ThePowerGeeks.com

We are LIVE on Ustream . This week we talk Verizon Iphone, Government conspiracies, Chinese devils 4 real, and HAN SOLO in Firefly!!! It’s real, believe it…

Intro JPuent
Intro Natali

Take a moment to express our condolences for those lost this past weekend in Arizona, and thanks to those that stepped up to stop the mad man. Remind yourself that time in this life is short… be grateful for those that are important to you and take a moment to tell them.

Items of Interest

Your very own IPad Arcade
Very Special Thanks to @missClareJordan
She is an amazing Artist, A Geek Girl extraordinaire, Star Wars Geek… and awesome Tattooist…. if you’re out on the East Coast looking to get some work done… Visit her at No Regrets in Naugatauk, CT Follow her on twitter… and look for some big Geeky artsy things from her this summer…. Over the holidays she did this… to @JPuent
Ender’s Hand Prints Tatt’d by @MissClareJordan !!!!

• Han encased in Carbonite in every Firefly?
  • The way freakin’ awesome @Amy_Geek girl from the illustrious Geek With Curves has found one of the coolest things ever. Just when you thought Firefly could not achieve more awesomeness…it turns out there may be a Han encased in Carbonite in every episode.
  • And she’s hunting them down. Check out her post!

Gold Sponsors:

Natali’s Etsy!!!

• Need your noms????
• @UberDorkGirlie’s etsy is the way to go
• Whether it’s Woookie Cookies, Bark Maul, or Hothballs, every sweet tooth needs to try them out
• Need a present and don’t want to bake? then Natali’s Etsy store is the way to go

• Today in Geek History
  • JebsApps (owned by our own Jeremy Puent) released their latest app, Today in Geek History
  • Gives you factoids based upon date, spanning all sorts of geekiness
  • For example, did you know on 1/12/1997  HAL (Heuristically programmed ALgorithmic computer) The HAL9000 became operational according to the 1992 Film 2010
  • This app is available for Android in a Lite version for free or a paid version, all on the Marketplace
  • Check out the lite version, but the paid version for .99
  • Or check out their new app Movie History

• Convention Schedule
  • Milwaukee Anime Con – Feb. 18-20
  • C2E2 – March 18-20

Deals of the Week / New Release

• DC You-niverse Goes Live (udg)
  • You know you’ve always wanted to slip into some Super Hero tights and strut around like your favorite one. Now, here’s your chance. Well kinda.
  • Say hello to the now live DC Universe Online. Start with an entry-level gig at Wayne Enterprises. Clock out of work for the day and on goes the costume  and off you go to beat up some bad guys. Maybe chat up a Wonder Twin at a kegger Sat night or chill on Sunday while you’re icing some plasma burns and paging through the latest edition of The Daily Planet.
  • At some point in all our lives we wished we could slip into a DC Comic, live in DC Universe.  And now we can. The backstory is a bit twisty. Geek Chic Daily says “think time travel, alien overlords and a dead Superman” But, the animation is awesome. You go hero or villain and you can completely create and customize your character. Then you get to pick an iconic DC Character (like Superman, Batman, Lex Luthor or the Joker ) who sends you on assignments and group missions. There are also alternate gaming options that let groups of players square off against each other or you can throw down as your fave DCer.
  • You have no idea how much I wish this was Mac compatible. *pout*
• Green Hornet Release – BRUCE LEE LIVES!!!
• New DVD/Blu-Ray Releases, 2nd week of January
  • The Social Network (Natali’s new heartthrob)
  • Dances With Wolves Blu-Ray -
  • For you Picard Lovers – MacBeth (with Patrick Stewart)
  • Rob-Roy on Blu-Ray – For the Ep. 1 lovers out there (liam neeson) all two of you

