Hey guy I just wanted to tell you a little story. I work night shift and work every other WED 7pm to 7am. I wanted to point out my dedication to this show and how much I enjoy it. One night It was -18 degrees out side with the wind chill, and my work does not offer WiFi. So I wanted to hear the show, so bad I went outside to search for a open WiFi connection from my Ipod touch.  In the freezing cold, I found one about a block  from my work and stole internet to get TPG podcast via Itunes. Thanks to you Steven, Jeremy and Kristin with your busy lives, still having time for us the listeners.

P.s I continue to Steal internet at work to download this awesome show. Keep up the great work.

Deals of the Week / New Releases

• Freeware Game: Desktop Dungeon
  • Free game, looks very 8 bit, just added a new dungeon and you can import from the old version
• TA coming to Impulse
  • this was the game that made me give up Starcraft
  • You’re a commander and you can either build or fight
  • One of my seminal games
• FREE Kindle for iPhone app from Amazon (iKDR)
  • If you have a kindle or not you can purchase and read books here along with free ebooks that are available
  • it will also sync with your kindle for your position in the book (from what I have been told)

• ThinkGeek resurrects the T-Shirt Grab Bag (iKDR)
  • When you order a grab bag shirt, you’ll get a single, genuine ThinkGeek-made shirt that, for one reason or another, we didn’t sell in the normal course of events.
  • While Supplies Last!
  • Can specify size

• New Releases: (JP)
  • The Boondock Saints II: All Saints Day (just in time for St.Patty’s Day) (got mine last night… I seemed to be one of many tattooed Irish guys in line at Best buy…hmmm)
  • Up in the Air
  • Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon
  • Also Quick Mention MW2 DLC coming (new maps) March 30th!!  (PS3 and PC later no date yet for them)
    • Named the Stimulus Package
• New Comics:
  • Amazing Spider-Man #624 (Pasqual Ferry ‘You’re Fired’ Variant Cover)
  • Marvel’s Girl Comics #1

Geek Speak

• I definitely get my news ‘online’ almost never reading the newspaper (by the time it’s printed and delivered it’s old news)
• I have a few sites I visit daily. a couple different RSS readers I use
• ( although I have yet to find a perfect aggregator so I could just go to one place…)
• iKDR – internet for last year or so, paper is boring, internet news is fast, easy, and customizable, i can tell it what kinds of news i am interested in
• I thought of one thing I would miss though… when I was kid I put Silly Putty on the comics (we called them the funnies back then)
• can’t do that with digital news and comics…

Toys that look like real weapons and the consequences….

in the story above… this week a 3 yr old mistook a real handgun left laying on a table for Wii remote, dying after accidentally shooting herself.
The news is full of stories like this… cops shooting kids in alleys because they saw a handgun that didn’t have the orange tip… etc..
I believe toys need to look like toys.. bright crazy colors… not that close to real weapons.
I in no way blame the video games, or the toys… I think in the story above the parents should be put in jail for leaving a gun lying on a table. loaded. in front of children.
that being said… Look at the similarity in the toy and the real weapon:

WTF!!! SRSLY WTF!!!

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

• “No” to Iphone tethering for IPad (SM)
  • Sux for ppl who already own an Iphone, already pay a hefty fee to AT&T, and now will need to pay a second if they want 3g on their IPad
  • They should just allow it to bluetooth tether to the iPhone… send docs, etc.. (JP)
  • just one more reason the iPad is the suck – iKDR

• Teabagging confirmed for Halo Reach (JP)
  • in one of the funniest stories I’ve read in a while… here’s a bug report from a QA tester for Halo:Reach
    • Here’s the exchange:

      Title: Teabagging / humiliation moves impossible
      Type: Bug
      Opened: 3/4/2010 8:53:13 AM
      
      “The respawn camera flies back to the spawn location immediately after dying, so your opponents can’t teabag / shoot / melee your body and have a possibility of you seeing it.”
      
      Shishka’s Note:
      
      There’s a bug in the Alpha regarding how brief the “death cam” focuses on the player’s body that is being resolved for Beta/Delta. As with previous Halos, players should have a couple seconds to look around and locate where they were shot from. The fringe benefit of this is that the enemy that killed you (or the nearest passerby) can ravish your helpless corpse as you bear witness from beyond the veil

• Japanese Ringtone Promises to Clear Your Sinuses (iKDR)
  • Japan Ringing Tone Laboratory has created the “Hana Sukkiri Melody” ringtone, which claims to be able to clear out your sinuses whenever anybody calls you
  • “the ringtone will make a nose has resonant frequency with pollens adherent inside your nasal cavity, so eventually pollens fall down”
  • woot – good-bye kleenex
  • JRTL future ringtones include “sleep-promoting ringtone,” “ringtone makes your date,” “crow scarer ringtone,” “ringtone makes your skin beautiful,”
  • how about a ringtone thats makes ATM machines spew money at me as i walk by, or heres-a-new-job ringtone, or shut-up-that-screaming-baby ringtone…. or the “brown note” ringtone!

