THE NERD CORPS

Welcome to the Nerd Corps, your source for all new stories, startups and shenanigans in the online geek community!

[thenerdcorps]

Geeking For Good: Handmade Capes for Super Kids

This may be the most heartwarming thing I've seen in weeks. Young kids all over the US who are facing huge obstacles, like illness or disability, are suddenly gaining superhero status. Robyn Rosenberger and her organisation TinySuperheroes have made it their mission to turn these kids into crusaders, with their own capes and costumes to help them fly over the face of adversity.

Every few days, the project's blog features the story of a new superhero, clad in the cape tailored for them through donations and sponsors. Robyn explains TinySuperheroes' premise on the site:

TinySuperheroes seeks to empower our little ones — one cape at a time. We donate capes to Extraordinary TinySuperheroes who exemplify strength and determination as they overcome great adversity. Once these Extraordinary TinySuperheroes are comfortable in their new capes, we feature them on our blog, in hopes of giving them a voice, their illness or disability a face, and the world the opportunity to stretch. 

I think sometimes we could all stand to have a little more strength, and this Junior Justice League are setting an incredibly inspiring example for everyone they reach.

You can keep track of TinySuperheroes' progress and donate to the cause on their site, as well as purchasing a cape for you, a little superhero in your life or even someone you don't know - the capes come in kid, adult and dog sizes.

[thenerdcorps]

TNC Tunes - "Tuna Melt" Set to Awesome Domino/Rube Goldberg Video

While this collab between electronic artists A-Trak and Tommy Trash is fun to listen to, this TNC Tunes post is more for the video than the music.

Directed by Ryan Staake, the video for "Tuna Melt" features a three and a half-minute long mix of domino maze and Rube Goldberg-style excitement, that travels all the way through a really nice house. While it might not all have been filmed continuously, it looks cool.

Check out the worthwhile video above! You can also buy A-Trak's Tuna Melt EP on iTunes.

[thenerdcorps]

Take My Money!: Pixel Art Sweatshirts

Some of these designs seem like the kind of screen-printed fantasy that blogs like We Have Cardigans are made up of. But nope, these excellent 8-bit gamer style sweaters are totally real, and available for you to buy!

Artist Drew Wise has collaborated with Beloved Shirts to create this excellent line of crewneck sweaters, that feature all-over designs with popular gaming references from favourites such as Tetris, Legend of Zelda and Pokémon. Personally, I have my heart set on that awesome Pixel Space one.

At the moment all the sweaters are on sale for $59. You can check out the line here, and don't forget to look at the rest of the site for some more awesome designs!

[thenerdcorps]

Yeah Science!: Cyberpunk Legend William Gibson Tries Google Glass

In a moment that must seem almost like stepping into one of his own novels, cyberpunk author extraordinaire William Gibson briefly got to experience augmented reality vision, as he tried on Google's new prototype product Google Glass this week.

Offered by an audience member wearing it at an event in New York, Gibson briefly donned the impressive piece of tech, which displays a kind of operating software dashboard in its lenses. Not dissimilar to Neuromancer character Molly Millions' implants, come to think of it!

Tweeting about the experience later, Gibson hinted at his ideas for the gadget's use in the future, possibly even in literature:

Expect Google Glass to be reworked into less obvious, more trad spectacles, sunglasses etc, for covert use. Should be relatively easy.

— William Gibson (@GreatDismal) April 23, 2013

We're living in the future. Scratch that, WE'RE LIVING IN SCI-FI. I'll be awaiting the arrival of an FTL drive I can attach to a razor scooter any day now.

(Source: Mashable | Photo Credit: Flickr, 1800joe.com)

[thenerdcorps]

Geeking For Good: "Campaign to Stop Killer Robots" Actually Has Serious Message

It sounds like something from a mix of The West Wing and The Terminator, but The Campaign to Stop Killer Robots is real, and serious about ending the use of fully autonomous weapons in warfare.

Comprised of a mix of different non-governmental human rights organisations, the movement held their first press conference in London yesterday, for a call to action that would ban the use and development of robots capable of targeting and killing without human intervention. 

...organisers of the Campaign to Stop Killer Robots - a global effort being launched on Tuesday - say advances in robotic technology mean it is only a matter of time before fully autonomous "human-out-of-the-loop" systems - capable of firing on their own - are developed.

They argue that giving machines the power over who lives and dies in war would be an unacceptable application of technology, and would pose a fundamental challenge to international human rights and humanitarian laws.

