How about a title?

Nothing else to report except that I finished this drawing but don't have a title for it. Any ideas? Just click on it to see larger image.

Not a Christmas tree ornament

Let's put aside the subject of self-aware robots trying to kill all humans and concentrate on the subject of aliens from outer space that want to enslave humanity.

Check out the link below for cool video of a UFO over Costa Rica being filmed by a mildly drunk guy who urges his kids to bring him his rum and coke. He offers some interesting commentary as we hear his fam in the background. The real question, though, is WHAT IS HE FILMING?! Seems authentic. From January of this year. Click HERE.

Retro Picture Quiz of the Week (Feb. 19)

This beautiful actress starred in perhaps the DUMBEST television series of all time. What is her name and the name of the series? HINT: She starred in the show with six other people...

Source: Corbis photos

Lots of aliens, just very far away

Dr. Alan Boss of the Carnegie Institution of Science — speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science recently — said that there could be one hundred billion Earth-like planets in our galaxy.

So far, about 300 planets have been discovered in distant solar systems through special detection techniques. Boss estimates that, on average, each sun-like star has about one "Earth-like" planet.

He told BBC News, "Not only are they probably habitable but they are probably going to be inhabited.... I think that most likely the nearby 'Earths' are going to be inhabited with things which are perhaps more common to what Earth was like three or four billion years ago."

Recent studies at Edinburgh University suggest that there could be thousands of intelligent civilizations in space.

Perhaps those civilized beings look like the creature in the last Retro Picture Quiz post?

Source: BBC News

Retro Picture Quiz of the Week (Feb. 16)

This alien appeared only briefly in a classic 1953 science fiction film starring Gene Barry. Can you name the film? Hint: This film was remade in 2005 with a big name in the starring role (and in my opinion the aliens in the remake did not look as good as this one!).

Image ©Paramount

Retro Picture Quiz of the Week (Feb. 7)

Who is this gorgeous movie star?

Photo courtesy of Dr. Macro's High-Quality Movie Scans

EMERGENCY DOUBLE-DOG SERIOUS MESSAGE FOR STUDENTS OF GREENBERG'S MONDAY MOVIE CLASS

The entire Notorious film is on YouTube in 11 parts.

Retro Picture Quiz of the Week (Feb. 4)

In this scene from Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968), this ape dude is vastly improving the odds that his descendants will one day rule Earth. What is he doing?

How real is Second LIfe?

After the demonstration of Second Life during class last Thursday (Jan. 29), I've been thinking about how powerfully immersive computer environments can be. We were shown a large, complex virtual world that, despite its reputation as being for shy introverts, looked incredibly interesting.

I suppose one of the most appealing things about Second Life is that it is so empowering. A person can construct their avatar to be whatever they want, to compensate for any flaws that the avatar builder deems appropriate. And the Second Life universe is waiting for users to use it, to explore it, to build on it. Physical limitations that we face in the flesh world do not apply.

People are imagining creative ways to use Second Life. Consider this announcement found on the Chronicle for Higher Education web site on Jan. 23:

"... the director of debate at St. John's University, in New York, announced what is billed as the first tournament debate held in Second Life. It will take place on February 4 at 8 p.m. Eastern Time in the university's virtual campus. ... A two-person team from St. Johns will go head-to-head with two students from the University of Vermont. The topic will be whether or not colleges should limit tenure for professors."

The Second Life environment actually functions as a debate hall!

Second Life graphics are merely okay — not nearly as good as many cutting-edge video games. But can you imagine how real and sophisticated the graphics will look, say, 10 years from now? 

This daydreaming leads me to a bit of a thought experiment. Imagine a time a few years from now when Second Life graphics are fabulous and the virtual world offers to all of its users an incredibly rich variety of experiences — warm personal relationships, interesting places to visit, dancing, gambling, even thoughtful campus debates! Now also imagine a person who has all senses linked to Second Life. They are fed through intravenous tubes. They stay alone in a room with a comfortable bed. They choose to be plugged into Second Life 24 hours a day. They never take off their "Second Life virtual reality apparatus."

Is that person's life any less fulfilling than yours or mine? In other words, is the plugged-in life with the real benefits of the virtual world any less of a life than the life of a non-plugged-in person who experiences life in the "real" world?

I'm not sure I have an answer for that!