Freyburg

Part the first of our retrospective on the Tom Baker years, and we wax lyrical on the early seasons of his tenure. Genesis of the Daleks! Pyramids of Mars! Deadly Assassin! Talons of Weng-Chiang! Wall to wall brilliance, I tells ya. (feed. web, direct download)

Hmmm….incredibly rich, graphically intense mythical virtual world, or flying penises, anti-social weirdos and annoying land-baron avatars? I think I know which one I favor, but Valleywag is featuring an article by Clay Shirky about how game worlds inevitably beat non-game virtual landscapes.

The Chinese stock market used to be a backwater of corrupt companies bilking investors. It’s not 100 percent yet but apparently that doesn’t matter to a new generation of would-be moguls, who are busily inflating the bubble. Oh, this is gonna hurt on the way down.

The convergence of online political wonkery, video, and stupid website names has finally come together in bloggingheads.tv, a site where political pundits debate on a video conference, record it, and offer it to the rest of the world. Since these guys are generally A-list columnists, or at least command an audience, I can’t say it’s the worst idea ever..but why video? Wouldn’t this sort of thing work a lot better as an audio file? Also, if I want to look at an opinionated middle-aged white guy with a goofy headset, I’ll look in the mirror while I do my podcast. No need to show me what these fellas look like in their dens and computer rooms.

Despite all that, bloggingheads just got a new cash infusion from investors. Damn, I’ve got to come up with a half-assed website idea and shop it around to some bored dentists.

Our media portrays the Middle East as a volatile, dangerous place, and there’s no doubt there’s a grain of truth to that, particularly Lebanon and the bloodbath known as Baghdad. But what we don’t see is a resurgence in tourism in Afghanistan, and the fact that the Iranian people are actually a pretty friendly bunch, who’ll only start hating America once we start dropping bombs on them.

Our retrospective on Doctor Number Three, Jon Pertwee, rings in at an astounding 53-odd minutes of jib-jabber on his tenure. And what an era it was! By far the most suave cat ever to pilot the TARDIS, we pay tribute to the many and various adventures of Pertwee’s Time Lord. Next week, part one of our look Back at the Tom Baker Years. (feed, web, direct download)

12 easy steps to shilling a craptacular that’s destined to hit video store shelves.

Andre the Giant, whose physique actually lived up to his stage name, was diagnosed early on with a growth hormone condition that would dramatically shorten his life. He did what any sane, enormous man with a death sentence would do…consumed enough alcohol to kill a small village, night after night. Truly, an American hero.

Rogers, the only GSM provider in Canada, has vaguely hinted at the fact that it’ll carry the iPhone in Canada, according to Engadget. They haven’t said when, nor have they announced any price cuts in their outrageous data plans ($200 a month for “unlimited” data? WTF?!?!) but this is at least a sign that things are moving.

Not everyone is going nuts over the sexy as hell iPhone (although clearly I am.) An article in Computerworld details how announcing the phone so early, and not addressing various features, may actually hurt Apple.

Personally, I think Apple’s on the right track…they’ve enhanced or invented the features people want, and left out the ones they probably won’t use. They had to announce early becaue of FCC regulations, and as far as pricing goes, I wouldn’t be in the slightest bit surprised to see an iPhone nano before the launch in July.