• HP Offering Tablet WITH Flash Support (SM)
  • Got a great flame-mail this week from John stating that I was “Flash-Hater”
  • Windows 7 / all the bells and whistles
  • Some experts on the Internet are predicting 500 Tablet clones to compete with the IPad (Dell Mini 5)
  • and I (JP) still say Flash is a dying app sorry bro just reading the writing on the wall

• Mac Gaming News (JP)
  • (quick hit) BFBC2 Coming to Mac Steam…
  • L4D1 and 2 to Feature cross-platform play between Macs and PC’s
  • Full Source Engine Support across both Platforms

• Court Upholds Ban Against DVD Backup Software (SM)
  • (SM: Watch out, this is my pet peeve) and how! (JP)
    
  • RealMedia created this very hamstrung software to allow 1 backup of your dvd
  • You can back up your computer, which has all sorts of proprietary stuff, but you can’t back up a purchased DVD, THAT would be illegal
    • iKDR – but when you back up your computers, you’re not making a secondary “copy” of the OS or software, etc. only user created info. so, in this senario, its not the same thing
  • Anyways, RealMedia was pushing the Fair Use angle, Courts and the movie industry slapped the DMCA down hard
  • So now ya gotta pay $20 for that Disney DVD if your kids scratch the heck out of it, like that ever really happens…
  • iKDR – i back up all my used, super scratched CDs into MP3 and download into iTunes or mix CDs…
  • also, many DVDs now come with one free digital download (which should be another argument for the fair use case of dvd copying-JP)

• Cisco Says New Router to “Forever Change the Internet” (JP)

  • 322 Terrabytes per second

    Cisco today announced a new version of its key routing system – has a dozen times the traffic capacity of competitors and three times as much as the company’s previous version.

  • CRS-3 Carrier Routing System is aimed at the huge growth in video on the Internet

  • It enables the entire printed collection of the Library of Congress to be downloaded in just over one second; every man, woman and child in China to make a video call, simultaneously; and every motion picture ever created to be streamed in less than four minutes.

  • When will consumers be able to take advantage of this new high speed internet?

    • Note: This is for Carriers (backbone of Internet) not end users… you can’t buy one of these for your house, they require special clearance to purchase (and they start at 90 Grand – for just the chasis) JP

• Courts Fines Lifelock $12 million for Running a Con (SM)
  • Todd Davis, famous for painting his SS on a truck, and trumpeting it to the world. – $10 to protect your identity – $1 million guarantee
  • Guess what? claims were bogus and has been prosecuted for operating a scam and con operation.
  • Failed to secure sensitive information, was only placing fraud alerts on their cc with three different credit check companies
  • Did not stop ppl from opening up acct’s or loans with their info
  • Kicker: Todd Davis was the victim of identity theft in 2007, where a guy spited him, took that ss off TV and went and got a $500 loan (Hilarious – I had not heard that before… Laughed out loud… I always thought that was a bold challenge)

• Chopra’s graphic novel adaptation goes “BEYOND” (iKDR)
  • Author/lecturer/physician Deepak Chopra is known as an expert on the spiritual, but now he has ventured into the supernatural for a graphic-novel project that’s also being turned into a movie.
  • “BEYOND is a story about reality being multidimensional and how we can take journeys to realms we never dreamed of by separating the veils that partition our minds.”
  • so i guess anyone can make a graphic novel now, huh?
  • i swear i wrote a movie script like this one time

• (JP & KDR) Review Layers for iPhone
  • JP – has a lot of promise and abilities… I have not gotten to dive into it as deeply as I want… bit of a learning curve, and I have fat fingers (which doesn’t help)
  • But I am having fun with it.
  • Like the layers tool in photoshop this allows you to create images of art, or edit photos in layers… adding or subtracting elements
  • drawing on them with your fingers, importing images, or taking them with the camera… lots of fun to be had. ($4.99 in iTunes) little steep IMHO I would think 2.99 or 1.99 a more fair price… but I may change that tune after spending some more time with it
    • KDR – this is really neat and super fun mobile photoshop-esque app
    • features:
      • 320×480 or 512×512 canvas
      • 1 finger to draw, use 2 fingers to pan around (this was very clumsy tho)
      • can choose brush style, weight and opacity
      • can select color from palet or eye dropper tool
      • eraser and blur
      • can add, subtract, duplicate and merge layers
      • layers can be drawings or photos from library
      • undo/redo
    • havent tried to import any pictures from iphone yet
    • and i do not have fat fingers, but was having a hard time with lines and erasing certain sections from a library photo

• FBI impersonator picked on Police Chief’s House (iKDR)
• Hustler Magazine requesting crime scene photos of dead college student – State denies request (JP)
  • Good for the State of Georgia… and shame on Hustler ( words you never thought you would hear from me, right?)

• • Their mission is simple: To aggravate and humiliate scammers worldwide
  • they find internet scammers – and force them to make ridiculous commercials, promising  money or technology equipment, and then mail them garbage and make them pay for the shipping & tax upon recpt.
  • this video shows a Nigerian man making a “commercial” for AnusLaptop.com
    • “Your Anus will be free and clear of viruses.” “Your Anus will perform like an Anus should.”
  • Then ScamBaiters mailed him a tree stump as payment
theScamBaiter.com (iKDR – Thanks Pops!)

• The New Tron Trailer
• How To: Run Windows in OS X, the Right Way
• Top 10 Geekiest Decorations for Your Home or Office
• 10 Popular Firefox Add-ons for Web Developers

Contact Info

Official planning a TweetUp during the San Diego ComicCon: Check out the FB Event Page, details on the way

Deals of the Week / New Releases

• Background Music for YOUR Life (iKDR)
  • The Personal Soundtrack Shirt from ThinkGeek is an amazing new wearable audio solution that features a working speaker embedded into the front of the shirt. When you push the appropriate button on the pocketable remote you get music or sound effects appropriate for any situation
  • as seen on BIG BANG THEORY!

