[Comics] Who Is Bane? And Which Catwoman?

With the recent announcement of Anne Hathaway and Tom Hardy being cast as Catwoman and Bane in the upcoming Chris Nolan Batman movie, apparently there's a lot of people asking one question. And no, it's not the question of Tom Hardy being gay and/or single.

Instead, I was surprised to find out that a lot of people are asking who Bane is and what the heck this all means. At first the question surprised me - Bane is to Doomsday as Batman is to Superman, generally speaking. But then when you get down to it, people probably only remembered that Batman got his back broken without caring by whom.

Image via WikipediaAnd all we have to remember of Bane is his horrible misrepresentation in the 1997 disaster action comedy known as Batman & Robin. With that in mind, now it makes sense why everyone is scrambling to explain who he is while the rest of the core geek world already knows who he is and his strange evolution from evil bad guy to unusual anti-hero.

Thankfully, there are a lot of geeky resources online to help you with your troubles in order to explain who Bane is while the rest of us geeks contemplate the greater questions in life such as whether or not Anne Hathaway will be more of a Michelle Pfeiffer Catwoman or a Halle Berry Catwoman. *shudders

Your search probably started with the ever boring wiki-styler entries over at Wikipedia or the DC Database, but that's no real fun.

More recently hardcore geek sites have started to write their own guides to this dash wrestler-style character. The Geekosystem feature is a nice simple narrative that should quickly get you up to speed in all things Bane. However the real gem is the much more detailed io9 backgrounder on Bane, his history and what he;s doing now in terms of the comic book universe. Plus the post is generously littered with great images of the character and how he's evolved over the years.

And if that's not enough for you to figure out who Bane is and why he's worthy of being the next Batman villain, then I don't know how else to help you.

In the meantime, what if Anne Hathaway ends up being a Julie Newmar kind of Catwoman...or even an Eartha Kitt one? Now that boggles the mind.

[Daily Geekery] December 23, 2010

The holiday is in full swing for me, so you can imagine I'm spending less and less time at the computer and more time for last minute shopping, different Christmas parties and all that good stuff.

This is going to be a short one, hehe.

Links:

• New York Times: Death Comes to Riverdale - It's sad when comic book characters die, but even more so when they're time-honored characters who lived in a seemingly eternal paradise. While Riverdale may not exactly be heaven, it has been a seemingly timeless institution. Now the Archie crew have to deal with Ms. Grundy's death...but will they graduate?
  
• io9: 10 Signs You Could Be The Chosen Savior - Yes, a very timely list for the holiday season. How many of these apply to Jesus in terms of the stories in the Bible? LOL
  
• Lifehacker: In Defense of Commercial Software: Sometimes It's Worth It to Pry Open Your Wallet - I'm so guilty of advocating a freeware model for software. Lifehacker decides to play Devil's Advocate and argue for the other side in terms of why there are still things you need to shell out money for.
  
• Techland: Techland's The Ten Best Comic Books of 2010 - In my continuing year-end habit of sharing various Top 10 lists, here's a list from the TIME crew about some of the best comics of the year.
  
• The Consumerist: Diners Ask Restaurant For 47 Separate Checks... And That's Before They Pulled Out Their Groupons - The pages of The Consumerist tend to be filled with stories of customer woes and their fights with big bad corporations. But they also have a few horror stories of why customers aren't that great either like this incident at a restaurant.

Images:

Geekosystem: X-Files Intersection


And that's your Daily Geekery for today!

[Daily Geekery] December 22, 2010

I don't know why I kept thinking today was the last banking day of the year. I mean seriously, what's up with that? Oh well, at least I got all my bills paid early, queued a few stock orders on Citisec Online that successfully completed while I was sleeping and pretty much put my house into order.

Now I just need to finish wrapping my Christmas gifts for my family (since I already completed the ones for my officemates) and then it's on to the holidays in earnest!

Oh yeah, but first geeky stuff!

