ThePowerGeeks.com » Tech News

The Power Geeks #55

DarthMolen — Fri, 25 Jun 2010 13:07:10 +0000

(Live on UStream) We will be talking Internet Kill Switch, Internet Protocol Droids, E-Reader Price Wars, Digital Comics, and of course Megan Fox (oh yeah).(Click here to download edited show | unedited show)

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
Natali was nice enough to come on the show last week, and bear our presence. and tell us all about UberDorkCafe. We loved her voice so much that we brought her back this week to tell us what has gone on since last we talked
Kickstarter site for UberDorkCafe, these places just don’t build themselves

Deals of the Week / New Releases

EA Massive .99 Sale

SteamPunk meets Geekery on Etsy, or TechPunk (iKDR)

USB Typewriter doc for iPad
- Very cool, old school not quite steampunkish but easily could be made into one item!!!

Free Open Terminal app for MAC (JP)
- This is one of the tiniest most useful applications I have found in a long time. This is one of those things that should be a no brainer, but isn’t
- What does this do? in a nutshell it opens your current folder from finder in terminal
  - don’t know/ don’t care.. then this isn’t for you… this is for the most geekiest among us. If it’s for you, hit the show notes and grab this free and awesome little app

SGU contest from one of our listeners (JP)
- Chuck from Maryland is having a contest on Twitter every Friday Beginning Friday, 25 June 2010, 12PM ET, He will be sponsoring a contest for fellow Stargate Universe (SGU) fans via Twitter to win a free $10 Amazon.com Gift Certificate.
- This week’s contest:
  - One of his favorite actors on Stargate Universe is Brian J. Smith who portrays 1LT Matthew Scott. Show producers and writers have so far not announced a middle name for his chracter.So, he is turning to his fellow fans. If you could suggest a middle name to SGU writers for 1LT Matthew Scott, what would it be?
- How to enter the contest:1. Follow him on Twitter www.twitter.com/cmpaugh2. Tweet your suggestion (replacing the name Bob with the name you have chosen) using the following format: 1LT Matthew Scott’s middle name should be Bob #1LTSCOTT #SGU @CMpaugh @brianjacobsmith3. One random winner will be selected from posts made between 12PM and 6PM ET on Firday, 25 June 2010 using the required format.4. Winner will have an Amazon.com electronic gift certificate code Direct Messaged to him/her on Twitter in the amount of $10 at 8PM ET of the same evening.5. Winner agrees to have his/her name Tweeted as the contest winner.
  Please note: I am not in any way employed by MGM, the Stargate franchise, nor any other individual/corporation associated with Stargate Universe. This contest is for fun only and does not in any way imply that SGU will even consider using the winner’s suggestion.

Geek Speak

Internet Kill Switch Proposed

Get ready for a soapbox… (SM)

- will allow the president to order compliance from broadband providers, search engines, or software firms

- exact wording: “shall immediately comply with any emergency measure or action developed” by the Department of Homeland Security. Anyone failing to comply would be fined.

- Form a new portion of the Homeland Defense Department: 2 deputy directors, liaisons with DD, JD, CD, and NI

- power to monitor all portions of the Internet that are within the U.S. and other portions that might affect the US (which is everything)

- Here’s the big question: How will crippling every business in the USA (and the world) by disconnecting the Internet help against cyber terrorism

-Concerns: TechAmerica, probably the largest U.S. technology lobby group, said it was concerned about “unintended consequences that would result from the legislation’s regulatory approach” and “the potential for absolute power.” And the Center for Democracy and Technology publicly worried that the Lieberman bill’s emergency powers “include authority to shut down or limit Internet traffic on private systems.”

- Not first time. August 2 different bills were introduced with their own kill switches….

-Lieberman’s impetus for this whole bill:

“For all of its ‘user-friendly’ allure, the Internet can also be a dangerous place with electronic pipelines that run directly into everything from our personal bank accounts to key infrastructure to government and industrial secrets,” he said. “Our economic security, national security and public safety are now all at risk from new kinds of enemies–cyber-warriors, cyber-spies, cyber-terrorists and cyber-criminals.”

- One small assurance: cannot be used to conduct surveillance

Immortal sunglasses (JP)

GReat concept – never miss an event by being preoccupied with taping it… skydiving, mountain biking, your kids ballgame. it records everywhere you look!
with it’s built in 3MP video camera, 25 frames per second. 4GB of storage built in (3hrs of footage)and interchangeable lenses (unfortunately not waterproof though)
Great concept, but in actuality???… can anyone see anything wrong with this??? It tapes everything you look at??!?!?!
(Don’t steal my line here!) How many divorces will this fuel… Your honor exhibit A shows the defendants clearly wandering eye… repeatedly looking at breasts and asses of other kids mothers while at his childs sporting event….

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

K-Mart , Sears debuting streaming media service
- Following Best Buy and Wal-Mart’s lead an pre-loading a streaming client on all their tvs and blu-ray players
- Will be using the same back-end as Best-Buy “Roxio-Now”
- Claim over 5,000 “new” releases
- What does this really mean? (SM: The big chains see the eventual end of the line for physical media and are investing in alternate tech)
- Will be available for the holiday season
  - Looked to me like Blockbuster bought out DVD Play as well. their machines have been re-branded (JP)

Futurama Finally (iKDR)
- “Good News Everyone” the Futurama One-Hour Premiere: Thursday 10pm / 9c
- After a devastating spaceship crash, the Professor attempts to resuscitate the crew with his birth machine. Later, Leela and Zapp Brannigan find themselves stranded on an Eden-like planet …where I’m sure tons of innappropriateness will ensue!! -iKDR

Verizon hints at axing unlimited data plans (SM)
- Following the precedence of AT&T, looking to limit bandwidth for end users
- Their goal is 80% smartphone usage on their network (600 – 800 MB per month is avg per smartphone user)
- Upgrading to 4g but claim that the capacity isn’t limitless
  - FCC clears Verizon to sell Licenses to AT&T
    - Mostly in the middle US this will help beef up AT&T’s much beaten upon network

Command line for the Internet (JP)
- Anybody remember Lynx???
- Command line tool for YouTube, Blogger, and Picasa, and the Google Apps sites of Docs, Calendar, and Contacts.
- Goosh (Web based command line tool for google), Goose (command line search utility for google)
- Do you think there’s still room for tools such as this in the Web 2.0 days?
  - (JP) useless to the average user, but to a power user for automation this is SuhhhhWeeet!

C3PO 1 step closer to reality (SM)
- Many years running the unmanned vehicles competition
- Sony Aibo and QRIO, Now the Hitachi EMIEW 2
- What do they want him for? A PROTOCOL DROID!!! No lie!
- Can pick voices out of a crowded room, better navigation features over a cluttered floor
- Hitachi expects Emiew to be used in facilities like offices and hospitals in the future, performing duties like surveillance and guiding visitors
- Get the name: Excellent Mobility and Interactive Existence as Workmate
- A PROTOCOL DROID! (JP – shouldn’t it be shiny and gold?? and prissy?)

