Dave and Jorge go shopping for their new "high-end" television...

Great time to build a new gaming PC, or greatest time to build a new gaming PC? The GeForce 670 is amazing, Ivy Bridge is living up to the hype, and hard drive prices are finally coming back down to Earth. How long can Tim hold out?!? Guess we’ll have to see…

Tech/Hardware News:

Negative reaction to Peter Jackson’s 48 fps Hobbit trailer at CinemaCon. Bring on the soap opera effect.

nVidia Launches the GTX 690 and the GTX 670

System builders not happy with Ivybridge. TIM found inside Ivybridge chips.

Netgear to launch first 802.11ac router.

Samsung Galaxy S3 launched.

Revised iPad 2 gives better battery life.

Google Drive launches.

Net neutrality changing. Pirate Bay blocked by UK ISP’s and Dutch look to follow.

Benedict Cumberbatch to play Khan in ST 2?!?

Gaming News:

Nintendo posts first annual loss ($533 million) in company history

Wii-U launch line up leak and Ubisoft Rayman Wii-U video leak.

Sony has sold 1.8 Million PS Vita’s.

XBLA records being broken by Trials and Minecraft.

Bioshock Infinite delayed to 2013

MS to offer $99 Xbox 360 (4GB Kinect) with 2-year Live Gold commitment at $15/month

Microsoft looking to take control of fitness games.

More advertising coming to Xbox dashboard.

Wolfenstein 3D is 20 and now playable in HTML 5.

Plus: viewer mail!

There: now everyone can bask in the glory that is Bad Grammar Terry and his ladies...

He’s quite proud. Anyway, new show. 3.5 hours. Get some. Show topics are all over the place, so no real list is possible. We had a record of viewer mails though, so thanks for that. Sorry we were away for so long. We’ll do our best to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

Seriously, we are so miserable to each other sometimes. And yet, I can't turn away...

Tech/Hardware News:

Dave dreams of running away from it all and becoming a pirate

Tech/Hardware News:

I can't think of anything witty to put on this image. Just make up your own jokes.

Hey all! This episode, we’re joined by someone who you’ve not heard is quite some time. The original Widget alumni: CountZer0. Why you ask? Because he has written a children’s book. Fancy that… Topics this week include:

• SOPA, PIPA proponents back down in Congress. Yea! The Internet wins!! Though both are merely delayed rather than cancelled.
• Megaupload shut down, founders arrested in New Zealand at behest of U.S. agencies; Anonymous targets record labels, FBI, MPAA sites in response Link and Upload.to blocks US access to site.
• Kim DotCom’s cars seized.
• CES : Wireless TV. LG 55″ OLED TV.  Project Fiona (aka more Razor Vaporware). 802.11ac. Waterproof phones.
• No method of delivering true 4K content confirmed.
• Apple intros iBooks 2, iBooks Author; proprietary ePub format locked down to only work on Apple gear and iBookstore
• iPad 3 unveiling rumored for early February
• Alienware intros X51 console-sized gaming computer starting at $700 Link
• AMD Radeon 7950 card due by end of month.
• iPhone 4s and iPad 2 untethered jailbreak finally released on IOS 5.01. XBMC 11 (Eden) beta working great on iOS touch screens now.
• XBMC shown running on the Raspberry Pi.
• Kodak files for chapter 11 bankruptcy.
• X-Rangers spoof.
• No official Steve Jobs doll for Dave. Tim provides alternative.
• More poor PS Vita sales. Now down to 19,000 units sold in a week.
• Bioshock infinite set to party like its 1999.
• Cuttherope.ie brings Cut The Rope to HTML 5.

Plus some viewer mails to help keep you warm by the fire. Talk to you later!

Stephen Dorff's love of Apple products is just one of the many reasons Dave finds him so sexy

In keeping with the trend of being super-cool, here’s all the links to the topics of this episode. I’d like to make it sound like it’s a total pain in the ass, but honestly, I just copy-pasta from gDocs, so no biggie.

• GoDaddy takes a SOPA kicking. European court deems ISP monitoring file sharing to be illegal.
• LG to debut 84″ Ultra Definition 4k 3D TV. CrimsonAvenger wants this 55″ OLED display.
• Red Scarlet-X 4K raw video recorder. 64GB SSD capacity = 20mins of footage. Camera battery lasts 30 mins.
• Samsung buys out LCD joint venture with Sony.
• Ultrabooks to dominate CES 2012.
• AMD releases 7000 series GPU’s.
• The 28nm Radeon 7970. Some modders pushes it up to 1.7Ghz. 1.26Ghz overclock = P10259 3DMarks.
•  7970 in Crossfire mode offers quite ridiculous performance. Two 7970 almost equals four of the previous generation cards.
•  nVidia GTX 780 performance leaks, nVidia partners worried by Kepler delay.
•  Intel to release GPU-less Sandybridge chips.
•  Intel rages war on SOC with Medfield.
•  Corona Jailbreaks IOS 5.01 untethered on A4 processors. (iPad 1 and iPhone 4)
•  IOS jailbreak team joins together to target A5 processors but runs into problems.
•  Steve Jobs doll to launch in China and Apple may not be able to stop it.
•  Amazon Kindle on sales Fire.
•  Goodbye IE6.

