United States Air Force Thunderbirds Upgrade To The Lockheed Martin F-16 C/D
July 28, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
The U.S. Air Force flight demonstration squadron, otherwise known as the Thunderbirds, recently upgraded their aircraft to the latest Lockheed Martin F-16 C/D (Block 52) Fighting Falcons for their 2009 season of mind-bending flight demos. Besides the enhanced avionics on board, inside each fighter jet lurks the awesome power of the latest Pratt & Whitney F100-PW-229 engine, spinning up 29,160 lb of thrust, giving each of the six aircraft an extra 3,600 pounds’ worth of oomph to knock our socks off.
We saw these crazy flyboys slam-dunking their harrowing routine yesterday in Milwaukee, and we’re here to tell you, those new engines kick serious ass. Now the F-16 C/Ds can take off and immediately rocket straight up, forming their signature diamond formation as they execute the Diamond Loop. In the most startling part of the demonstration, one of the jets flew close to us (it felt like a few feet overhead) with the afterburner cranked up to the maximum. It was the loudest roar we’ve ever heard from an aircraft.
Vonage Will Release Apps For Smartphones
July 28, 2009 by tcgames · 2 Comments
Vonage, a VoIP services provider, is making its first move to mobile by developing smartphone applications, the New Jersey-based company has confirmed to us. The news was first reported by Gadgetell. Unfortunately, Vonage wouldn’t provide many details on the applications other than to say it’s in talks with “top” smartphone makers, and that the applications will be available in the second half of 2009 and will offer competitive international calling rates. Vonage’s shift to mobile follows in the footsteps of Skype and smaller competitors such as Fring, Nimbuzz and Truphone, all of which have released applications for the iPhone (see past coverage here.) We won’t be surprised if they released an iPhone app, they are certainly late to the party.
Nevertheless, this is still a wise strategy for Vonage to expand its customer base, as the company will now be able to lure people who don’t want to give up their landline phones but want the ability to make international calls using VoIP on their mobile phones.
A Vonage spokesman also said the company is working on “integrating communication products so that consumers can easily link home phones, cell phones and computers.” All of which is a significant shift from Vonage’s traditional business model, which until now has been based on replacing landline phones by selling special devices that use broadband networks to carry voice calls.
A Semi-Automatic Taser – High Tech
July 28, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
Thugs the world over are learning to outwit the Taser. As long as there’s more than one of you, you’re scot-free! The single-shot nature of the air Taser has always been frustrating to victims, too: once you zap a fool, you’re done! No “and here’s one for your old man” to be had there.
But fear not, Taser hears your cries (and the cries of those you’ve tased), for they now have created a three-shot Taser that allows for multiple attacker takedown. Or just three times the punishment for a single attacker. I see no way in which this could be a problem for anybody.
In the video above, three willing participants get tased (Tased?) in the back, and the looks on their faces are priceless. The Taser X3, for so the device is called, packs enough juice to incapacitate three young women apparently, but also adjusts the voltage so no real harm is done. I don’t think anybody here believes that, but at least they’re acknowledging that harm is a distant possibility.
Twilight Stars Looking Forward To Filming ‘Eclipse’
July 28, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
The back-to-back filming of The Twilight Saga: New Moon and a third installment, Eclipse, means that Twilight fans will only have to wait half a year for their next fix. The stars of the series have just shown footage of their first sequel at San Diego Comic-Con, and they’re getting ready to work on part three.
“We’ve been doing a lot of prep work,” said star Taylor Lautner (Jacob) in a group interview last week in San Diego. Co-star Kristen Stewart added: “There’s been a lot of rehearsal.”
David Slade (30 Days of Night) steps in to direct the third Twilight Saga film, bringing yet another new vision to the series from previous directors Catherine Hardwicke (Twilight) and Chris Weitz (New Moon). “I’ve only met him twice while I was actually filming New Moon,” Lautner said. “I know that he’s been up there for a while, scouting locations and stuff. So I’m excited to get up there to talk with him and pick his brain. It’s really awesome to have the opportunity to work with so many different directors and work with their different styles. So I’m looking forward to getting to know David.”
Stewart is still busy working on the film she crammed in between Twilight films, playing rocker Joan Jett in the biopic The Runaways, and still has her Joan Jett hair to show for it.
“It’s hard to talk about [Eclipse] now,” Stewart said. “I still have four days of shooting left. I feel that what we’re doing is really important. I feel like what The Runaways did was really important, so trying to convey that is really awesome. It’s daunting, to say the least.”
Jon Favreau Promises ‘Iron Man 3′…Someday
July 28, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
It’s not a big surprise that Marvel wants a third Iron Man movie. Spider-Man will have at least four films, X-Men has already spawned that many, with at least three more to come. Fantastic Four and The Incredible Hulk won’t be that lucky.
But how can we be sure there will be a Tony Stark trilogy? ‘Cause Jon Favreau says so. “There’s an Iron Man 3. Here’s how I know: When they make the option deals, they include Iron Man 3. So I know they’re planning on three,” he said at Comic Con.
“Whether that would be before or after Avengers…they’ve announced that Avengers is next, but they pushed back The Avengers once which I thought was encouraging,” Favreau added.
Marvel Digital Comics – Free Mondays (7/27/09)
July 27, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
Welcome to FREE Mondays! Each week we focus on all of the newly digitized books you can read for FREE inside the greatest collection of Marvel comics available online: Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited! Plus, we’ll let you know what’s coming up next week for FREE, too! With each book, not only are you getting a free peek inside Marvel Digital Comics Unlimited, but each free Digital Comic either gives you a look at a book featured in a recent collection or a comic that’s in stores now.
