Little Toy Robot

Minor news, but interesting nonetheless.

New York-based online bookseller Barnes & Noble.com has been slapped with a $60,000 fine after a flaw exposed sensitive customer data on its Web site.

Ironically, their use of “cookie-less” shopping, which was probably done to appease the privacy concerns of users, led to the security leak. Sensitive information, which can include names, addresses, and credit card numbers, was actually passed along in the brower’s URL, and that’s weak sauce.

New York State Attorney Eliot Spitzer was the hero behind this investigation, yet again. It’s a matter of routine for him.

What I also find interesting is that, after implementing iBistro, the Atlanta-Fulton Public Library now offers a “Buy this item now” link on every search results page that takes the searcher to bn.com. I don’t have a problem with the commerce of it; after all, ask a librarian where you can buy a book, and they’ll tell you where a bookstore is or point you to the yellow pages.

But I don’t like the fact that it’s obviously a paid placement by Barnes &amp Noble that promotes themselves in an area where all major (at least) retailers should be represented, not to mention local stores and used book outlets.

I tend to hold my breath for the thirty days of April. I have a history of bad things happening to me during the month.

Years ago I spent it hospitalized in a bad way. After I moved up north I began to realize that the winters dragged me down, and by the time April rolled around, even if Spring and sunlight were coming, I was rubbed raw by the darkness and the cold.

Later years saw bizarre things happen. I quit a job, started a new job, quit the new job, and went to my old job, within a week. (Ah, the heady days of the dot-com bubble.) I had my wallet stolen on the subway. I lost interest in a few big projects I had drummed up to stave off winter boredom. And more. Fortunately not all in the same year. But all in April.

So I’m happy to report that this April went smoothly. Last April was OK, too, because I basically went underground and stopped interacting with the world in a drastic and pathetic attempt to get by. This year I kept low but didn’t act as if I was reversing a curse. I got settled in with my new job. I read a lot, watched a lot of DVDs, and of course managed my two fantasy baseball teams with a supremely nerdly passion. I spent some time with old and new friends.

I had no illusions that moving to Atlanta was going to change my life. It removed some obstacles that put limits on my happiness, such as (and I’ll admit it) not making much money and living in squalor, and probably suffering from seasonal affective disorder. Starting over really just leveled the playing field to allow me to deal with what comes up, new and old problems, in an honest way by allowing me to take responsibility for them. And so, the April curse is gone.

(Then again, the day isn’t over.)

Hopping on the bandwagon…

Van Helsing: Some movies are supposed to be fun. This one of them. Great effects. Monsters. Screaming villagers. Monsters. Kate Beckinsale. Monsters. I always thought Van Helsing had the greatest unexplored backstory in literature. What I had in mind was an occult detective like Carnacki who applied his book learning to kick monster ass all over the world. So now he’s an action/adventurer. That’s OK too.

Troy: It’s got swords. Man, I love swords.

King Arthur: I’ve been looking forward to this ever since Matt “The Photons Are Stabbing You In The Eyes” Rossi brought it to my attention. You see, Matt knows more about King Arthur than anyone I know. The decidedly non-mythical approach raises all sorts of exciting and detailed points about sources and historical intrigue for him. For me, it’s got Keira Knightley. And swords.

Alien vs. Predator: I have a feeling I’ll be seeing this one alone.

Thunderbirds: The movie isn’t generating much excitement, but I don’t hate Jonathan Frakes, as an actor or a director, even though he’s a pretty boy.

Princess Diaries 2: The Royal Engagement: OK, not really, but why can’t they remake “The Prisoner of Zenda” instead of doing this crap? The idea is similar, but we can pretend it’s more respectable. Plus, swords.

Warren Ellis has confirmed that he’ll be a guest at Dragon*Con in Atlanta this September!

I used to be 99% sure I was going; now I’m 100% sure!

News from the U.K.:

LONDON (Reuters) - Mystery surrounds the death of a leading Sherlock Holmes expert who was found in his bed garrotted with a shoelace and surrounded by cuddly toys.

Westminster Coroner’s Court heard that Richard Lancelyn Green, 50, who had devoted his life to studying Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s fictional detective, had suffered a “very unusual death”.