Gaming News:

• PS Vita launches in Japan; sales drop from 325,000 to 72,000 in second week, 42,000 in third. PSP outselling Vita.
• 3DS sales take off
• PS Vita says “Hello World”, reveals hidden system menu, bypasses Online Checks & plays Doom,
• Crown3DS on the verge of exposing 3DS piracy.
• Mame comes to Chrome.
• Sonic 4 Episode 2 is coming out then. New graphics and physics engine.
• GTA III launched on IOS/Android.
• Respawn releases teaser image of new game.
• Sonic CD remake was a Christian Whitehead fan game.

Also: viewer mail. Talk at you soon.

Clearly, this puppy is terribly disappointed to be associated with this episode.

Happy holiday season, everyone! For this last Widget of 2011 (onwards to year 7), we dive into why on earth Paul decided to watch ‘The Human Centipede 2′ and ‘A Serbian Film’, against all better judgement. Other than that, here’s a handy list of other, less repulsive subjects that we cover:

• The Widget decides AMD Bulldozer sucks… Paul buys one anyway
•  AMD says it plans to concentrate on mobile chips but also still on track to release bulldozer successor in Q3 2012.
•  Companies/Universities buying up .XXX domain names to protect their brand.
•  Hitachi 3.5″ internal 4TB hard disks spotted in the wild.
•  Android apps top 10 billion downloads.
• Infinity Blade 2 released
• Xbox Live app for iOS
• Scribblenauts Remix gets Siri support
• Microsoft rolls out Metro UI Xbox dashboard update, aka Advert Dashboard. Users react to block ads.
• Onlive open to working with Microsoft and/or Sony. IOS app on the way but they forgot to tell Apple. Also releasing a new joypad for portable devices.
• Mass confusion over Miyamoto’s new role at Nintendo
• Wii has now officially sold 37.7 MILLION units in U.S.; 80+ million worldwide
• Dead or Alive 5 is ‘fighting game entertainment’. Giant swaying boobs for everyone!
• EA release Theme Park IOS and destroy it in a sea of microtransactions.
• More Sony proprietary bullshit, aka Vita memory cards.
• More Duke Nukem DLC on the way.
• 100% the best and most innovative anti-piracy method seen yet.
• Beware, the awful Jurassic Park game will get a boxed release.
• Star Wars Old Republic release date brought forward.
• Notch stepping away from Minecraft.

This is not the first time this has happened to Paul, nor would it be the last...

In the spirit of the holiday season, this episode comes with bonafide topic links. See? Your Widget benefactors can be a giving people.

• AMD Bulldozer server edition is here! I bet AMD wishes they could go back in time to change all this.
•  nVidia Geforce 560 Ti 448 arrives.
•  AMD’s 7000 series GPU specs leaked
•  Western Digital is buying Hitachi’s hard disk business
•  Crucial M4 SSD gets firmware update that greatly increases performance.
•  Google Wave axed
•  Kindle Fire released
•  Samsung take the piss out of Apple with their Galaxy S II advert.
• Apple iTV rumours gather more and more momentum.
• Have a 1st gen iPod Nano? Trade it in before it explodes.
• Steam got haxored.
• Thanks to Super Mario Land 3D, the 3DS finally starts selling. On its way to beat first year DS sales.
• Minecraft pocket edition released to IOS. Minecraft proper is now at 1.0!
• Game publishers back Blockbuster rentals as a way to battle used games
• Doom 3 source code is now available, and with no Creative Labs owned code.
• Jurassic Park game devs scam Metacritic reviews ahead of launch
• Sony is working on their own version of Super Smash Bros
• Sega Genesis version of Super Street Fighter 2 updated to include online multiplayer
• Online bodyguard….anyone….anyone?
• Sonic the Hedgehog turned 20. Sega release special history of the character video online.
• Whoops. I just deleted an MMO.
• Space travel demands Counter-Strike.
• A little wee bit of Viewer Mail

Be thankful I cropped it: nobody needed to see what Dave is holding in his left hand.

Paul has found time in his oh-so-busy schedule to make an appearance on the show, and for that, we are grateful. Lots of fun this week. Here’s the list:

• iOS 5 is out, and we give our thoughts
• AMD’s Bulldozer chips are out and fail to impress
• Samsung announces the Galaxy Prime
• Hard drive storage is about to increase thanks to salt
• Netflix loses 800,000 subscribers: UK and Ireland launching soon
• Panasonic gets out of the plasma television business
• Nvidia 3D Vision 2 promises a brighter future
• Nintendo is hemorrhaging cash
• and so much more

This is a dramatic re-enactment of why Paul missed this episode, and crushed our dreams.

Paul crushed our dreams. Dave arrived a shell of a man thanks to the selfishness of Paul. He’s an asshole.

