I made a journey to the cinema last week upon my return from Reading to see Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World. I had seen the trailer and was instantly intrigued, I thought it looked a film that somehow captured the feel of Viewtiful Joe, a game originally released on the Nintendo Gamecube. I purposely avoided reading or watching anything about it, admittedly not that hard when in a field, so that I knew very little apart from the basic concept of Scott Pilgrim having to defeat the seven evil exes of Ramona Flowers.

I left the cinema some 2 hours or later amazed. If you haven’t seen this yet, I urge you to go and watch it. Sure there is homage to plenty of classic video games in there that the nerds like myself will pick up on, and experience an extra layer of humour from, but there is a great film there to enjoy for everyone else as well. It gets across how complicated a new relationship can be, whilst mixing in some ridiculous action sequences using a Batman (I’m thinking of the Adam West 1960’s series) ‘comic book’ style.

In some more Gadget related news, it’s the Autumn Fair next week so I’m sure we’ll have loads of great new and exciting gadgets to tell you about that will hopefully be with us very soon!

Outside of Gadgets Towers if you get a chance to make a journey outside of town and away from light pollution tonight, make sure you cast a glance skywards as tonight, and tomorrow are set to be the height of the Perseid Meteor Shower.

You may also have been entertained, as I was earlier in the week, by the story of Jenny who quit her job via Email with the aid of some photos and a dry wipe board. A couple of days later the whole story was revealed to be a hoax dreamt up by The Chive. There were however several large News agencies that went ahead and reported this as fact, which only goes to show you shouldn’t believe everything you read or see online.

Hope you all have a great weekend folks and I’ll leave you with some dating tips from one of the starts of Toy Story 3, if you haven’t seen this already, do so.

Another gadget that has remained largely the same is the humble pencil. In fact other than the original lead being replaced by graphite, pencils have pretty much remained the same. Or at least they have, until now.

That’s right, Sharpie, those well known manufacturers of permanent markers have devised a liquid graphite that writes like a pen, but can be erased like pencil, at least until it dries, after about 24 hours according to the review at Engadget or 3 days according to the packaging, when it becomes permanent like a Sharpie marker.

Just think, a pencil that never needs sharpening, a pen that can be erased, and a permanent marker that, at first, isn’t so permanent.

While it isn’t a particularly challenging piece of cinema, it is what it sets out to be, which is just plain old good fun, like the original TV series. Both Dirk Benedict (Templeton ‘Face’ Peck), and Dwight Schultz (Captain H. M. ‘Howling Mad’ Murdock) have cameos in the new film, as well as Mr T. reportedly also being offered a cameo, but turning it down.

What did I think? I liked the new film, I would view it as something different to the TV series, and wouldn’t be surprised to see some sort of sequel. The characters were all different enough to the portrayals in the original TV series that I don’t think there is too much of a question about who is better Peppard/Neeson, Mr T./Quinton Jackson etc. Although I would liked Murdock to have been a bit more mad than he is in the film.

One thing I did think was missing from the film was the seemingly obligatory scene in almost every episode of the TV series where they get locked into a warehouse, garage or similar, and end up making some sort of heavily armed armoured vehicle with, seemingly, little more than and old car and a blow torch, though there is an element of this.

It’s certainly worth a watch in my opinion, but if you haven’t seen the original TV series I’d go back and watch that first!

The Veho Pebble
Keeping your various Gadgets powered up when you’re out and about is a necessity! I found how difficult it is getting by without my mobile phone this month, and if it runs out of juice whilst you’re out and about it can leave you stranded, and cut off from the mobile world at large. The Pebble is perfect for keeping handy on long journeys when you aren’t sure when you’ll be able to charge up next. Small enough to fit in your pocket, but with enough zap to charge an iPhone 3GS 4 times over!

The Autoloader Pump Action Screwdriver
I have a tool similar to this at home, and I find it invaluable when performing those little DIY jobs around the house. It contains the various flathead, Phillips, and other screwdriver tips you’ll often need all in one handy location, and as they are all self contained you won’t need to worry about losing any of them.