• Supreme Commander 2 Demo Hits Steam
  • The current iteration of a beloved classic (Total Annihilation) is on its second iteration.
  • Better emphasis on fluidity and performance, instead of total eye candy
  • TA literally made me quit the original Starcraft

• New DVD Releases (iKDR)
  • Neverending Story, Clash of the Titans, 36th Chamber of Shaolin, Where the Wild Things Are, 2012,(JP – The Hurt Locker came out last week… pick this up!!!)

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

• M$ Taking off Gloves against Google (SM)
  • Came out on blog stating that the whole impetus for yahoo deal was Google.
  • “we are concerned about Google business practices that tend to lock in publishers and advertisers and make it harder for Microsoft to gain search volume.”
  • “Microsoft would obviously be among the first to say that leading firms should not be punished for their success,” Heiner wrote,”Our concerns relate only to Google practices that tend to lock in business partners and content (like Google Books) and exclude competitors, thereby undermining competition more broadly.”
  • Their argument? Sheer scale makes Google anti-competitive (pot meet kettle? – now that’s what I was saying the whole time I read through this)
  • Lawsuit by Apple against HTC, but really aimed at Google

• PSN Locked out for Older Consoles (JP)
  • People with non-Slim PS3’s were reporting that they couldn’t play online, and select offline, games
  • Error: 8001050F would not allow them to connect to PSN
  • The temporary fix? don’t turn on your console  (how on Earth would this qualify as either a fix or a workaround?? Epic Fail- JP)
  • Now its back, after 24, everything is back to normal, serverside fix for clock problem
  • Heavy Rain just released and users reporting issues – release day patch was a dud

• Portal Sequel Hinted (SM)
  • Mysterious patch d/led off STEAM with patch note: “changed radio transmission frequency to comply with federal and state spectrum management regulations.”
  • 26 radios around the levels that give off different clues from morse code to formulas
  • Consensus seems to point towards the antagonist GlaDos having transmitted herself outside of the Aperture science facility, which means a possible sequel
  • (SM: Literally a 474 page forum thread over on STEAM about this very thing)

• BBC Makes Deep Cuts in Internet Department (kdr)
  • The Conservatives are up in arms that the massive amounts of free online content make it harder for smaller retailers to compete
  • BBC is citing cost-cutting measures and ways to “focus” licensing fees
  • “The point of the reductions is not to diminish the service we offer to the public, but rather to focus the license fee and the creative energy of the BBC on delivering the highest quality and the maximum public value.”
  • Real impetus involves an upcoming election, and the newspapers and magazines grousing about investment in that new fangled “Intarweb”
  • (SM) Should a company change its business model just so that others don’t have to change theirs?
  • some are predicting this to backfire as it might not be enough to placate those up in arms.

• Steam heading to MAC (JP)
  • Steam is coming to Mac. Not just Steam, though. Judging by these awesome teasers released by Valve, so are Half-Life, Portal, Team Fortress 2 AND Left 4 Dead

• Facebook on Track for $1BB in Revenue (SM)
  • Made $700MM last year, on track to whomp that figure this year
  • Their virtual currency still in beta phase and has only reaped a lowly $10MM
  • Whats Facebook’s secret? (Kristin and then JP)
    • (iKDR) with features like virtual farming and finding my pimp name, FB is an obvious win LOL
    • FB transends generations – promotes community building thru groups and fan pages, allow people of all ages to stay in touch with friends and family and reconnect with classmates and collegues, provides fun and addictive gaming platforms, real time news sources, etc.
      • (JP) I think this is not just generation related but user type related, power user, gossip, gamer… there is enough here and it doesn’t lock you into a certain way to use it… keep up w/ friends, play games with them, etc… it’s up to you
      • I actually know some friends with more than one account for different types of interactions ( a family account, a friend account, and a professional account – although they admit that one is going dead as most of it is being done on Linkd in now)
      • I think it’s great they have been able to monetize it like this too… if only Twitter could get it in gear and monetize it without hurting the users…

• Don’t Press F1 in XP (SM)
  • Hole in IE that allows a script to run in the help files after a user presses the help key.
  • Moral of the story? Don’t press F1 when in IE (some sites can prompt you to do it and then the script executes)
  • (SM)Patch forthcoming, yet another reason I run chrome

• Charlie Miller (Security Expert Pwn2Own Winner repeatedly) says best way to stay secure? Don’t install Flash (JP)

  • In your opinion, which is the safer combination OS + browser to use?

    That’s a good question. Chrome or IE8 on Windows 7 with no Flash installed. There probably isn’t enough difference between the browsers to get worked up about. The main thing is not to install Flash!

    so whether using Chrome or IE he says Win7 with either of these as long as you don’t use flash… you’re pretty safe

  • This guy won the contest each year for several of the last years in a row and is very well known in the industry.

• Turn your arm into a Touchscreen (iKDR)

  • The Skinput system beams a keyboard or menu onto the user’s forearm from a projector housed in an armband.

  • An acoustic detector, also in the armband, then calculates which part of the display you want to activate.

  • uses 2 technologies: detect ultralow-frequency sound produced by tapping the skin with a finger, and microchip-sized “pico” projectors now found in some cellphones

• Netflix hints at an IPhone App (JP)
  • Survey sent out asking if ppl would be interested in watching the same movies on Iphone as they do on other devices
  • The catch? Wi-Fi only
  • Can we say IPad prep?

