Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:00:41 — 55.7MB)

News:

Apple Event Speculation?

What:
Live video stream of Apple’s September 1 event
When:
Wednesday, September 1, 2010, 10:00 a.m. PDT
Where:
www.apple.com
Live Video Streaming

Apple® will broadcast its September 1 event online using Apple’s industry-leading HTTP Live Streaming, which is based on open standards. Viewing requires either a Mac® running Safari® on Mac OS® X version 10.6 Snow Leopard®, an iPhone® or iPod touch® running iOS 3.0 or higher, or an iPad™. The live broadcast will begin at 10:00 a.m. PDT on September 1, 2010 at www.apple.com.

http://www.apple.com/pr/library/2010/08/31alert.html

Gmail Priority Inbox Launches: Your E-mail Will Never Be the Same

Today, Google will begin rolling out Priority Inbox for Gmail, a new feature for managing massive amounts of e-mail. Your inbox will never be the same again.

Priority Inbox is Google’s attempt to solve the e-mail woes of Gmail power users. At its core, the feature is an algorithm; Priority Inbox uses information such as keywords, the people you e-mail the most and your e-mail habits to select the most pressing e-mails in your inbox. Those e-mails are brought to the top of your Gmail and marked as important so you deal with them first.

Priority Inbox is also an adaptive algorithm. Marking items as important or unimportant teaches the system what types of messages you deem the most urgent. You can also use Gmail’s filters to automatically mark certain messages as important (for example, from your boss or your spouse),

The new feature appears as a new menu item just above the “Inbox” link. Instead of indicating how many unread e-mails you have in your inbox, Priority Inbox only displays how many priority e-mails still require your attention. These appear at the top of Gmail as “Important and unread.”

The second layer of the new layout is your starred e-mails. These messages appear in their own section under the Priority Inbox. The goal is to get users to star important e-mails they have read but for whatever reason still need in their inboxes. Under the “Starred” section is “Everything else,” which contains the rest of your unarchived inbox.

http://mashable.com/2010/08/30/gmail-priority-inbox/

No Half Life Movie unless Valve makes it

Half-Life is one of the most popular franchises in video games, so why hasn’t the world seen it adapted into a movie yet? According to Valve CEO and co-founder Gabe Newell, it’s because they don’t trust anyone to do it but themselves.

Newell revealed that they’ve actually gotten tons of studio offers in the past. “There was a whole bunch of meetings with people from Hollywood [after Half-Life 1 shipped],” Newell explained. “Directors down there wanted to make a Half-Life movie and stuff, so they’d bring in a writer or some talent agency would bring in writers, and they would pitch us on their story. And their stories were just so bad. I mean, brutally, the worst. Not understanding what made the game a good game, or what made the property an interesting thing for people to be a fan of.”

And that, Newell said, is when they decided only one company could get it right: Valve.

http://www.1up.com/news/no-half-life-movie-valve

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Geek This Week:

Aaron: Netflix for iPhone. Kindle 3 wifi-only.

Gozer: Mafia 2 Community Release Party & Disturbed. Avenged Sevenfold and Halestorm. Playin’ Shank. $15 2-d ultra violent side scroller. Easy to pick up and play.

Allen: -US Open Tennis live-streaming (http://usopen.org)
-Kindle 3 wifi/3g model
-Cloud Magic (http://twitter.com/cldmg)(http://cloudmagic.com/)
-Rapportive (http://twitter.com/rapportive)(http://rapportive.com/)

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The Geek’s Choice: Future Movies

Fanboy Fix: ‘The Avengers,’ ‘Star Trek 2’ and ‘The Hobbit’

Joss Whedon Talks ‘Avengers’ Script and Female Characters

While on some sort of bizarre world tour,Joss Whedon spoke to The Sydney Morning Herald, saying that his team is currently hard at work narrowing down The Avengers script. He notes, “Right now I’m working on a movie that’s got enormous stipulations and is going to be changing and fluid every second. I’ve come up with dozens of scenes and lines and exchanges and monologues that I adore that are not going to be in it. But while I’m writing them they feed me, excite me and they ultimately inform the character. It all goes in.”

Whedon seems excited that he’s able to work on a project that fuels so many ideas, even if a lot of them won’t make the cut (hey, that’s what sequels are for). Earlier inthe week, Whedon also said that Scarlett Johansson’s Black Widow will not be the only female character in the film, though she’ll be the only female Avenger. This, naturally, led to tons of speculation on the parts of fanboys everywhere. Is Gwyneth Paltrow returning? Will there be a female villain?

Care to speculate yourself?

‘Star Trek 2’ Being Compared to ‘The Dark Knight’

Hey, if you were making a much-anticipated sequel, wouldn’t it be wise to compare it to The Dark Knight in some way since that turned out to be one of the most successful sequels of all time? Speaking to E! Online, Damon Lindelof (co-creator of Lost and producer on the upcoming Trek sequel) did exactly that when he said that they’re “looking at a movie like The Dark Knight, which went one step beyondBatman Begins. It was really about something, and at the same time it was a superhero movie. We don’t want to abandon all the things that made the first movie work and have it be fun and emotional, but we also really want the movie to thematically resonate.”

My sources tell me that the Star Trek 2 story is already done, and that work on the script is beginning real soon with an eye to begin filming in the late spring, early summer for their scheduled summer 2012 release date.

What would you like to see from the Star Trek sequel?

A ‘Hobbit’ Decision Coming Soon?

With folks growing increasingly more frustrated with the lack of announcements regarding The Hobbit – not to mention the fact that it’s practically impossible to cast without a production date set in stone – Peter Jackson has finally stepped up to give some sort of status update. He told The Dominion Post that both MGM and Warner Bros. are “making progress untangling the MGM situation”, and that they “should have certainty with The Hobbit sometime soon.” Certainty could go either way, though, right? Personally I don’t have such a good feeling – especially after seeing what happened to the next James Bond film (currently on a long hiatus) – but we should at least keep our fingers crossed for the time being.
Would it absolutely crush you if they didn’t make The Hobbit?

http://www.fandango.com/movieblog/fanboy-fix-avengers-star-trek-2-and-hobbit-642958.html

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Featured Segment: Mafia 2 Premiere Party & Interview with Jo Garcia

Always wanted to say this on The Geekcast, I am playing my 2K Review copy of Mafia 2!

Hosted by Gamertag Radio Godfree and Pete, was fumbling to get a recording setup! They had to get back on stage and my wife was losing steam by then so we just left. Didn’t get to interview them. EXTREMELY nice guys.

