There are many elements of popular culture that so ingrained in our society that they require no explanation. Mentioning Star Wars, The Beatles or the Muppets instantly conjure memories from our past where we first experienced or fell in love with these. Maybe it was the thrill of seeing Star Wars for the first time on the big screen, or curled up with a blanket and a bowl of cereal watching Sesame Street on a console television or getting all the kids in your neighborhood to search for treasure like The Goonies. For many of us, these memories fade as we grow up. But for artist James Hance, tapping in to our shared cultural experiences is the basis for much of his work.

When I first saw James’ work, I was struck by the duality of his imagery. On the one hand, there are pieces that seem to exist for pure comic value: Darth Vader releasing a white dove or a storm trooper blowing bubbles from a bubble wand. At the surface, they appear to be one-liners, but taken as a whole, they are reflections of ourselves as kids with a certain amount of innocence. Other pieces were less pop-art and more complicated, frequently quoting other art such as the above The Death of General Vader (quoting The Death of General Wolfe by 18th-century artist Benjamin West.) Here, these works take those same pop culture references and mash them up with other references and inevitably our own experiences as the viewer.

The Man & The Muppet Of Steel

While Star Wars imagery comprises a large body of his work, it’s far from all James does. Many of the paintings that struck me emotionally were those that caught me off-guard as various childhood memories came flooding in. In particular, his treatment of Super Grover with Super Man (The Man and Muppet of Steel) brought me back to a time 25 years ago that I had completely forgotten about.

To understand more about the work and James’ process, I contacted him with a few questions. The interview appears after the break.

GeekDad: Your tagline – Relentlessly Cheerful Art – seems appropriate. On the one hand, it’s easy to identify the pop-culture references and appreciate your work on a superficial level. However, the joy from your work, at least for me, stems from integrating my own childhood memories into the work. Seeing paintings of Grover with Superman or the Calvin & Hobbes pieces are particularly gratifying. What are you specifically trying to express with these works?

James Hance: That’s exactly what I was going for – I only ever paint the things I’m passionate about. My childhood was amazing. I think we’re all made of rubber for at least some of it. The only thing I’m really trying to do with those paintings is to re-ignite a little of the spark we felt for those things growing up. Even though I’m in my mid-30’s and have a beard and matching shoes and everything I still can’t help but do the little ‘clap-clap’ when I hear the Fraggle Rock theme. And that’s quite often. I bloody love Fraggle Rock.

Stormtrooper Fields Forever

GD: A great portion of your body of work focus on Star Wars imagery. These also seem to be the most inspired and imaginative. What is the idea behind these?

JH: When the original trilogy was released, the only way to see the movies was to get your parents to take you to the cinema. You’d be there for 2 hours of solid bliss, come home completely buzzing and dive into your action figures and read-along storybooks and build this absolutely indestructable inner mythos in your mind. The droids would be shinier, Hoth was snowier, Slave Leia was gold bikini-er. I’m sure this is true for a lot of other kids my age, I found I’d formed my own magnified version of those characters and stories that was just that little bit more fantastic than what I’d seen on the screen. With the paintings I’ve sort of exaggerated and stretched and skewed the heroes and villains to the point where they’re more pantomime than anything else. I won’t paint Jar-Jar, though, obviously. Or the ships. Too many straight lines.

Matilda

GD: One critical observation towards your film quotes such as The Professional, Silence of the Lambs, and even Where the Wild Things Are stem from the ‘fan art’ quality to them. Is this meant to be simply an homage or tribute to a film you love or is there a deeper cultural connection you’re trying to make?

JH: Occasionally I like to work on something a little darker. I suppose it’s the equivalent of listening to some ‘Cradle of Filth’ after a few hours of ‘Belle & Sebastian’. I don’t really go in that direction all that often but when I do it’s kind of therapeutical. I’ll turn them to face the wall when I’m done, though. Scary stuff.

GD: A lot of your work references/quotes other art as well. What decides how a particular mashup will play out?

JH: I’ll come up with the idea of the image first, then more often than not the title will follow suit. In most cases, to me at least, the title is just as important as the painting itself. I decided right from the start that I wouldn’t paint something you couldn’t pick out in a line-up. Not that anything I painted would end up in a line-up. Not again.

GD: What are some of your favorite things people say or identify with about your work?

I love showing my art, the reactions I’ve witness to some of those paintings is priceless. I actually had a grown man weep over my take on ‘Calvin & Hobbes’.

GD: Simon Pegg and Peter Serafinowicz appear to be fans. Is that just a Shaun of the Dead thing?

