My Sci-Fi - Latest Comments

Re: The Automotive Revolution Has Begun

Carol_Lorquet — Tue, 25 Jun 2013 06:44:18 -0000

I think we need to sort out car service like a selection of power stations along the route for more motorist to take up.

Re: A Superman for All Seasons

Luke — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 13:32:57 -0000

Yep, could have really been something great, the pieces were all there, but just good as it stands. I'm hoping there is a sequel and that if Zack directs it he can practice a little restraint.

Re: Playing with rockets in Kerbal Space Program

néstor — Wed, 27 Mar 2013 04:37:41 -0000

I love KSP! But unfortunately, as you say it has little following at the time, and I don't know anyone who plays the full version apart from me, it's been released on steam now so hopefully that'll give it more exposure... have you tried going to the moons or the planets or building space stations? My greatest achievement so far has been going to the Mun and back, but I can't even build a rocket that holds three guys yet

Re: The Avengers

Heather Madden — Wed, 28 Nov 2012 18:00:45 -0000

This remarkable movie easily fulfilled and then exceeded all expectations. I've been waiting for this movie since Sam Jackson's character uttered those famous words after the first Iron Man film... Stark now knows he's not the only superhero in his world and it's as big a treat for our real world as it gets. Seeing the "Avenger Initiative" in action is as great as I would ever have hoped! Hell, who am I kidding, I've been waiting to see this movie all my life. Who would've thought years ago that ALL these characters could fit in to a film and all of them be done justice? It delivers greatness from scene one and has to be considered the best this genre has EVER produced. Truthfully, as good as some of the previous work has been from every studio, nothing else has come close. That's not hyperbole; I really think most will agree if they see it with an open mind. I loved this movie's depth, heart, humor, gravitas, action, performances, emotion and payoff. I honestly can't wait to see it again with the rest of the world later. Right now, I'm simply basking in the greatness I just witnessed!

Re: Cellphones and Cancer: Public Ignorance and Apathy

Jon Schwarzmann — Sat, 04 Aug 2012 10:11:53 -0000

I’m terribly sorry. But when people are off their medications, I can’t really control which one of my posts will make them cry.

1. Good job captain obvious. Maybe you’ll want to use whatever powers of observation you may (or may not) posses and inform the creators of the said graphic about their emotionally charged mistake. I picked that picture because it was easy to read and understand, not due to it’s 98% accuracy.

2. You’re right. Microwave ovens are rated in watts. But considering the cell phone batteries I had available to check were displaying watt-hours, I figure I’d just talk in terms of the technology in question. Also, watt-hours denote discharge (ie, how many watts are expended over an hour), so no, I didn’t “miss” it. Since I did go with those units, my reference to “that power” can be confusing. It should probably read “their,” yet the ease in which transitioning between Whr and W stops me from correcting my grammatical error. The statement is still true, whether I call it energy or power.

3. Again, right. But those electrons stripped off by your carpet aren’t coming from an ionizing source. I stuck with the scary sounding instead of going into detail, considering that’s not the topic at hand. But go stand next to a source of gamma rays and tell me how that goes for you, m’kay?

You probably did miss several others. I’d be glad to point out the errors in your fact checking again. Thanks for visiting Richard, I always appreciate constructive criticism. Next time though, try to stay on the constructive side, that way I wont have to try to respond in just as a pretentiously annoying manner as you.

Re: Cellphones and Cancer: Public Ignorance and Apathy

Ben — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 17:20:55 -0000

Oh gee. Yes, I need to refute your claims. Not because I believe that cellphone radiation is harmful, but because your bogus "facts" make me cry.

1. Your picture of the electromagnetic spectrum contains sound waves as heard by the human ear. But those are physical compression waves, not electromagnetic. You'd find electronic audio signals (speaker wires) use that frequency band also, but those still aren't EM radiation. Ditto for ultrasound.

2. You don't rate a microwave oven in Watt-hours, but Watts (power). Your point would be much more constructive if you found the phone's transmit power, also in Watts, and compared it to the 1100W average microwave oven, instead of using the phone's total battery capacity (which as you correctly note, most of which doesn't go to the radio. But you missed that the battery discharge is spread out over many hours.) And referring to 5Whr as "that power" is just wrong. Those units are energy, not power.

3. "A gamma ray could literally strip electrons from your body." Sounds scary, but isn't actually dangerous. Walking across carpet also strips electrons from your body, that's why you get a jolt of static electricity when your fingertips touch the doorknob.

I'm sure I missed several others.

Re: Things to look at…

Jordan Petersen — Wed, 27 Jun 2012 16:24:58 -0000

And I do appreciate the word. So thanks.

Re: Prometheus

Kevin Reilly — Mon, 11 Jun 2012 21:39:26 -0000

This was a really thorough review. I must say I enjoyed and read most of it and while my disappointment in the movie does not match yours, I am realy upset with the writers. There were lots of stupid plot devices and such. The attack by the zombie didn't make much sense, the "glitch" was perhaps the most useless of them all. Why did it glitch? Why didn't the maker of the device understand when it would detect movement or structure? And while I won't go over a few thousand lines to cover what you already covered, I did like David. While some of his behavior was bizarre and unexplained, such as poisoning the science guy, I really liked the ending. I would be excited about a sequel IF the writers hadn't done so poorly, but I'm pretty sure they won't deliver. Just like Lost.

