ArsGeek

Cosby, A&P lessons, 2 fine video cards, $200 off HP, Fable II and Aerosmith GH - Monday’s deals

arsgeek — Mon, 08 Sep 2008 13:09:26 +0000

It's a Monday, which means you're sitting in your office, cubicle, home or classroom wondering what the heck happened to the weekend. Here's a few deals to sweeten your inevitable Monday blues.

Vintage Kevin Pollak doing vintage Captain Kirk

arsgeek — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 12:41:46 +0000

A fun video for the weekend, Kevin Pollak doing the Star Trek crew if only Shattner were rehired for Star Trek 5.

Now you have to pay to help debug modern games - Call Of Duty: World At War I’m lookin’ at you!

arsgeek — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 19:07:01 +0000

This is a disturbing trend I've been noticing, most recently with Call of Duty: World At War. You have to now put up money for a game you may not want, just to help the game developers debug their beta release.

Linux and Flash - cut the crap already!

arsgeek — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 14:06:11 +0000

Look, Adobe, can we please get with the times and start making a product that works on Linux? Please? It's getting closer to 2010 and we're still missing flying cars, meals in pills and a flash player that actually works most of the time. You see that? I'd even settle for most of the time right now. The sad truth is, Flash locks up on my current Ubuntu install, with the latest Flash release and it happens all the time.

HDTVs, UT3, Sonic, several HD camcorders and all sorts of stuff from Newegg - Thursdays Deals

arsgeek — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 13:08:03 +0000

Newegg is running a 24 hour sale, Amazon has lots of HDTV deals, as well as a few video games and ongoing DVD sales and lets not forget Miles Davis. Lots of deals!

Ahhh Spore. I sank more time into you tonight.

arsgeek — Thu, 04 Sep 2008 02:30:35 +0000

I'm learning a bit. 9/7/08 will be a fun night for me! Here's a quick video of a flying mouth thingy.

Introducing the ArsGeek Boutique

arsgeek — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 18:17:01 +0000

Just a quick note to let you all know that I've just opened the ArsGeek Boutique. It's a handy little store in which I'll be highlighting the games I'm currently playing (or drooling over) the electronics I love so much, the books I'm reading and the DVDs I'm watching.

Spore.com is down in preperation for the launch on September 7

arsgeek — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 17:39:51 +0000

Looks like a whole lot of updating going on at EA's spore.com! They're currently down, most likely adding the promised updates to the site for the Spore launch, coming this Sunday.

Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse - the end of the world, now with more strippers!

arsgeek — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 15:26:24 +0000

I'm a fairly serious fan of end of the world fiction. If it's zombies rising up against the tide of humanity, I'm there. Strange lights causing physics to stop and reverting back to blade and club? Count me in. Giant comet slamming into the world – yup! I enjoy all of these stories, which is why I was pretty excited to receive a copy of Go-Go Girls of the Apocalypse.

INXS, Harry Potter (hd no less), Beatles, Bleached Wii, plain Wii, Obama, free flowers and good old Les Paul - Wednesday’s deals

arsgeek — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 13:30:46 +0000

The Wiis! They're back! Plus the Beatles on DVD, Harry Potter lost the format wars, INXS digital style, a relatively inexpensive (and real by jove) Les Paul. Not only all this, but I'll hook you up with instructions to get some free flowers too because flowers rock.

Hooked on Spore - creature creator

arsgeek — Wed, 03 Sep 2008 03:23:45 +0000

For purely research purposes, I downloaded and installed the Spore Creature creator today. What a hoot! I'm plunging into this game and very much enjoying myself. I spent some time getting familiar with everything tonight and designed a few additions to the Sporepedia. Feel free to check them out here.

Spore - finally a game to get excited about

arsgeek — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 15:09:23 +0000

With the launch of Spore coming soon, I'm finally starting to get excited about a video game again! It's been a while since there's been a video game release that truly sparked a lot of interest in my gaming life. There's been the occasional left field surprise like Sins of a Solar Empire which I've enjoyed playing very much but most of the recent big gaming releases have been more of the same. Prettier sure, graphically some have been amazing - but it's still first person shooter or real time strategy. Will Spore be different?