Geek Speak

• Big Red announces it will have the iPhone 4 starting Feb 10th
  • The good, the Bad and the Ugly of the announcement
  • No Data while Voice is in progress – What does this mean to you?
    • Guess we won’t see that ad touting iPhones ability to send emails or update reservations and check movie times while on the phone with a friend anymore…
    • 1st time Apple will manage a product with 2 different user experiences
      • This may prove to be a bigger deal than people expect… it may frustrate some customers and affect Apples stellar customer service experience. Part of the great service has been not having to sit through endless questions about what you’re using, service, etc…. as it has always been a known quantity… no longer the case.
  • Not an iPhone 5 as some had suspected
  • Hot Spot ability from day 1, unlimited data plan
  • no pricing announced yet
  • redesigned antennae so no repeat of Antennaegate
  • has facetime and retina display
• So who will this hurt? Who thinks AT$T (not JP) what about who thinks it’ll hurt Android on Verizon the most?
• App Devs are hoping this will mean a big boon to them.
• What other changes are/ have come to Verizon in preparation for getting the iPhone?
  • Elimination of New Every Two program and early upgrade allowances
  • it would seem they are about to become the new AT&T… hahahhaa

• Verizon iPhone- For Real This Time (udg)
  • It’s finally official. iPhone 4 will be available on Verizon starting next month.
  • The good: 16GB version will only cost $200 with a 2-year contract. The Verizon iPhone will offer a mobile hotspot to which up to 5 devices can be connected and rumor has it (via the WSJ) unlimited data will be FREE. Oh and they’ll have it in white.
  • The bad:  Your new shiny will NOT run on Verizon’s new ultra-fast 4G LTE network and (like all CDMA phones) you cannot use data while on a call. While Verizon’s Dan Dee swore otherwise during the press conference, many speculate that Verizon has the capacity to withstand the additional burden from millions of iPhone users.
  • Pre-orders start Feb 3rd, it launches live on the network Feb 10th.

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

• Gov’t doc to limit leaks, leaked (JP)
  • Ahhh, Irony of all Ironies, The document to get more security and prevent future leaks in the Gov’t was leaked to MSNBC…
  • After WikiLeaks debacle, its understandable that they wanna plug the leaky boat
  • In short, document wants the agencies to
    • audit their systems for compliance to classified laws
    • audit their system for leaks
    • audit possible changes to the system to fix problems,
    • acquire resources to complete said changes,
    • and hire psychiatrists and sociologists to determine who might be a probable leak problem

• Obama administration suggests online unique Internet ID (SM)
  • Obama is planning to hand authority to create over the ability to create an Internet ID for every online American
  • It’s “the absolute perfect spot in the U.S. government” to centralize efforts toward creating an “identity ecosystem” for the Internet, White House Cybersecurity Coordinator Howard Schmidt said.
  • Announced at Stanford, the administration is drafting what they call the “National Strategy for Truested Identities in Cyberspace”
  • “We are not talking about a national ID card,” Locke said at the Stanford event. “We are not talking about a government-controlled system. What we are talking about is enhancing online security and privacy, and reducing and perhaps even eliminating the need to memorize a dozen passwords, through creation and use of more trusted digital identities.”
  • Details still sketchy but the Gov’t wants the private sector to take the lead on the initiative
  • Emphasizing Voluntary and Competitive
  • Trying to say there would be no centralized storage, but how?
  • You always have to have a trust authority somewhere…
  • Thoughts??
    • This is just a half step away from putting chips and barcodes on us to track our every move and listen in to our conversations and thoughts…

• Chinese Auction Site Sells 50,000 Stolen iTunes Accounts (udg)
  • 50,000 of reportedly hacked iTunes accounts have been found on Chinese auction site Taobao, but the company claims it is unable to take action unless there are direct complaints, according to news reports.
  • The Global Times reported last week that as many as 50,000 illegally obtained iTunes accounts were sold on China’s biggest consumer auction site. The Beijing-based newspaper also interviewed a seller who admitted the accounts were hacked but did not reveal how they were obtained.
  • Taobao, however, said that to protect its users, it would not be taking action until it has received a formal request. In a statement carried by BBC, the company said: “We take all reasonable and necessary measures to protect the rights of consumers who use Taobao, of our sellers and of third-parties. Until we receive a valid takedown request, we cannot take action.”
  • Yesterday the accounts were finally taken down. It is not clear whether it was due to complaints from those that purchased them or from pressure from Apple to remove.

• 3DS could hurt childrens eyes??? (SM)
  • Nintendo recently announced on their website that the 3DS could hurt growth in kids eyes under 6 years of age…
  • HUH, WHA???
  • Their fix? There’s a 2D mode, and take hourly breaks for ppl over 6
  • the 3DS claims to allow 3D gameplay without glasses
  • They’re hoping the warning won’t hurt sales too much
  • Sales start Feb. 26 in Japan ($300) and continue in March for the US
  • (SM) Does anyone at Nintendo have a kid? When was the last time they did anything a parent asked them to do 100% of the time?

