The Geekcast #127 – Home Theatre vs Movie Theatre
Posted on : 19-02-2009 | By : Aaron | In : Episodes
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Items of Note: This edition of The Geekcast features a co-host, my good friend Gozer. Gozer is a big Ghostbusters fan and avid gamer. Together we tackle this episode of the show and there is the possibility of him being a full-time co-host. Send your feedback, thoughts and suggestions on to us!
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Geek This Week:
Gozer: Street Fighter 4 in depth review, just picked it up today (flashback of Street Fighter 2 favorite all time game)
Aaron: BTTF DVD re-relase special features & also BSG.
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Tech news:
From News.com:
Facebook backs down on privacy terms
Facing a federal complaint from a leading privacy organization and a revolt of tens of thousands of its users, Facebook on Tuesday night backed down from what many have seen as an onerous privacy policy. The policy had seemed to grant Facebook perpetual rights to users’ uploaded content, and the threatened complaint from the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) had demanded, essentially, that the social-networking service return to its previous terms.
The move came after Facebook had, earlier in the day, polled its users as to whether it should revert to its previous terms. In his blog, founder Mark Zuckerberg said that the company would be asking users to get involved in crafting the next set of terms.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-17939_109-10166456-2.html
From Shacknews.com
Midway Files for Bankruptcy
Struggling Mortal Kombat publisher Midway has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States, citing an inability to repay its $150 million debt potentially due next week. The filing does not affect its non-U.S. operations, which will continue “as normal.”
The company plans to reorganize but “conduct its business operations as usual,” with CEO Matt Booty noting that “Midway enters this process with strong underlying fundamentals, as evidenced by solid fourth quarter sales that exceeded expectations in spite of a challenging retail and general economic environment.”
“This filing will relieve the immediate pressure from our creditors and provide us time for an orderly exploration of our strategic alternatives,” he explained.
After Midway was sold for a paltry $100,000, some investors were able to demand reimbursement due to the change in leadership. They initially had until mid-January to decide if they wanted to collect, but the deadline was postponed until February 19.
In all, Midway faces $240 million in debt, though only $150 million may be due February 19. That $150 million is the sum of two $75 million investments, which originally weren’t due to be repaid until 2025 and 2026
http://www.shacknews.com/onearticle.x/57213
From News.com:
Hulu pulls content from TV.com
Hulu.com has pulled its content off TV.com, which relaunched last month, Hulu confirmed Wednesday. Attempts to access episodes of Heroes and other content from NBC and News Corp. partners in the Hulu joint venture, displayed a “video unavailable” message.
Hulu also has distribution partnerships with other sites, such as Mojo, MyNetworkTV, and Lionsgate. TV.com saw a 263 percent increase in unique viewers in January after it redesigned and expanded the site and added user interaction features, according to Nielsen VideoCensus figures cited by MediaPost Online. It has 5.9 million unique visitors compared with Hulu’s 4.5 million, according to Nielsen figures reported by Advertising Age.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1023_3-10166467-93.html
From Ars Technica:
17″ MacBook Pro disassembly reveals huge battery
iFixit.com has dissected a brand new 17″ unibody MacBook Pro and found some interesting information from what Apple is shipping out. The hard drive seems to be replaceable with a process only requiring the removal of about a dozen screws of various lengths with Phillips heads. After disconnecting the SATA cable the drive is free.
The breakdown shows the mystery of Apple’s built-in, non-user-replaceable 95-watt-hour lithium-polymer battery. The battery weighs in at 1.5 pounds and spans close to the entire width of the machine. It hooks up through a wired connector and is screwed to the case via “tri-wing” screws. The battery’s size seems to confirm Apple’s reasoning for changing the form factor of the battery, enabling it to be larger to hold more juice, giving the computer longer life.
http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/02/17-macbook-pro-disassembly-reveals-ginormous-battery.ars
From NY Times:
Even With Delay, Hundreds of Television Stations Switch to Digital
More than 400 television stations have stopped broadcasting in old-fashioned analog form, according to the Federal Communications Commission, months before the rescheduled transition to digital TV. Turning off the analog signal allows stations that are short of cash to save money, but it also means a loss of service for viewers who have not yet upgraded their older television sets. The long-awaited move to digital TV, which promises clearer pictures and more channel choices for over-the-air television viewers, had been scheduled to happen Tuesday, but this month, however, the government delayed the move until June 12, citing a troubled transition process and a fear that millions of Americans would find that their televisions had been rendered incapable of receiving signals.
Despite the delay, 421 stations, most of them in smaller TV markets, chose to turn off their analog signals Tuesday. When they are combined with the 220 broadcasters that already broadcast solely in digital, the F.C.C. estimates that 36 percent of the nation’s stations will have switched by Wednesday morning. Nielsen Media Research estimates that about 5.8 million households, or about 5.1 percent, have not upgraded their sets.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/18/business/media/18digital.html?_r=1&ref=technology
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Test A Geek: This segment will return on a future episode of The Geekcast
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How To: Insert Special Characters into Twitter
If you’re a Twitter user and looking to spice up your Tweets, there is a great way to easily insert special characters into your text with just a click of a few buttons. Back in September of 2008, a blog posting went up showing giving a sidebar of special symbols to insert into posts. This took off and gained over 2,000 digs on Digg.com. A few days later the blog was updated to make it easy for everyone to get their special characters at any time.
In order to get this sidebar onto your browser for use at any time, head on over to http://thenextweb.com/2008/09/18/twitterkeys-the-first-48-hours/ and scroll down until you see the text “Drag this link to your browser bookmarks toolbar: TwitterKeys”. The TwitterKeys text will be a link. Do as told and drag it into your bookmarks bar. Once it’s there, click it and a separate window will open up showing you all the symbols you can insert into Twitter.
Simply highlight a symbol, copy it and then paste it into your Twitter area. Once you tweet, the symbol will show up for everyone else. This is a quick and easy way to share more than just text with everyone following you out there.
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Ask A Geek: This segment will return on a future episode of The Geekcast
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Hack: This segment will return on a future episode of The Geekcast
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The Geek’s View:
Blu Ray – Slumdog Millionare, Movie theater vs. Home theater 3- D movies
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