Lego Hyrule Castle

Check out the video below for a look at a large scale (unofficial) Lego Hyrule Castle from The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess that took two years to build. In the video master builder Joseph Zawarda talks about his creation. For more details about the build click here. For pics of his other Lego Legend of Zelda builds click here.

Nerd HQ San Diego Comic-Con Panels

One of the fun things (at least for those that can't attend) about the San Diego Comic Con is the panels. However, while sometimes the actors and what not embrace the whole experience, most stay in "sales pitch" mode. As a result, 5th annual Nerd HQ results in much better panels as the more intimate setting (only a few hundred people in the room) along with panelists who are volunteering their time rather then completing some marketing obligation The highlights this year, besides the always entertaining Nathan Fillion and Joss Whedon, include the cast of Doctor Who, cast of The Maze Runner, Once Upon a Time, Stephen Amell (Arrow), cast of Mr. Robot and a whole bunch more. If you want to pick and choose which videos to watch, click here.

The Jon Stewart Era Ends on The Daily Show

It is a true end of an era as Jon Stewart signed off of The Daily Show for the last time on Thursday. Stewart led the charge of speaking truth to power, using actual footage, facts and evidence to point out the bullshit that politicians and businesses sell everyday. It is something that the 24 hour news networks and your local news is supposed to be doing but stopped doing a long time ago when they learned more money could just be made by feeding into fear and hate. Its a sad day for those of us that want a little humor with the facts of the day and now instead just have the usual nonsense spin machines to go to (nevermind the tragically that real news only comes from something like The Daily Show and not supposed actual reporters who only seem to be reading from their emails or twitter nowadays).

The final episode, to no surprise, was full of class and a fitting sign off as most of the previous correspondents (the talent in that room when they were done...) all appeared before Stephen Colbert gave a heartfelt speech showing his appreciation of what Jon Stewart had done for him and the others over the years. The next, fortunately brief, segment was some of Stewart's targets giving him a send off, and then this was followed by a walk through the backstage offices to the set as Jon essentially said goodbye to everyone he worked with each day. The last segment was him warning the audience to always remains viligent for the bullshit and to call it out when they see it before he got his own moment of Zen with a mini concert by his favorite singer Bruce Springsteen. Few shows get the final episode nailed right but Stewart has 2,581 episodes of practice and he nailed it to no ones surprise. His legacy established, he will be missed and all I can say is good luck to those that try to fill the mighty large hole he is leaving in his wake.

While not available for embedding, you can watch the final episode here.

Upgrading to Windows 10: Information Worth Checking Out

As of Wednesday, Windows 10 has started to roll out for free to anyone with an authenticated copy of Windows 7 or Windows 8. The roll-out will occur in waves so when you can get your free copy might be from now to weeks from now. There are ways to get it early (link below) but really you might as well just wait for it to happen as Microsoft is still bug hunting. For many the question is "should I upgrade, even for free". The short answer is yes. The long answer is still yes but it can' wait. The key reason is those (mostly minor) bugs. If you don't have the patience for inexplicable problems, give it a few months. Also if your current computer that might get upgraded is critical for say work or other important tasks also wait just in case. If you are using an older version of Windows, say XP etc then chances are you have a really old computer. Upgrading will cost you money ($120 for Home, $200 for Pro) so you might as well just wait until you are ready to buy a new computer. Below are links to key bits of information and tips for Windows 10.

- Key improvements overview - If on the fence, hit the link to see if some of the Win10 improvements are worth it.

- Ten New Things in Win10 - A look at a few of the new features of the OS.

- Win10 Privacy Settings: A run through of the different tweaks you can make to adjust your privacy in the OS.

- Up Now Instead of Waiting on Push - A walk through to get Windows 10 now rather than waiting for whenever Microsoft decides it is your turn.

- Five settings to check: Just some basic settings to setup to your preferences.

- More Tweaks: More suggestions to tweak preferences on Win10.

