Show #109

[Download Show #109 as MP3]

News

• Scientists use Wii to Codify Learning System
• (Source Behind Article)
• Using the Accelerometers in the Wii-mote to measure and record movements
• Charts and Graphs of peoples movements
• slow learners that eventually get it, learners that don't, A-Ha people that pick up cues and "get it"
• Mostly a gimmick to pick up test victims (i mean subjects)
• (cheap test hardware - talk a little bit about that 3D test)
  
• Governments Ready to Bail out DRAM Makers
• Big economic impact to memory makers
• Taiwan / Germany / South Korea all effected
• Manufacturers were betting on strong Vista sales (oops)
• Projecting a 20-25% decrease in new PC sales for Q1 2009
  
• Papers Served in Australia via Facebook
  
• Couple defaulted on $100,000 house loan
• Couldn't be served at home and email wasn't responding
• Law firm asked if they could be served on Facebook
• Judge assented, profiles have since disappeared from site
• Last Year for Apple Macworld in 2009
• Jobs will not be giving the keynote
• MacWorld will supposedly continue without Apple directly sponsoring
• Apple Stores and other things seen as more effective for Apple
• Apple taking a downturn
• 1% downturn while the PC industry as a whole goes up 2% (November)
  

Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)

• FFXIII and Versus Trailer take your breath away
• FFVII and FFIX (Steven's Favorites)
• <>
• FFXIII not exclusive to PS3 but Versus is.
• Versus will be FF chars in a real world
• XIII will be more traditional
  
• EA Caught Selling Wii Game with X360 graphics
• EA's excuse? "Wii graphics would not have been 'broadcast quality'"
• 4 mainstream games coming to IPhone
  
• Dance Dance Revolution
• Silent Hill
• Frogger
• Metal Gear Solid
• Deadspace and Mirror's Edge Sell Poorly
• Nintendo sells 2 million units in November and 1.5 million DS
• X360 sells $800,000+
• PS3 posts decline over quarter last year
• PS2 sold 200,000 units but is finally declining month-to-month
  

Intarweb Goldmine

• WoW Themed Restaurant in China
  
• Left4Dead on X360 Hacked

Show #108

[Download Show #108 as MP3]

Charity Plug

• Child's Play

News

• Kristen Kreuk in Streetfighter Movie Adaptation
• Steven thinks she's HOT :)
  
• OK, what normal male does not? Plus she can act.... really well
• RIAA Sues 19 Yr old Transplant Patient
  
• Innocent, Sick, Unable to answer = Guilty as Charged
• Morally Reprehensible what the RIAA is doing
• They deserve this horrible press coverage
• Comcast offers Bandwidth Monitor in 2009
  
• Comcast implemented 250GB limit for a single month
• Now you will be able to see your BW usage (with a 3 hr delay)
• Comcast shooting for January 5th for release of tool
• BD Live - (Interactive Blu-Ray - Really Worth the Hype?)
• How many you us have ever played the extra content on DVD's
• I do a lot (ok, your a freak but how many regular people...)
• BD-Live is not all there yet, generally a tool to sell other movies at the moment, some additional features are cool
  
• Iron Man flops for BD Live
  
• Contrary to Popular Belief, Textese will not ruin your grammar or spelling
  
• Although faster to type, text-speak takes twice as long to decipher for an adult (according to study on college students)
• Found that people need better grammar and spelling skills to decipher faster
• Rule of thumb is to never let it creep into your essays or resume's :D :D
• Our Christmas/New Years Special will Air between the 26th and 28th depending on your local station, we'll be covering:
  
• Top 10 Consumer Apps of 2008
• Top 10 Games in 2008
• Top 10 Most Searched Hoochie-Momma's on the Internet (ok, maybe not so much...)
• Top Pirated Games in 2008 (TorrentFreak)
  
• Spore -- 1,700,000
  
• The Sims 2 -- 1,150,000
  
• Assassins Creed -- 1,070,000
  
• Crysis -- 940,000
  
• Command & Conquer 3 -- 860,000
  
• Call of Duty 4 -- 830,000
  
• GTA San Andreas -- 740,000
  
• Fallout 3 -- 645,000
  
• Far Cry 2 -- 585,000
  
• Pro Evolution Soccer 2009 -- 470,000

Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)

• Favorite Features of 360 NXE? Netflix Instant Queue
  
• A lot of people are using it like a pseudo DVR and / or getting acquainted with documentaries
• PS3 not looking to implement
• Country coming to Rock Band
  
• 
  

• Want a glowing wireless mic for Rockband 2?
  
