The Geekcast #222 – Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield Interview
Posted on : 24-06-2010 | By : Aaron | In : Episodes
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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:15:54 — 69.7MB)
Items of Note:
Today we welcome EV guru & green-technology expert Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield to the show. Formerly of the EVCast, Nikki now produces the Transport Evolved podcast along with This Week in Energy. She can be found on Twitter at Twitter.com/EvolveTransport, www.transportevolved.com and www.thisweekinenergy.tv She’s also a Mac Geek and used to work for MacFormat.com 
The live-stream & chat room are back! We’re streaming on Monday evenings at 8:30 PM Eastern with Aaron & Allen. Be sure to join us.
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Geek This Week:
Gozer:
– Ps3 games!! Played Buzz, game modes: hot potato, pie in the face, dunk. GOW 3, Uncharted 2 ( really loving it!), Metal Gear Solid 4 and rented Heavy Rain. Good thing about being a late adopter is CHEAP GAMES!!
- Two words: Remi Gaillard. Check out the mario kart & pac man videos. Imitating these characters to the point of being illegal.
Aaron:
- Becoming a total OCD person when driving my Prius. Working to get the best milage possible while still not driving 30 MPH, which is impossible in NY.
- iOS 4 onto my iPhone 3GS. It’s amazingly fast and adds great features. Found out I’m eligible for an upgrade?? Makes no sense, thinking of a possible jump to iPhone 4 if I can figure out how to sell my existing iPhone to cover the costs.
- Toy Story 3.
Nikki:
- Becoming the best geek mom I can be. Old macs repurposed as kid-friendly machines, geeky mom days out, kid friendly card games.
- E3 annoucnements bound to get me going. Assasin’s Creed Brotherhood. Totally not kid friendly, but I LOVE ETZIO! Portal 2 will drive me crazy (Glados does my head in).
Gran Turismo 5 with the Stig AND a Tesla AND 3D (Sign me up)
Civilization 5. The perfect way to spend a cold winter day.
-(The IT Crowd is back for season 4! Watch Ep 1 on line
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Tech and Gaming News:
OnLive Game Prices Revealed
Unlimited play ranges from $4.99 to $59.99, with affordable rental
OnLive — the cloud-based online gaming service that allows players to “stream” a game over the internet, rather than store the game’s files locally — has finally unveiled its initial pricing options and launch line-up.
The service launched last week, and UK site Eurogamer has listed out the full launch line-up and pricing options.
Here’s how it works – users have to be subscribed to OnLive to access any game content at all. Through a partnership with investor AT&T, the first year of subscription is free for a limited time. No word yet on what a subscription will cost once this period is over, though the company’s CEO tells me that the company’s previously announced $14.95 a month scheme is no longer true.
On top of the monthly subscription fee, users will have to pay money to access each individual game (though demos remain free). Players must remain subscribed to OnLive in order to access the game, even after they have paid for it. So if you plop down $59.99 to play Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell Conviction, for example, your ability to play the game terminates as soon as your subscription lapses.
The full list is here. Highlights include the aforementioned $59.99 for Splinter Cell: Conviction, Prince of Persia: The Forgotten Sands at $49.99, and several 3- or 5-day rentals with fees ranging from $4.99 to $8.99.
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3180014
Mercedes-Benz SLS E-Cell prototype fuels our electric dreams with 526 horses
Oh, electric supercar, why do you tease us so? Mercedes is latest to throw up a prototype of what it expects future rubber burners to look like, and its SLS E-Cell doesn’t disappoint. Based on its petrol-guzzling SLS AMG model, this beast produces 526 horsepower and 649 pound-feet of torque, thanks to four motors (one for each wheel) allied to a battery array that can provide an industry-leading 480kW of juice.
How fast does that get you to the magical 60mph marker? Try four seconds. There’s a handsome 10-inch infotainment panel in the center console, which you may see after the break, but the best news is that this prototype can be driven now and could well turn into a production Benz at some point in 2013.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/23/mercedes-benz-sls-e-cell-prototype-fuels-our-electric-dreams-wit/
Google Voice Now Available to Everyone in U.S.
Google Voice is now available for everyone (provided you have a U.S. phone number).
The service, which started life out as GrandCentral, acts as a unified phone number. It can be used to make free calls to the U.S. and Canada, to send free text messages and more. Its voicemail system can even bechecked by e-mail.
Now, after more than fifteen months of testing with invite-only accounts, Google Voice is ready for the masses.
As great as the service is, it hasn’t existed without controversy. Last summer, Apple was criticized when the company barred the Google Voice iPhone app from its App Store. The battle over Google Voice was arguably the first shot in the current Apple-Google war.
And earlier today, Business Week reported that Frontier Communications is suing Google over alleged patent violations within the Google Voice service.
For many users however, Google Voice is a wonderful solution to the increasingly complex web of communication profiles. Instead of having to try to maintain separate phone numbers, users can just have one central number forwarded to different devices based on time of day or location.
http://mashable.com/2010/06/22/google-voice-arrives/
http://googlevoiceblog.blogspot.com/2010/06/google-voice-for-everyone.html
Red Dead Redemption DLC
The “Outlaws to the End” cooperative mission pack is one of three downloadable expansions Rockstar has planned for the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 game, giving players six new multiplayer adventures to undertake, along with new Trophies and Achievements. It’s free, so clear some hard drive space.
http://kotaku.com/5569237/red-dead-redemptions-outlaws-to-the-end-detailed
Uk’s first Vintage Computer Faire. Just been held at Bletchly Park, Milton Keynes (Home of the Enigma codebreakers!)
If old school computers are your thing then take a look at Bletchly Park’s first Vintage Computer Faire, which took place last weekend. A veritiable trip back in time through the UK’s old school computer history. And if you want more info, why not try and get hold of a copy of MicroMen http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1459467/ (A BBC film set in the 1980s when Sinclair and Acorn went head-to-head to build the BBC’s very own computer).
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Interview:
1. What is your geek cred?
2. What first got you into electric cars?
3. Do you own any electric vehicles?
4. What are your thoughts on Better Place and the Nissan Leaf?
5. How did you get into podcasting?
6. What tech can’t you live without?
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Test a Geek: This segment will return on a future episode of The Geekcast
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How To: Reset the video settings on your PS3 without a TV
I brought the PS3 to my parents for fathers day to play some Buzz, TV wasn’t detecting the video signal because I had the output set to 1080p. How could I change the settings without a tv? Simple: when turning the system on press and hold the power button for 5 to 10 secs until your hear a beep or a couple beeps.
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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: 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: This segment will return on a future episode of The Geekcast
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