I’m not a scientist, but word on the street says I’m not the only geek in town who enjoys this type of news… so from this day forward I will be bringing you fine folk a weekly briefing of the world of (She Blinded Me With) science!

SOME HIGHLIGHTS:

• For all of you wing fans out there, Wired reported that the world’s oldest ‘flying’ car is up for grabs! –err, for sale, anyway. It’s twenty-one feet long with six wings, and may or may not actually fly.

• Sciencepunk mentioned a new set of commemorative stamps honoring 35 scientists (including historic staples such Sir Isaac Newton and Ben Franklin) for the 350th anniversary of the Royal Society.

• PopSci reported that there is an ongoing expedition by the JOIDES Resolution, a deep-sea drilling liner that’s run by the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (for research) will be dipping into deep ridges in different oceans three times in 2010 in search of  Intraterrestrial Life (IT) on the premise that these internal findings will help us better understand our findings in search of extraterrestrial life. [ed. note: No word on if Mulder and Scully have gone back to Antarctica...]

• In other news, Wired Science reports that –pssh, as if they didn’t already have enough face time to begin with– a new archaeological find confirms that dinosaurs arose at least 10million years sooner than previously assumed. Now, for the more important question: ….will they ever be back?!

• THAT’S SO METAL: A paleontologist re-examined an old find from India, and upon further inspection announced that the dig didn’t simply un-earth fossilized eggs, but the remains of a 67 million year old snake fossil eating baby dinosaurs, that were caught in a mudslide. I couldn’t make this up if I tried.

That’s all this week, folks! To submit tips on interesting tidbits, email bianca[at]geekadelphia.com.

Well, the Little Big Philadelphia contest wrapped up on Wednesday, and we have one AMAZING winner. We’ll showcase the winning level tomorrow, at the 8static party in West Philly at Studio 34.

After we announce the winning level and let guests play through it, you’ll be treated to the traditional 8static fare, an ample portion of chiptunes, served up with a delicious side of 8-bit visuals. All of this is drizzled in awesomesauce. Nom!

Performers include minusbaby from New York City and Philadelphia’s own Ro-Bear and Chipocrite. Visuals will be provided by Philly’s enso. Word on the street has it that our good friends ALBOTAS will be there, shooting video for the relaunch of their webshow.

This all goes down tomorrow at 7pm, at Studio 34.

8static
www.8static.com

Studio 34
www.studio34yoga.com

Mod Cloth, the choice website for all you vintage-dress shopping gals, is selling this fantastic peanut butter and jelly (jam) wallet in their webstore, and seriously, I need to meet a girl who wants one of these. Because I’m buying one.

“Whether you brown bag it, or tote it in a posh purse, this tasty treat of a wallet will update your look in a jiff. With it’s photo-real bread exterior, and peanut butter and jam-like interior, this wallet looks good enough to eat – but don’t! The magnetic closure and two zippered pockets may be extra cute, but they’re not edible. Sandwich this wonderful wallet in your bag right between your checkbook and cell phone, and you’ll always have money for munchies!”

Best part is, the wallet opens up like a REAL SANDWICH. Each side has individual pockets.

Oh, peanut butter and jelly wallet. I want you in my belly.

PB&J Wallet @ Modcloth
http://ow.ly/1fBy0

[ Thanks for the link, Helen! ]

Chogrin Munoz, one of my favorite Philadelphia illustrators, left our fine city last year to pursue a career with Cartoon Network, working on Adventure Time. The city misses him terribly, but he’s still working with Philly’s Autumn Society.

Chogrin and his Autumn Society crew have created their own versions of Finn and Jake from Adventure Time, and have posted their work online. The image above is by Chogrin, but you can check out the full gallery of drawings here. There are over a dozen great pieces.

As for the series, you can scope out a preview for the show, right below.

ADVENTURE TIME!

Welcome to Geekadelphia’s weekly discussion column, Cofffee Talk, where we talk about the finer topics concerning video games, technology and all the other things you can’t talk about with your slightly-less-geeky friends. Have questions or suggestions? Send an email to geekadelphia@gmail.com or tweet with us. Follow me on Twitter if you’d like to keep this week’s discussion alive.

