Online resource for geek art, culture and technology
Check out this brilliant reimagining of Harry Beck’s iconic London Underground map that was created by Redditor NaturalBeats.
NaturalBeats’ creation takes Zone 1 of the infamous map and gives it the Nintendo treatment – envisaging it in the style of the classic game Super Mario Bros 3.Continue Reading
As part of a collaboration project with the WWF’s Earth Hour that took place on March 23rd at 8.30pm local time a huge drone LED ‘Star Trek Into Darkness’ Logo appeared above the London skyline.
The eye-catching drone display was created by Ars Electronica Futurelab and featured 30 LED-illuminated quadrotors in the 308-foot tall logo. They rotated 118 feet above the ground, before dimming their lights alongside those of Tower Bridge, Big Ben and numerous other landmarks and companies to show support for the Earth Hour project. This video clip shows how the Earth Hour Star Trek logo was put together. Continue Reading
London was in shock this morning after reports emerged that a helicopter crashed into a construction crane which caused it to burst into flames and go hurtling into a nearby road.
The incident occurred during the rush hour and shocked commuters on their way to work looked on in horror as black clouds filled the air and helicopters flames engulfed nearby vehicles. Early reports indicate that there was just one person aboard the helicopter, which is believed to be an Agusta 109.
The incident occurred near Vauxhall (a busy train and underground station just south of the River Thames). The crane that the helicopter crashed into was atop the 50-storey St. George Wharf Tower – one of the tallest residential buildings in Europe. Continue Reading
All across the UK celebrations will be held to commemorate Queen Elizabeth II’s 60 year reign. The Queen’s Diamond Jubilee will start on Saturday 2nd June and continue through to the 5th. If you like a party, then the UK and in particular – London, (where much of the main celebrations will be held) is the place to be this weekend!
Queen Elizabeth is only the second monarch to celebrate a Diamond Jubilee in British history, only Queen Victoria had a longer reign – she celebrated her Diamond Jubilee in 1897!
The UK is gripped with Jubilee fever, everywhere you go the British flag is in sight, companies advertise a multitude of ‘Jubilee’ special offers – one that I found particularly amusing was the Old El Paso advert that told consumers to celebrate their Jubilee lunch with a fajita!Continue Reading
The legendary torch which will ignite the cauldron that marks the beginning of the London 2012 Olympic Games, has been lit during a ceremony in Olympia, Greece.
The symbolic torch was lit by actress Ino Menegaki, who was dressed as a high priestess and kindled the flame by using a mirror to capture the sun’s rays. The ceremony took place at the Temple of Hera ruins, which is nearby the ancient Olympic stadium which hosted the first ever set of games.
The flame, which is symbolic of purity because it comes directly from the sun, was then transferred to the London 2012 torch. Liverpool-born, Greek world champion 10km swimmer Sypros Gianniotis was holding the torch at the time, after it was ignited he began to run with it, starting the emblematic flame off on its week long journey around Greece.
He then passed it on to the first British torchbearer, 19-year old boxer, Alex Loukos, who was actually part of the delegation of schoolchildren who made the trip to Singapore in London’s final bid to host the Games. Continue Reading
McDonald’s has a long history of being an official sponsor of the Olympic Games, beginning since the 1976 Montreal Olympics. This year’s 2012 London Olympics will be no exception, and marks the 9th Games where McDonald’s has been the official restaurant. As such, it is the only (branded) restaurant that will be feeding athletes – which is not to say it’s the only food they will be eating.
Unlike previous Games though, this time they’re taking it to a whole new level.
McDonald’s will be opening its largest restaurant to date at Olympic Park with a massive 3,000 square meter, two-story floor plan with 1,500 seats that is said will span about half the size of an American football field. One of four McDonald’s restaurants being opened for the Games, McDonald’s has also said the restaurant will be built from recyclable materials. The current record-holder is a McDonald’s in Orlando, Florida.
The world’s biggest McDonald’s will only be open for six weeks though, set to coincide with the London Olympic Games. It is scheduled to be ready to open its doors in time for the Olympics and Paralympics on July 27th, and will only remain open until September 9th.Continue Reading
Yesterday London officially switched off its analogue TV signal, marking the end of the transition to digital TV, which although is widely hailed as a good and proper advancement, also sparked some bittersweet sentiment due to another casualty that came with it – Ceefax.
With the end of analogue, so too came the end of Ceefax, a teletext service that was loaded on your television screen and has been in use since 1974. Ceefax transmitted on unused parts of the broadcast spectrum and provided access to up-to-date news stories, sports scores, weather forecasts, and a host of other features designed to entertain, such as quizzes, games, and the like.
In today’s boner-inducing geek news, Trekkies of the world can officially celebrate a long awaited dream, all five Star Trek captains (or rather, the actors who played them) will be appearing together for the UK’s fan convention “Destination Star Trek London” this October.
It will be the first official event at which they’ve ever done so.
For the less initiated who may not instantly realize who all five of those captains may be, they are: Captain James T Kirk, Captain Jean-Luc Picard, Commander Benjamin Lafayette Sisko, Captain Kathryn Janeway, and Captain Jonathan Archer. The roles were played by actors William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Avery Brooks, Kate Mulgrew, and Scott Bakula, respectively.
The convention will be running from from Octover 19th-21st at the Excel Exhibition Center, and tickets go on sale starting April 30th.
Considering what a big deal this is to fans of the vastly popular franchise, one of the most successful of all time, expect tickets to be snatched up fast. Organizers are already expecting 10-15 thousand fans from all over the world to attend, and the captains won’t be the only special guests in attendance, as more are to be announced leading up to the big day.
For more information on the convention – which will feature photo and autograph signings, Q&A panels, parties, stunt displays, recreation of sets (as well as some original sets), and even a costume parade – you can visit the official convention website for “Destination Star Trek London” here, which went live just today.
Me? I want to know if Will Wheaton will be there…
Good on you, Boris, good on you.
London’s Mayor, Boris Johnson, put a stop last week to an anti-gay advertising campaign that was supposed to run on approximately two dozen buses across five different routes.
The controversial ad was commissioned by Core Issues Trust, a registered charity that funds “reparative therapy” for gay Christians which can “develop their heterosexual potential.”
Yes, you understood that right, this is a group that thinks they can “fix” gay people and make them straight.
Worldwide orthodox group, Anglican Mainstream, also helped back the campaign.
The advertisements that were going to run said: “Not gay! Post-gay, ex-gay and proud. Get over it!”
Bruce Cat (26)
Jack Kieffer (17)
guest (5)
Stella Inchaurregui Kennedy (5)
Daniel Wall (4)
Dbakeca Italia (3)
Eduardo Shiroma (3)mandaryn.com.ua (3)
vincemad (3)
Austin Danger Powers (2)