Gaming setup with demos of Mafia2, 5 LCD’s with PS3′s, XBOX 360′s and 2 PC versions of Mafia 2 in 3D. 3 The LCD Nvidia 3D surround station was amazing! I think it requires 2 of these video cards to get the 3D effect. DJ Sharpsound mixes all awesome 90′s rap. No game developers there! Gamertag radio got up on stage every once and awhile to give away prizes and games. They raffled away a PS3 and an Nvidia card.

Jo Garcia was bombarded with attention, pics and other interviews. Felt sorry for my wife because as I was walking back with Jo to do the interview i saw some drunk guy hitting on my wife! Here I am walking back with a playboy model! The drunk guy was quickly shooooed away.

Interview with Jo Garcia

http://www.playboy.com/articles/gamer-next-door/

Giveaways! Mafia 2 Shhwag. 2 Shirts and an autographed pic of Jo Garcia!

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Feedback & Items of Note:

Author Michele Lang (who we interviewed in episode 200) is releasing her book Lady Lazarus this week! Michele is a local author and being that this is her big break out there, we’re happy to let you all know about it.

Today’s the release date for LADY LAZARUS, a World War II angels vs. demons thriller. It tells the story of Magdalena Lazarus, a young witch living in Budapest on the eve of World War II. Descended from the legendary Witch of Ein Dor, she holds the power to summon the angel Raziel and stop Hitler and his supernatural minions from unleashing total war.

LADY LAZARUS just got a starred review from Booklist: “Lang crafts a creative and tense story as all of Europe awaits the September invasion of Poland. Lang is a writer to watch and is sure to have wide appeal to fans of Jim Butcher, Kat Richardson, and other urban-fantasy A-listers. An outstanding debut.” And #1 NY Times bestselling author Jim Butcher says, “An absolutely unique protagonist in an engaging tale set against the backdrop of the greatest clash of good and evil in human history. What’s not to love about LADY LAZARUS?”

-You can purchase it from Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Lady-Lazarus-Michele-Lang/dp/0765323176/ref=tmm_pap_title_0
-If you want to see Michele in person, her list of appearances can be found at http://michelelang.com/2010/08/25/where-in-the-world-upcoming-live-appearances/
-Finally, you can read up about Michele on her website http://www.michelelang.com

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Sponsors:

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 48:44 — 44.8MB)

News:
Full Rock Band 3 Tracklist Seemingly Leaked

Yesterday, Activision released the full tracklist for Guitar Hero: Warriors of Rock. Now comes what appears to be the full tracklist for Rock Band 3, although this time it wasn’t Harmonix’s intention to have the list out in the open yet.

The leak occurred when a Harmonix employee scrolled through the full list of songs while demoing Rock Band 3 at GamesCom — and an HD video of this subsequently went up on YouTube. As RockBandAidereports (via VG247), the video has, unsurprisingly, already been taken down, but not before numerous Rock Band super-fans parsed through it with eagle eyes, deciphering what looks like every song in the game.

Obviously a couple of caveats apply here: One, there’s no saying the songs in the GamesCom demo are necessarily the final list of songs that will appear in the game when it hits retail. For two, this list was read from a YouTube video, so it’s possible a few errors may have been made. Keeping that in mind, go ahead and check out what looks to be Rock Band 3′s full tracklist below:

Amy Winehouse — Rehab
Anthrax — Caught In A Mosh
At the Drive-In — One Armed Scissor
Avenged Sevenfold — Beast and the Harlot
B-52′s — Rock Lobster
Big Country — In a Big Country
Bigger, Something Brighter
Blondie — Heart of Glass
Blood, Sweat, & Tears — Spinning Wheel
Bob Marley & The Wailers — Get Up, Stand Up
Chicago — 25 or 6 to 4
David Bowie — Space Oddity
Deep Purple — Smoke on the Water
Def Leppard — Foolin’
Devo — Whip It
Dio — Rainbow in the Dark
Dire Straits — Walk of Life
Dover — King George
Echo and the Bunnymen — Killing Moon
Elton John — Saturday Night’s Alright (For Fighting)
Faith No More — Midlife Crisis
Filter — Hey Man, Nice Shot
Flaming Lips — Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots Pt. 1
Foreigner — Cold as Ice
Golden Earring — Radar Love
HIM — Killing Loneliness
Huey Lewis and the News — The Power of Love
Hypernova — Viva La Resistance
INXS — Need You Tonight
Ida Maria — Oh My God
James Brown — I Got You (I Feel Good)
Jane’s Addiction — Been Caught Stealing
Jimi Hendrix — Crosstown Traffic
Joan Jett — I Love Rock and Roll
John Lennon — Imagine
Juanes — Me Enamora
Lynyrd Skynyrd — Free Bird
Maná — Oye Mi Amor
Marilyn Manson — The Beautiful People
Metric — Combat Baby
Night Ranger — Sister Christian
Ozzy Osbourne — Crazy Train
Paramore — Misery Business
Phish — Llama
Phoenix — Lasso
Poni Hoax — Antibodies
Pretty Girls Make Graves — Something
Primus — Jerry Was a Race Car Driver
Queen — Bohemian Rhapsody
Queens Of The Stone Age — No One Knows
Rammstein — Du Hast
Raveonettes — Last Dance
Rilo Kiley — Portions of Foxes
Riverboat Gamblers — Don’t Bury Me? I’m
Roxette — The Look
Rush — TBD
Slipknot — Before I Forget
Smash Mouth — Walkin’ on the Sun
Spacehog — In the Meantime
Steve Miller Band — Fly Like An Eagle
Still Not Dead
Stone Temple Pilots — Plush
Swingin’ Utters — This Bastard’s Life
T.Rex — 20th Century Boy
Tears for Fears — Everybody Wants to Rule the World
Tegan and Sara — The Con
The Beach Boys — Good Vibrations (Live)
The Bronx — False Alarm
The Cure — Just Like Heaven
The Doors — Break On Through
The Muffs — Outer Space
The Police — Don’t Stand So Close To Me
The Ramones — I Wanna Be Sedated
The Smiths — Stop Me If You’ve Heard This One Before
The Sounds — Living in America
The Vines — Get Free
The White Stripes — The Hardest Button to Button
The Who — I Can See For Miles
Them Crooked Vultures — Dead End Friends
Tokio Hotel — Humanoid
Tom Petty and The Heartbreakers — I Need To Know
War — Low Rider
Warren Zevon — Werewolves Of London
Whitesnake — Here I Go Again
Yes — Roundabout

http://www.1up.com/news/rock-band-3-tracklist-leaked

Google’s Chrome Web Store is likely to be up and running this October

The online app store will focus on supplying users with a variety of online/browser-based games, as well as a community (so that users can review, rate, and bookmark games).