Links:

• Gawker: Ambulances Called, Show Stopped After 'Big Accident' in Spider-Man Musical - Major accident during one of the performances of the new Spider-Man Musical. This show is so cursed - I don't see how it's going to survive as a Broadway show for so many reasons!
  
• Geekosystem: Packaging Minimalism - Some really cool concept designs for minimalist versions of popular products.
  
• io9: Visions of the Dark Knight in unreleased Arkham Asylum concept art - Batman: Arkham Asylum was a really kick ass game that redefined what a Batman game should be like. And it turns out the concept art behind the game is even more awesome!
  
• Gizmodo: Giz Explains: Where Dust Bunnies Come From - An interesting, informative yet rather gross piece of the nature of dust.
  
• io9: 5 things you can do to save Fringe right now - Don't let Fox kill another great science fiction TV series! Do your part! Fringe needs YOU!
  
• CNN: FCC approves controversial 'net neutrality' rules - The FCC approval of its first set of official rules regarding Net Neutrality should have been celebrated as a great day for internet freedom. Except the FCC agreed with Google and Verizon about mobile internet being okay for varying speeds controlled by ISPs. Or the fact that even regular broadband can still have "fast lanes", but only to the "benefit" of users. How is this good news again?
  
• ABS-CBN News: No more holiday economics, says PNoy - FINALLY, an end to our country's ridiculous habit of having more than 20 holidays falling on week days. Now weekend workers get a fair shot at holidays too! And if you're so pissed about it, then get your local congressman to file a bill to change how the holiday is determined!
  
• Deal News: Seasons Repeatings: How to Regift and Not Get Caught - Yes, an essential guide for all you people who receive a lot of unwanted gifts during the holiday season!

Videos:

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

The Roast of Mario

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Undercover Videogame Bosses

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

ConquistaDora The Explorer




And that's today's Daily Geekery!

[Daily Geekery] December 21, 2010

Christmas is just around the corner and the end of the year just a little beyond that. It's interesting how a lot of the geeky stuff that I'm sharing tend to be summary lists, top 10 lists and all other kinds of lists of things and articles that start with "The Best Of..." and all those kinds of things.

I wonder if I should be compiling similar lists for the Geeky Guide. Hmmm...

Links:

• TIME Tuned In Blog: Vacation Robo-Post: The 10 Worst TV Shows of 2010 - If there are the best of things, then there are the worst of them too. See some of your favorites on this list? You may need to think about that now.
  
• io9: The 10 most regrettable Eighties scifi and fantasy villains on film - The 80's are such a sacred time filled with many amazing geeky icons that live on until today. But the 80's was also full of a heck of a lot of crap. But it's fun crap that's still worth celebrating!
  
• Gizmodo: The Secret Soviet Laser Tank - Soviet Laser Tank. Let's read that line one more time just for the heck of it. Soviet. LASER. Tank. What more need be said?
  
• Techland: The 10 Nerdiest (Read: Most Glorious) Movie Moments of 2010 - Techland - This was a pretty great year for geekdom, especially at the movies. Man, this sounds like something worth discussing in an entry of my own.
  
• io9: 15 Easter eggs to watch out for in Tron Legacy - Easter Eggs are always fun. Easter Eggs in a movie that is clearly trying to tap into the 80's sub-culture built around a flop of a movie? Totally awesome!
  
• Lifehacker: Most Popular Repurposing Tricks of 2010 - Man I'm such a sucker for these Lifehacker lists. Time to get the soldering iron out of storage!

Images:

Sinfest: December 20, 2010



Photoshop Disasters: December 19, 2010



Geekosystem: Batwoman on DADT


 Gizmodo: Retro Thor By Olly Moss


And that's today's Daily Geekery!

[Daily Geekery] December 20, 2010

The holiday season is a very busy one and you end up struggling to find time to get things done. between Christmas parties, the need to shop for gifts for your loved ones and the inevitable build-up of traffic because of these same activities, there's not as much time to explore the worlds of geekery made accessible via the internet.

Although I do have a few choice items that still managed to catch my attention despite the hustle and bustle of the season.

