ThePowerGeeks.com

We are LIVE on Ustream!!! This week we talk Gamification, Twitter news, people getting sue-happy, and 1080p on your phone! that and much more

Items of Interest

• (JP) Big O Pc/ Xbox 360 console combined
  • Monster Pc with Built in XBox 360

• • Starting at $7,669, the Big O features a double-wide case with all the bells and whistles. base configuration, the CPU, both GPUs, and the motherboard all come liquid-cooled. Upgrade options include up to two six-core Intel Xeon X5680 CPUs, two 1,000-watt power supplies, and up to four graphics cards. All of that while impressive, is nothing compared to the bottom edge of the system, where Origin has built in a liquid-cooled Xbox 360 Slim.

• (SM) Infinite Adaptive Mario

Gold Sponsors:

UberDorkCafe

• Will be THE place for Geeks to hang out
• What is UberDorkCafe? It is the brain child and DREAM of Natali, aka @UberDorkGirlie from twitter, and it blends art + science = geek
• Place to hang, eat, have awesome kid parties (if thats your thing), or to get your gaming on
• Woookie Coookies – a piece of UDC before there is even a physical cafe
• UberDorkCafe – Auction Sept. 11th – DC,Tampa Bay,Online
• first Piece revealed and accompanying t-shirt @hefnatron
• Ellen campaign???

• Golden Pic and Golden Pic Lite for Android devices

• • Both are available in the Android Market for Android devices running 1.5 or later
  • Lite is a free version (ad supported) with slightly limited functionality
  • Full version is only $1.99 USD
  • Go Buy it! or try it, then buy it!

Deals of the Week / New Releases

• Free Ringtone HEAVEN! (udg)

• • http://www.brinked.com
  • Account is free (hint: use fake phone # for security purposes. Retyping their example # works just fine)
  • Upload and edit your own songs
  • Import & edit YouTube clips! (Yes I made the “Junkpunch: YOU KNOW WHY!”)
  • Download tone, sync phone and you’re set. Jinkies it’s awesome!
  • Ok, SERIOUSLY, SERIOUSLY addicting
    • (JP) I use Audiko.net same thing, no account required!

• iOS 4.1 Released and now in the Wild
  • Game Center (not including 3g)
    • (JP) no games using it yet… even one update moments ago that claims to have it, doesn’t show up in Game Center yet
  • HDR Photography
    • Slick. I love HDR, so this will be a cool feature
  • Various fixes around bluetooth

• Atari Restickable wall decals!!! (JP)
  • Asteroid, Centipede, or PONG!!!
  • Plus… use code PONG for $10 off a $30 order, good through 9/10/10 at 11:59 PM ET.

Geek Speak

Companies Adopt Gamification

• Good games sell better.
• developer’s goal is to design a structure and system of rules in which players will a) enjoy the process or journey, and b) create a sense of added value.
• fun process coupled with a system for incentives or rewards for a job well done can become downright addictive. (WoW, zinga games, mini ipod games that status twitter or fb)
• Ppl are seeking to take RL lessons from games

• • Nike +
  • Mint.com
  • Foursquare
  • etc?

How do we gamify our lives?

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

• Gearbox buys Duke Nukem Rights (JP)
  • The story, and game, that just won’t buy gets a new chapter
  • Gearbox announced this bombshell at PAX proper
  • DNF is their first game, but more to come
  • Original creator, Alan Blum, now works for gearbox
  • Release date: xmas 2020

• Borderland raises their level cap by 8 (SM)
  • (another Gearbox)
  • There’s new DLC for one of our favorite post apoc FPRPG
  • “Claptrap’s New Robot Revolution”
  • What it won’t include is a new level cap raising and rebalancing
  • Good News? They’re giving those out for free
  • They plan an 8 lvl raise for all players, current cap is 61….

• New Parody RPG Fantasy University Aims to give Zynga a run (udg)

• • I’ve long stated FB game “addicts” have no right to call themselves “hardcore gamers.” The games just don’t qualify period. Until now?
  • Simutronics is hoping their new game Fantasy University will live up to the standards real gamers (yea I said it) look for.
  • It’s a parody-driven role playing game that mocks pop culture.
  • Players move around a game world, gathering quests and fighting beasties one whack at a time. But there’s more to the game than flavorless hack-and-slash. Fantasy University is funny, stylish and smart; in short, it’s no FarmVille.
  • With an art style created by Tracy Butler, the artist behind the web comic Lackadaisy, and a plot brimming with pop culture references, the game feels like Mad magazine’s take on the fantasy videogame.
  • Game is in beta test right now, which I have signed up for and from what I’ve seen looks pretty awesome.
  • Can it achieve it’s goal of drawing hardcore gamers into FB gameland? I think only time will tell. All I know is it’s not Zynga and that alone makes me root for them.

