Gold Sponsors:

• 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
• Kickstarter site for UberDorkCafe, these places just don’t build themselves

JP – Listener Rob wrote in and said he follows us on FB and wanted to know why my nickname is ‘Zoda’ most of you may know I used to not be as mild mannered as I am today (look at the hair, the goatee which had two blond streaks in it, and yes… if you look closely my fingernails are all different colors)… I am a former pro In-line Skater. here’s a picture of me from back in the day skating a 7’ deep oval bowl in Rockford IL at The PIT skatepark. and here’s the story of my Nickname.

Jeremy 'Zoda' Puent

Deals of the Week / New Releases

• AMC Cult Classics 6 Movie Set! (UDG)
  • Zombies, Pirates, Vincent Price, Dennis Hopper for under $5.00!
  • All original casts! Night of the Living Dead, House on Haunted Hill, Carnival of Souls, Night Tide, Bluebeard, Chamber of Horrors
• http://www.votebundle.com/ (JP)
  • a new Mac Bundle is in the works, this time you can vote for 10 of 20 apps, the top ten will be in the bundle.
• New out on DVD this week and JP wants to see them both
  • Cop Out the Kevin Smith flick with Bruce Willis and Tracey Morgan
  • The Losers  - After being betrayed and left for dead, members of a CIA black ops team root out those who targeted them for assassination
• One last Freebie for MAC users (JP)
  • App Wall ScreenSaver… Just Like WWDC
    • For Free!!! moving App icons, select top Paid, Top Free, etc… and sit back and enjoy!

Happy Birthday Prof_Mordarm from all of us at TPG!!!! (that means no singing steven!!)

This weeks Steampunk Fix a double dose of Steamy Goodness… starting with

Dr. Who Dalek as done Steampunk:

LuxuryLaneSoap.com

of @KyleeLane fame

• POWERGEEKS for 20% off in her store!
• Her Han Solo soap is going global!!!
• Sci Fi Wire, WSJ Digital Network, Geekologie
• Even got invited on TV!
• Awesome creative soaps Check her out

Deals of the Week / New Releases

• Official Twitter App for iPhone released (formerly Tweetie) for free (JP)
• 1950′s style 3D The Empire Strikes Back!!!! (JP)
  • Free on YouTube… these guys have also done a Raiders of the Lost Ark and Ghostbusters…
  • Which is your fav??? They all Rock!!!
• New DVD’s this week include Valentine’s Day a romantic flick starring literally half of Hollywood, Invictus starring Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandella and Matt Damon telling the story of how a rugby player (and the 1995 Championship) changed South Africa and finally the Messenger a story about an Iraq war veteran who narrowly avoided dying struggles with his new post at the Casualty Notification Office.

Geek Speak

• New Game with Jeremy – Mad Lib style for the modern day….

great questions from The Professor:

• Choose 1 – Cyberpunk, steampunk, urban fantasy/horror, or sword and sorcery?
  • SM – Sword and Sorcery-hands down (bookcase story)
  • JP – Toss up… a dead heat between Cyberpunk and Steampunk I love both!
  • iKDR – steampunk ftw! . i get to ? the victorian style garg and still get to use technology.

• Each of you are now a video game (old or new): so which one and why?
  • SM – Zelda. My life is all about the journey, there’s no order to it, but its large and def. an adventure
  • too tough… can’t honestly figure out how to answer this one right now!
  • iKDR – Ratchet & Clank. i would love visiting new worlds, kicking ass and getting gigantic and outrageuos weapons, like the BFG and the one that turns bad guys into fullfy sheeps

• What are TPG looking forward to see (or want) coming out tech-wise this year? Next year? 10 years from now?
  • JP – This year iPhone 4, next year – iPad next gen (with camera for skype dang it!) in 10 years… VR Rooms (IE Star Trek Holodeck!)
  • SM – I’m more of an in-the-moment guy. now: Android is my “now”. I like it and want to see it better. 10 yrs? Wearable nano-clothing
  • iKDR – i just at&t to stop jerking me around and turn on the 3-effing-g service in my-effing-area of the us!

From Listener Chuck out on the West Coast (Oregon) (JP)
“I want to hear you guy’s take on the whole ebook battle between Amazon, Apple & Google — Barnes & Noble + Borders want to get in on the fight, but they’re bantam weight for this battle.  Will consumers win or loose? Are people really reading ebooks on those tiny little smartphone screens?  Will the iPad and upcoming gPad take the place of Kindle-like devices? You asked. That’s what I’d like to hear about.”

• JP – I had a discussion today with a client about it… I got my hands on an iPad this past weekend and I am dying to get one now… even though I said I wanted to wait for the net gen. the client swears by his Sony ebook reader… I held it, nice but I want an all in one device. I saw tons of kindles and nooks, and sony ereaders on the plane and at the airport last week as well as on the train…
• I think overall the answer is that people use these devices, I have read a couple of things on my iPhone, but overall the screen is too small for too much use… however the others are great… eventually I believe this will cause the prices to come down just like have for music, thus eventually the consumer should win out.
• SM – my sister just bought a nook and I tried it out… and it was a more positive experience than i thought…
• I can see the xp being diff for the eReader and the IPad… for now. Ipad is really unweildy for casual reading, whereas the Readers are more lightweight and easier on the eyes
• I’ve read ebooks on my phones for as long as I had Microsoft eReader… and will continue to do so
• iKDR – i still buys books or download audiobooks (i know i know) but i still think there’s room for more than one device on the market, same as laptops, same as smart phones and the more the manufactures battle it out, i think the moire the public will benefit becuase they will be the opnes taking advatage of the next great thing being offered by each competing company

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

• Roku, UFC team up to deliver LIVE fights
  • UFC 114 will the the start of partnership (May 29)
  • Roku will have the rights to stream the PPV broadcasts on their device for $49.99
  • + they will have a UFC Vault Channel ($59.99 for 6 months)
  • Very similar to their MLB offering, where live games are streamed for a fee
  • (JP) I have been debating getting a Roku or holding out for a popcorn box or a boxee box… now I’m even more torn than ever!

• Apples Damages “HUGE” over IPhone Leak
  • Apple officials told investigators that the iphone prototype was “immensely damaging” and “huge losses”
  • Affidavit cited lack of sales because ppl would know that a new phone was coming out (duh)
  • Also, Apple knew the identify o the man who sold the prototype
  • No arrests have been made yet of the person who committed “industrial espionage”
  • thoughts?
  • The computers haven’t been touched yet as they are still battling it out
    • Apple has had some very serious breaches lately for a company that usually has this stuff locked down so tightly (JP)
      • Macbook revamp leaked early and was accurate with all but one piece of data (Vietnam)
      • Vietnam also picked up a full IPhone4….
      • Rumors are that Apple is on the rampage trying to find out where the leak is… they believe it is from one of the Chinese manufacturing facilities since it is close to the Vietnam border

• Nintendo Wii, Good for the Heart (iKDR)
  • the AHA and Nintendo have teamed up to promote healthy hearts
  • How to do it? AHA showed 30 minutes “active play” a day, demoed for the media on a Wii Fit Plus
  • There was a bit of speculation that said some mysterious “vitality sensor” was going to be announced but nada!
  • Sheer marketing or do they have a point? can the Wii woo kids and adults to be more “active”?
    • (Is this really the Wii that’s good for your heart?? I think it’s not sitting on your @$$ that’s good for the heart!!!) – JP

• Google Wave opened to the Public to much fanfare and fuss…. oh wait… no one cared… nevermind (JP)
  • If a tree falls in the woods and nobody is around to hear it, does it make a noise?
  • here’s a funny sidenote… I was in a training session and someone there was asking about a free realtime collaberation tool, and I couldn’t think of one off the top of my head… Guess now that I give it some thought Wave would do all the things he was asking for…. how bad is that for Google… This tool never even occurred to me because while I tried to find a way to use it… I couldn’t. I wonder if this is like Twitter… I was so against it at first… because  I didn’t see a use for it, then after I was asked by a friend to just try it for a week… I became addicted. Wondering if this would be the same thing now… if I tried to use it for a solid week… would I fall in love with it?

• Zynga and Facebook enter 5 yr partnership (SM)
  • Zynga is the big boy on facebook who brings in a loooot of money, farmville, mafia wars, yoville, etc!
  • They’ve been trying for a bit to make themselves an independent player, even announcing a “Z Live”
  • Also there’s been rumors that Zynga doesn’t like Facebook’s 30% slice of the “facebook credit” pie that all developers are going to have to use
  • So, despite all that? Nothing, they sign a 5 yr deal that will keep Zynga games on the giant social site

• ZOMG: ‘Cube’ director wants to make a video game adaptation

  (iKDR)

  • Synopsis of movies: A group of strangers must find their way out of a multi-roomed, cube-shaped prison, which is filled with gruesome, deadly traps.
  • The director of the original Cube, Vincenzo Natali, recently told MTV

    that he’d love to make a video game adaptation of the film.

