The Geekcast #139 – Get Free Customized Magazines
Posted on : 14-05-2009 | By : Aaron | In : Episodes
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Items of Note: I have successfully installed Windows 7 RC to my Mac via Parallels and I’m working on some previews for the next couple of episodes. Stay tuned for some reviews. If you’re interested in learning about specific parts of Windows 7, be sure to contact us and we’ll review it!
Enjoy a promo for the great podcast Variant Frequencies! http://www.variantfrequencies.com/
We have a contest! Alex from RSS Player was generous enough to provide us with some codes for his awesome podcast receiver app for the iPhone / iPod Touch. We’ll run a trivia question each episode for three episodes. The fifth person to leave the correct answer on The Geekcast voicemail line (206-350-5000) along with a brief comment about the show, will win a code good for one free copy of RSS Player.
This weeks’ trivia question: In The Geekcast #134 from I-Con, who guest-hosted with Gozer & Aaron?
Rules: Only one entry per person. The fifth correct answer on the voicemail will win a code good for RSS Player. In the message, please also leave your e-mail address CLEARLY so we can send you the code.
Listener Feedback:
Matt emailed.
Gozer,
Good show this last time…
You mentioned that you’re doing some video editing (love the idea of muzzle flashes). Check out Captain Disillusion, he does some cool analysis of some of the popular internet videos.
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Geek This Week:
Aaron: Seeing the new Star Trek tomorrow. Everyone has raved how amazing it is and that it’s successfully rebooted the Trek franchise. I’ve done a good job of not hearing any spoilers, which is tough these days. The hardest decision for me has been weather to see it in IMAX, Digital or regular. More than likely I’ll see it in digital at my local theater instead of driving an hour to the IMAX.
Gozer: SNL digital short ” Mother Lover” Check it out on Hulu.
Reserved Punch Out for Wii. Saw Boom Blox 2 comes out for Wii next week as well.
Played the 2 versions of the Wolverine game. Wii and PSP. Pretty cool to just walk around as wolverine, violence. Wii version is different than the other versions. Got to one part where i didn’t know what to do. Uhhhh time is precious, stop playing it. There’s a difference between puzzles/dificulty levels and pure frustration.
Finished editing a wedding vid of my wife’s friend. Jumped at that chance to film a wedding and edit it. Might sound crazy and like alot of work. I would love to edit or work in the film industry as a job. Manipulation of reality. Final cut is awesome. Figured out alot of fade in/ fade outs of video and audio. Upgraded to 2 gigs of ram, so much easier.
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Tech & Gaming News
Watch Full NBC Videos on Your iPhone
Until the game-changing Hulu app drops, fans of 30 Rock, The Office, and other NBC shows can catch them full-screen on their iPhone or iPod touch, as well as on a few other mobile phones. The episodes (broken into three or four parts, in some cases) look pretty crisp on the iPhone/touch, and while the show and episode offerings aren’t as robust as on Hulu, the quality is definitely there. It would seem to work over either Wi-Fi or 3G/EDGE, too.
http://lifehacker.com/5248782/watch-full-nbc-videos-on-your-iphone
Gears of War 2 ‘All Fronts’ retail compilation on July 28
Gears of War 2 has done tremendously well, with Epic announcing that the game has sold over 5 million copies. So, how does a company celebrate such a milestone? Enter the “All Fronts” compilation, a $19.99 (£14.99/€19.99 for our European brethren) retail expansion that includes all of the game’s previously released DLC map packs (Flashback, Combustible, and Snowblind) plus something new. Epic will also mix in “Dark Corners,” a pack that includes seven new multiplayer maps and a deleted campaign chapter called “Road to Ruin.”
“Road to Ruin” sees Marcus and Dom teaming up again to go into the Hollow and take down some more Locust. What’s interesting is that the press release mentions two ways to play this scenario: “guns blazing or in all-new stealth mode.” Curious, indeed!
The retail-only package will also provide more purchasing incentive in a custom Live theme, poster, strategy guide, and an introductory video by Cliff Bleszinski. The Dark Corners content will also be available separately, directly through Xbox Live for 1600 ($20) for those of us who already own the previously released DLC .
Maps
Allfathers Garden ( COG landmark w/ explosive weapons)
Memorial :
Sanctuary ( tight paths blind corners)
War Machine ( abandoned train station, from first gears? what about masoleum or elevation?)
