Worried that the world will be ending soon? Then you might want to know that NCsoft, the publisher and developer of Richard Garriott's Tabula Rasa, is offering players a shot at immortality. Well, as close to immortality as you can get if the entire earth gets razed by another Tunguska event, a nuclear war, or even aliens. To find out more, check out the full article.

 

We first reported about Richard Garriott and Stephen Hawking's "vomit comet" trip during the earlier parts of April. We also reported about what happened during this trip, but now, we have some photos to share with you, be sure to click on the thumbnails to have a better view of the pics.

Garriott joined Hawking, his entourage of assistants, and 25 other passengers on the converted Boeing 727 as it ascended 25,000 feet from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. This was Garriott's fourth trip to the edge of space but he clearly can't hide his excitement in his blog post (which you can check out in our read link below). As for Prof. Hawking, this trip is indeed another feather in his cap.

One of the brains behind Tabula Rasa, Richard Garriott, and theoretical physicist Stephen Hawking are teaming up! Unfortunately, they're not gonna put their heads together to concoct a kickass MMORPG, these two guys are going to be travel buddies. Where would they go, you may ask. Well, they're off on the "vomit comet" - a zero-gravity flight that goes up roughly 24, 000 feet and induces weightlessness and queasiness.

The duo would be travelling on April 16.

Said Hawking when asked about this unusual trip, he wanted to show "that people need not be limited by physical handicaps, as long as they are not disabled in spirit". Lord British is of course not a newbie in this field - he is a space enthusiast and has gone on three zero-gravity flights before. In fact, Richard Garriott is an investor in Zero Gravity Corporation, a company who sells the flights on a modified and amped Boeing 727.

According to Mike Crouch, a NCSoft spokesman, Mr. Garriott is "very excited about it...He's read all of his books, watched as many programs on Professor Hawking as possible".

Well, hopefully after this trip, he'll give us more updates on Tabula Rasa.

Nerdcore hip hop and geeksta rap. Hip hop music about nerdy topics (like soon-to-go-to-space Stephen Hawking and relativity) and geeky topics (like Star Wars, computers, the Internet, and video games). While we enjoy the lyrics of MC Hawking (with songs like "The Big Bizang")...

I explode like a bomb. No one is spared. My power is mass times the speed of light squared. (from "E = MC Hawking")

You ever drop an egg and on the floor you see it break? You go and get a mop so you can clean up your mistake. But did you ever stop to ponder why we know it's true, if you drop a broken egg you will not get an egg that's new? (from "Entropy")

...the geeks of QJ have to bow before MC Frontalot who coined the word "nerdcore" and whose "Penny Arcade Theme" warms the heart:

nerd-ho! warm the mic up (yo) we 'bout to strike up
this band of nebbishes who cultivate nebulous fetishes
the FPS, RPG or MMPOG, any obsession to blather over by blog
or BBS. Step and possess, hone thy geekishness
your frame rate and frags to date both impress

Pure genius. "Nerdcore Rising: The Movie" is a documentary of nerdcore. It features MC Frontalot's first major US tour as well as interviews (including Weird Al Yankovic, who was instrumental in the creation of the nerdcore scene).

Finally, let's thank the geeks and nerds. We wouldn't have computers, consoles, and video games if it weren't for them.