  • And he used the MTV interview to broadcast, “if there are any game designers out there, give me a call.”
  • You heard the man. Pick up a phone book, and let’s get this thing done.

• Criminals using Google against itself (SM)
  • Criminals are using analytics and good common sense to seed search engines w/ bad sites that attack your computer
  • They’re gaming the top search words to make their bad sites pop up as popular links
  • Haiti, Ipad, toyota recall have all been targeted
  • Click their site and get all sorts of malware instead of the news
  • Other forms of attack? USB drives, it uses the autorun feature to launch the bad stuff and they load it at the manufacturer so you don’t know until you hook it up
  • Facebook scams: “Sexiest Video Ever” Shows someone boobs and “encourages” them to update their video player, but its not a video player….
  • Spam back on the rise: Jan – Mar 2010 (guess the number 139 billion piece of spam email sent) 89% of email traffic on internet
  • Yeah, all the more reasons to be careful w/ your pristine computer

• In Largest Science Experiment Ever, Three Spacecraft Will Swap Laser Fire Across 3 Million Miles (iKDR)
  • The NASA/ESA LISA project aims to measure gravitational waves with giant lasers and free-falling cubes of gold CERN’s Large Hadron Collider is currently the biggest science experiment in operation, but it may have to pass that mantle on soon enough.
  • A collaboration between NASA and the ESA plans to launch three spacecraft into orbit around the sun 3 million miles apart, then have them shoot lasers at each other, all in the name of proving the existence of gravitational waves, the last piece of Einstein’s relativity theory that is as yet unproved.
  • The Laser Interferometer Space Antenna, or LISA, aims to do just that.
  • If gravitational waves do exist, they should slightly alter the distance between the cubes, making them detectable for the first time, a feat ground-based instruments have been unable to accomplish.
  • Work is already underway on LISA’s instruments, and British-based Astrium EADS is already preparing a precursor mission called LISA Pathfinder due for launch next year. As for LISA, don’t hold your breath. The largest scientific instrument in the universe isn’t slated for launch until 2020.

• Are You Kidding Me?: Man wins $1M playing baseball video game (JP)
  • Wade McGilberry just won a million dollars playing a video game.
  • The 23-year-old from Mobile, Ala., accomplished the feat in just an hour and a half, becoming the first to pitch a perfect game in Take-Two Interactive Software Inc.’s “Major League Baseball

    2K10.”

  • MSNBC report that He and his wife, Katy, plan to… know, what, i dont give a f—.

• The Grand-Theft-Auto-I-Dare-You-To-Top-That-Challenge has just been answered (iDKR)
  • Red Dead Redemption, Like any sandbox-style game, it’s full of wide-open space where players can spontaneously live out their whims of heroism or villainy
  • ..including hogtie other playings and murdering nuns
  • When players successfully kill another character in this way, it unlocks the “Dastardly” achievement for plus five gamerscore.

• Speaking of Lasers… (iKDR)
  • Advances in the technology have made it possible for military testers to shoot down incoming mortar rounds with land-based lasers, and military commanders are on the verge of being able to fire laser blasts from the air that could be aimed at tanks or mines.
  • “We literally are the invisible death ray, let me tell you,” says Mike Rinn of Boeing’s Airborne Laser Program in Seattle, a missile- defense effort.
  • Laser stands for “light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.”
  • Invented five decades ago, lasers are as widely used as they are little-understood. But they are everywhere around you, inside your laptop’s DVD player, sending your phone calls down fiber optics and ringing up your groceries at the store

• Geeky Note regarding a bug I found in iTunes for iPhone users (JP)
  • Cool new setting to convert higher bit rate songs to 128kbps on the fly, leaving your original on your PC or MAC alone thus saving mucho space on your iPhone (I saved almost 4 GB)
  • Version 9.1.1.11 has a bug that causes it to wipe and redo the process each time you sync (it’s only supposed to do this for anything new on subsequent sync operations…. however, with a little digging I found that there were two versions floating around out there
  • Version 9.1.1.12 (available at apple.com/downloads for both PC and MAC now) corrects this bug… so if you’ve run into this bug or were thinking about trying the conversion… Grab this first!

• This fall programming is all about the geeks (iKDR)
  • The Event, starring Jason Ritter (NBC)
    • Everyman investigates the mysterious disappearance of his fiancee, Leila (Sarah Roemer, Disturbia), and unwittingly begins to expose the biggest cover-up in U.S. history.
  • Undercovers, starring Boris Kodjoe and Gugu Mbatha-Raw (NBC)
    • Outwardly, Steven Bloom (Kodjoe) and his wife, Samantha (Mbatha-Raw), are a typical married couple…Secretly, the duo were two of the CIA’s best spies until they fell in love on the job five years ago and retired. When fellow spy and friend Nash (Carter MacIntyre) goes missing while on the trail of a Russian arms dealer, the Blooms are reinstated and thrust back into the world of espionage as they follow leads that span the globe.
  • Terra Nova starring as yet unknown (Fox)
    • A large group of settlers are preparing to leave the apocalyptic world they live in to time travel back millions of years via a massive, high-tech contraption. Their goal is to see trees, enjoy a blue sky, eat real food – basically, to start over in this so-called Eden. But what they find is unlike anything they were expecting.
  • The Cape, starring Dave Lyons (NBC)
    • Lyons [plays] Vince Faraday, an honest cop on a corrupt police force, who finds himself framed for a series of murders and presumed dead. He is forced into hiding, leaving behind his wife, Dana (Jennifer Ferrin, “Life on Mars”) and son, Trip (Ryan Wynott, “Flash Forward”). Fueled by a desire to reunite with his family and to battle the criminal forces that have overtaken Palm City, Faraday becomes “The Cape” his son’s favorite comic book superhero — and takes the law into his own hands.
  • No Ordinary Family, starring Michael Chiklis and Julie Benz (ABC)
    • The Powell’s plane crashes into a swampy river; they manage to escape, but, their pilot, unfortunately, isn’t so lucky. As the Powells gratefully return to their old lives, they are shocked to discover that they have suddenly developed some rather extraordinary abilities.

• Ghostbusters invade NYC Public library (iKDR)
  • Public scene-maker Improv Everywhere

    recently staged an inspired stunt in the historic location: a reimagining of the opening scene of Ghostbusters

    .

  • The NYPL is currently dealing with some serious budget cuts, so they approached Improv Everywhere (of Pantless Subway Ride

    fame) to draw attention to the building’s plight.

• Veggie induced Coma??? (JP)
  • While eating your veggies is good for you… too much of anything is not good for you….
    • an 88 yr old Chinese ate enough raw bok choy to send herself into a life-threatening, thyroid-induced coma
    • How much does it take you might be wondering…. She ate 2 – 3 lbs of the raw veggie every day for months
    • Why??? you might ask?? (I did) she was trying to get her diabetes under control????!?!?!? WTF????
• Testicle blasting ray funded by Gates
  • Ray Gun, Family Jewels, no more little swimmers, men sad
  • Its being billed as a non-permanent contraception possibility
  • but really? a ray gun shining at my manhood? what if the operator sneezes? #justsayin

• Doctors see rise in Google-itis
  • Doctors are seeing more ppl coming in with mis-diagnosis on their mind
  • Cause? ppl take symptoms and “google” them finding weird, non diseases that they might have

• Facebook Uprising 101
• Tracking without cookies
• Computer identifies sarcastic tweets

Contact Info

Sponsors

LuxuryLaneSoap.com of @KyleeLane fame

• POWERGEEKS for 20% off in her store!
• Her Han Solo soap is going global!!!
• Sci Fi Wire, WSJ Digital Network, Geekologie
• Even got invited on TV!
• Awesome creative soaps Check her out

Deals of the Week / New Releases

• Stream for Mac releasing tomorrow
  • Portal will the be the first “valve” game available with 1 to come every week thereafter

• Humble indie Bundle does over 1 Million in sales in just 7 days (JP)
  • They also added another game… I got an email since I had already purchased it, and got the new addition thrown in.

• Show your female geek love with iPhone chocolates (iKDR)
  • iChocolates are a 20-piece gourmet chocolates assortment resembling iPhone and iPad app icons, boxed in a luxury iPhone-like package.

• MacBuzzer.com bundle now up to 24.95 but still a good deal… and they added two more apps as well! (JP)
  • Now you get 11 Apps for your mac worth over 300 bucks

• My Status Monkey from the guys over at iWkiPhone for 99Cents, update multiple social media accounts from one place on your iphone and iTouch
  • Update Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Bebo, MySpace, Tuenti and iWikiPhone all from one place.