Aliens, LittleBigPlanet, a boat load of DVDs, Hard Drives and Krull - Tuesdays deals

arsgeek — Tue, 02 Sep 2008 13:03:20 +0000

Lots of interesting stuff this morning being offered from Amazon. Not the least of which are several large DVD sales with movies from five bucks, a special offer for LittleBigPlanet, the venerable Krull in both physical and digital format and some game and hard drive deals.

Comcast Sets Bandwidth Cap, Effective October 1

Bobwise — Sun, 31 Aug 2008 18:30:31 +0000

The Associated Press reports that Comcast will be officially placing limits on the amount of data its subscribers can download and upload, effective October 1. The limit will be set at 250 GB per month, with a $15 fee charged for every additional 10 GB over the limit.

So you’re riding your mountain bike down a volcano at 107MPH. What happens when your bike vanishes? This.

arsgeek — Sat, 30 Aug 2008 16:13:18 +0000

Here's Eric Barone, who broke the world record for speed on a mountain bike a few years back. Here he's attempting to do it again by running down the side of a volcano in Nicaragua. His bike was 'specially modified' for this paticular run, which apparently means 'snaps in half'. When he went by the last speed sensor, he was clocked at 107MPH. Catch the video after the jump.

Bionic Commando: Rearmed is Heavy on Nostalgia, Light on Gameplay

Bobwise — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 16:35:52 +0000

In 1987, Capcom unveiled a new franchise - Bionic Commando. Bionic Commando started as a standalone arcade game, in which the the main character was a soldier equipped with a bionic arm used for swinging, grabbing, and ass-kicking. In 1988, a sequel was made for the original Nintendo Entertainment System. Two weeks ago, Capcom released a remake of the 1988 NES classic on the Playstation Network, XBox Live Arcade, and PC gaming systems.

Things you should never EVER type in Linux. Ever!

arsgeek — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 17:22:13 +0000

I feel that I need to put a warning at the top of this post because try as I might in the subject to be clear about what I mean, I know that someone will go and type/execute one of these things into their production server at work and then be horribly distraught and/or cause some sort of power grid catastrophe across the Pacific Northwest or something. So DO NOT, DON'T, NEVER EVER EVER EVER run these commands in a terminal session. If you do you will render your system anything from useless without a forced reboot to devoid of any useful purpose ever.

Can I interest you in a 120mm terminally guided top attack mortar projectile? It’s by SAAB!

arsgeek — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:56:54 +0000

Here's a quick video essay to introduce you to the Strix - a 120mm, terminally guided, top attack mortar projectile. This thing will happily find and destroy it's target, even main battle tanks (MBTs) day or night from up to 7 klicks away. All you need is a standard 120mm mortar!

Cheap DVDs (cartoons, cops & robbers, Dr. who?), video games, Wii fit and a New Egg labor day sale - all part of Thursday’s deals

arsgeek — Thu, 28 Aug 2008 13:29:36 +0000

If you're into your DVD collection then this Thursday is a good day for you! Not only are there a ton of DVD's on sale, but New Egg is cranking out it's labor day sale with some great deals, including the Wii Fit.

Book Review: You Call This the Future? by Nick Sagan

Bobwise — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 16:05:48 +0000

The new book by Nick Sagan (son of Carl Sagan), You Call This the Future?: The Greatest Inventions Sci-Fi Imagined and Science Promised, is characterized by explanations of some of the fascinating technologies envisioned in classic science fiction along with explorations of the progress modern science has made towards achieving those visions. Classic science fiction references appear side-by-side with summaries of state of the art scientific research.