JH: I actually met Peter through Robert Popper, his good chum and writing partner. Robert saw my ‘Mona Leia’ portrait in a British newspaper and get in touch via email, then pointed Peter my way via Twitter and we became friends through there. We’ve done a little writing together and we have some exciting projects in the pipeline. Complete serendipity, I’m very thankful for the doors that have opened for me that way.

GD: Anything else you’d like to add?

JH: I emigrated from Buckinghamshire, England to Florida in 2008. Everything really took off for me last year and I’m fortunate enough to finally be able to paint on huge canvasses the same things I used to scribble on the backs of envelopes as a child and make a living out of it. It’s ridiculous, I know. It’s 2pm on a Monday and I’m answering these questions in my pajamas with a bowl of lucky charms in front of me. Good times

You can check out James Hance’s work and buy prints from his website. A few choice pieces referenced in this article appear below.

Calvin & Hobbes

The Gentle Sith

View full post on GeekDad

Image © Lucasfilm, Ltd.

The quality of a movie depends a great deal on its main characters, of course. A movie with uninteresting or implausible protagonists might still do well at the box office — just ask Michael Bay — but it will never be much more than an empty shell. What elevates a movie to greatness, though, is often the quality of its secondary characters.

There are two kinds of minor characters: the kind that are there for a good portion of the movie and help the plot along its way; and the kind that appear in only one or two scenes but manage to make themselves instantly memorable. The first kind of part has to be carefully apportioned throughout the film lest they become so interesting they distract from the main characters, but you’re often just enough intrigued by them that you’d like to see more. The second, since they’re only there for a brief time, often run away with their scenes, distracting completely from the main characters but only for a minute.

Here is our list of the top ten, of both kinds, from geeky movies, TV shows, etc. Enjoy!

10. Winston “The” Wolf from Pulp Fiction – Being played by Harvey Keitel is a good start, of course, since he tends to be memorable no matter what his part. But this is a guy who goes to black-tie cocktail parties at 8:00 in the morning but will readily leave them to clean up a messy situation. Plus, just the mention of his name is enough to get Samuel L. Jackson to clam up, and that’s just badass.

9. Bard the Bowman from The Hobbit – OK, so he’s not in a movie yet, unless you count Ralph Bakshi’s version, which we don’t. But he’s so intriguing: you get a few glimpses of him while Bilbo and the dwarves are in Lake-town, but then he becomes incredibly important later. Suddenly he’s the dragon-slayer and the rightful king of Dale, and, if you’re anything like me, you’re left wondering about the parts of his story you’re not told.

8. Wedge Antilles from the original Star Wars trilogy – You never find out much about him, but there has to be more to him: he’s the only minor character who regularly goes into perilous situations to survive all three movies! The assault on the first Death Star is survived only by Luke, Han, Chewie, an anonymous Y-wing pilot, and Wedge. And then he survives the assault on the second Death Star, too! There has to be more to this guy, but we never find out what that might be.

7. Bad Horse from Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog – He appears on screen for only a few brief seconds at the very end (just enough, really, to show that he is in fact meant to be an actual horse), but his influence affects the whole story. It’s his approval as the leader of the Evil League of Evil that Dr. Horrible covets, and his threat on Dr. Horrible’s life that sets the stage for the tragic climax of the story. We hope to see more of Bad Horse in the sequel, and maybe even to hear his “terrible death whinny.”

6. Jordan Cochran from Real Genius – Michelle Meyrink deserves most of the credit for Jordan’s appearance on this list: she managed to elevate a character who could so easily have been a boring stereotype into one of he most memorable parts of a great movie. Who can forget her coming into the men’s room and talking with barely a pause to breathe while Mitch tries to pee? It was easy to see why Mitch liked her so much, though it did always seem a bit skeevy that the fact that he was only 15 was never brought up as an issue with their relationship.

5. Valerie from The Princess Bride - Quick exercise: Try to picture Valerie chasing Miracle Max around their hut hollering “Humperdinck, Humperdinck, Humperdinck!!” without at least smiling at the memory. If you can do that, you have more self-control than I do, and I must have seen the movie at least a hundred times. Carol Kane, almost unidentifiable under the movie makeup, still managed to thoroughly steal her scene from Billy Crystal — a Herculean task if ever there was one. It was tempting to put the Impressive Clergyman on the list, because I still can’t watch the wedding scenes without laughing, but Valerie gets the nod because she was more of an actual character.