• A Vintage Video Game Sells for $41,300 (SM)
  • Owner had 185+ video games just lying around in the basement, heard about an old game selling on EBAY for $13,000 and decided to look through his collection
  • The winning game… NTSC Stadium Events which was released in the USA and quickly discontinued
  • (SM) ok, why can’t I get that lucky… seriously? wait, I think I have an extra copy of E.T. for the atari 2600 somewhere. wonder how much that is worth…
  • haha, i have a CD of old Apogee games like Duke Nukem and Commander Keen…whaddya think my chances are of mega bucks??

• Bloom Energy Box (iKDR)
  • Electricity-generating device that takes fuel and air and turns them into power.
  • Fuel is mixed with oxygen and then a reaction is triggered through an electrolyte layer to create electricity. The actual fuel cells are primarily built with compressed sands. The fuel is interchangeable, although natural gas seems to the fuel of choice currently.
  • Green technology (low emissions) and it has the potential to power an entire home with a box that can fit in your hands.

• Self-Destructing Text Messages (SM)
  • Called TigerText – costs per month and a client on both ends but your text messages will “destruct” based up on rules that you create
  • Can even set up a “destroy on read”
  • Totally named before the Tiger Woods debacle, but he definitely shoulda used this
  • (kdr) If i find this on my partners phone, I’ll just assume… I don’t need to read.
  • dude, if i find this on my geekguy’s phone, it better be about some super top secret alien/conspiracy/indiana jones stuff, or *something clever here*

• Boy Genius Creates iPhone App (iKDR)  (hahaha.. might wanna change the title.. I was like… I’ve had the Boy Genius App for a long time Boy Genius Report app that is)
  • As 10-year-old Lim Ding Wei blasts alien space ships on a computer screen in his living room, his father Lim Thye Chean looks over his shoulder proudly.
  • The game is the latest in Ding Wei’s repertoire of mobile applications, which include the hit Invader Wars 1 and Doodle Kids that has registered more than half a million downloads since it was posted on the iPhone App Store last year.
• Man electrocuted after urinating on downed power line (this one is no longer linked) – (JP)
  • While it’s never a good thing to make fun of someones passing… this could be a darwin award winner here…
  • After crashing his car into a power pole he got out to relieve himself and evidently didn’t see the downed power line
    • (or maybe he thought let’s see what happens?)

• How Star Trek Shoulda Ended
• Darth Spankin the Kitty
• Decorating Cables Instead of Hiding Them

Contact Info

This week we talk about Douche-bags, The Olympics, Apple at it again with censorship, and much much more

(I still hate you…    J/K)

Corrections

• Hothead, not Telltale, did PA Adventures (TY @PhysicistLisa)
• The movie was Grindhouse that we were talking about that was shot like a ’70’s B-flick and was a double header
  • (Kristin owns it and sent MMS pics after the show! What a goofball!)

Deals of the Week

• What’s good at Entertainment Earth ?? (iKDR)

  • The Venture Bros. The Monarch & Dean Venture Action Figures

  • Serenity Malcolm Reynolds Browncoat Replica (@GeekGirlDiva who works at EE, got price down from $359 to $319 AND if you use EETWEET12 at check out, you get free Super Saver – FedEx Smartpost shipping)

• for $25 bucks your kid can play grown up… with an iPhone Chalkboard

  • pretty cool little chalkboard that is handpainted to look like an iPhone

Geek Speak

• RCR Wireless is a news source for the wireless communications industry and publishes regular rants regarding the industry
• Mr. Douche-bag (aka Dan Meyer) recently attended the Mobile World Congress event in Barcelona, Spain and came to a discovery:
  • “All of the awesome inventions in the history of the world were created by people that were so intent on inventing awesome things that they never worried about going outside, or meeting a mate or even showering”
  • He goes on to state that “nerds [should stay] in their place under the jocks in the traditional hierarchy”
  • and “while still residing in their parent’s basements planning their next panty raid, [nerds] are being feted by their one-time torturers as saviors of the wireless industry and set to move into the big house on campus
• I hereby virtual bitch-slap you, Mr.Dan “Douche-bag” Meyer. You have NO business being in the tech industry. My wish for you is to be the parent of a super genius nerd, who refuses to leave your babsement, or share any of his earnigs with you. </end of rant>
  (SM) for the record, he went back and edited the post and softened it a little bit, but the sentiment is still there. Nerds, stay in your basement and don’t have a life.

• In just the hockey venue alone, 25 kilometers of fiber optic cable, 80 kilometers of Cat 5 Ethernet cable, 1,500 Ethernet drops.
• 20 or so different Venues, redundant loops in each locale
• They literally fibered each of the mountains so that photographers could take a pic, and upload a shot before the skier got to the bottom
• Ours is a connected world. how has the way you’ve viewed the olympics changed? <-i still think curling is ridonkulous iKDR
• (SM) Summer Olympics Experience

• An Italian judge held three Google executives criminally responsible for an online video of an autistic teenager being bullied
• Internet giant may be forced to police their content in Italy, and even beyond.
• video had been viewed 5,500 times over the 2 months it was online, when it climbed to the top of Google Italy’s “most entertaining” video list and had more than 80 comments, including users urging its removal.
• Google argued that it was unaware of the offensive material and acted swiftly to remove it after being notified by authorities, taking the video down within two hours.
• Google called the decision “astonishing,” saying it “attacks the very principles of freedom on which the Internet is built.”
• “If company employees like me can be held criminally liable for any video on a hosting platform when they had absolutely nothing to do with the video in question, then our liability is unlimited,” he said in a statement.

