Inception Rejection: It Should have Been a Better Movie

Inception (c) 2010

When it comes to hype, Christopher Nolan’s Summer Blockbuster “Inception” had a more than ample supply. In the weeks and months before the movie was released, quotes were being banded around like “will literally blow your mind”, and “The next Matrix”.  That was back in May and June of 2010. Now, in December, the movie is receiving practically 90% positive critical ratings, with review quotes like “A wildly ingenious chess game”. I disagree.

I have watched the movie twice now, both at the cinema and at home. I have given it ample chance, but in my opinion the movie fails to deliver on its promise. But rather than give the typical internet-user ‘trolling rant’, I’d like to take the time to acknowledge what this movie does well, but what I feel it fails to do.

VIDEO: TDard Kinect Party

Just after Kinect was released in the UK, my friends and I decided to have an unofficial lauch party where we tried out some of the games.

The alcohol fueled result is below.

Forza 3 Just Saved my Life

The time is 10pm, on a freezing December night, 2010. England is experiencing an extended period of icy cold weather. Probably not the best time to be making a long, night-time drive alone? Well it didn’t stop me last night.

Forza 3 on Xbox360

Now, let’s do a “Lost” style flash-back to four weeks ago - the height of my obsession with the Xbox 360 game “Forza Motorsport 3”.

During 2010, I have been going through an achievement-whore phase, spending unholy amounts of time chasing virtual achievement scores on some of the most embarrassing games ever released (yes, Avatar). At some point I decided that if I was going to beat this multitude of sub-par ‘gamer-whore’ games, I should at least set myself the goal of beating ‘triple-a’ games like Halo, Call of Duty, or Forza at least 50%. Otherwise I’d feel too cheap.

Top 7 – Ways for a Beginner to Learn About Space and Science

If you are a real geek, then science is cool. And space is the coolest part of science. While you don’t need a degree in astrophysics to be geek, some basic knowledge is not only useful, but can be damn interesting! So here are the top seven ways to learn about space for free, that I think you would enjoy.

I would just like to make one thing clear – I am not trying to imitate Gamesradar in this post, I am simply paying homage to them. Somebody recently asked me the best way(s) for them to learn about space/science, and it just so happened that I named seven such ways. Complete coincidence. So, I thought, what better way to publicise this to my fellow geeks than with a “top seven”?

I would like to add one little note: the order of this top seven is not based on quality, it is based on complexity. The entries get more in depth as the list progresses.

FEATURE: How Would You Know if You Were on Another Planet?

So, I finally got the chance to watch the latest ‘Predators’ movie. The movie opens with seven of the worlds leading ‘killers’ falling to the ground, into a mysterious Jungle. About thirty minutes into the movie, the characters realise that they are on another planet (or moon) when they reach the edge of the Jungle and are greeted with a panoramic view of what appears to be two gas giants and a collapsing moon.

Predators - the new movie

This got me thinking, “How would you know if you were suddenly on another planet, if nobody told you?" "What would it feel like to be on another planet?" Well, using my studies of astrophysics in conjunction with my extensive (and borderline-scary) knowledge of geeky science, I thought I’d try and put you onto another planet, using nothing but the magic of vocabulary!

Inside the Real Spaceship Enterprise

I refuse to use the word “Starship” in conjunction with “Enterprise” in this post. Despite the inner geek in me having a mental breakdown at that statement, it just would not be accurate in describing the vehicles that are in question.

What vehicles are they? Well, so far there have been two real-life human spacecraft thus far named “Enterprise”. One of these never actually went into space, and never will. The other will almost certainly be the next human-carrying vessel to actually go to space in known history.

The Enterprise - OV101

The first vessel named “Enterprise” was the US Space Shuttle designated “OV-101”. This was the first fully completed, flight worthy Space Shuttle. It was named directly after the fictional Star Trek vessel “USS Enterprise” in recognition of its place as a pioneering flagship of human space travel.

Enterprise OV101 never actually went to space; its purpose was primarily flight tests (and most insiders will say a huge PR booster) which demonstrated that the concept of a reusable shuttle was indeed viable. These days you can find the Enterprise in the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum.