Ootri

It's been the decade where comic culture took over pop culture, and superheroes became movie stars. But what are some of our picks for the best comics from the last ten years? We're glad you - okay, we - asked.

If it's the end of a decade, then it's time for multiple Best Of The Decade lists. This isn't exactly one of them, though, despite what it looks like; for one thing, even if it was, you'd all disagree with it and complain that we left off something essential - although anyone arguing for the inclusion of Ultimatum, we believe that can be disproven through the use of science and charts - and for another, we've not read every single thing published in the last decade, so for all we know, there's something really obvious that we'll have somehow overlooked through accident instead of malice. Instead of The Ten Best, then, these are Ten Of The Best (Click on the titles for our explanations why and, in some cases, runners-up to the list that we couldn't help but sneak in):

100% by Paul Pope (DC/Vertigo)
All Star Superman by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (DC Comics)
Black Hole by Charles Burns (Pantheon)
Casanova by Matt Fraction, Gabriel Ba and Fabio Moon (Image Comics)
Laika by Nick Abadzis (First Second Books)
Planetes by Makoto Yukimura (Tokyopop)
Pluto by Osamu Tazuka and Naoki Urasawa (Viz Media)
Scott Pilgrim by Bryan Lee O'Malley (Oni Press)
We3 by Grant Morrison and Frank Quitely (DC/Vertigo)
Y The Last Man by Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra and many more (DC/Vertigo)

(Thanks to Lauren, David Brothers, Jeff Lester and all who offered advice and good reasons why we were entirely wrong in some original choices.)

Read More... [Source: io9: top]

As promised, Sunsoft's brought Blaster Master to the Virtual Console -- though we think the impact is somewhat dulled by the quantity of other games available for download this week. There's a total of 11 different games available, so head past the break for the full list.

Continue reading NintendoWare weekly: Bejeweled, Blaster Master, Earthworm Jim 2

NintendoWare weekly: Bejeweled, Blaster Master, Earthworm Jim 2 originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 13:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Green Culture, Green Daily

The strategies that Nissan and GM have announced to introduce their plug-in vehicles next year - the Leaf and the Volt - are huge in the green car world but quite tiny in the overall automotive market. The technologies used in the cars are giant leaps forward, but total sales for these vehicles will be measured in the tens of thousands for the next few years. Considering the total U.S. vehicle fleet is around 240 million vehicles, the dent will be small at first.

Still, tiny changes can add up, and that's the approach that Planet Positive is taking with their new 2020 Vision campaign. The idea is to have people share the small but positive steps that they will take in order to reduce carbon emissions and in other ways help prevent climate change. Does reading AutoblogGreen count?

British politician Nick Clegg, the Liberal Democrats Leader, for example, is ditching private transportation when possible. "I barely use the car, I travel by public transport and I turn the thermostat down a degree or two, though my wife is Spanish and she has an affection for warmer homes than I do!" he said in a statement. Read more after the jump.

[Source: Planet Positive]

Continue reading Planet Positive looks for your 2020 Visions of a low carbon world

Planet Positive looks for your 2020 Visions of a low carbon world originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 14:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Action

The trailer debuted during the Video Game Awards Saturday night and this morning publisher Disney Interactive offered up more info on Tron Evolution, confirming that the action game title from developer Propaganda Games would indeed be heading to the PC in late 2009.

The game takes place in between the events of the classic 1980's film and the upcoming sequel Tron Legacy. The game's official press release hints that the new movie references events that are depicted in the game. We are promised both melee disk combat and light cycle racing in Tron Evolution. Tron Legacy's director Joseph Kosinski will "consult" on the game's development and actress Olivia Wilde will have her voice and likeness as the movie's character Quorra in the game as well.

Even more info on Tron Evolution revealed along with first screenshot originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Read More... [Source: Big Download Blog]

Gregor Tarjan, designer of the Aeroyacht 110, a superfast 110-ft. catamaran equipped with an Icon A5 exploration airplane, has commissioned Monegasque yachtbuilder Wally to construct the avant-garde craft. Representing the first model of a sleek, new range "embodying the ultimate high-performance, supremely styled world yacht," the Aeroyacht 110 will be one of the largest composite multihulls in the world. As standard equipment the craft will come fitted with a two seat Icon A5 amphibious, retractable and fold-able sports plane, launched and retrieved from a specially designed pod. The yacht, which is expected to do 35 knots at full speed, will be ready for delivery in 2011.

Filed under: Water, Wings

Aeroyacht 110 by Wally Comes with Icon A5 Plane originally appeared on Luxist on Fri, 11 Dec 2009 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Luxist Awards asked three of our Expert Panelists, all veterans of the travel industry, about the best ways to research a luxury vacation.