- Customize Win10 Start Menu - Run though on how to tweak the look, size and contents of the Start Menu

- Cortana Overview - Run through on type of questions can ask Cortana, which is Microsoft's version of Siri and Google Voice.

- Change your default browser: Its not as easy as it used to be, partly for security and partly cause MS would prefer you used their new Edge browser (which is getting rave reviews).

- Stream XBox One to your Windows 10 PC: This assumes you have very good network at your location (may not work well with wi-fi) as it is data intensive (through your router, the info doesn't go through your service provider).

- Disable Bing Search in Start Menu: If you don't want Cortana to provide results from the web along with local computer files, it might be worth cutting this off.

- Replacement Start Menu programs do work: If you just prefer the Windows 7 Start Menu, programs like Classic Start and Win8 (now Win10) still work.

- Delete old builds to free up disk space: After the update this might be useful if you have a computer with limited disk space.

- Best Win10 keyboard shortcuts - I almost never bother with keyboard shortcuts (even though they are useful). For those that do, hit the link.

- Disable sharing wi-fi passwords - In theory this is a good idea as makes it easy for friends and family to join your home wi-fi network. In practice though its best for you to retain complete control on who does join so I recommend cutting this off.

- Cut off sharing Windows 10 Updates: This is actually a good idea for getting people updates even faster but in practice most of us can't keep this own due to ISPs doing bandwidth caps. If your service provider charges by data usage definitely cut this off. As an aside, the tiers program are a complete lie designed to generate profit while costing the ISPs virtually nothing so don't let them or the politicians fool you on its necessity.

- Clean Install Windows 10: Instructions if you want to upgrade and completely install Win10 from scratch.

- Do Not Install The Windows DVD Player: Win10 does not come with a built in DVD player. Which is good because Windows Media Player and Apple's Quicktime both suck. But so does MS charging $15 for an app when you can buy an even better player for free. Instead of that crap, get VLC for free. If you are determined to spend some money, just donate to VLC.

Why Chuck Jones Was Such A Great Artist

From Every Frame a Painting here is a great analysis of what made Chuck Jones' Looney Cartoons stand the test of time despite many of them being nearly 75 years old. If you are a film fan I highly recommend checking out their YouTube channel for a fantastic look at the film making process and how ingenuity and often small choices make for memorable scenes and films. If you like their work you can also support the creator Tony Zhou at Patreon.

Batman v Superman Comic-Con Trailer

Saturday at the San Diego Comic Con 2015, WB premiered the new trailer for Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice. It looks like the movie is going to directly confront one of the biggest complaints from the first movie - Superman's indirect responsibility for killing what looks like a few million people when a significant section of Metropolis (which in the movie verse is across the river from Gotham). But if pay attention to newspaper articles and the like, it seems the death toll somehow only numbers in the hundreds so I suspect some comic book logic kung fu is used to minimize the damage. For me the real concern is that the movie is making the mistake that now two Spider-Man movies made by wasting precious screen time trying to set up too many other movies in the process. Amazing Spider-Man was so crammed that the resulting noise took down what should have been a good movie but the cramming resulting in rushing important character building moments (Green Goblin, Electro's motivations just not making any sense, death of Gwen Stacy that could have waited for the 3rd movie, etc.). This trailer feels like that. I hope I am wrong.

James Horner 1953-2015

Oscar winner and decades long composer James Horner died Monday when his plane crashed near Santa Barbara. The composer, probably most famous for the score to Titanic, was 61. He probably wasn't world famous but should have been for his music was some of the greatest created in the modern era. His scores include Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (whose queues continued to be use for decades after), Avatar, Aliens, A Beautiful Mind, An American Tail, Fields of Dreams, Apollo 13, The Rocketeer, and many more. Some of my favorite music includes his scores including Searching for Bobby Fischer, Glory, Bicentennial Man, and Braveheart. He really was one of Hollywood's great composers and a loss to music in general. Even without you knowing it he probably helped play a strong part into why you enjoyed some of your favorite movies as his beautiful music accompanied a favorite scene. Condolences to his family.