• DVD Day from Topless Robot (iKDR)
  • Daria: The Complete Animated Series (ask me for my best impression)
  • Daybreakers
  • M
  • Legion

Geek Speak

• Some of the statements made in this amazing video:
  • over 50% of the world’s population is under 30
  • 96% of millennials (Generation Y born between 1978 and 1994) have joined social networks
  • Social Media is more popular than porno
  • Years to reach 50 million: Radio took 38 years, TV took 13 years, Internet took 4 years and FB surpased 200 Million in less than 1 year
  • Wikipedia has over 15 million articles and said to be more accurate than Brittanica
  • “Will nolonger need to search for news, products, services…they will find us”
• one of my fav videos -> i have some interesting view points as i was a “new media developer” for my last job and was involved in national orgs trying to teach insurance companies why they need to be involved online (iKDR)

• FB used to be a place to share photos & thoughts with frie3nds & family; but now everyone including your crazy aunt & that jerkface from your old job is friend requesting you
• Then FB decided to turn “your” profile page into your identity online — there’s money & power in being the place where people define themselves.
• And to do that, the folks at Facebook had to make sure that the information you give it was public.
• This spring Facebook took that even further:
  • All the items you list as things you like must become public and linked to public profile pages.
  • If you don’t want them linked and made public, then you don’t get them — though Facebook nicely hangs onto them in its database in order to let advertisers target you
  • This includes your music preferences, employment information, reading preferences, schools, etc.
• Simultaneously, the company began shipping your profile information off pre-emptively to Yelp, Pandora and Microsoft — so that if you show up there while already logged into Facebook, the sites can “personalize” your experience when you show up
• No wonder 14 privacy groups filed a unfair-trade complaint with the FTC against Facebook on Wednesday.

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

• Google Android Outsells IPhone in Q1 (SM)
  • 28% for Android
  • 36% for Blackberry
  • 21% for IPhone
  • Verizon was doing a buy one get one free promotion w/ droid and Droid Eris along w/ the blackberry being hard drivers

• Drifting satellite threatens cable programming (Cinemax, Encore, ESPN, Fox News, HBO, Starz & SyFy) (JP)
  • Intelsat says it lost ability to control Galaxy 15 satellite last month
  • possibly because the satellite’s systems were knocked out by a solar storm.
  • Intelsat cannot remotely steer the satellite to remain in its orbit, so Galaxy 15 is creeping toward the adjacent path of another TV communications satellite that serves U.S. cable companies.
  • Galaxy 15 continues to receive and transmit satellite signals, and they will probably interfere with the second satellite, known as AMC 11, if Galaxy 15 drifts into its orbit as expected around May 23, according to AMC 11′s owner, SES World Skies.

• TomTom unveils StarWars Voices FTW! (iKDR)
  • Now Vader, C3P0, Yoda and Han can help you navigate your journey
  • *plays sample*
    • I want I want I want I want I want (JP) ’nuff said

• EA Intros 1-time online pass for sports games (SM)
  • One time code comes with the game and once activated, can’t be used again
  • Will be for “online” play as well as some other free things?
  • If you buy the game the next year used from gamestop? $10 for another key
  • Inexplicably Gamestop is supporting this push by EA:
  • “GameStop is excited to partner with such a forward-thinking publisher as Electronic Arts,” DeMatteo (CEO of Gamstop) said. “This relationship allows us to capitalize on our investments to market and sell downloadable content online, as well as through our network of stores worldwide.”

• Windows 7 Upgrade advisor Trojan horse (JP)
  • BitDefender has spotted a new email making the rounds claiming to be an upgrade advisor for Windows 7
    • Instead of the promised compatibility checking tool, the zip file hides Trojan.Generic.3783603. This piece of malware contains malicious or potentially unwanted software which it drops and installs on the system. Frequently, it installs a backdoor which allows remote, clandestine access to the infected system. This backdoor may then be used by cybercriminals to upload and install additional malicious or potentially unwanted software on the captured system.
  • so… Beware!

• First USB 3.0 Portable Drives Hit Market (iKDR)
  • A majority of laptops come with USB 2.0 ports, but HP will bring USB 3.0 to a majority of its high-performance and business laptops later this year.
  • USB 3.0 increases bandwidth and transfers data close to 10 times faster than USB 2.0
  • The USB 3.0 interface can offer a transfer rate of 5G bps (bits per second) compared to 480M bps per second for USB 2.0
  • Super Talent is offering three USB 3.0 flash drives with capacities up to 256GB under the SuperCrypt, Raiddrive and Express Drive brands
  • Samsung announced a Samsung Story Station family of USB 3.0 external hard drives, which are available in capacities ranging from 1TB to 2TB.
  • Western Digital offers the My Book external hard drives, priced at $199.99 for 1TB and $279.99 for 2GB capacity.

• Office 2010 online version for free (SM)
  • M$, driven by Google Docs, will be delivering an online version of the 2010 suite 4 free
  • a third of M$ sales comes from Office ($19 billion of 58 billion) – $12 billion in profits
  • Docs for Facebook (M$), www.docs.com (M$)
  • Will be ad-supported, Google Docs has no plans to include ads
  • M$ new tagline, “Embrace the cloud”

• Where’d All My Followers Go?? (iKDR)
  • On Monday, as Twitter attempted to fix an embarrassing bug that allowed anyone to force other Twitter users to follow his or her account, follower lists suddenly disappeared
  • “Follow count display is set to 0 and follow/unfollow is temporarily offline while we fix a bug,” Twitter’s own Twitter account reported at 1:02 p.m., confirming that everyone, from Ashton Kutcher to Justin Bieber bloggers, was affected.
  • Gizmodo noted that the auto-follow was exploitable in Twitter’s Web interface, not on third-party apps.
  • By 2:15 p.m. ET, follower lists were restored

• Consumer Electronic Spending Up for 2010 (JP)
  • 25 CE products in an average household, up from 23
  • $631 for women (up $72), $969 for men (up $67)
  • Video was the #1 CE for a household, 65% of households in U.S. own at least 1 HDTV (up 13%)
  • 86% households own a computer, netbooks (13%) and laptops (58%) are also helping in that category (TV’s and DVD players are 1 and 2)
  • Don’t forget the million units of IPad sold… and thats only in the U.S.

• Liquid Cooling coming to servers (SM)
  • Hardcore Computers has been doing personal computers for a bit now (we talked about them all the way back on “Power of Information”
  • fully immersed video cards, Motherboards, memory, hard drives, everything
  • Now they’re bringing it to server blades and targeting render farms
  • They’re guaranteeing that you won’t need the rack fans or specialized air conditioning for a farm if you use their blades
  • Dual proc with the capability to add a discrete video card and fully immersed in clear dielectric fluid that is odorless and biodegradable
  • They talk about 60% reduction in cooling costs 1,350x better than air

• Do Want: AmpliTube iRig Turns Your iPhone Into A Guitar Amp (iKDR)
  • IK Multimedia has introduced AmpliTube iRig – a combination of an easy-to-use instrument interface adapter and guitar and bass tone mobile software.
  • With AmpliTube iRig, you plug your guitar into your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad and can jam anywhere.
  • The free version will include 2 stompboxes, 1 amp+cabinet, 2 microphones.
  • The LE version will include 4 stompboxes, 1 amp+cabinet, 2 microphones for $2.99 / €2.39. More gear can be added to FREE and LE through an in-app purchase of a-la-carte models with stompboxes costing $2.99 / €2.39 each and amplifiers+cabinets for $4.99 / €3.99 each.
  • AmpliTube FULL will include the entire collection of available gear with 10 stompboxes, 5 amps+cabinets and 2 microphones for $19.99 / €15.99.

• LBP2 Announced (JP)
  • Create you own game type (top-down, platformer, 8 bit, etc)
  • More in-depth editors that include the ability to craft complex AI
  • Ability to add controls to anything
  • Build your own website and populate your world, advert your worlds with the link
  • oh, and there’s a grappling hook “whee”!

• History Channel greenlights Stan Lee-hosted series (iKDR)

• • the “X-Men” creator will co-host “Stan Lee’s Superhumans,” which will find people who have remarkable abilities because of being genetically different.
  • Daniel Browning Smith, dubbed the world’s most flexible man, will host the series with Lee.
  • “Superhumans” will debut on the network during the third quarter

• Entire StarWars Trilogy Told in 3 minutes… with LEGOS (iKDR)
  • The kid behind this video has one hell of a Lego collection. And a knack for efficiency

• Beer thwarts robbery, gets man shot (JP)
  • Virgina truck stop was being robbed by a man with a gun, when a customer bashed him over the head with a beer bottle… (well two actually)
  • Then the customer wrestled with the man getting shot… repeatedly, before getting the gun away from him. (non life threatening wounds)

• Homeless Man caught driving under his 50 Year Suspension (iKDR)
  • A 50-year driving suspension wasn’t enough to stop a 32-year-old homeless man from stealing a Kawasaki motorcycle and ripping recklessly through Langley on Tuesday.
  • Police followed the driver as he sped “excessively”, pulled illegal U-turns and failed to stop for red lights and stop signs.
  • His record of 13 criminal convictions for dangerous driving and driving while suspended got him a 50-year driving suspension in 2005, which means he will be 77 when the suspension expires
  • um…where the eff did he have to go in that big of a hurry, or do homeless men like to peel-out like everyone else??

