to determine if the shuttle could fly until 2015, when NASA’s next-generation space platform is expected to be completed.
“We want to focus on helping bridge the gap of U.S. vehicles traveling to the ISS (International Space Station) as efficiently as possible,” wrote John Coggeshall, manager of manifest and schedules at Johnson Space Center in Houston, in the e-mail sent Wednesday……”
LucasArts and Sony Online Entertainment announced earlier this week that they launced an Online Trading Card Game based off of Star Wars Galaxies. Launched on August 27th, players will be able to pick between Sith, Jedi, Imperial, and Rebel decks, which are available as pre-constructed decks, and are able to enhance these decks through 15 card booster-packs. At launch there are 250 cards for players to collect, including 20 “loot” cards, which can be redeemed for items within the Star Wars: Galaxies game. Players can play their way through solo Story Mode, against friends and rivals, with friends in the Heroic Encounter Mode, and in official tournaments. All boosters and decks are bought individually through the Sony Online store, adding to the list another MMO that has cashed in on the TCG Market, but is the first to do so without printing an actual card.
• Newsarama is also participating in Top Cow’s ongoing crucible for new series, Pilot Season. All this week, they will be posting the entirety of the series up for initiation into Top Cow’s roster for next year. So far, they’ve released Jonathan Hickman’s The Core and Jay Faerber’s Urban Myths. Vote here.
• Torchwood fans will be pleased to know that filming on series 3 has begun.
• Injured artist Adam Hughes has spoken with Comic Book Resources (CBR) regarding the status of the upcoming All Star Wonder Womanseries.
• Fans of the title Young X-Men might be pleased to read a CBR interview with Marc Guggenheim, the series’ writer.
• The guy who lettered Marvel Zombiesdiscusses Robert Kirkman’s much-discussed “viral video” about creator owned comics over at Comics Bulletin.
Welcome to Behind the Screen, a hopefully regular feature on the Nightly.Net news page. Behind the Screen will offer general advice for beginning to expert level Dungeon/Game masters that will be universally facilitating no matter what roleplaying system you run. And as this is the first one, introductions seem to be a fitting topic. Introductions in any form can make or break the gaming experience, whether they are meeting a villain, fellow player, some bar wench, an ally, a mob, or anyone (or anything) in your campaign world.
August 14th-17th, 2008, the Indiana Convention Center played host once again to GenCon, the largest consumer hobby game convention in North America. Despite all those awkward qualifiers, tens of thousands of gamers, gamers’ widows, cosplayers, gawkers, obligatory Stormtroopers, and local hooligans rendezvous each year in downtown Indianapolis for a four-day nonstop marathon of live competition, new merchandise, gamer fellowship, promotional freebies, celebrity appearances, and the occasional accidental dollop of sunlight.
As the Nightly.net staffers located closest to ground zero, my wife and I felt proud and obliged to shell out for single-day admissions — despite our embarrassing lack of gamer credentials — to join the festivities, to peruse the aisles, and to welcome longtime Nightly member Stargeek, better known as TV’s Hygena from Sci-Fi’s Who Wants to Be a Super-Hero!
Google Inc. launched the beta build of their web browser, Chrome. A browser built from the ground up to encompass all of the best browsing features and is built on today’s top of the line open source technology including Apple’s WebKit 3 and Mozilla’s Firefox engine.
Wizards of the Coast begin releasing little tidbits of information on the next set to their everpopular, ever expanding Magic: The Gathering, yesterday. Up until now, the only major things known about Shards of Alara were the inclusion of a new rarity, the Mythic Rares, and the new formats in which the cards would be packaged: Intro Packs, Larger Fat Packs, and the traditional booster. Now they have released a Visual Spoiler for a handful of the cards, information on the set’s background story, and prelease event dates. Fun stuff for any fan of the game.
Wizards of the Coast have released the event dates for Pro Tour 2009, including location and tournament formats.
Welcome to Behind the Screen, a hopefully regular feature on the Nightly.Net news page. Behind the Screen will offer general advice for beginning to expert level Dungeon/Game masters that will be universally facilitating no matter what roleplaying system you run. And as this is the first one, introductions seem to be a fitting topic. Introductions in any form can make or break the gaming experience, whether they are meeting a villain, fellow player, some bar wench, an ally, a mob, or anyone (or anything) in your campaign world.
August 14th-17th, 2008, the Indiana Convention Center played host once again to GenCon, the largest consumer hobby game convention in North America. Despite all those awkward qualifiers, tens of thousands of gamers, gamers’ widows, cosplayers, gawkers, obligatory Stormtroopers, and local hooligans rendezvous each year in downtown Indianapolis for a four-day nonstop marathon of live competition, new merchandise, gamer fellowship, promotional freebies, celebrity appearances, and the occasional accidental dollop of sunlight.