Avengers: Age of Ultron Trailer #3

Here is the third trailer for Avengers: Age of Ultron. It is looking like this will easily be the film of the summer.

Leonard Nimoy 1931-2015

Today marks the passing of an entertainment legend. Leonard Nimoy died this afternoon at the age of 83 at his home due to end-stage chronic obstructive pulmonary disease that the actor freely admits was probably caused by his years of smoking.

What can you say about his acting, his directing and his writing? His career though wasn't just limited to Spock. Depending on your age you might remember him from Bonanza, The Twilight Zone, Mission: Impossible (the TV series), In Search Of and later Fringe. For Transformers fans he is known as the voice of Galvatron in Transformers: The Movie and Sentinel Prime in Transformers: Dark of the Moon. His directing efforts including Star Trek III: The Search for Spock, Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home and 3 Men and a Baby. (Hero Complex Video Retrospective) He also helped with writing Star Trek IV and Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country. His free time was often spent on writing poetry, photography and music where he used his twitter account to remain connected with fans and friends. Regardless of his other work, all roads lead back to Spock. (Top Quotes)

FCC Officially Protect Net Neutrality (Again)

The FCC has officially voted to protect Net Neutrality once again. Neutrality was over turned by the Supreme Court. The new rules exist to try to re-enforce Net Neutrality in such a way that maybe the Supreme Court will leave it alone by reclassifying broadband as a telecommunications service that the FCC is in charge of. The key of the new rules are this:

1) Broadband providers may not block access to legal content, applications, services, or non-harmful devices.
2) They may not impair or degrade lawful internet traffic on the basis of content, application, services, or any classes thereof.
3) They may not favor some internet traffic over other internet traffic in exchange for consideration of any kind — no paid prioritization or fast lanes.

While the press and others try to make it complicated, the definition of Net Neutrality is very simple - "All data is treated equally". It doesn't matter if the data is a video, a picture, text, it gets treated the same. It does not matter the source, the destination or the subject matter - it gets treated the same. The subject could be the Constitution, a cat or a blank page - it gets treated the same. Fox News and others take a "sky is falling" belief on this but really Net Neutrality has been the default rule of the internet since its very beginning.

The main reason they want to reverse Net Neutrality is of course money. Treating all data equals means the ISPs can't charge to not treat it equally. Say by creating the internet version of an airline with first class service (called fast lanes), business class, and so forth. So if Netflix didn't want to suddenly find their videos playing slowly for not reason...they would have to pay a fee. Or if you are Comcast maybe those TV related websites they own load fast but those ABC websites they don't own kind of chug and skip. Perhaps a new music service with big bucks enters the market and gets that first class for their service but that new start up that does it even better just can't afford it so they fade to obscurity because the ISP's throttled their speed for not paying up. You can see how easy it would be to abuse things (and charge for it) if not forced to treat all data equally.

Now some says "this would never happen!". The thing is there is proof that the abuse had already started. Comcast, AT&T, and Time Warner (three of the biggest ISPs in the US) have already been caught throttling Netflix, YouTube, World of Warcraft, Bittorrent and more. Netflix had to pay up to get the video streaming service speed restored. They have all started to introduce tier pricing where you pay more to use more data (which with video on demand can add up real quick). Not because it costs more to deliver more data but simply because they can. Whether you use 1gb a month or 1000gb a month, the cost for them is identical...but with tiered pricing they can just make more money for doing nothing. Sadly the rules do nothing about tier pricing but my point is they already happily abuse the lack of rules to create a reason to make more money while providing no actual additional benefit to the customers. The question isn't if they would abuse the lack of Net Neutrality rules, just when and how much it would cost us when they did.

