Thursday, October 23, 2008

Show #102



[Download Show #102 as MP3]

News


Tech Picks

  • Touchless SDK (Snake Demo/WebCam Control)
    • Have you seen MSNBC or other TV shows where they have screens they move items around on without using a mouse or keyboard? That technology generally uses syphosticated sensors to accomplish the magic, but a simple version using your webcam is here.
    • A free SDK, or Software Development Kit, from Microsoft allows developers to use a webcam as an input device, imagine games you control with your hands
    • Want to see it in action for yourself, you don't have to be a developer, download the Snake Demo for your Webcam

Power Tip

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

Intarweb Gold Mine
  • Pinup Zombie Calendar (must see)
    • 2009 Calendar full of Pinup Zombies
  • Octagon Bed
    • All this to make derek laugh, we won't do most of these punchlines... maybe?
    • No grabbing the fence beotch!
    • That Bed + Derek = Many early stoppages.
    • Two men enter! One man leaves!
    • Beware of the Read Naked Poke!
    • No way I could fall asleep in that bad boy I would be way too pumped
    • Mommy!!! I can't sleep!!! There's a Chuck Liddell under my bed!
    • If the other side of those pillows say TapAss instead of TapOut...I may buy one of these...
    • That bed IS awesome! But not in a 'I want to buy it' sort of way.
    • Pricing
      • Twin: $950 / Full: $1200 / Queen: $1450
      • $89.95 - $129.95 for the sheets all sizes from Twin to California King
        (3 styles to choose from)
      • Shipping is $42.99
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Thursday, October 16, 2008

Show #101



[Download Show #101 as MP3]



News
  • Want to go to space and you're not next in line? Well cut the line then!
    • Multi-millionaires have been able to visit space for a fee, at least five of them have
    • For a mere $5MM deposit you can join the Space Adventures' Orbital Missions Explorers Circle which helps negotiate to get you into space.
    • Now one of the members of this club is getting their second chance to go to space, this time instead of just orbit, to the International Space Station
  • MySpace launches self-service ads
    • They've been talking about this for over a year.
    • Billed as "the affordable way to promote yourself", the MyAds service allows you to create your ad and target your audience on MySpace
  • Court bans RealDVD indefinitely
    • We knew Hollywood wouldn't let RealNetworks sell its RealDVD DVD-ripping-and-archiving software without a fight, and right on schedule, six major studios have filed a lawsuit seeking to prevent it from being sold.
    • RealNetworks has been planning on hiding behind that Kaleidescape ruling (a home hard-drive based network-enabled DVD jukebox) all along, but unlike that ruling straight CSS (Content Scramble System) circumvention isn't really what's at the heart of the suit: according to the studios' request for a restraining order, consumers won't be able to contain themselves in the face of RealDVD's voodoo magic and will start ripping rental DVDs en masse
    • Seriously, the suit calls the incentive to do so "all but overwhelming." Here's a hint, guys: if you believe the temptation to do something is that strong, it probably means you can get people to pay to do it, and you should probably be working out a business model that embraces consumers instead of funding new Mercedes for your lawyers while actual piracy tears down the fragile house of cards your entire industry is built on.
    • Hollywood wins over the consumer when Judge Maralyn Hall Patel (of Napster fame, remember her?) ruled last Wednesday that a temporary restraining order blocking sales of the software will stay in place indefinitely until she decides whether it violates the DMCA
  • Youtube hosting full-length shows
    • Star Trek (Original), MacGyver, Beverly Hills 90210, and The Young and the Restless
    • All of which allow the use of YouTube's new TheaterView which makes the rest of the screen dark and "theater like" -- FUN!
    • While you're at it, search for feature length videos that you can watch on YouTube by clicking this fantastic link right here.
  • Netflix adds $1 on Blu-rays