• Park Chan Wook debuts newest movie- shot solely on iPhone 4 (udg)
  • (sm) damn I saw this and was gonna post… beat me 2 it (that’s right punk!!! >;-) )
  • With titles behind him like I’m a Cyborg, But That’s Ok, Oldboy and Sympathy for Mr. Vengeance, Park Chan-Wook’s movies are used to making headlines.  This time it’s not for his flair for violence. The director has paved yet another new path in cinematography but solely using the iPhone 4 to shoot his newest project.
  • It’s a 30 minute short called Paranmanjang, which loosely translates into “a life of ups and downs.” Everything from finding shooting locations to auditions to the documentary on the making of the film was done via the iPhone 4.
  • Park’s younger brother told the International Business Times that iPhones allowed for more angles and edits in the film since more cameras could be used. Park himself added to AP that the lightweight portability of the camera made a difference.  He attached different lenses to the phone, adding it was just like making a regular movie.
  • The total project came in around $130,000 to make and will hit Korean theaters on January 27. The WSJ said that KT Corp, the wireless operator that distributes the iPhone in South Korea, paid for the production costs.
  • But, it’s Park, so he made sure that, though it was sponsored by a corporation, his vision was not censored in any way. So, if the synopsis of the film, which revolves around the Korean ideas of life and death, is correct the short keeps in line with Park’s eerie, yet poignant storytelling techniques.

• Microsoft considering bringing Kinect to PC (SM)
  • Basically say “when time is right” i.e. when 360 sales peter off
  • Why should you care? Think of being able to control your set-top box with just hand gestures
  • Actual virtual keyboards anyone?
  • Well, somebody is going to beat M$ to the punch, namely the guys who designed it for them in the first place
  • The original designers already beat them to the punch
  • Primesense and Asus are partnering to bring this to your living room
  • Also developing a SDK for other developers to bring it to the desktop

• Orb BR Turns Any Networked Blu-Ray Player Into a Streaming Set Top Box (udg)
  • Got a network-connected Blu-Ray player? Got $20? Then, thanks to Orb, you can have yourself a streaming set-top box,
  • Orb’s latest product is a $19.99 disc that you pop in to your Blu-Ray player which will turn any network-connected player into an Orb station which can be controlled with the company’s free apps (yeah, like from your iPhone) or the Orb Caster software for the PC or Mac.
  • Once you’ve popped in the disc, you can access streaming content from the likes of Netflix, Hulu,YouTube, Comedy Central, Amazon Video On Demand and more… at either 720p or 1080p resolution, which officially makes this $20 disc better than the $99 Orb TV, which can’t do 1080p.
  • “The combined cost of a Blu-ray player and Orb BR software is less expensive than most of the other Internet TV solutions, like Boxee and Google TV, while providing more capabilities,” said Joe Costello, CEO of Orb Networks. “With more than eight million connected Blu-ray players and 40 million PS3 players already in homes, the market opportunity for Orb BR is huge.”
  • To help consumers easily find and watch their favorite shows, the Orb controller app features a powerful and easy-to-use global index of TV shows. Consumers can type in the name of the show they want and then Orb quickly finds the show, without requiring the user to specify its source (e.g. Hulu, ABC, CBS, etc).
  • The Orb BR is planned for a late February sale and will be available via orb.com

• Geek Squad Gets Halved (udg)
  • Best Buy is reportedly snipping the white ties of hundreds of agents, shutting down seven of its 16 Geek Squad service centers.
  • WEWS Ohio reports a Cleveland-area center, which has about 100 employees, is one of the seven affected, and will close down April 29. According to the story, 45 employees at the Cleveland-area facility will lose their jobs.
  • Citing an unnamed source, WEWS reports laid off employees will be allowed to apply for other job openings in the company, but have no guarantee of continued employment. Employees who will be laid off must stick around until April 8 to receive severance packages.
  • According to the source, company officials told workers on a conference call Friday morning the layoffs have nothing to do with money, but everything to do with consolidation and better work efficiency.
  • Friday evening, Best Buy’s public relations department released the following statement:
    • “Today we notified the 45 employees at our small service center in the Cleveland area of our plans to consolidate service centers and repairs operations. The changes in the volume and types of products handled through these facilities has forced us to consider ways to better streamline our operations and be more relevant to the needs our customers have today.
  • Personally, I can’t help but wonder if this has something to do with Best Buy’s sad attempt to finally jump aboard the Apple train. Geek Squad isn’t authorized to do any hands-on work on Macs. Or maybe it’s just because most American’s are becoming more tech savvy?