The announcement was made on Tuesday by Google game developer advocate Mark DeLoura and Google Chrome developer advocate Michael Mahemoff at the Game Developer Conference in Europe (GDC Europe), which is taking place in Germany. The web store was originally announced at the Google I/O conference in May. Click on the images (from ) for a closer look at the screens shown in the demo.

DeLoura and Mahemoff showed GDC Europe-goers what the web store is expected to look like, including screenshots of individual game pages, which will have ratings, reviews, and friends’ ratings. Presenters also stressed the ease of publishing content, and said there is no approval process for content posting.

Perhaps the most notable part of the announcement is how much revenue share Google expects from its publishers–virtually none, that is. Unlike other content publishers, which can keep as much as 70 percent of the profit, Google is asking only a 5 percent processing fee. Google will also allow free games to be published, but won’t allow games with in-game purchases (all payment must be required up-front, and transactions will be made using Google Checkout).

A couple of other notable tidbits from the announcement–DeLoura said that the store will be up and running (hopefully) by October. CNET takes this to mean that Chrome OS devices (such as netbooks running Chrome OS) are likely on the same schedule. So far the most Google has said about release of netbooks running Chrome OS is “late fall,” and so October 2010 doesn’t seem that unreasonable.

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUS254413249920100818

The real iTunes fraud vulnerability: Gullible users

So these reports of a major security hole in iTunes, one through which people have had their PayPal accounts drained?

Not much to them, I’m told. Or, rather, not much to their assertion that Apple is at fault here. There’s no security hole in iTunes, and if you’ve been unfortunate enough to have hundreds of dollars in unauthorized purchases charged to your iTunes account, it’s likely because you’ve fallen victim to a phishing scam–a variation on the one that’s been around for years now. Sources close to Apple tell me iTunes has not been compromised and the company isn’t aware of any sudden increase in fraudulent transactions.

As for an official comment, Apple offers this bit of common sense advice:

“iTunes is always working to prevent fraud and enhance password security for all of our users. But if your credit card or iTunes password is stolen and used on iTunes we recommend that you contact your financial institution and inquire about canceling the card and/or issuing a chargeback for any unauthorized transactions. We also recommend that you change your iTunes account password immediately.”

PayPal declined to comment on the issue, but told me that any unauthorized charges sent through its service will be reimbursed.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-13579_3-20014481-37.html?tag=cnetRiver

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Geek This Week:

Aaron: Tried out Google Sync for my Gmail account. While nice, the controls Google puts in are just stupid. Deleting a message archives it?? Makes no sense and is quite annoying.

Gozer: Six Flags Hurricane Harbor + Safari. Finished kung fu movie at Mr. Bolshoi’s house + wanna start editing. Mr Bolshoi was excited to geek out with me. Pissed that Spartacus Blood and Sand is no longer on Netflix streaming.

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The Geek’s Choice:

Chat Roulette mixed with the last exorcism – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNSaurw6E_Q

Auto-tune the news: Bed Intruder Song – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hMtZfW2z9dw

The “Bed Intruder Song” From Auto-Tune The News Cracks Billboard’s Hot 100 – http://www.businessinsider.com/the-bed-intruder-song-from-auto-tune-the-news-cracks-billboards-hot-100-2010-8

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Featured Segment: Shhhtaaaa Warz Dan’s Trip to Celebration in Orlando.

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Feedback & Items of Note:

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:09 — 53.4MB)

News:
Nook for iPhone, iPad and PC see updates, slew of new features in tow

Barnes & Noble told us this update was in the pipeline when it introduced Nook for Android, and sure enough, said update is hitting the intertubes this fine morning. The iPhone and iPod touch version of the Nook app is said to be completely overhauled, while the iPad edition is the company’s first to offer an in-app “rating” feature. In case you couldn’t guess, the former also adds support for the iPhone 4′s Retina Display, while also tossing in a slew of new customization options (themes, day / night content options, line spacing, font styles, preferred justification, previews, etc.). Finally, today also marks the reintroduction of the Nook for PC client, though it seems that most of the fanciful new features are reserved for the more portable versions. Hop on past the break for the full skinny, and tap that source link to get to downloadin’.

http://www.engadget.com/2010/08/17/nook-for-iphone-ipad-and-pc-see-updates-slew-of-new-features-i/

Shopkick, Best Buy team up to use location-based app for loyalty program

…Best Buy has partnered up with an iPhone app called Shopkick, set to go live later this week. Shopkick is an app designed to automatically “check-in” with partnered retailers, so you can earn rewards bucks or other loyalty currencies whenever you stop by a specific retail location. Instead of using GPS, the app uses the smartphone’s speaker to pick up a certain audio signal being played in-store, so “checking-in” at a Best Buy with the signal running will apparently grant rewards or discounts to customers.

…But we’ve heard already that Apple themselves are interested in location-based networking, and this seems like exactly the kind of system that retailers and app creators alike are trying to build, enticing customers to visit and interact with brands and products in their stores. Shopkick goes live later this week and has already partnered with 25 malls in cities across the US, so we’ll see how customers react to it.

http://www.tuaw.com/2010/08/17/shopkick-best-buy-team-up-to-use-location-based-app-for-loyalty/

Sony Ericsson “PSP” phone could threaten Apple’s iOS game revenue

An unconfirmed report claims that Sony Ericsson is at work on a Playstation-branded Android smartphone with a new gaming ecosystem.

Published by Engadget, the report cites “a trusted source” for leaked details of the upcoming device. Described as a cross between “the Samsung Captivate and the PSP Go,” the phone would use PSP-style controls instead of a traditional QWERTY keyboard. It could also include a 5 megapixel camera and a 1 GHz Snapdragon processor.

With a potential release as early as October of this year, the phone would pioneer both an Android dedicated gaming ecosystem and the long-rumored PSP phone combination.

The smartphone will reportedly run Android 3.0, also known as Gingerbread. A new area of the Android Market would be created specifically for games, which could be ported from the PSP or PSX library. These games could then be brought to other Android phones, provided they meet certain specification and control requirements.

http://www.appleinsider.com/articles/10/08/11/sony_ericsson_psp_phone_could_threaten_apples_ios_game_revenue.html

Flight Control HD lands on PSN Sept. 15 with Move support

Having already soared onto millions of iPhones, iPods and iPads (and maybe like a couple dozen DSis), Australian developer Firemint’s casual “plane landing game,” Flight Control HD, is officially set for arrival on PS3 as a downloadable title on September 15. We first learned of the port last month, when it was revealed as an upcoming title by Sony Computer Entertainment Korea.