Links:

• Kotaku: Magic The Gathering Tactics Adds Depth To Classic Strategy Game - Horrible memories of the Magic: the Gathering Battlemage gaming experience came to mind when I first read this. But the fact that this is going to be a turn-based strategy game does give me some sense of promise about this being actually good.
  
• Geekosystem: FarmVille for Dummies Is a Book That Is Real - Yes my fellow geeks, this sad piece of literature actually exists. Damm you Zynga!
  
• Blogger in Draft: New mobile templates for reading on the go - Finally, mobile templates for Blogger blogs - the Geeky Guide included!
  
• Techland's Top 10 Arcade Games of All Time - Yes, another Tron-inspired post, but a pretty decent one. Are your favorite arcade games on the list?
  
• Geekosystem: Trollquotes: Or, 32 Ways to Make Geeks Rage - Yes, reading this list totally got my blood pressure rising and my head throbbing. Make the agony stop!
  
• Lifehacker: Most Popular Hive Fives of 2010 - Because geeks loves things in lists, here are some of Lifehacker's finest Hive Five lists for the year.
  
• CNN: Senate votes to repeal ban on gays openly serving in military - Score one for the home team! While I doubt this will mean gay men and women in the US Armed Forces are going to come out en masse, at the very least they can't get removed from service just because they're homosexual. Take that conservative bigotry!
  
• io9: Superheroes photographed through the ages - Just a fun collection of very silly Photoshopped superheroes.

Images:
 Gizmodo: Traffic Sign In Plain English


And that's the Daily Geekery for today!

[Daily Geekery] December 17, 2010

Well, it's finally the weekend! While the rest of you are probably making stellar weekend plans, I still have one more work shift this Friday night. Ah, the joys of the call center life.

In the meantime, a few links to satisfy your geek cravings.

Links:

• Geekosystem: 9 Great Interpretations of the Internet as Physical Space - Yeah, things always seem better as a list. And with TRON: Legacy finally in theaters, leave it to these geeks to find an appropriate topic. Now I want to re-watch Reboot!
  
• The 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards - The awards season continues and still no nominations for Fringe. What gives?
  
• Techland: TRON: Legacy Review: Virtual Reality Odyssey? Or Takedown of Cyberculture? - A TIME piece on why the TRON: Legacy works, but not necessarily for everyone.
  
• Mashable: 10 Creative Uses of the New Facebook Profile - As much as I'm not a big fan of the profile myself, it does present for some creative applications. And some really silly ones, too!
  
• Syfy cancels Stargate Universe: Is this the end of the Stargate Franchise? - I feel guilty for not taking the time to watch more of the Stargate shows and yet having downloaded a lot of the episodes in preparation for that time I'll get around to it. And now the show is being canned - say it ain't so, SyFy!
  
• 15 sites and services that shuttered in 2010 image - 15 sites and services that shuttered in 2010 - While the Oscars normally marks the passing of members of their industry during the annual awards ceremony, here's our version for the tech world of the internet.

Images:
 Geekosystem: The End of Delicious?
 Gizmodo: Sex and the City 2 as an Inception-style map


And that's today's Daily Geekery!

[Daily Geekery] December 13, 2010

Okay, these Monday Daily Geekery posts are really heavy ones - I may need to consider some sort of a "Weekend Edition" for these posts or maybe just kill the Daily Geekery experiment entirely. They're fun and all and they aren't too complicated to write although they do take time given all the link copying and pasting and all that stuff.

Let's get over this one - huzzah!

Links:

• Lifehacker: Cut Out the Fake Work and Focus on Projects that Really Matter - Are you days filled with "fake work"? This Lifehacker post is a great wake-up call and a challenge to re-examine your daily work routine.
  
• Gizmodo: Why Most Hardware Specs Are Total Bullshit - A Gizmodo rant about why the listed specs may not matter as much.
  
• Lifehacker: Browser Speed Tests: IE 9, Firefox 4 Beta, Chrome's Crankshaft, and Opera 11 Beta - While the folks at Lifehacker / Gizmodo do this every now and then, the latest tests seem to indicate the new version of Chrome holds a lot of promise.
  