Invisible Light Cleans Your Gadgets (iKDR)
- From the same company that makes toothbrush sanitizers comes the gadget sanitizer that can “rinse” an iPhone with UV light and kill all those geek cooties.
- It works with more than iPhones, fitting most phones, MP3 players and even Bluetooth headsets, and will be on sale in October for $50

E-Reader Price War
- $199 / $149 for the Nook…
- This after a $189 reduction to the Kindle
- Border’s also has an e-reader, the Kobo, and it also got a price cut… kinda ($149 + $20 gift card + double points)
- All of these use basically the same eink screen
- Price pressure because of IPad???? (well Duh.. it has sold over 3Million units in the first

Over 40? Old and Grey (SM)
- In a company with over 20,000 employees, less than 200 are over 40….
- How many older IT ppl do you know? Is IT a young persons game?
- (maybe bring up possible age discrimination lawsuit)

Your boys still aren’t safe: Michael Jackson coming to Video Games (iKDR
- Ubisoft revealed that it is producing a new music and rhythm video game featuring Michael Jackson.
- Their deal with the Jackson estate will allow it to include a bunch of famous titles including “Beat It” and “Billie Jean.”
- The untitled game, which is scheduled to come out this year, will allow players to learn and copy some of Jackson’s most famous dance moves, as well as sing along as they already do in games such as Rock Band and Guitar Hero: World Tour.
- learn to moonwalk and grab your crotch like a pro – iKDR

Megan Fox tries to convince herself she’s a Nerd (iKDR)
- “Let me clarify this, because this is a very thin line I’m walking here [by] letting you say that I have comic book credibility or nerd credibility,” Fox explained to MTV News. “Because that world is an elitist world — the comic book world. And I don’t have the extensive rolodex that most of them have. I’m saying that aloud.”
- “I grew up loving mainstream comics like ‘X-Men,’ ‘Gen 13,’ ‘Witchblade’ and things like that,” she added. “I have some knowledge, but I’m not a hardcore nerd. Unfortunately, I would like to be, but I just don’t have the knowledge.”
- “Because I do make appearances at Comic-Con and I don’t want to get stoned there,” continued Fox. “So, I’m telling them the truth.”

Intarweb Goldmine

Unreal Engine Renders 25,000 barrels of oil in one go

Australians Are Serious about their Curse Jar (iKDR)

If I had a dollar for every time a cop told me he chased a naked woman (JP)
- WEST VALLEY CITY, Utah – A woman was undergoing a mental evaluation Tuesday after police say she stole two vehicles, including a police cruiser, and led officers on a chase through two Salt Lake City suburbs — all while naked.
  
  Police Capt. Tom McLachlan said doctors do not believe drugs or alcohol led to the woman’s erratic behavior, which also included running through sage brush.
  
  The chase finally ended when she was subdued with a stun gun after climbing a chain-link fence.

KRISTIN LEAVING!!!!! TAKE AS LONG AS WE WANT TO SHOOT THE BREEZE (and the shit)

Extra Links

Contact Info

On Twitter: Steven is @DarthMolen and I am @JPuent and Kristin is @GeekGirls
email us: darthmolen@thepowergeeks.com and jpuent@thepowergeeks.com and geekgirls@thepowergeeks.com (yay!)
And Become a Fan

What’s new for Geek Girls Network? um…San Diego Comic-Con!!

“Geeks Girls Exist” Panel on Thursday:
- 5:30-6:30 Geek Girls Exist – Really? Kristin Rielly (Geek Girls Network – @geekgirls) leads a discussion about growing up geek, turning passions into careers, and who shot first. Representing the many awesome aspects of the geek culture, panelists Morgan Romine (The Frag Dolls), Bonnie Burton (The Star Wars Craft Book), Marian Call (Singer-Songwriter), Sarah Kuhn (One Con Glory), Jill Pantozzi (Has Boobs Reads Comics), Veronica Belmont (Qore), and Kiala Kazebee (GeekWeek) will school you on what it means to be a real geeky girl and even make you LOL IRL. Room 8
Geek Tweet-Up on Friday:
- Join the biggest Geek Tweet-Up event of all time on Friday, July 23rd from 8pm-11pm at Jolt ‘N Joes (Gaslamp location) in San Diego.Hosted by @geekgirls, @thenerdybird, and @geekgirldiva, this Tweet-Up is sure to be even bigger and better than NYC!

The Power Geeks #24

DarthMolen — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 04:54:04 +0000

What We Are Playing

JP – COD MW2, Bejeweled Blitz (192,800) on my iPhone now linked to FB, Online UFC Poker for a seat by the ring girls at UFC 106, and the nearly burn my hand off at a wedding game (pics below – funny story I would like to tell)

SM – COD MW2, Bejeweled Blitz (90,650) (I’m jealous of ur iphone app), Torchlight, no WoW (first in a long time)

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

US Debt Clock (Cole!)
- Real Time Monitoring of the US National Debt
- This is one of the most depressing things I have seen
MW2 released (Jeremy)
- (Steven)I have an addiction. Despite having already bought the game, I’m still reading reviews…
- (Jeremy) Thoughts on the game so far… notes from a listener (RouterGuy666 Shields a la counterstrike, and sentry guns from Quake 12 yrs ago or so…)
- 7 million copies sold day 1
  - 1.2 million in the UK alone
  - GTA IV only sold 3.6 million on its first day
  - Old School Game: SF II on SNES sold 6.3 million copies. total. worldwide
- PS3 Multi-player Infrastructure finally semi-stable
Banned on XBL Systems (modded systems caught for playing COD MW2 early) for sale cheap
- Cracked version was out online for modded systems weeks before release date
- People started playing the game on xbox almost two weeks before it was released… Duh… this made it awefully easy for M$ to identify these accounts
- Loaded with games, cheap, but banned from XBox Live… I say avoid these systems.
Torchlight releases Editor on heels of Game (Steven)
- Runic Games originally announced the tool set would be a separate download following the late-October release of the game
- They made good on that promise, gifting us all with TorchED.
- TorchED allows you to manage all aspects of the game, from creating custom levels to modifying skills right down to quest construction.
- For you budding quest composers out there, Runic offers a list of tips to get your mod on that you may wish to check out.
  - one of the useful tips points you to a room template layout. I used to love Modding, but would hate when I had to do every step from scratch
  - If you like to do that, you can, but for those of us who enjoy modding, but have less time than we used to… this is great
ChildsPlayCharity now open for this seasons business (Cole)
- This charity was created by gamers and wholly supported by gamers
- 5 million dollars over its lifetime in games, toys, game systems, and book to sick kids in NA and around the world
- Select a hospital from their website to make a donation to a specific site, or volunteer your time
- There is also an event Calendar at their site if you’re looking to check it out before volunteering
- This years goal is 1Million Dollars so far a little over 450,000 has been donated
- (Steven) This charity is very close to my heart. Its a direct way for gamers to show their compassion with something they love.
Project Natal Release and pricing leaked? (Jeremy)
- a leak from a UK Meeting for M$ has provided new rumor info that the Natal will release in late 2010 with a street price between $50 – $84
- it also claims that there will be at least 15 Natal ready games at launch time
- Will they release a version for PC? I would love for this to replace my mouse (kinda like the computer screens in Minority report and NCIS LA)