The PS3 version of the game will run at 1080p resolution and feature support for two heavily hyped technologies: PlayStation Move and stereoscopic 3D. Though it supports Sony’s motion controller for guiding aircraft to a safe landing via “line drawing” gameplay that spawned an entire genre on iOS devices, Flight Control HD will also support old-fashioned DualShock 3 control and will bring to PS3 a four-player, drop in / drop out co-op mode, as well as an exclusive “Metropolis” map with changing day/night cycle.

Flight Control HD for PS3 will also arrive in the UK, Europe, Asia and Australia on September 15, followed up by an October 21 release in Japan. This post may also be used as a flotation device in the event of a water landing.

http://www.joystiq.com/2010/08/16/flight-control-hd-lands-on-psn-sept-15-with-move-support/

RIM’s Flickering Torch Should Signal Defeat For The “Consumer-Grade” Blackberry

In Zork, when your torch goes out you’re eaten by a grue. In real life, when your Torch phone is a flop – about 150,000 sold opening weekend and not many more sold over the week it’s been out – you could be eaten by your competitors.

As I said before, the hard-core Blackberry audience cares about the much-ballyhooed features of the Torch – namely social media connectivity and add-on functions already available on other phones – about as much as they care about Arcade Fire. The Blackberry is a business tool and each time RIM has tried to push it into hipster and soccer mom territory, they’ve failed. The perception is that Blackberry is the go-to phone for email. If you need anything else, there are plenty of other phones out there much more competitive.

Why should we write the Torch’s obituary right now? First, it recieved bad reviews left and right and Amazon cut the Torch’s price in half on launch to $100 with two year contract. The last phone that got a price cut so quickly was probably the KIN, and we all know how that turned out.

Again, the RIM knows what they’re doing when it comes to fleet distribution of hardware. They can run with the bulls in the business arena and I would say they’re the single most successful business phone manufacturer on the market. But, as we all know, wearing wingtips and black socks with shorts and a t-shirt doesn’t make you a skater any more than adding Exchange support makes you popular with the IT crowd. These are two incompatible markets and RIM is far too entrenched to break free.
While I don’t want to discourage change, I just don’t think RIM can pull off such a drastic turnabout into the consumer market. While phones like the Pearl and the Curve are popular with many non-CEOs, the consumers buying those phones are using them for email and BBM – not connecting to Facebook and chilling with Plants vs. Zombies. Things need to change at RIM before they can have a consumer-grade hit.

http://www.mobilecrunch.com/2010/08/17/rims-flickering-torch-should-signal-defeat-for-the-consumer-grade-blackberry/

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Geek This Week:

Aaron:

Deloreans! Nothing like driving in a caravan of 15 stainless steel beauties. Checked out the Sterling Hill Mine. Fluorescent zinc ore.

Gozer:

Finished Red Dead Redemption and Uncharted 2. Red Dead was friggin amazing. The build up at the end was so emotional. The choice of music when u r going home was amazing. The end of the game was one of the best i have ever played. If you think you are done with the game, check out the train station in Blackwater then you’ll get your last big acheivement for completion. Better than GTA 4!!
Uncharted 2 i enjoyed but i felt was too long and repetitive. Ending was challenging but fairly easy once you figured out the strategy. Started playing GOW 3 again and would love to start Alan Wake.
Foursquare Rampage!! Awesome to check in when you are in a very touristy town like Lake George. My first mayorship at the Surfside motel!

Allen:

Surprise! Another Allen Android geek out! This time it’s the brand new Samsung Vibrant which is sitting in front of me at this very moment. Mmmm.

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The Geek’s Choice: Tweetcaster twitter client for Android

Used twidroid and was happy but found Tweetcaster.

Really slick interface. 5 tabs on the top of the screen
1) bird face icon for tweets
2) and @ section for when people mention you
3)a mail icon for private messages
4) a star for a favorites section
5) list follower

Above that is a little pencil icon for writing messages. Easy to add things to a tweet as well. Hit the info button to bring up: add pic, add video, shrink url, geotag and a username section. You can pick different themes.

You can also choose what image and/or video services you want to use as a default, such as twitpic or yfrog for pics and twitvid.com for video

Free with ads. $4.99 for the pro version.

Pro version comes with :
Old/new retweets
threaded messages
Lists
Photo/Video upload
URL shortening and preview

Is it worth it to upgrade to pro? Yes because I like to upload photos/videos. If you just wanna tweet and don’t mind ads then just get the free version.

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Featured Segment: Allen says let’s play the game of “Kill, Marry, Frak” with the following phones: iPhone, Blackberry, Android

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Feedback & Items of Note:

Wes writes:

Hi guys. Great show. Just finished listening to it (I’m a little behind) and had a couple of thoughts to share.

1. Can the Handy Light program still be bought elsewhere? Will it be allowed to be? If so, then I wonder if his getting it into the app store on Apple (since he had to know it would be found out quickly) was just a marketing ploy.

2. While listening to you talk I came up with an idea for the Back to the Future game (please keep in mind that I formed this idea in two minutes). You play as Marty. Large world sandbox game (like GTA IV). Game starts out like the movie (Marty filming Doc, terrorists show up, he goes back in time). When you arrive in the past you interact with various people (free roaming, no order must be followed, but you can’t see Doc until certain things happen.) Every person you interact with has 4 possible outcomes, including escape/chase, fetch missions, help/not help, etc. You eventually find Doc, character tree conversation convince him what happened and he sends you back via lightning bolt. Then the fun begins. All of those interactions had consequences (NOTE: Unlike in the movie, Marty/you exist outside the timeline. Changes don’t affect you, but they do effect everyone else). There will be 25 different outcomes for the player to discover when he arrives back in his own time; some better, some worse and only one the correct one. The rest of the game is you interacting with the new Doc to help you go back and make the changes needed to fix the timeline. Included in the outcomes are the possibility of making a world so perfect you don’t want to change it, and so screwed up you CAN’T fix it.

3. The Miso app sounds great! But apart from the goals that the CEO listed on your show I thought of another function for this app: a way to replace the Nielson ratings. This would be a way for the networks and the sponsors to get immediate and accurate feedback on what shows are being watched, and by how many people. How many Nielson boxes are there? Now think of how many smart phones there are.

So guys, what do you think?