Tech Picks

  • Google's new satellite, GeoEye
  • Touchless SDK (Snake Demo/WebCam Control)
    • Have you seen MSNBC or other TV shows where they have screens they move items around on without using a mouse or keyboard? That technology generally uses syphosticated sensors to accomplish the magic, but a simple version using your webcam is here.
    • A free SDK, or Software Development Kit, from Microsoft allows developers to use a webcam as an input device, imagine games you control with your hands
    • Want to see it in action for yourself, you don't have to be a developer, download the Snake Demo for your Webcam
  • WiFi is no longer a viable secure connection
    • Graphics cards sure are powerful these days! What does that have to do with WiFi you ask?
    • Your graphics card is responsible for delivering 60+ frames per second of graphics to your screen while you play games with ever increasing complexity, its an astonishing amount of data that has to be processed, numbers that have to be crunched, to make those 3D graphics look life-like in your game of WoW or F.E.A.R.
    • And for sometime now you've been able to harness the extremely powerful math processing of your graphics card to help projects like SETi @ Home and Folding @ Home.
    • Our wireless networks that we take for granted and transfer data over for our laptops are secured using several different types of encryption and researchers are finding that with the help of something as simple as a graphics card, it is in the realm of near possibility that the traffic will be cracked.
    • Here's the good news, when you're on a secure website, the kind that starts with HTTPS and makes the bar at the top of your browser change colors and the lock appear on the screen, your traffic is encrypted in your browser, so EVEN IF the traffic on the WiFi is decrypted, you have one more very difficult layer of encryption to get through.
    • So the moral of the story: Security in computers is only as good as the new advancements in technology, but any computer security is better than just one phone conversation in which you say your Social Security or Credit Card Number over the phone -- something we've all done, perhaps even many times
  • Hey ST: TNG fans -- a tricorder is closer than you think: Microscope-on-a-chip
    • Implantable microscope, just without the optics
    • Uses a sensor just like the point-and-shoot cameras you have in your cell phone
  • Firefox coming to a mobile device near you


Power Tip
  • Clean up and keep spyware away with FREE SpywareBlaster
    • $9.95/year for automatic updating -- simply manually clicking to check for protection updates occasionally will save you this $10 -- think of it as a donation to help the developers make it better with an incentive of a button you don't have to click for you
  • m.seesmic.com
    • Video blogging via your cell phone
Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)

Intarweb Gold Mine
  • Microsoft loses 21,000+ XBox 360s in train derailment
    • We should have been there right after that train derailed, I only need 3.
  • 1 person controlling 36 characters in WoW
    • Now that's powerleveling for ya
    • The amount of computers isn't that staggering. There's a utility that allows you to divide up each of your monitors into quadrants or maximize 2 instances of the game across a multi-screen -- what's the name of this app?
    • What's WoW's monthly charge now? (no clue, services trade for mine but this guys is paying $5,711 annually for all 36 of his accounts on 6 month plans)
  • Crowdsourcing & Micro-Funding (Push this to next week, we already have too much content)
    • Cool words, but what do they mean?
    • A guy named Wayne Sutton (Twitter / Seesmic) is trying to fund a new $1999 MacBook Pro from his Twitter followers
    • He says if only half give him $1, he'll have more than enough, and even better, the person who donates the most ($5, $10, or however much) he will give his first gen MacBook to.
    • Seesmic on your Windows Mobile device
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Friday, October 10, 2008

Show #100



[Download Show #100 as MP3]



News

Tech Picks


Power Tip

Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)
  • October Game Releases (Damn the wallet, full speed ahead!)
    • Little Big Planet Release Date (Oct. 21)
    • Fable II Release (Oct. 21)
    • DeadSpace (Oct. 14)
    • Rockband 2 (Oct. 20)
    • Farcry 2 (Oct. 21)
    • Spiderman: Web of Shadows (Oct. 21)
    • Bioshock PS3 (Oct. 21)
    • Guitar Hero: World Tour (Oct. 26)
    • Red Alert 3 (Oct 28)
    • Fallout 3 Release Date (10/28/2008)
Intarweb Gold Mine
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Wednesday, October 8, 2008

Ustream.TV Issues

Ustream.TV is having some technical difficulties with our stream this evening, we'll record and post it online as soon as we're done! :)
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Thursday, October 2, 2008

Show #99



[Download Show #99 as MP3]

News
  • First Commercial Rocket to reach orbit
  • Microsoft Sues over Scareware
    • People that create programs that look like a windows prompt to tell you of a fatal error, you go download their app, then they scare you into purchasing a useless product
    • Washington Spyware Act Enabling prosecution
    • includes claims of misrepresentation, harassment, and high pressure sales
  • Nintendo Planning new DS
  • Camera Sold on eBay contained MI6 files
    • Top Secret document detailing encryption used by MI6 field agents
    • Material was purportedly relating to Abdul al-Hadi al-Iraqi, a high-ranking al-Qaeda officer, who was captured by the CIA in 2007
    • From a security perspective, this is why you should clear your computer, camera, cellphone, etc before you sell it or give it to someone else. This information not only divulges secrets about MI6 operations, operating systems and previously unheard-of departments, but it could put lives at risk.
  • Man tracks down his own stolen computer
    • How can you do this?
      • Citrix GoToMyPC
      • LogMeIn
      • Remote Desktop
      • VNC
  • Apple Finally Drops the iPhone NDA