Geek-Speak

V: The TV Series Remake
- Debuts with 13.9 million viewers, giving NCIS a run (14.9 million viewers)
- Cole- I’m really enjoying the show- and despite what you say, I love Scott Wolf!……maybe the “V’s” caused everyone’s flash forward
- Steven – The writing is surprisingly good, especially for a remake. Goes to show the genius of the original concept.
Gaming on a Budget during the holidays
- Steven Intro
- (Cole reads our fan mail question)
- Both Jeremy and I give our opinions on how to choose games on a budget during xmas holiday
- Cole gives her unique opinion….
Top 50 Worst Voice Acting in Video Games
- This is just bad… I’m so glad i have only played a few of those games.
- Dynasty warrior 3… Michigan: Report from hell…
- Real bonuses like “Hold me if I’m dying and vice versa, ok?”
- “Even.the.mighty.ramses.is.taking.me.for.a.wimp.and.asking.me.to.fight.a.girl – Valis III (4:22)
- 1:30 in you get pornography (Shining Force)!
- (5:00) “Hi boy… interested in my body, aren’t you. NOT INTERESTED
The Authorized Ender Companion
- Written by Jake Black and approved by OSC
- The definitive written compilation of all things relating to the Enderverse
- a MUST Have for fans of the books (i.e. crazy ppl -Steven)

Deal of the Week

Marionnette – Full Length Adventure game for free
- JP – I wasn’t really interested in this until I read this review by 56K
- In terms of atmospheric density, graphics and writing, this game can compete with any 1st-person-adventure that has been released commercially in the 90s – only that it adds story twists and surreal explorations that would never have found their way past the professional “quality control”.
  
  Play it, it is absolutely worth the while, and you can play it at your own pace and don’t have to be a hardcore gamer to enjoy it.

Contest

Keep listening for more contests to come.

Look for more contests to come in the future…spread the word… the more listeners we get… the more stuff we can get to giveaway to you guys!

Intarweb Goldmine

woman passes drivers test after 950 tries….
Glad I don’t live in Korea
and in other idiotic driving news…

Texas man drives Bugati into lake after being distracted by a pelican…
Used these things go for about 1.25 Million dollars

Next Week

Reviews of the Wallace and Gromit games since I wasn’t around much what with the setting myself nearly on fire in Ohio and all

Contact Info

On Twitter: Steven is @DarthMolen and I am @JPuent and @FueltheFighter

email us: darthmolen@thepowergeeks.com and jpuent@thepowergeeks.com prcole@fuelthefighter.com

Sponsors

Doghouse Systems

- New System – Under $1000 – Still handcrafted with care
DoghouseSystems VS

-Performance in WoW is still great: 40 Frames / sec @ 1920 x 1280
-Don’t forget their laptop which has 2 graphics card built in, the mobius, at a mid-line desktop price
-If you want all the bells and whistles, they can handcraft that too, just call them up during normal business hours, they’ll talk with you, find out your needs, and recommend the system that you need (not the one that costs the most)
-877-DHS-DHS2 (347-3472)

Jeremy Re-enacting the Olympic Torch Ceremony

Jeremy's Hands are burning to a crisp at this point!

Special thanks to Mike Brice of www.mikebrice.com Wedding photography for these pics!

Trigg and my UFC FAN license plate

I'd Like to Buy a vowel Vannah....

The Power Geeks #23

DarthMolen — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 04:40:39 +0000

What We Are Playing

JP – the game of Life got me this week. Huge project for work, some insane hours… but hey… My son crawled for the first time tonight and I got to see that! (oh and I snuck in a game or two of bejeweled blitz but Steven beat me last week)

I do wanna say how stoked I am about the two rants from John!

SM – WoW

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

China Shutting Down WoW?
- China’s General Administration of Press and Publications has ordered Netease to cease and desist
- No more subscription collection and no more new users, calling them “illegal behavior
- GAPP is the government armed that outlawed foreign investment in Chinese gaming
- Ministry of Culture is stating to the world that GAPP’s actions are “not appropriate”
  - Steven you’ve been playing for years… how would you feel if a government agency walked in and said it was shutting the game down because presumably it is inappropriate??
Closure of Pirate Bay Sparks 300% growth in piracy
- Did file sharing stop? heck no, it just went underground and grew by a measly 300%
- All pirate bay is a pointer to the actual media, a database of links
- People still want that content, supply and demand, copycat sites popped up everywhere
- What happened? Ppl used anonymizers to copy the indexes from the publicly available Pirate Bay
- Publish to Public Domain, and voila, anybody with a decent connection can now be a hub for P2P traffic
Terminator Franchise on the Sales Block
- Joss Whedon on his blog in an open Letter to the owners of the Terminator Franchise offered 10Grand to buy it
- Hahahah, TMNT went for like $60 million
- Halcyon is selling the rights after the last movie “Terminator Salvation” tanked at $380 million worldwide (& dispute with Creditor)
- Rights for Terminator expected to go for 3X what TMNT sold for
- Halcyon originally bought it for $25 million from Mario Kassar, the original terminator producer (Cuthroat Island and Showgirls… Haha… but he also did Basic Instinct, CliffHanger and Stargate)
- Who was the director of the first 2 movies?? (James Cameron whose current project Avatar looks to be huge!! and hits theaters on Dec 18th link to trailer in Hd in the show notes!)
- All studios have expressed interest. One interested party you’ll never guess? (Summit Entertainment – Twilight)
- Original film was added to the National film Registry in 2008 as one of the 25 most influential films
Welcome to the Future: UHDTV
- Original HDTV resolution? 1920 x 1080 (amount of pixels that go across and down the screen)
- UHD will be debuting in 10 year at 2 different rates – 3840 x 2160 and 7680 x 4320 (Holy HUGE batman!)
- thats 4 to 16 times bigger than the current blu-rays
- also offer 22.2 multichannel 3 dimensional sound… geez
- when can we expect this mass market? don’t hold your breath. 2023. But theatres probably 2017
  - How big is your house going to be??? That’s you heck of a big screen to display those images!
Doom Classic Released for IPhone
- Looks like a decent port of the original game… I may grab it in the future… but for now I’m just filing it under the cool category.
Ridley Scott on board to direct a new Alien Movie
- He recently provided some details about the much rumored flick and said it will be a prequel to the 1979 classic Alien
- The question is will it ever get made… he’s currently set to film Brave New World, and then has at least 3 more lined up…

Geek-Speak

Apple Looking to Kick-Start $30 all you can watch Video Plan
- People are starting to look
- I think one of the key things here is that Apple is saying it will not be dependant on a device (ie Apple Tv, etc…) but be linked to iTunes.
- I think this has a ways to go before it really gets legs… they have a lot of obstacles to overcome (Like cable companies… and current legal agreements lots of shows/ networks have with cable companies)
- but its the future, TV on the Internet. Apple Store, Zune store, Youtube, etc all do a la carte stuff.
Internet Movie Firearms Database
- a pretty cool site and great resource if you’re curious about the weapons you’ve seen in a movie!
Virtual Goods Market Exploding in US, are you being Psychologically scammed?
- WoW
  - Wow’s Pet store accepts real money
  - Realm transfers, faction transfers, race transfers all cost money also in WoW
- Facebook Games
  - totally microtransaction oriented, spend money to excel
- D&D Online – Free to Play, extra stuff and new dungeons require in-game points which can either be earned or bought
- This all based on research done a long time ago by tah dah… Casino’s of all things… you see someone figured out if you used tokens or chips instead of real money
  - you were more likely to gamble it all back to the casinos… it seems less like real money… that’s why most of these micro transactions are for points or credits or tokens of some kind.
- Start up Two Fish has even developed a turn key solution you can buy to add Microtransactions to your games
- micro-transaction games may seem like a new phenomenon here in the States, but they have been huge in Japan, China and Korea for years dominating over there since early 2006