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

• Sony disabling Multiplayer for used games (SM)
  • PSP’s SOCOM: Fireteam Bravo 3. will now need a 1-time code to unlock multiplayer
  • Those buying it used can go get it for a fee $30
  • Becoming a trend, how do new games distinguish themselves with value-add
  • EA offering DLC for new Mass Effect 2 and Bad Company 2
  • Absolutely rediculous… one more reason I’m glad I own a 360!(JP)
• FTC Gives Google Rights to buy and trade energy (JP)
  • Google wants the capability to get the best deal for themselves and their NOC’s
  • Network Operating Centers consume HUGE amounts of electricity. Just imagine a room full of Racks stacked to the ceiling filled w/ 1″ tall server, each needing their own power.
  • Google now has the right to trade on the open market, they don’t have to necessarily only do it for their own uses, they “could” become an actual energy company if they so choose
    • (which is why i refer the them as “the internet overlords” iKDR)

• Custom Nintendo Wii Proton Pack (iKDR)
  • Wii-Proton Pack to be used in conjunction with the Nintentdo Wii version of the Ghostbusters Video game
  • The cyclotron features
    • four blue LEDs allowing you to know which player is selected or active
    • Blue Power Cell actually shows you how much power the pack has
    • Wand has an area for Wii-mote and Nunchuck & makes all the iconic Ghostbusters SFX
    • (JP) Wonder what happens if you cross the streams??? <—-hahahahaha!!! iKDR this is why i ? you guys
    • Requested by Jason from Toledo via Facebook

• Action Comic No. 1 Sells for $1 MM (JP)
  • This is the first appearance ever for Superman (iconic cover with him throwing a car against a rock)
  • Published in April 1938
  • Although 100 of these still exist, only 2 of them are “8″ qualities (very good)
  • Has now officially taken the record away from the second highest sale (also a #1: sold for $317,200 (£205,000) in 2009. Quality of 6)
  • Anonymous US buyer

• Twitter News: (SM)
  • Dalai Lama Joins Twitter – This has been vetted and kudos for picking up technology to spread his words of peace
  • Conan O’Brien Officially Joins Twitter first tweet “Today I interviewed a squirrel in my backyard and then threw to commercial. Somebody help me. “

• iPad might breathe life into digital comics (iKDR)
  • although this isn’t a big enough reason to buy one, the Kindle and iPhone definitely cant compete with comics on the iPad
  • Newsarama reported that Comixology will have an iPad version of its popular iPhone comics app.
  • Comixology offers titles like The Walking Dead, Fantastic Fours and others
  • But how to fanboys & girls feel about digital comics?
  • (SM)I love digital comics personally, and would totally buy them but there hasn’t been a portable device good enough (too much other entertainment on my computer)

• Did human DNA hitch a ride to Mars? (iKDR “aliens” as per requested by @katiedoyle)
  • Some researchers speculate that life on Mars — if there is any — may be composed of “island species” that were carried away from Earth on interplanetary meteorites (rafts).
  • project called the Search for Extraterrestrial Genomes (SETG)
  • 2×2 centimeter microfluidic chip is part of the SETG instrument. Tiny tubes feed in chemicals and ultraviolet light illuminates fluorescent dyes that help identify and analyze DNA.

• Lego Mindstorm Robot Solves Rubicks Cube

• Clueless Woman Calls Tech Show When Her Stolen Wi-Fi Disappears [VIDEO] (iKDR)

• Florida Teens arrested for breaking into cars… after one of them pocket dialed 911 (JP)
  • So they ratted themselves out… Cops overheard them discussing their heists after one of them pocket dialed 911

• Zombie Stormtroopers
• USB + Regular Power Faceplate Plug

• Retired Superheroes cartoons (via NerdSalad.com)

Contact Info

Sponsors

(SM)SCII Beta is now out. DL’ed and played before the podcast (are you jealous JP? You should be…)

Deals of the Week

• iPhone Apps (iKDR)
  • Thereminator – For a mere $3, you can put a theremin in your pocket!
  • Plants vs Zombies – $2.99 WOOT
  • Augmented Reality Browser – Free for iPhone 3GS
    • info about augmented environment research, click here (thanks @AdamSolid from WireJacked.com)

• (iKDR) Zombie Pizza is now on sale for .99!
  • (Appy Entertainment’s Zombie Pizza is a staff pick on Apple’s iPhone Staff Picks page, and has been favorably reviewed by Entertainment Weekly, The Huffington Post, and Macworld, who gave the game 4/5 mice.) TPG also covered this one a while back!

Geek Speak

*Terminator Franchise rights acquired…. What will the future hold? (JP)
Mike Fleming at Deadline Hollywood has an intriguing answer: He’s read a 24-page treatment for fifth and sixth movies that would wrap up the story by none other than William Wisher, the screenwriter who contributed to the first two (and best-loved) installments in the franchise, James Cameron’s original Terminator and Terminator 2: Judgment Day.
How great would that be?? But will it come to light?

(SM) My question is do we wanna see Linda Hamilton all “Ellen Ripley” again…

Corrections from last week

• The budget for NASA was increased even though constellation was axed
  • going from 17.8 – 18.7 : extra funds will be used to help boost space privatization and science experiments pointed at the earth
    • (Special Thanks to @PhysicistLisa for the awesome book… er I mean email!! j/k I appreciated reading it… great to hear such insights from a listener (and to see you correct Steven!))