Campaign leader Ms Williams, who won a Nobel Peace Prize in 1997 for her work in bringing about a ban on anti-personnel landmines, told BBC News: "As people learn about our campaign, they will flock to it.

"The public conscience is horrified to learn about this possible advance in weapons systems. People don't want killer robots out there."

The US Department of Defence have stated that humans should always be "in the loop" in the decisions made, while the Ministry of Defence in the UK have gone on record saying they have "no intention" of developing fully autonomous weaponry. But with the technology continuously in development, whether or not these guarantees stay in place remains to be seen.

You can follow the campaign's progress at their site.

(Source: BBC News | Photo Credit: Flickr)

[thenerdcorps]

Fund It!: Classic NES-Style Sock Designs

We all have that one favourite pair of socks that we can't wait to put on as soon as they're out of the laundry; and soon, the classic gamer in you may just be rearing its pixelated head to pick a new favourite when these awesome designs go into production.

Ukraine-based sock manufacturer Sammy Icon have taken their new collection of 8-bit style socks to Kickstarter, in order to raise funds for new fabrics, yarns and sewing machines to meet the demand for their cool new product. The line so far consists of the four designs seen above, and are a great addition to the sock drawer of any Super Mario, Pac-Man or Duck Hunt fan.

Sammy Icon are running one of the most modest Kickstarters I've seen lately, aiming for a goal of just $8,000. They have a list of sock-based reward tiers ranging from $8-200, and have just over three weeks left to go, so take your chance to support an independent company while picking up some great gaming apparel here!

[thenerdcorps]

Media Followup: First Trailer for Thor: The Dark World Premieres Online

Arriving a day late to include in our Media Roundup this week is the first trailer for anticipated sequel Thor: The Dark World. How rude! But we can forgive it because it looks awesome. It seems we're gonna be seeing a lot more of Asgard, as well many other terrifying worlds... especially London.

Marvel's Thor: The Dark World continues the big-screen adventures of Thor, the Mighty Avenger, as he battles to save Earth and all the Nine Realms from a shadowy enemy that predates the universe itself. In the aftermath of Marvel's Thor and Marvel's Avengers Assemble, Thor fights to restore order across the cosmos...but an ancient race led by the vengeful Malekith returns to plunge the universe back into darkness.

The Dark World will be out in the UK on October 30th, and will be the second movie in Marvel's Phase 2 sequence, following Iron Man 3, debuting in cinemas this week.

Along with Captain America: Winter Soldier, Edgar Wright's Ant Man, and the eventual return of the Avengers with Joss Whedon at the helm, I for one am very excited about the immediate future of superhero movies.

[thenerdcorps]

Take My Money!: Life-Sized Iron Man 3 Figure Available to Buy, Look At

In the off-chance you're building your own replica Tony Stark mansion on a cliff in Malibu, you might want to kick it off with this life-sized replica of the Mark 42 Iron Man armour from Sideshow Collectibles. It, uh, doesn't let you be Iron Man. There's no getting into this suit, sadly. But hey, it's pretty!

Over 7 feet tall, this breathtaking Life-Size piece is individually painted with high gloss automotive paint for a stunning finish. This film-accurate recreation features brilliant LED light up eyes, arc reactor, palm and display base. The Iron Man MARK 42 Life Size Figure is sure to be the centerpiece of any collector's display.

If you have a spare $8,500 lying around, chances are you are Tony Stark, but you can also buy one of these here. Have fun with that! Hit the jump for a few extra shots.

[thenerdcorps]

MEDIA ROUNDUP: Monday April 22nd

FILM: Man Of Steel screenwriter calls movie a "first contact" story

TV: Futurama will not be renewed after seventh season

ONLINE: New Netflix original series Hemlock Grove premieres

MUSIC: Lana Del Rey's addition to The Great Gatsby soundtrack released

FILM

As excitement builds up for this summer's big superhero blowout Man Of Steel, screenwriter David S. Goyer has pitched in with his opinion that the Superman adaptation is more than just a superhero movie, it's also one of the excitement around alien life:

Even if he didn’t have superpowers it would literally be the biggest story that ever happened in human history. It would change the face of the Earth forever. Just his existence would. I think it was in one of the Donner films — which I adore — but I think there’s a moment where Lois Lane is interviewing Clark and says, ‘So you’re from Krypton, huh?’ and he says ‘Yeah,’ and then they just kind of drop it. He just said he’s from an alien world! And everybody just accepts it. I just thought the idea that we would treat [Man of Steel] as a first contact story was in a strange way it was kind of a big idea because everything sort of follows from that. So that was one of the Eureka Moments.