• MW2 Mapathy Commercial
• Most useless IPhone Mod
• Fake Science
• Cool: Detailed Metal Sculpture Art

Contact Info

Sponsors

• (iKDR) You can follow the creator Graham Linehan on Twitter @Glinner and also check out his blog Why That’s Delightful which is hilarious!!
• (JP) I have been enjoying this for some time… It’s AbsoFreakingLutely a must watch!!!! (power cord story from first ep)

Shout out to the chat room – ustream.tv/channel/the-power-geeks Wednesday 9 PM Live

LuxuryLaneSoap.com of @KyleeLane fame

• POWERGEEKS for 20% off in her store!
• Her Han Solo soap is going global!!!
• Sci Fi Wire, WSJ Digital Network, Geekologie
• Even got invited on TV!
• Awesome creative soaps Check her out

Deals of the Week / New Releases

• SC2 scheduled to launch July 27th

• Mechwarrior 4 FREE!
  • Here’s the catch… is peer-2-peer so have fun with your firewalls!
  • 1.6 GB download and totally free to play tho
  • Sites a bit overloaded as we speak

• MacBuzzer.com bundle $288 bucks worth of apps for 20 bucks (price goes up a buck a day… buy now!)
  • 9 Mac Apps (including iDocuments, Kiwi, Parachute, Cockpit, and many more…)

• Humble indie Bundle 5 Mac games for Pay-What-you-will price!
  • Pay what you want and say where the money goes… divide it amongst the developers…
  • donate it to one or two charities they are working with (Child’s Play is one of the charities.. .we’ve discussed this and some of us have donated to them in the past)
  • divide it evenly across the developers and the charities… it’s up to you!
  • What a great concept!!!
  • Oh yeah!!! it’s truely cross platform… all the games can be played on MAC, Linux, or Windows!!! so pick your poison!!!

Geek Speak

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

• HP Buys PalmOS (SM)
  • 1.2 billion later, they have a bunch of patents
  • 2000 apps is a paltry amount compared to Android, Apple
  • What do they do with them now?
  • They already own the IPaq from an older compaq acquisition…
  • They’re in bed with Microsoft as an official partner for Win 7 Phone
  • (SM) yeah, I don’t see anything good coming out of this…

• Cub Scouts Add Video Game Award for Ratings Awareness (iKDR)
  • (SM) btw, I’m an eagle scout and we had a huge argument over this new badge
  • the Cub Scouts–the junior 8 to 11 ages subset of the Boy Scouts of America–are adding a new “ability badge” to their arsenal of earnable merits for the Tiger, Cub, and Webelos troops.
  • The awards aren’t for how many bonus lives you’ve earned, or stars you’ve collected–you have to do stuff like bone up on the ESRB’s rating system and be able to describe why it’s important.

• HALO Reach: Multiplayer Beta kicked off on May 3rd (JP)
  • If you have ODST on May 3rd a new menu option appeared at the main screen… Play the Beta
  • If you click on it it downloads 1.2GB to your hard drive, then when you click on it again, it launches the Beta
  • I played a little bit… There are some pretty big changes (you don’t jump as high but you can have a jet pack that lets you fly)
  • in multiplayer lobby there is a voting list for the map and gametype… which I really liked and hope that the next MW implements something similar
  • since it’s a Beta it still seemed very unbalanced at times to me.

• Bungie Jumps to Activision (SM)
  • We announced a couple months back that Microsoft let their Halo dev go :s
  • So Bungie finally found a place to land, Activision
  • Now, this could be a good thing or a bad thing… Will it be like IW or Blizzard?
  • Regardless, next big project will be wholly funded by the giant, could occupy up to 200 ppl
  • What will it be? all they are saying is “New IP”
  • (SM) Oh, the giant earned 1.3 Beeeelllion $$$$ in Q1, 2 guess what were the drivers…

• Next Call of Duty Quietly Announced (JP)
  • Black ops
  • Lots of explosions
  • some glimpses of jungle
  • Apparently all that war has addled your brain, gotta find out who you are all over again
  • I DON’T CARE, I WANT IT NOW!

• Supreme Court To Review Video Game Law (iKDR)
  • The United States Supreme Court on Monday agreed to review a lower court’s decision that blocked a California law banning the sale of violent video games to minors.
  • The law, AB 1179, forbids the sale of violent video games to anyone under the age of 18, requires labels on violent video games, and calls for a fine of $1,000 for anyone who rents of sells such a game to a minor.

• IPad 3G Hacked to run on slower network (JP)
  • so, cut down your T-Mobile SIM to a micro-sim
  • Stuff it in your IPad and wait a looong time
  • You get your Ipad on the EDGE network
  • 2G slow as snails networking but a bonus of text messages!
  • aaand video looks like crap on 3g in some places
  • (SM) One of my friends reporting great video over 3g

• Google Spends $250 million on companies in Q1 2010 (SM)

• • plans to spend a lot more in the rest of the year
  • Admob merger / sale for $750 million still pending with the FTC
  • Lots of little companies. some of the most recent?
  • 3D desktop Bumptop

• MIT unveils first Solar Cell printed on Paper (iKDR)
  • Able to print thin film solar cells using something similar to an inkjet printer
  • What was the ink? Carbon based dyes
  • Before you get too excited, it was only 1.5 – 2% efficiency
  • Still in research phase, could take years to go commercial

• Russian company buys ICQ (SM)
  • anybody remember the name Mirabilis? ahhh. the memories.
  • Apparently, same company with big investment in facebook, wants ICQ now
  • $187 million (less than half what they paid for it $403 million)
  • Not so big over here anymore, but huge over in Europe
  • That client is a huge spam magnet :s

• Beware of Privacy Breaches (JP)
  • Plugin for Chrome and IE is unintentionally sharing ur shopping habits with every store that uses the service
  • Invisible hands – allows you to compare prices across stores and pops up when you’re on a competitors site
  • Well, only amazon is using the bug right now
  • your “recently browsed” item will show up even if u didn’t look for said item on their site
  • Product of how IE and Chrome handles processes
  • Firefox unaffected

• Facebook Chat for Groups: Clobby (iKDR)
  • This newly launched application will let you conduct massively multiplayer chats right from your Facebook page.
  • This app has a simple, non-distracting UI that represents a good blend of familiar group chat interfaces and the even more familiar Facebook interface; it merely adds a “Chat” tab to the upper part of a Facebook page.
  • Adding Clobby is an easy 2-click process. One click authorizes Clobby to access the Facebook page, and a second click adds the “Chat” tab to the profile or page in question.

• Guy spends 2,200 hours “beating” Bejeweled 2
• Spiderman finally catches himself a REAL thief
• Guy walks into a police bar…
  • Am I the only one Picturing Kevin Spacey in Se7en? (JP)

• Possible ramifications of FCC v Comcast, FCC leaning toward not regulating broadband
• Here it Goes Again Treadmill Song
• Chrome vs. Potato Gun

Contact Info

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LuxuryLaneSoap.com of @KyleeLane fame

• POWERGEEKS for 20% off in her store!
• Her Han Solo soap is going global!!!
• Sci Fi Wire, WSJ Digital Network, Geekologie
• Even got invited on TV!
• Awesome creative soaps Check her out

Deals of the Week / New Releases

• Lord of Ultima: Free to Play MMO (think Evony? still need to play)

• ScrAppbook. It is no. 5 today in the US Appstore under the category for Photography and it is possibly more importantly now in the New and Noteworthy section of the App Store homepage. Still only $.99 and we have a code to giveaway still… (not sure if anyone sent pics to FB fan page??) – We’ll give it away in the chat room (SM)

• Free Comic Book Day on Saturday
  • Does not mean you get the latest Superman…
  • Companies make a special book for the day and what you get depends on the publisher
  • This year there will be 10 gold comics to collect. Everything from Ironman and Thor action to GI Joe
  • 23 Silver ones will be rarer to find but will have some of the “out there” stuff if you are already a huge comic collector
  • Can anyone say fraggle rock flip book?

• Tecmo Bowl Throwback Released for XBLA
  • Mmmmm. Tecmo bowl, how we missed the walter payton run!
  • This is the only sports game that I played the heck out of, besides “Pro-Wrestling” (STARMAN FTW!)
  • Its back on xbla. you can either play “classic” or “3-D”!!!! definitely a must by
  • Promises all the old gameplay including seasons!

• SteamPunk 3D Goggles
  • although I think 3D tv at home is a fad… These are COOL!
  • 

  • and

    

    

Geek Speak

• Microsoft unveils webcomic site

• Tell your IT horror story and get paid!!! (100 lbs / Sony Vaio X)
• some absolute hilarious ones on there…

SM – My “Tech” letter, Internet support

JP – Old desktop days… power….