How important is word of mouth? Do travel agents still play a key role? How important is the Internet in the research process? Are websites, including Facebook and TripAdvisor, gaining in their importance?

Adam Stewart, chief executive of Sandals Resorts International; Nikheel Advani, Chief Operating Officer and Principal of Grace Bay Resorts; and Ed Steiner, Senior Vice President, Latin America and the Caribbean, One&Only Resorts share their insights with Luxist.

Filed under: Journeys, Video

What's the Best Way to Research a Luxury Vacation? originally appeared on Luxist on Tue, 01 Dec 2009 10:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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As promised, the Spike VGAs offered the first look at the new Tron game. Actress Olivia Wilde introduced the teaser trailer for Tron Evolution, featuring what might be real in-game footage of some neon-accented dudes dueling, and a light cycle race. As seen in the movie trailer, the light cycles can curve now, which is blasphemous. See it for yourself after the break, courtesy of YouTube's brysi.

According to the trailer, Tron Evolution will be out Holiday 2010. We're guessing it'll coincide closely with the December 17 release date for the Tron Legacy movie. The teaser also suggests it'll be a prequel to the events in Tron Legacy. But probably after the events in Tron.

Update: High-quality version now posted after the jump above.

Tron Evolution premieres at VGAs, coming Holiday 2010 [update] originally appeared on Joystiq on Sat, 12 Dec 2009 21:05:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After Mass Effect 2 lead gameplay designer Christina Norman walked us through the Engineer class and it's sanguinary droid last week, we were wondering how BioWare could possibly appeal to our inner tactician any more. It appears that the developer sought to do just that with this week's introduction to the Sentinel.

Skilled in both biotic skills (thats space magic, folks) and tech abilities, Norman says the Sentinel is "the only class that can blast through any enemy's defenses ... with or without your squad backing you up." With only a handful of weeks left before the game's January 26 release date, it won't be long before we get to find out exactly how adept the Sentinel is for ourselves.

Mass Effect 2 dev profiles Sentinel class, the 'Jack of All Trades' originally appeared on Joystiq on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Emerging Technologies

Tapping some of the enormous amounts of thermal energy that emanates from deep within the earth is one of the more promising methods of renewable power. Unlike wind and solar, geothermal tends to be a lot more consistent than the sun or flow of air. It now looks like geothermal power could have another potential benefit: waste water from at least one geothermal plant in central California is rich in lithium.

This is important because the increasing number of electric and hybrid vehicles will demand a lot of lithium ion batteries. Currently, the biggest sources of lithium are Bolivia and Chile, with some also coming from China. Those lithium sources consume a lot water in processing. The Lawrence Livermore Lab has developed a process to remove the silicates that have previously made it difficult to extract the lithium from the geothermal water.

Simbol Mining is using this process for a new demonstration plant being built on the Salton Sea to produce lithium.

[Source: NewScientist]

Geothermal waste water could be domestic lithium source originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Action

The Spike TV Video Game Awards has revealed that Eidos and Rocksteady are working on a sequel to Batman: Arkham Asylum. Yep, the super hero action game that is perhaps the best Batman game ever made is getting a follow up.

The CGI teaser shown on the award broadcast showed what looked like a Gotham City that was ravaged by crime and a version of the Joker that is not quite healthy. Batman himself doesn't appear in the video and in fact the title of the sequel is never mentioned. The trailer ends with a URL (www.arkhamhasmoved.com) but as of the writing of this post the address isn't working.

Update: The teaser site has now gone live.

Update 2: Warner Bros. Interactive has posted up a press release announcing that it will be the publisher of the game. Eidos is not mentioned. An actual title for the game as well as a release date is not mentioned.

Batman: Arkham Asylum sequel revealed [Update] originally appeared on Big Download Blog on Sat, 12 Dec 2009 20:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Luxist Awards asked three of our Expert Panelists, all veterans of the travel industry, about the hot destinations of the future. Their answers may surprise you.

Adam Stewart the chief executive of Sandals Resorts International; Nikheel Advani, Chief Operating Officer and Principal of Grace Bay Resorts; and Ed Steiner, Senior Vice President, Latin America and the Caribbean, One&Only Resorts share their vision with Luxist.

Filed under: Video

What are the Next Hot-Spots in the Luxury Resort Scene? originally appeared on Luxist on Mon, 23 Nov 2009 10:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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T-Mobile's oddball 3G network makes creating a device that simply supports all forms of North American HSPA a challenge for a very simple reason: even triband HSPA radios are still a bit of a novelty, and to support everything we've got going on over here, you effectively need to go quadband since AWS splits its duties between 1700 and 2100MHz. Happily, Motorola is coming to bat here, not with an actual phone but with an 850 / 1900 / AWS radio module that's intended for integration by other OEMs. We're not sure what kinds of devices this particular unit might find duty in, but if nothing else, it gives us confidence that Moto's now able to create phones that effectively straddle the T-Mobile / AT&T fence -- assuming it's got a business case to do so.

