I need not get into the details about why George RR Martins writing is beyond great (in depth exploration of each character), since this is supposed to be about the HBO series that introduced it to the public. Needless to say, every Song of Fire and Ice fan must have been on edge waiting for HBO’s adaptation of the Game of Thrones, fearing that it wouldn’t live up to expectations. But of course, we all know by now that most everyone’s pretty happy with how things turned out. True, I would have liked the direwolves to be a little bigger, but when it comes to the wall, I guess my spatially-challenged mind couldn’t imagine it to be as tall as that before…I love it. As for the characters, much everyone is spot on, not only in their look but also the way they carried it all off.

So why am I raving about the Game of Thrones now? Perhaps it’s because I can’t wait till Season 2 comes out on April (2 more months!!!), or perhaps its because I’ve been watching the Season 2 trailer over and over since yesterday. If you haven’t seen it yet, prepare to be left hanging.

As for me, it’s time to hit the books and brush up on the plot in time for Season 2!

Mooch a book.
This weekend, why don’t you hole yourself up in your bedroom? Borrow a good book from one of your friends. Better yet, get a free e-book somewhere and use your e-book reader (I use my PSP). You don’t even have to get dressed for the day. Just stay in and immerse yourself in a wonderful fantasy novel!

Oh, and check out this site called BookMooch. You can give and get books all you want!

Play a game.
You can do this alone or with friends. With the mood I am in, I am probably better off playing Guitar Hero by myself. Otherwise, I might end up hitting someone with my guitar (and no, I cannot afford to buy a new one). Anyway, this is a perfect blues chases. Get out your favorite video game and forget the world.

Play around with Wolfram Alpha.
Wolfram Alpha, in case you haven’t heard (shame on you!), is the newest in search engine technology. Heck, its creators do not even call it a search engine. It’s a computational something…yeah, I need to play with it a little more.

I just started watching it this afternoon, and I haven’t stopped since then! Anyone who has the slightest interest in the legend of King Arthur will certainly be held captive by this TV series. Admittedly, the plot of the “modern” series has some inconsistencies with the legend that some of us are familiar with. Indeed, I second guessed myself a couple of times, as I hadn’t read the legend – at least the version I read from childhood to my teenage years – in a while.

Guinevere, for example – I don’t remember her being a handmaiden to Morgana, a ward of King Uther Pendragon. Then there’s the Lady of the Lake – the subject of Tennyson’s poem. How about the creation of Excalibur? There are probably a lot more that I haven’t spotted – I am no expert, really; but I have to say that the series is quite mesmerizing.

For sure, purists would be hating on me by now. Again, I have to admit that I am far from being a purist, and I can only say that this series is worth watching. Forget the inconsistencies. Enjoy yourself for a while, as I am right now.

So guess how old he is? Hard to believe, but the person we all fell in love with as Captain James T. Kirk is now 79 years old! Time does fly by so fast, doesn’t it? And, flattery aside, he doesn’t look his age at all!

I like Curtis Silver’s write up about Shatner’s life – a tribute, if you wish:

James T. Kirk was the greatest iteration of a fictional space captain the world had ever seen, and is still a character that is hard to beat today. Shatner brought a flair to the job, a brash and emotional style, that has yet to be duplicated and probably never will be. Kirk was thoughtful and sympathetic but also decisive and combative. He was a lover to green alien chicks. He was always thinking, even if he appeared to be always fighting. To us, this was William Shatner. There was no difference between the two. We imagined this is how he was. Later we’d see that while similar, Shatner is a man full of life and humor, never afraid to show it to the world.

Indeed, this guy is something else. Even though many actors may have portrayed more popular roles in science fiction, I think that William Shatner is a notch above them all. What say you?

At this point, I would be very disappointed in you if you have not figured out where the name Pon Farr was taken. True Trekkies would know what it means, and in case you are not – or your memory is simply on the fritz – pon farr is actually the term for a mating ritual that the Vulcans are known for. This term was first mentioned in a very old Star Trek episode, which aired in 1967. The title of the episode is Amok Time. According to Star Trek lore, Vulcan males experience a strong urge every seven years, and strong is an understatement actually. When this happens, the Vulcan male simply has to get lucky and mate with a female. Otherwise, their luck turns real sour and they just up and die on you.

Pon Farr is not guaranteed to make you go crazy and to make you feel that urge to mate, but hey, who knows where it can get you? In any case, the mere idea of having Star Trek perfume on should be appealing to any Trekkie – male or female.

As for the “real” scent, the perfume is a mixture of citrus, black currant, lotus blossom, and water lily. It is not yet available but it will cost $30 a bottle when it is released later in the month. Get me one of those!

Pranav Mistry, a 28-year-old researcher from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology has developed what he calls the sixth sense device. In fact, his research has brought him along quite far that he already has a prototype of this digital device. Even better, big companies such as HP, Google, Microsoft, and Samsung are evaluating his device!

So what does it do? To begin with, we have to define sixth sense in the same way that Mistry sees it. Tech Tree helps us with this:

To briefly describe what this sixth sense is all about, we need to understand how the current dissemination of information from current electronic devices takes place. Most of the information from computers, mobile phones and other devices are confined to screen or paper – if we decide to take a print. However, the sixth sense, according to Mistry, bridges this gap “bringing intangible digital information out into the tangible world, and allowing us to interact with this information via natural hand gestures”. The concept falls under “wearable computing” — the same category under which the ubiquitous mobile phone falls as well.

I can “feel” your dejection now. It is not the “sixth sense” that you were hoping for, was it? Still, this technology is quite advanced and has far more practical applications, don’t you think?

The newest God of War game was recently shown in E3 and will appear exclusively on the Playstation 3.