A wooden spoon had been used to tighten the shoelace around his neck.

Police have apprehended the cuddly toys as suspects.

I watched the first five episodes of Princess Nine over the weekend. I wasn’t even going to admit that publicly, but perhaps my heart has opened up a little as I’ve grown older, because I enjoyed it very much. Even though it’s a bit girly.

The series, recommended to me, kinda, by Tangognat, is summed up in an Amazon.com review:

When he died 10 years ago, Ryo Hayakawa’s father left more than the restaurant Ryo’s mother runs: his daughter inherited his talent for baseball, including a jet-propelled fastball. Determined to overcome sexist opposition and make a girls’ team the national champion, Ms. Himuro, the head of prestigious Kisaragi High, gives Ryo a scholarship. Then complications arise: snobbish tennis ace Izumi dislikes Ryo; handsome baseball star Hiroki is smitten with her; drunken coach Kido has to find enough top players. Hiroki’s attraction is understandable as Ryo’s a very likable character. She’s not a klutz or a whiner, as many anime heroines are; she’s proud of her abilities but surprised at where they take her.

The first episodes deal with building the team: tracking down and discovering new talent and bringing new players into the fold. All the girls have unique personalities, so it’s interesting to watch them interact and try to play together.

But the best thing of all is that their baseball skills are like superpowers. One girl even has a swing that’s called the “Wave Motion Swing” that’s linked mystically to the ocean! A few times, I caught myself thinking that wielding a baseball bat is like a surrogate for wielding a sword, and that is cool and fun to watch.

[I do find it strange, however, is that on the ADV site, the baseball cards for the players display their names in a vaguely Hebrew-like font.]

It’s not a series I would buy, because it doesn’t have robots in it, but I’ve added the rest of the DVDs to my Netflix queue.

I opted for the simple route and modified slightly one of Movable Type’s default styles. The result features a new banner, generously designed by Clunky Robot. Really, the rest of the blog doesn’t do the banner justice, so I will be tweaking it a bit over the next few days.

The Science Fiction and Mystery Bookshop in Atlanta (2558 Shallowford Road, near I-85 and Chamblee) is apparently going out of business, and their stuff is priced to move.

This is one of the top genre bookshops in the area and, sadly, one of the last of the independents.

But don’t let this stop you from taking advantage of their misfortune. Stop by and consume.

Also, Friday-Sunday 4/23-4/25, Batty’s Best Comics and Games is having a buy two, get one free sale on almost everything. 3631-C Chamblee-Tucker Road.

Van Helsing sneak peak courtesy of Best Buy. The movie opens May 7.

LTR saw a trailer for it with his robo-posse before Hellboy, and the general consensus was “c-o-o-l!”

A 30-minute animated Van Helsing: The London Assignment comes out on DVD in late May.

A little bomb-detecting robot paid a visit to the neighborhood Little Toy Robot works in today. Look at him go!

NetFlix’s 3 out monthly program is increasing from $19.95 a month to $21.95 a month on June 15.

This has been a public service announcement from Little Toy Robot Media Enterprises, a Georgia corporation.

Run for the hills! Or, errr, Stone Mountain!

Were LTR still in NYC, you could bet your bottom dollar that he would be at Godzilla Conquers the Globe: Japanese Movie Monsters in International Film Art, an exhibit at the Columbia University Library celebrating 50 years of the big feller.

Instead, he is settling for renting Godzilla Against Mechagodzilla on Netflix. A robot Godzilla? Is anything better than that?

Do you remember the American serviceman who changed his name to that of a Transformer?

That was cool.

Not Coming to a Theater Near You brings us the Top 5 Benevolent Robots. Though we here at Little Toy Robot Industries ask, what’s more benevolent than a little toy robot? It’s little, and it’s a toy. [thanks Luis]

Magnus Robot Fighter is coming back. Robots beware.

Greetings, people of Earth. The wedding was lovely. There are pictures online at various semi-secret locations.

No trip to Jacksonville is complete without a visit to Tappin Book Mine on Atlantic Ave., the best used book store in Northeast Florida (for what it’s worth). Time didn’t permit a visit to the Dragon’s Tale, though.

Coming soon: A redesign! A killer new logo! First person narration! Dancing mermaids!