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 50:24 — 46.3MB)

News:

Netflix Streaming Is Coming to Your Android Phone!!

Netflix has posted two job listings on its website so far this summer, both seeking Android developers. The current listing is titled “Android Video Playback Expert,” and begins, “Netflix is looking for a great engineer to help us build Instant Streaming client implementations on Android devices.”

Netflix is looking for someone with at least 10 years of development experience, who has already implemented video playback in an Android application. It also names two notable pluses: experience with digital rights management (DRM) and “Experience with other mobile application platforms (e.g. iPhone/iPad).” The second of those would seem to imply that Netflix will use its previous work creating Watch Instantly streaming apps for the iPad and iPhone as a basis for the Android app.

http://mashable.com/2010/08/07/netflix-android-app/

Microsoft launches Apple-baiting PC vs. Mac site

Perhaps it was the sight of Justin Long and John Hodgman wafting into the night, dragging their jokes behind them, that made Microsoft feel a little bolder.

Yes, now that the “Get a Mac” campaign seems to have been retired by Apple, Microsoft has launched a touching attempt to reverse some of Apple’s sweet and amusing put-downs.

Microsoft’s new creation is a site called “PC versus Mac”. Yet if you’re looking for a joke or two as you weigh up your options, you will have to search very, very hard. There are no images of bespectacled gray-bearded men in loose Levi’s. There are no stray comments about antennas or fanboys.

The site is a very anodyne affair. Garlanded with an image of a presumably perplexed woman who is, perhaps, worrying whether she is cool enough to buy a Mac, it offers straight comparisons of facts and entirely unbiased opinions.

You might not have been aware, but “Macs might spoil your fun.” Not because they cost so much that you won’t be able to afford a restaurant dinner for the next six months, but because, the site says, “there are some things you simply can’t do out of the box with a Mac like watch, pause, rewind, and record TV like a DVR.”

Macs are just dull, it seems. “You can’t get a Mac that ships with a Blu-ray player, TV tuner, Memory Stick reader, or built-in 3G wireless. You can with PCs running Windows 7.” And just try connecting your Mac with an XBox 360. That’s a lot more difficult than connecting Naomi Campbell to a blood diamond.

The site goes on to offer other areas in which Macs are allegedly inferior: simplicity, working hard, sharing, compatibility (“Macs might not like your PC stuff.” Really? Why would that be?) and choice.

It’s a most edifying presentation. Or it would be if the site was designed to be slightly more engaging than a leaflet advertising a local beauty parlor that came through my Mom’s letter box in 1981.

Microsoft took Apple’s criticism on the chin and in many areas below that for a very long time. Many PC lovers wished that the company would have fought back. However, now that it does, one does get the impression that this is like a mouse sticking its nose out of a very small hole, still fearing there are large feral cats nearby.

Some might find humor in the site’s suggestion that one of the major differences between Macs and PCs is that “Macs can take time to learn.” But this dry presentation might impress those of a nerdy bent rather more than the general public.

They’re emotional, you see. They prefer laughter. Or at least a love story.

http://news.cnet.com/8301-17852_3-20013135-71.html?tag=cnetRiver

Girl quits her job on dry erase board, emails entire office (33 Photos)
We received the following photos last night from a person who works with this girl. Her name is Jenny (not confirmed) – we’re working our contact for Jenny’s last name. Yesterday morning, Jenny quit her job with a (flash)bang by emailing these photos to the entire office, about 20 employees we’re told. Awesome doesn’t begin to describe this office heroine. Check back as we will be updating if we get more details.

http://thechive.com/2010/08/10/girl-quits-her-job-on-dry-erase-board-emails-entire-office-33-photos/

http://mediamemo.allthingsd.com/20100810/meet-the-prankster-brothers-behind-jenny-the-whiteboard-using-farmville-exposing-hpoa-girl/?reflink=ATD_mktw_quotes

Update: It’s a hoax! Confirmed: HOPA Dry Erase Girl Is A Hoax, Identity Revealed – http://techcrunch.com/2010/08/11/elyse-porterfield/
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Geek This Week:

Aaron:

Writing schedule FTW!!

Gozer:

Makin’ movies! BTTF spoof. Used Final Cut and Visionlab studios. Got a 9 minute 720p video on a dvd. Doesn’t look as good as HD camcorder via HDMI straight out the receiver but still looks great. Can’t wait to start working on my kung fu movie my friends and i filmed in Maine!
4 Square! Yes, it’s cool.

Allen:

Geeking out to this net neutrality business. And I don’t like it.

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 4:40 — 6.6MB)

We have an announcement for The Geekcast and some exciting changes to the show! Be sure to check out this quick announcement for all the details!

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:21 — 80.3MB)

Items of Note:

Win a copy of Jedi Junkies! http://www.iTunes.com/Movies/JediJunkies. JEDI JUNKIES is a film about real men and women who dedicate their personal and professional lives to all things Star Wars. Directed by Mark Edlitz and featuring Olivia Munn (host, ‘Attack of the Show’), it’s a fun and affectionate look at how some Star Wars fans’ appreciation can go well beyond mere admiration. This movie is distributed by New Digital Video: http://www.facebook.com/NewVideoDigital.

Just send us an e-mail by July 28th and we’ll randomly draw a winner from the entries. This is open to US residents only and you must have an iTunes account.

Please note there will be no Monday stream or show on Tuesday because Gozer and I will be in NYC to see The Smashing Pumpkins!!!

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Feedback:

Hi Aaron,

It is sad to see that Gozer had to cancel his Blockbuster Game membership for his Droid. However I would like to mention a game trading site named Goozex.com.
I have been a member of this site and in around 8 months done over 100 trades (sending and relieving). They guarantee your trade, it has a good community and their decisions are community driven. Also the games are very well priced and their value fluctuate according to supply and demand.
I hope Gozer continues his gaming at the same speed he was before he got the droid.

Love the show,

Akash

Hey Guys!

Not sure if you have heard but Bungie has been rumored to Jump from XBOX 360 to the Playstation 3.
They say they will not be doing a Halo for Playstation 3 but I am sure Sony will push for it.

Also Richard Branson was on a BBC show the last and was talking about his new venture. It Virgin Media
Online the idea is that XBOX 360 and Playstation 3 owners will be able to play against each other online.
There will be prizes and people will be able to play for money, he has also rumored that there is a possibility
of winning a trip to space!

Love the Show
-Barry
Cork, Ireland

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Geek This Week:

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:28 — 45.4MB)

Items of Note: Today’s episode was heavily teased about a special guest, Claudia Wells. Unfortunately she wasn’t able to make it onto the show. Claudia Wells played Marty McFly’s girlfriend Jennifer Parker in Back to the Future.