• Chronotrigger for DS!!! (Best RPG Eva)
  • What makes a good game? Bio-Sensory Reactions to Games
    
  • Immersive learning - Tutorials as you fight
  • Highs and Lows Differentials - Not always in the explosions, lulls could be travel or puzzles
  • Close Combat = Win, Makes you more invested in the product by raising your blood pressure
  • Epic Cut Scenes involving your character / Informational transfer during lulls
  • Design your game for the vertical - Don't throw in teddy bear collecting games into a hardcore FPS. Nothing worse than adding extended platforming elements to a FPS

Intarweb Goldmine

• Obama "ZuneGate"
• • Funny Quote from the Comments:
    I own a Zune and happily, especially if it keeps me from turning into one of these freak boys. I’d rather him be actually be an Islamic extremist than a member of the Church of Jobs. To listen to these guys talk, you can already picture them strapping on Mac Airs and running into a PC dealer to blow up on customer service.

• Buy your Kids Ripoffs, Support Terrorists
  
• DS Gets Ripped off in the UK
  
• PSP RipOff = PopStation
• Is Having Sex with a Robot Hooker Cheating?
• Asylum

Show #107

[Download Show #107 as MP3]

Charity Plug

• Child's Play

News

• New Version of Java comes with MSN Toolbar...
• Google Calendar Now Supports Apple ICal
• Google Calendar has supported Outlook for awhile now
• There's a setup program and it allows you to sync your iCal with Google calendar
• Having a web calendar is handy in case you don't have your laptop or desktop with you

• CBS Hacked, Malware Distributed
• Sub-Domain hacked (i.e. yoursite.cbs.com)
• IFrame was serving up the domain and subsequent malware
• Russian hackers were responsible
• Vulnerability for users really dependent upon a number of factors including the type of security used on a PC, the operating system, and possibly the browser version.
• Ben-Itzak, who found the hack, "It also highlights the fact that no web portal, no matter how high ranking, can be totally secure against a system hack and consequent infection of its visitors. Web users need to exercise caution at all times."
• Study confirms mobile phones distract drivers
  
• *Husband distracted by phone call of wife giving birth here*
• Passenger conversation fared better than mobiles because they were in the car
  
• Windows Drops Below 90% Market Share
• 89.6% Windows (.84 % drop) (20.45% vista and growing)
  
• Mac OSX - 8.9%
• Linux - .9%
• Caution - this was a poll done by servers monitored by Net Applications and not the whole internet
• APPLE QUIETL Y RECOMMENDS VIRUS SOFTWARE
• For the longest time Apple has sold their PC on it's "invincibility", marketing campaigns, etc.
  
• Quietly released a post on their support forums
• 'Apple encourages the widespread use of multiple antivirus utilities so that virus programmers have more than one application to circumvent, thus making the whole virus writing process more difficult.'

Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)

• Wii Turns $6 profit for each console sold
• Nintendo continues to outsell all the competitors
  
• Nintendo can't patent term "Wii Remote"
  
• Remote is the sticky point
• already a product out there called a "Wee-mote" (spell it) for kids
• New Games Releases December
• Not the deluge that was available in October - November (Resistance 2, Gears of War 2, Far Cry 2, Banjo Kazooie, Left4Dead, Little Big Planet,
  
• Prince of Persia
• Persona 4
• SingStar Abba - Hyuck, Hyuck (PS3 and PS2)
• Free Game:
• http://www.playauditorium.com/
  
• Bio-Sensory Reactions to Games
  
• Half Life 2, Halo 2, Gears of War, F.E.A.R, Call of Duty 3
  
• Emsense uses brainwaves, heart activity, and even blinking to estimate engagement.
• First 90 Minutes of the games measured of each
• Games do affect emotions. FEAR used adrenaline most effective, Call of Duty 3 used honor, etc.
• Tutorials came with mixed reviews - People don't like to be told what to do. They do like to be engaged and taught subtlely how to operate the game mechanics (cover systems, buddy calls, weapon changes, weapon reloads).
• Tutorials were likely to be skipped by Males (40% more likely)
• Highs and Lows important (brief lulls, puzzles, etc)
• Close Combat is good - Halo 2's energy sword showed a high level of engagement
• Cut Scenes were dicey - Entertainment and action were better than informational - Gears of War does well by relaying information through radio chatter
• Novel vs. Gimmick Weapons -
  