Geek Speak Topic from JP Interactive Clothing… (SM)

• email counting interactive TShirt
• Dress that taps your shoulder when you get a facebook update
  • you can program different taps for different people’s updates…
• ForceFeedback Gamers Jacket (feel when you get virtually shot…)
• Shape Memory clothing
  • Apply a current and the fabric takes a certain shape… apply a different current and the fabric takes a totally different shape…
• Where we can see uses for this? Where can we see this going wrong???
  • (Interactive undergarments…) ewwwww
• What interactive clothing would you like???

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

• MW2 PC Version of Stimulus Announced (JP)
  • May 4 is the new date on STEAM
  • $1.50 off the $15.00 price for pre-orders+ because PC is cool like that

• Activision hit with $500 million MW2 lawsuit (SM)
  • 39 employees have banded together in a class action suit to get their royalties
  • Claim that the bonuses have been withheld so that they won’t jump ship
  • Already there is a lawsuit by the IW heads for $36 million (they left to form Respawn entertainment)
  • That whole debacle went down in full site of everyone. He said / he said, you’re not getting your bonuses for nitpicking. blah blah blah
  • How will this effect MW3?

• Gizmodo Reporter Home PC’s Confiscated by Law Enforcement (JP)
  • 1st amendment evoked, not so fast though…
  • Apple Inc is on the steering committee for Join Task force
  • Thoughts on free speech vs. criminal activity

• Google Backs off Verizon Nexus One (SM)
  • No real explanation as to what fell through here… No execs available to answer ??’s…
  • odd for Google to be so quiet, perhaps they just don’t like any talk about their ‘failures’
  • The good and the bad of this….
  • Google created a great Os that can allow phones to compete with the iPhone, but they tried to hamstring their partners
  • Nexus one initiative was doomed from the start and now with companies standing up to them it shows..

• Cell Phone Exploits Exposed (JP)
  • pair of security researchers has discovered a number of new attack vectors that give them the ability to not only locate any GSM mobile handset anywhere in the world,
  • but also find the name of the subscriber associated with virtually any cellular phone number,
  • While most people are screaming for privacy concerns stalkers all over the world jumped for joy
  • Paris Hilton doesn’t understand what the fuss is about since everyone always knows where she is anyhow? HAHAHHA

• Futuristic Non-touch interface ahoy (JP)
  • uses a camera to read your gestures…
  • cool tech, still a ways away… this is one of many approaches out there right now being researched
  • eventually a lot of things are headed this way… not all will be hits…
  • funniest thing to me is when the reviewer says this looks like it will take some getting used to… Didn’t they say the same thing about the iPhone multitouch???
  • how many people have adapted to that now?

• RIM unveils new OS (SM)
  • Trying to make themselves more IPhone-y yet still enterprisable
  • Webkit browser (similar to Android)
  • Multi-touch, HTML 5, brand new home screen, still no firm real features yet (screen sizes, proc speed, memory, etc)
  • Is it enough to stave off IPhone and Android to keep the #2 position?
  • Guess #1? (Nokia – Symbian OS 47% of smartphone sales in 2009)

• Spongebob saved this girls life
  • she learned the heimlich while watchin sponge bob dislodge a clarinet…
  • her friend choked on some gum
  • She remembers goes around back , and does the procedure that saves her friends life
  • So when your kids say that Spongebob is quality educational programming, you better believe them!

• Man gets the Mike tyson treatment for calling a woman fat… she bit off part of his right ear!
  • Way to crush that stereotype and not eat everything in sight?!?!?!? WTH????
  • Note to self… don’t call anyone fat in Nebraska…
• Also from Nebraska…. Man robs store disguised by TP
  • Yes, some guy wrapped his head in Toilet Paper and robbed a store getting away ‘clean’

• Star Trek Barbershop Quartet
• He who lives in glass house, should not throw the first stone
• How Steve Jobs COULD have reacted to the Gizmodo fiasco
• Jason Chen’s computer’s dissected

Contact Info

greek mythology, lots of zombies, comic reviews and live blogging (hopefully) from SOBcon 2010 next week

Sponsors

LuxuryLaneSoap.com of @KyleeLane fame

• POWERGEEKS for 20% off in her store!
• Her Han Solo soap is going global!!!
• Sci Fi Wire, WSJ Digital Network, Geekologie
• Even got invited on TV!
• Awesome creative soaps Check her out

#1    FaceFighter HD Face2Face iPad app – Appy Entertainment is willing to spot us 2 codes for free downloads – giveaway in the chat room. first 2 ppl to name DarthMolen’s favorite type of email

Deals of the Week / New Releases

• Moo1 + 2 on GoG for $5.99
  • Best Classic Space 4x ever!!! Turn based, build your own empire / ships / armadas / diplomacy…

• Lord of Ultima: Free to Play MMO (think Evony? still need to play)

• Battlefield Heroes gets Jetpacks!
  • New xpack for free that gives a whole map and jet packs
  • Capture the V2 rocket, new game mode
  • Still free to play, but pay to excel

• Pro Audio Deals @ B&H (full disclosure: iKDR is an affiliate)
  • Blue Yeti USB Microphone and Shure SRH240 Headphone Kit
  • KORE 2 and KOMPLETE 6 – Controller/Software Bundle

• IronMan Prop Auction:

• Propworx/Marvel Studios Iron Man Prop and Costume Auction Totals Skyrocket

  57 items still to be auctioned Sunday April 25th Online at Propworx.com
  

  Iron Man fans at C2E2 in Chicago and online worldwide participated in a day that saw bidding on the iconic props from the movie reach amazing heights. Bidding was intense and ended after a short delay at item 163 due to an internet failure at the convention center. Due to time constraints, Propworx will auction the remaining 57 lots online on Sunday, April 25 at 6:00pm PST through online auction partner LiveAuctioneers.com. Go to Propworx.com for registration and auction details.

  On April 25th, items up for bid will include props from the first Iron Man movie and costumes worn by Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jeff Bridges, Terrence Howard, and the iconic smoking jacket worn by the Generalissimo himself, Stan Lee.

  Last Sunday’s auction saw bidding skyrocket: the Mark III Helmet sold for $13,200, the huge Iron Monger at $19,200 and the Hero Mark I RT Unit and Mark II RT Unit, selling for over $10,000 each. Hundreds of fans bid live from Chicago’s C2E2 and online through Liveauctioneers.com. More details on the auction and a full recap available at www.propworx.com.

Geek Speak

• A-Team
• Friday 13, Freddy Krueger
• Clash of the Titans
• 30 more schedules:
• Police Academy, Short Circuit, Private Benjamin, Fright Night, Poltergeist,
• Escape from new York, Robocop, Red Dawn, Footloose, Karate Kid, Masters of the Univerxse
• Sequels: Beverly Hills Cops, Ghostbusters
• Other bankrupt ideas that are getting reboots?
• Fantastic 4, Godzilla, Daredevil
• Drivers: Star Trek, Batman Begins, Casino Royale
• Flops: Punisher (x2), Rollerball, Death Race, The Bad news Bears, Fame

• Anybody here believe that a very important prototype was taken out to a bar and then subsequently “lost”?
• Found on a bar-room floor, Lost by Gray Powell
• Was running an OS, no longer functions
• Front-facing high-res camera
• Ceramic clear back (patent circa 2005)
• Fit into a 3GS factor to disguise it
• Eventually given back to Apple
• iKDR – will talk about the theory that it exists, it was a lame marketing ploy, and how Gizmodo must have cottonmouth from continually blowing Apple (giz-apple? gizmacintosh?)

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

• 10 Gov’ts call on Google to “Be more Private”
  • After Buzz fiasco that revealed ur “most-mailed” contacts and Google Street view photos revealing private moments
  • 10 government privacy agencies put together letter to Eric Schmidt
  • - Collect and process only the minimum amount of personal information necessary to achieve the identified purpose of the product or service;
  • - Provide clear and unambiguous information about how personal information will be used to allow users to provide informed consent;
  • - Create privacy-protective default settings;
  • - Ensure that privacy control settings are prominent and easy to use;
  • - Ensure that all personal data is adequately protected, and
  • - Give people simple procedures for deleting their accounts, and honor their requests in a timely way.

• PS3 looking to introduce 3D Gaming (SM)
  • June, there’s a planned firmware upgrade to enable 3D support for games
  • PAIN, Super Stardust HD, and Wipeout HD all get the 3D treatment at launch
  • Which game type feels right in 3D (let the co-hosts guess)
  • What about 3D movies? – Nothing this summer in the firmware upgrades to support movies (question from derek alfonso)

• Video games keep ‘nerd rage’ at bay (iKDR)
  • after the constant hype that video games turns teens into killers, its so nice for someone to point out the truth…
  • “Let’s drop the “video games plus kid equals psychopath-in-training” failblog equation and look at things realistically.”
  • “Competitive gaming can be an outlet for aggression, just like tackle football (only without the criminal behavior some members of the University’s football team exhibit) or a night of self-flagellating exercise at the gym.”

