This excellent Iron Man tattoo was recently spotted in the Philippines. It's a good example of why tattooing deserves respect as a medium of the fine arts.

via Geekologie

Sir Ian McKellen, the actor who played Gandalf, was mistaken for a beggar while taking a break outside a theater. He was in costume while rehearsing Waiting for Godot:

The 70-year-old actor is rehearsing Waiting For Godot in Melbourne, Australia, and was sitting in his tramp costume having a break when a passer-by gave him an Australian dollar.

He said: "During the dress rehearsal of Godot, I crouched by the stage door of the Comedy Theatre, getting some air, my bowler hat at my feet (and) seeing an unkempt old man down on his luck, a passer-by said, 'Need some help, brother?' and put a dollar in my hat."

Link via Sci Fi Wire | Photo: REX/Daily Telegraph

Flickr user rickysaurus created an impressive infographic filled with Star Trek factoids. Pictured above is just a small part of it. I've got to ask: how much could I get for a kidney stone? Make me an offer.

Link via Sci Fi Wire

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Albion: 1849 is a tribute to Charles Babbage and Ada Lovelace, two 19th Century pioneers of computer science. It was created by YouTube user epithumia2007 and modeled after the opening for the short-lived 70s science fiction television show Space: 1999. I've embedded a copy of that opening below for comparison.

via Fanboy


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Superhero movies are usually scientifically preposterous. But Andrew Moseman at Discover magazine argues that Iron Man 2 is fairly realistic. Warning: spoilers.

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2010/05/07/iron-man-2s-science-tech-are-grounded-in-reality%E2%80%94mostly/ via Comics Alliance | Image: Paramount/Marvel

At io9, Marc Bernardin is hosting a poll that asks readers which episode of their favorite television show they would eliminate from that show's run. On his poll, he's included some particularly bad episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Lost, Heroes, True Blood, Doctor Who, and Battlestar Galactica.

My choice isn't listed. It's "Rascals", a comedic episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, in which Captain Picard and several other characters are transformed into children. I like Star Trek because it's an adult drama, not Gene Roddenberry's Muppet Babies.

Which episode would you eliminate?

Link | Image: Paramount

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Fan films are becoming increasingly sophisticated -- far beyond the standard camcorder in the basement treatment. A case in point is Eddie Lebron's Mega Man, which is 93 minutes long. The production value of this live-action movie is outstanding. The above video is a trailer, and below, you can watch the full movie.

via Comics Alliance | Official Site


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Instructables user Honus created a replica of the arc reactor that Tony Stark wears to stay alive. He provides instructions so that you can make your own, too. Honus says that it's comfortable to wear for hours at a time, so you can use it to impress the ladies as you stroll through your day.

Link via Technabob

Tomorrow, call your mother because it's Mother's Day, and you'll (be made to) regret it if you don't. But until tomorrow, you may want to look at Matt Blum of Geek Dad's list of the ten greatest mothers in science fiction and fantasy:

8. Martha Kent - You think it’s tough to deal with your kids’ temper tantrums? Imagine having to worry they’ll register on the Richter scale! And imagine his birthday parties: “OK, Clark, blow out the candles… CAREFULLY!” It’s a miracle she had any hair, gray or not, left by the time she was getting old.

7. Padme Amidala - Yes, we know, she never actually had the opportunity to be a mother to Luke and Leia. And she did spend most of Episode III sitting at home being pregnant and spouting mind-numbingly bad dialogue. But she was pretty badass in Episodes I and II, and she did produce her twins, who did eventually help bring about the downfall of the Empire.

Who would you add to or remove from the list?

Link | Image: Lucasfilm

Harry Turtledove, the master of alternate history literature, has penned a new short story entitled "Vilcabamba." It's about life on Earth decades after aliens called Krolp have partially conquered it. Here's how it starts:

The President of the United States looked out of an Oval Office window at Grand Junction, Colorado. The Oval Office was square, but the President’s workplace kept its traditional name. Harris Moffatt III sighed and bent to his paperwork again. Even in Grand Junction, that never disappeared.

Washington, D.C., remained the de jure capital of the United States. Harris Moffatt III had never been there. Neither had his father, President Harris Moffatt II. His grandfather, President Harris Moffatt I, got out of Washington one jump ahead of the Krolp. That the USA was still any kind of going concern came from his ever-so-narrow escape.

Harris Moffatt III was also Prime Minister of Canada, or of that small and mountainous chunk of Canada the Krolp didn’t control. The two countries had amalgamated early on, the better to resist the invading aliens. That, of course, was before they realized how far out of their weight they were fighting.

Link | Image: Jason Chan

What you're looking at is a compressed image of seven large game worlds, laid over each other to scale. They are:

• Grand Theft Auto 3
• Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas
• The Elder Scolls 4: Oblivion
• Farcry 2
• The World of Warcraft
• Burnout Paradise
• Just Cause 2
  

Click here to view a larger size.

via Digg

The Daily Blink is a webcomic about World of Warcraft, produced by a pair of Blood Elves called Chris and CP.  Here's their vision of what Cosmopolitan magazine would look like if it was published in WoW.

Link via reddit

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As this great video illustrates, some Jedi knights never develop a maturity to match their powers. It's by filmmaker Freddie Wong and stars Logan Olson. Despite the title, there's no foul language in the video.

via Nerd Bastards

This Bioshock-inspired mobile by Etsy seller SaltyandSweet is the perfect inspiration for the lil' gamer in your family. It's made from laser-cut matte board and is about the size of a basketball.

Link via technabob

Ceiling Ravage has no more respect for your privacy than LOLcat icon Ceiling Cat. Image by Canadian artist Matt Moylan.

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