Nerd News

The World at Warcraft

Jackie Chan did what he did best after the release of the Warcraft movie： be obnoxious. Jackie Chan—a man who made a career out of getting hit by mops and then， in turn， hitting people with other mops or， failing that， items commonly found on the walls of a TGI Fridays—looked at the success of the Warcraft movie and said， “Warcraft made 600m RMB in two days. This has scared the Americans. If we can make a film that earns 10 billion， then people from all over the world who study film will learn Chinese， instead of us learning English.” That is， except every other country in the world thought the movie was crap. However， loathe as one might be to admit it， the human punching bag filled with money and Party shill is somewhat right， though， as is his custom， in the most annoying way possible. Yes， the movie has about a 27 percent Rotten Tomatoes rating， and yes its basically this generations Super Mario Bros. movie—but it made money， pots and pots of money delicious Chinese money for what basically amounts to a multimillion-dollar screen filled with random colors and sounds （and that isnt even the worst review its gotten）. For many， this sounds the trump for Chinese sci-fi blockbusters of the highest—though， again， unbelievably crap—quality. Yet， let he who is without sin cast Ben Affleck as Batman. – TYLER RONEY

BJCC Brings Nerds Together

You couldnt move for the sheer number of Deadpools and Harley Quinns at Beijings first-ever Comic Con， held over Dragon Boat Festival weekend and drawing more than 16，000 participants to Shunyi to dress up， hear talks， and—according to my girlfriend—spend a “truly absurd” amount of money on “picture books”. The big ticket items would see fans spending 1，900 RMB a piece for those first day events， which included a cosplay event， virtual reality video games， meetings with Ming-Na Wen， and all manner of nerdy artists， local and international， displaying their wares. China is a rich market for comic book tat， especially considering that of the few foreign movies allowed in China a year most are animated or comic book based. Despite claims that the event was run by Comic Con International， the BJCC actually came courtesy of ReedPop， which runs the New York Comic Con， and while it wasnt the first （SHCC in Shanghai went off with a bang in May of last year）， it certainly set the bar high for another one next year. ?– T.R.

Getting a Head

Weve spoken about Dr. Ren Xiaoping in Nerd News before—oh， how we laughed at his silly， though successful， experiment of swapping rat heads onto different rat bodies. Then， he did it to a monkey and we laughed a little bit lighter and with a great deal of fear in our eyes. Plans， according to a report from The New York Times in early June， for a human head （or body depending on your philosophical bent） transplant are underway. Now， no one is laughing. Many have pointed out， including paralyzed 62-year-old Wang Huanming， that this surgery could give many the power to walk again; others， however， have pointed out exactly how completely insane this is. Dr. Huang Jiefu， former deputy minister of health in China， has called it， “Ethically...impossible.” Cong Yali at Peking University said， “I dont want to see Chinas scholars， transplant doctors， and scientists deepening the impression that people have of us internationally， that when Chinese people do things they have no bottom line—that anything goes.” But， Dr. Ren Xiaoping cant be discounted out of hand; he did， after all， complete the first hand transplant in the world in 1999， and so far his credentials for passing heads around is well founded. If anyone in the world could do the operation， its Dr. Ren Xiaoping. But， should he？ – T.R.

No iPhone 6？

Leave it to Beijings intellectual property courts to make you feel sorry for Apple. In mid-June a Beijing court ruled against the electronics giant， with the presumed effect that it would stop all iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus sales throughout China. So， who is the company that would bring this international mega-beast to its knees？ Baili and their almost entirely unknown 100C phone tucked away in Shenzhen. The weird part of the situation is that the phone isnt beating Apple in court based on processing power or even the iPhones world famous one-hour battery life. No， its just the look of the thing. For now， Apple is appealing to a higher court for a ruling to try to keep the phone from being prohibited for sale， and things are up in the air. So， why is Baili banking so much on this？ Because Apple will probably have to settle for a gigantic sum of money—right around the time it becomes cheaper to buy off this little company than it does to muddle their way through the Chinese court system. But， for Apple， this is a big deal. China is their second largest market and theyre being annoyed. As everyone knows， China respects all international copyright and intellectual property laws. I read that on my iFonne. – T.R.