Digital Tattoo Implants – The Future is Now

The rate at which science fiction is becoming science reality is breathtaking.  The latest example is an invention by Jim Mielke:

The basis of the 2×4-inch “Digital Tattoo Interface” is a Bluetooth device made of thin, flexible silicon and silicone. It´s inserted through a small incision as a tightly rolled tube, and then it unfurls beneath the skin to align between skin and muscle. Through the same incision, two small tubes on the device are attached to an artery and a vein to allow the blood to flow to a coin-sized blood fuel cell that converts glucose and oxygen to electricity. After blood flows in from the artery to the fuel cell, it flows out again through the vein.        LINK

This is not some pie-in-the-sky concept.  This is a real, working device.  The inventor believes it will be capable of making and displaying video calls on the screen just below the skin.  Sure, there is a distinct creepy factor here, but I think it is nothing compared with the amazing factor.

I literally can’t wait, or imagine, what I will see tomorrow.  Pretty damn cool.

Star Wars Gives Crafters a Free Copyright Pass?

I am going to have to accept that it is simply not possible for an average guy like myself to understand what is kosher and what is treif when it comes to copyright and fair use.

I just wrote about Pez going after a guy with a Pez “museum” for, I guess, making money off of the Pez brand and not sharing that money with Pez.  Although, seriously, how much money could this guy be making?

Now, just a few minutes later I come across an announcement for a Star Wars themed craft fair called Stitch Wars.  Cute, right.  Well, not only are hundreds of crafters showing up with their own, handmade Star Wars puppets, plushies and pillows, but many of these people are selling those items.  Obviously, they are only able to sell these items thanks to their Star Wars connection but it doesn’t look like LucasArts et. al. have let loose the lawyers on this band of pirate knitters, crocheters and stitchers.

On the one hand, this feels so reasonable and right and on the other hand, considering the way corporations sling around copyright infringement suits like their a dime-a-dozen, a part of me is shocked that Stitch Wars is allowed to exist.

That makes me sad.

The Ninja That Isn’t AskANinja

I’m not totally sure what to make of ‘Katana,’ the latest webseries pilot from the folks at Strike.TV.

It is a completely earnest attempt at making a ninja-revenge action film reminiscent of those from the ’70’s complete with well-choreographed fight sequences from clearly professional stunt fighters.  As TubeFilter told me:

The  hard hitting show stars John Koyama and Yuji Okumoto (also the writer-producer) alongside stunt superstars Al Goto, Sam Looc, and Don Tai. If you haven’t recognized any of those names, check out those IMDB listings, because you’ve definitely seen their movies.

‘Katana’ is part of a new wave of low-budget professionally produced fare finding its way to the web, much of it in the form of tried-and-true film genres like sci-fi and horror. The big question will be whether or not enough fans of these very specific genres will a) find these programs considering the overall lack of marketing budgets and b) if they do, will they really be interested in watching what boils down to cheaper versions of what they get plenty of on both TV and the big screen.

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Web Video Round 3 (4?) – Bring on the Sci-Fi!

It all started with the rise of the UGC video and YouTube.  People went nuts.  Look at all the viewers!

After watching from the sidelines for a bit some big media companies decided they should be getting those viewers.  Following some deep study of internet content everyone decided that the thing that really worked online was comedy.

A flood of “pro” content hit the interwebs and suddenly everyone from Warner Brothers to Sony had their own dedicated comedy video website.

A year later and none of these sites or any of their shows have gained wide-spread acceptance or notice.  Most have completely failed by any reasonable assessment.

One could argue that most of these efforts failed because, a) they weren’t very good and b) they weren’t publicized.

Of course, if you are a big media company, it can’t be your fault. It must be the genre’s fault.  So, after a year of failing with comedy comes a big wave of Sci-Fi web shows:

“Not all of these will succeed, but science fiction already has a strong track record online. lonelygirl15 turned from a vlog into a thriller with tech overtones. Sanctuary was one of the early big-budget sci-fi series, it was even picked up to run on the Sci-Fi Network. And most recently, Joss Whedon’s Dr. Horrible’s Sing Along Blog darn near crashed the Internet.” (via)

Check out NTV’s whole post for a good look at what’s to come.  When these fail, due to being not good, I’m sure everyone will move onto proceedurals – it’s what saved the networks, at least for a while.

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