Warner Bros. nabs 'Hyperion Cantos' adaptation

Not sure I like the sound of this.

" King acquired the rights to the series several years ago, but its structure, inspired by Boccaccio's "Decameron" and Chaucer's "Canterbury Tales," and its multiple timelines made the task of adapting it into a feature unwieldy and challenging."

So cut this, cut that, big up the fight sequences, make the cruciform into a more church friendly shape ('Gee, how about a crescent?'), butcher, maim and generally fuck about with one of the best sci-fi novels of the late 20th century.

Or, alternatively, it could be brilliant. Hmmmm....Bets?

Warner Bros. nabs 'Hyperion Cantos' adaptation

Private Eye kills writer

Death by drowning in the bath, I'm afraid. Well, very, very nearly...

Arming the world

Map of global arms trade movements, 1950 to present.

It's a big, old, slow, browser-crashing applet though so you might be better off just looking at the picture above...

ARMSFLOW

What do you mean you don't know who Led Zeppelin is?

A US College publishes a very useful orientation primer for teachers explaining how different the world and its cultural reference points are for students starting college every year. It's a bit US-centric in places, but interesting to measure how the references for those born in 1989 diverge from us what are a bit older. This link takes you to the list for the Class of 2011.

For them, a Russia with multiple political parties and a China with multiple business enterprises seems quite normal...They’ve grown up having been taught by an equal number of women and men in the classroom, and with women having been hired as police chiefs of major cities...Food has always been a health concern. Consumer awareness about ingredients and fats has always been energized. They’ve never “rolled down” a car window, and to them Jack Nicholson is mainly known as the guy who played The Joker and Nelson Mandela has always been free. As for the Berlin Wall, what’s that?

Beloit College Public Affairs

[via BoingBoing]

3D or not 3D

Nice consumer 3D cinema story from the big green Q - kudos to them for getting it out and about - only marred by the horrible sight of a blurred 3D Steve Shaw ;-)

BBC NEWS | Technology | Why 3D is about to break through

A Torchwood fan writes...

Okay, not a fan in any proper sense of the word. As I09 has pointed out though, this damning indictment of Russell The T's offspring is actually describing a show I'd want to see. And hell, I'd forgotten all about Lexx.

"It's also necessary because of Torchwood's single redeeming feature, which is that it's efficient television for the sexually frustrated sci fi addict. It's basically the investigating team from Angel, in the universe of Doctor Who, operating off of stolen alien technology like some renegade Welsh Stargate team, solving cases lifted from shows like The X-Files if not from Doctor Who itself, with the juvenile hyperssexuality of Lexx (though without the benefit of cruising around in a planet-destroying phallus, I'm sorry to say), all mixed together with the gender-bending intricacies of The L Word (admittedly, not sci fi, but at least there are lots of exposed breasts, which must count for something)."

More of the rant at Jesus Drives an SUV: Why Russell T. Davies Sucks

Why Lolcats Control Your Mind

Ah ha, so that's why I just spent 10 minutes looking at the Dunecat picture above while nigh on asphyxiating...

[via i09]

Mad Science: Evolution Explains Why Lolcats Control Your Mind