So what does this mean for the average American? Nothing. Net Neutrality has been in place since the beginning and all this does it make sure it remains in place. While Verizon, AT&T, etc are doing the woe is me game the reality is they should have already been following the rules of Net Neutrality and so nothing has changed for them too. The only reason to complain about rules that tell you "don't run with scissors" is if you planned on doing just that.

Ultimately though even if you don't understand what its all about just think of it this way. Do you trust AT&T, Verizon, Comcast, Time Warner, etc to treat their customers well and with fair pricing? If the answer is no, then you should be for Net Neutrality.

Jon Stewart Leaving The Daily Show at End of Year

It is a true end of an era as Jon Stewart announced today that he is not renewing his contract with Comedy Central to remain the host of The Daily Show. No reasons have been given nor a final air date of his show provided. After nearly 17 years of shining a comedic light on the failures of the media to do their most basic job and our leadership often refusing to lead to the point where The Daily Show is not just a trusted source of information but often the only source you can go too despite the 24 hours news cycle it lampoons (that such a sentence exists and is true is why no one trusts the media anymore).

His first show aired on January 11, 1999 and I missed that. It was not until sometime in 2000 I started watching. I have not missed a new episode in the 15 years that followed. Knowing that someday soon he will not be there to watch and inform simply makes me sad. It is almost like a favorite celebrity has died.

His legacy will live on. Before him the effort to police the media was lackluster at best, now its a thriving industry. Before him it was a regular thing to make fun of our ineffective politicians but most of the time it was of the pop culture variety. He started the trend to also humorously question their decision making and the often questionable motivations. In effect he often questioned why the media didn't do their job and then turned around and did the job for them. It is too early to predict his replacement but he (or she) has some mighty shoulders to stand on and a true north example to follow. Television and the "news" is losing a great one this year, one that cannot really be replaced but its in everyone's best interest for as many of our best and brightest to try.

From Comedy Central:

For the better part of the last two decades, I have had the incredible honor and privilege of working with Jon Stewart. His comedic brilliance is second to none. Jon has been at the heart of Comedy Central, championing and nurturing the best talent in the industry, in front of and behind the camera. Through his unique voice and vision,The Daily Show has become a cultural touchstone for millions of fans and an unparalleled platform for political comedy that will endure for years to come. Jon will remain at the helm of The Daily Show until later this year. He is a comic genius, generous with his time and talent, and will always be a part of the Comedy Central family.

My most memorable Jon Stewart moment continues to stick with me after all these years when he opened his first post 9/11 show (I would embed it but it auto-starts) with a message of sadness but also of hope. Its worth watching even all these years later. Other top moments can be found here.

Here is the transcript of Stewart's announcement on 2/10/15's show.

“Dough Herzog and Michele Ganeless of Comedy Central gave me an incredible opportunity 17 years ago to pilot this wonderful franchise,” Stewart said as his audience grew very quiet. “And 17 years is the longest I have ever in my life held a job, by 16 years and five months. The upshot there being I am a terrible employee.

“But in my heart I know it is time for someone else to have that opportunity. Not right away. We’re still working out the details. I’m up in September. It might be around then, it might be December, it might be July — we’re still working out the details. I don’t have specific plans — I’ve got a lot of ideas….I’m going to have a dinner, on a school night, with my family, who, I have heard from multiple sources, are lovely people.

“I’m not going to be here and try and sum up what this place has meant to me over the years. I couldn’t do that and…I’m not going anywhere tomorrow. But this show doesn’t deserve an even slightly restless host and neither do you. I don’t think I’m going to miss being on television every day. I’m going to miss coming here every day. I love the people here. They are the best, creative and collaborative and kind. I love them, and respect them so much.”

“It’s been an absolute privilege — the honor of my professional life,” Stewart continued. “I thank you for watching it, for hate-watching it — whatever reason you were tuning in. You get in this business with the idea that maybe you have a point of view, and something to express, and maybe you receive feedback. That is the greatest feeling you can ask for, and I thank you.”

Here is to hoping he changes his mind.