Deal of the Week

Celebrating 20 Years of Wallace & Gromit begins November 4 with:

Telltale today joins Aardman Animations in celebrating Wallace & Gromit’s 20th anniversary by opening up free downloads of one of the critically-acclaimed series’ episodes, Muzzled! at www.freewallaceandgromit.com today through noon (PST) Monday, November 9.
-Four game Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures series discounted to $20 November 4-8

-All episodes of Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures available on Xbox LIVE(R) November 4

-Wallace & Gromit Children’s Foundation and Penny Arcade charity drive kicks off November 4

-Order taking for the Wallace & Gromit’s Grand Adventures Collector’s DVD begins November 4

Contest

Keep listening for more contests to come.

Look for more contests to come in the future…spread the word… the more listeners we get… the more stuff we can get to giveaway to you guys!

Intarweb Goldmine

SUV Swipes Elephant in OK
- Your driving along minding your own business when “BAM” an animal lumbers onto the road. WHAM! AN ELEPHANT?
- Ok, deer I get, armadillo’s “check”, but an elephant?
- 29 yr old Asian elephant, 8 ft tall and 4,500
- Tusk went through sheet metal of door, slight leg wound

Man shocks family when shows up alive at his own funeral

a man in Rio de Janero shocked his family and other mourners when he arrived at his own funeral Monday alive and well
He was at a truck stop all night with friends and there was a badly disfigured and burned body the family mistakenly identified as him because of the similar clothing
as soon as he found out he rushed to the cemetery to tell them he was ok!

Contact Info

On Twitter: Steven is @DarthMolen and I am @JPuent and @FueltheFighter

email us: darthmolen@thepowergeeks.com and jpuent@thepowergeeks.com prcole@fuelthefighter.com

Sponsors

Doghouse Systems

- New System – Under $1000 – Still handcrafted with care
DoghouseSystems VS

Jinx
- Lifestyle apparel for your inner-geek
- Men’s, Women’s, all sizes
- Specific Collections? They got them,
- World of Warcraft – Home is where the hearthstone is, Baby-T = “My other stroller is [Epic]“, Tanks, Your Welcome
- New Sticker This week (JP)
- They even have hats – Quest-giver hat
- Stickers, Patches, Pins
- Go online jinx.com or call them @ 1-888-JINX-COM - 888.546.9266

Totally Hot!

Totally Not!

The Power Geeks #18

DarthMolen — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 00:35:45 +0000

The Power Geeks #18

What We Are Playing

Cole- Bejeweled- Yes I finally gave it a shot! (aaaand you hated it ), Phone upgrade

Jeremy – Tiny bit of ODST and then fighting being sick for days

Steven – BREWFEST achievement WOO! Bejeweled blitz! totally addicted.

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

FCC Backs Net Neutrality (abbreviated speech) (SM)
- Full Speech Here
- what is Net Neutrality? “ISP’s cannot slow down a specific type of traffic and allow others free reign”
- Even went as far to declare all broadband should be “net neutral”, including cell phones

U.S. Wireless Could Be in ‘Crisis’ by 2015 (JP)
- All those smart phones don’t “magically” pull down data, they need bandwidth, (otherwise called spectrum)
- One of the promises that the FCC made when shutting down analog TV, was to free up bandwidth for such purposes
- Well, the carriers have formally requested more bandwidth from the FCC, 800Mhz more to be exact (currently there is 400Mhz available)
- What about the open access initiative that the FCC is requesting of all the carriers? Well, they already required that of Verizon when they gave them a chunk earlier
- FCC has already promised to push that openness to all the carriers

Blizzard COO Buys Piece of Steeler Pie (Cole) 18:00
- A large corporate exec has plenty of options for their millions right?
- Paul Sams decides to become 1 of the 10 owners of the NFL Pittsburgh Steelers
- (Steven) So thats where all that cash from WoW subscriptions went

Microsoft Releases Virus / Spyware Cleaner (SM)
- Microsoft Security Essentials is available for Windows XP 32-bit (8.61MB), Windows Vista/7 32-bit (4.28MB), and Windows Vista/7 64-bit (4.71MB)
- Ars is giving it clean bill of health declaring it “less intrusive, clean interface, and pretty decent at security”
- Symantec on the other hand is trashing it as a “poor product” that will “never be up to snuff.” Meggers added, “Microsoft has a really bad track record in security.”
- Be warned: It does a “genuine” check on your OS to make sure your legit before installing
- (steven) I installed this myself
- (JP) I’ll be holding off a while longer before I sign on (don’t trust M$)

Spawn HD720 It’s like a slingbox for your consoles!!! (JP)
- hook up most any major console and play on a laptop or pc (or even MAC running windows)
- share your console with a friend to play against them
- 200 bucks street price right now
  - 1 drawback…. untill games are able to run from the HD w/o a disc in you are limited in what you can play by what you loaded before you left the house!

Geek-Speak

Judge rules against GPS trackers on cars without warrant (SM)
- Says that its illegal “search and siezure” (the capability for a cop to stop with reasonable suspicion and search your car and then impound if necessary)
- Previous rulings have stated that cops can use beeper tech to track but ruled that GPS is much more powerful and will need a warrant
- Good? Bad? Indifferent folks?

Best 8 bit video games played (SM)
- Steven
  - 1) Zelda – how many hours did I plunk down into this simplistic dungeon crawler? too many. I still can’t find my way out of that forest maze though
  - 2) Contra – smooth graphics (for that time), engaging gameplay, same screen co-op. My cousin owned it. I still remember the cheat for 99 lives to this day…
  - 3) Gauntlet- I love the wizard in this… I fell in love with the arcade version of this and to find it on my beloved NES? cmon. I never did get to that 100th level though
- Jeremy
  - 1. Space Invaders – I spent my first all night gaming session when I was in the 4th grade trying to get to level 100 on this game (in the 4th grade!)
  - 2. Contra – best two player (co-op) game around back them… so much fun with a friend
  - 3. Track & Field – I spent so many quarters on this and can still wield a pocket comb fast as can be!
    - (Super Mario was gonna make my list too… but eh… let’s not all be lemmings… hehehe)
- Cole
  - 1) Super Mario 1,2 & 3 – Proud to me a Mario lemming! I spent far too many hours of my childhood learning all the secrets that I still remember
  - 2) Wizards and Warriors- Does anyone else remember this nintendo game? Used to scare the crap out of me as a kid but I played anyways
  - 3) Pitfall- Classic Atari adventure game that went on and on and on…..