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Feedback:

Robert writes:

Guys, Was listening to the Geekcast today and had some notes about photography and dSLR’s in general.

It’s not about megapixels anymore. Even at the consumer level you will have tons more detail than you will be able to handle. Most stuff done by amateurs and semi-pro folks is either fixed in post or actually turns into digital art at some point. i.e. Photoshopped to heck and back.

You must always remember that the photographer takes the pictures. Say it again: “The Photographer takes the Pictures”. The camera is just a tool in his hands. Beyond a certain point, its got nothing to do with gear. Sure the latest digital camera will have great ISO and let you jam on and zoom in on the LCD (live view) for perfect focus, but in my opinion those are crutches. A good photographer doesn’t need all that, it just makes life easier. I’m sure you’ve met folks who are born artists. They are just like folks who are born programmers, to me its like that – photography is something I dabble in, I think I’m able to get exposure right and have somewhat interesting composition and enough patience to get the shots from time to time. But while I put out 1 amazing photograph during a trip to the zoo – my wife puts out a hundred. She’s a born artist. She’s the “Programmer” that was born and possesses a spark that can’t be taught.

My wife is a fairly professional amateur. She’s more of a creative artist, but she has been doing photography for nigh on 20 years now. She only recently upgraded from the Digital Rebel XT (aka 350d) which is circa 2005ish. That one had about 90,000 clicks on the shutter when she upgraded to the 50d. I’m illustrating that you don’t absolutely need a brand new awesome top of the line camera to take good photographs. In fact a lot of very professional artists are moving back into film as it can’t be matched in the digital world in a number of aspects. We still have a Canon Rebel (film) SLR, I’ve gotten into rangefinders (Minolta Hi-Matic), and we both dabble with lomo stuff (she’s got a Holga, and I’ve got a Diana). A 35mm film negative contains somewhere around 20-30 megapixels, depending on the drum scan you can get, it’s ISO and dynamic range surpass that of anything digital, and its actually nearly impossible to get a blurry photograph.

Neat gee-whiz features like an IS lens are useless until you understand how they help you. If you shoot in the “green box” or “P”, then you’ve wasted your money.

One book to read if you haven’t already – is “Understanding Exposure” by Brian Peterson. Its far and away the best text on how to always get the photograph.

Everything is not a great photograph. Photography is more about environment and chance than anything else.

That being said, here are some great tips:
1. Don’t discount “Canon Digital Photo Professional” included with Canon dSLR’s. It’s a really great “preprocessing” tool.
2. Don’t be afraid to post-process in photoshop or lightroom. At minimum I do levels and sharpening.
3. The built in flash is practically useless. You’ll need an external shoe mount for decent portraits.
4. LEARN what exposure means/is. Its likely the biggest issue that point and shoots try to get right and never seem to get a handle on.

Max writes:

Great show guys, funny you mentioned looking for an SLR i’m sort of looking also since my favorite lumix kinda went down… Attack of the show did a review on one that I’m liking..
http://g4tv.com/attackoftheshow/gadgetpr0n/71317/Olympus-E-PL1-DLSR-Review.html Olympus E-PL1 DLSR, still looking, the review just got me excited.

Barry writes:

Hey Geekcast,

Me and my wife were just talking about Back to the Future and thought it would make an excellent
Lego game. Unfortunatly it probably wont happen but below is some cool pictures of Back to the
Future lego models which I thought you might like. Love the show!

-Barry
Cork, Ireland

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Geek This Week:

Gozer: “Gozer’s Gadgets” So much tech this week!

Aaron: Still watching Spartacus and also playing GTA4 a bunch lately.

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Tech and Gaming News:

Apple to hold iPhone 4 press conference this Friday

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 34:39 — 31.9MB)

Topic:

1. Consumer Reports’ testing confirms iPhone antenna is faulty: http://mashable.com/2010/07/12/iphone-4-consumer-reports/

2. Google is on the verge of allowing anyone to create an app with App Inventor: http://appinventor.googlelabs.com/about/

3. Apple extends warranty coverage on flawed 2008 Time Capsules – http://www.tuaw.com/2010/07/11/apple-recalling-flawed-2008-time-capsules/

4. Rumor: AT&T giving 3G MicroCells to long-standing customers – http://www.tuaw.com/2010/07/12/rumor-atandt-giving-3g-microcells-to-long-standing-customers/

**************

The Geekcast is sponsored by:

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 43:38 — 40.1MB)

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 45:38 — 41.9MB)

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.

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Geek This Week:

Gozer: Home theater never gets old. Pixel Junk Monsters PSP. iPhone 4.

Aaron: Social Media Camp Long Island (SMCampLI). GPush completely not working for anyone who has it for iPhone. Really annoying since it’s a paid app and their support is non-existent. Also Netflix on TiVo is killing me lately. Complete lock ups and requires me to power-cycle in order to get control back. Horrible implementation. I’ll use Xbox from now on.

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Tech and Gaming News:

Bloomberg: vPhone coming in January

That iPhone on Verizon rumor just won’t die — Bloomberg is now reporting that we’ll see an iPhone on Verizon’s service in January of next year. “Two people familiar with the plans” say that AT&T exclusivity will finally end next year, and analysts say that if that happens, Apple will sell lots more iPhones, up to 3 million more per quarter to Verizon’s 90 million or so customers.

Of course there’s no comment by Apple or Verizon so far, and I’ll point out that we’ve heard this rumor time and time and time again — first back in January of this year, then for the new iPhone 4 announcement and WWDC, and now pushed off until next year. Basically, don’t hold your breath. It wouldn’t be bad to get away from the often complaint-worthy service at AT&T, but if Apple hasn’t seen fit to end exclusivity so far (and don’t forget that we’re still seeing record iPhone sales), why would it do so next year.

http://www.tuaw.com/2010/06/29/bloomberg-vphone-coming-in-january/

Apple hiring iPhone antenna engineers for some reason

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 42:42 — 39.2MB)

Topic:

1. Google remotely wipes apps off Android phones – http://news.cnet.com/8301-27080_3-20008922-245.html?tag=newsEditorsPicksArea.0
2. Internet Kill Switch Approved by Senate Committee – http://cbs4.com/technology/internet.freedom.regulation.2.1774665.html
A government ‘kill switch’ for the Internet – http://www.infoworld.com/d/the-industry-standard/say-no-government-kill-switch-the-internet-931
3. Nintendo Flicks Homebrew Kill Switch In Wii Menu 4.3 – http://exophase.com/wii/nintendo-flicks-homebrew-kill-switch-in-wii-menu-4-3-16206.htm

Other News:

1.Apple Announces iPhone 4 Sales of 1.7 Million, Most Successful Product Launch Ever – http://www.macrumors.com/2010/06/28/apple-announces-iphone-4-sales-of-1-7-million-most-successful-product-launch-ever/

2. Steve not receptive to reception issues: http://www.macrumors.com/2010/06/27/steve-jobs-on-iphone-4-signal-issue-stay-tuned/

3. Kindle for Android, to complete the circuit: http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/28/kindle-for-android-now-available/

**************

The Geekcast is sponsored by:

GoToMeting: Hold your meetings online for just $49 a month Try GoToMeeting free for 30 days.