A strange question that inspires visions of our favorite cyberpunk novels and The Matrix, but in all honesty it might be one that we should be considering more sincerely. Our friends at Technabob recently posted the video of Carnegie Mellon University professor Jesse Schell’s presentation at DICE 2010. Let’s just say it was strange (just watch the video), but poignant in the sense that while you may not agree with his ideas, this may not be far off the mark of where we are headed in the next twenty years.

What Schell is talking about here is a future where instead of folks with marketing and advertising degrees telling us how to act, what to like and, most importantly, what to buy we’ll be directed by those with degrees in game design. His supporting evidence is largely the goal and reward based games of Facebook like Zynga’s Farmville and Mafia Wars and the achievement driven meta games that many consoles and PC games host today. Consider what motivates you Farmville addicts and achievement junkies as we take a look beyond the jump.

With viral marketing the norm today and video games becoming more casual mainstream yearly, Schell feels that the unison of marketing and gaming is inevitable. This would be accomplished by designing every advertising scheme and marketing campaign as a mini game that drives our everyday behavior.

He uses an example of how brushing your teeth will award bonus points to be spent on swag from the toothpaste company since the future’s toothbrush will be able to sense this information and relay it to the toothbrush headquarters. Is your head spinning yet?

In all honesty, we already live in this type of a society on a much smaller scale. How many frequent shopper cards, gas cards or credit cards attached to free video game time do you have? It’s as if we’re already headed in this direction, but is that a good thing?

If our minds are constantly fixated on how many achievements and points we have, will the current social system of displayable self worth transform into that? Will people no longer judge others on socioeconomic status but on what could be called a ‘life score’ that’s essentially perpetuated by advertisers? At that point, perceptions of worth won’t change, just the semantics. And more importantly, the same folks will be pulling the strings.

However, Schell does raise a good point: this system of social motivation can be in the designers’ control if it’s handled correctly from the start for the people’s benefit.

“Is it possible, maybe, that since all this stuff is being watched and measured and judged that maybe I should change my behavior a little bit and be a little better than I would have been,” says Schell on the potential benefit of this goal driven market society. “It could be that these systems are all just crass commercialization and it’s terrible, but it’s possible that they’ll inspire us to be better people if the game systems are designed right.”

Schell’s aforementioned words are absolutely key to this system if it’s to be for our benefit. The systems (not just the games, but the motivation and value systems) must be designed correctly and established firmly from the beginning. Is it possible that this will become the lead motivator in our societies? Sure, but whether it’s in the right direction is up for debate.

[Image via Pittsburg Business Times]

Hi, I’m Mikey and this is my first post on Geekadelphia! Though, I’d love to give myself some sort of epic introduction, there’s pressing news I must address.

Tim touched on our involvement in the Fiesta Movement (Chapter 2) a little bit ago. And yes, what you’ve heard is true. For the next four months, we’ll be driving around in a Ford Fiesta, completing all sorts of zany missions (four major ones, each month with a few smaller/surprise missions here and there) and sprinkling our content all over the lovely Internet.

We had the great opportunity to head over to Dearborn, MI the other weekend (just outside of Detroit) to meet with the other agents and our “Mission Control”. We learned a lot about the current European-spec Ford Fiesta as well as the forthcoming 2011 US-spec Ford Fiesta and will ultimately end up driving both in our lovely city (Euro-spec now, US-spec later). I won’t get into all the exceedingly involved car-geek details but in short: we’re truly, genuinely impressed. It’s a great car that will really appeal to a variety of people. It looks pretty sweet (awesome colors and some exterior decal/graphics available). It’s really economical (up to 40mpg highway). It has an absurd amount of safety features for its car class. It comes in a very practical 5-door hatchback or standard sedan. The car is loaded with tech and tech-enabling gadgets (Ford SYNC). What’s the deal maker? we believe it’s priced exceedingly well-within reason.

For guys that appreciate great design, gadgets/tech and anything on four wheels, we were truly in heaven. We had a chance to drive them around at Ford’s Dearborn Development Center and “Proving Grounds” Test Track (Tim totally learned how to drive stick-shift for the first time), take pictures (check out my ongoing photo collection on Flickr), learn a lot about the car and have loads of fun with all the other wonderful creative/awesome/fun agents. This is just the beginning though, we’ll have a Fiesta to drive around for the next four months. We really want your help and participation in this too. Our missions well be super fun, completely Philly-centric and just plain awesome.

