Jane Austen's Fight Club

Star Wars Movies to Be Released in 3D

Oh, yes. George Lucas is at it again:

George Lucas plans to re-release the entire "Star Wars" franchise in 3D beginning in 2012, according to both Variety and the Hollywood Reporter.

20th Century Fox released all six of the original "Star Wars" films and would release the 3D conversions as well.

The ambitious plan will start with "Episode 1: The Phantom Menace," followed in order by the rest of the series, with one film coming out each year. That means that the original "Star Wars" wouldn't debut until 2015, which could be too late if the last three films underperform at the box office.

It's unclear when during the calendar year the films would be released, but a Lucasfilm spokesperson told Variety that each movie will open wide and "as close to day and date (worldwide) as possible."

In the words of old Ben Kenobi, "I felt a great disturbance in the Force, as if millions of voices suddenly cried out in terror and were suddenly silenced. I fear something terrible has happened."

Cool Custom Action Figures

As these uniquely familiar action figures can attest, retro is cool.

Not that long ago, in a galaxy not that far away...

Steam Wars
The Star Wars universe gets a Victorian makeover.

Star Wars: 1942
Set during World War II.

Victorian Marvels
The Avengers by gaslight.

See these and other cool collections at Sillof.com.

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Time-Lapse Video of Rotting Food

Just in time for lunch...

A Mysterious Death

James Heselden, 62, was found dead in the River Wharfe in West Yorkshire after a witness claimed to have seen a man falling over a 30-foot cliff. The Segway personal transporter Heselden was believed to have been riding when he fell was found near his body. At this time police do not consider his death to be suspicious.

There is a twist in the story. Heselden owns the company that makes the Segway, and was apparently cruising around on a cross-country version of the vehicle while checking on the grounds of his estate.

Hmmm. Drove over a cliff on his own property. That fact alone doesn't make his death suspicious?

Labor Union Hypocrisy

Working Stiffed

www.thedailyshow.com

Keep Your Kids Out of Indiana's "Pubic" Schools

Stories like this one out of South Bend, Indiana, are always great blog fodder:

If you ever wondered how much difference just one letter can make when it comes to a message, ask the thousands of people who drove by a digital billboard near the intersection of Ironwood and State Road 23 between Thursday and Monday morning.

The ad urged people to go to the "southbendon.com" website for a look at the "15 best things about our pubic schools." That's right, the billboard said "pubic" instead of "public" schools. The letter "L" had been left out of the word public.

Now, I don't know what's more sad, the fact that an ad celebrating public education was misspelled, or that the reporter thought it necessary to explain to her readers exactly which letter in the word was missing. Either way, it doesn't reflect well on the people of Indiana.

Real Free Market Entrepreneurs Are Criminals

NPR recently reported on an elusive criminal operating in New York's black market:

For years, if you wanted illegal drugs in New York City, you'd get the number of an anonymous dealer who would show up at your location with the goods. Now an entrepreneur who goes by the name of "Ronnie" is trying this technique with...grilled cheese sandwiches. Hungry customers get Ronnie's number from a friend, or a friend-of-a-friend, and they text their order, and in 15 minutes or less they get a hot, grilled cheese anywhere in the Lower East Side.

Read the full story here.

While NPR didn't go into any detail on this particular aspect, it's clear from the story that "Ronnie," a real free market entrepreneur, is a criminal. He's one of those awful, evil villains who don't first obtain permission from the government or pay the required extortion fees in order to make their businesses "legitimate."

Imagine wanting to open a sandwich shop in your neighborhood. A local mob boss pays you a visit and informs you that in order to operate a business in his territory you must pay him "protection" money. If you don't...well, something unpleasant might happen. That's exactly what goes on in every neighborhood in America, only the local mob bosses are actually government officials, the "protection" fees are called licenses, and the thugs hired to enforce this arrangement wear badges and have a lot more high-tech weaponry at their disposal.

All "Ronnie" is doing is making and selling grilled cheese sandwiches. He offers a perfectly safe product, and people are willing to pay him for it. Someone please tell me how this hurts anyone. There is no threat to life, liberty, or property -- and isn't the protection of life, liberty, and property the only reason we have laws in the first place?

Things That an Average Person Would Do During a Zombie Apocalypse

Whoever said this blog wasn't informative?

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The Scariest Video I've Seen in a Long Time

I dare you to watch this without getting weak in the knees. (Click on the image below to watch.)

Computers Set for a Quantum Leap

According to this report in the Financial Times, today's computers may soon go the way of manual typewriters:

A new photonic chip that works on light rather than electricity has been built by an international research team, paving the way for the production of ultra-fast quantum computers with capabilities far beyond today's devices.

Future quantum computers will, for example, be able to pull important information out of the biggest databases almost instantaneously. As the amount of electronic data stored worldwide grows exponentially, the technology will make it easier for people to search with precision for what they want.

In fact, Ziggy says there's a 93.8% chance that quantum computing will be possible within five years.

Imagine a Jump: Lennon Meets Van Halen

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Maybe I Won't Take That Cruise

The following video features CCTV footage from a Pacific Sun Cruise liner in very heavy seas.



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A Bird in the Hand...