Motorola prepping 3G module with support for AT&T and T-Mobile USA alike originally appeared on Engadget Mobile on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 21:12:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Read More... [Source: Engadget Mobile]

Filed under: China, Europe, Plants/Manufacturing, GM, Saab

Here's a little bit more on the salvation/debacle of Saab. First of all, it should be pointed out that after our last report about Holland's Spyker trying to buy Saab, the freaks lovely people over at Saabs United pointed out some gaping holes in our reporting an inconsistency or two with the Reuters/our version of the facts. As such, we've gone ahead and vetted the information we're using for this post with the brain trust over at Saabs United. Hey, they really like Saabs, what can we say? And now, on to the story.

Automotive News is reporting that China's Beijing Automotive Industry Holding Company (BAIC) has reached a deal with General Motors to acquire the tooling for both the Saab 9-3 and 9-5. Not so fast, says Saab's United! What they actually acquired is the tooling for the old 9-5, as well as the stuff for the pre-2006 9-3. Sort of a big difference, as obviously Saab's just getting geared up to roll out the all new 9-5 - and whomever winds up buying Saab will most likely want to offer both it and the existing 9-3 and its derivatives. Spyker's CEO Victor Muller confirms the BAIC deal is for "old equipment" and goes on to characterize the BAIC deal as, "Good news."

Then there's a bunch of no commenting. Obviously, General Motors has no comment on anything, though they do say that once a deal is reached they will say something. As far as we can tell, the pending Spyker deal is still a definite maybe. BAIC could not be reached to make a "no comment," and Saab's Eric Geer's stated, "We can't comment on anything about the sales process." Though our Saabs United source does provide us with a juicy tidbit, "[Geer's] wife is Saab's head legal counsel so he's like the canary in the coal mine. If he ever resigns suddenly..."

So there you have it - Saab's future is still totally up in the air. Though our source says that in addition to the 9-5 sedan, there's a 9-5 wagon (SportCombi) that's "pretty much ready to go" as well as the 9-4x which has, "been ready for about a year but Caddy had to get the SRX out first." Plus, a new 9-3 is being worked on. And one more thing - Saabs United is reporting that a Swedish group (not Renco) is also in talks with GM, in addition to the Spyker deal. We'll keep you posted.

Gallery: Frankfurt 2009: 2010 Saab 9-5

[Source: Automotive News - subs req. | Saabs United]

REPORT: Despite selling off old bits to BAIC, Saab brand still in search of buyer originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 09:28:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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After hitting CES with a bang, it's been a quiet year for the TV widgets movement, but Rallycast isn't giving up, going from app developer to announcing its own TV App Store for 2010. The company's CEO Jeff Allen calls its plans to allows multiple programs running at once similar to tabbed browsing on the PC. Not having to pick and choose what's running is great, but while we love our Firefox, its never ending performance issues and the already poor reputation of speed on widget televisions could be a slow, scary mix. Hopefully a year of development (and maybe some newer HDTVs at CES?) can improve performance, because the last thing we want is lag when it comes to updating fantasy football rosters, deleting that note Mom left on our Facebook page, or both. Samsung's LED TVs will support the new store, as well as "several other models" check the full PR after the break.

Continue reading Rallycast promises "the equivalent to tabbed browsing" on HDTVs, hopefully doesn't mean memory leaks and crashes

Rallycast promises "the equivalent to tabbed browsing" on HDTVs, hopefully doesn't mean memory leaks and crashes originally appeared on Engadget HD on Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:25:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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It’s been a busy couple of weeks for Qik. Last week, the company launched its first official app for the iPhone 3GS, letting users finally livestream from their phones without having to resort to jailbreaking.

Today, Qik is rolling out its invitation-only beta for Qik-in-Touch, a service that brings the Qik experience to your desktop and makes it easy to share videos and interact with your friends and family. Qik-in-Touch is an Adobe Air app, so it runs on Windows, Mac and Linux.

If your mom is like my mom, she probably really wants to be able to watch your live broadcasts, but has a hard time figuring out what time to tune in, where to go, etc.

This is where Qik-in-Touch comes in. The Air app runs in the background and when you go live, your friends and family can watch you instantly and interact with you through chat.

Power Qik users can also use Qik-in-Touch to access their own video collections or to watch what is going on on QikTV.

Qik-in-Touch is in private beta, but you can request an invite by going to http://qik.com/qntbeta.