• Intel to pay NVidia 1.5 Beeellion dollars (JP)
  • Results of a lawsuit that was filed against each other in 2009
  • Intel claimed NVidia couldn’t build processors past Core 2 Duo (i3,i5,i7)
  • For example, 2nd gen Macbook air, used NVidia chip with an Intel Core 2 Duo
  • Nvidia still blocked, but now gets a huge chunk of change from Intel to use their patents
  • (in other Chip related news) AMD CEO resigns – Meyers had just taken over the job in 2008
    • Surprise to the whole industry
    • Prepare for the guessing games as to why he did this, since on one really knows what it means…

• Mac App Store Update (udg)
  • Last week I reported some doom and gloom in regards to the launch of the Mac App Store. I’m quite happy to say that all of that seems just silly now.
  • Prices- Firstly, the articles I’d read and cited listed really cheap prices for apps. Browsing the store, I see quite the contrary. There are so many apps I really want (both personally and professionally), but am going to have to hold off on because they are much more pricey than initially thought. But, all seem quite worth it!
  • Developers win! (Or as we like to call it “The Steam Principle rings true) In an article on MacDaddyNews.com, LittleFin Software stated “When the Mac App Store launched, I had high hopes. But nothing could have prepared me for what happened on January 6. Our home inventory App, Compartments, had been selling at a steady, average pace—we were selling between 6 and 10 copies a day, at $24.95 each. We decided to lower the price to $9.95, in hopes of attracting a larger audience at the start of the App Store. What happened next blew us away. Apple liked Compartments. They featured it as a Staff Pick, and listed it prominently on their Great Mac Apps page. The effect: On January 6, our little home inventory app went from a few sales a day to an astounding 1,500 sales on the first day of availability in the App Store. Through Saturday,it has maintained sales over 1,000 per day (Sunday stats haven’t been posted yet). Our other app, Chronicle, was not featured by Apple. Even with no promotion, Chronicle is still selling 80 to 100 copies a day—about 10 times its usual sales volume, and it’s on the way up. Of course, the price for Chronicle is half what it was before. But rather than hurting us, the lower price is helping us.”
  • 1 million apps sold in first 24 hours
  • Hacked Already (but don’t fear)
    • Surprisingly, one method that hackers discovered to play illegitimate Apps on the Mac was basically a cut and paste. Downloading a paid App from an illegal location, and then replacing the receipt and signature files with those from a free App sometimes allows the App to run. Apple recommended that App developers implement a measure to avoid this simple crack (which they gave them!), but some apparently haven’t been listening.
    • Cracking group Hackulous, known for breaking Apple’s iOS DRM, has also developed a more thorough Mac App Store crack called “KickBack,” but doesn’t want to release it just yet. The group says: “Most of the applications that go on the Mac App Store [in the first instance] will be decent, they’ll be pretty good. Apple isn’t going to put crap on the App Store as soon as it gets released. It’ll probably take months for the App Store to actually have a bunch of crappy applications and when we feel that it has a lot of crap in it, we’ll probably release Kickback.” Hackulous added that it doesn’t want to “devalue applications and frustrate developers” right away.
  • I’m really looking forward to the continued growth of options available on Mac Apps.

Intarweb Goldmine

• Man With Ace Bandage on Head Terrorizes Neighborhood as “Wandering Mummy” (udg)
  • Guy in Fairfield, Texas, got his jolliies wrapping himself up with an ace bandage and showing up at peoples windows.
  • When you answer the door, the mummy flees (that’s how you know it’s not a real mummy)
  • Mummy still at large
  • Fess up Steven, it’s you, isn’t it??? >;-)
  • (SM) I will fess up to wanting my mummy, but not to being one

• Don’t Drink and Backhoe Kiddies (JP)
  • DUI’s aren’t just for ppl who drink and then drive a car folks..
  • 11:50 pm on Sunday in California, police get a call of a single car accident
  • After response, guy drives up in a backhoe to pull out the ford mustang from ditch
  • Police get suspicious, guy blows hot, and gets arrested for 2 counts of driving under the influence  (oh yeah… and allegedly driving without a license on top of it)
  • Don’t drink and drive folks… and SERIOUSLY, leave the large construction equipment at home…
  • If you crash your car, imagine what crashing a backhoe would do!