4. Professor Filius Flitwick from the Harry Potter books and movies – His bizarre unexplained reverse aging between the second and third movies aside, Warwick Davis managed to create an intriguing on-screen presence with little time and very few lines of dialogue. In the books, fortunately, the character is explored in much more depth, and it’s clear he is meant to be a brilliant wizard with exceptional skill at Charms (of course) and as a duellist. He figures in many key Hogwarts scenes in the books, and acquits himself well in several of the battles. Every time I reread the books, I think Flitwick, of all the secondary teacher characters, would make an excellent subject for a spinoff book or two.

3. Shepherd Derrial Book from Firefly/Serenity – Shepherd Book could, and had he been created by a lesser writer probably would, have been steeped in stereotype. Instead the character is far more than the audience, or indeed his fellow characters, would be inclined to expect. We only get hints at his past: that he clearly holds some kind of authority with the Alliance; that he has knowledge of and exceptional skill with weapons and hand-to-hand combat; and that he has clearly been on one side or the other in criminal enterprises. Sadly, we never really find out much more than that in the cruelly short  TV series, and Joss Whedon even pokes fun at the audience about the subject: when Book tells Mal that he doesn’t have to tell Mal about his past, he’s really telling us.

2. Dr. Sherman “Doc” Cottle from (the reimagined) Battlestar Galactica – In many ways he’s a typical gruff doctor, in the fine tradition of Leonard McCoy. But Dr. McCoy never chain-smoked, and rarely had to deal with ethical considerations like treating humans and Cylons the same. Cottle figures prominently in many crucial moments in the series, from saving Commander Adama’s life after he’s shot to delivering and participating in the faked killing of Athena and Helo’s daughter Hela. He also provided just enough sarcasm to alleviate some of the tension in some of the more dramatic moments of the series.

1. Boba Fett (from you-know-very-well-where) – Boba Fett falls into that strange category of characters who are glimpsed only rarely and heard from even more rarely, but who nonetheless manage to garner huge amounts of attention. From the moment we first see him in The Empire Strikes Back (I’m ignoring the prequel trilogy, The Clone Wars, and such) he is clearly a force (no pun intended) to be reckoned with. His armor is just… awesome, really, with its different colors here and there and the scuff marks making it clear he’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. You know he’s a badass before he even opens his mouth, and he manages to keep that impression going all the way until just before his ignominious end in the belly of the sarlacc. All that while never actually showing the audience his face — impressive, most impressive.

There are plenty more where those came from, of course. Who are your favorites? Please let us known with a comment.

View full post on GeekDad

image: Breakfast in Bed

For all our own moms, and for all the wonderful women who have made us the happy dads we are, thank you, and have a special – and geeky – day.

View full post on GeekDad

Ken Denmead has been editing GeekDad since September of 2007. In that time he has guided and managed this blog masterfully, and I couldn’t be prouder to be his second-in-command. I will admit to a certain amount of envy — but mostly pride  — upon picking up and opening my (free) review copy of Ken’s first book, which was just released today.

Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share is, in a word, great. You probably won’t, and probably shouldn’t, take my word for it, but here are a few of the projects described in detail in the book: Light-up Duct Tape Wallet, Build a Binary Calendar, Pirate Cartography, and Model-Building With Cake. These are truly fun, inspired, and even educational projects you can do with your kids. There’s something refreshing about making something really cool without starting with Step 1: Go to Toys “R” Us and buy a kit.

I’ve worked with Ken for several years now, and I can tell you that he gets geekdom and parenthood, and particularly geek parenthood, as well as or better than anyone else I know. He knows that there are many different kinds of geeks, and so has included a wide variety of projects in his book — if you’re at all interested in do-it-yourself activities, you’re apt to find something here for you.

Geek Dad: Awesomely Geeky Projects and Activities for Dads and Kids to Share lists for $17.00, but can be found on Amazon for $11.56 at the time of this writing. You should also check out the official Geek Dad book website for news and links to other reviews.

[Note: I decided there was no way to write this review from an unbiased standpoint, so have tried to be upfront about my bias. I should note that I helped Ken edit a draft of the book last year. I feel I should also note, though, that I will personally certify that Ken has not edited this article at all. — Matt]

View full post on GeekDad

It’s spring. Lots of people have decided to take up running as a way to lose a bit of weight and get into better shape. I mentioned five tools last year that got me running, now for a couple more.