In fact, we’ve already announced our first mission. It’ll be a wonderful mural, done by a local artist, representing some fantastic locations we’ve decided to highlight. So please, visit our profile on FiestaMovement2.com and subscribe by clicking “Follow This Team” under our portrait. I promise our silly antics will keep you entertained. In case you’re not already doing so, feel free to follow me (@mikeyil), Tim (@bigredtim) and of course @geekadelphia on Twitter for some choice randomness and periodic #FiestaMovement tweets.

Related Links:
Fiesta: Spanish for Party
Mikey on Twitter
Tim on Twitter
“Team Geekadelphia’s” profile on the Official Fiesta Movement site
Tim’s YouTube Channel
Mikey’s Flickr Photo Collection

A local paintball team, a group that calls themselves the Tri-State Special Operations Command, throw a yearly big scenario game. Last year, they threw a game based on Red Dawn, with over 150 people in attendance.

This time around? The theme is Fallout 3.

The battle goes down on Saturday, March 27th, at the Poco Loco Paintball Park in Schwenksville, PA. The Brotherhood of Steel vs. The Enclave.

Online registration is $40 for the event, $50 on site. Paint is $65 a case. There’s a 300 player cap on the game, so if you’re interested in this, pre-register as soon as possible.

Right now, registration to the Enclave team is temporarily closed, since they are trying to keep teams balanced. But check back with the TSSOC. You never know.

For more information, please visit the TSSOC’s official website. Good luck, Wasterlanders.

That fun contest we launched back in February? Little Big Philadelphia? The contest wraps up on Wednesday.

We still want you, dear reader, to create Philadelphia in Little Big Planet. The grand prize winner will get a PSPGo and a $50 PSN gift card, with runners up receiving a $25 PSN gift card and Little Big Planet: Game of the Year Edition.

For all the details on the contest, please visit the contest’s official page here on Geekadelphia, or visit littlebigphiladelphia.com. You’ve got two more days to submit your levels!

Little Big Philadelphia
www.littlebigphiladelphia.com

Dustin and Dan Geekadelphia’s own resident movie pundits have decided to live blog this year’s Oscars – in a steel cage-match of epic proportions. Its Team Avatar vs. Team Avatar Better Not Win a Damn Thing! Will Dan’s Pandoran Posse win everything or will cooler heads and better movies win the gold. Only time will tell.

Preshow Red Carpet

Dustin: Watching the Oscar Pre-show. Unfortunately they lined up all the supporting actresses next to Monique. Not a chance in hell anyone else will win.

Dan:Jake Gyllenhaal wishes he was as cool as his sister, he is stuck talking about his “hot new video game movie”.

Dustin: God is at the Oscars!!!

Dustin: Zac Efron got his hair tips from Goku.

Dan:I am waiting for the interviewer to ask Matt Damon “So what took you so long to get back here?”

Dan:”Christopher Plummer looks like the Crypt Keeper”

Dustin: Morgan Freeman is wearing sunglasses and chewing gum…Just like God wanted…

Dan:How did J.lo get invited? When was the last time she even did a film? At least she didn’t say she was rooting for Avatar.

Dustin: Cameron Diaz makes Sherri Sheppherd look like a hobbit.

Dustin: Steve Carrell and TINA FEY!!!

Dan:I love Tina Fey…..

Dustin: Uh OH! Dan has fallen for Miley Cyrus!

Dustin: Oh Kate Winslett…you are beautiful!

Dan: Kate Winslett is so … British.

Dustin: Taylor Lautner is on tv and he is just- adorable!

The Oscars are starting, see the rest after the jump.

Dan:The show is starting…

Dustin: They have  all the Actor and Actress nominees standing on stage. I want to collect them all!

Dustin: What is NPH doing at the OSCARS! Doesn’t matter, IT’S NPH!!

Dan: Waiting for Felicia Day to come out singing.

Dan: Felicia…..

Dustin: Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. Classy entrance.

Dustin: They are killing it!

Dan: How do you follow up a joke about Hitler Memorabilia with the Cast of Precious? LOL

Dustin: Avatar jokes from Alec Baldwin? AMAZING!!

Dan:These guys are on fire. They haven’t had a miss yet.

Dan:Those Curved screen are really cool.