How do you share live video with your friends and family?

Reviews: adobe AIR, linux

Tags: live video, qik, qik-in-touch

Read More... [Source: Mashable!]

The last time we bumped into MSI's 15.6-inch X-Slim X600 we were unimpressed with the build quality -- it just seemed like too much plastic in too thin of a form factor to be trusted. Well, the X-Slim X600 Pro seems to have addressed some of the perceived quality issues, with a new scratch-resistant surface and silver inlays, but we'll have to play with one before we really know if these refinements are merely skin deep. The largest hardware tweak is the new chiclet keyboard, while inside the laptop has scored "the latest" Intel Core 2 Duo CULV processor, matched with the same ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330 graphics from last time. There's no word on price or availability, but we're sure we'll be seeing and hearing more at CES.

MSI X-Slim X600 Pro tweaks the 15.6-inch thinsanity formula originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 22:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Debt, Personal loans

If you're a parent and have grown kids, have you ever paid off a debt of theirs?

That's a question that GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media recently posed to 1,004 adults in a survey for CreditCards.com. Two out of five adults, or 42%, said that they had paid off a debt for a grown child at some point.

Auto loans topped out the most likely to be paid (40%), with medical debt close behind (37%) and utilities (31%) following. Credit cards were next (30%), followed by student loans (29%) and the mortgage (11%). The entire story can be found here.

Continue reading 42% of parents have paid off an adult child's debt

42% of parents have paid off an adult child's debt originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 15:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: Bargains, Shopping, Economizer

Friends and Family sales are typically one of the biggest savings days you can get in on outside of Black Friday and thankfully they are less crowded. You used to need to know a worker at your local store to get in on these additional discounts, but these days you don't need to be on a first name basis with every cashier in the mall to save big. GSI Commerce has worked with 30 of its retail partners to bring you friends and family savings online for two days only.

From Sunday December 13 through 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday December 15, you can take advantage of friends and family discounts at the following stores, and best of all you can do it from the comfort of your couch.

Continue reading Friends and Family savings at 30 top retailers through Monday

Friends and Family savings at 30 top retailers through Monday originally appeared on WalletPop Blog on Mon, 14 Dec 2009 06:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Todd Rome co-founded Blue Star Jets in 2001 (with CEO Ricky Sitomer) in response to the inefficiencies in the private jet marketplace. It is now one of the world's largest private aircraft charter brokers, offering an unparalleled level of personalized service; their motto is "Any Jet, Any Time, Any Place." Blue Star Jets grants clients freedom from the financial constraints of fractional jet ownership; the savings of paying only for trips taken; and the flexibility to choose the best aircraft according to a trip's specific budget requirement. With its ShareAJet Exchange, Blue Star Jets has lowered the barrier of entry for the private aviation industry for commercial fliers.

By creating a network of charter companies, Blue Star Jets now has access to over 4,000 aircraft worldwide, ranging from helicopters to Boeing business jets. Prior to Blue Star Jets, Mr. Rome ran a successful broker-dealer firm on Wall Street. He is also Co-Chair of the Diabetes Research Institute, and has made numerous appearances on CNN, CNBC and FOX, among others. When not traveling or working at his office in New York, Mr. Rome enjoys spending time with his family at home in the Hamptons, where Blue Star Jets was one of the key sponsors of the Mercedes-Benz Polo Challenge. In the gallery, Rome reveals his 10 essential luxuries and explains what makes them a must.

Filed under: Journeys, Wings, 10 Luxuries

EXCLUSIVE: Blue Star Jets President Todd Rome's Ten Essential Luxuries originally appeared on Luxist on Tue, 03 Nov 2009 09:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Filed under: EV/Plug-in, Nissan

Nissan is steaming ahead at full speed on its electric car plans but it's not ignoring the infrastructure elements required to make those vehicles a viable proposition. This week, the automaker announced a partnership with the city of San Francisco to help create the elements needed for success. The city is a part of the Bay Area EV corridor that covers the entire region from the Golden Gate bridge down to Silicon Valley and up through Oakland and Berkley on the east side.

The governments in the region will work to streamline the approval process for installing charging stations both in residences and public places. In order for electrics to appeal to the mainstream, a region like the Bay Area will need thousands of publicly-accessible charge points to help ensure that drivers of the early-generation, shorter-range EVs don't suffer range anxiety. This will be less of an issue in the future if battery capacities and costs improve, but that time has yet to arrive.


[Source: Nissan]

Continue reading Nissan and San Francisco team up on EV charging in Bay Area

Nissan and San Francisco team up on EV charging in Bay Area originally appeared on Autoblog Green on Sun, 13 Dec 2009 12:14:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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