Last year, I listed Five Tools for Getting a Geek Running. Several things have changed for me since last August…

1. I went “hard-core” (at least in my mind) this winter. I bought the clothes to keep me warm so I could run outside in January and February. In Wisconsin. In sub-freezing weather.I just couldn’t run on a treadmill any more.Turns out that I’d rather run in winter than in summer…until this year, I thought people running outside in winter were weird…now I just see them as smart.
2. I got signed up for the Madison (Wisconsin) Half-Marathon at the end of May. I’m presently half-way through a training program to prepare for my very-first half-marathon. The GeekMom signed me up as a birthday gift.  My training plan is part of the features offered through the Nike Running website when you use a Nike+ kit.  I talked and talked about running a half-marathong – this year, the GeekMom moved it beyond talk. I’m on the hook…and there’s nothing more motivating than knowing your money has been spent on a registration for a race and not wanting to waste it.
3. I’m helping the local Boys and Girls Club as a running coach for their running club.  We’re using the tried-and-true Couch-to-5K program to help the kids get ready for a 5K race in early June. It’s great to see these young guys and girls improving week after week – and if I skip out on the training, I’ve got a bunch of disappointed young people to answer to.
4. I’m using DailyMile as a way to connect to other runners. As simple as it sounds, there’s something incredibly motivating having other GeekDads, co-workers, friends, or different people in the same area to connect with.  You can motivate, comment, encourage and see how you rank compared to your friends. If there are any GeekDad readers on DailyMile – here’s my profile. Drop me a note and I’ll follow you. Who knows? Maybe we can get a GeekDad running group set up there.

I used to run alone – but I’ve found it much more fun to run with others — whether young children at the Boys and Girls Club, seeing how I rank against other runners online or knowing that I’ll be running with several thousand people in just over a month.

What about you?

Image from  mkorchia (via Flickr)

View full post on GeekDad

If you spend as much time as I do worrying about the coming zombie apocalypse (and let’s face it, you’re reading GeekDad so in all likelihood it’s at least in the back of your mind), clear some space on your bookshelf beside Dr.Spock and pick up a copy of The Zombie Combat Manual: A Guide To Fighting The Living Dead, by Roger Ma. Not only will you learn how to defend yourself against the shuffling menace, but Ma dedicates a chapter of his book to the critical topic of protecting your children during a zombie outbreak.

Book cover copyright the Penguin Group

The Zombie Combat Manual was a great read that I completed in only three sessions -not because it’s shallow or particularly short (for the record, it clocks in at around 300 pages), but because it was entertaining and quick paced. Author Roger Ma presents the book as a combat manual that focuses on hand-to-hand fighting or small weapons use, based on the premise that while guns may be more effective at a distance, Murphy’s Law dictates that at some point during an outbreak, you’ll be facing a zombie without the benefit of a firearm. And survival favors the prepared. Covering everything from an effective exercise regimen to zombie vulnerabilities, weapon selection, defensive equipment, child protection and even the reality of decapitation during combat (it’s much harder to achieve than you might think based on what you see in movies), the book is also sprinkled with sections where survivors recount their experiences. Underestimation of the undead is a common theme in these stories. Gamers will appreciate the way weapons are presented as different classes, each complete with a ranking of effectiveness against zombies, an expected lifespan (measured in zombie engagements), skill level required, availability and cost. Using this system, a common screwdriver, for example is considered to be highly effective, good for 100+ zombie engagements, requires a very high skill level (best results are achieved when close enough to drive the blade up from under the zombie’s chin), but it’s very common and very inexpensive.

Since this is GeekDad, a few words on the Child Protection chapter might be in order. First of all, in case the talk of decapitation and driving screwdrivers into zombie skulls wasn’t a strong enough clue, let me point out that the book itself is not for your kids. Besides the graphic description of zombie combat, it’s complete with black and white illustrations that effectively showcase the results of different attacks, so keep the book to yourselves. Among Ma’s advice to parents: always have a stroller on hand (because the energy needed to carry a child to escape a zombie outbreak would be better spent on foraging, security and defense), avoid close-quarters fighting if you’re carrying a child strapped to you in a carrier (duh!) and, as parents, it’s important to inform kids about the zombie life cycle so they know to run should their guardian be turned. It’s not a pleasant topic, but it’s important that they understand the dangers the living dead present. And I thought “stranger danger” was a tough conversation…

In all seriousness, The Zombie Combat Manual succeeds because it doesn’t try to rehash everything there is to know about zombies, it concentrates on hand-to-hand combat survival techniques. There are just enough encounter sections to keep things moving and Ma’s sense of humor prevents the book from getting too dark, despite the often gruesome subject matter. Y.N. Heller’s illustrations are the prefect accompaniment, adding an element of gory camp to the equation. The funny thing is, I was reading a novel during the same session that prominently features the undead (Cherie Priest’s Boneshaker), and found myself wincing when her characters did the “wrong thing” (according to the combat manual) when encountering rotters; I guess I did pick up on the techniques. Check out the Zombie Combat Club website for more tips, pointers and hints.