Audible: Try Audible Now and Get 1 Free Audio Book Download with a 14 Day Trial. Choose from over 60,000 Titles. Continue your membership and receive 2 audio books a month for only $14.95 per month! Just visit audiblepodcast.com/TheGeekcast

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

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 39:54 — 36.7MB)

June 21st Show Topic:

Topic:

1- iOS 4 available to all beginning—TODAY! http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/21/ios-4-apps-the-best-of-whats-new-and-updated/, http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/21/iphone-3g-ios-4-and-you-whats-missing-spoiler-multitaski/
2- How iOS multitasking really works. http://furbo.org/2010/06/21/iphone-multitasking/
3- E-readers dropping in price; competing with each other or protection from rising tablet sales? http://techcrunch.com/2010/06/21/kindle-price/
4- SAI predicts Microsoft’s demise. Is there room for the one-time behemoth in the 21st century? http://www.businessinsider.com/microsofts-business-could-collapse-2010-6
5- Microsoft’s Courier didn’t work out, so Toshiba will give it a shot instead. http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/199411/toshiba_libretto_w100_looks_promising_for_mobile_workers.html
6- Digital ads on California license plates. http://money.cnn.com/2010/06/21/news/economy/california_budget_electronic_plates/

**************

The Geekcast is sponsored by:

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Audible: Try Audible Now and Get 1 Free Audio Book Download with a 14 Day Trial. Choose from over 60,000 Titles. Continue your membership and receive 2 audio books a month for only $14.95 per month! Just visit audiblepodcast.com/TheGeekcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:00:11 — 55.3MB)

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:

Hi. I just got done listening to ep. #216 and wanted to ask Gozer if his take on the women in Red Dead Redemption is similar at all to this:

http://www.cracked.com/blog/6-ways-red-dead-redemption-hates-women/

Even if the writer was exaggerating a bit, if true it WOULD seem that the developers had an axe to grind.

Love the show, and thank you for your time!

Wes in GR

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Geek This Week:

Gozer: PS3! Knew i was getting it. It is the 120 gig slim version. To get True Dolby HD or DTS Master, change from linear pcm to bitstream. My receiver lit up HD and i was happy. Picked up GOW3, Uncharted 2 and Buzz. GOW3 is epic. Gameplay feels exactly the same. Playstation store. Breaking Bad Season Finale and SNL individual episodes in HD!

Also, was everyone born on June 13th? Went to Red Lobster on sunday with my family. I was one of five birthdays. Waitresses were stunned. Then Allen tweets that he knew of five people whose birthday it was.

Aaron & Gozer:

Apple store at the Palasades Mall. Checked out the iPad.

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Tech and Gaming News:

Mac Mini gets a sneaky update: spec bump, unibody enclosure, HDMI

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 49:33 — 45.5MB)

Feedback:

Hey Aaron,

Hail fellow geek! It’s Max! Show is still great! sorry I haven’t been so vocal as of late, saw this on woot, just brought it….hope the link works
think you’d appreciate it

Not that it’s any of our business, but some of us have been talking and we think you’d really look a lot better if you wore shirts like this:

It Came Out Of Nowhere – http://shirt.woot.com/shirts/it-came-out-of-nowhere

We thought it was best if you heard it from your friends. And it’s just ten bucks today, so no excuses.

Topic:

Joining us on this episode is Brian from ExplainTheFee.com. Sprint has decided to charge all buyers of the brand new HTC EVO a $10 ‘Premium Data’ fee every month. Just what is ‘Premium Data’? It seems no one knows.

1. How did you first hear about the fee Sprint was going to charge? What was your reaction?
2. Did you try to make contact with Sprint before making this a public battle?
3. Tell us how the site got started.
4. What has the reaction been from people? Have people from Sprint read it?
5. Your site has been reported on by a number of people and even appeared on Consumerist and the front page of Digg. What has that done for ExplainTheFee.com?

Questions:

cronkmeister
If you buy the phone outright without the contract, do they still charge the $10/month fee?#ETFQuestion6:06 PM Jun 13th via web

tonuello
#ETFquestion why is @Sprint essentially charging#Evo users twice (prem. Data), be it for hardware features or the unlimited data plan?

Here is my question that I would like you to address. You focus on what Sprint says about the hardware in their explanation for the fee yet completely ignore that it is about the data and even in Sprint’s explanation they talk about data. You will use more data with this phone even if you are in a 3g area. Why don’t you ever talk about this?

Ray Lusk

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The Geekcast is sponsored by:

GoToMeting: Hold your meetings online for just $49 a month Try GoToMeeting free for 30 days.

Audible: Try Audible Now and Get 1 Free Audio Book Download with a 14 Day Trial. Choose from over 60,000 Titles. Continue your membership and receive 2 audio books a month for only $14.95 per month! Just visit audiblepodcast.com/TheGeekcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 58:04 — 53.3MB)

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.

Next week is ‘interview week’ here on The Geekcast! Tune into Tuesday’s episode when we speak to the blogger behind ExplainTheFee.com and his fight with Sprint to explain their $10 EVO fee. Then on Thursday’s episode we welcome Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield from Transport Evolved and formerly of the EVCast to talk all about electric cars and green technologies.

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Feedback:

Voicemail feedback from Bruce about the oil issues in the Gulf.

Thanks Guys (for a shout out):

That was an excellent show (episode 216). You had some very interesting subject matter. I’m always interested in anything regarding my (iPhone) 3GS. Have a great week and thanks again. I will be signing in on Mondays now.

Kevin
Huntington Beach, Calif.

Howdy guys,

Fairly new listener to you but I felt compelled to correct something I heard in the recent podcast.

Let me just tell you that I regularly watch videos “in HD” on Netflix when using my TiVo HD. That’s real HD – aka 720p.

