Say what you will about Disney, but sometimes they do extremely cool things, such as the Star Wars Weekends summer events planned out at Disney’s Hollywood Studios in Orlando. Launching this weekend is the incredibly cool Carbon-Freeze Me experience:

Using state-of-the-art imaging technology, this experience casts your likeness as a three-dimensional, eight-inch figurine. At the Carbon-Freezing Chamber, several cameras will capture multiple angles of your face. The images are then reconstructed in a computer for processing, and in approximately four weeks, the completed figurine is shipped directly to your house. I had my image captured during early tests for this experience, and it was surreal to see a digital version of my head.

What Star Wars fan wouldn’t want an 8″ figurine of yourself frozen in Carbonite?

The best part about this whole thing is that you can get these custom figures for a relatively low price. For only $99.95 you forever frozen can be yours, and duplicates can be ordered for only $74.95 using the original digital reconstruction of your face.

Of course you will need to be at Disney’s Hollywood Studios to partake in this deal, but if you find yourself at the happiest place on earth this is one of the better souvenirs you could possibly pick up. Details on how to make an appointment (a necessity) can be found at Disney’s Park Blog.

Remember a few months ago when it seemed like fall 2012 was loaded with tons of awesome, highly anticipated video game releases?

We told you how BioShock: Infinite would be delayed several months and now add another of those high-profile games has jumped ship to early 2013. In an announcement made on Edios Games’ forums, Darrell Gallagher informed us that the Tomb Raider reboot game has been pushed to 2013:

Our priority now is to make sure we fully deliver the very highest quality game. In order to do this, we have decided to move the game’s release date by a few months, from Fall 2012 to the first quarter of 2013.

We’re doing things that are completely new to Tomb Raider in this game and the additional development time will allow us to put the finishing touches into the game and polish it to a level that you deserve. We believe this is the right choice and I guarantee it will be worth the wait. The game is looking amazing and we can’t wait to show it to everyone at E3 in a few weeks.

Unfortunate news for a game that a lot of people were really look forward to. Although we here at The Flickcast think this might be for the best, in a world where Uncharted has set a new standard for action and treasure hunting games, Tomb Raider has a lot to live up to. At the very least the game wont be a no-show at E3 like BioShock, so we wont have to long to wait to see what sort of additions this delay allows.

Since we know it’s going to be at least a few months until the next iPhone comes out and seeing as the “new” iPad just came out recently, that means it’s time for Apple MacBook Pro rumors and speculation. What fun!

The folks at 9 to 5 Mac have taken it to the streets (or, the Internets to be more precise) and have come up with some new info concerning the aforementioned new MacBook Pro lineup. According to the report, Apple is getting ready to launch an all-new 15-inch MacBook Pro with an ultra-thin design, USB 3.0, Ivy Bridge chipset, no optical drive or Ethernet port and “jaw dropping” Retina display. This info comes to them via a “trusted source in Apple’s supply chain.”

The new hotness is reportedly undergoing testing as you read this with an eye to a Summer launch. I, for one, can’t wait to check it out. Although, I’m probably more interested in a new 13″ MacBook Pro or MacBook Air with these specs. I just don’t need a 15 inch display and the weight that goes with it.

Unless, of course, it weighs the same as my current MacBook Air. In that case, I might have to give it a serious look.

We know NBC has made some not-so-friendly decisions in the past with our favorite shows, such as their decision to jerk around the millions (thousands?) of Community fans out there until we got what we wanted. Now they’re trying to get us interested in a brand new slate of comedies, dramas, and alternative series this Fall.

Starting off with the brand new batch of comedies, here’s what the official press release had to show us.

The season’s new fall comedies are “Go On,” “The New Normal,” “Animal Practice” and “Guys with Kids.” Other mid-season comedies include “Save Me,” “1600 Penn” and “Next Caller.”

The new fall dramas are “Revolution” and “Chicago Fire,” while “Do No Harm,” “Infamous” and “Hannibal” also will join the lineup in mid-season.

In addition, new alternative series include “Stars Earn Stripes,” “Howie Mandel’s White Elephant,” “Ready for Love,” and “Surprise with Jenny McCarthy.”