Currently selling for $9.99 on Amazon, the book could be the best ten bucks you spend on zombie preparation. If you like the cool “Zombie Combat Club” emblem on the book cover, T-shirts and decals sporting the logo  are available from Zazzle. Roger sent me one of the decals and I can’t decide where to put it (kind of a throwback to grade one and the whole “sticker hoarding” issue), so I’m thinking of just ordering a shirt so I don’t have to make the decision.

Cool decal… Image from zombiecombatclub.com

View full post on GeekDad

Screenshot by Lonnie Morgan

With the release of the iPad dominating the Internet right now, a lot of attention has been focused on how the introduction of a multitouch tablet will affect the educational environment. GeekDad’s very own Jenny Williams wrote a great post about how she thinks the new device will take off in the hands of kids. Seton Hill University will be giving iPads to each full time student this fall. And data powerhouses like Wolfram|Alpha have already rolled out what I think are killer educational apps.

But earlier this week, I realized that Apple has been holding an Ace in the education game for a few years now. For me, it is one of the least used features of the iTunes client. But iTunes U in combination with an iPad may just be the match up that puts Apple at the top of the curriculum wishlist.

Introduced in 2007, iTunes U is a collection of audio and video lectures, presentations, and demos delivered by some of the world’s top university professors. Yale, Stanford, MIT, Oxford, and dozens of other colleges and universities each have course material for download. You can watch a lecture about the fundamentals of physics one day and catch a discussion on the intricate details of RNA replication the next. And all of the course material is FREE!

This GeekDad took a stroll through the course material on iTunes U, looking for some of the geekiest lectures available. I realize my inner geek may be different than yours, but I think the courses I found will have mass appeal to the nerd in everyone. Enjoy!

The Large Hadron Collider, The Open University

When it was powered up (although it was not a full power test), black holes did not form, the world did not end, and I’m still here to write up this post. The Open University has a four part audio series about the massive science experiment near Geneva, Switzerland. Part one is a great intro, but part two makes for great listening.

Electricity & Magnetism, Lecture 7 – Capacitance and Field Energy, MIT

Professor Lewin has the old school geek look. Crazy hair, rumpled clothes, and facts spilling out of his ears. The video is grainy as it dates from 2002, but this is a great lecture on storing energy. Of course, the shocking demo comes at the end.

Space: Year On Earth, The Cassiopeia Project

Less than 500  years ago, the classical view of the universe was geocentric. If only the scholars of the day had this video. Detailed, yet expertly explained, this video describes the motion of our home planet around Sol and defines exactly what a year is. This is the perfect video for the parents of little geeks when answering the “what’s a year?” question.

Homogeneous Linear Equation w/ Constant Coefficient Theory, Math 222, Harrisburg Area Community College

I believe that I had THE WORST professor for my differential equations course in college. And I also believe that there is a special place in heaven for kind and understanding TAs. If I had had this online review back then, that quarter at Ohio State may have not been so bad. Calculus, proofs, trig. Arrrggh! Warning: Do not start watching this lecture in the middle or your head will explode.

Designing Interactive Systems I, Lecture 5 – History I, From Abacus til Macintosh, RWTH Aachen University

While my days of hands on programming are getting less and less, one of my biggest pet peeves is lousy user interface design. This course focuses on the entire human / computer interface. And this lecture in particular is an impressive overview of the history of HCI. @11:30, the professor explains how secretaries for IT departments used to be human compilers. I can just imagine what the kids in this class were thinking during the lecture. Great stuff!

View full post on GeekDad

If there is one thing that we have learned from television and movies it’s that the Zombipocalypse is inevitable. There will soon come a day that we will be holding up in a mall, fighting off the incoming horde of brain-seeking zombies. With modern entertainment, zombies went from a niche sci-fi creation to a pop culture phenomenon. Zombies have quickly become a staple of modern horror. They scare us with their faces of gore and detached limbs, they make us laugh with their clumsy shuffling and simplistic one-task-oriented view of the world they have been re-animated into.