Avengers, Minions and Terminator Superbowl TV Spots

This Sunday is Superbowl Sunday which means this is when all of advertising blows what limited creativity they have on possibly interesting commercials. On the movie front that means teases of summer movies. So far the Superbowl TV spots of most interest in the movie category are Avengers: Age of Ultron, Minions, and Terminator Genisys. Sadly not a whole lot new was shown as the 1st and third are from the teaser trailers while Minions is another cute one around watching football.

Terminator Genisys Trailer #1

Here is the new trailer for Terminator Genisys that will be out summer of 2015. The overall story takes a page from Star Trek and X-Men were the previous movies still are technically part of continuity but also reboots that continuity. In this case the idea is the movie takes place in the future we expect - John Connor leads the remains of humanity against Skynet. Only something changes. From Connor's perspective he needs to send his friend Kyle Reese back into the past to find and save his mother (aka the events of the first movie in 1984) only something has clearly changed as Kyle finds himself in a different timeline than one he (and the audience) expects.

Marvel Announces Phase 3 Movie Slate and Avengers 2 Clip

In advance of the teaser scene from Avengers: Age of Ultron (clip below), Marvel announced their phase 3 slate of 9 movies. To no surprise it remains ambitious and tied together by Avengers 3 and 4 but includes a bunch of characters that the average non-comic book fan may not have heard of. The movies are:

2016
Captain America: Civil War (5/6)
Doctor Strange (11/4)

2017

Avengers: Age of Ultron Teaser Trailer

In what was intended to be a boost to the ratings of Agents of SHIELD was foiled when Hydra leaked an early crappy copy of the teaser Wednesday night. Said video spread across the internet like wild fire forcing Marvel to release the below HD version that does a good job of revealing nothing while looking exciting.

Apple Updates iPad Line-Up

As expected Apple has announced its updated line of iPads with the iPad Air 2 and the iPad Mini 3. Like the iPhone, they are really just a marginal update for those that have the previous generation of each device. The Air 2 just have a slightly faster chip and Touch ID while the iPad Mini 3 is really the Mini 2 with Touch ID added (for $100 more). In addition they officially released the next OS X update called Yosemite, announced that Apple Pay begins next Monday, the iOS 8.1 update features and showed up their refreshed Mac Mini and iMac. For anyone rocking an iPad that can already handle iOS8, the news is meaningless. Unless you are a hard core gamer, the slight boost in chip power is irrelevant. You are not going to notice the different in speed. Its the equivalent of buying a porsche to sit in traffic all day while living in a city full of speed traps. Technically the car can go fast but when will you actually use all that expensive power?

Ironically, the real tech news comes from Apple's decision to start moving away from the SIM card with their reprogrammable SIM card called "Apple SIM" that can be used from carrier to carrier simply by using software instead of swapping SIM cards. Basically it would give consumers greater latitude to go "month-to-month" with which ever carrier they choose for that month. The carriers still hold a lot of the power so classic SIM card tray still exists but this is the first of probably a bunch of smaller moves to hopefully eventually retire this tired 20 year old "technology" that really exists to give carriers the power as it acts as a form of DRM protection on their mobile hardware while providing no real benefit to consumers. Now to the announcement highlights.

Sound Advice on Ebola in US from Fox News!?!

Unless you have lived in a cave (driven there by the news on Ebola) then you are away that the United States is currently host to all of two people that have contracted the virus from a third person that came into the States with it (and sadly since died). If you watch the news though, they seem to have one goal - to terrify you into thinking at any moment you or a loved one will die from Ebola. Cause 3 total equates to all 300 million being in danger. Even though we are going on a month now and that total is still just 3. Cause that is how fast moving, dangerous to all, OMG we could die any moment, epidemics work. So here is what I recommend - listen to the clip below from Fox News. Yeah I can't believe it either.