Thanks for everything, Steve. (image credit: Jonathan Mak)

I figured it’s fairly obvious what the major topic for this episode is, so I’ll skip any lengthy write-up and just list everything else we cover.

• iPhone 4s announced. People whine, then buy it.
• iOS5 is imminent, bringing with it everything Android 1.6 had
• Amazon announces new line of Kindles. Mucho sexy.
• Samsung delays the Nexus Prime launch in “honor of Steve Jobs”. Pfft…
• Rage is definitely a remarkably average game

Little bit of Viewer Mail in there too. Talk to you soon!

Another couple of years and Dave's cake will look like this too.

Join us for our special LIVE 100th episode special! Alright, this mp3 isn’t live, but it was when we recorded it. FOUR HOURS of Widget goodness, with the added awesomeness of call-ins from our fantastic community. Don’t try to swallow it whole, you’ll choke. Topics include:

• Steve Jobs retires. Dave is still crying.
• AMD launches a 28mm mobile GPU that runs Dirt3 fairly well
• Zotac is hitting hard with their new mini-itx motherboards
• Battlefield 3 is making sexy time with Paul
• Grand Prix Story hits iOS! Fails to capture Paul’s heart.
• PILES of Viewer Mail!

Dave didn't appreciate the birthday cake we got him as much as we had hoped

Happy birthday, Dave! Great to see you survive another 365, what with that crazy rockstar lifestyle you lead. Also, lots of tech stuff happened. Crazy stuff. Harbingers of the apocalypse kind of stuff:

• Google buys Motorola’s mobile business
• HP kills all of their WebOS hardware and is selling their PC business
• Cyanogen is working for Samsung
• New cheaper (and prettier imo – Tim) PSP hits Europe.
• New cheaper (and neutered imo – Tim) Wii also heading to Europe
• Steam begins to test game trading program

All this and some pretty verbose Viewer Mail®. Sit down and strap in kids. This is a long one.

Ah, retirement. Days spent down by the swimming hole... talking tech... naked...

In this episode, we spend a bit of time going over the various things like: Battlefield 3 not coming to Steam, MS-DOS turning 30 (or it’s now 30 years old), big-ass SSDs, the 3DS price drop (or how Paul is a sucker), and other things. However, we also go off on a pretty good tangent about the good old days. Back when men were men, and games were smaller. See? This is what happens when you get older. Enjoy.

Don't be fooled; this kitten is only here as an apology for the horrors in this episode.

Paul and Tim are tired, as they both have to work very hard for a living. Dave on the other hand is a gentleman of leisure, and simply rakes in the cash from his vast patent portfolio of edible underwear and novelty condoms. Topics:

• Mac OS X Lion is out (and Tim foolishly installed it day one)
• Obligatory new Apple hardware talk
• Microsoft wants to have Linux’s babies
• Yahoo is the leper of the Intertubes
• Zotac has some sexy new mini ITX motherboards coming out
• The graphics card race could be heating up soon
• Viewer Mail

On Internet.

I for one welcome our new web search powered overlords. Plus One!

I love how Paul always manages to go on one of his drinking benders the day before we record a show. I mean it: it’s gold! It makes me happy to know that Dave and I have somehow contributed to his hangover being even worse. Topics:

• Google+ is the new cool kid place
• Tim wants everyone to stop using social media and get back to forums
• AMD debuts their impressive new A-Series chips
• An AMD Bulldozer engineer sample gets OC’d to 5.1ghz on air
• Bioshock Infinite trailer is over 9000 sexy
• Battlefield 3 no-go to Steam
• King of Fighters XIII gets an unofficial PC release in the form of a hacked arcade dump
• Viewer Mail and much more

The irony of how we "have nothing to talk about" for hours doesn't escape us.

A little behind-the-scenes secret: most of the time, our “show doc” is slapped together an hour before we hit record. Generally, this is accompanied with an email being sent the day before saying “we don’t really have anything to talk about”. Of course, when we actually do the show, we end up blathering on for two hours. Just wanted to share. This week:

• LulzSec, LulzSec, LulzSec
• Team Fortress 2 is free forever
• Crysis 2 goes DirectX 11
• Sonic the Hedgehog turns 20
• Viewer Mail!
• Dave sounds bored

Dave dreams of the day where Apple controls your every thought and movement...

Yes, this is the obligatory E3 and WWDC 2011 episode. Yes, it is very long… and so is the show. We also cover Duke Nukem Forever. Yes, it’s very average… and so is… wait, that’s not right…

Viewer mail aplenty and the usual goings on and shenanigans.

Mac malware. Everyone knew it was coming... Well, maybe not Dave.

It’s a pre-E3 show, but unlike the rest of the planet, we don’t whine about how there’s nothing to talk about. Here goes:

• The honeymoon is over; malware hits the Mac hard.
• Sony seriously can’t catch a break, but neither can a lot of game companies it seems.
• Google Wallet. No thanks.
• The Vita? C’mon man…
• Modern Warfare 3 struts its stuff. Sorry console kids: that’s PC footage.