• Adobe Throws White Flag for IPhone Development (SM)
  • There’s been hate for awhile with no flash on the apple devices
  • Adobe came out with a flash-to-iphone converter for their developers
  • Apple then made that illegal
  • CS5 still has functionality but no go-forward products will support the IPhone
  • “If you want to develop for the iPhone you have to be prepared for Apple to reject or restrict your development at anytime, and for seemingly any reason,”

• Video Games Before Bed May Not Shortchange Slumber (iKDR)
  • Study found it took teens only few more minutes to fall asleep
  • Australian researchers found that it took teens a median of 7.5 minutes to fall asleep after playing Modern Warfare.
  • In comparison, it took them about three minutes to nod off after watching March of the Penguins. (i dont understand why they didnt pass out immediately??)

• Mcafee Bricks XP with a patch (Prof Mordarm)
  • The 9 am patch on April 21 misidentified a windows OS file and quarantined it
  • This caused a loop of death for users where they get endless reboots
  • Mcafee says its fixed, but the users are still complaining
  • 1/3 of RI hospitals were forced to stop serving patients because of problem
  • XP SP3 (yet another reason to migrate to Win 7)

• Library of Congress plan for Twitter: a big, permanent retweet (iKDR)
  • Internet scholars say those everyday recordings are useful to researchers, who will comb through the 50 million messages — known as tweets — spouted each day to provide a snapshot of our culture, in real time.
  • This information provides detailed evidence about how technology-based social networks form and evolve over time,” said Librarian of Congress James H. Billington. “Anyone who wants to understand how an ever-broadening public is using social media to engage in an ongoing debate regarding social and cultural issues will have need of this material.”

• Get a Slurpee..and a used Video Game (SM)
  • The program will be running at more than 3,000 7-Eleven® stores, representing 50% percent of the U.S. stores operated and franchised by 7-Eleven, Inc.
  • This isn’t their first foray into gaming, they’ve been selling blockbuster games at their registers for awhile now
  • Good or Bad Idea?

• Green Gadgets for Earth Day (tomorrow 4-22-10) iKDR
  • Billboards made from recycled electronics, solar panels disguised as ivy, water pebble to guilt shorter showers out of you HERE
  • Solar powered Camcorder, printer that usies old coffee grinds as ink, water powered alarm clock and more HERE

• Stalker Clown Hired by Parents for Birthday Present
  • Parents hire the guy to “stalk” their sons or daughters
  • He shows up everywhere they are at (except work), sends them creepy texts, calls them
  • Eventually he pies them in the face
  • If they approach him or figure out the gimmick, he gives them the pie

• Guy Busted for Drunk Driving in Barbie Car
  • Had a previous record
  • Took his daughters Hotwheel out for a spin
  • Will now be without a license for 3 yrs
  • so q: was it before or after he got pulled over in the kiddie car did he realize he was drunk?

• Bar Manager Cuts Off Customer’s Nose With Sword (iKDR)
  • An Oklahoma City man had his nose cut off during a bizarre attack at a local bar
  • Zapata supposedly got mad after he thought the victim and friends were making too much noise, grabbed the 34-inch sword, chased them outside & slashed one man in the face.
  • pirate/viking vs. bar-goers

• This week in Shenanigans…(iKDR)
  
  
  

• Computer/Amp Combo Overclocks To 11
• Star Wars Lego Alarm Clock

Contact Info

greek mythology, lots of zombies, comic reviews and live blogging (hopefully) from SOBcon 2010 next week

Sponsors

• IP Infringement is a bat long wielded by RIAA, MPAA, Business Software Alliance, & Hollywood use to scare lawmakers and users
• Claim: 750,000 jobs lost / year, $250 billion in losses
• Apparently, the claims are mostly on baseless assumptions, according to the US Gov’t.
• What??? Usually you would think the gov’t is pro-business (he who can pay the politicians usually wins)
• Jokes on them. PRO-IP act was put into place under Bush that made presidency appoint “Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator
• One duty is to investigate where all the numbers are coming from
• Findings: Most cites come from 3 sources, and all 3 can’t trace their reference material to credible sourcing
• Piracy is in of itself a “black box”. How do you quantify illegitimacy?
• How can you quantify net losses? Money that ppl could be saving is more than likely going elsewhere in the economy
• Should we, as consumers, be alarmed at how the different industries are treating us, as consumers? (thats a question we can debate)

Q&A

(JP) as for things I wish I had as a kid… pretty much anything we use today… XBox 360, my MACBook Pro, my iPhone… an iPad (I wonder how many more books I could’ve sqeezed into my brain if they had been as easy to access) and things I look for in the future augmented reality glasses (imagine the Terminator view for everything you do, with different layers you can turn on and off)

(SM) things I wish I had as a kid –  Atari or anything other than the Magnavox Odyssey  :D We were one of the lucky families to get that

Deals of the Week / New Releases

• C2E2in Chicago this weekend, lots of big stars hitting the scene….
  • JP will be stopping by on Saturday and Sunday
  • Threadless is partnering with comic artists to release a new line of TShirts that are going to be announced here this weekend
  • Kick-Ass, HitGirl, and Red Mist from Kick Ass are coming
  • Lance Briggs of the Chicago Bears (who is a huge comic fan) will be there
  • a Star Wars Celebration Pavilion on the Show floor, will host Carrie Fisher, Ray Park, Peter Mayhew, Daniel Logan, Amy Allen, and more
  • Other guests include Anthony Michael Hall, Jerry Lawlor, Max Brooks, Neil Gaimon, George RR Martin, and many many more

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

• Palm putting itself up for sale (JP)
  • Anyone remember the days when the “PALM” portable was seen as the replacement for the day planner?
  • the Pre and Pixie haven’t been performing up to expectations so now they are shopping buyers for the company
  • Both HTC (to fend off Apple’s lawsuit) and Lenovo are said to be interested
  • What is so special about Palm? their IP of course!

• Google planning its own Tablet (SM)
  • everyone it seems is planning their own tablet since Apple sold 300,000 their first day
  • Heard of the WePad? Yes, its a real product based on Android due to be released in July
  • Microsoft, HP, and Nokia have all mentioned a Tablet PC of some sort
  • So whats so special about the google pad? Flash, Adobe Air, webcam, and true multitasking
  • Very much still pie in the sky right now

• Joss Whedon to direct The Avengers Movie!!!!! (JP)
  • Rumors surfaced that he was in the running now it’s being reported he is the only one on the list and in final talks

• Twitter finally unveils revenue stream model (SM)
  • “Promoted tweets” to eventually become a reality
  • Sold Ads that are then injected into your twitter stream
  • Will also sell ad space in searches on the site itself

• Also - Angry Developer as Twitter looks to enlarge its core product
  • Twitter is looking to either buy or compete with bit.ly, twitpic, and they already bought Tweetie (IPhone client)
    • Tweetie will now be completely free and the official Twitter client on the iPhone
  • No longer just a service provider and pretty much ignoring all the other apps out there
  • I.E. Twitter wants to reclaim the UI part of the business
  • So they inculcated a nice dev community and are pretty much gonna try and trash 80% of said community by competing directly
  • All of this right before “Chirp” their first Dev conference

• Apple finally update Macbook Pro line (SM)
  • Latest Intel silicon on the planet for the notebooks
  • i5, i7, with the NVidia Geforce 330M (320M for the 13″)
  • Promising 10 hrs battery life with “automatic graphics switching technology”
  • prices range from $1100 – $3500

• MW2 Design Team, Infinity Ward in Shambles (JP)
  • Since March when Activision fired the studio head and the game director, other developers and artists alike are fleeing the company… making most wonder what’s going on?
  • Being part of what is the most successful franchise in gaming history, and part of the biggest release of a game ever with MW2
  • you’ld think these guys would have it made…
  • All this is happening after the studio said they would reallocate the bonuses that were going to go to the two top dogs they fired in March to the people who they considered really responsible for the success of the game

• IPhone News (SM)
  • IPhone OS 4 Won’t run on original
    • wasn’t mentioned in the original news conf. User email with an answer of “sorry, no” from Steve Jobs
    • 3G also won’t run the multi-tasking, 3GS and above
  • Opera finally makes it way to IPhone
    • Apple opening all webkit mods for their app store
    • Accelerator could well be worth it.
  • More fully described features of IPhone OS 4

• Korea implements Gaming Blackout for underage gamers (SM)
  • Currently just policy, but looks to cut young gamers from their online access for 6 hrs
  • Also testing in-game code to slow down connections of users who use the game too long
  • Also looking to crack down on youngsters who use parents info to register
  • All sounds good, but how do you enforce? and if there’s a new game?

