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Items of Note:
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.
Feedback:
Hail Aaron
Not that you guys asked but I have two cool things to share. First I found a cool app for my Android phone called spark. It allows you to add delete and communicate with your xbox friends…handy when your on the go.
The other is the latest version of Ubuntu theyre up to 10 now…I added a Sprint usb modem found it and connected with out a prob….
Hope all is well
max
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Geek This Week:
Gozer: Cameras and HD Camcorders
Narrowed it down to:
Canon EOS Rebel T2i 18.0MP Digital SLR Camera with Bag and Extra Lens(telephoto)
Canon HF M31 Camcorder 32g internal memory and media reader. Uses SD cards.
Enjoying PS3. Discovered there is an awesome GB theme on the blu ray. Also there are alot of awesome free themes @
http://www.bestps3themes.com/ and http://www.allps3themes.com/
Downloaded a BTTF theme, there was a DeLorean as a background but when i downloaded it there was nothing! Just BTTF! Theme isn’t that great. I gotta make my own.
http://www.bestps3themes.com/create-ps3-themes-tutorial/
Aaron: Loving the small updates Google makes to Google Voice. They now added the ability to listen to a voicemail within the HTML 5 applet instead of having to tap on ‘play’ and then getting the Quicktime player on the iPhone. Inline playing makes for a better experience.
I’m also back to rocking out on Flight Control. Scored 981 on the new ‘Windy’ level.
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Tech and Gaming News:
Borders’ Kobo-powered eBook Store now live with 1.5 million titles, Android and BlackBerry apps
Exactly how many eBook stores do we need? Depends. If you own a dedicated e-reader then one is all you get. Own a tablet or smartphone and the world of eBook stores is pretty much yours for the taking through competing apps. Borders looks to be taking a hybrid approach by offering up the $150 Kobo, $120 Aluratek Libre (available July 20th), $170 Sony Touch, and $150 Sony Pocket eReaders and today’s launch of a self-branded eBook store powered by Kobo’s catalog of more than 1.5 million titles — “thousands” of which are free and available in a variety of formats including ePub (primarily) and PDF.
Borders also has desktop PC and Mac apps ready for download in addition to a few apps listed as “coming soon” for both Android and BlackBerry devices — these join the apps already released for Apple’s iOS. It just went live so why not hit the source and have a browse.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/borders-kobo-powered-ebook-store-now-live-with-1-5-million-titl/
Best Buy to offer wireless broadband service
Best Buy appears to have quietly launched a wireless broadband service called Best Buy Connect.
Monthly prices range from $29.99 to $59.99 for 250MB to 5GB of 3G data service. (The 250MB option is available only without a contract.) A service contract is offered for one year and two years, and the length of the contract is tied to subsidies on new laptops: the longer the contract, the bigger the subsidy. It appears to work in the same way most people in the U.S. buy a new cell phone.
The service will allow people to log in to monitor their data usage, and Best Buy said it will also e-mail customers when they’re approaching their monthly data limit. The service will only be available in the U.S.
http://news.cnet.com/8301-1035_3-20009817-94.html?tag=mncol
Mortal Kombat Creator Says Genre’s Complexity Hurting Sales, Still Wants to Appeal to Hardcore Fans
Ed Boon hoping to appeal to both core and casual gamers with upcoming reboot.
Mortal Kombat creator Ed Boon believes that the hardcore reputation of the fighting game genre has limited its appeal to a niche audience, but he still wants to add more mechanical depth to the upcoming Mortal Kombat reboot.
Speaking with Gamasutra, Boon said that he doesn’t believe there is a large audience for “really complex [fighting] games,” and talked about his attempts to keep Mortal Kombat accessible.
“We really don’t want to put something in the game that 80 percent of the public will never experience or never be able to execute,” he said. “I think that’s a recurring thing that we’re really trying to keep in mind, is if the average person will be able to enjoy, experience or execute this move.”
http://www.1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3180275
YouTube Revamps Mobile Experience
YouTube has launched an updated version of its mobile website, complete with a redesigned interface, better touchscreen features and, most importantly, high quality (HQ) video streams.
At an intimate press event at YouTube’s headquarters in San Bruno, California, the Google-owned video service demoed its newest mobile product, which will roll out to users starting today. The focus was not on any new apps for Android, iPhone or other mobile devices, but focused on m.youtube.com, the mobile browser version of the popular Internet destination.
The new YouTube for mobile provides an updated navigation and UI for easier browsing. The home screen is similar to what you find in the Facebook iPhone app — there are rows of icons for different options such as Browse, Favorites, Playlists, Settings and Home. YouTube Mobile Product Manager Andrey Doronichev told us that the product is designed for touchscreen devices especially, which make up the vast majority of YouTube mobile video views.