• The iWikiPhone competition is not for five app submissions but just 5 app reviews of 140 characters or less (JP)

Deals of the Week

• Amazon: Buy 2 Get 1 Free, Platinum Edition – Good until Feb. 13
• Siri iPhone app – a personal assistant using Nuance speak Rec for free that is very impressive so far
  • I said remind me to mention Siri in show this week, it emailed me a reminder to do just that
  • I ask how do I get to Walgreens and it pulls up my location on the map and gives directions to the nearest store…
• (iKDR) B&H “Red Hot Deals” – visited store a few weeks ago, amazing, now i’m an affiliate, full-disclosure
  • Canon PowerShot A480 Digital Camera (99 + free shipping) have a canon power shot (older model) and love it!
• (ikdr) Hasbro Star Wars Giveaway
  • Get 3 FREE Saga Legends Action Figures by mail when you purchase any of the Star Wars toys by March 20th

Geek Speak

202 Star Wars T-Shirts: What’s your Fav?

• @KyleeLane Loves “Identity Crisis” (I LOL’d at this one – JP)
• Eco-Saber
• Anatomy of an At-At and Evolution of an At-At
• Come 2 the darkside, we have cookies
• Death Star Disco
• iKDR – Guitar Solo, Merry Hothmas, May the Fork Be With You, These are not the Boobs You are Looking for,

GEEK TV

• Fast Forward is coming back March 18th
• V returns to us on March 30th (Dirtbags… it wasn’t bad enough they moved it from Feb to March… but it’s basically April!!)
• Burn Notice (ikdr)

• sucking – not so good. clipped a mini note pad and suction only lasted about 7 minutes.
• even works on my ipod nano
• doesn’t work on alot of iphone cases

• clip, clip stand work well, sturdy
• other uses – suction upsidedown and use clip to hold onto mail/notes
• sticker is stupid
• 12.99 is reasonable price

• (JP) – I think on the desk it works great as a stand to watch videos
• on my car window it works very well when I am using my GPS app
• Does not do well with the added weight of my mophie juicepack air
• did not do well on the train as there were less places to stick it and still sit comfortably…
• over all I would say it is worth the money if you are looking for  a mount for your windshield or a cheap stand for your desk (as opposed to like an XStand or something like that)

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

• Paypal Stops Payments to India (KDR)
  • “personal payments to and from India and transfers to local banks in India have been suspended while we work with our business partners and other stakeholders to address questions they have about the service”
  • “During this time, customers can still make commercial payments to India but merchants cannot withdraw funds in Rupees to local Indian banks”
  • per the street: The problems may have been triggered by a marketing push that promotes PayPal as a way to send money abroad
    • The campaign — which reads “As low as $1.50 to send $300 to countries like India” — may have caught the attention of Indian regulators

• 178 Million U.S. Users watched a video online (Steven)

• • 87% of the total potential audience saw at least 1 video online – to the tune of 33 Beeeellion videos (thats about 97 videos per user)
  • Guess who’s #1? (youtube 40%, Hulu at 3% at 1 beellion TV shows in a month)
  • All this only in the U.S., Imagine if Hulu was launched in a place like Europe…

• Asus wants to be another Apple?? sort of (JP)
  • Asus CEO has stated he wants the company to be like Apple
  • He plans to have a line of Pc’s devoted to Chrome Os and Atom proc’s but will still have the Intel/Windows combination to keep the masses happy (and the company out of the red)
  • He also hinted at a huge June Product release… speculation is it will be the Asus EEE Tablet, their answer to the iPad

• Google looking to make a Twitter clone (iKDR)
  • The main difference between current and new is that status messages aren’t available in a timeline format. With the new “Twitter clone,” they will be.
    • meh – great thing about twitter the easy group-like chat feature, don’t have to “be friends” with someone to chat, nice feature, but not a twitter “clone”

• More on Google Buzz as an Open Standard (Steven)
  • It will compete with Facebook and Twitter
  • Google Buzz data can be syndicated out to other services using the standard data formats called Atom, Activity Streams, MediaRSS and PubSubHubbub
  • The deal:
    • No setup needed -Automatically follow the people you email and chat with the most in Gmail
    • Share publicly or privately – Publish your ideas to the world or just to your closest friends
    • Inbox integration – Comments get sent right to your inbox so it’s easy to keep the conversation going
    • Photo friendly – See thumbnails with each post, and browse full-screen photos from popular sites
    • Connect sites you already use – Import your stuff from Twitter, Picasa, Flickr, and Google Reader
    • See updates in real time – New posts and comments pop in as they happen. No refresh required
    • Just the good stuff – Buzz recommends interesting posts and weeds out ones you’re likely to skip
      • (JP) This is the part that I find both interesting and worrisome…
      • They are going to reccomend buzzes from people you don’t follow that they think you might find interesting (I read this to mean ads!!!)
  • (i shall now refer to google as “the internet overlords” or simply “the g word” kdr)

• XBox Live Dropping Original XBox Support (JP)
  • This was a huge selling point for me when I first got mine… I had lots of games to play this way while only buying a couple of the new ones at first… it was nice… but now that I have had mine for years and have accumulated a ton of new games… I have not put an original game in it for at least 1 1/2 – two years… so this is a non-issue as far as I am concerned. – JP

• Nook Back on the Market (Steven)
  • Remember that supply fiasco around christmas time? well its finally fixed
  • If you don’t care to buy an IPad, then you might want to look this reader up
  • Built on the Chrome OS and has 2 screens, 1 color, one e-ink
  • Will be in most B&N stores for sale and online by the time you hear this.