Product Reviews:

Virtual Echo App
- Be among the first to check out VIRTUAL ECHO, the new application that takes Echo out of the Dollhouse and brings her to your computer. Interact with Echo and explore elements of the Dollhouse like never before.
  - I am sooo excited about this… can’t wait… although with the ratings from last week’s premiere for season 2 I’m worried about the show! go tune in to see Dollhouse on Fox Fridays (JP)

EarPollution Noise isolating Ear Buds with Microphone by iFrogz
- I love noise cancelling ear phones… I have a nice pair of Large headphones by Phillips for this purpose that are great…
  - but not so great for everyday use.. (too big to carry and where everywhere…)
  - I have a set of Phillips ear buds that are supposed to be noise cancelling, but fall very very short in this realm….
  - These new iFrogz are great at this, great sound, great fit… much more confortable than my others… and they have a MIC built in…
  - Which is awesome for when I get calls while listening to Music.
    - I would rate these a 4 out of 5 and we have a PAIR to giveaway to a lucky listener…

Deal of the Week

Immortal Defense for $3
- An abstract tower defense game with some jamming music
- There’s a demo 30+ levels
- Sale ends Oct. 4

Contest

We have two contests running this week… 1 for a pair of iFrogz for iPhone or Blackberry and 1 for a Triazzle iPhone code

For the headphones, the first person to email jeremy puent with what Cole does for a living (imagined or otherwise) gets the pair of awesome earphones

We have 1 more codes to give a way to lucky listeners with iPhones….
so let’s say the first two people who email or twitter me with the costume Cole wore to her Star Trek convention we talked about in an earlier episode will win.
Must have an iPhone and a US iTunes account to redeem the Code for the game. Triazzle, a wonderful puzzle game we have talked about in a few different episodes..

Contact Info

On Twitter: Steven is @DarthMolen and I am @JPuent and @FueltheFighter
email us: darthmolen@thepowergeeks.com and jpuent@thepowergeeks.com prcole@fuelthefighter.com

The Power Geeks #17

DarthMolen — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 03:31:17 +0000

What We Are Playing

(Steven)WoW, and more WoW. Did I mention WoW? 2 world achievements to get, Brewfest and All Hallow’s Eve. Working towards “What a long strange journey” which awards a really fast mount

Jeremy – 4 little words… O D S T !!!!! Baby!

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

Australia Bans L4D2 (JP)
- Australia doesn’t offer a “18+ rating for games”
- First game was MA 15+
- Rejected because of “realistic, frenetic and unrelenting violence.”
- Speaking of L4D, the originals DLC is coming next week (Sept. 29)
- Free from PC owners, $7 for XB360
  - (Australia I’m SOOO Glad you pointed this out because we know all the violence in the world is caused by Zombie video games! HAHHA)

Wii Gets price cut in the US (Evil Pixie)
- $199 – Announced during the Tokyo Game Show
- This following the price cuts on the PS3 and XB360
- Effective 9/27/2009
- New Super Mario Wii Nov. 15
  - Just in time for the Holiday Push

Google releases Google Chrome plugin for IE (SM)
- Mostly to enable support for HTML5 (which IE’s engine doesn’t support)
- Think “Google Wave” which is supposedly the next “facebook” if you believe Google
- Microsoft claims it “Makes IE8 less secure” (based upon their NSS report that says they’re the best
- benchmarks claim javascript heavy sites run 8x faster than native IE8
- Works with IE6 and IE7 also

AT&T at it again… 3G Microcell announced (JP)
- AT&T is releasing a Microcell device… this means if you have crappy cell coverage where you live, you can plug this into your broadband and get better coverage
- So… you’re not using their network… you’re using YOUR broadband… but they want you to pay additional fees to be able to use this??!?!?!

Rumor: Microsoft to Buy EA (SM)
- Shares are up on EA due to an insubstantiated rumor that M$ is looking to purchase EA
- Don’t always believe what you hear
- Why would M$ want this? Platform exclusivity makes the worth of the company about half
- Denial of Sports games to Sony and Nintendo might be worth something
- NFL probably wouldn’t put up with it since Madden has exclusive agreement w/ NFL

Phishing has officially hit Twitter (JP)
- Bad people mad a page that looks like the Twitter login page
- Hacked a few accounts and started to send out DM’s
- Ppl fell for these messages and went to the page and logged in, subsequently getting their UN and PW stolen
- The Dupes then become part of the viral bot-net that sends out more DM’s
- hints to prevent phishing:
  - IE 8 has anti-phishing enabled that highlights the domain name of the URL
  - Slow down, read the domain on the location bar and make sure its correct, sometimes ppl use weird host names that look like a site they are targeting
  - Plugins available for Firefox
  - Also, be weary if you don’t know the person you’re clicking on the link from…

Geek Fight Cometh!!!! (SM)
- What happens when you take a roomful of overzealous convention geeks
  and equip them with boffer swords, shields made out of keyboards, and
  an unquenchable thirst for blood? Geek Fight, the new Business Card
  Game (BCG) by Diving Dragon Games! Explore your wildest fantasies by
  pitting your favorite convention stereotypes against each other in a
  gladiatorial melee of legendary proportions.
- a new card game, very inexpensive something like 7 bucks for a set…
- working on getting a set or two to review and maybe a giveaway…
  - Also, we might be getting the creator for an interview…

Apple has ok’d 2 Porn apps… (JP)
- Yes, they have approved 2 Pornstar apps for staying in “touch” with these stars of adult films… (ok, there’s no nudity in the app itself) just suggestive photo’s blog links, and “Premium Content” hmmm
  - but they have denied an ebook reader because it had the Kama Sutra in it!
    - Apple when will you make sense???

Geek-Speak

William’s Hall of Fame tables for PS3
- 13 tables (all non-movie related) ranging from Arabian nights to Jive Time Bear (1970′s)
- Only fault? NON-MOVIE RELATED.
- My favorite tables? 1993 Star Wars, Twilight Zone, Dr. Who, Terminator 2 ( me too… Love Star Wars and Simpsons Pinball)
  - a Real full size pinball game is on my bucketlist of things for my house … I will have one before I die! video pinball is fun, but somewhat less fulfilling

Product Reviews:

HALO 3 ODST
- I started the campaign, will be playing some major Multiplayer this weekend…
- Full review coming next week once I’ve had more time with it.
- could be the closest to a perfect game we’ve seen… ever.

Deal of the Week

Direct2Drive continues its $5 deals (PC only)
Mythbuster’s Fans can get the Jacket Adam Savage wears…. for the low low price of just $600.00
- 100%
  American Made. It is constructed of heavy duty 1000 Denier Cordura and
  comes with a Lifetime Guarantee. The Mark IV has padded rib protection,
  rifle recoil pad, flashlight holster and hands free shoulder cradles,
  spine protecting pads, and of course, countless pockets. (I actually wish I could afford one of the Mark 1′s… )

Contest

Must have an iPhone and a US iTunes account to redeem the Code for the game. Triazzle, a wonderful puzzle game we have talked about in a few different episodes…

Going to have another contest coming up soon for some iFrogz Earbuds w/ Mic. spread the word… the more listeners we get… the more stuff we can get to giveaway to you guys!