• Gawker: The Top Three Myths About Anonymous - You know, they're not exactly the anti-thesis of Big Brother.
  
• io9: Completely crowd financed film The Tunnel could be better than The Descent - This movie is cool since (1) all financing was crowd-sourced and (2) it promises to be freakishly scary!
  
• io9: Geeky Gifts For Kids - A quick guide to geeky gifts for kids...or those who think they're still young enough for them.
  
• Geekosystem: Blizzard’s Rumored 5-Year Plan Leak Looking Less Rumor-y Now That People Are Resigning - Well, now isn't this interesting? A schedule for how Blizzard is going to milk us!
  
• The Oatmeal: Cat vs Internet - Okay, this strip was ridiculously funny. But you need to be a geeky cat owner to get a full appreciation for things.
  
• io9: Your Favorite Science Fiction Yarns, Reinvented as Kids' Books - I would so pay for a kiddie version of Dune.
  
• Lifehacker: The Main Reason Why You Suck at Interviews: Lack of Preparation - As someone who has conducted a LOT of job interviews, I totally agree with this article. Prepare people!
  
• Inquirer.net: ‘Tell truth about GMA’ campaign launched - First the Truth Commission. Then now it's a Truth Campaign. Can't people try, I dunno, gathering evidence and trying to file an air-tight case against the former president instead of just whining about it?
  
• IDW: Classics Mutilated - I so want this - so cool!
  
• Geekosystem: The Punk Justice League of America - Yeah, we geeks are a sucker for reimagination concept art like this.
  
• Playstation.com: The Sly Collection - I will get this. Just sharing.

Images:
Geekosystem: Real Life Hello Kitty
 Hand-crafted Plants vs Zombies car accessories!
 Geekosystem: Marvel Dinos
 Gizmodo: Facebook Artwork


And that's today's Daily Geekery. Here's to a good week ahead for all of us!

[Daily Geekery] December 2, 2010

Busy, busy day, but what can we do? Despite my real life work obligations (yes, I have a day job), I still had some time to scour the web for items of interest. Hopefully, they're also interesting for you, but we can never really be sure about that now can we?

Although the occasional comment might help enlighten me ***hint*hint***

Links:

• Strange Horizons - No Return Address - A great short story that was shared on io9. It's definitely worth the read if you're not doing anything better during your lunch break today.
  
• Google Sightseeing: Carcassonne - Google Maps enthusiast site Google Sightseeing featuring the French city of Carcassonne, now made popular by a bunch of German game designers. Okay, so maybe the game has very little to do with the actual city and the game is only really popular in geek circles. And what do you think I am?
  
• io9: Frank Darabont fires The Walking Dead's entire writing staff - This news was certainly a surprise to many fans of AMC's The Walking Dead (like me and my partner). But another article in today's Daily Geekery may provide additional insight.
  
• Official Google Blog: Being bad to your customers is bad for business - While this may seem like a boring piece I found this to be a very interesting look into the Google thinking process. Wouldn't it be amazing if there was an algorithmic solution for most of our problems in the world?
  
• Tuned In - Today in Firing: Walking Dead Writers, CBS Early Show Hosts - TIME's James Poniewozik decided to weigh in on the news about The Walking Dead firings, and he points out that it may not be that bad a thing after all. After all, how much writing is needed for a show based on a comic book right? The core material and the premise is already there, right?
  
• Tuned In - Glee Watch: Sharing the Spotlight - Again, I love James Poniewozik given he's a great writer with a keen eye for analyzing TV in a highly analytical way. Plus we seem to think along similar lines. Case in point - this week's episode of Glee. Can anyone explain how the Warblers managed to snag a tie decision? Hello plot deus ex machina!
  
• Inquirer.net - Church questions RH survey: You can’t poll morality - I know, I know, I'm really beating this issue like a dead horse, but I can't help it. The CBCP is hilarious when you get down to it. Why listen to surveys after all - let's just ignore any evidence that people actually want the RH Bill! They're probably wrong in the end, right? *insert LOL here*
  
• Gizmodo - Cassette Lamp Is a Shining Ode to Analog - I'd post the photos, but there are a number of them worth examining. Besides, who wouldn't want to read up a bit more on a concept lamp made out of cassette tapes?

