Whiz of the Web: Tuesday Torpedoes

• Last August the U.S. Army held a conference called the 2008 Mad Scientist Future Technology Seminar.
• A while back a picture surfaced of Eva Longoria-Parker leaving Marvel Studios with some comic books under her arm, and rumor had it she was in the running to play the Wasp in The Avengers. She says the rumor is not true, but that she'd love to take the part if the opportunity presented itself.
• Vanessa Hudgens of the High School Musical franchise has auditioned for the role of Leah Clearwater in New Moon. It's a collision of franchises that could set the young teens screaming with joy.
• Gran Torino had not only the biggest opening for a Clint Eastwood film ever (unless you factor inflation, in which case it's Every Which Way But Loose—ack!), it also attracted the biggest female audience of any Clint Eastwood film.
• Wii Fanboy picks the top 5 worst video game cutscenes ever.
• Microsoft predicts that the life cycle for this generation of consoles is going to be longer than previous generations.
• Age of Conan will reduce its server count from 49 to 18. The cuts are most dramatic in the US, where the number of servers is dropping from 25 to six.
• Another behind-the-scenes image from Avatar.
• Care to make your own superhero? (Via)
• TV.com is adding lots of big-name video content.
• Plasma TVs are at risk of being banned by the EU for being unfriendly to the environment.
• The next Rock Band might include a keyboard peripheral.
• XPN has a free download of a Robbers on High Street track.
• Total Film's nominees for the movie blog of the year include a blog we read regularly: The Movie Blog. Congrats, guys!
• An enhanced version of the recent Transformers poster gives you a better look at the face of the robot depicted there, who is presumably the Fallen itself.
• Cute new Doctor Who toys.
• Rejected Fallout perks from PC Gamer magazine. (Via)
• Build your own cardboard spaceship, and marvel at Darth Goofy. (Via)
• It's getting a little late, but you can still purchase a hot blogger calendar for this year if you wish.
• Apparently Alec Baldwin's trick for sobering up after an '80s binge was to play Galaga. Awesome.
• Rumor has it that LucasArts' next-gen Indiana Jones game has been canceled, but the company itself says it remains committed to the franchise and details are forthcoming on the upcoming game. *shrug*
• This Phillyist is not really a fan of Stargate SG-1, but we're still impressed by this massive LEGO model of a spaceship from the show. (Via)
• LOLWatchmen!
• If you're really trying to avoid caffeine, or you're just curious about exactly how much caffeine is in your morning cup of coffee, you might want to try D+caf Caffeine Test Strips. (Via Sarah)

Image Credit: Flickr user *Ann Gordon