I have a bunch of research and article preparation to do over the next few days, and I am going to be devoting as much of my time as I possibly can to that. What that means, in practical terms, is that I won’t be updating the site as much — if at all — over the weekend and into next week. What I will be doing, however, is frantically scouring every dark corner of Google, YouTube, Flickr, and every other major content aggregation site I can think of looking for material related to certain Ultima games.

Because, yes, I want to have a dozen different things to post about the first four Ultima games ready to go for next Tuesday.

To be honest, I could certainly use any help, both in terms of researching content and drafting articles. If you’d like to assist, drop me a line and I’ll see if I can come up with an assignment for you.

In the mean time, I’m going to leave this up as an open thread, with a few hastily-researched-but-hopefully-interesting articles for you to mull over and discuss.

How do you like the new open thread graphic, by the way?

Eric Schmidt, chairman of Google, condemns British education system

He laments what he views as the UK’s failure to “capitalise on its record of innovation in science and engineering” in favour of “a drift to the humanities”; he encourages them to “look back to glory days of Victorian era”.

By 2016, all smartphones will feature touchscreens.

Or, well, nearly all of them. At least that’s what a broup of analysts thinks.

Full Disk Image of Earth Captured August 26, 2011.

Hurricane Irene is fully visible in the image, and is bloody massive.

Speaking of hurricanes…

..there is a particular bird who may have survived flying through Irene.

Coordinated, global ATM heist nets millions for its perpetrators.

Stolen pre-paid debit cards, it seems, were the catalyst here; the attackers obtained a couple dozen cards and managed to increase or remove the withdrawal limits on them before using them at ATMs around the world.

Anyone else curious about the Amazon tablet?

I know I am.

Razer’s “future of PC gaming”: the Blade laptop!

This 17″, $2800 powerhouse does boast some impressive specs, a keen design, and a fantastic UI.

But does the gaming PC need saving, as Razer’s marketing campaign boasted. Gizmodo, at least, argues “yes, and then some!”

PC gamers will have to wait for Skyrim DLC.

As if to prove Gizmodo’s point…

BioWare’s “Dr. Ray” on The Old Republic and Dragon Age 3.

Essentially, BioWare is testing the living crap out of their upcoming MMORPG.

Torchlight 2 will cost just $20!

If it’s anywhere near as enjoyable as the last one…it’ll be money well spent.

Apple has hired — as an intern — another iPhone jailbreaker.

This time, it’s Nicholas “Comex” Allerga.

There are reasons to avoid student loans.

To which list can now be added the following: unpaid student loans could mean that you or your loved ones wind up on the receiving end of a SWAT team.

Essential facts about the gaming industry.

Who plays games? What sorts of games do they play? How old are gamers? How involved are parents in the gaming habits of their children? These and more answers contained in a dryly-named but visually well-presented report!

Turn-Based vs. Real-Time Combat.

The CRPG Addict reflects on the difference by comparing Pool of Radiance (on PC) to Dragon Age: Origins (on Xbox 360).

Full disclosure: The combat in Dragon Age: Origins is one of the things in this world that I really, strongly dislike in a manner that flirts with outright hatred. I still haven’t passed the game, because every time I try, I get annoyed with the combat and quit.

Remember OnLive?

They are extending the service; it’s coming to Android tablets and the iPad this fall, apparently.

Gamers will be able to use the devices’ touchscreens or OnLive’s new Universal Wireless Controller to play. The OnLivePlayer App also integrates with HDTVs so subscribers can use their tablets as touch/motion controllers with their display.

The app will feature full voice chat-enabled multiplayer. OnLive says it will provide “the exact same functionality” on Apple and Android smartphones, too, allowing them to be used as game systems themselves or as controllers with an HDTV or PC.

Furthermore, the company revealed a 10 gigabit cloud-based browser or iPad, Android, and HDTV, which is designed to to deliver online content through the 10 gigabit/second web connections on its cloud-based servers.

So if I got an iPad…could I play Mass Effect on it?

Oh, and hey…there was a massive CME this morning!

CME, in case you weren’t familiar with the acronym, stands for Coronal Mass Ejection…it’s when the sun belches forth a massive cloud of its coronal particles and gasses.

The peak of the eruption took place at approximately 1:41 AM Eastern Time, just for the record.

Apple’s iOS 5 previewed.

I’m actually pretty excited for Apple’s new revision of their mobile OS, since it seems as though they’ve introduced almost every feature to it that I would otherwise jailbreak my phone for.

Is the Internet killing comedy?

Or is the Internet simply a new medium to which performance artists must adapt, lest they perish?

Did any of you hear about that webcam spying scandal at that school in Philly?

The thot plickens, apparently.

Battlefield 3 still looks awesome.

I really hope this beastie turns into the Call of Duty-killer it certainly looks like it ought to be.

Google Maps will get an offline mode this summer.

This. Is. Awesome.

In December the Android [Google Maps] app received an update that cached routes and the surrounding areas, but without a data connection you still couldn’t enter a new destination. A source inside the Dutch telco industry said that Goog[le] would removing the requirement for coverage — an obvious next step for the nav tool, especially with Ovi Maps bringing its turn-by-turn prowess to WP7. The move is also bound to be another thorn in the side of standalone GPS makers like Garmin and TomTom. After all, it’s tough to compete with free.

I use Google Maps a fair bit when traveling; having an offline version capable of searching out routes would be handier than I can convey with words.

Tonight’s post brought to you by free frogs:

Obvious course of action.