• zoomMediaPlus’ zoomIt is the iPhone’s long overdue SD card reader (JP)
  • Apple finally opened up application-enabled hardware development in iPhone OS 3.0
  • adds a bit of external, swappable memory to the iPhone and iPod touch
  • $30 won’t be shipping until April (though you can pre-order now for a $10 discount)
    • That would be not a bad price… I’ve actually read it will 50 – 60 bucks (JP)

• Logitech Touch Mouse Turns Your iPhone or iPod Touch into a Wireless Trackpad and Keyboard (ikdr)
  • app free & software install for laptop free
  • super quick and easy
  • works over WiFi
  • great way to control your computer when it’s connected to your TV and you’re lounging on the couch
  • take that iPad! *shakes fist in air*

• Zombies vs. Unicorns (ikdr) (see jeremy – i told you unicorns were a-holes!)
  • collection of essays detailing the pros and cons of both the shambling undead and the horned horses.
  • The idea for the book came from a series of blog posts between authors Holly Black (The Spiderwick Chronicles, Ironside) and Justine Larbalestier (Liar, How to Ditch Your Fairy) that started in 2007 and grew from there
  • Anticipating September launch, website allowing people to vote and make it known where they stand in this debate

TPG LoLcat

Intarweb Goldmine

• The Nipple Gamepad T-Shirt (ikdr)
  • This picture has a chick fondling another chick’s breasts… WOW! that oughta up the sales
  • Like women need this to get men to play with their breasts?? I think not!

• Ohio man accused of Tattoing a tots rear end (JP)
  • 20 yr old idiot allegedly tatooed an A on the rear end of a 1 yr old girl that was visiting his house
    • WTFrack???
    • He’s being held on $250,000 Bond and if convicted can face up to five yrs in prison for felony child endangering
    • omg – who else loves this guy’s grandma?? “wee-little hairline” LOL kdr

• Baraboo Wisconsin man uses stun gun on dance instructor for being a ‘Sinner’ (SM)
  • A Baraboo man was accused of repeatedly shocking a male dance instructor with a stun gun, claiming the instructor was a “sinner” who “defiles married women.”
  • the suspect, 59, hastily arranged a dance lesson at the instructor’s Madison home and showed up with a stun gun and sledgehammer last Friday.
  • (do i forsee a new footloose movie in the making !?! kdr)
  • The criminal complaint said the man told a detective that his church does not condone touching while dancing and that he was going to scare the instructor “and tell him to leave the women alone.”

• Also from Wisconsin… you gotta give it to these guys… Drunk steals Ambulance with patient and paramedics still in it!
  • At Tyrol Basin ski resort
  • 24-year-old Illinois man got into the vehicle and drove it around the parking lot.
    • Ok… Looks like I’ll have to take a little heat for this one… he’s from my state! What an Idiot!

Extra Links

• Nokia N900 running emulated SNES controlled with PS3 Sixaxis controller (ikdr)
  • using nokia phone to play super nintendo game, using blue tooth playstation controller, then hooking up phone to tv  – WHA!?!

Contact Info

Sponsors

Deals of the Week

Geek Speak

• KDR – this brings up a host of questions:
  • how will it be regulated?
  • can users who have “collateral” still be baned from games for misconduct?
  • what’s the rate of exchange?
  • can i quit my day job?
• KDR – legality issues/benefits:
  • does in-game goods and services get taxed?
  • will insurance be available to protect your virtual property from server malfunction or fraud
  • how do you go about collecting funds – what happens if they other party cant provide the owed funds – can you send them to collections?
• KDR – virtual/real world:
  • i wonder if virtual banks will be established for easier funds transfers (is there gonna be a magicla money faerie atm, how long is that line gonna be??)
  • if i have a shitty apartment and no money in real life – but alot of virtual money and property, will my social-economic status change in real life?  will my self image be affected?
• KDR – i’ve heard of kids building up character stats & weaponry in certain games, then “e-baying” those profiles for real money -is this any different?

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

• Google to pay Bounty for Bugs in Browser
  • $500 or $1,337 based on the size of the bug
  • Obvious a nod to the “l337″
  • Mozilla also has a bounty program for “new and inventive” bugs
  • Must submit your finds for the browser only at the chromium bug tracker

• Real Genius Laser! (KDR)
  • National Ignition Facility recently produced the world’s first megajoule laser
  • only lasted for a few nanoseconds, the system is capable of generation 500 trillion watts of power
  • milestone for nuclear fusion development (clean energy on a massive scale). (Steven)Hold our breaths and wait for summer when they try a bigger test

Contest

ok folks, we have a contest to win a Suction Clip for your smartphone or iPod, etc… SuctionClip.com (we’ll be doing a full review of this product once Kristin and Steven get theirs…)
From now through Valentine’s day you can send a picture of you holding a geeked out version of The Power Geeks logo or a sign saying The Power Geeks, etc… send pics to jpuent@thepowergeeks.com
Be creative… the better the better your chance of winning… Photoshop something crazy, take a picture of yourself in a bikini (not you Steven, you’re not eligible)
After Valentine’s Day we’ll vote on a winner…

Here’s a sample:

Jeremy and Silent Bob with the Lego TPG Logo

Intarweb Goldmine

• telnet towel.blinkenlights.nl
  • Telnetting to this site will launch an ASCII Version of Star Wars Episode 4. Holy Crow is this awesome!!!!
  • takes a minute to load… be patient it’s worth the wait! sooo impressive
• Peter Rabbit the Panzer Tank Killer
  • Hilarious new take on a childrens classic (not for kids!) hahahaha (oh so sad, these were my FAV books
• 10 Reasons NOT to Date a Girl Gamer (KDR)
  • It would be embarrassing if she were better at video games than you
  • She says she’s a gamer, but the only games she plays are on PopCap and other websites.
  • (JP) no such thing as a reason not to date her… these are almost like unicorns… if you find one… hold on tight!!! hehehhee
• Live webcams throughout the Chicago Autoshow
  • If you dig the autoshow, you can watch set up of the booths, or once it starts… peek in on the cars and booth babes!

