"Turn left… turn right… Turbo Boost… you are at your destination, Michael."
Jul 09I’m surprised nobody did this sooner – for years now we’ve had in-car GPS systems and they’ve been talking at you for awhile. So if your car is going to talk at you, why not make it sound like William Daniels? Mio Technology has invented what they’re calling “Navi-tainment”, which is a dorky way of saying “GPS guidance system that sounds like a TV show.” Still, you have to admit, the symmetry makes sense. Fictional talking car lends voice to real-world talking cars.
But why stop there? Here is Alert Nerd’s top 5 list of other robot voices they should license for GPS units;
5) Old school Cylon Centurion. Awesomely creepy way to get directions, but the “By Your Command.” every time you enter a destination will be worth the cost alone.
4) Dr. Theopolis. Twiki would have been cool, but Mel Blanc is dead. Eric Server isn’t. Hence…
3) C3-PO. I don’t know that I’d want it, but from a business standpoint, this is actually one I expect to see happen, particularly if the KITT version does decent. If they can sell a lightsaber remote, they can sell Anthony Daniels as a GPS.
2) Robby the Robot. Will only really work if it yells “Danger! Danger! We are off course!”
1) Daleks. Not robots, strictly speaking, but c’mon… “YOU! WILL! TURN! LEFT! YOU! WILL! OOHHHH-BAAAAAAY!”
And no, I didn’t forget HAL. There’s creepy funny, and then just creepy. You shouldn’t fear for your life every time the system can’t find a particular location.
Abandon Ship! Children and drink menus first!
Jul 03
So, as mentioned previously, The Star Trek Experience at the Las Vegas Hilton is coming to an end, leaving a less nerdy world in its wake. According to their website, this was as planned – being Vegas, the experience was only intended to be 10 years long. I would have to see something from 1998 to believe that, but for now, I shall defer to the PR blurbing on their site.
No more Star Trek weddings. No more themed dinner missions. No more heavily costumed wait staff.
And no more themed drinks. BELAY THAT ORDER!
The drinks must live, and to that end, I’m on a mission to retro-engineer them as best I can. I say retro, instead of reverse, because I’ve never had any of them. But if you can mix booze, fruit juice, ice, and Star Trek, I’m in. And based on their website, I think there’s a good shot at recreating their, well, shots.
Warp Core Breach
10 oz (1 and 1/4 cups) of 5 rums
Razzmatazz (Americans, please explain)
Fruit juices (this will be the tricky part – was it citrusy or smooth?)
Ice from Exo III (or in a pinch, dry ice from the grocery store, planet Earth)
Risa Colada
(Lt. Commander Rupert Holmes approved)
Coconut Rum
Blue Curacao
Pina Colada (mix, presumably)
Ice cream (vanilla or coconut?)
– blend, whip cream on top
Systems Overload
(hint – tastes like an Astropop)
Blavod Black Vodka (or vodka with all the colours in the food colour box)
99 Apples (a liqueur. If you get 99 actual apples, you’re doing it wrong)
Melon Liqueur
Grenadine
Sour Mix
– Layer grenadine, green stuff in the middle (melon and 99 apples? with or without sour mix), black vodka on top. Rim of martini glass covered in crystals – sour mix? green coloured sugar?
Cardassian Cooler
Melon Liqueur
Citrus Vodka
Triple Sec
Sour Mix
– All I know about mixed drinks is that Triple Sec should be used lightly compared to the straight booze.
If anyone would like to pick one and experiment along with me, I wouldn’t say no – let me know which one you pick, for organizational purposes.
[UPDATE!] – I’ve found a supposed recreation of the ST: Experience recipe for a Warp Core Breach, which will take the guess work out of the rum balance – still, we need someone who’s tried one to confirm the taste (and yes, the dry ice is important, as it carbonates the mix.)
Hey, you know what The Day The Earth Stood Still needed?
Jul 03More death and destruction. Yeah, that’s it.
*sigh*
Dear Kidrobot…
Jul 03
If I randomly pick four out of 25 Adult Swim series 1 blind boxes, and get four… FOUR! 4!4!4! Squidbillies, you can kiss my 30-something, disposable income ass.
Also, nobody thinks Assy Mcgee is funny (at least, not in the “adult” part of Adult Swim.)
Seriously, here’s the first series; Mad Scientist and Robot Chicken (Robot Chicken), two members of Dethklok, Killface (Frisky Dingo), Birdgirl and Avenger (Harvey Birdman), Carl and Ignignokt/Err in super-bullet mode (Aqua Teen Hunger Force), Orel (Morel Orel), Monarch and Dr. Girlfriend (Venture Brothers), Assy Mcgee (that show I don’t care about), and Lil, Early, and Granny (Squidbillies).
What do you notice? That’s right. There are some key characters you’d expect, but aren’t there (Birdman? One of the ATHF? A single Venture?) And also, that’s a LOT of stupid Squidbillies.
Thank Saturday Morning Jesus some of the artists in the office liked them, or I would have felt it was a wash-out. I do wonder however what the two mystery figures are (no sign of them yet on ebay.)
(Rockin' Robin reference here)
Jun 21Hello. We’ve created a Twitter feed for AlertNerd, where all our nerdy musings here on the website will automatically appear. A handy way to keep up to date on AlertNerd, and all things Alerting and Nerding.
Join us, won’t you?
