I have come to the conclusion that George Lucas just doesn’t care about the fans, and he probably never really has.

It’s been all over the news the past few days that George Lucas is going to redo all six Star Wars films in 3D, starting with the Star Wars Episode I: The Phantom Menace in 2012. There will be one film released per year after that, culminating in 2017, the 40th anniversary of the release of the first film.

Why?

Fans have been very vocal about their displeasure with how these films have been treated ever since the Special Editions came out in the 1990s, and how we all long for the original theatrical cuts.  Instead Lucas just continues to bastardize them, taking them further and further away from the films we originally loved.

There is also the issue that post-3D work is pretty widely known to be lousy.  Yes, Lucas will throw a ton of money at this project to be sure, and they will probably look slightly better than other post-3D works, but, still … there is no need for this.

My gut feeling is we’ll see some new deleted scenes to get people into the seats, and people will end up flocking to them.  This will of course be followed by yet another DVD and/or Blu-ray release of them.

You know what?  I’m done.  I’ve got the movies I kinda want, and I don’t simply need any more of this.  I’m tired of supporting someone who is clearly more about the money than pleasing the fans.  You want to make more money, Lucas?  Go for it, they belong to you, but as a life long fan of these films, you can just simply count me out.

Apparently I need to go on vacation more often as it results in me coming home to Steven having done all sorts of wonderful things.

While driving home from my vacation yesterday, Steven Hodson, my co-host on the Braindead Techcast, messaged me that he had a surprise for me.  I had no clue what it was, but once I got home he unveiled to me BraindeadTechCast.com.  Yes, folks, we’re moving up town with our show, and it now has its own little penthouse in the sky.

Steven’s thinking was the show really didn’t fit in with his site, and I have to agree I have felt it was an odd thing to have hear on my site.  So, from here on out, Braindead TechCast will be posted over on its own site.  It’s been set up for a main RSS feed, or you can even select to just get the themed shows (i.e. if you only enjoy Moronic Monday, then you can subscribe to just those).  We even have our own Twitter account for the show now, @braindead_tech, so make sure to follow us.

We’re working on getting the show on to iTunes, so we should have news on that also fairly soon.

As of right now, neither Steven or I make any money from the show, and it is simply a labor of love.  We hope if you’ve enjoyed it on our sites you’ll follow it to its new home, and spread the word to your friends!

You have to love when a television show that hasn’t even aired yet already has fans making things for it.

The Walking Dead premieres this Halloween on AMC, and even though it hasn’t aired yet, the show has been renewed for a second season. Where fans for this property come from is the 70+ issues of the comic book that has been published. I’ve read the first 20 or so issues now, and I have to say it’s pretty darn good, so I can see why some people are already getting excited about this.

That being said, a fan took it upon himself to create some opening credits for the television version, and I have to say that I would love to see these appear in front of each and every episode, they’re just that good.

A lot of people have asked me since I started working as a professional blogger in July of 2007 how they could also get into that line of work. There is a certain allure to the idea of sitting in front of your computer in your pajamas, hammering away on the keyboard, making money while you sip coffee with your pet curled up on your feet.

I wish it was that easy, but like any other job, it is a job, it’s just done in a different locale.

So, as I keep getting asked this question, I decided to do a short series of four posts about how the whole process works. Part two will be about finding the job, part three will focus on getting the job, part four will be about keeping it once you have it and part five will tell you how to promote yourself to show you understand what the Internet is all about in this day and age.

While I am certainly not an expert on the subject, I can at least offer you some real world experiences that I’ve run into, and how to deal with them. I’ve never seen a reason why people shouldn’t share what they’ve learned in certain situations; wouldn’t you have liked help when you were starting out in a certain field? Instead people tend to think they need to hide everything to lower their own competition in a given field, but my feelings are there is enough work for everyone out there, so why shouldn’t you help someone along?

Before we start this adventure, I have one very large question for all of you to ask yourselves: What is it you want from blogging?

Are you looking to get rich? Well, I would love to tell you that all of this writing is making me wealthy, but it’s not. That’s not to say it doesn’t pay well, but I’m not dining on champagne and caviar every night from it either.

Are you looking for fame? Keep looking.

Are you looking for a job that takes little to no effort? Again, keep looking.

Basically you have to remember this is a job like any other, sometimes with exceptionally tight deadlines, and you have to be able to read your source material, research further sources, and turn it into an article in as little as 15-minutes. If you can do all of that, then give it a go, but don’t expect easy money you can retire with from it.

It can be as stressful as any other line of work you think of, if not even more so. When I first wrote this I was technically on “vacation”, but I was still writing at least some each day because the news cycles don’t take breaks just because I did. Between all the blogs I work for, I write an average of six posts a day, seven days a week, and that doesn’t count the larger projects I work on that can take days of research to complete. While not all professional bloggers write this much, it isn’t exactly uncommon either.

