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And now introducing a new section – Holy SteamPunk Batman

• Steampunk ‘Victorian Organ Control Desk’
• 8GB Steampunk USB drive is a functional art prodigy
• Artist Makes Steampunk Gizmos Out of Dead Animals

• 

  Is it powered by steam?

Geek Speak

• Pro’s of PC gaming
  • No real DEV hardware kit needed (this is extra cost)
  • No need to go through a third party to get to your customers
  • Pretty wide open how you publish and what kind of game you can write
  • Steam, facebook, popcap, Stardock, and even storefronts through traditional publishers
• Con’s
  • Very Niche because of cost of rigs for real high end gaming
  • Hard to write for hardware that is constantly changing, you kinda have to pick your lowest common denominator of hardware
  • Piracy is rampant because of the lack of control of the platform
  • No real standards to be able to target to control your development costs and QA costs
• Discuss!

• IPad Sells 300,000 on first day
  • Hollywood is digging it so we gotta dig it 2, right?
  • iBook vs. Kindle App, one reason I would buy into the IPad
  • This is a reminder that I need to check the IPhone OS 4 news Thursday
  • Penny Arcade gives a cogent and non-biased review of the IPad
  • Scott Kurtz IPad Breakdown
  • Also Just on it’s heels… iPhone OS 4.0 event Thursday April 8th… News to be had next week! Apple not resting on their laurels with just the iPad
  • Comic App (me wanties but are they really going to release their whole catalog….)

• Most companies block game sites
• Guess what sites I found open: ESPN.com, WSJ.com, USATODAY.com, mtv.com
• What do you consider the best solution, limited time to surf? There are companies that issue a certain amount of ‘free time’ to browse whatever you want
• some that block access to certain sites, some that monitor without telling you… and some (though few) that do nothing
  • This actually goes to one of my pet peeves… trying to get technology to enforce random rules instead of managers doing their jobs… (JP)

Deals of the Week / New Releases

• TPG Giveaway of ScrAPPbook for iPhone to someone who has a US account iTunes and an iPhone. Details here. (JP) You can go buy it in the App store for only 99 Pennies!!!

• Threadless is having a sale, tees starting at $9 !

• New to DVD:

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

• T-Mobile Planning $350 rebate for IPhone Users?
  • Trade in any IPhone, and get a $350 in-store credit
  • Not available at all retailers but here’s how it works
  • Any working Iphone, turn it in and you could walk out with an HD2 w/ either a contract or no-contract for $100
  • HD2 is currently running WinMo6.5 but it’s been certified for WinMo7
  • Q: Is anyone crazy enough to trade in an IPhone?

• Ham Radio Operators 700,000 Strong
  • Why show this on a tech show? How u going to communicate during a Zombie Apocalypse?
  • ham radio’s aren’t quite as sexy as IPhones but they can be fun + THEY DON’T REQUIRE ANY INFRASTRUCTURE OTHER THAN AN ANTENNA AND A BASE UNIT
  • All you have to do to get certified is take a course and a test (they did away with the morse requirement recently)
  • The ultimate communication piece for your zombie kit!!!

• Net Neutrality Not Enforcable in Court
  • FCC came down hard on Comcast because they were slowing down P2P traffic on their routers
  • Sanctions imposed  in 2007 because Comcast was violating a 2005 “Internet Policy Statement” that included freedom from traffic discrimination
  • Comcast complained to the courts, the courts ruled that the statement was just a policy and not enforceable “aspirational, not operational”
  • Thoughts?
  • (SM) Congress needs to give the FCC teeth already against this type of stuff

• Privacy Ruling For Personal Email in Workplace
  • Most sane ppl can pretty much assume that everything done in the workplace is free game for IT to monitor
  • (JP) If you don’t you’re smokin something
  • A case came to the courts recently that was found in favor of the employee and their privacy
  • Supreme Court of New Jersey, Marina Stengart vs. Loving Care Agency (stengart was allegedly fired and then sued for discrimination)
  • Loving Care Agency happened to capture some emails that went out on their system through yahoo to her lawyer and used them as evidence
  • Not so fast, Courts found that she had a reasonable expectation of privacy because it was password protected and not saved on that computer\
  • Thoughts?
  • (SM)Call me cynical, but my employer already blocks all the webmail sites :s

• AOL Dumps Bebo after paying $850 mill
  • bought in 2008 for a colossal sum, $850 million, back when it was still AOL / Time Warner
  • It was a huge social networking site in the UK and Australia. AOL planned to use it to compete against Facebook
  • Never took hold in the US, AOL is going downhill anyways, so AOL is bailing, up for sale
  • Another tool for sale from the AOL portfolio? venerable ICQ (SM: my first IM client back in the day)

