December 31st, 2007
by KK4
If you’ve been following Re:Generator for the past few months than you should be aware that the staff have been wary of financial melt down for quite some time. In fact, our fears of economic collapse have been a topic of long discussion between Robert, Ryan and myself for months now as we have been watching the financial news in horror. However, it seems our fellow countrymen have been slow to recognize that the value of the dollar has fallen so hard and so fast that America has become, in the words of some, a shopping mall for European consumers. Frankly, I find it kind of sad it is now cheaper for Europeans to cross the Atlantic and shop in the US than it is to shop in their own country.
Although American news outlets are still reluctant to admit the fact that the economic outlook for the future is quite grim, European news outlets have no such problem mentioning that the world economy is taking a beating. In fact, the European media is saying that the coming depression may be much worse than the great depression which began in 1929. However, if we add the devaluation of the dollar (which is causing increasing energy prices among other problems), the credit crunch, sub-prime loan fiasco, imperial wars and deranged monetary policy (Thanks, Bernake) to the fact that we are running out of food, things look pretty damned bad.
Even though the former Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan has warned of stagflation, most of our countrymen don’t realize how bad things could get. So, while you are sipping your champagne tonight while counting down the seconds until the New Year, take a moment to consider that we may very well be fucked. I am no economic guru, and although I got an A in Econ 101, I don’t know any answers. However, I do know how to read. It’s about time for us to start paying attention to what is going on, and listening for solutions to our economic problems.
Personally, when shit hits the fan I am fleeing to Russia, Israel or the Re:Gen commune. I hope you’ve got a plan.
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December 31st, 2007
by Re:Generator
Why does it feel like music was lacking a certain something in 2007? There were plenty of good albums to come out, but in the Alpine heights of greatness, few releases were to be found. The six albums below, of course, are a few of the exceptions we heard in the past 12 months. They were almost enough to make us forget the music industry is caving in on itself, though at least one - Radiohead’s In Rainbows - generated massive publicity shining a spotlight on a post-Major label landscape.
Radiohead, In Rainbows
It’s hard to talk about Radiohead’s In Rainbows without bringing up its unique marketing strategy. Unlike their previous releases, which were built up over months of advertisements and teasers, many fans were unaware that a new record was coming out until it was out, sold exclusively through the band’s website for the low low price of whatever you felt like paying. While they are not the first mainstream band to release only on the web, Radiohead has garnered a lot of attention from media sources who wouldn’t normally pay much attention to a simple cd release. We at the Re:Generator joined the hardcore fans in frantically clicking the refresh button on October 10th, our faces mashed against the monitor in case the music could be heard faintly through the download progress bar. And it was worth the AGONIZING wait, because this album has some the most gut-wrenchingly beautiful, beautiful songs.
15 Step starts off sounding a lot like one of Thom Yorke’s solo excursions, but the addition of the other band members adds a depth that some may have found lacking in The Eraser. In tracks like Nude, All I Need, Reckoner, and Videotape, the ominous, threatening mood of Hail To The Thief has been replaced by a mood where the threat landed, the fear passed, and we’re left with a sort of shell-shocked mourning. Faust Arp sounds like a response to Wolf At The Door, while Bodysnatchers and House Of Cards are both reminiscent of Radiohead’s earlier sound, but still reflect the newer direction that they have been pursuing. Compared to recent albums, In Rainbows is pretty stripped down, weird effects-wise, and the album is carried by the strength of the songs alone. This album represents a refreshing change of pace and carries the Re:Generator seal of approval. —rex opolis
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December 31st, 2007
by Re:Generator
Ah, comic books. Once considered fit only for delinquent children and invalids, the medium is currently enjoying a renaissance in popular culture. Nary a week goes by where a potential comics-to-movies franchise is not launched, while graphic novels now regularly make critics top ten lists. The stigma around comics has not completely evaporated (some are so presumptuous as to think women don’t read comics), but like the last few years before it, 2007 pushed their creative boundaries past the horizon.