The other thing you have to realize is that there is the other work that goes with being an online content creator, and this doesn’t pay you directly, but it pays off in intangible ways. What is this magical work you must do? Engagement. While people people are used to responding to comments on their own blogs, you also need to do the same on the blogs you work for. You also need to converse with people on Twitter, Facebook and so on. The job is about more than just writing, but also to make sure you give your readers a reason to keep coming back.

Questions? Feel free to leave them. This series will be published every Monday until the whole series is done. If you want to make sure you don’t miss any, make sure to subscribe to the RSS feed.

Not even two months ago I had a protracted discussion with my mother about how Walmart should try out solar panels on their stores as they have those giant flat roofs.

Apparently they have my house bugged.

Fast Company reported earlier this week that Walmart is trying out a pilot program where they are putting solar panels on 30 stores in California and Arizona.

Apparently the solar panels are expected to generate 20 to 30 percen of the energy used by each store, which works out to 22.5 million kilowatt hours per year, or enough to power 1,750 homes a year.  While most people are taking the approach of how this will reduce carbon emissions and focusing on the green aspects of the project, which is all good, I am more thrilled by the reduction of strain on the nation’s aging power grid.

The national demand for power is increasing each year, and is climbing at a pace that far out strips the rate with which we are upgrading the grid.  Over the past few summers we have seen brown outs, and even a few cases of rolling blackouts due to the strain of air conditioning demands.  Some power companies have even demanded companies to lower their use during daylight hours to assist with the amount of energy required to keep the grid running.

The more companies remove needs from he grid, the better off we’ll be.  Considering the number of Walmart stores in the country, and if this test is successful, imagine the amount of power that would be saved across the entire country.  If other businesses with similar building designs joined in, then you would really see a reduction.  Yes, solar panels are expensive now, but of course increased demand usually results in lowered pricing, so they would finally catch up with one another.

I say bring it on, and lets give the power grid a bit more breathing room.

[via Inquisitor, image credit Fast Company]

A total of 42 published this week again.  Not bad for being on vacation!

FiveMinutePhotographer.com

• Basic Photography Tips: Reduce Distractions

FunJug.com

• I RAVE U feat. DJ OZMA
• Great Old Spice, for the Elder God your Elder God could smell like
• Darth Vader being a smartass
• Kitteh Runs Up the Water Bill
• Save Betty White PSA
• EDS, an HP Company ‘Cat Herders’
• To Life: Vanessa’s Wedding Surprise

Photo.BLORGE.com

• Leaf unleashes 80 megapixels for your high end needs

RememberingChristmas.com

• Get Double Use Out Of Your Outdoor Christmas Garland

SeanPAune.com

• Talk Like A Pirate Day 2010
• Green Lantern Movie Looks To Be Getting Confusing
• Braindead Techcast Ep 146: Moronic Monday plays with a joydick
• How I Met Your Mother Just Needs To End
• Braindead Techcast Ep 147: No sexy in security
• I’m Actually Following Through With A Promise!
• Braindead Techcast Ep 148: Lost in St. Louis
• Euro Disney Eying A Marvel Comics Theme Park
• Scattarcact Episode #114: A Clash of Heroes
• Ding-Dong, The Witch Is Dead – Jeff Zucker Leaving NBC

SpookieBits.com

• Top 40 Free iPhone Halloween Apps

TechnoBuffalo.com

• Apple’s iPad Seen To Be Cutting Into Computer And TV Sales
• Apple Backtracks And Allows Google Voice Apps Back In The Store
• Rumor: Facebook Working On Its Own Mobile Phone
• Facebook Phone Evidence Mounts
• Intel Testing Coded Processor Upgrades
• Florida School Trades Textbooks For Kindles
• Fring Introduces fringOut For Cheap Calls
• Microsoft Executive Says Kinect Sales Will “Blow Away” The iPad
• Verizon iPhone Could Cost AT&T 1.4 Million Subscribers
• Google Launches New Android Gmail App … If You Have The Right Phone
• Report: Blockbuster To Go Chapter 11 Any Day Now
• Bioshock Infinite Gameplay Footage Unveiled
• Pokémon Apokélypse – This Must Be Made
• Blockbuster Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy Protection
• Buying And Selling Used Video Games Could Become a Thing Of The Past
• Can We Please Stop Crowing About The Value Of Facebook And Zuckerberg?
• Netflix Eying Streaming Only Membership Plan In The United States
• Flashback Friday: The House Of The Future
• Netflix Strikes New Deal With NBC Universal
• Hotels Testing Tiered Wi-Fi Pricing
• Uncovered Apple Patents Drop Major Hints To iPad 2 Updates

The day I have wondered for ages if it would ever happen has finally comes to pass, and Jeff Zucker is finally leaving his role as head of NBC television.