This is just one of many new spins that Man Of Steel seems to be putting on the superhero movie genre. Bring on June 14th!

TV

It's with a heavy but unsurprised heart that we report that animated sci-fi favourite Futurama is being cancelled for a second time.

After its revival in 2010 after a string of feature-length specials, ratings for seasons 6 and 7 have seen a steady decline, something that has led Comedy Central's EVP of Programming Dave Bernath to call this the show's "natural end".

Producers David X. Cohen and Matt Groening are in talks of finding the series a new home, but at this stage nothing is guaranteed:

“We’ve been in this situation before and it’s tempting when you’re doing episodes that are as good or better than anything you’ve ever done to continue doing it,” Groening tells EW. “We’re catching our breath and seeing what the fans have to say. The experience of this show has been so much fun from the very beginning to now — everybody is so happy to work on this show — that it’d be a shame if we all went our separate ways… We would love to continue. We have many more stories to tell. But if we don’t, this is a really great way to go out… I think these episodes are the best ones we’ve ever done.”

If only the studio had the same frame of mind for The Simpsons. PUT IT DOWN ALREADY.

ONLINE

Warning: Trailer NSFW

Netflix are steadily adding more great original series to their roster, and Hostel director Eli Roth's murder mystery gorefest Hemlock Grove is the latest instalment, with all twelve episodes premiering over the weekend.

Based on Brian McGreevy's novel of the same title, Hemlock Grove follows the murder of a young girl believed to have been killed by a wolf, in a remote Pennsylvania town where wolves may roam in plain sight...

Trailer above is red band and gory, just like the entire series, so check it out on Netflix if that's your sort of thing!

MUSIC

The hype for Baz Luhrmann's cinematic adaptation of F. Scott Fitzgerald's great American novel The Great Gatsby has already seen the release of lots of gorgeous music from the upcoming soundtrack, and Lana Del Rey's "Young And Beautiful" is the latest piece to drool over.

Overseen by Luhrmann himself, the song will be released as a single tomorrow, with the whole soundtrack scheduled for an international release on May 6th. Be sure to check out the orchestral version of this song too!

[thenerdcorps]

Fund It!: Code Monkey Save World, Graphic Novel Based on the Songs of Jonathan Coulton

There are many things in this world I didn't realise I was missing until they became a thing. A comic book universe based on songs written by independent musician/geek extraordinaire Jonathan Coulton is one of those things.

JoCo might be best known for his musical contributions to the Portal franchise, but he has an extensive catalogue of songs about evil geniuses in love, zombies having office disagreements and the tragic tale of a Star Trek Redshirt. So after joking around with comic writer Greg Pak on Twitter about combining those songs and characters into one epic storyline, it seemed like way too good an idea to not actually make happen. SO THEY DID.

Collaborating with artist Takeshi Miyazawa, Coulton and Pak have launched a Kickstarter to fund their 60-page graphic novel project.

Comics writer Greg Pak ("Planet Hulk," "Batman/Superman," "Magneto Testament"), internet superstar musician Jonathan Coulton, and artist Takeshi Miyazawa("Runaways") have joined forces to create a graphic novel that stars the much-loved monsters and super-villains from classic Coulton songs like "Code Monkey," "Skullcrusher Mountain," "The Future Soon," and "Re: Your Brains." 

"Code Monkey Save World" follows Code Monkey, the put-upon coding monkey from the eponymous Coulton song, as he teams up with the seething, lovelorn super-villain from Coulton's song "Skullcrusher Mountain." The unlikely duo fight robots, office worker zombies, and maybe even each other as they struggle to impress the amazing women for whom they fruitlessly long. 

You can donate to the Kickstarter here. At the time of writing, it's already escalating at top speed - over $14,000 towards its $39,000 goal, with 29 days to go! Like most crowdsourcing projects featured here at TNC, the team are offering some great perks for pledges, from Code Monkey Save World stickers, to books and merchandise, to having JoCo perform a gig for you!

(Source: Wired)

[thenerdcorps]

MEDIA ROUNDUP: Monday April 15th

FILM: First teaser trailer for Hunger Games sequel Catching Fire hits the web

TV: New promo trailers for upcoming Doctor Who episode "Hide" 

ONLINE: British sci-fi webseries Chronicles Of Syntax ends first season

MUSIC: Excitement for Daft Punk's new single release sparks blow-up of fanmade versions

FILM

The first full trailer for the much-anticipated adaptation of Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins' second novel in the hugely successful Hunger Games trilogy, started making the rounds online today. In the teaser we see Katniss and Peeta on their Hunger Games victory tour, as they try to cope with the pressure of keeping up appearances while steadily becoming a symbol of rebellion across the Districts of Panem.