Best actor in a supporting role Oscars 2010 nominees
* Matt Damon in “Invictus”
* Woody Harrelson in “The Messenger

* Christopher Plummer in “The Last Station”
* Stanley Tucci in “The Lovely Bones”

* Christoph Waltz in “Inglourious Basterds”

Dustin: Let’s go Christoph Waltz!

And the Award goes to…

Dustin: YES!! CHRISTOPH WALTZ!!!

Dan:Holy Shit, I totally didn’t expect that one. This guy has such a man crush on Quentin.

Dan: Dustin reminds me Avatar has no wins yet. ….. But it will oh indeed it will.

Dustin: Dan is mad I brought to his attention that Avatar will never win acting awards…ever!

Dan:Ohhhh iPad commercial.

Dustin: Dan has to change his pants now. He will be back shortly.

Dan:It’s not like Tina Fey was holding it or anything.

Dan:What happened to Cameron Diaz? And where the hell is Ponyo!

Dan:Squirrel!!!

Best animated feature film of the year Oscars 2010 nominees:
*“Coraline” (Focus Features) Henry Selick
*“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) Wes Anderson
*“The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) John Musker and Ron Clements
*“The Secret of Kells” (GKIDS) Tomm Moore
*“Up” (Walt Disney) Pete Docter

Dustin: Kinda want Fantastic Mr. fox. But it will go to UP!

And the winner is UP!

Dan: Yay! UP won.

Dustin: Why wasn’t Avatar nominated Dan?

Dan: I would just like to note I love my wife very much. Now I look up at Miley….

Best in music written for motion pictures Oscars 2010 Nominees (Original song)
*“Almost There” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
*“Down in New Orleans” from “The Princess and the Frog” (Walt Disney) Music and Lyric by Randy Newman
*“Loin de Paname” from “Paris 36″ (Sony Pictures Classics) Music by Reinhardt Wagner. Lyric by Frank Thomas
*“Take It All” from “Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Music and Lyric by Maury Yeston
*“The Weary Kind (Theme from Crazy Heart)” from “Crazy Heart” (Fox Searchlight) Music and Lyric by Ryan Bingham and T Bone Burnett

Dustin: I’m going with The Weary Kind

And the Winner is THE WEARY KIND!

Dan: I am sorta surprised Princess didn’t, win but these guys had a great song.

Dustin: Tony Stark and Liz Lemon! And he’s wearing sneakers!

Dan: They should totally have a show together.

Best in Original screenplay Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Written by Mark Boal
*“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Written by Quentin Tarantino
*“The Messenger” (Oscilloscope Laboratories) Written by Alessandro Camon & Oren Moverman
*“A Serious Man” (Focus Features) Written by Joel Coen & Ethan Coen
*“Up” (Walt Disney) Screenplay by Bob Peterson, Pete Docter
Story by Pete Docter, Bob Peterson, Tom McCarthy

Dustin: Going with Quentin Tarantino!

And the Winner Is…

Dustin: Mark Boal For The Hurtlocker. Avatar is nowhere in sight Dan.  Just sayin’…

Dan: Tarantino looked PISSED!

Dan: Wow. MOLLY RINGWALD and Ferris Bueller.

Dustin: John Hughes tribute. You have to have seen at least one of his films. At least one! If you haven’t, please stop reading this and go instant stream The Breakfast Club on Netflix! NOW!

Dan: Macaulay Culkin went from cute to creepy. Some people don’t grow into their looks.

Dan: Waiting for Sam Jackson to say “Up Motherfucker… did you watch it!”

Dustin: Oh no! Zoe Saldana is trying to look like Netyiri! Nooooooo!!!

Best animated short film Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“French Roast”A Pumpkin Factory/Bibo Films Production Fabrice O. Joubert
*“Granny O’Grimm’s Sleeping Beauty” (Brown Bag Films) A Brown Bag Films Production Nicky Phelan and Darragh O’Connell
*“The Lady and the Reaper (La Dama y la Muerte)” A Kandor Graphics and Green Moon Production Javier Recio Gracia
*“Logorama” (Autour de Minuit) An Autour de Minuit Production Nicolas Schmerkin
*“A Matter of Loaf and Death” (Aardman Animations) An Aardman Animations Production Nick Park

Dustin: I have not seen any of these. so random pick: Logorama

And the winner is…LOGORAMA!!! Wow. I’m on fire!