Good bit of viewer mail, and we finally checked our iTunes comments (thanks, Mark!). See you in the glorious post-E3 world.

Uh oh... looks like Sony's crack security detail is asleep on the job again...

Feel the bitter sting of the Monarch! Actually, the bitter sting of many a PSN user (including all of us) being more than a fair bit upset about the current Playstation Network debacle. But who has time to worry about it when Paul has to endlessly grief on Tim about his recent nuptials? Plus: Google IO brought some yawns, and Skype is about to get muddacluckling PAID! Dave, as per usual, is the energy of the party (especially when Tim gets an Apple fact wrong). Also: politics, and a great example of why we NEVER talk about them. The cherry on top is of course the Viewer Mail segment. Enjoy.

Get married. For science. You monster.

Pretty easy one here. We talk about:

• iOS and Android tracks your movements
• PSN got hacked
• Amazon EC2 went down
• Nintendo announced their new console

Also, we all love Portal 2 (well, except Paul), Tim bought a Boxee Box, and lots of excellent Viewer Mail. Talk to you in a few weeks!

"So you see, Paul: it's a simple and painless procedure..."

Feeling the effects of getting older, Paul has decided to take the step of getting his eyes cut open with lasers so he no longer needs glasses. He is (as anyone would be) slightly nervous about the whole thing, even though Dave had a similar procedure performed years before it was deemed “safe” by the medical community. Even with the disturbing and perverted side-effects, he still claims it was worth it. So, the show:

• Sony gets hax0red, execs are targeted
• Grandma killed the Internet
• Tim is arcade stick crazy (again)
• Nvidia is allowing SLI on AMD chips again
• Minecraft has made more money than some small countries
• Crysis 2′s consolization is more dire than we first thought
• VIEWER MAIL!

I don't even want to try and picture how you'd get the clap from a 3DS...

This week, Tim is joined in studio by Dave, and you can cut the sexual tension with a knife. Paul is also along for the ride, and surprisingly, he is neither hungover or on his way to being hungover. Shocking. This episode:

• Paul’s review of the 3DS
• AT&T buys T-Mobile (that’s one way for them to get the iPhone)
• Nvidia has a new E-Penis on the market in the form of a dual GPU GTX 590
• New XBox in 2015? (this actually leads to a very good conversation)
• Why won’t Duke just come already?
• Viewer mail!

Love you.

You realize how phallic microphones are when you're taking pictures of them.

The Widget episode 88 in summary:

• Paul is severely hungover (more than normal)
• New iPad (Dave STILL isn’t buying)
• Kinect is fastest-selling consumer electronic in history (it burns us)
• Sony has your number (well, your IP at least)
• Stole some MS Points? BOOM! (banhammer)
• The AMD 6990 is big enough for even the most ardent size queens (e-Penis)
• Viewer mail (plenty)

Succinct, to the point, and best of all, I didn’t have to come up with any witty copy. Well, except for that title. C’mon: you know you love my attempts at creating fun little play-on-words show titles. Or, at least I like to think you do… you know what? Screw you, man! I’m trying here. I’m going back to my man-cave… alone… with my Blue Yeti penis…

If you caught what song I'm referencing with this episode's title: Congrats, you're old.!

Tim’s losing his touch. The guy that used to be on top of every single thing in the world of games, tech, and whatever has turned into, gasp, an adult who doesn’t have the time to obsessively absorb every piece of news. No greater example of this exists than his recent purchase of a PSP. However, you’ll have to listen to find out why. Other tidbits include: new MacBook Pro models, the 3DS is out in Japan (and hacked), Sony is a bunch of bastards (not news), Paul wants to have a key party with his Wii, and we all hate the gaming media (buncha young whippersnappers).

Sometimes, computers just let you down. Stupid computers.

First off: the audio quality on this episode is below our usual high-standards. A mid-recording glitch in the process rendered Tim’s audio channel nearly inaudible for the duration of the episode. However, through some digital black magic, it was able to be resurrected, but at the expense of some audio quality. Just so everyone knows, we’re blaming Dave.

That being said, here’s what you’ll find in this episode: Intel recalls Sandy Bridge chipsets due to a manufacturing flaw, Dave Bunchanumbers nearly destroys his new PC by installing his heatsink backwards, Nokia ditches Symbian and MeeGo and embraces the loving electronic arms of Windows Phone 7, Sony is cracking down on the people who broke open the PS3, a pre-release build of Crysis 2 was leaked, and much more (lots of viewer mail to sift through as well). Hugs.

Hangovers suck, but they can make for funny shows. Especially when Dave is hosting.