Books. AHEM. Funny thing about books. We read our fair share of them this year, but very few were actually released this year. With so many choices - spanning from the dawn of recorded history to present - you can hardly fault us. So while our new book list may be nothing short of depressing, don’t fret. Funnybooks weren’t the only fare on our menu.
Comic books:
All-Star Superman (Limited Series, DC)
Comics owe a debt to Grant Morrison that they will still be repaying long after he’s dead. Already a legend for writing groundbreaking works including The Invisibles, Animal Man and Batman: Arkham Asylum, Morrison continually outdoes himself, this time by making Superman fun again in the peerless All-Star Superman, the greatest Superman comic any of you will ever read. I was not a fan of Superman comics, finding the storytelling clunky and the hero gratingly moral unambiguous, but that was before DC gave our Scottish compatriot and the amazing artist Frank Quitely the keys. All-Star Superman is free of continuity, allowing Morrison to tell any story he wants: Time traveling Gods vying for Lois’ affection, Bizarros and Kryptonian scientists all appear; Lex Luthor makes a memorable prison break; and Superman tests the adage “you can’t go home again”; all set against the backdrop of a man of steel who is coming to terms with his own mortality. Potent - and did we mention fun? - stuff. —Robert Starvation
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December 31st, 2007
by Re:Generator
The early adapter’s lament (cry me a river)
by Robert Starvation
No amount of kvetching can make a single iPhone worth $1 million in damages. Dongmei Li has a sense of entitlement that even dwarfs that of most Apple devotees.
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December 30th, 2007
by Robert Starvation
10. Transistors Get Way Smaller
In the race to make computers faster, chipmakers rely on exotic new materials. In January, Intel announced that the element hafnium and some new metal alloys will allow them to make the millions of switches on their microprocessors far smaller. Gordon Moore, co-founder of the company and father of the law that bears his name, called it the biggest change in transistor technology since the 1960s. The tremendous accomplishment allows Intel to squeeze features on each chip down to 45 nanometers from the current standard of 65 nanometers. But the greatest benefit may be an increase in energy efficiency. That improvement comes along with the hafnium alloys that will prevent electricity from leaking across the tiny switches.
Intel started using the technology, codenamed Penryn, in November in high-end servers. Home users can expect the chips in early 2008.
9. Scientists Clone Rhesus Monkey to Produce Stem Cells
At Oregon Health and Science University, Shoukhrat Mitalipov and his team cloned a Rhesus Monkey and used the resulting embryo to create stem cells. Until then, the impressive feat had been performed only with mice.
In November, the team reported in Nature a surprising key to their success: avoiding ultraviolet light and dyes — tools that are almost always used in cloning experiments — because they can damage delicate cells.
Stem cells could be used to repair nearly any damaged organ, but they are useless if they upset the immune system. By cloning sick patients and using cells derived from their own bodies, doctors could skirt problems similar to those experienced by people with organ transplants. But some say the No. 1 discovery on our list makes cloning unnecessary. Nonetheless, some scientists, including stem-cell researchers at Harvard, say cloning is still necessary.
8. Planet Discovered That Could Harbor Life
Astrobiology enthusiasts have had many reasons to rejoice this year, but one of them has been somewhat controversial. After Stéphane Udry and his colleagues found a pair of planets that they believed could harbor life, other researchers disputed which of the two is most habitable, but agreed that the distant solar system is worthy of further study.
Using a Canadian space telescope and the European Southern Observatory in Chile, Udry inferred that the most promising object is slightly larger than earth, circles its sun in 18 days, and may be rocky. In a late April issue of Astronomy and Astrophysics, the University of Geneva professor provided details about his sophisticated search. Both of the celestial bodies orbit the red dwarf star Gliese 581, which is only 20 light years from earth. Although prospects for the two planets may be less hopeful than Udry and his associates projected, the methods that they used to locate the small planet could be used to make many more discoveries.
Read more of “Top 10 Scientific Breakthroughs of 2007″ by Aaron Rowe
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