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The Power Geeks #108

by realityamuck on Jul.06, 2011, under The Latest Shows

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We are LIVE on UStream.  This week we talk Google, Facebook, China, and Star Trek.

Intro Natali

Items of Interest

  • Disaster Survival Nerd Robo Shelter (udg)
    • With the inevitable alien invasions and zombie robot apocalypses, we need to be prepared for things. Kacey Wong gets that. And he’s come up with something quite epic. It’s a little thing he put together to prepare for pretty much any worldly disaster you can think of.
    • It is a solar panel fitted robo box that, with the help of the sun, is able to generate 15 volts of electricity to power any kind of appliances that you may want to keep you going strong after a worldly disaster. But, that’s not all.  It’s the ultimate disaster house too.When you open it, it will serve as a quite comfortable bed with cozy lights and everything. When the morning comes, you can just fold it up and roll it along with you while looking for more survivors.

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Deals of the Week / New Release

  • Geek Chic Daily Goodies (udg)
    • Nothing says Independence Day like fireworks, charred meat and wince-inducing family get-togethers. Think your family is weird? Check out the hilarious AwkwardFamilyPhotos.com, where voluntarily submitted pics turn somebody else’s kin into your comedy. Like the site? We can do you one better, with a free prize package that includes the best-selling, Awkward Family Photos book and the spin-off board game. It’s fun for the whole family as players answer absurd questions based on the uncomfortable images within. Breed multiple entries for yourself by visiting our Facebook or Twitter (#GCDawkward). Hurry: contest ends Thursday, July 7, 2011.
  • DVD Movie Releases
    • 13 Assassins – OM Freakin Gosh. I gotta see this. Claimed to be best samurai movie since the Kirosawa era
    • DAS BOOT (BR) – Classic German submarine flick. Must see.
    • Hobo with a Shotgun (for our friend @NakedHobo) – Over the top campy gore
    • Wake Wood – OH WOW… undead children… I’m scared just reading this summary. Must See!
    • Hannie Caulder – Kill Bill but western Style. Raquel Welch in britches.

Entertainment Geekly (new feature)

  • Harvey Award Nominees Announced (btm)
    • Award, named for famed cartoonist Harvey Kurtzman, recognizes outstanding work in comics and sequential art.
    • Ceremony to be held August 20 in Baltimore during the Baltimore Comic Con
    • Web Cartoonist Scott Kurtz will once again take emcee duties
    • Darwyn Cooke and Universal UClick lead the nominations
    • Voting is open to anyone professionally involved in a creative capacity within the comics field.
    • More details on the Harvey Awards web site.
  • JJ Abrams & his Gang of Continuity Killers Continue to Destroy Star Trek for True Fans (btm)
    • Roberto “Bob” Orci is a g- danged idiot
    • Has proven he has no freaking clue how time-travel works within the continuity of Trek citing his knowledge of how quantum mechanics works.
      • I know when I have a question about quantum mechanics the first person I think of asking is a second rate TV writer.
    • Now he’s showing that he has no freaking clue how Canon works in Trek
    • If we don’t put a stop to this BS right the F now we’ll end up in a quagmire of Expanded Universe insanity like Star Wars and Doctor Who.
    • Speaking to GamePro Magazine he said,
      • “True fans will tell you that canon is only what’s filmed. I’m not an authority on what is canon. However, I will tell you that this may be the first game that falls within the parameters of the people who are in charge of canon for now; the “supreme court,” as we call ourselves… this is the first time where the game itself is generated by the people who are deciding canon and we generated the game to fit within canon.”
      • “We want to make sure that in a way the game is its own movie. I don’t want to give away who the villains are, but the people in the game might be people who end up in the movie. I like to think of the game as a movie we’ve might have done. We treat the game with the same respect. I can say that the villains are very much in canon.”
    • His so-called “supreme court” can suck it. Do you know who decides what is and is not Star Trek Canon? ME. Me and every other loyal Trekie and Treker who have dedicated countless hours, days, years and decades to making Star Trek successful.
    • I, speaking only for myself, encourage every loyal Star Trek fan to contact Paramount Pictures and let them know what we think about this B.S.