NBC is currently in the process of being bought by Comcast, and apparently one of the conditions of the buyout is that Jeff Zucker, the chief executive of NBC Universal, leave at the completion of the deal. Mr. Zucker said in an e-mail to employees on Friday that the idea was not his, and it would be hard for him to leave the only company he has ever worked for.

I say good riddance.

Under Mr. Zucker’s stewardship, NBC has fallen from the top network to fourth place. He was also the man behind the entire The Jay Leno Show debacle, and the eventual messiness that saw Conan O’Brien ousted from The Tonight Show, and Jay Leno reinstated as host. He now holds the record for the longest senior manager ever at the network, and it was obvious that was not a record he should have won on.

The most frightening thing? Apparently he has an eye on going into politics. Yeah, lets elect someone who knocked the former top network to last place, that makes perfect sense …

I can’t say I will miss Zucker, and I’m not even going to try to pretty it up.  The man is an egotistical idiot who should have stepped down ages ago, so I want to at least thank Comcast for taking out the trash.

It’s episode #114 of Scattercast and I’m on vacation!

A Marvel theme park?

DC moving West to make more movies?

Podcasting: The radio shows of today?

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Well, this really was only a matter of time when you think about it, but it looks like some sort of Marvel Comics theme park may be coming out of Disney, but it isn’t going to be where you’d expect it.

According to a report from The Telegraph last week, Euro Disney has petitioned the French government to extend its land development rights from 2017 to 2030.  Originally Disney could only build new parks and expansions around the original Euro Disney until 2017, but this 13 year extension was granted due to the recent decline in attendance credited to the recession.

Euro Disney parties said that a Marvel theme park was definitely on the table, bu if it did happen, construction may not even begin until 2020 at the earliest.

The odd part about this is that some years ago Marvel licensed some of its key characters to Universal Studios, and they can’t use them at any American theme parks until those contracts expire.  No one is sure if those rights extend outside of the country, however, and that might mean the Marvel park could only work in some place like France.  Hopefully we would see one in the United states eventually, but who knows at this point.

I have a lot more thoughts on this matter in this week’s episode of Scattercast, so make sure to check it out.

I’m on the road tonight as I’m flying out on vacation tomorrow, so we did the show with me in a hotel room, and … well, lets just say my Internet speed left something to be desired.  Our apologies if the episode sounds a bit odd, but it just couldn’t be helped.

An interest collection of stories tonight, almost like a cleanser for some of the moronic stories we do during the week.

• New electronic skin gives robots the sense of touch – io9
• Rubber Band Gatling Gun Will Cost You $500, Totally Worth It – The Inquisitr
• Apparently the Future Is Now: Homemade Coil Gun – Great White Snark
• Glass Speakers? What Are You, Crazy? – CrunchGear
• Braille GPS helps the blind to navigate in unfamiliar places – DVICE

Braindead TechCast Episode #148

And as a special treat … here is my speedtest just prior to the show …

If all goes according to plan, by the time you are reading this I should be on the road, heading to a vacation … yes, another vacation.

After last year’s trip to Boston I said that I should take a vacation more than once every 13 years.  Well … 13 months is better than years I guess.

I’m heading to Philadelphia for five days to hang out with the Diabolical Miss M (she’s out of law school and moved her evil lair).  As she has an actual job now I will see her mostly in the evenings, but will spend my days wandering around the city, and of course hitting the historical spots.

As for the promise, well I said I would take more time for myself, and I’m trying to.  I really came out of last year’s vacation a changed person, and I have made a ton of alterations to my life such as massively purging my house of stuff I just really didn’t need (still not done, but boy is it different), trying to make sure I have some more time to read (mostly comic books, but I’ve read more comics in the past 13 months than I’ve read in years) and just generally trying to not be as stressed.  My biggest stress reliever has been the gym, and while I weigh slightly more than this time last year, it’s all muscle.  It is amazing how much bench pressing can actually relax you, though.

I am sure there will be some photos posted from Philadelphia, and I’ll be commenting a lot on Twitter, I’m sure.

And, yes, there will be posts here.  No way I’m breaking my five and a half year run of daily posts for a measly vacation!

Now, lets just hope this morning goes off without any hitches …

Why is social media filled with idiots?  And why must some CEOs say insanely stupid things?

• CE-Oh no he didn’t!: Anssi Vanjoki says using Android is like peeing in your pants for warmth – Engadget
• Future ex-Price Chopper employee illustrates how to use social media to damage brands and scare people – The Inquisitr
• All about the “onMouseOver” incident – Twitter Blog
• The Twitter hack: how it started and how it worked – Guardian
• Pie chart: Apple’s outrageous share of the mobile industry’s profits – CNN

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