As threatened promised, this weeks show is entirely brought to you by Dave. Topics (most of them), hosting duties, and Dave’s patent-pending levels of excitement. It’s a good thing too, as Tim and Paul are still seriously hungover from the night before. Duke Nukem Forever, Verizon iPhone (of course), XBMC being ported to iOS devices (Paul brought that one), custom PS3 firmware, and why our show isn’t like the 6 million other gaming/tech podcasts that have come after it (seriously, we checked). Record levels of viewer mail in this show as well. Thanks! ZZzzzzzzzz

Paul may laugh; but secretly, he's incredibly turned on by my number pr0n

Happy New Year! With the 2010 Steam Holiday Sale behind us, we spend some time going over some of the great deals that were had by all (Tim has a spreadsheet to prove it). We also get to hear the first-hand account of the newly-minted Game Dev Story addict, Tim. Learn how to turn your new Radeon 6950 into a 6970 with nothing more than a BIOS flash. Thanks, AMD! One lonely piece of viewer mail, and a raving lunatic reviews Battlefield: Bad Company 2. Feed her.

The Widget gross-out contest once again escalates to new levels. Happy Holidays!

The Boxee Box is out, looking pretty sweet, and Tim (and Dave?!?) may be getting one soon. If you pirate Michael Jackson games, Ubisoft is going to vuvuzela your ass, new Sony Bravia television features a built-in Playstation 2, the Playstation phone may be getting more real. Plus: the video card war is getting almost stupid at this point and starting to annoy Paul, Gran Turismo 5 looks like a hunk of shit, and we find out just how cheap Tim is. Viewer mail, comments, lots of swearing, and blue waffles (yum!). Happy holidays, everyone! We’ll talk to you next year.

I don't care what Paul says: I still ♥ you, internet.

If you enjoyed our extended discussion about The Human Centipede (now on Netflix Instant), then you’re going to simply adore our talk about Funky Forest – After School Club. In more technology related news: Kinect is dumb, but hacking it is super-cool, the new Asus Sabertooth P67 is awesome looking, AMD gets caught cheating with their drivers, dead-drop file sharing is a great way to share CP, and tons of Viewer Mail. 2+ hours for this one.

It's a movie! It's a game! Yeah, Paul's a sick-o, what can we say?

Dave’s excited because of the new MacBook Air and the Mac OS 10.7 Lion Preview. Paul and Tim are excited because of the renewed GPU competition that the release of AMD’s Radeon 6800 series has created. None of that lasts very long though, because for some reason, we start talking about ‘The Human Centipede’. Paul has seen it, Tim refuses, and Dave is oblivious. Tweets, emails, and more on this 100% medically accurate Widget.

Paul thinks this is what our wedding will look like. It's important to note that Paul is a moron.

Hey ho, Widget buccaneers! After a goddamn lengthy hiatus, we decided to come back and do a show. Lots of stuff happened during the break. No, I’m not going to list it here. Also, I’m not going to post show notes, or what this episode is even about. The way I look at it, if you’re reading this, you likely already have an undying love for all thing The Widget, so you’re going to listen anyway. Oh, and ignore what I said about this being out on Monday. ♥

Even at his advanced age, Paul still finds time to game in between bathroom breaks

Paul is getting old. Or at least he has convinced himself he has. Though if Paul is an old man, then Dave must resemble Donovan from the end of Last Crusade. So what we’ve got going on this episode is the PS3 USB *ahem* jailbreak, XBox Live banning (stop pirating your games already!), the impressive Apple graphics driver update (running Portal like it’s 2006! Awww yeaaah…), drooling over the Nvidia GTX 460 (go buy one NOW!), and lots of viewer mail. It’s going to be a few weeks before our schedules line up again to record a show, so savor this one!

Dave doesn't talk to his kids much anymore...

It’s late, and I’ve been drinking. How’s this: Paul is bored of games and Tim doesn’t remember a time when he’s played more of them. Dave’s there too. Throw in a metric ass-ton of email and you get episode 78. What do you want? We’re 78 episodes in now, you know the drill. It’s all homoerotic jokes and tech talk. Bleh.

That's hot. Nice of Dave to let us use his picture (he's on the left).

Like you needed another reason to wank while holding your iPhone. Coming up: Jailbreaking is legal, not that we cared anyway… y’know, while I’ve got you here; aren’t you sick of the term “Jailbreak”? I mean, it was an iPhone thing at first, but now the fucking tards of the world use it to describe everything. Phrases like “Oh man, did you see my new Nokia? I Jailbroke it so I could make it suck less.” and “I think I’m going to Jailbreak my Tivo this weekend.”… ENOUGH with this shit! I liked it better when consumers were blissfully ignorant. You know: back when knowing where the command line in Windows 95 was enough for them to view you as a god. Now everyone seems to know just enough buzzwords to try and act smart, while those of us in the know shake our heads in disgust… anyway, there’s a bunch of other news, and emails and stuff too. Have fun.

I bet you didn't know they were so ripped (or that Paul is a large black man).

It’s been a crazy couple of weeks of phone news mania! We BRIEFLY (so you wankers don’t accuse of being fanboys) talk about “Antennagate”, we also touch on the eFuse and the Droid X controversy, and we pour out a little for our Tim’s beloved Nexus One, as Google has announced that it is over. Up front, you’re going to get some movie reviews (no spoilers, don’t worry), and on the back, you get some emails. Now go strap on a gun and mow down a jungle.