Best documentary short subject Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“China’s Unnatural Disaster: The Tears of Sichuan Province”
A Downtown Community Television Center Production Jon Alpert and Matthew O’Neill
*“The Last Campaign of Governor Booth Gardner”
A Just Media Production Daniel Junge and Henry Ansbacher
*“The Last Truck: Closing of a GM Plant” A Community Media Production Steven Bognar and Julia Reichert
*“Music by Prudence” An iThemba Production Roger Ross Williams and Elinor Burkett
*“Rabbit à la Berlin” (Deckert Distribution) An MS Films Production Bartek Konopka and Anna Wydra

Dan: Talk about rapid fire. They are breezing through these.

Dustin: Music By Prudence wins. Not sure if this woman is supposed to be there. Kinda weird.

Dan: That woman was like the white Kanye West.

Best live action short film Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“The Door” (Network Ireland Television) An Octagon Films Production Juanita Wilson and James Flynn
*“Instead of Abracadabra” (The Swedish Film Institute) A Directörn & Fabrikörn Production Patrik Eklund and Mathias Fjellström
*“Kavi” A Gregg Helvey Production Gregg Helvey
* “Miracle Fish” (Premium Films) A Druid Films Production Luke Doolan and Drew Bailey
*“The New Tenants” A Park Pictures and M & M Production Joachim Back and Tivi Magnusson

Dan: The winner was The New Tenants..   these guys could be happier, they just won an Oscar.

Dustin: @dan…And Avatar wins…nothing. Granted it wasn’t nominated. But still.

Dustin: Ben Stiller is making Avatar jokes. Dan is not laughing.

Dan: I just don’t think Ben Stiller is funny… and hasn’t been for a very long time.

Best in Makeup Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Il Divo” (MPI Media Group through Music Box) Aldo Signoretti and Vittorio Sodano
*“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Barney Burman, Mindy Hall and Joel Harlow
*“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Jon Henry Gordon and Jenny Shircore

Dan:The winner is … Get Ben off the stage he is a carwreck… Yay Star Trek! Congrats!

Dustin: Star Trek has an Oscar. one more than Avatar. YES!!

Dan:….. This is all your fault Ben Stiller.

Best in Adapted screenplay Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Written by Neill Blomkamp and Terri Tatchell
*“An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics) Screenplay by Nick Hornby
*“In the Loop” (IFC Films) Screenplay by Jesse Armstrong, Simon Blackwell, Armando Iannucci, Tony Roche
*“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Screenplay by Geoffrey Fletcher
*“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Screenplay by Jason Reitman and Sheldon Turner

Dustin: Might Go To Precious but I’ll go with up In The Air. Kinda want District 9 to win though!

And The Winner Is… PRECIOUS!!

Dustin: So many black people are winning Oscars this year! Go Obama!! God looks pleased.

Best actress in a supporting role Oscars 2010 nominees
* Penélope Cruz in “Nine”
* Vera Farmiga in “Up in the Air”
* Maggie Gyllenhaal in “Crazy Heart”

* Anna Kendrick in “Up in the Air”
* Mo’Nique in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”

Dan: Come on Maggie Gyllenhaal….

Dan: I love Robin Williams.

Dustin: Monique has this in the bag. Not a coincidence Robin Williams is there. Comedian for Comedian. Wild card possibility: Vera Farmiga.

And the winner is MO’NIQUE!!!

Dustin: Mo’nique thanks everyone but Morgan Freeman,

Dan: I can stop thinking about her hairy legs from the Barbara Walters interview…… Damn you Barbara

Dan: Salute to Horror Films?

Dan: Best Cervical Cancer Commercial ever not quite as frightening as Whoopi and her “leakage”

Dustin to Sigourney Weaver: I see you.

Best in art direction Oscars 2010 nominees:
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Art Direction: Rick Carter and Robert Stromberg
Set Decoration: Kim Sinclair
*“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics) Art Direction: Dave Warren and Anastasia Masaro
Set Decoration: Caroline Smith
*“Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Art Direction: John Myhre
Set Decoration: Gordon Sim
*“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.) Art Direction: Sarah Greenwood
Set Decoration: Katie Spencer
*“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Art Direction: Patrice Vermette
Set Decoration: Maggie Gray

Dan: AVATAR. AVATAR. AVATAR.

Dan: YES! DUSTIN EAT IT!

