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Feedback:
Fairly new listener. Going to keep listening. It’s awesome that you guys are doing this.
Btw too bad that the US couldn’t pull it out in OT. And living in CT, it’s great to hear a tech podcast out of the north east. My assertion that apple outside of the ipod and iphone platform is a big fail stands – OSX is locked to the small market share, and the only people who get to experience it are the 5%ers, which is a shame – as I said, I have a mac in my office, next to a linux and a windows box, and the mac is great, i love using my wife’s macbook pro, its terrific. And i wish i could install it legitmitely on my water cooled I7 sli, ssd raid machine. But I can’t and as long as OSX remains for the priveladged few – well Apple better keep churning out iPods, iPhones – I reserve judgement on the iPad, because in the pc world – they barely register.
On a different note i bought my parents a blue ray player with netflix streaming (150 bucks), and gave them a 1 year subscription to netflix, and they love it. They rent BD movies, and watch streaming movies. And they said that after 1 year is up they will renew. Better than my dad getting in trouble for torrenting. He is over 60, but he knows enough to be dangerous.
-Yakov
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Geek This Week:
Aaron:
Had a fairly geeky birthday. Watched Star Trek for the second time and then after coming home from dinner, we watched Back to the Future Part 3. BTTF was my wife’s idea because we were talking about time travel due to Trek. My wife is quite the stickler for time travel and hates when writers don’t think of all angels such as in Journeyman and Lost. Back to the Future is time travel done right and I couldn’t agree more.
Gozer:
Playin PSP!: Soulcalibur and Lunar Silver Star Harmony
Played some more Bioshock 2, eh.
Finished Mass Effect 2. Suicide mission that may or may not be. Depending on what happens in the suicide mission is directly related to the choices you make in the game. I had two NOOOOOOOOO!! moments in the end. Tried to go back to do the end again and it didn’t work. Overall, an amazing game. Game of the year 2010.
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Tech and Gaming News:
Activision: Treyarch’s next Call of Duty this fall; pair of Modern Warfare 2 map packs this year
by Richard Mitchell
Activision has confirmed that Treyarch’s next entry in the series will be released this fall. Assuming Activision adheres to its thus far rock-solid Call of Duty schedule, a November release seems likely. Whether or not the series will make the rumored move to Vietnam remains unconfirmed.
In other unsurprising Call of Duty news, Activision has confirmed that the upcoming Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 DLC will consist of multiplayer map packs. The map packs were more or less outed last year, thanks to some loose-lipped energy drink packaging, but Activision hasn’t actually confirmed the exact nature of the DLC until now. The first two map packs — slated to appear first on Xbox Live — are in development at Infinity Ward. Assuming initial plans haven’t been altered by the executive shuffling, the first pack is scheduled to release this spring, while the second is slated for a (presumably later) 2010 release.
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/03/02/activision-treyarch-call-of-duty-this-fall-mw2-map-packs-2010/
Microsoft: Don’t press F1 key in Windows XP
Ignore sites that nag to press the Help key, says zero-day bug advisor
Microsoft told Windows XP users today not to press the F1 key when prompted by a Web site, as part of its reaction to an unpatched vulnerability that hackers could exploit to hijack PCs running Internet Explorer (IE).
In a security advisory issued late Monday, Microsoft confirmed the unpatched bug in VBScript that Polish researcher Maurycy Prodeus had revealed Friday, offered more information on the flaw and provided some advice on how to protect PCs until a patch shipped.
“The vulnerability exists in the way that VBScript interacts with Windows Help files when using Internet Explorer,” read the advisory. “If a malicious Web site displayed a specially crafted dialog box and a user pressed the F1 key, arbitrary code could be executed in the security context of the currently logged-on user.”
Last week, Prodeus called the bug a “logic flaw,” and said attackers could exploit it by feeding users malicious code disguised as a Windows help file — such files have a “.hlp” extension — then convincing them to press the F1 key when a pop-up appeared. He rated the vulnerability as “medium” because of the required user interaction.
