Battlestar Galactica

Last Friday marked the premiere of Battlestar Galactica's final season. In Canada, it is on the Space Channel, Fridays at 10 pm.

For the uninitiated, the premise of the re-imagined version of BSG follows that of the original 1970 version (which was really campy and obviously trying to play off the popularity of Star Wars, Star Trek and Bonanza). Somewhere in the galaxy are 12 planets, colonized by humans originating from the planet Kobol. The human race developed an artificial intelligence and manufactured machines to do their work called Cylons (a la Terminator, The Matrix, Blade Runner and a host of other science fiction plotlines). Realizing their lot in life was a bit of a raw deal, the Cylons rebelled, and a great war was fought. During the course of this war, the humans and Cylons reached an armistice (peace agreement); for 40 years they lived apart, the humans with their 12 colonies and the Cylons finding their own region of space. The truce is broken suddenly when the Cylons launch a surprise, all-out offensive that decimates the 12 Colonies in a flourish of nuclear strikes. Battlestar Galactica is the story about the survivors, a rag-tag fleet of ships being led in a glactic convoy to safe harbour and possibly a new home by the Battlestar Galactica, the sole remnant of a once vast military force.

What sets this show apart from the original (and the 1980s reboot) and other space exploration shows? Firstly, they nuked the campiness that drove the original to an early, merciful demise. Unlike most science fiction shows floating around, the technology and alien themes that litter those lesser shows take a backseat to true storytelling: character drama, political/sociological/moral/philosophical dilemmas and a rich tapestry of moods (primarily post-apocalyptic darkness). This show was developed around the same time Joss Whedon's Firefly was in production. There are similarities between the two, especially the way both shows eschew the clean cut sterility of 20th Century futurism, opting instead for a grittier, dirtier realism (through documentary-style filming) and exploration of current themes and questions against a backdrop of space. Also, the actors are all extremely hot.

There is a lot more that can be said, but I don't have the resources or the space to do so. There are professionals who can take you through a tour of the show and provide insightful commentary. I'd ask you all to watch it (because it awesomes like nothing else), but since it is a highly serialized show, you'd be frustratedly at-a-loss from the get-go.

Fortunately, SciFi Channel, the American carrier of the show, has done us all a solid by whipping up an 8-minute recap video. Needless to say, if you haven't seen the show before, spoilers ahead.

Other Links:
Official Site
TWoP Episode Recaps (warning: long winded)
Battlestar Galactica Wiki - a comprehensive compendium of all things BSG
Galactica SITREP - for all the latest news etc.

has u Flickr?

no u how Flickr sez HAI in srsly lots langwiges?

cliksie FTW

LOLSpeak Dictionary: The Definitive Lolcats Glossary
ICanHasCheezburger.com: Lolcat Central
LOLSpeak as a Second Language in 5 Easy Steps
The Lolcat Bible Translation Project

to do, or not to do; that is the question

TES:
[.] Portfolio (HUGE) - Due: Thursday April 10
[.] Problem-Based Unit (Portion) - Due: Thursday April 17

SS:
[.] Research Paper (Large-ish) - Due: Thursday April 17
[.] Presentation (Portion) - Due: Thursday April 10

PHY:
[.] Unit Test (meh) - Due: Friday April 11

ENG:
[.] Article Summary/Discussion (meh) - Due: Tuesday April 8
[.] Read short story + poem (meh) - Due: Tuesday April 8

i am so very slow at intarnet

the best Chuck Norris Fact in recent memory: Chuck Norris swallowed a Rubik's Cube; when he pooped it out, it was solved.

The Mystery of the Lost USB Drives

just in these past two weeks, i have found and returned two misplaced USB drives thanks to nifty detective work. it feels awesome to combine 3 things i love: finding things, returning things and nifty detective work.

during the last week of my practicum, my associate teacher ambled over and told me that a pencil case was left in her mailbox, presumably belonging to one of her students. as it was Literacy Test Day, and she was on duty in some classroom, i was tasked with divining the owner of this pencil case. fortunately, a USB drive was among the items of said pencil case. i dug through a few files and came across a group geography presentation bearing 4 names (first names and initials). at first i did not recognize any of them, so my brain kicked into the next gear and i made some clever inferences, noting that this was a group of boys, in grade 9 Geography, none of whom seemed to be in Visual Art. and then i recognized one of the names after i told someone else that i didn't know any of the names and it was good.

this morning, i arrived to class back at the faculty of Ed. to help fellow students set up for their presentations (word had gotten out that computer wiring did not freak me out like it does everyone else). of course, no one was there, so i chatted with my instructor, who actually remembers teaching my associate teacher from this most recent practicum (that means both of my associates were taught by him!). throughout the course of setting up the computer, we found a tiny little USB drive nestled between the USB mouse cable and the edge of the computer, still jacked into the computer. seeing as how i had arrived for class 40 minutes early, i explored the contents of the drive. mouseovers of the documents yielded a document creator name. i was about to dig through the directory of Teacher Candidates when i noticed this student's resume! well, that was too easy. with name AND email address in hand, i quickly fired off a message relaying the happy news and arranged for the little drive to be stored safely in my instructor's office. it felt good, but i sort of wanted a bit more of a challenge.

these recent events, and the fact that a friend of mine lost her drive at the computer lab earlier this year, inspired me to safeguard my USB drive from being lost because of shoddy detective work, or insufficient clues. malicious intent, i cannot change, but any help i can give to a Good Samaritan will make it easier for him or her to do so. i wrote a little message with my contact information for whoever might find my USB drive and saved it as a text file.