Dustin: No Acting need for art direction Dan…No acting needed. OMG “This Oscar sees you”? Really? You said that? Ugh… But I’ve already made peace with avatar winning art awards.

Dan: I even thought that was corny.

Best in costume design Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Bright Star” (Apparition) Janet Patterson
*“Coco before Chanel” (Sony Pictures Classics) Catherine Leterrier
*“The Imaginarium of Doctor Parnassus” (Sony Pictures Classics) Monique Prudhomme
*“Nine” (The Weinstein Company) Colleen Atwood
*“The Young Victoria” (Apparition) Sandy Powell

Dan: The winner is The Young Victoria. Sara Jessica needs to fix her hair.

Dustin: Wow Dan. That was catty.

Dustin: Coming up. K-STEW and Wolfboy!!!

Dustin: Dan has to change his pants again. Another iPad commercial.

Dan: You’d think Steve Jobs was in Star Trek. Everytime they show the iPad with a movie it’s showing Star Trek.

Dustin: Paranormal Activity Parody. Ok. Girls brains have exploded seeing Taylor Lautner. Kristin Stewart has about as much charisma as Sam Worthington. Horror montage is pretty cool though.

Dustin: Definitely just showed New moon in the horror montage. Oscars have lost their damn minds.

Dan: Loved the Horror Tribute.  Leprechaun represent.

Dustin: Morgan Freeman Just Narrated The Dark Knight!

Best in sound editing Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes and Gwendolyn Yates Whittle
*“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson
*“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Wylie Stateman
*“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Mark Stoeckinger and Alan Rankin
*“Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Silvers and Tom Myers

Dan: and the winner is .. The Hurt Locker? Me and Dustin both lost that one.

Best in sound mixing Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Christopher Boyes, Gary Summers, Andy Nelson and Tony Johnson
*“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Paul N.J. Ottosson and Ray Beckett
*“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Michael Minkler, Tony Lamberti and Mark Ulano
*“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Anna Behlmer, Andy Nelson and Peter J. Devlin
*“Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen” (DreamWorks and Paramount in association with Hasbro, Distributed by Paramount) Greg P. Russell, Gary Summers and Geoffrey Patterson

Dustin: The Hurt Locker again!!!

Dan: I didn’t know hobbits were sound Designers. And WTF is up the ET theme?

Dan:Holy Crap they let Eli Roth in the Oscars!

Dustin: They thought he was Zachary Quinto

Best in cinematography Oscars 2010 nominees:
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Mauro Fiore
*“Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” (Warner Bros.) Bruno Delbonnel
*“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Barry Ackroyd
*“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Robert Richardson
*“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics) Christian Berger

Dan: Avatar…… YES! Called it

Dustin: Whatever…it looked pretty. Can’t deny that.

Dustin: They’re dancing to music from films…um. Okay. Dan is right. it does look like a GAP commercial. Capri pants for Sherlock Holmes? Really? This is pretty silly.

Dan: Somebody should lose their job over this. This is just plain horrible. But I do want a pair of Capri Khakis .

Dustin: Doing the robot for the Up score. Impressive dancers. Wrong time to use them.

Dan: Waiting for Britney Spears to come out singing Toxic. Poor Avatar song, you deserve better.

Dustin Just wasting so much time!

Best in music written for motion pictures Oscars 2010 Nominees (Original score)
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Horner
*“Fantastic Mr. Fox” (20th Century Fox) Alexandre Desplat
*“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Marco Beltrami and Buck Sanders
*“Sherlock Holmes” (Warner Bros.) Hans Zimmer
*“Up” (Walt Disney) Michael Giacchino

Dustin” CALLED IT! Michael Giacchino!! Go buy the Up!, Star Trek and Speed Racer scores. Michael Giacchino is Awesome!!

Best in visual effects Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Joe Letteri, Stephen Rosenbaum, Richard Baneham and Andrew R. Jones
*“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Dan Kaufman, Peter Muyzers, Robert Habros and Matt Aitken
*“Star Trek” (Paramount and Spyglass Entertainment) Roger Guyett, Russell Earl, Paul Kavanagh and Burt Dalton

Dan: Tough call but Avatar. Yup Avatar won.

Dustin: Avatar wins. Can’t say it doesn’t deserve it.  But it’s not acting awards it’s winning.

Dan: This is true. But it’s still winning.

Dustin: As is The Hurt Locker.