Tired of standing in line for first day video game releases? Amazon to the rescue

arsgeek — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 17:11:46 +0000

Amazon.com announced today a program to ship games for arrival on their release date. You can now sneer at those folks who waiting in line at GameStop for almost 20 minutes to receive the latest gaming industry created rogue rip-off or YAFPS (Yet Another First Person Shooter - thanks Cavtroop) while you slave away at work and watch UPS repeatedly try to deliver a game to your empty home via their tracking site. It's only good on a couple of games right now, but expect more publishers to jump on board soon.

NewEgg’s clearence, Disturbed MP3s, Clank for the PSP and Indie Flicks - all part of Tuesday’s deals

arsgeek — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 13:59:53 +0000

Just yesterday I was complaining to my co-workers taht I had run out of good things to listen to, as my good music was getting old and stale. Lo the mighty machine that is Amazon must have heard me, because they've got an album by Disturbed I've been meaning to pick up on sale, as well as a bunch of indie flicks, Clank for the PSP and even some jewelry. NewEgg is doing some fall cleaning with their inventory as well!

Ubuntu security notice - kernel vulnerabilities found in all supported releases

arsgeek — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 12:39:59 +0000

There's an important security notice from the Ubuntu folks. A kernel vulnerability was found. It's pretty much only vulnerable to local attacks but it's always a good idea to update your boxes to the latest versions of the kernel (as noted in the below announcement) so that you reduce your vulnerability to threats.

PS3 Uber deals at Amazon?

arsgeek — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 17:35:06 +0000

If you're looking to score a PS3, some PS3 games, perhipherals or even a PS3 shaped oven mitt, you may want to hold off a bit. Amazon is threatening with their Gold Box storm of deals - the PS3 will be hitting the Gold Box on August 27th at 12:01AM PST.

The Invasion Has Begun: Death Star Spotted Above San Francisco

Bobwise — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 16:21:26 +0000

Initial reports are beginning to leak out of San Francisco that a mysterious object has been seen in the sky, blotting out the stars and staring down ominously at the peaceful inhabitants of The Golden Gate City. An intrepid amateur videographer has posted footage of the mysterious object on Youtube. Star Wars aficionados may recognize the massive moon-like invader as none other than a Death Star - a space station and weapon capable of destroying an entire planet - previously thought to be mere fiction.

Mach Dice is the iPhone RPG die rolling app you’ve been waiting for

arsgeek — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 15:11:37 +0000

Finally! The die app you role players (or lovers of multi-facted dice) have been waiting for has arrived, from MachWerx. It's Mach Dice and it's beautiful. The premise is simple. You choose the dice, you make the roll. You can select any type of die you want, up to 100 of them - multiple dice of different sides are available as well.

Fuel of War, Garmin Navis, Kindle $100 off, Nick Cage and Guitar Heroes - Monday deals arrive

arsgeek — Mon, 25 Aug 2008 14:06:07 +0000

On this somewhat rainy Monday morning (at least in my neck of the woods) there are just a few deals to tempt twitchy mouse fingers into clicking 'add to cart'. A few video games, National Treasure and a very good price on some Garmin GPS devices.

Fantastic Contraption: Release Your Inner Engineer

Bobwise — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 15:26:31 +0000

In the world of time-wasting, flash games may be the ruling elite. Simple games like Motherload and Portal: The Flash Version have gotten me through countless long days at work. And now that I've discovered Fantastic Contraption, I just might never work again.

Fourth Edition Dungeon Master’s Guide: Half Good

Nphyx — Sat, 23 Aug 2008 14:00:53 +0000

In the second of three Dungeons and Dragons Fourth Edition core rulebook reviews I take a critical look at the Dungeon Master's Guide.

Designing the Singularity: Intel receives the Overreaching Statement Award.

arsgeek — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 15:15:37 +0000

"We're making steady progress toward Ray Kurtzweil's singularity," says Justin Rattner, CTO of Intel. THE Singularity, that's what he's talking about. You know, the point where machine intelligence jogs past human intelligence and brings us to a new era where combined computer cognition is the equivalent of a minor deity.