The recent passing of Pope John Paul II will be a memory that stays with me for the rest of my life. As I stated in an earlier post, John Paul II was the Pope for the last 26 years, which just so happens to encompass my entire life. He did great things for the world and will forever be known for his good deeds, and his loss is felt by many people of all different religions the world over.

As such I am not really sure how I feel about this article that talks about the release of a comic book in Columbia in which “the pope dies and is reborn with superpowers beyond the infallibility Catholic doctrine gave him on Earth.” The comic book’s artist (Rodolfo Leon)

said he was saddened by the death Saturday of John Paul II, whom he admired. The artist worried some people might be offended by such a revered figure’s becoming a comic book hero, but said the reception so far has been good.

The comic book has apparently been in the works for about a year now and “apart from predominantly Catholic Colombia, the book will be sold in Poland, and publishers in Mexico, Canada and the United States have expressed interest.”

The comic book “shows the late Polish pontiff meeting comic book legends such as Batman and Superman to learn how to use superpowers to battle Satan” and

Like any self-respecting superhero, the Incredible Popeman has a battery of special equipment. Along with his yellow cape and green chastity pants, the muscular super-pontiff wields a faith staff with a cross on top and carries holy water and communion wine.

Well…I guess it could be interesting.

The answer to this question, for most of us whom have seen the movie, is simple: the Wachowski Brothers. However, tonight I stumbled on an article that contradics that statement. It seems that an African American woman by the name of Sophia Stewart actually penned the original manuscript that The Matrix is based off of, and has been in a court battle over copyright infringement. In adition to this, the article also suggests that Sophia is also responsible for the Terminator movies as well!

Stewart filed her case in 1999, after viewing the Matrix, which she felt had been based on her manuscript, “The Third Eye,” copyrighted in 1981. In the mid-eighties Stewart had submitted her manuscript to an ad placed by the Wachowski Brothers, requesting new sci-fi works.

According to court documentation, an FBI investigation discovered that more than thirty minutes had been edited from the original film, in an attempt to avoid penalties for copyright infringement. The investigation also stated that “credible witnesses employed at Warner Brothers came forward, claiming that the executives and lawyers had full knowledge that the work in question did not belong to the Wachowski Brothers.” These witnesses claimed to have seen Stewart’s original work and that it had been “often used during preparation of the motion pictures.

A quick search on Google for Sophia Stewart returns a ton of links. From what I can tell Da Ghetto Tymz appears to have the most information, including what appears to be PDF files of court documents. There is even reports that the movie had been edited from the original movie “that aired in theaterz March 31, 1999.”

…when [Sophia] first saw the movie back in ’99, she witnessed blatant theft and plagiarizm from her script, ‘The Third Eye’ written and copywritten back in 1983. Soon after, she contacted the Pirates informing them she was aware of the theft and a demand for credit and compensation for what soon became the most successfull movie franchise to date. Not too long after, Warner Bros. allegedly began released versionz of The Matrix edited from the 2 hour and 40 minute original.

….

Apparently, there are various scenes that are different from the later released version(s) which will enable you to know you have the original release:

* In the beginning of the movie, there’s an intro that scrolls up the screen just like in the movie Star Wars that layz out the plot. It speaks of a nuclear war that happened in the year 2110AD, where humanz were now used as fuel for the machines like batteries
* In the part where Neo barters for a stack of programz for programz of his. No money was exchanged like in the edited release(s)
* The girl in the beginning who came over Neo’s had a rabbit on her arm. In the edited version(s), she’s seen with the rabbit on her back shoulder blade

Now I remember seeing the movie opening day at a movie theater just outside Glenside PA with some friends, and I don’t remember those defferences, but I guess anything is possible.

In all honesty, in the end, I really don’t care who wrote the movie. If it is truly based off someone elses work though, they should be given proper credit. The fact remains that The Matrix is a great movie.

Having not read a lot of comics growing up it is surprising how much I actually know about comic book characters. With all the movies recently coming out based off of Marvel characters it would be nice to know even more. I somehow managed to help myself in this pursuit by accidentally stumbaling upon the Marvel Directory. This site is a database of (possibly all?) Marvel characters, contianing information on each individual and group. It is searchable by a number of categories including individual, locations, and strength levels, and is also browsable by alphabetical order. In adition you are even given the option to upload information should you happen to have any that is already not listed.

Identity theft is a serious issue for everyone. Having your identity stolen can cause serious harm for you and your loved ones. The most common damage caused by identity theft is financial. I happened to stumble upon this article over on MSN Money which offers a few good tips on how to help prevent identify theft from happening to you. In addition the article also contains links to good articles on keeping your Social Security number safe and cancelling credit cards.