Best documentary feature film Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Burma VJ” (Oscilloscope Laboratories)
A Magic Hour Films Production Anders Østergaard and Lise Lense-Møller
*“The Cove” (Roadside Attractions)
An Oceanic Preservation Society Production Nominees to be determined
*“Food, Inc.” (Magnolia Pictures) A Robert Kenner Films Production Robert Kenner and Elise Pearlstein
*“The Most Dangerous Man in America: Daniel Ellsberg and the Pentagon Papers”
A Kovno Communications Production Judith Ehrlich and Rick Goldsmith
*“Which Way Home” A Mr. Mudd Production Rebecca Cammisa

Dan: Me and Dustin both agree on The Cove

And the winner is… THE COVE!

Dan: They Cut them off before they really said or could do anything.

Best in film editing Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) Stephen Rivkin, John Refoua and James Cameron
*“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) Julian Clarke
*“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Bob Murawski and Chris Innis
*“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Sally Menke
*“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Joe Klotz

Dan: Hurt Locker James Cameron Denied. Whoops.

Best foreign language film of the year Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Ajami”(Kino International) An Inosan Production Israel
*“El Secreto de Sus Ojos” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Haddock Films Production Argentina
*“The Milk of Sorrow” A Wanda Visión/Oberon Cinematogràfica/Vela Production Peru
*“Un Prophète” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Why Not/Page 114/Chic Films Production France
*“The White Ribbon” (Sony Pictures Classics) An X Filme Creative Pool/Wega Film/Les Films du Losange/Lucky Red Production Germany

Dustin: Either A Prophet or the White Ribbon

And The winner is… *“El Secreto de Sus Ojos”

Dan: James Cameron does not look pleased at his joke, that he was glad that Na’vi wasn’t considered a foreign language.

Dustin: They are talking about Avatar now. Next up Acting awards….which Avatar wasn’t nominated for.

Best actor in a leading role Oscars 2010 nominees
* Jeff Bridges in “Crazy Heart”
* George Clooney in “Up in the Air”

* Colin Firth in “A Single Man”
* Morgan Freeman in “Invictus”
* Jeremy Renner in “The Hurt Locker”

Dan: 5 people to do one award?

Dustin: I like this praise for the nominees thing. It’s great buildup. Jeff Bridges has it but Colin Firth might sneak up and take it. Wild Cards: Morgan Freeman or George Clooney.  I know, I’m the biggest Morgan Freeman  fan, but I gotta give it to Jeff Bridges.

And the winner is… JEFF BRIDGES!!!

Dan: Why wasn’t Sam Worthington nominated anyway, wait don’t answer that. Wow, Jeff Bridges is so wasted.

Dustin: Oh No! Another iPad commercial…poor Dan.

Best actress in a leading role Oscars 2010 nominees
* Sandra Bullock in “The Blind Side”

* Helen Mirren in “The Last Station”
* Carey Mulligan in “An Education”
* Gabourey Sidibe in “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire”
* Meryl Streep in “Julie & Julia”

Dustin: Oprah “Look under your chairs! You all have Oscars!”

Dustin: I’ll call Sandra Bullock.

And the winner is.. SANDRA BULLOCK!!

Dan: Wow, and she just picked up her Razzie earlier. What’s the chance both in the same weekend? Wow Jeff Bridges should have taken a page from Sandra. Great Speech.

Dan: Best Director is next. (Puts on Na’vi Ears)

Best Director Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) James Cameron
*“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) Kathryn Bigelow
*“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) Quentin Tarantino
*“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) Lee Daniels
*“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) Jason Reitman

Dan: Avatar come on one more….

Dustin: Kathryn Bigelow will win.  My heart longs for Tarantino to win this.

And The Winner is…KATHRYN BIGELOW! DOWN GOES CAMERON!!!

Dan: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Dustin: While I think it’s awesome Ms. Bigelow won. It’s depressing to realize in 2010, this is the first female director to win this award. BTW Dan is crying.