Intarweb Goldmine

• Black Friday Mishaps
• No Wii's available
• Stack of 360's cause a brawl
• Employee trampled to death in NY Mall
• Gun Fight and resulting death at Toys R Us in California
  

Show #106

[Download Show #106 as MP3]

News

• Geek Alert: Full Star Trek Trailer for new movie available on their official site
• Ok, Finally saw the second trailer and although I was TOTALLY blown away, did it really feel like the old Star Trek?
• Discussion on Reboots: Good or Bad?
• Android G-1 Selling better than expected
• 1 million G-1's sold (600,000 projected)
• $148.00 - T-Mobile Exclusive, Wal-Mart Price
  
• Youtube expands to Widescreen format
  
• Power your Ipod with Gatorade and an Onion
  
• Not so fast on this one, watch out for hoaxes
• Derek briefly explains the lemon experiment, only powers an led with a weak current
• Onion and Gatorade with no dual metals = no electrode
• BUSTED
• Brief Mention: Space X tested their 9-engine rocket successfully

Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)

• Xbox 360 Outsells Predecessor in only 2 years
  
• 25 million+ sold
• only 17 million PS3's sold to date
• Harmonix and MTV Games Sued over Rockband flimsy kick pedal
• Specifically concerning the change in warranty coverage which requires a receipt for purchase in the last couple months
• WOTLK Sells 2.8 Million copies during International Release

Holiday Gift Guide (bfads.net)

• Terry White's Holiday Gift Guide
• Do's and Don'ts are to live by
  
• Women = Don't purchase a cleaning accessory, Don't buy them a universale remote, no cookbooks or cookbook organizers, surge protectors, or rechargeable batteries, digital bathroom scale
• Men = CLOTHES (underwear, socks, ties), etc., Anything bathroom related, Memory card holder, generic camera or computer bags, Talking treasures (talking fish anyone?)
• Electronic gadgets are always a good bet for both men and women
• Walmart seems to be the big winner of the advertising wars so far
• $199 XBox 360 Arcade with GH III wireless controller and bevy of games
• Sam's Club XBox 60 GB Bundle for $350 - GH III controller and 3 other games
• Gift Guides
• Gamespot 2008 Holiday Gift Guide - CNET's 2008 Holiday Gift Guide
• No IPhone for Christmas - $50 data plan / month is the gift that keeps on giving
• USB re-chargeable AA batteries
  
• IPOD Shuffle ($49.99)
• Flip Video Mino ($159.00)
• Straight to web video recorder
• Small, easy to pocket, easy to use
• 60 min recording, 2 GB, VGA Resolution
• No SD Slot
• Popular Games: Fallout 3, Gears of Wars 2 (XBox 360 only), LittleBigPlanet (PS3 only), Farcry 2, Fable 2,
  
• World of Warcraft 60 Day Prepaid Time Card ($25.00 at Walmart)
• 1600 Microsoft Points Timecard ($20.00)
• 400 - 1600 pts per title with the average of 800
• Points can be used at Xbox Live, Zune MarketPlace, and soon to be released Game For Windows Live
• No Playstation Cards
  
• Amazon Customer Vote
  
• Already over by the time you hear this but look for this annual event next year
• 6 Rounds - 18 Products
• You vote on which deal you want, Random emails on Thanksgiving to voters
• Race to purchase
• PS3 Bundles at $199, Laptop at $129, 1080P LCD TV at $699, etc

Show #105

[Download Show #105 as MP3]

News

• Yahoo Exec to Step Down
• Jerry Yang, CEO at Yahoo, plans to step down when replacement found
• Tumultuous times as of late with Yahoo rejecting a 47.5 billion dollar offer of purchase from M$
• Failed to gain an advertising partnership with Google
• Could M$ be interested in an acquisition again with Jerry Yang gone??? (win-win for M$)
• USB 3.0 Ready!
• Only took them 8 years to go from 2.0 to 3.0
• USB 2.0 = 480 Mb/s
• USB 3.0 = 5 Gb/s
• Specification 1.0 finished, sent to governing body
• Competing Firewire (1394-2008) has recently been approved for 3.2 Gb/s
• Analogy that explains how fast 5 Gb/s is:
  