“Go On” — Misery loves company. Unless you’re sportscaster Ryan King (Matthew Perry, “Friends,” “Mr. Sunshine”) who thinks misery should just be left alone. After taking some time off, Ryan – who recently lost his wife in a car accident – is now ready to get back to work. And while he seems like his same old charming, cocky self, his boss won’t set him back on the air until he seeks counseling. So, Ryan reluctantly joins a support group with one goal in mind: get in, get out and get back on the radio as quickly as possible.

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In its second weekend in release The Avengers brought in over $100 Million bucks. I will write that again for effect. In its second weekend in release The Avengers brought in over $100 Million bucks!

That absurd second weekend haul obliterates the second weekend record just as the debut frame obliterated records last week. For reference the previous best second weekend was Avatar with a bit over $75 million. The movie has already cleared a billion in total Box Office and it has only been in US cinemas for 10 days.

So yes, The Avengers continues to draw in the masses and shatter records left and right. At this point in time it seems plausible that the movie will end up as the third most successful film of all time. Why not the top slot if it is doing better than everything else right now? The start of the Summer season is just to hard of a spot for the movie to have the kind of legs required to break that pesky 2 billion dollar plateau.

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Perhaps this is a good thing and will lead to those much-desired turn by turn directions on the iPhone that users have wanted? Let’s hope so.

What am I talking about? Well, it seems Apple has decided to get rid of Google Maps in iOS 6 and going for an in house solution instead. According to the folks at 9to5Mac, the mapping solution will be in-place for the next major version of the mobile operating system, combining technologies from the acquisition of Placebase, C3 Technologies and Poly9.

According to reports, the new maps app will feature a state of the art 3D mode with graphics provided by C3. The look and features of said 3D maps will supposedly “blow your head off”, at least according to the report.

As someone who’s used both iOS and Android, it’s very clear which has the superior maps application with far more features including turn by turn. With Apple and Google moving farther apart it makes sense that Apple would want to go out on its own this way.

Competition is good and let’s hope that leads to a better maps experience in iOS 6. We expect this to be revealed in much more detail during Apple’s upcoming Worldwide Dev Conference next month.

If there’s one thing Marvel has proven over the last several years it’s that Iron Man is as popular as ever. With the character’s succes in movies come a renewed level of interest in his comic book exploits as well.

Fortunately, Marvel isn’t resting on its laurels and keeps turing out great stories for its major characters, Iron Man included. Now, with things heating up in the Marvel U and Tony Stark having problems, a new Iron Man is coming to take matters into his (or her) own hands.

That’s the story in Marvel’s upcoming Invincible Iron Man #518. The story, from writer Matt Fraction and artist Salvador Larroca, concerns “the Spymaster’s rampage within Stark Resilient and that incident’s bloody end. The Mandarin is throwing everything he’s got at Tony Stark including amped up super villains. With a big target painted on his back, can Tony Stark make it out alive? Can the new Iron Man save him in time?”

I guess we’ll see when Invincible Iron Man #518 hits comic shops, the Marvel Comics app, and Marvel Digital Comic Shop on June 6. In the meantime, check out some previews for the comic after the break.

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Good news fans of quirky and eccentric sitcoms, both Community and 30 Rock will be back next season. NBC announced late yesterday that both shows will be coming back with 30 Rock getting a final seventy season of 13 episodes and Community going to a fourth season of 13 episodes as well.

It’s nice to see NBC allowing 30 Rock to wrap things up and it’s also nice that the network is giving Community a chance to stay on the air, even if the ratings don’t necessarily support it. Although, when the comedy returned from an extended hiatus the ratings had improved quite a bit making it one of NBC’s highest rated comedies.

With a renewal now secure, the next question, about Community at least, is if both creator/showrunner Dan Harmon and co-star Chevy Chase are going to return. In case you haven’t been following the story, they’ve reportedly had quite a feud going on with Chase apparently storming off the set and Harmon berating the actor at the show’s wrap party.

According to reports, both Chase and Harmon have reputations for being “difficult,” which in Hollywood-speak pretty much means they are dicks. However, its difficult to imagine Community without Harmon or Chase as each make a significant contribution to the show. It will be interesting to see how this plays out.