A new perspective we have here is President Snow's menacing conversation with Philip Seymour Hoffman's Plutarch Heavensbee, that details his plans for bringing Katniss down. We don't want to spoil the plot of the movie too much though, and apparently neither does the trailer, as it focuses mainly on just the first part of the story. Hopefully we'll see what else director Francis Lawrence has in store soon...

TV

Saturday will see another "spooky" episode of Doctor Who, as the Doctor and Clara investigate a haunted house in "Hide" written by Neil Cross:

Clara and the Doctor arrive at Caliburn House, a haunted mansion sat alone on a desolate moor. Within its walls, a ghost hunting Professor and a gifted psychic are searching for the Witch of the Well. Her apparition appears throughout the history of the building, but is she really a ghost? And what is chasing her?

Frankly I haven't been very engaged in the latest season of Doctor Who as in this writer's opinion, the series' new "overarching story" style doesn't really suit it; but who knows? Maybe this could be the great standalone episode I've been waiting for to draw me back in.

ONLINE

Indie sci-fi fan favourite Chronicles Of Syntax reached the end of its crowd-funded first season on Saturday, with its intense sixth episode "Sugar & Ice". CoS has been following the story of Sian and her team of gifted misfits as they assemble to prevent the end of the world, and the mysterious faction of people hell-bent on stopping them. Chronicles Of Syntax was funded through an IndieGoGo campaign (like Kickstarter, but not) and was made on a tiny budget. Let's see what they do with Season 2!

MUSIC

If you're not excited for Daft Punk's new single "Get Lucky" featuring Pharrell and Nile Rodgers, you're wrong. The electronic duo's first release since the TRON: Legacy score promises the same kind of instantly iconic jam that we've come to know and love.

The first single from their upcoming album Random Access Memories comes out today, but has sparked so much buzz that some fans have gotten a little ahead of themselves. Various remixes composed from samples of the preview seen above have been passed off as a leaked full-length version of the song and have circulated the web at speed. You can hear one such version here. While the track does sound wholly plausible as a full version, I'd like to think when the real thing drops we'll be pleasantly surprised!

[thenerdcorps]

TNC Tunes: They Might Be Giants - "Nanobots"

Alt music legends They Might Be Giants released their sixteenth studio album Nanobots last month, and today they debuted the video for their title track over at Mashable. Directed by Liam Lynch, the video details the adorable yet terrifying uprise of billions of cute little yellow nanobots as they consume the entire planet. Yay!

Have a listen; Word of warning though - this song will get stuck in your head like a bunch of tiny musically gifted robots. And that's how the invasion begins.

Nanobots is available at TMBG's site as a digital download, CD or vinyl, because they're just that cool.

(Source: Mashable)

[thenerdcorps]

Geeking For Good: ThinkGeek Responds to Firefly Hat Controversy with Charitable Gesture to Equality Now

When you think of the hat that Jayne Cobb's mama made for him as a gift in sci-fi fan favourite Firefly, you probably think a little of the love that went into it, turning it into a symbol of the warm, fluffy centre under Jayne's big tough mercenary exterior. It's that kind of love that a lot of fans have for this show, so it makes perfect sense that with no licensed replica available before now, Browncoats with a knack for knitting have been making and selling handmade versions of the hat for each other since the show's cancellation in 2002.

Enter FOX, returning once again to ruin every Firefly fan's day.

After great demand, popular online merchandise store ThinkGeek collaborated with Ripple Junction to mass-produce a licensed replica available on their site. This gave FOX the pull to start throwing cease-and-desist notices at any fan who had the nerve to sell homemade versions of their own on sites like eBay and Etsy. And they did.

Following mass fan reaction, especially criticism in their direction, ThinkGeek have responded, distancing themselves from the controversy caused by FOX but also doing what they can to make things right:

Browncoats, we hear your concerns about the cease and desist on Etsy Jayne Hat sellers!

We weren’t involved in that process, but we have reached out to FOX and we’ve heard what you’ve had to say. As a result, we’ve decided to donate the profits from all Jayne Hat sales on our site to Can’t Stop the Serenity, a Browncoat charity dear to ThinkGeek’s heart that raises funds and awareness in support of Equality Now. We’ll continue making that donation until we run out of stock.

We hope the Hero of Canton himself would approve.