It seems that a pair of engineers in London who are persuing their master’s degree have come up with an idea for a building-in-a-bag. The article over at wired.com explains that the idea is to have “a sack of cement-impregnated fabric. To erect the structure, all you have to do is add water to the bag and inflate it with air. Twelve hours later the Nissen-shaped shelter is dried out and ready for use. ”

This idea has huge potential for any situation where sturdy shelter is needed and needed soon. Such as war zones and areas ravaged by a natural disaster.

Aid agency chiefs have been impressed by the simplicity and economy of the idea. A bag weighing 230 kilograms (approximately 500 pounds) inflates into a shelter with 16 square meters (172 square feet) of floor space. Cost is estimated at £1,100 ($2,100), while an equivalent-size Portakabin (a type of portable building widely used in the United Kingdom) costs about £4,000 ($7,700). The same-size tent costs about £600 ($1,150).

The comparative cost and ease of use are substantial. This is one inovation in the area of concrete use that has great potential to help out in a lot of ways all over the world.

I found a site this evening called Come Clean. It is basically an online confessional. You can choose to leave a confession or to view the confessions of others. I have been watching confessions now for at least 10 minutes, and I have to admit some of them are really funny. The presentation is pretty cool too. It is done in Flash and shows the confessions as being written on the palm of a pair of female hands. Each confessions is then subsequently washed away in a sink. The entire thing is rather interesting.

While “working” this evening/morning I came across the site for Shredding Systems Inc. This company is an industry leader in, well, shredding. They shred pretty much anything. If it needs shredding they will design, build, and implement a system to shred it. We are not just talking paper here, thats amature stuff. If you go here you can watch videos of some of there systems at work shredding a lot of stuff. Sure there is some paper in there, but there is also steel drums, oversized tires, whole computers, oh yeah and refrigerators and washing machines too! If you want to see some heavey duty shredding, check this place out!

I found this site called Colorgenics the other day while surfing the other night at work. It is basically a mood analysis based off color selection. I thought it was kinda neat. Here is what my first results were:

Enough is enough – you feel frustrated and rejected. You are fighting back and the going is tough. It would be just wonderful if you could be left in peace.

You are a leader in every sense of the word. You know where you are going and you know what you need to do in order to get there. You exercise an inherent initiative in overcoming obstacles and difficulties. You either hold, or wish to achieve, a position of authority by means of which full control can be exerted over events.

You honestly believe that your hopes and ideas are realistic, but there seems to be no one around to give you the necessary reassurance and encouragement. You are egocentric. You believe that you are always ‘right’ – well maybe you are but you have a short fuse and are likely to take offense for the slightest reason.

As of late, you have been experiencing untold stress and this is a result of continuous frustration. You haven’t been taking care of all your physical needs and it’s beginning to show. It would seem that you have a need to find someone to whom you can really relate – someone perhaps whose standards are as high as your own. You want to be different – to be individualistic – to stand out from the common herd. Your inherent control of your sensual instincts is restricting your ability to give yourself to open up freely but this being on your own, being lonely, often makes you feel the need to give up some of your strict standards to surrender to the general flow – to be like everyone else; a part of the herd. Deep down you regard such instincts as weaknesses to be overcome. You would like to be loved or admired for yourself alone. You demand recognition and tender loving care.

There is that inherent fear that you may be prevented from attaining the better things in life – those things that you consider essential to your well-being. So you are prepared to try everything to prove to yourself that whatever you do or try will go wrong. This destructive attitude could come under the heading of ‘a self fulfilling prophecy’. This belittling yourself is your method of disguising how hopeless and what a waste of time you feel that everything is. So now turn it about. As you ‘think’, so you are… So ‘imagine’ yourself successful. ‘Pretend’, ‘act it out’ and you may be pleasantly surprised at the outcome.

Its interesting how these things work. Its like subscribing to a astrology site and having your horoscope sent to you everyday, sometimes there on target and sometimes not. The trick is to be vague and then the result could apply to anything.

It appears that Bill Gates is to receive an “honorary knighthood by Britain’s Queen Elizabeth.”

He will become a Knight Commander of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire, an honor that dates back to 1917 … Among the pomp and grandeur of the formal state rooms at [Buckingham Palace], Gates will kneel in front of the sovereign, who will gently tap him on the shoulder with a sword.

Although he will get nighted today, it turns out he will be denyed the honorary title of “Sir” as he is not a Briton nor a citizen of the Commonwealth and “that honor does not extend to other nationalities.” Well I guess money can’t buy everything after all.

I found this site while at work today/last night that uses the google image search to create a montage using images found during a search for an image you specify. The way you use the site is relatively self explainitory. I thought it was kinda neat that someone put this together.

The program uses 20 images that google image search kicks back as search results for the description you enter. You then can press the “create montage” button to have it automatically create a montage using these 20 images. The advanced options allow you to set the grid size and if you wish to use the original high resolution images or the google thumbnail images. Each image in the montage acts as a ling back to the original image, which allows you to see the full image.