The Premier Popcorn Maker
With lots of us having bigger TVs, and better sound system set-ups at home more of us are able to enjoy that (close to) cinema experience at home. The one thing generally missing though is ‘proper’ popcorn. Not the cold toffee stuff you get in a foil bag, or the microwave stuff where it’s all too easy to end up with half burnt, and half un-popped. The Premier Popcorn Maker is a great way to get freshly made popcorn at home. Using hot air instead of oil means it is healthier, and less likely to burn. With the price of cinema tickets spiralling ever higher this is a great way to enjoy those films that you want to see, but can wait for the DVD to be released.

These are a few of my favourites at the moment, but we are adding more and more new gadgets all the time, so make sure you check regularly!

I have decided that since it’s been out in cinemas for about two weeks it’s probably about time that I went to see Toy Story 3. All the reviews I’ve seen for it have praised it highly, and all my friends who have seen it say it is the best film of the three and a great way to finish off the trilogy. As long as it isn’t as poor as Shrek 3 I think I’ll be happy.

For anyone not yet quite aware what I am talking about yet, I am referring to Starcraft II: Wings Of Liberty. Once again PCs shall ring out with the hiss of the alien Zerg, the Drawl of the human Terrans, and the overriding calm and danger of the advanced Protoss. Starcraft was created by Blizzard, the makers of the similarly named Warcraft, and of course, the MMO spin off World Of Warcraft.

Starcraft is widely regarded by gamers as one of the defining games of the RTS genre, with only Command and Conquer coming close to its brilliance. Starcraft was the first of the games to introduce vastly different races to play as, giving gamers an array of units with different skills, and tactical options. As a game it has had such an impact that there are world pro league finals, and the University of California even offered a course that explored “various aspects of the game, from the viewpoint of pure theory to the more computational aspects of how exactly battles are conducted”.

Starcraft II as such has been highly anticipated by the fans of the original, and will no doubt attract a new generation. Only time will tell if it as well balanced, and thus popular and successful as the original. But with about 7 years of development, and many hours of Beta testing by seasoned Starcraft veterans you would bet on it being a runaway hit.

As it was so very lovely and sunny over the weekend I decided it would be the optimum time to go and sit in a darkened room and watch the new Predators film. Now, I like Robert Rodriguez as a director. I think that film like From Dusk Till Dawn, and Planet Terror are brilliant, not taking themselves too seriously, and the former proving that George Clooney can actually act, unlike his turn in Batman and Robin. Unfortunately I was convinced that after the travesties that were the Alien Vs Predator films, that this could well turn out to be a similar disappointment.

It was with some relief that I watched the film and, although it is in large parts basically a remake of the original Predator, I was suitably entertained. I won’t go into detail in case you haven’t seen it yet, but I would recommend it for fans of the first two. Fans of the AVP films, if there are any, would do well to watch the original Predator film, as I can’t believe anyone has, and liked those atrocities.

Or at least it is until you see something that picks up on a particular quirk, and think, “Hey! That’s kind of cool!” So it was today, at least in a sense when I stumbled across this cool little USB Mail Box Friends Alert. The USB Mail Box connects to you various social networking and Email accounts and advises you when you have new Email, alert, or similar by lighting up either red or green, playing a specific sound effect or, and this I think is what did it for me, raising its little flag.

Image from USB Brando

Yes, I too am a sucker for plastic tat, but then if none of us were at some point or another what would we scoff at while we were waiting at the checkouts when we are out shopping?

Wandering around the depths of the internet today I found this. Looking like a Segway crossed with one of the odder looking droids from Star Wars (You know, the one with all the arms?) this robotic butler will happily fetch and carry your cool beverages following a few commands from an iPhone interface, but can also use voice commands. Ok, so HERB (Home Exploring Robotic Butler) doesn’t move too quickly, and might not be particularly suitable for most homes in its current incarnation, but the dream is there.