The Halo series has its share of heavy military reference material. There is perhaps none more completely mystified on the human side than the Office of Naval Intelligce, or ONI (pronounced in fiction as “Oh-nee”).

There is no in-fiction date of formation for ONI, but it is likely an extension of the current United States ONI, originally commissioned in 1882. The modern US ONI has the stated purpose of tracking enemy and friendly ships throughout the globe in order to assess threats to the homeland, and is one of the oldest branches of the US intelligence community though handled by the armed forces.
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Many who are familiar with the Masters of the Universe franchise are familiar with the diverse and comical cast of villains. Many of the characters in general were named pretty obviously; Fisto had a big fist, Skeletor had a skull for a head, Tri-klops had 3 eyes, Webstor was a big spider guy, Ninjor was a ninja and Spikor was a henchman with lots of spikes. The people naming these characters should have taken the moniker Masters of the Obvious. Not to be outdone by those examples, though, they went ahead and named an anthropomorphic skunk, Stinkor.

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Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.

Gary Oldman doesn’t seem like the usual geek icon. He’s well known by film fans and critics as one of the great actors of this generation, but he’s not what you’d call a movie star in the way Will Smith is.

Still he’s had some really impressive roles both in fiction and as historical figures. Its also amazing how weirdly different he looks in all these movies. While by no means a comprehensive list, I’ll spotlight some of my favorite faces of Gary Oldman. [Read the rest of this entry…]

Since the alphabet is the building block of our language, the Powet Alphabet is the building block of what makes us geeks.

This column poses the question, “What makes us geeks?” To that, I say obscurity. As geeks we thrive in the obscure. Be it obscure objects, information or experiences involving our niche interests, we Obsess Over Obscurity.
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