Well, have to run off for work. That's our Daily Geekery for today!

[Daily Geekery] November 30, 2010

I haven't quite worked out all the mechanics for these Daily Geekery entries. I think I'm only going to post them on week days since I don't share as much stuff over the weekend. But given my graveyard working schedule, am I counting local week days or US ones? Plus more content is published by US websites at night, so the whole US schedule makes a bit more sense.

Ah well, something else to puzzle over.

So to cut things short since I need to move on with my life, here are things I've shared since the weekend:

Links:

• TIME: The Tick, Tick, Tick of the Times - I think I've made it more than clear that I'm a big fan of TIME's James Poniewozik's writing. This this feature piece on why the news ticker may actually be a bad thing is remarkable - a great ready for anyone who cares about information overload on the news.
  
• Yahoo News: Marine pushback to permitting openly gay military - Beyond the seriousness of the issue at stake here, I just found the various examples and arguments used quite hilarious.
  
• Geekosystem: The Final Fantasy Period Table Of Elements - An awesome graphic - and the chemical symbols are also accurate!
  
• the garapata can speak...Given the chance, wouldn't you? - One of the teaser for the awesome new World of Darknes game that my partner Tobie ran at the November OGM. Yes, he actually had the Endless as characters!
  
• SugarSync - Yes, I've finally gotten onto the SugarSync bandwagon. Who wouldn't want 5GB of online storage right? Plus automatic back-ups and syncs plus pretty robust sharing features!
  
• io9: Is Haruki Murakami Hollywood's new Philip K. Dick? - A quick piece on growing discussions about Haruki Murakami movies on the horizon. I'm so for this!
  
• io9: We need more vampire slayers — just not more Buffy - An io9 rant about how we need more vampire slayers stories and not necessarily just more Buffy. Still, damn you Warner Brothers!
  
• Wise Bread: 8 Ways Convenience is Screwing Your Finances - An interesting list of reasons why "convenience" is not at all worth spending extra for.
  
• 5 Tips for Taking Great Vacation Photos - A quick list of ways to take better vacation photos while still actually enjoying your vacation.
  
• Gizmodo: 5 Things to Know Before Buying a Cordless Power Tool - What geek wouldn't want a new power tool, right?
  
• Gizmodo: A Cadre of Coffee Gifts for Caffeine Fiends - A list of great gifts you'd give a REAL coffee lover. And don't even think of getting me one of those useless Starbucks planners!

Images: Now how cool are these stamps? Videos: South Park Plagiarized College Humor
And that's your Daily Geekery for today!

[Star Trek] German SciFi Channel Commercials

Considering how long I've been an active YouTube video viewer, it's amazing how many videos remain out there and just how many of them I've yet to see (and perhaps never will). You think that a geek like me with Google as a pseudo-extension of his intellect (come on, everyone does this, right) would have found the more interesting videos out there, especially those most related to my interests.

Still, it took the greater geeks at science fiction blog io9 to point me in the direction of some very amusing Star Trek commercials for the German SciFi Channel. Imagine that, the Germans had these back in 2006 (at least based on the YouTube post date). Thanks, io9!


"Star Trek" commercial (SciFi) - Part 2 Spock


"Star Trek" commercial (SciFi) - Part 1 Worf


"Star Trek" commercial (SciFi) - Part 3 Quark


"Star Trek" commercial (SciFi) - Part 4 Data


"Star Trek" commercial (SciFi) - Part 5 Enterprise

[Blogosphere] io9 Up and Running

New science fiction culture blog io9 has gone live today and already it certainly seems to be promising. It's a sister blog to other Gawker Media blogs such as my favorite tech productivity blog Lifehacker.

If they keep it as updated and well-written as Lifehacker, then I'm pretty sure it's going to be a very worthwhile blog to add to your respective RSS feed readers.