How would you like to have five free digital comics to help get you through the school and work week? Here ‘ya go!
IRON MAN #9 (2004)
THUNDERBOLTS #126 (2006)
CABLE #4 (1995)
GHOST RIDER #30 (2006)
NEW AVENGERS #48
Find out what next week’s five free digital comics will be below!
AMAZING SPIDER-MAN #574 (1999)
INVICIBLE IRON MAN #8 (2008)
X-MEN: ORIGINAL SIN #1 (2008)
SPIDER-MAN: FEAR ITSELF #1
X-MEN: LEGACY #219 (2008)
Resident Evil 4 Now Available For iPhone
July 27, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
Remember that super-polished version of Resident Evil 4 we saw strutting its stuff on iPhone? Well, it’s available right now for purchase in the App Store — and suspiciously smushed down to 37.3 MB. While the game sits on the pricier side of the app spectrum (and is missing elements from the console versions), anything called "Resident Evil 4" is almost impossible for us to resist.
Almost.
[Via App Advice]
Resident Evil 4 (Capcom, $7.99): 
Lucy Lawless Returns To TV With ‘Spartacus: Blood and Sand’
The beautiful singer/actress Lucy Lawless (”Xena: Warrior Princess”; “Battlestar Galactica”) will be returning to the small screen beginning January 2010 with a new series feature for the STARZ cable network titled “Spartacus: Blood and Sand”. The new series comes from Sam Raimi (Spiderman) and Rob Tapert (Drag Me To Hell); both are currently producing the new hit series “Legend of the Seeker”. Lawless worked with Tapert during her stint on Xena. Tapert will also be co-producing the remake of “The Evil Dead” along with Raimi.
“Spartacus: Blood and Sand,” which will get its early preview at the next big San Diego Comic Con, returns Lawless to familiar territory — the ancient days of gladiators and god-like heroes. The series centers on the title character Spartacus, played by Aussie actor Andy Whitfield. Lawless will play the wife of the owner of the now-enslaved Roman gladiator Spartacus.
The supporting cast for this adventurous undertaking includes some familiar faces from the sci-fi and fantasy genre. Erin Cummings of Joss Whedon’s “Dollhouse,” Peter Mensah “300? and “Avatar” (Peter was interviewed here at Slice of SciFi), Te Maioha who worked on “Xena: Warrior Princess” and can currently be seen on “Legend of the Seeker,” Craig Parker from the “Lord of the Rings” trilogy and also on “Legend of the Seeker,” and Manu Bennett who starred in the hit vampire flick “30 Days of Night.” The remaining cast include Nick E. Tarabay (”The Sopranos”), Viva Bianca (”Accidents Happen”), Jai Courtney (”Stone Bros.”) and Matt Gillanders (”30 Days of Night,” “King Kong”).
[Pictured: Lucy Lawless & Andy Whitfield]
Comic-Con: Miyazaki’s First Appearance, Previews Ponyo
During Disney’s Friday Comic-Con presentation of upcoming animation projects, chief creative officer John Lasseter screened footage from the upcoming animated film Ponyo and interviewed its director, Hayao Miyazaki. Bringing the acclaimed Japanese animation guru to Comic-Con stages for the first time, Lasseter and an appreciative crowd lavished praise on Myazaki’s body of work before showing a clip that exemplified the new film’s wondrous, beautiful imagery.
Ponyo was originally conceived and produced through Miyazaki’s native company, Studio Ghibli, but even removed of its cultural specificity, the film stood out sharply from its Western counterparts; indeed, after presentations for the re-release of Toy Story 1 and 2 and even new projects like The Princess and the Frog, its dreamlike quality and lyrical storytelling truly seemed to be part of an entirely different set of artistic rules. Lasseter, who is Miyazaki’s friend as well as his colleague, was effusive with his praise for both the filmmaker and his film, which he said "America deserves" as he brought the director to the stage.
As he took the stage, Lasseter asked him about his storyboarding process. Via a translator, Miyazaki explained, "My process is thinking, thinking and thinking—thinking about my stories for a long time. If you have a better way, please let me know."
Lasseter said he had the chance to watch Miyazaki at work creating storyboards himself that "are so beautiful," to which the director replied, "I think working on the storyboard alone is a custom we have in Japan in terms of animation. It’s not just I that works that way, but since I’m slow it seems like I’m working on the storyboards all of the time."
San Diego Comic-Con Wraps Up Another Great Year
July 27, 2009 by tcgames · Leave a Comment
<–Chairman of Comic-Con’s first committee Ken Krueger
The 40th annual San Diego Comic-Con wrapped up Sunday, with another capacity crowd enjoying a smoothly run show. Ken Krueger, the chairman of the very first Comic-Con, was one of several members of the original organizing committee who were invited back to celebrate the 40th anniversary. Other committee members from Comic-Con’s early years were also present as guests.
The massive presence from Hollywood shifted a bit this year, with a greater emphasis on television. Comic-Con Director of Marketing and Public Relations David Glanzer described the shift. “There was certainly a lot more presence from television this year,” he said. “And there may have been less movies in some instances. But not everybody has a project they want to promote to this group every year.”
We asked Glanzer about the continual sellouts of the show, which are capping its growth. “The mayor has appointed a task force on the expansion of the convention center, and they will render a decision on that in September and the mayor says that he will abide by whatever their recommendation is,” he said.
The convention utilized tents for some signing space, as well as the main ballroom at the Hilton Bayfront as additional space this year, and use of outside space may grow in the coming years, Glanzer told us. And although the convention did not increase the number of tickets this year despite the additional space, that step may be taken in future years, allowing a greater number of attendees despite a maxed-out convention center. .
