Freyburg

The Three Who Rule were joined by a fourth, RFS friend Michael, who not only chimed in with commentary but also provided Chris with much needed Internet tubes for said conversing. The subject at hand? “The Monster of Peladon,” one of Pertwee’s lesser lights. Our bile was relentless as we criticized just about everything this story had to offer…which was little to begin with. Enjoy!

 

 Radio Free Skaro #98 - The Curse of Pela-slog: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (61)

For all the bluster and possible danger of Iran getting its hands on or building its own nuclear weapons, the country’s vast oil resources tend to be forgotten. High oil prices mean Iran can not only keep pursuing its nuclear ambitions with relative impunity, its also able to work around the sanctions thrown at it by the UN.

An interesting breakdown of the content, people and weirdness of YouTube. Haven’t watched all of it yet, but I hope the lecturer gets into the rank stupidity of most of the commenters.

More writing from yours truly in the mainstream media, this time in BC Tech. First up, an article about Lambda Solutions, who aim to become the “Ebay of knowledge.” I also wrote a “this season’s hottest gadgets” that unfortunately got a little truncated for the web edition.

After checking out the english version of Al Jazeera has some decent viewing in the form of podcasts of its more popular shows, like Listening Post and Riz Khan. I’ve noticed that a bunch of the on-air talent are former BBC (and other British media) staffers, and their programming is generally as thorough as the Beeb’s better news shows (and of course way better than most American news programs.) Worth checking out, fellow news addicts.

Never let it be said that Radio Free Skaro digresses or makes up its own back story for the classic series episodes that we commentate on…because that’s precisely what we do, especially in Day of the Daleks, our latest butchery of the works of Jon Pertwee. Not a bad story overall, enhanced by our analysis of Jo’s mental state (lukewarm), the secret life of Sir Reginald (tawdry) and the gaseous state of Chris’s belly.

 

 Radio Free Skaro #97 - Sir Reginald's Dirty Little Secret: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download (70)

Steampunk, a subculture devoted to recreating an overly ornate, technologically oriented version of the Victorian era, has been covered of late in mainstream media like the New York Times. When the mainstream media starts to take notice of a subgroup, that’s about when it’s on its way out, and Randy Nakamura’s article in Design Observer essentially skewers the steampunk “movement” as nothing but wishful thinking for a non-existent past….with knobs and brass.

So I’ve been busy for the past couple of months with my day job, working as a writer and editor for EP Daily, the new, daily version of the long-beloved Electric Playground.Basically, I get to make stories about video games, sci-fi movies and TV, and comics, all of which makes me extremely happy. Here’s a taste of the show, which you can see on G4TechTV…

Something’s been bugging me for the last little while about the amatuerization of media. While you probably won’t find a bigger proponent of the democratization of tools for creating media and distribution methods than myself, and while there’s never been a better time for someone with an idea and a camcorder to go out and make media, it’s pretty disappointing to me that what catches on with the general public isn’t thoughtful or unique creations but gossip and nonsense. Witness the rise of Perez Hilton, chronicled in the latest issue of Wired. Hilton’s blogging consists of mindless gossip wrapped in an infantile bow of terrible writing, and yet his site makes on the order of 50k a day in advertising. And Julia Allison’s Nonsociety is about…what, exactly? Nothing but navel-gazing and the craven pursuit of fame for fame’s sake.

But we can’t blame vain, shallow people for being who they are. It’s our own damn fault for falling prey to the same craven impulses they wallow in and enabling them. For further spite and bile, check out this Huffington Post article about female New York bloggers, and how they’re cheating themselves by writing about superficial nonsense and staring at their own reflection.

Well, what they really did was take a different poll about web microcelebrity and turn it around to focus on the negative results. Unsurprisingly, attention sponge Julia Allison ranked first, with her former boyfriend Jacob Lodwick close behind. I’d agree with the placement of most of the other people on the list, including Scoble and iJustine, though I dunno what Veronica Belmont ever did to anyone to raise such ire. Ditto for Tron Guy; I’ve heard that anyone who’s met him in person comes away amazed at how pleasant he is…despite the wacky outfit.