Geek Speak

Tech, Gaming, and Geek News

  • Google+ Done Blowed Up the Twitters (btm)
    • Google+ launch was supposed to be limited
    • People invited were given unlimited invitations
    • After a brief but massive flood of invitations Wed night, invitations were shut down after the system was reportedly “over capacity” due to “insane demand”
    • Within a day of its launch it was blocked by China (I’m sure Natali was surprised)
    • Source code reveals future intent to provide Google+ Games
      • After Google invested over $100 Million in Zynga last year it stands to reason that games are on the way.
    • Mashable posted pics of what Google+ looks like for the unfortunate masses who didn’t get an invite
    • Android app already available, IOS coming (SM)
    • Google seems to have learned some valuable lessons from the Wave and Buzz fiascoes. Wave never had enough people or notifications and Buzz blew privacy to the wind. Plus seems to have made these a priority.
  • Goggle’s Other Launch This Week (udg)
    • Google has had a busy week! You may remember last year they bought up Slide, best known for its 3rd-party FB aps and photo sharing software. Well, it’s reappeared this week as a new website – Prizes.org.
    • The idea is simple- let anyone create a contest for a problem they need solving. In return for the help of the community, you offer a prize/reward for solving that problem. The possibilities are limitless. Need a new logo? Stuck on what to say for an upcoming speech? Need your resume redone? Through Prizes.org you can get that help and the winner of your contest earns some cash as a reward for their expertise.
    • It takes a quick look at the Privacy Policy to reveal a slide.com email address, confirming this is a Google venture. Will someone pay for help with writing a speech instead of doing a few Google searches for “How to write a speech” or “Speeches for special occasions?” It looks like it.
    • People are already signing up and opening contests for things ranging from trip planning to company naming and best deals on a rental car to giving someone a makeover. Prizes ranging from $10-$50, with the $50 contests wanting detailed trip itineraries or complete holiday plans drawn up.
    • One thing missing from the site is any link between your Google account and your Prizes.org login. However, you can already link with your Facebook and Twitter accounts.
    • This isn’t the first time Google has attempted to offer a “pay for answers” service. Some of you will probably remember Google Answers which ran for over four years, but was closed down in 2006. With Answers you could pose any questions and offer a cash reward for the best answer. Prizes.org looks to be a more consumer-friendly version of the same service on first viewing.
  • Google to Retire “Blogger” and “Picasa” Brand names (btm)
    • Mashable is reporting that Google is changing the names of some of their biggest non-Google branded services.
    • Picasa will now be “Google Photo” and Blogger will be “Google Blogs”
    • The change will be occurring in the coming weeks.
    • Expected to coincide with the public release of Google+ at the end of July
  • GMail getting redesign, slowly (SM)(UDG)
    • Gmail is an incredibly powerful web client
    • Finally, they are looking to redesign… slowly
    • Google calendars will be getting a new look and feel
    • 2 new themes (dense and regular) to preview some of the changes (blech)
    • Anyone noticed some minor differences?
      • cc addition suggestions
      • list of emails that person has sent this week on details pane
    • (SM) Can they overcome everybody’s reticence for change?
    • (They’ve already incorporated G+ features into it for those of us w/ it and have created options sidebar when you are in an email to give you options available and more information about that email- udg)
  • Google in Preliminary Talks to Buy Hulu (btm)
    • Hulu has begun meeting with potential buyers including Google, Microsoft and Yahoo!
    • Hulu’s TV rights have drawn interest from Google and Yahoo! predominantly because popular TV programs on the service have attracted more than 600 advertisers.
    • Hulu expects to bring in over $500 million from advertisers and Hulu Plus subscriptions.
  • California Passes Online Tax and Amazon Strikes Back (btm)
    • Federal Law allows states to require online retailers to collect sales taxes only if the seller has a physical presence in the state.
    • Most states require that their citizens pay taxes for online purchases but most people aren’t even aware of this and don’t
    • This gives Amazon and other online retailers a price advantage in many cases.
    • New California law, signed by Governor Jerry Brown last Wednesday, allows the state tax board to collect sales taxes from online retailers who have affiliates in state (in most cases blogs or personal web sites that push traffic to the retailers in exchange for a percentage or cut of the sale).
    • Amazon.com and Overstock.com reacted quickly and announced that they are severing ties with all California based affiliates in order to avoid paying the tax.