• Captive Freed by Twitter (SM)
  • Well, nobody knows if the twitter was what really aided in his release
  • Japanese journalist, not heard since Apr. 1, sends 2 tweets from prison.
  • i am still allive [sic], but in jail,” and “here is archi in kunduz. in the jail of commander lativ.”
  • Low lvl captor had an N70, wanted to use it to see Al Jazeera, journalist activated it for him, and then tweeted from it.
  • A days later he was free back in Japan
  • See? Twitter can save your life
  • Speaking of saving your life, this guys tweeted a live heart attack
  • Tommy Christopher, White house reporter for mediaite.com, suffered a major heart attack that was almost fatal
  • His response to the event? Live tweeting! “I gotta be me. Livetweeting my heart attack. beat that”

• Journalist Benched Over False Twitter Report (JP)
  • Mike Wise, Journalist at The Washington Post didn’t think Twitter was that big of deal
  • To emphasize his point, he posted a fake tweet on Ben Roethlisberger (Pitt QB)
  • Instead of making his point, he got suspended when readers did their own fact checking and called him on his false report
  • 1/4 of all posts contain a link, 190 million unique visitors monthly
  • definitely a valid source of news finding
  • recent scoops: (us airways hudson river, dominican republic earthquake, Iran elections, fort hood shootings)

• Comic God Mark Millar Starts His Own Kick-Ass Magazine (udg)

• • You’re one of the hottest comic book writers on the planet. Wanted and Kick-Ass were already turned into A-list Hollywood movies and Nemesis scored its movie rights being snatched up after only 2 issues, so what’s next?
  • A print magazine of course!
  • British stores will be stocked w/ CLiNT, Mark Millar’s new monthly mag for “dudes.”
  • Will only be available to us US peeps via subscription for now.  Excited? So was I until the $61.99 stopped me.
  • Millar’s new passion project is the quest to create the ultimate magazine for young guys.
  • Will feature articles on movies, music, tv, as well as serialized comics.
  • One of the most awesome things? One of those comics will be the debut of his Kick-Ass sequel- Kick-Ass 2: Balls to the Wall.
  • Ok, umm so what’s up with the name? Well rumor has it when the name Clint was printed in comic books in the early 60’s poor print quality made it look like a certain other c-word.
  • Wanna read a breakdown/review of the first issue? Check out what Comics Alliance had to say here.

• Windows XP Dying Oct. 22, Dell rushes it to grave (SM)
  • Oct. 22 is the final moratorium on XP downgrades for PC Makers
  • Dell is retiring it a month early in preparation
  • Sales of XP in stores was first halted in 2008
  • 60% of the personal computer market is still XP
  • 30% is a combo of Vista and Win 7
  • Apple? Up to 6%

• PS3 Blocks Jailbreaking with firmware update (JP)
  • Surprise Surprise, PS3 Jailbreak USB stick no longer works w/ new update
  • Sony calls the update “minor” but doesn’t really say whether it was to stop jailbreaking just unspecified “security features”
  • Prediction: There’s gonna be a war over the PS3 because it is more open than the XBox 360

• Microsoft Co-Founder Sues Everyone and Their Mother (udg)

• • Microsoft Co-Founder Paul Allen has gone on quite the insane little patent lawsuit run
  • Whose on his hitlist? Only Google, Facebook, eBay, Apple, Yahoo, AOL (seriously do they have anything left???), Netflix, Office Depot, Office Max, Staples and YouTube (umm… doesn’t Google own it??)
  • The patents he’s citing describe tasks like:

• • • • “A site to offer suggestions to consumers for items related to what they’re currently viewing.”
      • “Enables ads, stock quotes, news updates or video images to flash on a computer screen peripherally to a user’s main activity.”

• • • • “allows readers of a news story to quickly locate stories related to a particular subject, among other things.”