ThinkGeek are good people, they're fans like the rest of us. It's just unfortunate that this slightly misguided attempt at providing something cool has divebombed into something that takes a lot of the heart and meaning from the hat.

If you want, you can buy one of ThinkGeek's replica hats and contribute to Equality Now here. Personally, I'd rather donate to the cause and look out for a good handmade version; if they're illegal now, then I think the crew of Serenity would approve of that even more.

(Source: Blastr)

[thenerdcorps]

Geeking For Good: Humble Bundle Offers Weekly Sales of Cool Indie Games for Charity

As a big supporter of Child's Play, the charity that specialises in providing long-term hospitalised kids with games and entertainment while on the road to recovery, I am a huge fan of the Humble Bundle system. Here's how it works:

Indie video game developers collab with Humble Bundle and offer their games as part of an awesome package

You pay as much as you want, and you decide how much of that goes to the site, how much goes to the developers, and of course how much goes to charity

You get some great games for a price you can afford and you're doing a lot of good in the process!

Humble Bundle have started doing weekly sales, which of course I have to feature. This week they're collaborating with Blendo Games, and are offering four great titles: 3D space shooter Flotilla; excellently titled strategy game Atom Zombie Smasher; the "adorable" educational Air Forte; and if you pay more than the average, you'll unlock Thirty Flights of Loving, the incredible first-person short-story-in-video-game-form sequel to Gravity Bone.

The charities that are a part of this bundle are Child's Play and the Electronic Frontier Foundation, an organisation dedicated to defending freedom on the web. The Blendo sale is running until the 16th April, so grab these titles at the Humble Bundle website while they're still a part of this great deal!

[thenerdcorps]

Fund It! Oh, You Did: Veronica Mars Movie Kickstarter Passes $5million, Still Time to Get Your Pledge In

So far we're on a great roll with featuring two crowdsourcing campaigns that have already been funded, but the story of the Kickstarter to revive cult TV favourite Veronica Mars in movie form is too good not to share.

After rallying cast and crew members to the cause, series creator Rob Thomas' Kickstarter has been running for the past month - although the most impressive part is that the project reached its target of $2million within 11 hours of its announcement. You can't deny fans want this thing.

Well, there's no other way to say it: wow. We asked for help, and you came through in the biggest way. It's hard to believe how fast we shattered some of Kickstarter's biggest records, but that's what you guys do. Us? We're just excited and grateful, and thrilled that so many of you want to go back to Neptune with us. But you know what? Now that we know what's possible, there's more work to do. $2,000,000 is just the beginning! We've got 30 days, and the more we raise, the bigger and better this movie will be. So, let's not pop the cork on this champagne yet. We still need you! Please keep it up, and we'll keep working to deserve your support.

Now, with less than two days to go, the project is sitting at over 250% funded, all of which will go towards making the movie better and better.

Thomas' celebrations may be short-lived though, as the show's star Kristen Bell vowed to come after him with a tazer if they passed the $5mil mark...

two can play at this game @robthomas...Guys if we get to 5 Million- ill Taze rob and video tape it!

— Kristen Bell(@IMKristenBell) March 13, 2013

I don't know about you, but I'd probably pay to see that alone! You can contribute to the Veronica Mars Kickstarter for the next 40 hours, and pick up some cool perks in the process like signed posters, t-shirts and even tickets to the premiere in LA!

[thenerdcorps]

Take My Money!: Gorgeous Ocarina Of Time Song Rings

Someone play the Song of Storms and make it rain in my wallet. These rings by Etsy seller Christian Griffin are made of stainless steel, and feature the directions for twelve different songs from one of the most iconic games in the Legend of Zelda franchise. They are B-C-up-down-A-utiful (sorry I tried).

You can buy them individually, or get the whole set at Christian's Etsy shop. Have a look at some closeups of a few of my favourites after the cut!

Song of Time:

Song of Storms:

Zelda's Lullaby:

[thenerdcorps]

TNC Tunes: Disney/Maroon 5 Mashup with Felicia Day

The thing I love most about mashups is that the song choices don't have to have any relation or link; they can be completely arbitrary and still create something new and awesome.

Take for example, musician Jane Lui's new video - with the help of her buddy, geek royalty Felicia Day, Jane's put together an excellent combo cover of Snow White's "Someday My Prince Will Come" and Maroon 5's "Payphone". The result is incredibly pleasing to the earholes! For that reason I'd recommend listening through headphones of some kind.

You can check out the rest of Jane's stuff, as well as get the MP3 for free, at her website.