    • This may not be enough to avoid the tax as a second provision of the new law allows the state to tax companies if they have subsidiaries in the state, and Amazon has several.
    • California Retailers Association supports the new law claiming the Online retailers had “basically a 10% price advantage every day of the year”
    • Affiliates complain that the revenue they receive from the retailers make up a large portion of their incomes. Incomes on which they pay state taxes already. With this income loss the state will lose even more money.
  • Man claiming half of facebook suffers setback (SM)(UDG)
    • New York man claims that Zuckerberg sold him half Facebook for $1000
    • At the time, Zuckerberg hadn’t even created site, still in dormitories
    • Claims to have email and documents to prove
    • Suffered setback as his high-power attorneys have resigned
    • Judge is forcing remand of evidence to Facebook
    • FB claims its a forgery and wants to prove it
    • Only time will tell whether he gets his 35 billion or not
  • Facebook to Announce “Something Awesome” Wednesday (btm)
    • (At least they didn’t say it was going to be “magical”)
    • Could this possibly be in response to all the “buzz” about Google+
    • (I find great irony in the fact that the most popular person on Google+ is Mark Zuckerberg. I said it when we first talked about this early last fall- this is one thing that could possibly take a chunk outta FB- udg)
    • Sources are pretty much unanimous that it will be a video chat service powered by Skype.
  • China Wants to Buy Facebook (udg)
    • According to the Business Insider news website, Beijing approached a fund that buys stock from former Facebook employees to see if it could assemble a stake large enough “to matter.”  Moreover, Citi bank is rumored to be trying to acquire as much as $1.2 billion of stock for two sovereign wealth funds, one from the Middle East and the other Chinese.  Business Insider reports a third source, from a “very influential” Silicon Valley investment bank, confirms that Citi is representing China.
    • While Business Insider tells us there is “little need” for concern about Chinese censors looking at the photos and postings of the 700 million people who trust Facebook with their personal online activity, you know I beg to differ.
    • Their points- China’s position won’t be large, they would be acquiring nonvoting stock and lastly, shareholders don’t get the right to look at what’s on the site.  Those are all valid points.
    • So what IS in it for China to drop that kind of cash?  Chinese leaders clearly view social media as a threat to their rule, especially after seeing its force-multiplying effect in the ongoing Arab Spring protests that have toppled governments.
    • China’s sovereign wealth fund, which is no more independent of the Communist Party than the Beijing municipal government, wants to buy a stake in the world’s most prominent social networking site because Chinese leaders want to control social media.
    • Zuckerberg visited China in December and is scheduled to return, perhaps in September, in his bid to access the world’s largest online community, 457 million at last count.
    • This is a dangerous combination. On one hand you’ve got the Chinese who are blatantly cocky in their own right. And then you’ve got a delusional Zuckerberg who “believes that Facebook can be an agent of change in China.”
    • Chief Operating Officer Sheryl Sandberg is reportedly “wary about the compromises Facebook would have to make to do business there.”  If she loses her argument with Zuckerberg and Facebook enters China, the company will eventually be subject to demands to censor its sites, those both inside and outside China.  That’s apparently why the Chinese want to own a big stake in Facebook.  They are, in short, looking for control in the long run.  No other explanation is consistent with the Party’s other media and “educational” initiatives.
    • Dear Sheryl, I’ll help you come smack some sense into Zuckerberg if need be.
  • WoW Now Free Up To Level 20 (udg)
    • In case you haven’t heard, Blizzard’s Rage of The Firelands WoW update brings with it the elimination of the 14-day trial in favor of a model that allows noobs to play up to level 20 before paying a subscription fee.
    • However, the World of Warcraft Starter Edition, as it is called, does have a few restrictions. As Gamespot notes:
      • …players will be able to amass just 10 gold, have their trade skills capped at 100, and will be unable to trade via the Auction House, mailbox, or player to player.
      • Further, Starter Edition players will not be able to access public chat channels, join a guild, invite players to a party, join parties with characters above level 20, use voice chat, transfer characters, or use Real ID features. Lastly, Blizzard will give preferential treatment to paying WoW subscribers when realms have queues.
    • On the plus side, if you decide to upgrade the core game plus The Burning Crusade expansion can now be had in a single package for a mere $20. Those who had previously purchased the original WoW will get a free copy.