• Pay Up, Or Fido Gets It- Really??? (SM)
  • Village in Switzerland, Pop, 2,245 human, 280 dogs
  • $50 yearly tax on owning a pet
  • How have they figured out to get ppl to pay their dog tax?
  • If you don’t pay, they’ll euthanize the dog….
  • Thats ONE way to get somebody’s attention
  • Authorities have received death threats over this

• The Devil Had Horns and Now So Do The Chinese (udg)
  • When you think about horned creatures, a few come to mind instantly: rhinos, bulls, unicorns, the devil. Now you can add at least a couple of Chinese people to that list.
  • China’s Huang Yuanfan, 84, says that over the past two years, a small bump on the back of his head has turned into a horn that’s nearly 3 inches long. “Doctors say they don’t know what caused it, but if they try to take it off it will just come back,” he told the press. “I try to hide it beneath a hat, but if it gets much longer it will be sticking out the top.”
  • Last year, Zhang Ruifang, a 101-year-old from China, made news when a second horn began emerging from her head. Her first horn had already grown 2 1/2 inches. Zhang embraced her new look and told reporters that she was eager for the second horn to match the first in size. She refused offers to remove the horns.
  • China has produced a number of other elderly horny folks in recent years. In 2007, 93-year-old Ma Zhong Nan flaunted a 4-inch horn growing atop his head. He paid little attention to it until it became itchy, at which point he sought help.
  • That same year, 95-year-old Xiou Ling made headlines for a 6 1/2-inch horn that jutted out of her forehead and curled downward over her face. It had been growing for four years.
  • And in 2006, Zhang Yuncai of China’s Xingyang county felt what he thought was a pimple on his head. Eventually that “pimple” got bigger and bigger until it developed into a 2-inch horn-shaped bump. Doctors removed the strange growth free of charge.

• NY: Bringing A New Meaning To “Flash Mob” (SM)
  • Yes, this is a total play on words
  • 10th anniversary of the breezy event
  • Here’s the 411, ppl board the subway, and then strip down to their colorful underwear and ride around
  • Organized by Improv Everywhere
  • Purpose: “incite scenes of joy and chaos in public environments”
  • Participants were asked not to stretch, pole dance, or do anything other than to take off their pants

• Why A Christmas Story Should Be Required Viewing (JP)
  • Woodward Fire dept was called out at 7:24 and found an 8 yr old boy with his tongue frozen to the pole of a stop sign
  • Why did he do it? because his “older brother dared him to”
  • My guess? His older brother was a fan of our favorite movie
  • A water bottle saved the kids tongue…
  • Apparently, there was another kid in that town with the same problem shortly thereafter
    • My guess… these kids came from the shallow end of the gene pool

Extra Links

• Microsoft investigating Win 7 Mo Phantom Data Usage

Contact Info

• On Twitter: Steven is @DarthMolen, Jeremy is @jpuent, Natali is @UberDorkGirlie
• email us: darthmolen@thepowergeeks.com and jpuent@thepowergeeks.com and uberdorkgirlie@thepowergeeks.com (yay!)
• And Become a Fan

Sponsors

Shiny Lines

• What: Shiny Geek Jewelry, clothing and other bits & bytes, made by Geeks for Geeks.
• Why: Geeks, Nerds & Gamers alike deserve to shine at their very best, on and offline.
• 10% off power rings
• Who: @aDigitalAngel & fellow nerds at ShinyLines.com

Get Shinylines in Gold Sponsors

• ShinyLines Power Geek Rings!!!
  • I’m almost giggly with anticipation!!
  • Check out shop.shinylines.com for more product -OR-
  • Send darthmolen@gmail.com an email saying you want this ring. If there’s enough interest, we are going to make this available to the public

Luxury Lane Soaps

http://luxurylanesoap.com, @KyleeLane, GORGEOUS, IMAGINATIVE, HANDCRAFT ED, GEEKY Soap

• Can I say any more superlatives? You will love her products.
• (We Do! They’re Geekalicious! but don’t eat them… they are SOAP!)