Re: Prometheus

Aaron Barnes — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 18:58:07 -0000

The face hugger eggs were actually in a lower part of the ship in Alien and the space jockey was, I believe, a different one than that of Prometheus. I agree they should have investigated the basic premise of the film before jumping into the tie-in with the Alien anthology. However, I would love to see another movie answer many of the questions left at the end of the film.

Re: The Avengers

Jonathan Schwarzmann — Sun, 06 May 2012 08:35:04 -0000

No, you are completely right. I do remember thinking that at one point during the battle scene, but was overwhelmed by the amazingness of what was going on. From reading more about the movie, it seems Joss Whedons first cut was ~3 hours long. I'd venture a guess saying that there was at least one scene in there that expounded upon the one between Banner and random old man after the Hulks crash landing to earth.

The only other thing that really bothers me is the short, one line explanation of how Thor got back to Earth. At the end of his movie, it seemed impossible for him to return. So I'm a bit disappointed that wasn't addressed more. Then again, when the blu-ray comes out, I think we should expect the Whedon cut that might fill out the already amazing plot.

Re: The Avengers

Kaptainamazing — Sun, 06 May 2012 02:21:55 -0000

I agree with pretty much everything you've said here. Exactly what I was thinking while watching it! But I do have one beef that I noticed you didn't bring up, and I'm wondering if you noticed it too (and I'm completely willing to let it slide based on the awesomeness of the rest of the movie). Throughout the whole movie they build up how dangerous the Hulk is to both enemies and friends, yet in the final battle they have no problem releasing him into a crowded city and he's somehow only fighting for the avengers? Did I miss some part where he learns how to control the Hulk?

Re: The Hunger Games

Karl — Sun, 01 Apr 2012 19:19:09 -0000

Now imagine how much people enjoyed the book (and how much you're missing out by being a ted), given that the movie was as good as it was and knowing the book is much better. You'll enjoy the movie more having all the extra knowledge and introspection from the book.

Re: Chronicle, Something Refreshing

Aaron Barnes — Fri, 10 Feb 2012 15:13:49 -0000

Splendid movie, definately a must watch.

Re: It’s too bad she won’t live…

Kistajk — Sat, 17 Sep 2011 11:12:18 -0000

"Time to die."

Don't exclude that sentence as it's a very important bit of the message too.

Re: Pandorum, True Sci-Fi

Kyle Young — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 15:15:09 -0000

Here is something very interesting about the film. Would like to hear your thoughts on the subject.

http://onedeviousbastard.bl...

Re: Assassins Creed: Revelations, My Take

Jon Schwarzmann — Wed, 22 Jun 2011 22:53:29 -0000

How have you liked the series so far? While it's been a bit hard to follow, the mystique of the series has been a major draw for me. Brotherhood opened up a lot of questions, but if you look at the series as a movie, we've only just started the rising action section of the story. We've still got a long way to go.

Re: The Truly “Forbidden Planet”

Jopiumm — Tue, 14 Jun 2011 11:14:16 -0000

Hi Jon! Good post, I love this movie! May I ask where you got this great image of the Forbidden Planet set? I'd appreciate it if you emailed me, thanks!
jopiumm@yahoo.com

Re: Assassins Creed: Revelations, My Take

Erin Hanson — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 19:29:27 -0000

Sounds awesome! I just barely finished Brotherhood last night.

Re: Cellphones and Cancer: Public Ignorance and Apathy

Rob — Tue, 10 May 2011 13:24:17 -0000

John,

I love the argument! You present it well.

In every study done with cell phones, there is one variable that you can't account for yet, time. How many studies have follow a group of ten thousand people suing cell phone say 3 hours a day, and a group that never uses them over a 20 years span.

Studies like this may never exist, there are far too many variables for any scientific method regarding a human, therefore any argument, for or against cell phones should offer no human clear thoughts regarding technology. It is a personal choice an individual makes to use, believe in, or throw technology out the window, there will never be a definitive it does, or does not.

from love,

Rob

Re: Cellphones and Cancer: Public Ignorance and Apathy

Kevin Reilly — Wed, 04 May 2011 15:43:43 -0000

Now you have access to all my personal information. I feel naked

Re: Consumers’ Reaction to PSN Outage

Jon Ulf — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:49:52 -0000

Thanks Jordan. ;)

Re: Consumers’ Reaction to PSN Outage

Jon Ulf — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 16:49:25 -0000

Oh, and you may notice I never called gaming "unwholesome," just that there were "more wholesome" things to do. Self-conscience much?

Re: Consumers’ Reaction to PSN Outage

Jordan — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 10:41:21 -0000

This is why we're friends, Jon. You've got such a great head on your shoulders (well, neck, anyway--between your shoulders).

Re: Consumers’ Reaction to PSN Outage

anon — Thu, 28 Apr 2011 08:51:39 -0000

There was a time when reading books was considered unwholesome.

Re: The Not So Infallible Iron Man (2)

Rob — Fri, 11 Jun 2010 17:29:16 -0000

Jon,

I waited paintently to see this in Springdale (it takes a while for movies to get ehre). your reveiw helped stir this feeling in me that it would be a good movie. I should have let go of those expectations, it was bad, really bad. The suits looked goofy, the story line was nearly the same as the last one- two bad guys join together to kill tony; the bad guys were even in the same mold, one rich one poor with a chip on his shoulder.

The ending of killing the bad guys, exactly the same; tony is stuck getting out played big bang blows up bad guy.

I laughed out load for a solid 5 minutes of this movie at different moments.

Thank you for the hard work you do here Jon, you may have been a little off base with this one review, the only one I have had a problem with.

Rob