Sorry Apple. This time, I think it might be you.

Greetings and salutations, faithful listeners. Couple of things this episode: Dave got an iPhone 4, and we talk about the connectivity problems it has been having (Dave has successfully replicated the lost signal issue). Plus, E3 happened since our last show, and none of us really give a damn (although the 3DS looks kind of neat). Tim bought a Nexus One, and Dave got his hands on a big, shiny, black… Wii. Talk to you soon!

That's some hot SIMM slot and SLI Voodoo2 action.

Just as we promised, we’re back, and we’ve brought our personal old computer stories with us. Marvel at our total nerdiness as we reminisce about Voodoo Graphics, 486 DX2s, and why DOS was the choice OS for gaming. We touch briefly on the iPhone 4 (Paul actually is the one to bring it up), DD-WRT is now on our top pick Netgear WNDR3700, and we get our 3D News of the Week in the form of 3D on the iPad.

The Widget 1500 SE - The Ultimate Gaming Computer

Well, we asked for your stories and memories about old computers, and you didn’t let us down. This episode, we spend a bit of time talking about why companies don’t use bits as a form of measurement on new consoles, the ever rising costs of games and DRM, the news out of the Google IO conference, and a little bit more. The big focus this week is the giant pile of emails we got from folks who took the time to write us with their computer stories of old. Thanks to everyone for writing in! Now we know: you want an episode dedicated to our computing memories, and next episode, you will have it. Talk to you again in 3 weeks!

Fun Fact: Dave's first video game was tic-tac-toe on a stone tablet.

We strike, like lightning! This week was a little light on news, but we managed. First up is an impromptu discussion about the current smart phone market, then an argument about it, and then we laugh. Apple updates Mac OS X to allow GPU acceleration of h.264, and Adobe updates Flash to utilize it. Surprise: Flash video runs better on Macs now. Also: we get nostalgic about old computers and ask for your stories, Toy Story 3 sounds kind of neat, and a dude at Wolfire Games says that crappy console ports hurt PC gaming more than piracy. That, more, and your emails. Word.

You need a nuclear power plant to drive it, but you get 60fps solid on Crysis

After taking an extended break (5 weeks actually off, 1 week because it took that long to get the show posted) we’re back and so are you… if you’re reading this. You know, come to think of it, does anyone actually read this preamble? There’s some weeks where I put some actual effort into what goes in here, but I suppose I could just write any old drivel and nobody would care. Whatever the case, this episode is pretty much all about the new Nvidia 480GTX, the iPhone 4G and Gizmodo craziness, the new i5 and i7 MacBook Pros (which Tim bought one), and obviously a mountain of viewer mail.  Sorry for the delay on this one. I’ll try not to let it happen again.

Yeah, it’s been like a month since the last show, but you need to hang in there just a little longer. The next episode is scheduled to record on April 25th, and with a little luck, release that same day. Sorry for the hold up, but thems the breaks.

But don’t cry emo kid: now would be a great time to go back and relive some of The Widget’s classic moments!

None were as shocked as all of us (ps. Dave isn't an idiot, just a little slow sometimes)

Let’s do this: the XBox 360 gets a board shrink, with rumors of a smaller console and USB mass storage support for game saves running rampant. Next: i7 and i5 chips are getting cheap, the Playstation Move looks dumb, Dave admits his undying love for Pokemon games, Tim spent an ass-ton of money on some stools, Viewer Mail, Voice Mail, and name calling. Finally: This is our last show for a month, as we’re taking some needed time off (and we’re lazy). Talk to you in 60.

We're thankfully still a very long way off from seeing this crap. Sorry Dave.

See what I did there with the title? I thought it was pretty witty. Other choices included “Let off some Steam on your Mac”, “The Half-Life of your Mac” and “F#%k you Apple bitches”.  So if it wasn’t already apparent, we talk about the (at the time of recording, unofficial) announcement of Steam coming to the Mac. Dave hasn’t been this happy since that time in Thailand, where he got that hooker to… bah, you don’t want to hear about that. The usual stuff is in there too; profanity, name calling, Viewer Mail… enjoy!

I'm pretty sure there's no way I'd let her near my Adam...

We worked really hard to try and get this show in under the 2+ hours we’ve been handing in lately. This time, we discuss (because Dave can’t help himself) the news that Hulu may be looking to make their service iPad compatible. Does this mean Flash is going to DIE… Die… die? Probably not, but Dave still has to bring it up. Also, we discuss DisplayPort vs. HDMI and how it’s creating a mess in the marketplace, and we get to hear about Paul’s PC gaming woes. Seriously, Ubisoft can go f#%k themselves with this new DRM nonsense…

Of course we have a harem of hot old operator ladies...

We can’t believe it ourselves. People actually used our voicemail line, and it wasn’t just to leave angry comments about how badly Tim sucks, or how Paul is a miserable Irish bastard. Nope, they were really real questions for us. We also go over some stuff; the iPad, Apple vs. Adobe and Google, Sonic 4, Alien Sex Addict Part II (otherwise known as Mass Effect 2), and some serious talk about computer hardware. Also: Be sure to listen up for the contest to win a free game via Steam! All you have to do is insult us. No, really.