The biggest and most important change comes in the form of HQ streams. If you’ve ever watch YouTube videos on the iPhone app, you know that the quality isn’t that great. That’s because it utilizes an old stream format for second generation networks. The new YouTube mobile site is designed for today’s networks though, including the HQ streaming option that’s currently available in the Android version of the YouTube app. There’s a huge quality difference when you watch videos in both formats.
http://mashable.com/2010/07/07/youtube-mobile/
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Test a Geek: This segment will return on a future episode of The Geekcast
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How To: This segment will return on a future episode of The Geekcast
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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: Install Flash on your jailbroken iPad
Make sure your iPad is jailbroken. It’s pretty easy — just run Spirit and you’re done.
1. Download Frash.deb and keep it nearby.
2. Decide how you’re going to get files onto your iPad. For Mac users, it’s dead simple — just install Netatalk, which will automatically pop up your iPad in the Finder’s Sharing list. Windows users can try out this guide at iClarified to get OpenSSH installed and running and use WinSCP — it’s just as easy. Either way, the login is “root” and the password is “alpine.” Remember, you can seriously screw things up while you’re in there, so be careful!
3. Once you’ve got access to the iPad’s filesystem, navigate to /var/root/Media4. Once there, open Media and create a folder called “Cydia.”
5. Open the new Cydia folder and create another new folder called “AutoInstall”
6. Upload Frash to your new folder.
7. Restart your iPad a couple times.
8. You’re set! Now just navigate to a page in Safari with non-video Flash content and hit the F logo to play it.
http://www.engadget.com/2010/07/07/how-to-install-flash-on-your-jailbroken-ipad-for-real
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The Geek’s View: HDD Memory vs. Flash Memory for Camcorders
Hard Drive Camcorders
Hard disk camcorders generally offer the most built-in recording capacity, which at first glance sounds like a good thing. Unfortunately the hard disks in current camcorders don’t offer a lot more storage than the largest memory cards (40-60GB vs 16-32GB). For that little extra space you make some significant tradeoffs.
Maximum Recording Capacity: Once the hard drive is full, you are stuck. You need to delete, download, or just stop recording. The hard drive capacity is a fixed limit on how much you can record. Unlike with tapes and memory cards, if you run out of space on vacation, you can’t just buy more.
Physical Size: That hard drive has to fit somewhere, so you usually get a big lump on the side of your camcorder to hold the hard drive. This generally increases the size of the camcorder 25-35%. If you have small hands, this might make the camcorder more difficult to hold.
Weight: The hard drive increases the weight of the camcorder, not just the size. A typical hard drive can add 20-25% additonal weight to the camcorder.
Battery Life: Writing video to the hard drive consumes a lot more power than just writing to flash memory. Remember that hard drives are physical devices that have to spin at very high RPMs. The result is either less battery life or more weight because of a bigger battery.
Cost: A hard drive costs a lot more as a component than a memory card reader, sohard disk camcorders are often $100+ more expensive than their flash siblings.
Durability: The more moving parts a devices has, the more likely one of those components will break. A spinning hard drive is more likely to fail when dropped than a memory card with no moving parts.
Environmental Factors: Hard drives may not operate correctly when subjected to significant vibrations (such as a loud concert), or at very high altitude due to air pressure (typically above 10,00ft).
Flash Camcorders
Flash camcorders have two major trade-offs. The limited size of a flash card, and the cost of buying additional flash cards. But other than that, they have a lot going for them. Flash camcorders are smaller, lighter, cheaper, have a longer battery life, have removable storage, and are just plain cool.
Maximum Recording Capacity: Even though the maximum flash card size is about 16GB, once that flash card is full you can swap it out for an empty one. Alternatively you can copy the card onto a portable video storage device with up to 500GB of storage space, then reuse the same flash card again.
Physical Size & Weight: An SDHC is significantly smaller than a hard drive (32 mm × 24 mm × 2.1 mm). You definately won’t notice any extra space or weight taken up by the card reader.
Battery Life: Writing video to a flash card does not require any mechanical energy, and so it consumes a lot less power.
Cost: A flash card reader costs a dollar or two as a component, much less than an expensive hard drive.
Durability: Flash cards are solid state devices, and have no moving parts, so they are not likely to break over time.
Portable Video Storage Device
Fortunately there is a way to get cheap high capacity storage, and still get all the benefits of aflash camcorder; buy a Portable Video Storage Device (like the MoFoto) for your flash camcorder. Using a Portable Video Storage Device lets you offload the contents of your memory card onto cheaper hard disk storage. MoFoto has a 500GB hard drive which dwarfs the 40GB and 60GB drives found in most HDD camcorders. With 500GB, you get an additional 40 hours 1080P High Definition recording time, and nearly a week of standard definition recording time. Seperating storage from the recording device means you can keep that extra weight in your bag until you need to use it, so it doesn’t add to the weight of the camcorder. Portable Video Storage Devices provide more of the benefits of the HDD camcorder to the owners of flash camcorders. It is truly the best of both worlds.
http://www.thecamcorderreview.com/flash-camcorders-vs-hard-drive-camcorders/
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