Netflix “in HD” is dependent on a number of items to be true:
1. The device you are using must be supported. I know that TiVo will work in HD, I’m fairly sure PS3 works in HD, dunno about xbox or boxxee or anything else.
2. The content you are watching must exist at Netflix in HD.
3. Your network bandwidth (actually its a number of factors, not specifically max download rate) must be enough to support HD.

Robert Heron – of HD Nation (Revision 3) spent a long time trying to get HD via Netflix working on his TiVo. He was able to make it work..

http://heronfidelity.com/

In my case it just worked and I didn’t experience anything that he did. I don’t know what to say about that other than maybe I was lucky. I’ve also heard other people say that Netflix in “HD” isn’t HD, so just wantted to let you know, that it really does exist, the picture quality is STELLAR, (better than DVD qual, but not Blu-Ray yet). No 5.1 or surround either.

Just an FYI and best regards,

Robert

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Geek This Week:

Aaron: Rockin’ 49.9 MPG in my Prius so far. HOV lane with just me makes my commute so much easier. Silversun Pickups album ‘Swoon’ on vinyl! Plants vs. Zombies.

Gozer: PS3. Played it at my wife’s friends house. Had a beautiful 47″ Vizio full HD 240hrz tv. Showed me Avatar and GB on blu ray. Would not have thought Ghostbusters was filmed in 1984 if you would have seen this sharp picture. Demo’d God of War 3. Amazing. Buzz Quiz show game, up to eight players! I am pretty sure my wife is getting me a ps3 for mah birfday.

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Tech and Gaming News:

Ford steering Google Maps into its cars

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 54:09 — 49.7MB)

Topic:

1. iPhone 4 Specs – Pentaband, 802.11 B/G/N – http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/07/iphone-4-hits-fcc-becomes-worlds-second-announced-pentaband-3g/, http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/07/iphone-4-announced/
2. FaceTime & 2 cameras
3. A4 CPU
4. Safari 5 – http://www.engadget.com/2010/06/07/apple-release-safari-5/
5. iPhone vs. Evo 4G vs. Droid Incredible: http://mashable.com/2010/06/07/iphone-evo-droid-infographic/
6. The rumors that didn’t pan out: Verizon, Apple TV, Magic Trackpad, OSX 10.7

**************

The Geekcast is sponsored by:

GoToMeting: Hold your meetings online for just $49 a month Try GoToMeeting free for 30 days.

Audible: Try Audible Now and Get 1 Free Audio Book Download with a 14 Day Trial. Choose from over 60,000 Titles. Continue your membership and receive 2 audio books a month for only $14.95 per month! Just visit audiblepodcast.com/TheGeekcast

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 52:09 — 47.9MB)

Items of Note:

Don’t forget that we’re bringing back the live-stream & chat room! Since Gozer’s a little camera shy, we’ll be streaming on Monday evenings at 8:30 PM Eastern with Aaron & Allen.

**************

Feedback:

Saw this on topless robot. thought Gozer would like: http://www.80stees.com/products/Proton-Pack-Backpack.asp

Enjoy the Show

Jedadiah

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Geek This Week:

Aaron: Reading Daemon by Daniel Suarez on my Kindle. Really great book that has accurate techno-talk in it. A character uses NetStumbler for crying out loud! The author either did great research or is a complete geek. It’s a fantastic book and I believe all listeners to the show would enjoy it.

Gozer: Red Dead Redemption. Gameplay, similarities to GTA. Secret Achievement awesome. Awesome showing of the cutscenes on Fox HD last saturday.
Very excited about getting a new iMac. Have given up on the idea about getting a flat screen for the living room. Wii would look terrible.
Ghostbusters Pachinko game in Japan. Check it out on YouTube.

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Tech and Gaming News:

AT&T makes sweeping changes to data plans, iPhone tethering coming at OS 4 launch

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:01:02 — 56.1MB)

Items of Note:

We’re very happy to welcome Gozer back to the show! It’s great that he’s back with us to geek out!

Don’t forget that we’re bringing back the live-stream & chat room! Since Gozer’s a little camera shy, we’ll be streaming on Monday evenings at 8:30 PM Eastern with Aaron & Allen.

The Geekcast is proud to announce we have a new sponsor: Audible.com! If you’re into audio books, be sure to use our link to check them out!

Back to the Future rant about Nextround.net stupidity – http://nextround.net/2010/05/25/back-to-the-future-mall-sign-ftw/

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Geek This Week:

Aaron: Toyota Prius with all the tech goodies! Bluetooth, Nav, touchscreen, hacks & more!

Gozer: Plants vs. Zombies & Super Mario Galaxy 2
Gave in an bought Red Dead Redemption and Alan Wake. Ugh i am pathetic.

Aaron & Gozer: 24 roundtable

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Tech and Gaming News:

WWDC: “You Won’t Be Dissappointed”

After the big news from Google last week, MacRumors reader Bryan Websteremailed Steve Jobs: “I hope you have some good WWDC announcements to blow [Google] out of the water”.

To this, Steve Jobs reportedly replied “You won’t be disappointed”. While it’s always hard to authenticate emails sent to and from 3rd parties, Bryan did post headers as an offering of proof.

Apple is expected to be making new product announcements at the Worldwide Developer’s Conference from June 7th-11th. In particular, everyone expects that the next generation iPhone will be introduced at that event. Other rumors have suggested that we may see the iPhone with Verizon this year, though it may not come as early as June.

http://www.macrumors.com/2010/05/23/steve-jobs-on-wwdc-announcements-you-wont-be-disappointed/

Software Firm Estimates Google Pac-Man Resulted in $120 Million in Lost Productivity
Rescue Time estimates that 4.8 million additional hours were spent across Google’s user base.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:17:06 — 70.7MB)

Topic:

1. Dispersants: A Guided Tour – http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/….
2. How To: Monitor the Gulf Oil Spill Using Social Media – http://mashable.com/2010/05/15/social-media-oil-spill/
3. How big is the oil spill compared to where you live? – http://paulrademacher.com/oilspill/#Manhattan

4. Haiti earthquake: Technology comes to the rescue in Haiti – http://www.cio.co.uk/news/3210456/haiti-earthquake-technology-comes-to-the-rescue-in-haiti/5. American Red Cross had raised approximately $444-million as of May 6, including $6-million from the Hope for Haiti telethon. More than $32-million was pledged to the Red Cross via text message. – http://philanthropy.com/article/11-Billion-Donated-for-Haiti/65479/?sid=&utm_source=&utm_medium=en&loc=interstitialskip

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