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LuxuryLaneSoap.com from @KyleeLane. GORGEOUS, IMAGINATIVE, HANDCRAFTED, GEEKY Soap

• (JP) Thanks to @Prof_Mordarm for his request for more Intarweb and for more cool apps!!!
• I also want to thank all of our listeners and my co-hosts for the support while going through a tough time with my Son. My family and I appreciate all the support and he is doing very well!

Ender just before his surgery! What a Stormtrooper!

Deals of the Week / New Releases

• 20% off the whole store at LuxuryLaneSoap.com. Just enter POWERGEEKS when you go to check out.
  • (SM faves) STAR WARS, Yellow Submarine, Croissant, Fight Club

• ThinkGeek Coupon (iKDR)
  • Use the code BOOTUBE to save $5 off $25+ or $10 off $40+ orders from now through 11:59 pm EDT on Friday, 3/26/10

• iPhone apps of the week (iKDR):
  • Wikipedia Mobile – Free
  • Awesome Emoji – also Free
  • DIGG app – just released having an iPad giveaway hosted by taptaptap 1 iPad a day for 14 days (JP)
  • ScrAPPbook has been submitted to the Apple for Approval (app we discussed from the guys over at iWikiphone) (also having another giveaway – an iPhone this time) (JP)
    • Make custom scrapbooks from your images, videos, text, etc…
    • sample screenshot from a scrapbook I have been creating using an early version of the software

• Star Wars Episode V Action Figure Tin (Chewy, Hans, Luke and a Snow Trooper)
• DIY Electric guitar and bass kits… very cool!!! (JP) From the Maker shed

Geek Speak

• i DVR everything – b/c i have no time or sporatic time during the week so i never see commercial and LOVE that! Although i did do the “start over” a show the other day and you cant FF at all in that function, which totally blows – iKDR

• Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), legislation aims to cut down on the growing number of “countries of cyber concern” — states in which fraud schemes, cyber attacks and computer hacks targeting the United States are routinely plotted
• White House would bear the responsibility of identifying countries that pose cyber threats, which the president would have to present to Congress in an annual report.
• Those states would then have to develop plans of action to combat cybercrimes or risk cuts to their U.S. export dollars, foreign-direct investment funds and trade assistance grants

• InVisage is developing QuantumFilm – has the ability to make significant changes to the the digital camera space, most notably on devices like camera phones
• The biggest problem with camera phones isn’t the megapixel rating, it’s how much light the sensor can capture
• QuantumFilm utilizes a custom-designed semiconductor material that is designed to replace some of the silicon in image sensors used in CMOS cameras. This material, which is based on quantum dots, can capture much more light, and can plug into the existing CMOS manufacturing process.

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

• iPhone Captures 19% of Mobile Gaming Market in U.S. (JP)
  • the iPhone jumped from 5% of the portable revenue in 2008 for games to 19% in 2009
  • Who suffered? PSP Dropped 9% points and DS dropped 5%
  • Whats the hard numbers? Guesstimate of $500mil in 2009, up from $115mil
  • Lets see if the IPad pops those numbers more… (although, maybe not because usage will be diff than “on-the-go” IPhone)

• Google Moves Out of China Proper and into Hong Kong (SM)
  • …And China promptly blocks them
  • reported earlier, Google decided to adhere to mantra “Don’t be evil” (after 4 yrs) and stopped censoring traffic on their search engine for china
  • Moved to Hong Kong with their servers, added a language, brought them back up, and were promptly filtered by China’s firewalls
  • The Chinese gov’t has leveraged a coordinated smear campaign against them calling them all sorts of names: “spy collaborators”, “political puppets”, and everything else they can think of
  • Another loss? China Mobile was pressured by gov’t to stop using Google as their main search engine
  • Losses? currently could reach up to $300 – 600 million in annual revenue, a small fraction of the $24 billion they make (but investors were counting on the potential)
  • Sergey Brin, ever the optimist, “Perhaps we can return to serving mainland China in the future.”