Intarweb Goldmine

People of Walmart
- Prepare to get your eyes seared (pg 2 and 4) (seriously… I hate you for this one… some things cannot be unseen – JP)
Adult Swim does a Human Weapon parady (Robot Chicken)
- Fans of the Human weapon series or fans of Robot chicken will really enjoy this…
- Nothing like watching Jason Chambers teach bullies how to do a super-wedgie, complete with diagrams!

Contact Info

On Twitter: Steven is @DarthMolen and I am @JPuent and @FueltheFighter

email us: darthmolen@thepowergeeks.com and jpuent@thepowergeeks.com prcole@fuelthefighter.com

Jinx

- Lifestyle apparel for your inner-geek
- Men’s, Women’s, all sizes
- Specific Collections? They got them,
- World of Warcraft – Home is where the hearthstone is, Baby-T = “My other stroller is [Epic]“, Tanks, Your Welcome
- New T-Shirt (JP)
- They even have hats – Quest-giver hat
- Stickers, Patches, Pins
- Go online jinx.com or call them @ 1-888-JINX-COM - 888.546.9266

The Power Geeks #16

DarthMolen — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 23:58:47 +0000

What We Are Playing

Game of Life for Everyone

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

Voice Chat Coming to Facebook (Steven)
- Done by third party vendor
- Will require a plugin download
- Will be used for 1-1 and group chats (like a teleconference)
- There will even be dial-in numbers for the large conversations
- Component will be available as an API to any of the other 3rd party developers so expect other apps to use the functionality
- Facebook is not actively marketing the feature, but it is squarely aimed at Skype
- This is the same system that Eve Online, Second Life, and will be published for games such as C&C4
- Would you use voice chat on facebook if it was a seamless experience? (this question is for cole)

XB360 coming out with 802.11n wireless network adapter (Jeremy)
- Guess this is what they mean when they say, “unlimited” upgradability
- the n protocol is almost twice as fast as the current XB adapter (at the g rates)
- Still won’t be worth much if it’s $200 ( an estimate we arrived at using the “double the antennas, double the price” principle. – HILARIOUS!)

HBO Files Patent for True Blood Game (Cole)
- discussion on what would make a great true blood game.

Level 26 a new kind of novel (Jeremy)
- Worlds first “Digi-Novel” a novel with codes for you to enter on a website and see some more content acted out.
- Created by Anthony Zuiker who is the brain child behind CSI
- Amazing cast including Michael Ironside and Glenn Morshower
- as I finished the novel they anounced they have an iPhone app coming to read the book, play the video content as well as have some original art by Marc Ecko

Nirvanna Doesn’t approve of GH5 Kurt Cobain avatar (Steven)
- Courtney Love signed off on it, cashed a nice check, now claims she didn’t agree to this!
  - What do you think Steven? If Kurt was still alive, do you think he’d be cashing in or turning away stuff like this? I know what I think…

In just 25 Short days…. (Steven)
- And Another Thing will be released… This is the 6th book, in the ever increasingly inaccurately named Hitchhiker’s Trilogy
  - We all know Douglas Adams passed from this mortal world a while back, so the nod went to Irish Eion Colfer to pen this novel based on notes left behind by Adams.
    - I can not think of a better choice to write this. Colfer is a fantastic writer with a similar sense of humor… I am very VERY excited for this one!

Geek-Speak

More Details on COD:MW2 (Stebven
- Can it just come already? (I’m with you… CAN’T Wait!)
- Microsoft Unveils Modern Warfare 2 XB360
- The Perk system on Steroids (even perks for dying too much)
- More melee type weapons (throwing knives)
- Glinting blood spatter on the camera when you get damaged too much
- Looks gorgeous
- (Steven) I will be taking a vacation week the day it comes out Nov. 10, 2009

VW 170 MPG Car
- Is this something you would buy?
- see the seating? did you ever see a Crosley?? I just don’t see this taking off…
- Why is it always one extreme or the other…??? either they build hummers getting 7 MPG or they build something like this that gets 170MPG but only seats 2 people one in front of the other…
- Why can’t they make a decent looking car of average size that gets 80 or 90 MPG??? Where is the happy medium?

U2 Tech

Awesome Concert… but I was blown away by the screen….

This was the screen normal as it appeared throughout most of the event….

Then it went into motion….

It separated into hundreds of smaller parts adn still had images and went in motion…. This is AWESOME Technology in displays…I have seen some really neat displays over the years at concerts, stadiums, etc… but this took the cake!

This was it fully expanded…

Product Reviews:

Tick talk – this is a great idea, an app that is an alarm that reads you the news of (almost) any rss feed you point it to. It does a very decent job with the pronunciation of most things (considering it sounds a little “British”).
One drawback (that is actually an iPhone shortfall not the software) is that it has to be open for the alarm to actually work (no background processes on iPhone yet)
It’s funny, you can change the greeting and sign off, you will be able to add feeds more easily in the nt update which has been submitted to Apple for approval..
When the alarm goes off, you have the choice to Snooze it, or hear the news. here’s a little sample… (turn on Robot!)

Zune HD Day came and went… mmmm
- Not a product review (because I’m broke) but damn, I have gadget envy
- Comes with a built in IE + cool 3D apps coming
- OLED Screen is beautomous and it comes with an accelerometer to tilt automatically
- No app store planned (Microsoft is a bit confused right now on their direction)

Deal of the Week

Not just one deal this week… but a lead to get tons of deals every day…. follow http://twitter.com/gamingdeals and you’ll get coupons, codes, links to deals every day!

In honor of International Talk Like a Pirate Day this Saturday, Sept.19, the developer is making the complete first episode of Tales of Monkey Island FREE from 12:01 am GMT, Sept. 19 (that’s 4:01 pm Sept 18 PST) until midnight PST, Sept. 19 at the URL: http://www.playlikeapirate.com

Check Steam every Friday for their Deals, a lot of the time they have 50% off popular games

Contest

We have 2 more codes to give a way to lucky listeners with iPhones….
so let’s say the first two people who email or twitter me with the costume Cole wore to her Star Trek convention we talked about in an earlier episode will win. Must have an iPhone and a US iTunes account to redeem the Code for the game. Triazzle, a wonderful puzzle game we have talked about in a few different episodes… if you’re not one of the lucky winners download the free “lite” version and check it out!

Intarweb Goldmine

Meet Dr. MacGyver Chewbaca Highlander

yes… a norwegian man had his name legally changed to be… Julius Andreas Gimli Arn MacGyver Chewbacka Highlander Elessar-Jankov as the ultimate sci-fi fan moniker

I’d say “Only in America” but this one’s not on US!

Fans Re-Make Mario64 Mushroom Kingdom in Left4Dead
- Nothing Completes me more than killing zombies in a 64bit mushroom kingdom!