• Australian Army trains with Segway Robots (JP)
  • Sounds crazy right? but not so fast.
  • Basically, they armor the bottoms, put manniquins on the top, and segways move similar to ppl
  • add a wireless pack and a computer on-board and you can program large lots to move randomly or in patterns
  • Very good for training soldiers to expect randomness and natural movement of crowds
  • Tech to keep our soldiers safe, the best kind of tech to have

Intarweb Goldmine

• Beijing 7th ring of trash (SM)
  • 18,000 tons of waste daily, thats 7,000 more tons than the disposal plant can use
  • Recycle rate is only at 4% and burn rate is at 2%
  • The 18 burn plants proposed by gov’t is being met with the western “not in my backyard” syndrome
  • solution? 100 HUGE, GIANT deodorant gun mounted to the back of trucks to curb the smell…
  • Looks like an opportunity for the Mob… Don’t they have a Jersey of their own?? Waste Managemnet can move on in? If they can work something out with the Triad that is…
• Get a parking ticket 30 seconds after parking…. here’s how to get out of ticket (JP)
  • Hilarious letter to protest ticket and response from Gov’t
  • My fav part is when he says in the meantime (while awaiting a response from the Govt) he will commence rolling down the window and throwing his change at the meter in the hopes that some of it goes in and a passerby hits the button for him before he parks!!!!
• Chucknorium – Officially the most Dangerous Element in the World (SM)
  • Chuck Norris has officially effed up the Periodical Table…
  • Shirt on Woot that sold out

Extra Links

• Star Wars Podcasts
• CS5 Released
• VS2010, ASP.NET 4, Silverlight 4, all released.
• Cats <3 IPad

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

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• Smarmy remarks welcome
• We’ll pick a random winner from the comments just prior to next week’s show!

Geek Speak

• V (Returned yesterday) (@PhysicistLisa had a truely different take on the relationship between Ana and Lisa) check Twitter from the 31st if you want to know what she thought!
• Stargate Universe (returns starting Friday)
• Survivors (the BBC show we talked about last week Started season 2 this week on a new night Tuesdays)
• The Big Bang Theory (Did you know Sheldon is a fan of TPG on Facebook!!!!?!?!?!) and “Blossom” will be appearing this week as his GF-iKDR
• Warehouse 13 will be back this summer too… they started filming a little over a week ago. I can’t wait! Meh-iKDR
• Fringe !!
  • Listener’s What are you watching that we aren’t talking about and maybe we should be watching?!?!?!

Multi-Monitor Gaming, when will it be widely supported?

• 6 monitor video card now available commercially
  • (JP) This actually made me drool a little… and of all days… today my monitor died!
• Key talk points:
  • A lot of game support windowed mode, but this doesn’t take advantage of SLI (2 chips or card working as 1 to generate 1 picture)
  • Full screen is annoying when you have that second monitor there and have to alt-tab just to respond to something in twitter
  • Not enough games support spanning across multiple screens (Id is really good about this, among other select few)
  • LCD monitors have come WAY down in price… compared to the past

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

• Quick Game hits (SM)
  • FF IX rumored to be coming to PSOne Classics store on PSN
    • This from a Japanese website, one of my fav FF of all times
  • PA Ep. 3 will not be coming out
    • Ep. 1 and 2 came out in 5 months in 2008
    • No news since then from Hothead… Ep. 2 sold only 1/3 of Ep. 1
    • Hothead now developing Spankk
    • PA will release the final 2 episodes in illustrated narrative on their site
  • L4D2 DLC The Passing Missing March Date
    • was slated for early spring
    • this would have had the original cast as supporting actors
  • UFC not Banning Fighters on EA MMA

• MW2 DLC new Maps the Stimulous package hit Xbox 360 Yesterday (JP)
  • It’s 1200 Microsoft points ($15) which is a lot for DLC but totally worth it in my humble opinion
  • It did however cause some pretty big problems for Xbox Live yesterday. I downloaded everything fine. played two maps (new) and then could not connect to the new maps again the rest of the day/night. The group I play with regularly just gave up and went back to Ground War with the regular maps… we’re gonna try again tonight.
  • I ran through a few of them on my own and am excited. Happy to have Overgrown & Crash maps back. Stoked for Salvage; my fav so far out of the new ones

• Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions to be unveiled at WonderCon (iKDR)

  • Saturday, April 3, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions will be featured in an afternoon panel hosted by the likes of Marvel writer Dan Slott, Spidey voice actor Christopher Daniel, Activision senior producer Meghan Morgan and creative director Thomas Wilson of developer Beenox Studios

  • takes a new approach to chronicling the webbed hero’s exploits that comes closer to his comic roots

  • “an exciting new universe never before seen in Spider-Man video games,” featuring “unique, unexpected worlds,” and the reveal of two “new” villains

• Flash to be part of Chrome (SM)
  • Apple says “No”, Google says “Why not?”
  • Google will distribute , update, and consume fully within its browser to better contain security issues
  • Seeing it as a good bridge between HTML5 and H.264 which is coming in future
  • Also looking to improve its browsers by promising resources to the Netscape Plugin API
    • (JP ) is this Google trying to look nice while playing both sides of the fence? they own UTube and are pushing for HTML 5 video on it so what’s really going on? More in the war with Apple using the press to their advantage to look like the good guys while playing both sides?

• IPad Sells out before launch? (JP)
  • Hundreds of thousands already sold and Apr. 3 isn’t even here yet
  • Best Buy will be your only non-apple seller that will have the device at launch
  • Analysts are predicting 2.5 million – 5 million to be sold this year alone
  • (kindle has sold 3 mill units to date)
  • For those wondering, IPhone still dominates the mobile phone market (but android catching up)

• Rumor: Verizon to get IPhone (iKDR)
  • The Wall Street Journal is just barely reporting that a CDMA iPhone will be introduced this fall, possibly  September, and that Apple’s exclusive relationship with AT&T “appears set to end.”
  • Reported by “The Apple Blog” – same source as the IPad leak in the WSJ – Yukari Iwatani
  • “Nothing cures network congestion like a million people taking their business elsewhere…”
  • Still threadbare but gaining steam… and a company name.
  • At&T = 3.6 mill subscribers as compared to Verizon = 3.8 mill
  • Facts and rumors sorted

• Other OS Support Going Away From PS3 (SM)
  • PS3 had the ability in the “Fatty” days to install Linux as a second OS
  • My friend had it, It was nice for web browsing and multimedia sharing
  • Sony took away this option with the “slim” line but maintained support in older models
  • Now, inexplicably, that feature will be totally gone as of April 1, 2010
  • Gone, back up your stuff on that partition because if you update, no access for you
  • SHAZZAM! your data is now bricked  Sony cites “security issues”

• Company develops world first electronic underpants (SM)
  • Texts, Announces on the loud speakers, and even calls somebody when you wet your pants.
  • what if get laughing really hard and only pee a little ???
  • Wonder if it Tweets No. 2?

• CNN Reports: Autopsy in: Seaworld trainer died of drowning and traumatic injuries (iKDR)
  • This was on CNN Breaking on twitter (@cnnbrk) ….breaking ??….from 2 weeks ago ???
  • The passing is sad, but did we really need a report on an autopsy that already was giving a foregone conclusion?
  • We’re a bit “Captain Obvious” today huh? slow news day to report that bit we already knew…

• Man forced to pay part of court costs for suing people boycotting his Sons’ funeral (JP)
  • The Man sued a group for picketting his Marine Son’s funeral and an appeals court has ordered him to pay for their court costs
  • Anyone else wanna hit something? or someone when they hear stuff like this?!?!?!

• Who put the sexy into little kids video game? (iKDR)
  • Mom of a 9 yr old girl went to Big Lots in Tacoma and thought she was buying an “E”-rated game, which is rated suitable for everyone.
  • Instead of opening a Petz monkey game where kids raise and care for monkeys, her daughter got an eyeful of the T (teen)-rated “Sprung”
  • according to Amazon – Sprung: A Game Where Everyone Scores – meeting, flirting and hooking up as you engage in a risque, daring adventure with sexy singles

• Airline Attendants pose NUDE after not getting paid (SM)
  • Flight attendants aren’t paid for 9 months
  • Get sick and tired of waiting for their embattled company to pay
  • Pose nude for calendar made inside airplanes
  • thats definitely one w ay to get an execs attention

• D&D meets Microsoft Surface = SurfaceScape
• 160 Governator quotes
• Supersized Superheroes Another WIN from NerdSalad.com
• Floppy Disk Ceramic Tiles Would Make For One Nerdy Backsplash
• Remix Music + Win A Zombie Defense Kit!

Contact Info

Sponsors

Deals of the Week / New Releases

• Battlefield Bad Company 2 (Xbox 360) for $39.99 at Amazon (JP)
• St. Paddy’s Day Merch, Geek Style (iKDR)
• Amazing SteamPunk Keyboards… While not cheap… they are extremely Geekeriffic!! (JP)
  • 

    Aviator Keyboard

    Custom built to order!

