ThePowerGeeks.com

We are LIVE on Ustream . This week we talk Jobs out with health concerns, Wonder Woman gets passed over yet again, new privacy concerns from facebook, and even an animal getting even with the hunters…. AND JEREMY IS OUT SICK!!!! Get well dude

Intro Natali

Items of Interest

• ROBOPLOW!! (udg)
  • ITS A ROBO-COFFIN with a plow on front!

• Awesomest Bookends Ever (udg)

We all know Han shot first! Well, now you can haz the scene recreated with these fabulous book ends. Only $499.95

• One of the MOST AWESOME THINGS I HAVE EVER SEEN (udg)
  • YES, Nikko actually has all the exclusive rights from Lucas Films and this will be purchasable. Cost- I can’t even imagine. But, I’d ponder trading a monkey for one. Okay, maybe not. But it does totally kick ass.
  • The dets:

• 80 inch LCoS powered Projection System
• Project on to ceilings or walls for an up to 80″ viewing area
• DVD Player
• iPod Docking Station
• Memory card slot & USB 2.0 connector
• Built-in 20 watt stereo speaker system
• Full motion wireless remote control
• Most popular R2-D2 sound effects
• FM Wireless Audio (channel 1 through channel 7)
• Millennium Falcon remote control (The remote comes with its own stand, and its Afterburner light will glow if you push the Sound button while it is in the base. The remote portion of the apparatus slides out, so if you are not using the Falcon, the keypad is hidden. )
• Built-in safety sensors (so he doesn’t fall down the stairs)
• Oh and did I mention you can hook up your PS3 or 360 to it? Yup. If I could get him to make proper ramen, I just may marry him.

• I read comics waaaay too much. I understand a lot of this….

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

• StarWarsShop.com Deals
  • Star Wars Hoodie
  • Slave Leia Perfume or Eau de Lando

• “Limited edition Mandarin warmed with incense and lotus flower, exotic woods, dark violet and sensuous musk” Billy Dee be BIG Pimpin (with flowers and orange)

• • ESB IPhone Case
    • total buy if I had an IPhone
  • Lightsaber Room Light
    • LOVE- but with 5 AAA’s my kids would use it up asap.
  • Really Unique ESB T-Shirt – Kinda cartoony but looks nice
  • Costumes galore! (now would be the time to get yours => Adult Clone Trooper #23 not to be confused with Clone Trooper #21)

• Apple App Store Contest- (udg)
  • As of today, nearly 10 billion apps have been downloaded from the App Store worldwide. Which is almost as amazing as the apps themselves. So we want to say thanks. Download the 10 billionth app, and you could win a US $10,000 iTunes Gift Card. Just visit the App Store, and download what could be your best app yet. Just under 9, 934,000,000 as of the start of show.

Geek Speak

• Jobs out for indeterminate time due to health
  • Jobs has taken another “leave of absence” due to unknown health reasons
  • In the meantime, the COO Tim Cook, will be running the ship
  • Tim is known for doing decent work and even received a huge bonus in 2009
  • Despite his day-to-day effectiveness, Investors still not convinced in anybody but Jobs for the long-term health of Apple
  • Can y’all name any other brand that is focused around one figurehead?

Tech,Gaming, and Geek News

• Keyless entry is secure, Right??? (JP)
  • Turns out it may not be that secure at all…
  • a professor and a team recently tested a method of hacking the system on 10 vehicles of various makes and models
  • they were able to get into and drive off with all of them.
  • (Thug life- geekstyle udg)

• TechChrunch vs Engadget Smackdown (udg)
  • I don’t think anyone really expected Michael Arrington, founder of TechCrunch to mellow out after AOL acquired the blog.  Last week proved he just had new targets now: fellow AOL employees.
  • Arrington decided to start a 5 day online war of insults with Engadget, a sister blog at AOL, using online posts calling it “immensely unethical” and a “plasticized caricature of a real blog.”
  • Joshua Topolsky,  Engadget’s editor in chief, eventually had enough and returned fire.
  • “Explain what we’ve done to you,” he wrote in response in the comments of a post about the dispute on the blog Business Insider. “Explain anything that you’ve said beyond a personal vendetta. I haven’t heard a shred of substance behind your attacks — only the vitriol of a man-child who can’t control himself.”
  • Arrington is clearly no stranger to public brawls and his MO is to crank up the controversy a couple of notches right before TechCrunch’s public events. So, the fact that the Crunchies, an industry awards show, is taking place this week in SF may have been his true motive.
  • Since its over $25 million acquisition by AOL, TechCrunch has covered AOL extensively. The articles are usually dripping with ridicule though like the headline, “AOL e-mail goes down. No one notices.” But until now, it had kept its irreverent commentary within the loose norms of online news coverage.
  • Not surprisingly, Mr. Arrington, hasn’t responded to Mr. Topolsky’s demand for proof of ethical missteps.

• Teenager Builds Record breaking IPhone App
  • Bubble ball, Game built by 14 yr. old out-downloads angry birds
  • Robert Nay, from spanish forks utah, built it over a couple months while in 8th grade
  • Tried a bunch of toolsets but ended up using Corona tools from Ansca Mobile
  • Allowed him to publish both to Apple and Android
  • Showed up on app store on Dec. 29 and had a million d/ls by first week
  • Looks to sell more games in-app at a later time

• Bob’s Burger Animator Seed’s the Shows Torrent to Promote It (udg)
  • I rarely watch TV so it’s no surprise that I’ve not yet watched FOX’s new show Bob’s Burgers. But, this story makes me want to check it out.
  • According to Torrent Freak- one of the show’s animators is actively seeding torrents of the show on the private torrent site Demonoid.  The show had strong debut ratings, but it’s like the only show in FOX’s animated arsenal that ISN’T created by Seth McFarlane so it’s future success is hardly assured.
  • The anonymous animator wrote: “Nice to hear that people liked the show, I’m an animator on it so it’s nice to hear something positive from all the negative I’ve been hearing about! I’m going to keep seeding to support my show…There are 13 eps for the show coming out, they’ve been well received by the everyone at the studio so far so we’re hoping everything will turn out and it’ll gain more of an audience as it goes. “
  • Now, I’m guessing that FOX is not officially behind the alleged animator’s actions, but I think it’s a pretty awesome promotional strategy that has the potential to be really effective.

• New Privacy alert on Facebook
  • New basic privacy prompt also allows devs to access phone number and address
  • This wasn’t the case earlier, these two fields were only recently added
  • 2 options, Either disallow, or delete your # and address from FB
  • How-to opt-out of “tagging hell”
    • Deep in the preferences there’s a way to “opt-out” of ppl tagging you and it appearing on your profile
  • Yet another “opt-out” feature, FB is banking on the average joe not taking the time to set their privacy correctly to protect it
  • Reminiscent of mail-in rebates… *blech*

• All Networks Pass on WW TV Show (udg)
  • Some are calling it a curse. I’m calling it people don’t want to screw it up and risk the consequences.  Whatever you call it, after years of trying to bring Wonder Woman to the movies failing (including a script by Joss “the man” Whedon), the character’s latest bid for TV greatness has seemingly failed. No network wants to buy the show.
  • Deadline reports that David E. Kelley’s script for a WW pilot has now been passed on by  CW, Fox, NBC, CBS and ABC. The CW, which currently airs Smallville (based on DC’s Superman) and is developing a new series based on Raven from Teen Titans, was said to be interested but couldn’t afford the price being asked for by Warner Bros. TV, while NBC and CBS both claimed “internal reasons.”
  • FOX’s excuse was that the script just wasn’t a fit for their network. While ABC’s reasons are slightly more complicated. Not only does the network have superhuman soap No Ordinary Family already running, but as the sister company to Marvel Entertainment, it’s also got two series from Marvel TV in development and has to consider larger corporate interests.
  • Kelley’s Wonder Woman pilot isn’t officially dead just yet – There is talk about making another round of network presentations in the future – but for such a high profile project (WW being one of DC’s three best-known characters, and this being one of DC Entertainment’s first TV projects since the company’s high-profile re-organization), this is an embarrassing result.
  • Now, because I’m sure the high powers that be in DC land listen to this podcast, listen to me closely guys- DO NOT FUCK THIS UP!!! Wonder Woman is sacred. BE CAREFUL WHEN YOU CAST HER!! And I SWEAR TO YOU, IF YOU EVEN THINK OF CASTING OLIVIA MUNN TO PLAY HER, I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND YOU WILL WISH IT WAS JUST A JUNKPUNCH I WAS DELIVERING. *bats eyelashes*

• Kiosks outpace brick and Mortar Rentals
  • For the first time, Kiosks have outpaced brick and mortar (Blockbuster)
  • Kiosk sales grew 10% year over year
  • This after BB filed for bankruptcy 4 months ago
  • Numbers? Netflix = 41%, Kiosks = 31%, in-store 27%
  • The medium outpacing them all? Streaming
  • Netflix claims that more movies and content get delivered in streaming than disc

• Student Who Was Forcibly Committed After Suspecting Hidden Cameras Was Right (udg)
  • Chinemerem Eze was your average international honors student attending Brooklyn College in December 2008. Originally from Lago, Nigera, Eze wasn’t sure where to go for help when she heard “comments about her body” coming from a vent in her off-campus basement apartment in Flatlands and then found a hidden camera inside the space. She did the logical thing- went to the security department and asked them to come investigate.
  • The security guards response? To contact the school Psychiatrist, who then, after a series of questions had Eze  forcibly committed to a Kings County Psychiatric Hospital. Finally released after two weeks, Eze was then told by the University that she could not take her exams for that semester. She lost her scholarships and was consequently forced to leave the school.
  • While her claims that she suspected she was being defamed on the internet by her ex-roommates and that her landlord at the time had installed a hidden camera in her bedroom may have seemed slightly far-fetched in 2008, it surely wasn’t unbelievable to the point of having her committed. And in fact, the hidden camera was subsequently discovered in her bedroom.
  • Eze has settled with Kings County Psychiatric Hospital for holding her against her will for the two week period and she has now filed a suit in the state supreme court against Brooklyn College.  The college has yet to come forward with a statement.

• Anne Hathaway Confirmed As Catwoman (SM)
  • For awhile there, the rumors said Megan Fox was going to be the anti-heroine (blech)
  • Cristopher Nolan released the news that in fact it was going to be hotty Anne Hathaway instead!!!!
  • MEOW, her in a tight leather suit in a whip??? sign me up!
  • Oh, and Tom Hardy (eames from inception) will play Bane — Not the overbound muscly guy which is a weird choice for Bane.

Intarweb Goldmine

• Man Tunnels Into Gamestop (udg)
  • I’m sure you’ve already heard this story before, but just incase, it’s worth repeating.
  • So, 33 year old Steven Paul Archer from Tennessee thought he’d be slick by burrowing through a vacant building and into the GameStop next store. He managed to access the drywall and studs and cut through after hours then walk out with $288.55 in cash and $5,342 in merchandise and, for once, the wasn’t asked if he wanted to join that damned GameStop savings club nor did he have to accept a subscription to Game Informer that “pays for itself.”
  • So how was he caught? Well, the neighboring Walmart video cameras caught him getting into his GMC Jimmy painted “Passion Purple” and covered in decals. After the detective on the case got done reviewing the video the next day, he pulled out of the Wally World parking lot and there was the Passion Purple eyesore parked across the bypass. Way to go slick.
• Man Gets Shot By Fox That He Shot (udg)
  • A man in northern Belarus was recently outfoxed…by a fox.
  • According to Reuters, the hunter approached the fox after wounding it, basically planning on whacking it the head with his gun. Somehow the two got to tussling, and the fox managed to trigger the rifle, shooting the hunter in the leg.
  • A prosecutor from the Grodno region said, “The animal fiercely resisted and in the struggle accidentally pulled the trigger with its paw.”
  • The hunter is currently in the hospital with a leg wound, and the fox just happened to escape.
  • According to National Geographic, the fox’s resourcefulness is what earned it its reputation for being sly, intelligent and cunning. Though this incident of a fox shooting a hunter was only an accident, it certainly gives the fox another reason to be thought of as crafty.
  • This isn’t the first time an animal has shot a human, Aol News reports. At least three incidents involving dogs and cats unintentionally triggering guns have been reported in the last decade.

• Russian Prison Gets Tanning Beds for Its 240th Anniversary (sm)
• Holy Lint. Literally (udg)
  • A northern Michigan woman has put her own spin on Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” by making a replica out of laundry lint.
  • Laura Bell of Roscommon collected lint from her dryer and fashioned it into a 14-foot-long, 4-foot tall reproduction of the Italian Renaissance painter’s masterpiece.
  • Bell says she needed about 800 hours to do enough laundry to get the lint, and 200 hours to recreate the mural. She bought towels of the colors she wanted and laundered them separately to get the right shades of lint. Jinkies that’s a lot of work.
  • Her artwork has caught the eye of Ripley’s Believe It or Not! The company plans to put it on display at one of its museums. Ripley’s says it also has Last Supper replicas made from a grain of rice, a dime and burned toast.

• Monk Caught at Airport with Nun’s Skull (sm)
• Once, Twice, Three Times a Tasing (sm)

Extra Links

• New glass stronger than steel

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!)
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