Contact Info

On Twitter: Steven is @DarthMolen and I am @JPuent and @FueltheFighter

email us: darthmolen@thepowergeeks.com and jpuent@thepowergeeks.com prcole@fuelthefighter.com

Sponsors

Doghouse Systems

- New System – Under $1000 – Still handcrafted with care
DoghouseSystems VS

-Use Code “TPG” if you want FREE SHIPPING

Jinx

- Lifestyle apparel for your inner-geek
- Men’s, Women’s, all sizes
- Specific Collections? They got them,
- World of Warcraft – Home is where the hearthstone is, Baby-T = “My other stroller is [Epic]“, Tanks, Your Welcome
- New T-Shirt (JP)
- They even have hats – Quest-giver hat
- Stickers, Patches, Pins
- Go online jinx.com or call them @ 1-888-JINX-COM - 888.546.9266

The Power Geeks #15

DarthMolen — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 19:27:58 +0000

What We Are Playing

Steven – I’m a sucker, just like my wife. WOW and COD4 (boring I know)
Jeremy – Civ Revolutions (a little, not enough time to really get into it.) LeMans from 1982 on C64 Emulator on my iPhone
(got pulled again, but I have it! and for anyone else out there who got it, the hack that caused Apple to pull it again… works )
Cole – I’m playing the role of busy grad student

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

Palm to release Pixi Smartphone (Social networking emphasis-intuitive simple)
- - Geared towards younger consumers- longer, slimmer design than original Pre smartphone
  - Smaller multitiouch screen, full keyboard, 2 megapixel camera, 8GB memory/GPS
  - New FB app, integration of LinkedIn & Yahoo contacts, calendar and IM
  - Price not revealed yet, but it will be less than the Pre, available by the holiday season (Pre smartphone also dropping in price to $150 with a 2 year service agreement and rebates)
Faction Changing Now Available in WoW
- $30, Change from Alliance to Horde and Vice Versa
- HUUUGE feature people are polarized over (server balance the biggest complaint + not wanting the other side )
- I would change my ally mage but my name’s already taken on the server I play on
- Tons of rules about mount changes, achievements, etc so read the fine print before taking advantage

PS3 sales in Japan Blow Through Roof
- 153,000 console sales( highest EVER in Japans history)
- Almost double of launch week (88,000)
- 1000% increase in UK Sales
- 104% increase in US Sales
- $299 apparently a huge hit

Confirmed Cases of Swine Flu at PAX
- Pax is a huge geek gaming mecca / convention
- Its what happens when you get a few hundred thousand ppl together in tight quarters
- Ppl joke a lot about the “body odors” and lack of sanitary habits at some conventions…
- Enough confirmed cases that the Department of Publish Health got involved
- If you feel the symptoms, please go get checked out
- We include a link to their site with the confirmed cases and their flights in case you were on one
- Wil Wheaton who attended PAX tweeted about coming down with the flew after he flew back to LA

Nano gets Camera + Price Updates for all the IPod Line
- 8GB or 16GB version, 2.2″ 240 x 376 screen
- 640×480 resolution on video, Not HD but priced cheaper than similar SD Flip
- iPod Touch (still no camera) $199 for 8GB, 32 and 64 avail ($299 and $399)
- iPod shuffle – 2 GB down to $59 and 4GB $79
- iPod Classic 160GB $249
- Also they said a bunch of new colors
- iTunes 9 and iPhone 3.1 also hit today
- app organization through iTunes [about dang time] and a genius for the app store plus more
- and Most importantly Steve Jobs made the stage… thanked the kid who died in the car crash that Steve got his liver,
- and this was the perfect event for Steve to return at… not too important or big of an announcement that his return would over shadow the news…
- everyone will still report the price drops and new features… but him being there won’t take away from such a simple set of announcements
- (Steven) Heard through the twitter-sphere that the ITunes 9 is a bit buggy

Geek-Speak

China looking to restrict rare metals
- Why is this important? A lot of our high tech is based upon rare metals. China supplies 95% of the worlds rare metals
- A toyota prius takes about 25lb. of rare metals to create (mostly the batteries)
- China basically ran out of the market in the mid-90′s by dropping their prices on rare metals through the floor, now they are running out
- Motherboards, circuitry, energy saving bulbs, batteries, IPods, mobile phones, blackberries all use these metals
- (erbium, dysprosium, yttrium, thulium, and lutetium, neodymium, europium, cerium, and lanthanum)
Danny Devito Joins Facebook, Welcome Vid is AWESOME!
- - This video takes the cake because he is “TOPLESS” and goes on to talk about his boring life, its GREAT!
  - This comes fresh on the heels of him making his Twitter picture of him shirtless as well, this guy must really love the web alot
  - Why are celebs soooo big in the social networking spaces?
Star Wars Mod for COD4
- Totally looks like star wars yet the action is eerily COD4 (complete with scope)
- Non-Profit total conversion that started with just a blaster model
- “Our plan is to release a first version of the mod in October. It’s planned to integrate three player models on each side (Rebels vs. Stormtroopers. The “playground” will be Tatooine, and Endor with Bespin following on a bit later. “
- JP – I am praying and keeping my fingers crossed that LucasFilms/Lucas Arts and Activision and Treyarch take notice…
- I am sure that this if made as a complete game would be one of the greatest sellers in gaming history..
- More translated info
Windows 7 Launch Party “contest”
- Microsoft is trying to get people to host a Launch Party to celebrate the release of Windows 7 (party must be held between Oct 22 – 29)
- some themes to choose from, ease of set up, social networking, photo palooza, etc
- they’ll supply some party favors and you get entered in a contest to win a $750.00 PC and a special edition of Windows 7
  - Does anyone else think this sounds kinda lame? I’m a geek and all…
  - but are you really going to invite friends and family over to demo Windows 7 for them and try to convince them to go buy it?

Product Reviews:

Flickr App for iPhone arrives
- (Steven – I’ll intro this and then you can talk about it)
- I just got this yesterday so I have not had too much time with it. Initial impression:
  - Not too impressed so far, no multiple image upload that I have found yet and it seems pretty slow compared to other image upload apps…
iGo My Way
- (Same here)
  iGO My way™ 2009 is a complete door-to-door, turn-by-turn 3D GPS navigation solution for iPhone
- Quarterly map updates are absolutely FREE until December 2010.
- Loving this thing, it actually saved my Bacon 2 weeks ago while I was out East…
  - It also narc’ed on my father in law for speeding… (don’t worry you can turn that off!)
- This is what Apps for smart phones should be like! When Smartphones 1st started to come out, these are the types of things we all envisioned them doing, turn by turn directions, taking us back to whereever we parked in the mall parking lot, giving us helpful information at the touch of a button… This does all that and more…
  - Overall I would rate this a 4 out of 5, close but not perfect yet..
    - It’s missing Stopover support (but the dev’s say that is coming a future enhancement as well as announcing the street names and controlling your music from within the interface, and more)

Deal of the Week

KOTOR on Steam and Direct2Drive for $10 (Steven)
- Announced at PAX along with the unveil of Coruscant for MMORPG (The old Republic)

Contest

Must have an iPhone and a US iTunes account to redeem the Code for the game.