Windows 2000, Windows XP and Windows Server 2003 are impacted by the bug, said Microsoft, and any supported versions of Internet Explorer (IE) on those operating systems — including IE6 on Windows XP — could be leveraged by attackers. Previously, Prodeus had said that users running IE7 and IE8 were at risk, but had not called out IE6.
Until a patch is ready, users can protect themselves by not pressing the F1 key if a Web site tells them to, said Microsoft.
“As an interim workaround, users are advised to avoid pressing F1 on dialogs presented from Web pages or other Internet content,” said David Ross with the Microsoft Security Response Center (MSRC) engineering staff in a blog entry on Monday.
http://www.computerworld.com/s/article/9164038/Microsoft_Don_t_press_F1_key_in_Windows_XP
HDMI spotted on Mac mini
More specifically, prototypes of a new Mac mini — Apple’s smallest and most affordable system, commonly employed by tech savvy Mac users as an ad-hoc living room media server, has been making the rounds with an HDMI port in place of its legacy DVI connector, according to two people familiar with the matter.
The port sits besides mini DisplayPort connector and marks the first instance of full-featured HDMI connectivity on a Mac. It also represents only the second Apple product to feature the port outside of the company’sfledgeling Apple TV streaming media device. Cosmetically, the Mac mini is otherwise said to look identical to existing models, with no other visible changes to its enclosure.
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/03/01/rumor-apple-prepping-hdmi-macs/
Blu-ray blues
Apple’s move to ax Blu-ray from the iMac line (and several other Macs that were undergoing Q&A testing) was reportedly due to a number of factors. One issue, according to people familiar with the matter, was that Apple management — including Jobs — felt Blu-ray licensing fees were too steep for the length of time they believed the technology would remain relevant in the market place. There were also reportedly both software and hardware related issues that would have demanded too much engineer effort to overcome.
http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/03/01/apple_prepping_first_macs_with_hdmi_sources.html
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Test a Geek: This segment will return on a future episode of The Geekcast
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How To: Burn Blu Ray with your mac
Fastmac’s new Blu-ray tray loading drive gives photographers, videographers & musicians the ability to save data in the studio, at work or at home. System administrators and database administrators can archive and retrieve large amounts of data on 1 convenient disk. Blu-ray is the next generation of storage technology.
$529.95 – WHAT?!?!?!?
Specifications:
Writes up to 8x DVD-R & DVD+R, 6x DVD-RW, 2x BD-R & BD-RE
Up to 50 GB of Storage on 1 Dual-Layer Disc
Compatible with all CD and DVD media
Bootable, OS X Native, Plug and Play Drive
100% PC & Mac compatible*
Reads:
Blu-ray:
BD-ROM (SL/DL)
BD-R (SL/DL)
BD-RE (SL/DL)
Works with:
Mac Pro
PowerMac G3
PowerMac G4
PowerMac G5
eMac
iMac G4
http://store.fastmac.com/product_info.php?cPath=10_2_52&products_id=201
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Ask A Geek: This segment will return on a future episode of The Geekcast
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Open Source Software: XChat IRC – IRC Client
Here’s another common app, this time for IRC (internet relay chat): Xchat IRC. Just about everyone on windows uses mIRC for their IRC needs, but it’s a paid app and most people end up stealing it. Xchat IRC offers all of the same functionality of mIRC, but it’s free and available for all platforms. It supports aliases for doing batch commands, dcc file transfers, and everything else you’d need in an IRC app. If you’re on Mac and you’d like another alternative IRC client that’s lightweight and supports applescript, check out Colloquy at colloquy.info. It doesn’t have as many options as Xchat IRC, but it is a good client and very light weight.
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Hack: This segment will return on a future episode of The Geekcast
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The Geek’s View: Law Abiding Citizen & White Out ( Kate Beckinsale uhhhhhh…)
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