Stairway to Heaven

A startup is pitching a mind-uploading service that is 100 percent fatal.

Get your Nectome gift cards today.

See the gorilla who prefers to walk like a man

http://www.phillyvoice.com/philadelphia-zoo-gorilla-prefers-walk-around-human/

Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stranger

SAM The Robot.  SAM stood for Super Automatic Machine.  Who is your favorite robot of all time?  We'll ask Sandman next week.  Tune in to CFMU 93.3FM next Saturday at 7pm.

IBM predicts Amazon Go

Looks like I conflated IBM's RFID commercial with ATT's You Will commercials.  Also, Amazon Go's solution doesn't include RFID but the checkout-less store is a reality.

It's been awhile but the blog is back!  We actually lost our URL for some time but it became available again.  I guess we got...lucky.  

Don't forget that you can listen to old shows on our CFMU page.

Star Wars Teaser!

The Star Wars teaser was released yesterday and I have to say that I personally think these 90 seconds from JJ Abrams has undone all of the bad will created by Lucas in the Prequel Trilogy.  This looks like Star Wars.  This feels like Star Wars.  But unlike the PT this teaser evoked an emotional response.  Damn, it feels good to care about Star Wars again.  

In the first shot we see John Boyega jump into frame.  The first time I saw it I almost felt like laughing; like it was another fake teaser a la Romeo Lux.  The voiceover didn't help.  But when I see the fear on Boyega's face, the dread, I was sold.  It was also great to see a Stormtrooper without Jango Fett's head pasted on to his body.  The rumors say Boyega is the main character of the movie; a Stormtrooper who has a Force awakening and leaves the Empire for the Rebel forces.  Also, I didn't hear it at first but others have pointed out that what sounds like an Imperial probe droid is barely audible at the end of this scene.

 Next up is a cute little FIFA droid which is quite enjoyable.

Stormtroopers on a dropship.  I'm not too familiar with the Expanded Universe stuff but I guess the Empire is still around even after the death of the Emperor. 

 

Then we see Daisy Ridley's character on a speeder.  I'm hearing that Daisy might be playing Han's daughter.  Some viewers have noticed that in the close up shot before Daisy rides away there is some gear attached to the side of the pod near the cockpit that disappears in the next shot.  Little blooper there.

We get a glimpse of the interior of an X-Wing piloted by Oscar Isaac.  Some fanboy has translated the Aurebesh on his Mae West.  Apparently it says "Pull To Inflate."

Now this shot of the X-Wings skimming over what appears to be a lake gave me chills the first time I saw it.  Seeing this ships flying low, spraying water behind them, is a clip that really impresses.  Stunning.  I'm all in at this point.

A lot of fans are griping about this saber.  I admit I rolled my eyes a bit at first as well but looking at it closer you can see that the cross hilt saber blades almost appear to be exhaust outlets; not really intended to be part of the blade.  The saber looks rough; maybe makeshift.  The speculation is that whoever is holding this weapon either found it or hacked it together.  Of course, it could also be a flashback to the Knights of the Old Republic days.  Whatever it ends up being I can say I'm intrigued.  I really like it.

When the Millennium Falcon appears with the John Williams theme playing I'm not ashamed to say I started tearing up a bit.  Manly tears.  The tracking shots with clouds in the background are absolutely gorgeous.  It almost looks like found footage.  The ship looks great.  If I was all in before I'm begging Disney to take my money at this point.

The MFalcon going up against 2 TIE fighters in the atmosphere of what looks to be Tatooine.  A lot of fans have pointed out that the round "radar" dish has been replaced with a square one which ties into Jedi since the dish was destroyed. 

Lastly we get the title card.  I have to say the title has grown on me now.  Of course, the force has always been around but I think it'll all make sense after we've seen the movie.

At any rate, I'm sold on our man JJ taking the reins from Lucas.  Of course, I would've been happy to see anyone taking over after the awful prequels.  Hell, I'd've taken a Michael Bay-Tommy Wiseau joint; I was that disappointed with Eps I,II and III.

Looking forward to December 2015!

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We haven't posted here in awhile but we haven't stopped broadcasting every Saturday at 7pm live on CFMU 93.3 (streaming live at cfmu.mcmaster.ca).  We're moving the discussion to our new subreddit at www.reddit.com/r/leavelucktous.  Hope to see you there!

The Secret History of Gaming: Article1 VIC-20

The Secret History of Gaming is our online version of Uncle Kaiser who each week joins our radio show in a segment aptly named 'Story time with Uncle Kaiser', in which he satisfies listener curiosities by telling them a story about a game of their choice.

I carry fond memories of Commodore's PET computer, but as with everything, including love. Relationships change quite rapidly in this greedy society.

Back in the dawn of computing, if you wanted a PET computer you couldn't just run down to your nearest EB and purchase one. You had to find a licensed seller, some sort of specialty shop. What a pain in the ass and because it was a pain in the ass, sales sucked and Commodore would have to change their tactic and come up with a better strategy.

Alas, the rise of a new computer. A home computer. A computer for dummies and no hoops to jump through in order to purchase one.

In 1980 Commodore released their new computer which was branded as VIC-20. The VIC-20 was a huge hit right off the bat being the first microcomputer to sell one million units. One million units of 8-bit heaven. How did they pull that off you ask? Quite easily. The VIC-20 sold for under $300.00 and was so easy to operate that it appealed to the masses. Commodore pumped these little temptresses into every damned store you can think of. If you wanted to play around computer style you could walk down the street and find VIC-20 at hobby shops, a department store, hot dog vending carts and even auto repair shops, because if a mechanic can play around with the VIC-20 it must be easy to operate. The VIC-20 was the first colour computer, it had a user friendly version of BASIC 2.0 which made programming easy(I wrote my first cook book and rock zine on my VIC) in fact the VIC gave the masses their first taste of programming, it also came with a floppy disk expansion and could hook up to a printer. A specific monitor wasn't essential as the VIC could hook up to a television set.

Even though the VIC-20 sold 2.5 million units around the globe it could not hold on. This historical marvel with it's 5.5K of RAM, 2 of which was eaten up by the Basic Operating System eventually forced developers to write code by hand.

As with everything, including love. Relationships change quite rapidly in this greedy society. In 1982, Commodore rolled out VIC-20's casket and announced the birth of their newest computer named Commodore 64.

Now you know the Secret History of the Commodore VIC-20.