• HP Slate specs, price and video, they are doing it better than the iPad
  • Specs:
    • 1.6GHz Intel Atom Z530 processor
    • 8.9-inch 1024×600 capacitive multitouch display
    • 1GB RAM
    • Intel UMA graphics good for 1080p playback
    • and unlike the iPad, it has an SD card slot, SIM card tray for optional WWAN, USB 2.0 port, & inward-facing VGA webcam and an outward-facing 3MP camera
    • Weighing almost at par with the Wi-Fi iPad, the Slate will be priced at about $549 for the base 32GB flash memory storage version, and about $599 for the better 64GB version

• Someone Remind George Lucas that he’s NOT a comedian! (JP)
  • After the film prequels, the cartoon and the live musical experience it was only a matter of time before Star Wars was repackaged as a sitcom.
    (SM: Don’t forget the ever so forgettable “Christmas Special”
  • Producer, Jennifer Hill, said “With the team we’re establishing, Matt Senreich and Seth Green, it’s going to be really fun and funny to the public.”
  • Altho still in its early stages, Brendan Hay, who writes for The Daily Show, has been appointed to lead a team of up to ten writers.
  • Lucasfilm said in a statement that the series would “look at the saga’s characters with a playful and irreverent tone”.
  • i say – stop ruining the things i Love!!!!
  • SM: don’t forget that this will be animated… yeesh. Star Wars comedy can work, see Robot chicken and Family Guy

• Report: AT&T Helps Apple Fix iPhone Woes (SM)
  • with (long-standing) rumors that Apple may soon end exclusivity with AT&T and launch a Verzion version of its popular smartphone, AT&T is ramping to beef up its network in an effort to satisfy users.
  • As part of improving iPhone users’ experience, AT&T worked with Apple to reduce strain on its network, according to the WSJ.
  • AT&T reportedly flew its people to Apple’s California offices to give Apple designers a crash course in wireless networking, which ended up in regular meetings between the two parties.
  • As a result, the WSJ report says iPhones put less load on AT&T’s network when they need to find the closest cell tower or check for text messages.
  • Part of a so-called 100-day network improvement plan, AT&T added new network spectrum to help with traffic handling and repositioned antennas in many locations to aid reception in office towers.

• Pride and Prejudice and Zombies Game Headed to the App Store (iKDR)
  • The 2009 mashup novel, which combines zombies with the classic novel Pride and Prejudice, has been turned into an iPhone and iPod Touch game and is set to be released on the App Store “by April 2010.”
  • here’s very little detail about the game outside of the screenshots; the press release describes the game as combining “exciting gameplay, 2.5D graphics

• Kid Breaks Asteroid High Score
  • Kid sat for 3 days straights

• Underachieveing AT-AT’s – a very funny comic (JP)

• Nintendo releasing Google Wars Game in Japan on Wii
  • Group of 4 guesses which search term is more popular on google
  • adaptation of “google fight” which returns number of hits…
  • Sound scintillating? I didn’t think so either. Good thing they don’t plan to port

• Top Mac Terminal Easter Eggs (JP)
  • In honor of Easter I thought I would point out some Easter Eggs of a more geeky nature
  • My two favorites are… Tetris and the Calendar of important Historical dates that includes some from middle earth
    • Although I just tried the calendar one again and the tolkein dates are gone… I wonder if they were taken away in the latest update of MAC OSX??
• Shibaura Institute of Technology shows off ‘robo-skateboard’ (iKDR)
  • Segway-like mechanism to let you ride it by simply pressing down on the front or back and turn by leaning left or right
  • tops out at a mere six miles per hour & is a whopping 33 pounds, which explains the retractable luggage-like handle for carrying it around
  • developers are trying to get the price down to about $1000 for its release in 2013

• Kid Racks Up $1400 Debt in FarmVille (iKDR)
  • Time to add FarmVille to the list of internet addiction scares after a 12-year-old UK boy has amassed £905 in FarmVille debt
  • The debt — which is equivalent to about $1400 USD — was racked up in all of about two weeks’ worth of gameplay
  • Moms bank didn’t see any red flag b/c the purchase was on Facebook, and not a “suspicious” like a gambling site

• 3D Sonar Image of Russian Sub
• A4 Processor Teardown (IPad processor)
• Diary Case for IPad
• Feudal Star Wars Art
• Geekcast Radio
• The USB Boys – Episode 7(Geek Girls)
• Smart Spending: Getting Rid of Old Gadgets

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