Tech Picks

Power Tip

Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)
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Thursday, September 25, 2008

Show #98



[Download Show #98 as MP3]

News
  • Amazon Hopes to Speed Up Your Downloads
    • Ever wonder why downloading your friends latest photo often takes longer to download than a 4MB song on Apple's iTunes Music Store?
    • Amazon wants to make that a thing of the past
    • Simplify the world of CDN - content delivery networks
    • Think of it this way, they spend the $$ to put servers "close" to you (near the major ISPs) -- that makes downloads from that server blazing fast
    • Then they sell a service to content providers that don't want to set the service up themselves pay-as-they-go style
    • This lets smaller services that don't have the money of say Apple with their iTunes Music Store product offer blazing fast downloads too
  • Users Complaining about Spore DRM
    • DRM only allows 3 installs before you must call EA for more (E.G. Windows)
    • Only 1 account allowed, but multiple screen names with separate Sporepedia entries / achievements
    • Users downgraded Amazon rating in protest
    • Now creating creatures that say "DRM Sux" and "EA Sux"
    • Lows and Highs of DRM (Discussion - Good Guy / Bad Guy)

Tech Picks

  • ChaCha Mobile
    • You're in a bar with a group of friends when an argument breaks out about Steven Tyler's age. Your friend is positive that he's 55. You know he can't be younger than 60. With no Internet access, how do you find out how old he is?
    • Search engines give you lots of answers, and that's how we like it, but you need a human to filter that to get the answer you seek.
    • People know how to ask questions, it's one of the first things they learn how to do when they talk. What they want is an answer.
    • Send a text to 242242 (ChaCha) or call 800-2ChaCha

Power Tip

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

DC Universe:
 Mortal Kombat:
Batman
Superman
Catwoman
Green Lantern
The Joker
Shazam/Captain Marvel
The Flash
Wonder Woman
Deathstroke
Lex Luthor
Darkseid 		Scorpion
Sub-Zero
Sonya
Jax
Shang Tsung
Liu Kang
Raiden
Kitana
Kano
Baraka
Shao Kahn


Intarweb Gold Mine
  • ISS gets Wi-Fi
    • Punchline = "If you're ever up on the space station, you can twitter us your status with your space-age iPhone"
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Thursday, September 18, 2008

Show #97



[Download Show #97 as MP3]

News
  • Downloads OR Blu-Ray -- which will reign supreme?
    • What about both? 20th Century Fox Thinks So
    • It's been thought that downloads would wipe out physical media
    • Disney says its customers don't want to choose sides
    • "Consumers want to consume different movies and programs in different ways. To limit any of those things wouldn't be good for the industry," said Lori McPherson, general manager of Walt Disney Studios Home Entertainment. "But as content creators, we have to be responsible about how that content is windowed so that we keep the industry healthy."
  • Study Show Gaming not bad for Kids
    • Pew Internet and American Life Project
    • Full Report Here. questionnaire with answers Here.
    • $50 million initiative to study digital content and its effects on how kids learn, play and participate in civic activities. (anything public is considered civic)
    • Breaking Paradigms:
      • Not anti-social - Most interact with somebody online when they play
      • Carnage happy - 74% reported racing games, puzzle games, sports titles, etc as their favorites
  • AOL finally accepts that they aren't the only content provider on the Internet
    • GMail, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail
    • News through Relegence
    • RSS Reader
    • Competing Services
  • IPhone 2.1 released
    • Better Reception
    • Faster software installs
    • Increased 3G speed
    • Fewer Dropped calls
    • No OS instability fixes mentioned
    • IPhone 2.1 Jailbroken (Pwnage Tool)
  • Release Date for Wow: Wrath of the Lich King (Nov. 13, 2008)
    • The continent of Northrend
    • The Death Knight class
    • Inscription, a new profession (actually will be available in the 3.0.2 patch, which is now on the PTR)
    • New raids and dungeons. All raids will be available in 10- and 25-player versions, and the first one will be a retooled Naxxramas.
    • Wintergrasp, a non-instanced outdoor PvP zone with siege vehicles and destructible buildings (and a raid boss)
    • Level cap raised to 80, with new spells and talents for all classes

Tech Picks


Power Tip

Gamer's Corner (Conferences, New Developments, Game Reviews)
  • Wow gets new item type - Heirloom Items
    • Bind to Account (you can pass item to alts)
    • Buy with Dungeon Tokens
    • Scales based upon level
    • Tokens itemized based upon Dungeon Level
    • High level non-scaling to come
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