Best motion picture of the year Oscars 2010 Nominees:
*“Avatar” (20th Century Fox) A Lightstorm Entertainment Production James Cameron and Jon Landau, Producers
*“The Blind Side” (Warner Bros.) An Alcon Entertainment Production Nominees to be determined
*“District 9″ (Sony Pictures Releasing) A Block/Hanson Production Peter Jackson and Carolynne Cunningham, Producers
*“An Education” (Sony Pictures Classics) A Finola Dwyer/Wildgaze Films Production Finola Dwyer and Amanda Posey, Producers
*“The Hurt Locker” (Summit Entertainment) A Voltage Pictures Production Nominees to be determined
*“Inglourious Basterds” (The Weinstein Company) A Weinstein Company/Universal Pictures/A Band Apart/Zehnte Babelsberg Production Lawrence Bender, Producer
*“Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire” (Lionsgate) A Lee Daniels Entertainment/Smokewood Entertainment Production Lee Daniels, Sarah Siegel-Magness and Gary Magness, Producers
*“A Serious Man” (Focus Features) A Working Title Films Production Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Producers
*“Up” (Walt Disney)A Pixar Production Jonas Rivera, Producer
*“Up in the Air” (Paramount in association with Cold Spring Pictures and DW Studios) A Montecito Picture Company Production Daniel Dubiecki, Ivan Reitman and Jason Reitman, Producers

And the winner is the Hurt Locker man this has been a bag of hurt of Avatar fans.

Dustin: I’M THE KING OF THE WORLD!!! WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

Dan:Facepalm.

Thanks for reading and hope you enjoyed it.

Thanks for clicking to another edition of Geekadelphia’s Microsoft Student Insider Feature Series where I, this year’s Microsoft Expression Studio Insider, give you guys and gals a glimpse into the lives of select members of the Expression Studio team. This week we have the infinitely interesting (who else can create an adorable elvish lizard ?) Arturo Toledo, a Product Manager on the UX Platform and Tools Team. Let’s get into a bit more of what his job entails as well as some of the interesting Silverlight features he showed while at Redmond last month.

Arturo, originally from Mexico with a background in architecture, used to work with the Expression Team but has recently joined a Silverlight team of 15 folks. Arturo’s team is tasked with focusing on designers, or those concerned with the User Experience (UX), and letting them know why they should care about Silverlight. More on why he feels designers should be looking to Silverlight right now behind the cut.

According the Arturo, Silverlight is a platform that enables both the design and development of digital marketing and web applications. However, with a entire portion of the Expression Studio dedicated to Silverlight, this handy tool might be weighing in a tad heavier on the design side. “[Expression] Blend is essentially a tool for designing,” Arturo explains.

Arturo’s job is to raise awareness about the capabilities of Silverlight in the design community, he says. During our chat, Arturo decided to show me a site that many of you may be familiar with: the official site of Harmonix’s The BeatlesRock Band. The site was developed by AKQA, an ideas agency that focuses on innovative web design, and was regarded by the Favourite Website Awards as “Website of the Day” when the title first launched. Here’s the best part (you knew it was coming): it was all designed using Silverlight.

Arturo then decided to show me what is probably my favorite feature of Silverlight thus far: Smooth Streaming. This tool allows for the creation of Silverlight based video players that calculate the average bandwidth of the user in order to provide video that is buffer free. In other words, you can forget having to pause a video clip on Youtube for about a minute to guarantee that the player won’t catch up with the buffering and freeze up. Better yet, it plays in HD automatically depending on the strength of your connection and whether your computer is HD compatible. However, if your bandwidth dips or your connection is simply bad at the moment (for all of us wireless users out there), Smooth Streaming will adapt to prevent the frame rate from dipping by reducing the resolution.

Finally, Arturo introduced me to a feature that is a strong contender for being my favorite, Photosynth, a 3D photo mapping web app developed using Silverlight. It looks a lot like Google Street View, but its implications and applications are entirely different. What the app does is examine photo submissions of a particular location or focal point and calculate their similarity to fill in the gaps. The app defaults to a three dimensional slide show, but users can assume control at any time, clicking and dragging their way through a pseudo-3D environment as if they were there. Photosynth is backed by Seadragon, the same Microsoft Live Labs technology behind Deep Zoom and allows for the quick navigation of photos at any resolution. What’s up with all of these new web apps making me want to use my new Nikon Cool Pix S220 more?

And that’s it for this week’s Microsoft Student Insider Feature Series, tune in next week for more interesting information surrounding the people and products of Microsoft. As for this week’s contest, I still have a good amount of Expression Studio 3 trial discs to give away, so leave a comment (nothing fancy this time — just say ‘hey’) by Wednesday, March 10th for a chance to win one of these nifty discs!