Product Review:

• PasteBot – iPhone and Mac app that sync’s your clipboard
  • At first I was skeptical…. I do find myself constantly emailing links to things from my iPhone to myself to get access at my actual PC
  • Things that are too big, long, or flash related stories, etc… there’s a million different reasons
  • This neat little product uses WiFi to send everything from one to the other… stores it, pictures, links, text, etc…
  • Very cool. Very Useful. Well worth the $2.99 for the iPhone app and the sync client for Mac is free

Geek Speak

The New Tron Trailer
(JP) I know where I’ll be on Dec 21st… Where will you be?

• -mmm. motorcycles in the real world to match the cycles in the cyber world
• -Flynn’s arcade is BACK!
• -onboard keyboard reminiscent of the famous monolithic desk w/ built in keyboard interface
• -DISCS!!!
• -Despite subtle updates to pallette… THE TRAILER SO MATCHES WHAT I FELT the old TRON looked like

(iKDR) –  filmographies of some of the actors

• A poll of 27,000 adults in 26 countries for the BBC World Service showed 78 percent of Internet users believed the Web gave them greater freedom, while nine in 10 said it was a good place to learn.
• Leaders of thought process? (south korea and china) – Although China’s citizens were pretty strong in believing in regulation of the Internet
• FCC Details Plans To Provide BB to 90% households by 2020
  • I think there was this same initiative in late 1998… and then the .com bubble burst
  • Only 65% of americans have BB at their houses currently
  • Guess the avg speed? (3.9 MB/s) – their goal 100 MB/s
  • Still no hard plans

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

• Survey Says!!! Macs cost less to support than PC’s (SM)
  • OK, full disclosure, this was a survey done by an alliance looking to promote Macs, and the software needed to integrate macs, in the workplace
  • With that said, a majority found that TCO was lower on a mac in the enterprise, mostly on hardware repairs and lower numbers of helpdesk tickets
  • 2/3 of the companies surveyed (over 100 macs in the enterprise) said they planned to deploy more in 2010
  • Funny thing? Apple traditionally hasn’t focused on the enterprise in the least

• MyOuterSpace.com Launches, Sci-Fi social media site (iKDR)
  • obviously not a SN for everyone, upon sign up when you choose your planet, you have to be in the entertainment business in order to have an account (ie writer, director, video game developer, etc)
  • once you pick a “planet” that matches your profession, then you enroll and the set up in kinda like a glorified chat room
  • Mission videos, planet and starship information, applications, member groups and more are all part of this well put-together site.
  • logged on last night and only 35 members were online, so i’m not sure how many actual members there are altogether
  • (SM) I thought anybody can sign up, but they just have to participate in their “chosen” profession
    • “Whether you are a fan of Sci Fi, Horror or Fantasy or seeking a career in the Science fiction industry MyOuterSpace.com has much to offer” Upon registration, the required field include your profession, there’s no “other” or “fan” options
  • your “home page” is set up like FB, status updates, people can post messages to your wall, etc.
  • you can add apps like twitter updates, photos, and even blogging features
  • seems very cumbersome, no real direct use i can see at this point other than the forums, keep getting logged out as i navagate through the site
  • and as a web designer, urks me when there’s errors on every single page after loading
  • aside from planets, there’s also ships, but you have to be invited to be part of a crew to see what the ship is all about…weird
  • there’s also a prominent career section to enter your info so they can set you up with the appropriate training to further your career in the arts

• Google denied Trademark on Nexus One (JP)
  • The application was rejected as too similar to a “Nexus” integrated voice and Internet T1 product owned by Integra Telecom, which registered its trademark in December 2008.
  • not to mention the lawsuit by the Phillip K Dick estate since he actually coined the Term in his novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep which was the basis for the AWESOME flick Bladerunner!
  • (SM) The actual OS and device march on though, picked up by both Sprint and AT&T (huh? wha? If you have access to Iphone… why would you get the nexus)
  • What does this mean for Google? Could either change the name of the Nexus One, contest the trademark application, or license the brand name from Integra, which sells $60 million worth of products per year under the Integra brand, according to a report.

• Obama Sides with RIAA, ACTA (SM)
  • No copyright reform for you
  • A lot of techies were hoping that him being young and tech-savvy would result in some help on the erosion of fair-use
  • Obama – “We’re going to aggressively protect our intellectual property,” Obama said. “Our single greatest asset is the innovation and the ingenuity and creativity of the American people…It is essential to our prosperity and it will only become more so in this century. But it’s only a competitive advantage if our companies know that someone else can’t just steal that idea and duplicate it with cheaper inputs and labor.”
  • Industry sources are claiming that piracy is costing US jobs, others outside the industry claim that piracy is being abetted by an antiquated business model
  • ACTA – a proposed trade agreement for establishing international standards on intellectual property rights enforcement throughout the participating countries.
    • Most opponents say its a thinly veiled attempt to get something like DMCA tied to trade agreements (you don’t police what we say, no trade with you)
    • So basically it would bypass the national assemblies for passing these laws
    • The topper? All the talks are hush hush secret, so nobody except the ppl negotiating will know what comes out of this until its already been agreed upon
  • Positive note? EU shot down ACTA 633-13

• Alex E-Reader, a Tempting Alternative to IPad? (iKDR)
  • Not so fast my friends, This is being released about a month after the IPad
  • Only $100 less than the IPad, a little bit larger android screen underneath but not even guaranteed to run all android apps
  • $399 Android-powered device, which features both a 6-inch e-ink display and a 3.5-inch, 16-bit color touch-screen LCD
  • 11-ounce Alex has an interesting shape, measuring 4.7 inches wide, 8.9 inches high, and less than a half inch thick
  • can download Google Books and it’s compatible with other bookstores that support Adobe DRM (you can read e-books in EPUB, PDF, HTML, and TXT formats), the Alex has no tie-in with Barnes & Noble
  • key selling points are its built-in Wi-Fi, the ability to stream video and surf the Web (on its smaller color screen), and use certain Android applications
  • 2GB removable memory card and the microSD expansion slot supports cards up to 32GB. Earphones, an AC/USB power connector, and a padded cover ship with the unit
  • (JP) I would not even consider it in the same league as the iPad, the Nook and the Kindle, yes… but the eink display (IE B&W) and surfing the web do not coincide…
  • E-Ink is trying to go color by the end of this year.. but too little too late?
    • (how will it affect their claims on the eye strain, etc… I wonder – JP)
• Xbox 360 Slim sightings? (JP)
  • Pics appear to show the console’s CPU and GPU combined in a single, small chip for the first time
  • If real this would be a complete re-design of the console… we’ll have to wait and see as I am chalking these up to rumor for now…

• Bing! Search Uses Blue to the Tune of $80 million (SM)
  • for those savvy it’s #0044CC – the old Live Search used a lighter blue
  • They did many focus group studies and found that the color of the search link was the most important factor on ppl wanting to use the page
  • How much of an impact? Microsoft cited at least $80 million in generated revenue alone (how they figured this out? who knows)
  • Type-Face not as important. They experimented with Verdana before going back to the tried and true Arial

• Katrina Victims Sue Oil Companies for Causing Hurricanes (SM)
  • Here’s logic. Oil companies produce oil, which then gets burned and releases carbon, which some have said relates to global warming and also upticks in Hurricanes
  • Filed by lawyers right after the disaster, class action lawsuit
  • Almost as ludicrous as the burglar in california who fell through the ceiling, broke is leg, turned around and sued the owner of the house, and won

• Guy Trains Alpaca to Buddy Surf (ty @PhysicistLisa)
  • Domingo Pianezzi, 44, has slowly introduced his alpaca Pisco, to surfing!
  • The guy has been training dogs all his life to buddy surf
  • Only thing? Alpacas aren’t natural swimmers, the animal gets skittish even with a lifevest on.
  • Way too much time on this guys hands
    • (I wonder if Peru is a place where men are men and Llamas are nervous??)
• Love in a cold climate lethal for Russian couple (JP)
  • A Russian couple having sex in a car parked in a tiny garage have died from carbon monoxide poisoning
  • It is believed they turned the car on to get warm while having sex…
  • Can you say Darwin Awards?
• Online Hacker Disables More Than 100 Cars Remotely (iKDR)
  • More than 100 drivers in Austin, Texas found their cars disabled or the horns honking out of control, after an intruder ran amok in a web-based vehicle-immobilization system normally used to get the attention of consumers delinquent in their auto payments
  • 20-year-old Omar Ramos-Lopez, a former Texas Auto Center employee who was laid off last month, and allegedly sought revenge by bricking the cars sold from the dealership
    • WOW… I’ve heard of stupid things when you get fired… but I bet he will be staying in jail for a while for this one…
    • Talk about misdirected anger… who did he punish? The dealership? Not in this lifetime… that only hurt consumers who did nothing to him! IDIOT!

• Jennifer Aniston Stars Alongside Boba Fett
• Apple Delaying Certain IPad Launch Accessories

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