Shepard Smith must be getting torn a new one by upper management (or they ordered it now that their stock portfolios are getting hit) for saying out loud what the press already knows but doesn't want the public to figure out - that there is no danger from Ebola. As he points out, you have a better chance of dieing from the flu then from Ebola. Currently you have a better chance of winning the lottery then you have of getting Ebola. There is nothing to be afraid of.

Anyone currently trying to scare you is the enemy of truth and good. Trying to score points, be it ratings, attention or votes, by scaring people needlessly is just a form of evil. And when its a politician, who has easy access to experts and they in turn also try to magnify that fear, well if there isn't a special place in hell for them then there ought to be. There is nothing to be afraid of. If going be in fear of something, at least next time be informed enough to know if its justified. Also remember, the news no longer exists to inform you. That is counter to their money making through entertainment mandate. You have the internet, start using it to gain knowledge instead of using the lazy route of listening to people who benefit more from scaring you than informing you.

Apple Introduces the iPhone 6 and Watch

Today Apple held a press conference to show off the iPhone 6 which will go on sale at the end of next week in two screen sizes. In addition they showed off the Apple Watch which is essentially the same take on the Android watches that have been on sale for over a year now only their version will not be available until Spring 2015. Overall much like in the last two or so years, the new Apple products are really about the companies attempts to catch up to Android which continues to dominate the mobile market and with features that Apple tends to introduces years later. The advantage to Apple being last (instead of leading the charge like they use too) with new features is they get to see the mistakes everyone else is making and correct for them resulting in a final polish and approach that maintains their sterling reputation for quality products.

As for the release of iOS 8, it will be out on September 17. If you were hoping for iPad details nothing was mentioned but Apple will probably do another press conference in October. A final note is the iPod Classic has officially been discontinued by Apple. If you are a fan of it, keep on eye out for clearance deals but once the remaining stock is sold, that's it except for getting it used. On to the new product details and analysis.

Robin Williams Dead at 63

Damn. One of my favorite actors of all time is dead at the age of 63 after committing suicide this morning in his home. The actor, who has spent decades battling depression and his various drug and alcohol addictions is suspected of dying from asphyxiation. One of my favorite movies of his was Dead Poets Society. I still remember seeing it a theater with my family. I also watch most of his Mork and Mindy episodes as a child. Really I consumed most of his work, be it comedy, drama, TV, movies, it didn't matter. Robin Williams was always entertaining and the best at what he did. I think his demons are really the only reason he isn't one of awarded actors in history as the skills were there and when allowed to be on display he simply had no equal. He was a four time Oscar nominee with nominations for Good Morning, Vietnam, The Fisher King and Dead Poets Society before finally winning Best Supporting Oscar for Good Will Hunting. He also one four Grammy Awards and three Emmy Awards. The actor is survived by his three children Zachary, Zelda and Cody along with current wife Susan Schneider and previous wives Valerie Velardi and Marsha Garces. His humor and gravitas will be missed and a true loss to entertainment.

Supreme Court: Corporate Religious Rights Trump All

It continues to amaze me that in this day and age that birth control remains an issue. Not abortion (that will never go away), but the use of various medical means to avoid even needing to have an abortion. You would think encouraging people to not get pregnant and therefore not potentially want an abortion would be a good thing. So while abortion is bad, so is preventing the means that might lead to that decision. A contradiction and yet one that the Republican party is happy to live with. Why? Because the religious right thinks any form of birth control is bad. Not because of the bible (because that isn't in there) but because of religious tradition.

A tradition founded at a time when populations could easily be decimated by war and disease. Usually war. So it was to the best advantage of those in charge to encourage as much baby making as possible to not only keep the religious ranks (and thus Church coffers) full but also allow those in charge to go off and conquer as needed. Wars are expensive and costly in manpower and the only way to keep numbers up was more children. This constant need to have replenished populace was why the average age of marriage was 10 to 12, the average age of birth was around 13 to 14 and the average age of death was late 20s. This "tradition" is what is fueling the religious arguments of today.