• USB 2.0 = 60 MB/sec or about 2.6 minutes for a full DVD
• USB 3.0 = 640 MB/sec or about 15 seconds for a full DVD
• USB 3.0 is about 1000X faster than your broadband internet connection, 100X faster than most people's network connections, and 5X faster than the highest end local area network connections
  
• Freedom of Information Act shows that the feds can lojack your cell phone without the Telco's help
  
• Geek Alert: Full Star Trek Trailer for new movie available on their official site
• JJ Abrams will be directing the new movie
• Opinions on whether they can upright the sinking ship...

Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)

• 7-11 Releasing Games Early
• Yes, you heard right. 7-11 now distributes game titles behind the counter
• Wrath of the Lich King AND Gears of War 2 both released early
• World of Warcraft Expansion Released
• Northrend 70-80 grind = more of the same
• Death Knights was the funnest 3 hours I've played since launch
• Turn your graphics to high and watch the beauty unfold
• National Geographic Gets into Gaming
• Opening new gaming division
• 2 games already out: National Geographic: Panda on DS and Herod's Lost Tomb for Iphone
• Decent reviews for Panda: Similar to NintenDogs but with a little more education in mind, care for panda cubs or full grown panda's. toys, food, washing, all that you expect.

Interview
First Commercialized Fully submersed Liquid Cooled PC

• Hardcore Computers
Daren Klum, president of Hardcore Computer
• Custom Parts made from off-the-shelf pieces (custom = propietary but for engineering reasons, not money like MAC)
  
• Pull-out, push-in motherboard on rails (make sure it drains)
• LED lights make the fully submersed internals glow mad crazy
  
• Mode to allow the liquid to bubble and look cooler
• Liquid is an oil that is biodegradable and fully non-conductive
• SSD's, Motherboard, RAM, GPU, CPU all fully in the tank that is full of liquid
  
• Full 64 MB X-Fi integrated on custom Motherboard (power routed far away from it)
• three overclocked GeForce GTX280
• Dual Power-Supply for redundancy
• 3 SSD's (solid state drives) fully immersed in the most expensive mode
• 2 non-immersed 3.5 server-style HD spaces available by default
• How much? 10k min? nope, 4.5 - 11k for a full machine (9 grand I would consider my optimal plaything)

A25REM-SI7PCJ-MS5Y6K-KHR7SI-4XWB3N-VORYVR-G52A2M-T4KOXL

Intarweb Gold Mine

• Steve Jobs Flicks off IBM
• Hahah, this happened in the late 80's with pictures to prove it
• Steve has probably matured since then but after IBM sued them because of their recent exec hire, he is probably doing this in his bedroom right now. (Mark PaperMaster = IBM Exec hired at Apple)
• Urine Passes Nasa Taste Test
• $250 million dollar recycling plant sent to the space station
• The new system distils, filters, ionizes and oxidizes wastewater - including urine -- into fresh water for drinking.
• spins to create artificial gravity that separates the water from the brine, iodine then added
• Turns yesterday's coffee into today's coffee or yesterdays urine into today's drinking water
• After exhaustive taste test, anonymous comment, "I've got some in my fridge. It tastes fine to me."

Show #104

[Download Show #104 as MP3]

News

• G1 Security Flaw Found

• affects G1 Web Browser
• Could allow malicious code to run and install software including keyloggers
• "I can basically do anything the web browser has permission to do," said Mr Miller. "I can read text messages, read their cookies, see their passwords, watch them surf the web and watch what they type."
• the "how" is not public, just the knowledge of the vulnerability
  

• Vista has Failed, Long live Windows 7 AND 7 Coolest Features of Windows 7

• New Windows Taskbar (thumbnail - mouseover blows up a bigger thumbnail)
• Jump Lists - commonly used tasks within the programs
• New Aero - Instant Desktop
• Device Stage - All in one browser for devices
  
• Windows Office Web

• Eye-Gaze Software for People with Disabilities
• MGM First to Release Full Films to YouTube

Tech Tidbits

• GMail will feature SMS messaging
• Tried to launch it as part of GMail Labs, there were some issues
• Expecting about two more weeks
• We'll talk about it again on the show when we get to see it
  

Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)

• Copyright Infringers for LBP and GH:WT Deleted
• Little Big Planet doesn't even notify you that they are taking them off the list
• (still unclear if LBP deletes them from your HD)
• Guitar Hero: World Tour does the same, although they warned us earlier that this would happen.
• Criterion Announces "Legendary Car" Pack
• Jansen 88 (back to the future car), Cavalry Bootlegger, Manhattan Spirit and the GT Nighthawk

Intarweb Gold Mine

• Bicycle Seat combats EDD
• Kindle Book for a bargain: $6200

Next Week: Interview
Daren Klum - President of Hardcore PC

Show #103

[Download Show #103 as MP3]

News

• First Commercialized Fully submersed Liquid Cooled PC
• Hardcore Computers
• Custom Parts made from off-the-shelf pieces (custom = propietary but for engineering reasons, not money like MAC)0
  
• Pull-out, push-in motherboard on rails (make sure it drains)
• LED lights make the fully submersed internals glow mad crazy
  
• Mode to allow the liquid to bubble and look cooler
• Liquid is an oil that is biodegradable and fully non-conductive
• SSD's, Motherboard, RAM, GPU, CPU all fully in the tank that is full of liquid
  
• Full 64 MB X-Fi integrated on custom Motherboard (power routed far away from it)
• three overclocked GeForce GTX280
• Dual Power-Supply for redundancy
• 3 SSD's (solid state drives) fully immersed in the most expensive mode
• 2 non-immersed 3.5 server-style HD spaces available by default
• How much? 10k min? nope, 4.5 - 11k for a full machine (9 grand I would consider my optimal plaything)
• MTV smacks YouTube and Releases Music Library to Web
• API included
• Looks like a place for older music videos (16,000 of them)
• Funny that MTV has to put the word "Music" after it's moniker...
• Lots of errors right now and laggy as hell.
• Why oh Why do they feel the need to create another source????
  
• EPA Bangs on Game Industry
  
• One more thing that the government can make more expensive
• Consoles are starting to use more and more power these days
• PS3: 193.6 watts (gameplay) 182.7 (Blu-ray) 173.2 watts (movie)
  
• XBox 360: 185.1 watts (gameplay) 125.6 (movie)
  
• Wii: 17.8 watts
• Derek's Yearly Power Meter
• Amazon.com buys Reflexive Entertainment
• Popcap.com Knock-off: Download and purchase casual puzzle games, online offering available
  
• Google "Lively" - cross between Second Life and IRC
• Kongregate.com - more interactive web-only games with achievements and chat
  
• Netflix "Watch Instantly" coming to Macs by end of year
• Brought to you by Microsoft's "Silverlight"... lol
  
• Windows Azure Announced
• Full Cloud Oriented OS
• Email, SQL, Web, File Sharing
  
• Deploy and forget where it's deployed
• Virtualization in Microsoft's space instead of local
• Alerts through Live Messenger, Email, Text Messages for errors
• CTP (Community Technology Preview) now available
• Harnessing the power of the Brain
• Featured on CBS's 60 minutes
• A monkey that they mapped the brain of while walking, and moving things now can use a bionic arm to eat just using brain waves.
• Scott uses a brain computer interface (BCI) to think of one letter at a time so he can communicate
  

Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)

• Xbox 360 Bundle for $350
• 60GB HD
  
• Guitar Hero III (with wireless guitar controller)
  
• Kung Fu Panda
• Lego's Indiana Jones
• Only at Sam's Club, starts in Nov.
• New Games last week:
• LBP Released, Fallout 3 (PS3 buggy), GH:WT, Penny Arcade Ep. 2
• Valve implements "Steam Cloud"
• Save Games, Keyboard setup, Mouse sensitivity will all be stored in "Cloud"
• Allows a person to log on anywhere and once they install, to play as normal
• Nov. 6 launch with Left 4 Dead demo (for those that pre-ordered)
• Will be patching previous games and offering code at no cost to developers
• Wii Implements Silent Patch to stop Homebrew Channel
• Developers of HomeBrew fire back
  

Intarweb Gold Mine

• $250 Logitech Guitar Controller for Guitar Hero
• US Army Sees Twitter as Possible Terrorist Tool
• Car in works to go 1000 MPH
• Remember that Darwin Award about that guy who straps a rocket to his car?