  • Unlimited MoviePass put on hold (SM)BTM
    • Covered previously on TPG
    • Pay $50 a month and get unlimited tickets to see movies
    • Sounds too good to be true, right?
    • Well not so fast…
    • All the theatres have denied access to these “season passes”
    • Company that set up the “beta” only worked with online ticket brokers
    • Did not clear it with theatres themselves
    • Frequent Flyer Rewards? Profit cuts to theatres?
    • Will this ever get back off the ground?
  • Hello nD! (udg)
    • In case you’ve not yet heard- nD, brainchild of Robert Pelloni, creator of Bob’s Game, is a new indie handheld gaming device currently in prototyping phase. Robert and his team are all set to develop an indie handheld gaming console which will run a number of indie games. And from the prototype, it’s more powerful than a Nintendo DS.
    • Detailed Proposed Device Specifications
      • Screen resolution will be 320×240
      • The current prototype features a 400MHz ARM CPU, although this may change for the final hardware if these chips cannot be acquired in a large enough volume
      • nD will feature at least 16MB of RAM, but more likely 32MB
      • The nD uses a built in rechargeable battery pack and not AAA batteries. The battery life of the nD is TBD
      • Features a 2.4 inch backlit LCD display with a resolution of 320×240 and capable of displaying 16 bit color
      • Wi-Fi for local multiplayer and possibly online multiplayer
      • Doesn’t feature any kind of SD storage. However, the nD does feature internal memory for game storage. Currently 2GB is expected to be the amount for the base model
      • In the future, developers may choose to create their own custom designed nD to ship with their game
  • More and more games are being approved for the device and the list is increasing. Current games include Bob’s Game of course, a port of DOOM (2D) which will allow multiplayer deathmatch game through wifi. A list of all the games can be found here.
  • Oh and did I mention it’s only going to cost $10? Robert Pelloni has a sketchy past with  antics, gimmicks and viral marketing tactics so there are many skeptics, But, I think we’re all keeping our toes crossed this turns out to be the real deal.
  • Spam is Down 82% Since This Time Last Year (btm)
    • Spam hit it’s all time high last July with an estimated 230 BILLION spam messages per day
    • Now declined to “only” 39.2 billion
    • Due in part to several factors working together to make spam less profitable for criminals.
    • September 2010 Spamit announced it was closing down due to “numerous negative events”. This led to a drop of almost 100 billion spams per day.
    • December 2010 the largest botnet of the time, Rustock, stopped sending spam. At the time they were sending approx. 47.5% of all spam.
    • Resumed operations in January 2011 but finally completely shut down in March due to concerted efforts from law enforcement officials and industry.
    • Decrease of over all spam may be due to increased efforts and investigations into the underbelly of the spam community.
  • Great Score Eliminates China’s Tech Mineral Stronghold (udg)
    • In one of my past rants on China, I covered concern over the fact that China had a HUGE stronghold on “rare earth” minerals that are absolutely crucial for making all the little lovely microchips that run iPads and flat screen TVs and other electronic devices we love so much.
    • Well, we can all hug Japan now. Thanks to them, scientists have found a score of these minerals on the bottom of the Pacific Ocean that could pretty much multiply the known supply on land by 1,000 times.
    • The timing could not be more awesome on this with China holding the vast majority of the global supply of these essential minerals and claiming it has used 97% of its share and threatening export blockages.
    • Large deposits of so-called “rare earth” minerals crucial for manufacturing electronic devices like iPads and flat-screen TVs have been discovered on the ocean floor by Japan.
    • “The deposits have a heavy concentration of rare earths. Just one square km (0.4 sq mile) of deposits will be able to provide one-fifth of the current global annual consumption,” Yasuhiro Kato, an associate professor of earth science at the University of Tokyo, said in the report, according to The Guardian.
    • The minerals were discovered in sea mud at 3,500 to 6,000 meters below the surface of the sea in 78 locations, with one-third of sites displaying rare earth content. Scientists estimate that there are 80 to 100 billion tons of the minerals under the sea. Right now, 110 million tons have been found on land.
    • The deposits are located in international waters, according to reports. Mining will take place “east and west of Hawaii, as well as east of Tahiti in French Polynesia,” Reuters reports.
    • To collect these minerals, extraction pumps will pull mud up from the sea floor.
    • “Sea mud can be brought up to ships and we can extract rare earths right there using simple acid leaching,” Kato said. “Using diluted acid, the process is fast, and within a few hours we can extract 80-90% of rare earths from the mud.”