I'm so lucky I was actually able to capture this moment on film. So awesome.

I think the entire universe was somehow conspiring against getting this episode posted on teh internets. However, it’s here, and it’s… well, it’s not great… more ‘acceptable’. Nah, fuck that, it’s awesome! Dave bought a fancy new microphone, Paul is a wanker, and Tim takes a piss during the show. I’d write more, but hey, I’m pressed for time. I guess you’ll just have to listen.

To Dave, this is a truly religious experience

The holiday break is over, and all of the tech news and disgusting conversations we’ve been saving up in our heads while being surrounded by our families now have a release. This episode, we cover some of the wonderful, but mostly stupid, things shown at CES 2009. We spend a bit of time talking about the Nexus 1 from Google, and the rumored iSlate from Apple (of which Dave is making happy in his pants about). Games, tips on seasonal pornography, and a new app for your iPhone to document the places you’ve masturbated. Just another wholesome episode of The Widget to help kickstart your new year.

Finding good stock photos of crack pipes is harder than you think

What a week! With this semester winding down, this episode is officially 7 days late. No worries though, the info is still fresh and raunchy enough. This week, the usual gang of 3 is joined by none other than Sgt. Blogkitten, all the way from the exotic locale of downstairs. Topics this time are such wonders as Tim agonizing over a chip in the case of his new PS3, Google DNS and why it’s kind of ‘blah’, adding USB plugs to your power outlets, and Space Beer. We also answer some really great emails this week, so thanks to everyone that took the time to contact us. We’ll be back in 2010. See you on the other side.

OK, now it only does everything.

Sorry for the delay in getting this to you. The holiday week has thrown my schedule into chaos. For everyone in the U.S., I hope you had a happy Thanksgiving. For everyone else, how was your November 26th? Big show this week, with topics including such gems as:

• The feds are using fatboy PS3 systems to bust pedophiles.
• Google Chrome OS is officially unveiled.
• Kill all the clones: Apple wins against Psystar.
• Paul gets a free video card upgrade from BFG.
• Tim bought a new router (you’ll find out why halfway through).
• And oh so much more (plus swears).

Remember kids, we love to hear your feedback. Be sure to hit our Contact page to shoot us an email, or even leave us a voicemail on our GTalk line.

We don't normally ask how Tim spends his free time...

It would seem the The Widget Crew™ went on a bit of a buying spree in-between shows. Every host now owns all three of the current generation game consoles (well, except Tim with his PS2.5). We give our impressions of the current state of the three of them, and how they stack up now that we’re heading towards the end of this console generation. We’re also joined by frequent guest Tim of the Flying Faustinis, who has a spiffy new pair of Grado headphones to review. Keep on rocking in Baghdad folks!

You just know the Empire totally ran on Microsoft products

Windows 7! New Macs! New Android phone! New Widget! Grab hold of yourself (and those around you), and prepare for the onslaught of this week’s show. Lots of tech stuff, not much gaming. Hey, that’s how it is around here. Be sure to stick around till the end, as we read a truly disturbing (and slightly homoerotic) piece of viewer mail. We’re starting to think that we have a lot of prison inmates as subscribers… which we kind of like.

Just like we always suspected.

This week, Paul and Tim are joined by long-time internet friend MacDragon, or Dave if you’d like. There is an unusual amount of talk about sports at the beginning, and well, we’re sorry. No worries though, as we make up for it with more nerdy nonsense than you could shake a dead baby at. Paul goes 3D with his gaming thanks to his spiffy new 120hz monitor and Nvidia glasses, Tim finally get a damn Wii, and Dave comes clean on a bad experience he had at the Apple Store.

Japanese Nazi Hentai Porn - Welcome Google Searchers!

This episode, Paul and Tim are joined by Jack of Knaves. You might know him better as “the brother of Nature Boy who actually took the photo of him putting his computer together nude”. This week, we talk about the new Core i5 chips, the Intel socket change and how it screws up the current Core i7 user base, ATI has new cards coming out that support 6 (yes, six) monitors on one card, Left 4 Dead 2 gains some new fans in the form of it’s most vocal opponents, and of course, there’s the hentai… thanks Dave!

I smell a conspiracy... and a drunken Irishman.

In this 100% less live episode of The Widget, Tim and Paul are joined by one-half of the Flying Faustinis – Tim the Iron Pirate. Topics include why you should always strip down to your bare ass when building a computer, Snow Leopard’s 64 bityness has some flaws, why Microsoft hates black people, a metric ass ton of viewer mail, an explanation of the above image of Diddler Jobs, and so much more. Hit play to listen now, and hit the link to view the ‘show notes’ (yeah, we laughed at that notion too).

