[Geeks Are Sexy] Technology News

Something, Something, Something, Darkside Trailer

Geeks are Sexy — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 20:48:43 +0000

Yes folks, the next chapter in the Star Wars saga has finally arrived, and it looks awesome!

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Will a slow walk to geekdom end in a date with Winona?

JLister — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 18:20:58 +0000

If you bring a lawsuit that appears ambitious, obscure or downright insane, you may find yourself accused of trying to create a circus atmosphere. One tip for people facing such accusations: don’t demand that Depeche Mode’s songwriter makes a live appearance with Winona Ryder as the support act.

That’s what’s happening in a case brought by avid PS3 user Erik Estavillo (to call him a gamer would probably be unfair on the rest of the games-playing public.) Estavillo is suing over World of Warcraft, but don’t get the impression he dislikes the game. He loves. Absolutely loves it.

But here’s his problem with the game: when you start off, your character can’t walk very fast. Activision Blizzard, the game’s creators and the subject of the lawsuit, are expected to argue that’s a core part of the game which is the key to character development. Estavillo knows better: it’s an intentional scam designed to force gamer to play for longer and thus pay more in subscriptions fees.

If you are thinking Estavillo is a little… odd, then he’s right there with you. He concedes that he “relies on videogames heavily for the little ongoing happiness he can achieve in this life.” And he argues that this means he is particularly vulnerable to sneakiness by games companies.

Estavillo would thus like a million dollars to make up for the pain caused by the slow-walking characters. And as well as articulating his suffering, he’s requesting that Martin Gore of Depeche Mode (pictured, courtesy of Flickr user Zyllan) appear because he has written about being “sad, lonely and alienated.”

Ooh, while he’s at it, can Winona Ryder speak too? After all, says Estavillo, she’s known to be a fan of the book Catcher In The Rye and that deals with loneliness.

Estavillo is no stranger to the court system. Last year he unsuccessfully sued Sony after he was kicked off the Playstation Network for using abusive language. That case set a precedent that players on an online games network are not protected by the First Amendment. He’s also brought cases against Nintendo and Microsoft.

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Star Wars Characters Status Updates

Geeks are Sexy — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:12:34 +0000

If Star Wars characters could have Facebook profiles, here’s what their status updates might look like:

Hit the jump for four additional ones.

[Via Collegehumor]

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Twilight Moms [PIC]

Geeks are Sexy — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 15:22:29 +0000

Yup, that about sums it up.

[Via Digg]

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Amazing Black Friday Deals

Geeks are Sexy — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 14:39:11 +0000

Yep, today is the day where the holiday season shopping craze starts, folks. Don’t feel like rushing to the stores today? Here’s a few amazing deals that are floating around online:

If you stumble on some amazing deals today, please be sure to let us know by leaving a comment below. We’ll make sure to approve them as they come.

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WTF: All Hail the Techno Chicken

Geeks are Sexy — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 01:49:12 +0000

Ok, since this is Thanksgiving and there hasn’t been a lot going on online today, let us present you with the techno chicken. Yes, we know, a techno turkey would have been more appropriate, but that’s the closest thing we could find to a dancing turkey, so we’re very sorry if you’re all feeling disappointed in us.

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Shuttle crew gets true Turkey surprise

JLister — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 17:56:26 +0000

The crew of the Atlantis shuttle have had a surprise turkey dinner for Thanksgiving. Some sneaky work by staff on the International Space Station made sure they were able to celebrate in traditional style despite the meat not being in the scheduled meals.

Space being the one place you can’t currently find a Subway, the meals for shuttle crew (such as the one pictured above) must be chosen and packed weeks or even months in advance. At the time the Atlantis food was selected, it wasn’t expected they would be in orbit during Thanksgiving.

The schedule for today included shuttle commander Charlie Hobaugh having vegetarian chilli and chicken fajitas, with Mike Foreman’s “apple cranberry dessert” the closest thing to traditional fare.

However, the crew have now revealed they are tucking in to irradiated smoked turkey, candied yams, green beans and freeze-dried cornbread stuffing.

The Associated Press speculates the meals may have been snuck on to the shuttle by ISS staff. NASA had provided them with turkey dinners knowing that American Jeffrey Williams would be on the station today. It appears Williams – or perhaps his crewmates – made a heroic sacrifice.

I’m not sure how many people enjoying a traditional dinner in the US today would be satisfied with a meal prepared simply by adding water. But I’m willing to wager a fair few will wind up wishing they could have eaten in a weightless environment.

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I’ll be gone – KORB

Geeks are Sexy — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:29:19 +0000

Produced by Lithuanian director Rimantas Lukavicius (Korb) for “I’ll be gone”, a song by Mario Basanov & Vidis feat. Jazzu, this video takes a simple idea, four cardiographs tracing lines across sheets of paper, and turns it into a visual masterpiece. Check it out:

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Symphony of Science – Our Place in the Cosmos (ft. Sagan, Dawkins, Kaku, Jastrow)

Geeks are Sexy — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 15:13:49 +0000

“Our Place in the Cosmos”, the third video from the Symphony of Science series, was crafted using samples from Carl Sagan’s Cosmos, Richard Dawkins’ Genius of Charles Darwin series, Dawkins’ TED Talk, Stephen Hawking’s Universe series, Michio Kaku’s interview on Physics and aliens, plus added visuals from Baraka, Koyaanisqatsi, History Channel’s Universe series, and IMAX Cosmic Voyage.

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Bill Nye Demonstrates Distance Between Planets

Geeks are Sexy — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 02:30:34 +0000

In the following video, Bill Nye demonstrates a scale model of the solar system by riding his bike across a barren plain.

Richard Dawkins wrote this about our planetary system:

Find a large open space, and take a soccer ball to represent the sun. Put the ball down and walk ten paces in a straight line, stick a pin in the ground. The head of the pin stands for the planet Mercury. Take another nine paces beyond Mercury and put down a peppercorn to represent Venus.

Seven paces on, drop another peppercorn for Earth. One inch from Earth, another pin head represents the moon, the furthest place, lets remember, that we have so far reached.

Fourteen more paces to little Mars and ninety five paces to giant Jupiter, a ping pong ball. One hundred and twelve paces further, Saturn is a marble.

No time to deal with the outer planets, except to say the distances are much larger. But how far would you have to walk to reach the nearest star, Proxima Centauri? Pick up another football to represent it and set off on a walk for four thousand two hundred miles.

As for the nearest other galaxy, Andromeda, don’t even think about it.

[Via Reddit]

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The Matrix’s Bullet Time Dodge Scene Re-created in Lego

Geeks are Sexy — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 20:45:48 +0000

Produced by Youtube user LegoAgentJones, the following video shows a re-creation of the famous bullet time dodge scene that wowed the world back when the first instance of The Matrix movie came out. Enjoy!

[Via BuzzFeed]

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eBooks Fans are heathens and will burn in hell

Geeks are Sexy — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 19:27:51 +0000

Ok, maybe that headline is a bit strong, but I can’t help and feel this way after watching this:

This absolutely amazing ad was produced for the New Zealand Book Council to promote real books, not those soulless eBooks that have recently been popping around all over the place. I don’t know about you guys, but I’d take a paper version of a book over an electronic one any time. There’s just something special about holding a real book… maybe it’s the smell, or the feeling of pages on your fingers as you turn them.

[Via Gizmodo]

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