Extra Links

• Nintendo Game Boy gets Steampunked (KDR)
  • @NerdSalad had posted a link
  • Thretis (Chip Musician & Console Customizer) took a Gameboy and constructed a SteamPunk mod, added a Pro Sound mod audio output, and switched out the power LED with an orange-colored one.
• Speaking of Mods – Kratos on your PC, Literally
• Red Letter Media Tears up Avatar
• Using Windows Server Home to Sync Zune Media around the house

Contact Info

Thanks to @PhysicistLisa – she said i do a good job of not being the “token female” opinion

Geek Speak

• “It’s 0.5-inches thin, weighs just 1.5 pounds. Thinner and lighter than any netbook. 9.7-inch IPS display.
• Powered by a 1GHz Apple A4 chip – fruits from an acquisition in 2008 (PA Semi)
• has 16GB to 64GB of flash storage.
• It has 802.11n, Bluetooth 2.1 + EDR. 30-pin connector, speaker, microphone, accelerometer and compass
• 10 hours of battery life
• 1000 hardware sensors on the device for multitouch sensitivity

• same App Store as the iPhone, Reworked IWork, IBooks App Store (epub format)
• Can either run it small, 1:1 pixel, in the center of the screen. Or “pixel double” it and run it full screen, in a low resolution mode
• “We rewrote the user interface of every one of our apps to take advantage of the larger display that comes with the iPad.”
• sync the apps you already downloaded to your iPhone to the iPad as well, so you don’t have to pay twice
• SDK has been released into the wild, for the larger screen (not IPhone 4, Iphone 3.2)

• You can turn iPad, and an accelerometer will adjust by itself. “You can see the whole webpage. “
• keyboard
• zooming and swiping
• You can watch YouTube (even in high def) and TV shows & movies. It’s not widescreen though, and looks closer to 4:3 than 16:9
• No flash
• PDF opens in new window
• Web browsing
• Music player appears to be an iTunes/iPod hybrid
• syncs
• WiFi + 3G

• Built-in calendar
• SJ says “It’s so much more intimate than a laptop.” – uh, with neck cramps and all? -KDR
• Cross platform device: You can sync photos with Mac & Windows, but if you’re on a Mac, you can get photo data like events from iPhoto
• eBook reader app called iBooks – download directly onto your bookshelf, like the Kindle – ePub format might mean you can import your own ePub books
  • Katie Doyle brings up the point about extended reading – eye strain, Kindle was designed to similate an actual book for prolonged reading(Steven) I thought the IBook was its strongest point! Its the singular thing right now that would make me guy one.
• iWork – new version of Keynote (presentations), Pages (word processor), and Numbers (spreadsheet) apps (gots tons to say abput this KDR)
• Full mechanical keyboard and iPad dock available
• carrying case with a stand too

• oh yeah – no effing camera or webcam, also boo

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

• Star Wars Inspired Shoes & Apparel (KDR)
  • (Steven) My favorite, is the t-shirt w/ luke and vader sword fighting in the adidas symbol
  • (Steven) I’ve heard through twitter that the quality of shoes are a bit crappy

• NASA Launches Astronaut Internet in Space (KDR)
  • Astronauts on the International Space Station finally have a live Internet connection and made their first direct Twitter post Friday to prove it.
  • Space Internet uses the station’s high-speed Ku-band antenna, so it is active whenever the station has that connection.
  • To surf the Web, astronauts can use a station laptop to control a desktop computer on Earth. It is that ground computer that has the physical connection to the Internet.
  • (Steven)Damn, there goes my diabolical plan to infect the space station with a virus and turn it into the Death Star!!!!

• THE WALKING DEAD Pilot Script (KDR)i cannot not stop the squeeee about this!!!!
  • TV adaptation set for AMC
  • Frank Darabont (“The Shawshank Redemption,” “The Mist”) is writing and directing the pilot
  • Kirkman says: It will be 110% faithful to the series in tone, but not telling the story page by page.
  • AMC will have some limitations. The only restriction so far – no F-Bombs.
  • Kirkman has “high hopes for the show’s gore content”

Intarweb Goldmine

• Firms Fined after Worker Dies in Vat of Chocolate (KDR)
  • 2 chocolate processing companies in NJ have been fined for safety violations following the death of an employee who fell into a giant vat of chocolate (after he was hit by a mixing paddle)

• Prisoners fight for right to play D&D
  • guy in jail for beating somebody with a sledgehammer to death, gets his D&D supplies taken away
  • Was running a campaign with 3 others when he was reported for “gang” activity.
  • “promotes fantasy role playing, competitive hostility, violence, addictive escape behaviors, and possible gambling,”

• 50 Incorrect Pronunciations That You Should Avoid (KDR)
  • 7. asterisk – Notice the second S. Say /AS-TER-ISK/, not /as-ter-ik/.
  • 29. “irregardless” – See the real word, regardless.
  • One not included -

    Especially ..not EX-pesh-a-llee. There’s is no “X”

Contact Info

Deals of the Week

Shout out to Listener Shane from MN. thanks for the kind words and keep listening. (JP)

Sponsors