Intarweb Goldmine

  • That Smooch Is Gonna Cost Ya (udg)
    • A Bible-waving preacher protesting at a gay pride event in North Carolina turned the other cheek – and got kissed on it by a 74-year-old female gay rights supporter. And now he’s suing her for simple assault.
    • Joan Parker admits she kissed a preacher on the cheek at the event, proclaimed by the Salisbury mayor as Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Pride Day.
    • “He was just waving his arms and has a Bible in one hand, up and down, and screaming at the top of his lungs, `sodomites’ and `you’re going to hell,’” Parker said in a phone interview. “I thought he needed a hug. So I gave him a hug.”
    • He described the encounter this way: “She ran her arms all the way around me and pulled me toward her.” As he held his Bible in one hand, he stuck both arms in the air and turned toward a police officer standing nearby who witnessed the exchange, he said.
    • Belcher contends the kiss “was just one of many attempts to silence the preaching to those in need of salvation who practice a death style that they call a lifestyle.”
    • Parker is due back in court Sept. 12. Simple assault is a misdemeanor and could bring a sentence of up to 30 days of community service for a first-time offender.
  • Monkey Steals Camera and Takes Facebook Photos (btm)
    • Maybe not actual Facebook photos, these actually look better than some of the ones I’ve seen.
    • Award winning photographer, David Slater, was visiting a national park in Indonesia.
    • One of the macaques must have knocked over the camera which had been set up and set it off.
    • The monkey seemed to be fascinated by it’s reflection in the lens and proceeded to take several really good self portraits.
    • The macaques had been following Mr. Slater’s group for a few days during his visit to the park and seemed to be curious about the human visitors.
  • Prisoners Have Rights Too, Even the Dumb Ones (udg)
    • A Michigan jail inmate says he’s being subjected to cruel and unusual punishment. He’s so upset that he even hand wrote a lawsuit. And why is 21 yo Kyle Richards under the impression his civil rights are being violated at the Macomb County Jail? Well lack of porn of course.
    • Richards says denying his request for erotic material subjects him to a “poor standard of living” and “sexual and sensory deprivation.”
    • The Michigan Department of Corrections tells The Detroit News that prisons allow some pornographic material, though it’s banned at the jail. The American Civil Liberties Union says prisons have a lot of leeway.
    • What landed our sexually frustrated friend in jail in the first place? Richards was charged with bank robbery after police followed a trail of snowy footprints and dropped money to his apartment from a bank robbery scene in January in Fraser, north of Detroit. Richards plead guilty. Sentencing is Aug. 2.
  • Ain’t No Thang But a Chicken Wing, and a 4 Car Pileup (udg)
    • A COP caused a four car pile-up after doing an emergency stop. What did this hardened criminal do? He threw a CHICKEN BONE.
    • Yup, Andrew Varciana, 22, flipped the KFC scrap at his pals who were in a busy intersection in Swensea.
    • A detective in an unmarked police car saw him and suddenly braked — sending four cars ploughing into the back of each other causing thousands of pounds worth of damage.
    • One ended up on the roof of another in the pile-up which caused thousands of pounds in damage and left three people with minor injuries.
    • Stunned Varciana then found himself blamed for the shunt and charged with breaching public order.
    • Ummm… yeah, he wasn’t even in a car. This all went down on some sidewalks.

Extra Links

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