Ken Newquist Mozilla is the open-source monster spun off by Netscape in a desperate attempt to harness the passion of thousands of Microsoft-hating geeks to build a better browser. It took years longer than anyone anticipated, but they finally got the code to the point where it could be released, thus spawning the lackluster Netscape 6.0 browser. … Read more
Wizards of the Coast’s original Star Wars role-playing game was launched along side The Phantom Menace in 1999 and was caught up in the hype storm surrounding the first wholly-new serial in nearly 20 years. Like the movie, the game wasn’t everything that fans had hoped for or wanted. The game — based on the same … Read more
“Mommy … it hurts!” Those words struck fear into the heart of Kevin Archer’s mother … but that fear was nothing compared to the horror she felt the next day when she found her son dead of a heroin overdose. The child had been playing in a McDonald’s ball pit when a heroin-filled syringe had … Read more
An e-mail claiming that a new patriotic Pepsi soda can had the words “Under God” striken from its design is a hoax. Date collected: 8/12/2002 Pepsi has a new patriotic can coming out with pictures of the Empire State Bldg. and the Pledge of Allegiance on them. But Pepsi forgot two little words on the … Read more
Enterprise is Paramount’s attempt to revitalize the Star Trek franchise by returning to the adventurous, thrill-seeking, curious days of the Federation’s youth. The series, which follows the crew of the original starship Enterprise on its maiden voyage, has been largely successful. The technobabble of Voyager has been exorcised, and – on average – the stories … Read more
“Something is going to happen.”– Dave Bowman. “What what’s going to happen?” — Dr. Heywood Floyd. “Something wonderful.” — Dave Bowman, 2010: Odyssey Two We did something wonderful yesterday. We listened to our baby’s heartbeat for the first time. It was our second official visit to see the midwife, and it was part of the … Read more
Civilization III sucks. There … I’ve said it. It took me months, but I finally said it. I feel much better now. I’m a big fan of the Civilization series, starting with the original computer game back in college (around about 1993). Its sequel, Civilization II. represents a pinnacle in empire-building games, in which players … Read more
Signs is a tightly woven, self-contained sci-fi horror film that owes as much to Alfred Hitchhoch’s thrillers as it does to George Romero’s Living Dead. Both Romero and Hitchcock excelled at putting their protagonists in increasingly more difficult and psychologically crippling positions. Reinforcing the movie’s terror is a first-rate soundtrack that dines on tension like … Read more
Fall 2002 looks to be a good time for gamers, especially for fans of Dungeons & Dragons. Here are some of the products I’m looking forward to. Operation: Torch, Pagan Publishing Topping my Fall 2002 wish list is Operation: Torch, a campaign for Godlike based on the real-world WWII African campaign. This book is all … Read more
I finally got to visit one of Apple’s new stores, specifically the Apple Store in the Short Hills Mall in New Jersey. It was like walking into a little slice of heaven. Dual-processor G4s with beautiful (and ungodly expensive) 22-inch flat screen monitors lined one mall. The new lamp-like iMacs lined another wall and proved … Read more