Intarweb Goldmine

Kick your WoW habit with ReSTART
- Washington State based, rehab clinic geared at helping ppl kick their WoW addiction
- catch? only $14,000 for their service
- Oh, they have outpatient programs
  - Collection announcement – JP
2 guys walk intoa Philly area hospital and walk out 2 minutes later…
- With an 800 pound ATM and 96,000 bucks in cash.
- Video after the jump, great explanation of how they were able to do it.
  - Mitnick wrote about this type of thing in his book “The Art of Deception”
  - how if you look the part and act like you belong, few will question it.
  - My company gets hired to do security audits all the time, and you would be amazed at how often something like this will work… and the places it will work.

Contact Info

On Twitter: Steven is @DarthMolen and I am @JPuent and @FueltheFighter

email us: darthmolen@thepowergeeks.com and jpuent@thepowergeeks.com prcole@fuelthefighter.com

Sponsors

Doghouse Systems

- New System – Under $1000 – Still handcrafted with care
DoghouseSystems VS

Jinx

- Lifestyle apparel for your inner-geek
- Men’s, Women’s, all sizes
- Specific Collections? They got them,
- World of Warcraft – Home is where the hearthstone is, Baby-T = “My other stroller is [Epic]“, Tanks, Your Welcome
- New T-Shirt (JP)
- They even have hats – Quest-giver hat
- Stickers, Patches, Pins
- Go online jinx.com or call them @ 1-888-JINX-COM - 888.546.9266

The Power Geeks #13

DarthMolen — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 13:47:18 +0000

Somebody kidnapped Cole… Who could it be???
JP – Theory – SJ is behind it… looking for nutritional advice since he is returning to work fulltime!

What We Are Playing

JP – Just got Civ Revolutions for my iPhone
Steven – Same ol’ Same ol’

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare News (JP)
- Wii Version coming Nov. 10
- Just when Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 hits, Wii will be getting a game 2 generations back
- Screenshots look, umm like they came from 1999 (JP – because they probably are.. I believe this is a straight port of the original)
  - Activision has confirmed that the Treyarch-ported “Call of Duty: Modern Warfare” will launch on Wii on November 10th.
- MW2 on the PC will be $60 (console gamers have paid this for awhile)
Blu-Ray Tanking in PC Market
- Despite pop of Consumer Blu-Rays, Sale of PC Blu-Rays lagging behind
- Estimates from study say 2013 = 16.3% new PC’s will have the bigger drives
- Problems? Cost and limited library

Sony Announced at GamesCom 2 big things for PSP (JP)

- Digital Comics service
- - The first announced partner is Marvel, but many more are to be announced in the future pricing is still to come too
- PSP mini’s – a new iphone-esque app market for games under 100MB
- - Puzzle Scape, Sudoku, Tetris,and Zombie Tycoon are just a few of the titles for launch day

Augmented Reality Apps Arrive (JP)
- First iPhone Augmented Reality app
  - This is an app that’s purpose was something else, and threw A.R. in as an extra…. Just the tip of what we’ll see…
- a Much Better implementation for Android
  - This is Augmented Traffic… a much better example of things to come…

U.S. Invites Russia to Share Mars Mission
- Eventually, First need to finish the ISS mission and Moon Flights
- NASA calling for lessons learned from ISS and to make the race to Mars multi-national

Wikipedia to Require Editing Approval (for living ppl)
- Huge move for the online encyclopedia
- Erroneous and Malicious entries have long plagued the site and made it less-than-reliable
- Anonymous users can’t access and edit entries even today because of previous problems
- Now changes are flagged and invisible until a volunteer power-user approves the new content
- German site has been operating this way for the last year
- Huge paradigm shift, now the site is divided between regular and power users, altering Wikipedia’s implicit notion that everyone has an equal right to edit entries.

BlizzCon Coverage

The All New Battle.NET
- Better Matchmaking
- Persistent Avatar
- RealNames
- Achievements encompassing all Blizzard games
- Map Marketplace
  - Microtransactions and Virtual Chotchkis Ha!
My Gosh, This is Starcraft 2!
- Yes, we all know that its been delayed 2010, but there is good reason after all
- Robust creation system
- Tight integration with Battle.NET
- 3rd person view between missions where you research, etc.
- Huge overarching storyline to span all three games
Wow: Cataclysm, The New Expansion (1 post 2 rule them all)
- “Old world Changed”
- Explanation of how WoW Works (leveling and end-game)
- Changes to both paths
  - Level – quests re-worked and streamlined
  - Level – xp in battlegrounds and through PvP (already implemented)
  - End – Path of the Titans (Super Glyphs): Adds questing back into end-game
  - End – Guild Levels (guild talent tree: guild eq crafting, mass rezes, mass summons, etc)
- Class / Race changes not seen before: Human and Undead Hunters, Tauren Paladins, etc
- 2 new races: Goblins and Worg’s
- Total revamp on how stats work (more simplified system, no spell damage, attack power, etc)
  - Hunters won’t use mana anymore
  - Warlocks won’t have expendable shards
- NO NEW CLASS! WTH
Diablo III trucks along
- New Monk Class Introduction
  - When you read the bio of the Monk… It makes me think of EVERY awesome martial arts film I saw as a kid! SWEET!

Geek-Speak

Marvel Done with Crappy Movie-based games
- “We are not doing movie-based games anymore. Actually, wait … we are not doing crappy movie-based games anymore. You can quote me on that.”-Ira Rubenstein VP of something or other at Marvel
- (Steven)This is a time old tradition. Hurry up and slap together some half-hazard piece of junk. call it a game. release it at movie time and make back ur $2 that you spent making the game in first place
- Anyone seen the PS2 version of Iron Man? Ugh.
- Times are looking up though, X-Men Origins: Wolverine was a critical success

Intarweb Goldmine

Man Beats 2 With Hammer After Botched D&D Campaign
- We’ve all played with a power tripping DM before right? but try to kill the guy with a hammer?? C’Mon!
Being a creepy Stalker… There’s an app for that!
- Hilarious spoof of Apple Ads

The Ballad of G.I. Joe

DarthMolen — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 19:01:01 +0000

This next video is probably the G.I. Joe I wanted to see, rather than the action popcorn that came out a few weeks ago. It starts slow but builds steam, plus there are some surprising cameos near the end!!!

The Ballad of G.I. Joe from Olivia Wilde

iThoughts for iPhone

jpuent — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 16:30:02 +0000

iThoughts is a mind mapping software application for the iPhone. It is a fairly simple to use interface that allows you to track, and link thoughts, ideas, etc… Basically whatever you’re thinking about… so you don’t forget it. I had been looking for something like this for a while when the opportunity to get my hands on this came up… so I jumped at it.
I am so glad I did… now that I have been using it for a few weeks. I think iwould be lost without it… I use it to track my thoughts, Ideas, links, and everything else for the Show notes each week in this software… Since I always have my iPhone with me, I can always jot down a quick note or link, so I don’t forget it when it comes time to prep for The Power Geeks!
You can upload templates created from mappings you make to box.net and download ones from there… synch them to a desktop Pc if you want or need… even email people links to review them.

Positives: overall it has a very simple interface, and is super useful. I love it and use it almost daily.
Drawbacks: I wish it had an online repository of sample mappings or templates to use. (I can create my own on box.net, but I want a bunch to choose from and use already)

Rating 4 out 5 Geeks!

http://www.ithoughts.co.uk/iThoughts/Welcome.html

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