Originating in ancient voodoo rituals in Haiti and Africa, zombies worked their way into the American culture through film as early as 1932 with White Zombie starring Bela Lugosi. From there, zombies showed up in Plan 9 From Outer Space in the form of a shuffling Tor Johnson then finally in George A. Romero’s 1968 Night of the Living Dead. This film changed the landscape of zombie-centric movie making, though it wouldn’t be until the 2004 remake of his 1978 classic Dawn of the Dead that zombies really sky rocketed into the pop culture mentality, not to mention stopped shuffling and started running. That same year brought us Shawn of the Dead and then, zombies got funny. But this isn’t a post about the history of zombies in movies. This is about the the only major disparity in zombie portrayal in movies and videogames. Some shuffle while others run at a clip that couldn’t be maintained by most marathon runners. So which is it? Which one instills a greater sense of fear deep in the cockles of your heart? The shuffling zombie or the hyper-speed zombie?

Dragging Their Feet for Brains

The inherent fear that the shuffling, slow zombie brings to the discussion is that you have longer to fear for your life. There is nothing quick about the slow-moving zombie that drags one foot across the ground as it makes its way toward you. This, in relation to movies and videogames, gives the viewer more time to focus on the zombie and notice all the sick little details. The disfigured face, the rotting flesh bits hanging off exposed bone and of course the wide open maw, dripping with blood and other disturbing fluids like pus and Crystal Pepsi.

Take the videogame Dead Rising for example. In it, the zombies are what I call “classic zombies.” They move slow. This gives your character time to participate in the highly entertaining activity of killing zombies in creative ways. This translates well into real life, as if you had to fight off an incoming horde of zombies, you’d like to have as much time to reload your gun as humanly possible. With a slow-moving classic zombie, this is possible. Zombies moving with no haste create a particular tension and suspense, something that was captured perfectly in those old George A. Romero films. Not to mention that when they do get you, they tear apart your skull and munch on your brains as if enjoying a vintage glass of brandy, in zombie terms.

The downside to a slow-moving zombie is the pack mentality that exists with zombies. They all want brains, and they all want it from you. At the same time. They are more patient and will hang around and scratch at the door long after you’ve run out of bullets. This will give more time for additional zombies to gather and scratch at the door. Eventually, you’ve run out of ammo, there are a thousand zombies outside and you’ve nowhere to run.

Another point that must be brought up is the decay of the flesh, and at what point does it render a zombie incapable of movement? I’ve always wondered about this, and no movie that I’ve seen ever seems to address it. Clearly there is something supernatural at work that enables the zombies to rise from the dead, or like in 28 Days Later a virus, but either way, the flesh is in a constant state of decay. Based on the loss of limbs and chunks of meat falling off of them at random intervals, one would have to assume that decay continues after the zombie has risen. Therefore, slow zombies might very well decay to nothing but bones by the time they get to you. I can’t see insects not feeding on and laying their eggs in zombies. Unless they have a living-dead immune system too.

To sum up, slow zombies will eventually get you — it’ll just take them longer. At least we’ll have highway warnings.

Super Human Strength, Maggots for a Jaw

With the 2004 release of Dawn of the Dead zombies got a serious upgrade. Instead of the slow-moving living dead, they became super fast and super strong. Which created a whole new depth of fear and terror. At least, that’s what they were supposed to do. Suddenly, when a zombie was after you, you only had moments to react. Sadly for many, screaming was the only reaction.

The fast zombie, as we’ll refer to them, also possessed strange superhuman strength. They are able to smash through doors and windows, and could take quite a beating before going down. The zombies in all the Romero films that followed Dawn of the Dead in the last six years or so all were super-fast zombies. The zombies we encounter in the awesome Left 4 Dead videogame series are resilient and strong (albeit, weird as well.) These fast zombies made it easier to create a quick jump from the audience, as you were less likely to see them coming. There were more jump-out-of-your-seat moments, more surprises.

Translating into real life, for when the Zombiepocalypse comes, these aren’t the zombies you want to be dealing with. They are just raw, feral creatures out for blood. They are violent and will not stand outside the barn clawing away at the boarded up windows, they will hurl themselves at the boards until they break through. There is a stronger sense of urgency to deal with them, but less time to do so. The tendency will be to empty a clip in a hurried fashion, as their speed quickly takes them from downrange to in your face faster than a Prius.

The rate of decay has to be taken into consideration with the fast zombies as well. Since they are moving quicker, they will most likely achieve their goal before decay makes it impossible. However, with the excess movement such as bashing in plate glass windows with their foreheads, they might accelerate the rate of just plain falling apart. Except they don’t seem to. Which is very puzzling when it comes to the walking dead. The fast ones seem to be nearly indestructible when it comes to self harm. With that holding true, that makes the fast zombies that much more dangerous.