Whether you call it MOBA or DOTA, the genre that best fits Awesomenauts didn’t exist even a decade ago. Spawning from the Defense of the Ancients mod for Warcraft III, MOBA games are traditionally controlled as a isometric RTS style game. Awesomenauts changes things up a bit with the first major 2D side-scrolling release to the genre.

Gameplay

Awesomenauts follows the traditional MOBA formula of a team of players making their way past set defense points to reach an opposing team’s base. Each team consists of three players (which can be filled in with bots if someone is playing during slower hours) and the constant stream of less powerful computer controlled minions. Different from most MOBA titles like the DOTA mod is the game’s classic style 2D environment.

While greatly detailed to fit in a next gen world, all the action occurs on a 2D plane. Action is still fast and frantic though with players running in to battle, having rapid exchanges before someone is killed or forced to flee and most matches are over in less than fifteen minutes.

There is a somewhat limited supply of characters with only six playable Awesomenauts to choose from, each with different combat roles. Some act as tanks, others as damage dealers and others as more stealthy assassins. Players start off with only three unlocked and must earn combat experience to level up and unlock more. Hopefully Ronimo adds more through DLC or updates since the matches are usually matching teams with players already trending towards a few core characters rather than a variety that could come from an expanded roster.

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Late yesterday Apple released an update to its desktop operating system. This update, dubbed OS X Lion 10.7.4, features several minor bug fixes as well as a security update addressing the FileVault password security issue. This issue made users’ passwords vulnerable by storing them in plain text format. Here’s what the update addresses in Applespeak:

The 10.7.4 update is recommended for all OS X Lion users and includes general operating system fixes that improve the stability, compatibility, and security of your Mac including fixes that:

For information on the security content of this update, please visit: http://support.apple.com/kb/HT1222.

As always, we recommend you download and install via the combo updater instead of using Apple’s Software Update built into the Lion OS. Sure, it takes a bit longer and is a bit more effort, but in our experience, it usually yields better results.

Even though Fox may have axed shows like Alcatraz and The Finder, they are at least going to be in the Seth MacFarlane business for a while longer. That’s right, the network has renewed Family Guy and American Dad for another season. Both will be getting 22 episode orders.

As for MacFarlane’s other show on Fox, The Cleveland Show, no word yet on if it will be getting another season, which would be its fifth. This is reportedly not because of the network’s lack of confidence in the show but rather because it already has quite a few episodes of it ready and the show is still in production.

The network is apparently waiting to see how next year’s schedule comes together before making a decision. Of course, that could just be a nice way of saying the show is going to be canceled but they just don’t want to tell anyone yet.

In other Fox animated news, The Simpsons already has a two-year renewal, Bob’s Burgers‘ third season pickup was announced in January, Allen Gregory has been canceled, and Napoleon Dynamite is still,as they say, “on the bubble.”

That’s okay, we’re just glad Family Guy is coming back. It’s a funny show that just seems to get better and better.

With seven novels and eight movies, the Harry Potter franchise is one of the most successful of all time. In fact, the Harry Potter books are the most successful series in the history of publishing.

With that in mind, it has always seemed strange that the books were not available at the most popular online bookstore of all time: Amazon. Well, that’s about to change.

That’s right, starting June 19, all seven Harry Potter books will be available to Kindle owners via Amazon’s Kindle Lending Library. According to Amazon, the company “has purchased an exclusive licence from J.K. Rowling’s Pottermore to make the addition of the addition of these titles possible.” Wonder how much that cost?

“We’re absolutely delighted to have reached this agreement with Pottermore. This is the kind of significant investment in the Kindle ecosystem that we’ll continue to make on behalf of Kindle owners,” said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. Well, Kindle owners who also happen to be Prime members anyway.

Sadly, you can’t actually purchase the books and own them via Amazon’s store. You can only borrow them. Which, to be honest, is kinda annoying.

Still, if you’re a Harry Potter diehard fan who’s always wanted to read the books on your Kindle (that is, via legal methods) then this deal might just be the right one for you.

Click through for the full press release from Amazon.

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