Last week I’ve finally managed to start reading Chris Anderson‘s much acclaimed book The Long Tail.  At some point I arrived on the page where Chris was talking about ‘The Wikipedia Phenomenon’.  It tells the story about Jimmy Wales‘ controversial ambition to build ‘A repository of knowledge to rival the ancient library of Alexandria‘.  This idea was deemed preposterous in 2001 when it started, but today Wikipedia is the largest Encyclopedia  on Earth ! 

As comparison,  Brittanica has about 80,000 articles and Encarta has 36,000, while Wikipedia has more than 1 million articles in English alone (3.5 million if include 75 other languages) !  Sure, Britannica and Encarta could be considered as more authoritative than Wikipedia, as one study reported that for example in 42 entries on science topics there were on average 4 errors per entry in Wikipedia and 3 in Britannica, but the great thing is those errors would be rectified almost immediately in Wikipedia, while you have to wait for the next edition of Britannica to be printed.  Personally, I just like the ease of use the speed of searching of Wikipedia, in contrast to opening those big Encyclopedia book (though Britannica has an online version now).

And then the book came to this paragraph, and I quote:

“What makes Wikipedia really extraordinaryis that it improves over time, organically healing itself as if its huge and growing army of tenders were an immune system, ever vigilant and quick to respond to anything that threatens the organism.  And like a biological system, it evolves, selecting for traits that help it stay one step ahead of the predators and pathogens in its ecosystem.”

” … And like a biological sytem, it evolves, ….”

What does that remind you of ? SKYNET !!

If there is one place where the ‘machine’ can learn and becoming self-aware it’s here, the well of knowledge of the entire Human Race, inside Wikipedia.  This is the place, one can learn about the history, strengths and weaknesses of humankind, and while still on this topic, I just want to say, if I were an alien race gearing up to conquer earth, I just need to check Wikipedia (after Google maybe), to plan my conquest :)

So, anybody seen the latest trailer of Terminator Salvation ?  What do you think about Bale playing Connor ?

A while ago one of my work-colleague sent me an email with a link to a trailer about this new Comic Movie Adaptation called ‘Watchmen’. I quickly opened the link and watched the trailer, REALLY COOL!

Except only one thing, I had never heard about this Watchmen comic, nor had I recognized the Superheroes (many not just one) featured in this comic.  So, I turned to my colleague, who happened to sit next to me (yes we are sad geeks who email each other instead of speaking), and asked him ‘What is Watchmen’, at which point his eyes suddenly got bigger and his mouth opened wider, he was speechless for a few long second before he could answer me ‘You .. DON’T know about WATCHMEN?!’ I thought immediately that he was being polite with his comment as he could’ve followed that with ‘ … and you call yourself a GEEK’ type of thing ?

He then explained to me that I should’ve known this apparently a critically acclaimed Comic Book written by a famous English bloke, Alan Moore. ‘Er .. who’s Alan Moore’, I asked.  His face turned from gloom to disgust !  ‘You know … V for Vendetta?’, he answered. ‘Ah …. I saw the movie, very good one’, I said.  There went my geek-creds I thought ?

Nevertheless, I was sold!

Off to Wikipedia I found a bit more information on the Comic Book, here is some excerpt from the entry:

Moore used the story as a means to reflect contemporary anxieties and to deconstruct the superhero concept. Watchmen takes place in an alternate history United States where the country is edging closer to a nuclear war with the Soviet Union. After government-sponsored superhero The Comedian is found murdered, the vigilante Rorschach warns his former colleagues of what he believes is a conspiracy to kill costumed heroes. As the story progresses, the protagonists discover that one of the heroes has resolved to stave off war between the United States and the USSR by carrying out a plan that will kill millions of innocent people.

From IMDB I found more about the movie itself, which is apparently directed by Zack Snyder (of the excellent 300).

I also found the Official Watchmen The Movie Website, and the usual Apple Trailer page.

Now, I have this habit of not wanting to watch some movies without reading the literature first.  I did it with Harry Potter and Lord of The Rings before, so I vowed to do it with Watchmen too.

A quick search at Amazon gave me many choices, from the normal comic book, some film companions, to collector editions. My colleague was quickly pointed to me that I should get the Collector Edition if I were serious about reading it. So after a few click I found the one that merit the name, it’s called Absolute Watchmen.

The only problem is it’s gonna cost me £52, a bit too dear for me.

So, another quick search landed me to ForbiddenPlanet, which was selling another type of Collector Edition called ‘Watchmen The Absolute Hardcover’.  This one was really cool, if you read the info on the page it says:

This oversized (8.25″ x 12.5″) hardcover collection, packaged inside a beautifully designed slipcase, will be the cornerstone of any serious comic book collection. Each page of art has been restored and recolored by WildStorm FX and original series colourist John Higgins and approved by Dave Gibbons to appear as originally intended.
Additionally, this grand tome will include 48 pages of supplemental material produced exclusively for the Graphitti Designs Watchmen hardcover edition and not seen since their original publication. Included therein is a cornucopia of rare and historically valuable treasures, including samples of Moore’s Watchmen scripts, the original Watchmen proposal, Gibbons’s conceptual art, cover roughs, and much, much more.

This was perfect for me, and the best thing was that I only had to pay just under £35 !  So, I ordered this one immediately.  Lo and behold, now I am a proud owner of this masterpiece :) You can see the pictures I’ve taken on the un-boxing ceremony after the comic arrived.

I haven’t got a chance to read it though, I only managed to flick through its pages, it’s a very nice book, with Hardcover and the pages are made of a heavier than usual paper. It also has a Hardcover Slipcase as mentioned above.
The movie is scheduled to screen on the 6th of March 2009, so I have 4 months to read the comic.
Now, your turn to educate me, would you tell me what you know about these guys in more details?