To sum up, fast zombies will be on you quicker than you can put a round in the chamber, tearing you apart like a pack of wolverines on a bunny rabbit.

So Which is it? Slow or Fast?

While fast zombies are just as entertaining to watch as their foot-dragging counterparts, if I was going up against a horde of zombies I would rather be facing the slow ones. That doesn’t mean that they are better in the way of entertainment, I’d have to give that win to the fast zombies. Much more engaging and suspenseful to watch in movies than the slow ones. So the tie breaker would have to be which ones I’d rather fight in a videogame, and that would be the inverse of the ones I’d rather fight in real life. The fast ones are much more thrilling and violently exciting to go up against in videogames. Otherwise, it’s just a crap shoot with the slow pokes. So there you have it. Zombie speed analysis.

Agree? Don’t agree? Think the zombie threat isn’t real? Leave it in the comments!

Follow us on Twitter @cebsilver and @wiredgeekdad
Image Credit: Flickr User Eric Ingrum/Used under Creative Commons License.

View full post on GeekDad

What’s up, phans? As you may already realize, Android has become one of – if not the – hottest entities in the mobile phone space today. With the rapid growth of Android comes the rapid growth of Phandroid: more content, more great readers, and more ‘droid. Introduce me – one of the biggest Android enthusiasts you’ll come to know. Ever since 2007, Google has absolutely taken over my life (even-more-so now with my status as a Phandroid editor) with the mobile phone OS that everyone carefully conditioned “the iPhone killer”.

While that scenario has yet to materialize – and I fully believe that it will soon – Android has been my personal iPhone killer for a long time now. I was one of those geeked-up WinMo-scarred guys that needed a change of pace as my T-Mobile Shadow and Shadow II left horrible tastes in my mouth.

I acquired my HTC Dream (T-Mobile G1 for those of you subsidized in the US) and my life took a U-turn for the better. I no longer dreaded pulling my phone out of my pocket with the thought of having to stumble through one of the clunkiest operating systems I’ve ever used. I still find it hard to put my phone down to this day. Waking up to check the Android market for updates and new apps has become a regular morning routine – something I do before I even so much as think about my toothbrush. I buy apps that I have no practical intention of using just to support awesome devs that are making Android as a platform shine. It would probably ache my heart to think about developers all but giving up on the platform – GameLoft was ready to do just that but decided to quickly retract their stance.

Conversely, it warms my heart to read success stories on all fronts: manufacturers pulling in great unit numbers, app developers making exceptional revenue, and end-users enjoying their Android experience to no end. Do I sound weird at all, yet?

Thankfully, Android has far surpassed what I and many others initially imagined it to be. Google’s marketshare continues to rise as each day goes on, new smartphone owners are adopting Android as their first smartphone experience, and many are beginning to call it the next Windows Mobile: not for what Windows Mobile itself is, but for how widely it’s distributed amongst carriers and manufacturers.

I can go on forever slobbing over just how great Android is doing and how many great new phones are coming out, but I would absolutely loathe boring you. Moving forward with Phandroid, I want nothing more than to earn the trust and loyalty of all you great readers as I add another facet of Google’s brainchild to my life. I am so excited to be working with Rob and Kevin on bringing you a new generation of Phandroid (I made that cheesy one up myself) and satisfying your Android itch every time you need it.

If you want, be sure to follow my updates on Twitter. Fair warning: I am not responsible for any psychological damages after you’ve consumed my tweets.

View full post on Android Phone Fans

Last week, the venerable media tome Entertainment Weekly published a list titled 20 All-Time Coolest Heroes in Pop Culture [Editor's Note: This post originally ran in April 2009]. As with any list of this kind, everyone with an opinion and a keyboard will take issue with some item or another, and we at GeekDad are no different. While we were surprised by the inclusion of many an iconic geek-favorite character, the list was, in the end, still too mainstream for our tastes. As such, we feel the need to nip and tuck, with an eye towards including more favorites from the geekier side of pop culture (while keeping as close as possible to the nature or type of the original character referenced on the list). Here then is our edited version:

#20: The EW list had Sydney Bristow of Alias in this slot. While we approve of Mr. Abram’s first successful show, we feel Ms. Bristow couldn’t hold a candle to another lady spy-adventurer, either in combat prowess or looking good in a leather jumpsuit. Replace Sydney Bristow with Emma Peel.