• • There are sooo many things wrong with this on so many levels. Is the $18 BILLION he is currently worth not enough? Why now?? And how the Hell did AMAZON and a zillion other sites escape this mad spree?
  • Here’s a thought- let’s stop suing everyone and focus on making ummm… I dunno…. GOOD TECHNOLOGY PEOPLE CAN USE TO BETTER THEIR LIFE. Or a faster way to buy a new toaster. Either way, I’m calling bullshit on this one.

• 1080P in your Phone via Dual Core Processors (SM)
  • Already in the pipeline, should hit next year
  • 5x the graphics power, allows for both recording and playback @ 1080p
  • 2 x 1ghz arm processors, new graphics processor, faster memory (up to 64GB)
  • Dual Proc actually reduces the power consumption of more intense applications
  • Samsung, Tegra, and Quallcom all have announced different new processors
  • (SM) These will be SMOKIN!

Intarweb Goldmine

• Welcome back to school! Here’s your porn pen! (sm)

• • To sweeten their first day at primary school German children are normally given a cardboard cone filled with sweets, but schoolchildren in Essen this year opened their cones to find pens which project erotic images.
  • Who do the kids (and their screaming parents) have to thank? Why the Communists! No, seriously.
  • In a press release the German Communist Party stated that it had purchased the pens from a discount store, which had said the pens lit up at the push of a button. Oh something lights up alright, but it’s not the pen.
  • Don’t worry though, the Commies have offered to exchange the pens for something “more suitable for children.” And who says Communism is bad?

• Specially submitted by everyone’s favorite Geek Girl Kristin (JP)
  • Man calls 911 demands hugs and Hot cocoa and suprise, gets arrested
  • homeless man in Oregon was arrested for trespassing after sneaking into a local hot tub and calling 911 to request “a hug and a warm cup of hot chocolate with marshmallows,”
  • Officers responding to the bizarre call arrived at the Beaverton, Ore., neighborhood pool to find Mark Eskelson sitting naked in a hot tub. According to statements made to police, he had been sitting in the water for around 10 hours and began to worry for his health when he realized he had no dry towels.

• Venezuelan Politician Offers A Bizarre Raffle Prize (udg)

• • For under $6 you could win the chance at a shiny new pair of…. breasts.
  • Gustavo Rojas, who is running as an alternate for the National Assembly in Sept. 26 elections is the genius behind this plan.
  • With over 30,000 implant surgeries a year in the image-conscious Venezuela, this costly procedure is in high demand.
  • Rojas admitted it’s a little unusual but followed it up with “it’s like raffling off a TV set or a telephone.”

• Frankenstein Cited For Monstrous Behavior in Ohio (jp)

• • Ohio police say a Toby Keith fan named Forrest Frankenstein threatened them and beat his head against a partition in their cruiser after his arrest.
  • When the judge asked 39 yo Frankenstein why he “went crazy” at the Aug. 27 concert in Cincinnati. Frankenstein replied that he had been drinking and didn’t really remember anything.
  • Frankenstein, of Hamilton, is being held on $80,000 bond on counts of menacing, disorderly conduct and vandalism.

Extra Links

• TI-84 to hack a PS3
• XBLA on Win 7
• Other info on M4R format

Contact Info

• On Twitter: Steven is @DarthMolen and I am @JPuent Natali is @UberDorkGirlie
• email us: darthmolen@thepowergeeks.com and jpuent@thepowergeeks.com and uberdorkgirlie@thepowergeeks.com (yay!)
• And Become a Fan

Sponsors

Prof. Mordarm’s “The Wandering Geek Con Journal”

• Kickstarter Project by Lorenzo R.(aka @Prof_Mordarm), create a useful medium to inform people of Geeky Cons across the U.S., both big and small.
• Series of physical journals that will be written in and by the geeks, the panelists, the cosplayers, the vendors, & the fans. Everyone & anyone at a Con can write in this journal Allowing good, bad, and geeky experiences to liv on
• When enough content is gathered, these experiences will be published into easy to read (online, PDF, & hardcopy) editions each year. It will be the Geek’s version of the Farmer’s Almanac, but for Geeky Cons!
• To help get your own TWGCJ and/or support or if you have questions, check out the Kickstarter @ http://kck.st/cNUADw & also follow the project creator on Twitter for updates.

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