Highway ( underground locust hollow)
Way Station ( hidden grenades)
Nowhere ( desert)
http://www.joystiq.com/2009/05/06/gears-of-war-2-retail-compilation-all-fronts-releasing-july-28/
Windows 7 Confirmed for Release This Year
A general press release sent out by Microsoft today has confirmed they are planning on launching Windows 7 by December at the latest of this year. Previous reports had put the next version of their venerable OS ready to launch anywhere from this summer to Q1 2010. The release and reception of the Windows 7 beta and Release Candidate has no doubtly pushed things up a bit. From the press release:
..As part of today’s news, Microsoft Corp. announced that the company is anticipating that the next version of its client operating system, Windows 7, will be available to customers in time for the holiday shopping season. In addition, Windows Server 2008 R2 Release Candidate (RC) is available today with the final product releasing to market in the same timeframe as Windows 7.
“Microsoft is committed to ensuring that IT professionals and developers continue to have the platform and technologies to drive maximum value and business results. Getting the most out of IT investments is even more important in today’s economy,” said Bill Veghte, senior vice president of the Windows Business at Microsoft, who delivered a keynote speech at the event. During his speech, Veghte also talked about incredible partner support for Windows 7 and gave updated guidance on availability: “With early RC testing and extensive partner feedback we’ve received, Windows 7 is tracking well for holiday availability.”
http://www.gametab.com/news/2976330/
Modern Warfare 2 Details
According to advance copies of the GameStop-owned magazine, Modern Warfare 2 will be set several years after its predecessor. Once again, political instability inside a fictional near-future Russia threatens the world–this time, in the form of a terrorist organization hinted at by a March teaser trailer. One of COD4’s two heroes, Sergeant “Soap” MacTavish, has been promoted to captain in the Special Air Services (SAS), Britain’s answer to the US Navy SEALs. Now part of a new commando unit, MacTavish will guide players through a series of grueling missions, including an ice-climbing infiltration of a frozen Russian army base.
In terms of gameplay, Modern Warfare 2 will address the issue of infinitely spawning enemies, a major criticism of the original game. However, those looking for a single-player campaign longer than the original’s 6-10 hours are out of luck. “Stretching out the story seems like the wrong way to go,” Infinity Ward CCO and president Jason West told Game Informer.
http://www.gametab.com/news/2976739/
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Test a Geek: This segment will return on a future episode of The Geekcast
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How To: Get a free, customized magazine
Magazines are a wonderful thing to get delivered to your house each and every month but as the internet has overtaken print media, it’s not uncommon to have your subscription arrive with old information you read online last week. While niche publications still can thrive, there are many people opting to just read articles online. Time Inc is looking to change this with Mine Magazine.
Mine Magazine is essentially a printed RSS feed. Mine is a five-issue, 10-week, experimental magazine that allows readers to select five Time Warner/American Express Co. magazines that Time editors will combine into a personalized magazine with 56 possible combinations. Essentially, mine is a printed, expanded RSS feed. Magazines available to the program include Time, Sports Illustrated, Food & Wine, Real Simple, Money, In Style, Golf, and Travel + Leisure.
Ads in the mine run will all be for the Lexus 2010 RX SUV, but with personalized messages for each subscriber targeting their interests.
mine’s experimental run is free, with a 36-page print edition available to the first 31,000 respondents and an online version available to 200,000 others. The online edition may not be of much interest to readers skilled in the art of Internet news surfing, but mine’s printed edition brings an interesting concept to the table: the minimalization of paper waste with personalized magazines and newspapers. Instead of subscribing to five magazines, why not just subscribe to one that has everything you want inside? And instead of subscribing to The New York Times, The Star Ledger, and your hometown newspaper, why not subscribe to a mash-up of all three?
The print media industry may be slowing down, but it isn’t dead. I’ve already received my second issue and it’s really nice to have a publication that has a couple of articles from each magazine I chose and they’re highly-focused on my interests. In addition, there are barely any ads. The ads are actually fun to read because they are personalized to my region, complete with street & highway names and destinations for the Lexus SUV. It doesn’t hurt that the subscription is free, either.
Mine magazine is a fun experiment and you can subscribe for free at https://www.timecmg.com/mine/
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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: Quarantine on Blu – Ray
Had a craving for a horror/ thriller movie. Full 1080p and TRUE HD sound. Great for horror movies. Similar to Cloverfield. Tv crew of a hot girl and a camera man. Interview firemen and they go out on a call. They soon discover there is a zombie rabies plague going around. They get stuck in an apartment with the zombies and they are quarantined inside with no escape. They can’t get out and they run outta places to go inside the apartment. Cool concept. bad acting and stupid characters. Several times i just yelled at the screen ” just shoot it!”
Cool extras of the making of and stunt behind the scenes. Hand held camera to film it. Cool to see the “actual” cameraman getting shoved around.
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