#19: EW says Atticus Finch, from To Kill a Mockingbird. Awesome character from an awesome movie adapted from an awesome book. But Finch just doesn’t make it into the geek pantheon. Problem is, how many lawyers do you know who qualify to be on a geek favorites list? Well, we can think of one who went so far as to be appointed the acting president of all (remaining) humanity. Replace Atticus Finch with Romo Lampkin from Battlestar Galactica – So say we all!

#18: Batman in the EW list, and that sounds fine to us. But the Frank Miller version instead of the Christian Bale version, mayhap?

#17: Nancy Drew. Yes, she’s a mighty smart young sleuth, but is she geeky enough? We think not. We’d like to suggest her spiritual successor is a better fit for this geeky list. Replace Nancy Drew with Velma from Scooby-Doo.

#16: EW likes them some terr’ist-killin’ Jack Bauer from 24. While it’s hard to resist a character whose fictional exploits became the justification for a change in America’s attitude towards habeus corpus rights, we think we can. In fact, we can think of more than one character as alternate to this stalwart defender of American pie. Replace Jack Bauer with the original Mission: Impossible team.

#15: EW seems to have a thing for a good cop breaking the rules for a greater justice, and in this slot they pick Dirty Harry. Once again, we love the man with the .44mag, but he just doesn’t fit into the geeky realm quite as much as some others might. And if we’re going with vigilante lawmen, why not go all the way? Replace Dirty Harry with Judge Dredd.

#14: Delving back to the classic westerns, EW celebrates Will Kane from High Noon.  How about we find another classic “western” hero just trying to make his way in a universe that’s out to get him. Replace Will Kane with Mal Reynolds from Firefly/Serenity.

#13: EW gives a nod towards the classic blacksploitation character Foxy Brown. While we would never want to argue with Foxy (as played by Pam Grier), we still can’t consider her quite geeky enough for our list. But you know who would be geeky enough? Storm, from the X-Men, if she were played by Pam Grier. Replace Foxy Brown with Storm.

#12: It’s only here that EW really starts hitting the true geeky heroes. At #12 is the man who started it all, as far as science fiction military heroes go. Keep Captain James T. Kirk.

#11: EW goes for a little post-apocolyptic, pre-DUI Mel Gibson as Mad Max. We’re cool with that! Keep Mad Max.

#10: Spider-Man was ours first! It seems almost unfair that he’s hit the big time with pop culture. He lived the geek dream: he was a nerd who got superpowers and got to be a jock, at least when no one knew it was him. Keep Spider-Man.

#9: EW gets truly medieval on us by picking Robin Hood. But if we’re going to be talking arrow-slinging do-gooders in green with liberal, wealth-redistributing agendas, let’s at least make sure he’s got cool facial hair. Replace Robin Hood with Green Arrow.

#8: You’ve got to say this about EW – when they get it right, they really get it right. The eighth slot goes to Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and we say they can keep Buffy the Vampire Slayer.

#7: As we round the clubhouse turn, EW starts to demonstrate just how much geek heroes have begun to pervade the highest echelons of pop culture. They can keep Han Solo right here, thank you very much!

#6: The man who made the witty rejoinder a staple of summertime action films (even though Die Hard was actually a Christmas Movie), EW puts John McClane at #6. He’s cool, but he’s not quite part of the geek fabric. We really think there’s one other reluctant hero with excellent hunting skills who knows how to get out of tight places who fits our bill. Replace John McClane with Aragorn.

#5: When EW says “Ellen Ripley,” we say “how high?!” No, it doesn’t make sense, but neither would our replacing her on the list. Keep Ellen Ripley.

#4: You don’t get more mainstream pop culture than Harry Potter, but that’s mostly because of pop culture’s shift towards geekdom than anything else, and we’re fine with that. Keep Harry Potter.

#3: Who would leave Superman off this list, geeky or not? EW didn’t, and neither will we. Keep Superman.

#2: No muss, no fuss: keep Indiana Jones.

#1: In the top spot, EW puts the spy with suave dripping from his Saville Row suits, and if we were just talking about cool heroes and plain old pop culture, then James Bond would have earned this throne. But we’re not, and so he doesn’t. The quandary, then, is who is so super cool, and also rocks the geek world like no other? We know who.

Yes, we know he’s not really a spy, per se, but he is an intergalactic (inter-dimensional, inter-temporal) troubleshooter, which is close enough. And he sounds British, too. So we say replace James Bond with The Doctor from Doctor Who (fixed, because Doctor Who fans are very particular).

But that’s just our opinion. Any more substitutions you’d like to see? Let us know in the comments! You never know, maybe EW will amend their list!

View full post on GeekDad