• Gamecrush: Pay a girl to play games with you???(iKDR)
  • GameCrush pays girls (PlayDates) to play video games and live-chat with gamers (Players), who pay for the privilege. This isn’t a joke. This is GameCrush’s business model.
  • Players browse through PlayDate profiles, and once they find one they’re interested in they can send a gaming invite.
  • The PlayDate can set her mood to “Flirty” or “Dirty” and it’s game on (though any real gaming girl would set her profile to “Hurty” and kick your ass).
  • The pair can chat, play, or both for the amount of time purchased. When their time is up, the Player is invited to send the remaining 100 points to his PlayDate as a tip. The PlayDates can then trade their points for real-world cash.
  • Update: site is currently down “The GameCrush Public Beta is temporarily unavailable due to the incredible user response (more than 10,000 inquiries in five minutes).”
  • Can we say new-and-improved-stalking-service ??
  • (SM) You know what kinds of guys are gonna sign up right? The ones whose avatars don’t move and they only spew “wanna cyber?” in your headphones…
    • (JP) I was thinking you know what kind of guys are pretending to be the girls on the other end of the gaming session?!?!?!
    • (SM) for all you know, it could be an ape with an .MP3 player strapped to his chest, button mashing, jumping on the controller, and flinging POO!

• EA Looks to Sell Game Demos (JP)
  • Game Demos are usually Try Before Buy.
  • A lot of demos are downloaded and some of those will turn into sales
  • EA is looking to cash in by making the 1 or 2 level demos into 3 or 4 level demos and charging users for them
  • called Premium DLC, and will be available before the game comes out…
  • (SM) WTH?
    • if I don’t know how it is, why do I want to pay more to find out?
    • -Only a couple super-mega titles could benefit from this IMHO (FF, Halo, etc),
    • – your adding brand confusion. you’ll have normal demo, premium demo, the game, regular DLC, then GOY?)
  • “believes that the release of the PDLC first limits the risk of completing and marketing the full packaged version, and serves as a low-cost marketing tool.”…uhhh low-cost for whom? EA? Because I don’t see consumers buying a demo for $15 then the full release for $60. If EA wants feedback ahead of time to “tweak” the full release, either put out a free demo and collect feedback or pay beta testers like everyone else! Since when does anyone apply for a job and say “So how much do I owe you for this position?” iKDR

• Tromso students put together a multi-touch interactive display wall worthy of Minority Report (iKDR)
  • students in the Department of Computer Science of Tromso University of Norway have put together a Display Wall laboratory that houses a 22 megapixel display wall.
  • comprised of 28 1024×768 resolution projectors and powered by a display cluster of about 30 nodes, which pushes the Display Wall to a total resolution of 7168×3072.
  • There are 16 cameras along the floor that pick up movement in 2D
  • watch the video over at WireJacked.com (Thanks Adam)

• Nintendo to Launch 3DS (SM)
  • Nintendo announced that the next portable from them will be stereoscopic 3-D sans glasses
  • Will be using a Lenticular technology (array of plastic lenses custom designed for the screen)
  • Will be a considerable challenge to make both “3-d” games and old ds and dsi games look good on the platform w/ the new cover
  • better graphics core to support the custom 3D graphics, so it will be a different development cycle
  • More will be unveiled at E3 June 15th, 2010

• New Video Game Teaches Cambodian Kids How to Avoid Real Land Mines (iKDR)
  • A group of students and their professor at Michigan State University recently launched a video game that aims to teach children how to avoid unexploded land mines
  • players navigate through the jungle in search of food for their cartoon pets and are presented with warning signs that an undetected explosive might be nearby.
  • If players can successfully avoid these dangerous areas, they find food and keep their virtual pets happy.
  • The UN estimates that 20,000 people each year are killed or injured by land mines. In a country like Cambodia which has suffered decades of civil wars, there could be millions of unexploded mines hidden under the soil. The game goes into Cambodia for testing this month
    • (JP) It’s sad to me where we live in a world where this is a necessity

• Gow III Breaks Bones
  • Can you say “Drink some milk and get some sun and Exercise??? WTF”

• Indians Weaponize World’s Hottest Chili Pepper
  • thumb-sized “bhut jolokia,” or “ghost chili,” to make tear gas-like hand grenades to immobilize suspects, defense officials said Tuesday.
  • Grown in Northern india and is said to cure all sorts of ailments, including gastric problems <-is that because after you eat a pepper, your guts cease to exist ?? LOL iKDR
  • each pepper has a Scoville of 1,000,000
  • Tabasco ranges from 2,500 to 5,000 and jalapenos can range anywhere from 2,500 and 8,000
  • Way to use renewable resources.

• Apparently the Klingon Code of Honor Allows for Knocking Over Convenience Stores (iKDR)
  • even Klingons are feeling the effects of the hard economy  ??

• 14 Fictional Characters in Real Life (iKDR)
  

• WePad, a possible IPad competitor
• Steam on a Mac
• Avatar: Reloaded Trailer
• Laser Babies
• Phil Says – Head Designs
• iMac Steampunk Mod Is Retro Awesome

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