Snow Leopard and it’s less-than 64 bit kernel
http://news.zdnet.com/2100-9595_22-336194.html

Racist Microsoft
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/8221896.stm

The Racist PSP
http://kotaku.com/185081/offensive-psp-adthis-time-racist

Two new ION based ITX boards are out from Asus and ASRock
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3630

Oh, and bonus Diddler Jobs image:

We're back. Viva la Punch it Chewie!

A lot has happened since the exciting events of last week’s episode. Thankfully though, we’re quick to recover so that we may continue to bring you the fantastic world of technology and games as only we can. Join Tim, CountZer0 and Paul “Diddler” O’Dwyer as we discuss human eating robots, Jason’s almost pathetic attempt at rebuilding the Widget Virtual PC, and us trying desperately to be entertaining during a LIVE broadcast. We’ll talk to you again soon! Thanks ugys!

Have a listen. And thanks to everybody for all the laughs.

Viewer mail, outtakes, and random topic throwing. It’s The Widget as you know it and love it. See you guys next week!

Time for another Widget grand experiment. Ever since we finished The Widget 2005 Videogame Awards Show, we’ve had various requests that basically all said the same thing; do more video! And why not? We have all this video equipment lying around, why not put it to good use? So we hatched an idea… and Widget TV was born!

Widget TV is everything you love (or hate) about the podcast, but instead of just talking about the weeks news, we also include sketches, reviews, and pretty much any geeked out things we want to film. But much like our podcast, it’s delivered with that special Widget twist.

In this first episode of Widget TV, we focus on what used to be a small segment of the audio show; Tim’s Retro Corner. And to kick things off, we talk about a system that’s near and dear to Tim’s small black heart. Yes folks, the Sega Genesis. So kick back, watch the video, and let us know what you think. We’ve got some great things planned for this new Widget TV project, and we’re looking for your feedback! Send over your suggestions, your comments, and your hate mail to the usual address; feedback (at) thewidgetshow.com (take that spambots!). Enjoy.

Click here to download the Quicktime file

- XBox 360 Rumor Control
- Nights sequel for the Revolution?
- MacBooks that ship with XP on them
- 750 gig hard drives and you (or, why I stopped worrying and learned to love perpendicular storage)
- Are nVidia and Ati out to get us?

All that, your calls, your mail, and our smiling faces on… The Widget.

- Tim

Here it is! Coming to you from the Gamerzlan compound in beautiful New York, it’s the 2005 Widget Video Game Award Show! Join your hosts Tim, Zane and Ryan as they bring you the best (and the worst) games of 2005. Are you still reading this? Watch the thing already!

Click here to download the original Quicktime file

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[audio src="http://www.thewidgetshow.com/podcast/classic/widgetep25.mp3"]

This weeks outro music is “The Widget Freestyle” by Matt Bussler.
Click here to download

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This weeks outro music is from the The 8bitpeoples : The 8bits of Christmas album. The song is Let It Snow by Bit Shifter, and was created using a Game Boy sound chip.
For more info on the group, and to download this album for free, click here.

BTW, our new intro music (I’m sure you noticed) was done by M. Edward Chauvette. Big thanks to him for giving us some awesome new music (that we own now)!

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This weeks outro music is Earthbound ‘Battle’ by Spekkosaurus
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This weeks outro music is Commander Keen 5 ‘Slick Rippin Keen’ by Mazedude
Click here for song info..

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This weeks outro music is ‘Fire & Zane’ by Mike Mustizer (IndieMike), our first piece of original music for The Widget, and it’s AWESOME.
Click here to download ‘Fire & Zane’.

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This weeks outro music is Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles ‘TeenTurtleTryp’ by Kain Minter & Roddy Toomim.
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This weeks outro music is Street Fighter Alpha 2 ‘Kasugano (BootyMix)’ by Marc Star.
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This weeks outro music is Mega Man 2 ‘The Fifth Season’ by GaMeBoX.
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This weeks outro music is Road Rash ‘sierra nevada-tan’ by analoq.
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This weeks outro music is ‘They’re Taking The Hobbits To Isengard’ from Beekveld.
Click here to visit Beekveld’s homepage.

This week we give you the first ever LIVE call-in show! So aside from the general tech news, we also get to hear from Widgetheads and forum members CountZero and Scoopula. Topics range from talk about Half-Life 2, how CountZero doesn’t wear white, XBox 360 complaints, Scoopula’s report from the floor of the Fargo Fantastic Film Festival, his meeting with Kevin Sorbo (where he asks him the age old question), live-action D&D players, the super neat new lightbulb technology, and a tons more. Listen, love, and make sure you’re there for the next time we try to pull this off.

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This weeks outro music is ‘Woodman’ theme from Mega Man 2, performed by Project X.
Click here to visit the Project X homepage.

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The outro music for this episode is ‘The Worf Song’ by DarkMateria.
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The outro music for this episode is Bionic Commando ‘Advance With Caution’ performed by Star Salzman.
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The outro music for this episode is ‘Try To Star’ performed by Live House S.S.H..

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The outro music for this episode is Castlevania ‘Wicked Six’ by Sixto Sounds.
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Show links:
Learn about the Nintendo Revolution
A Day At Valve
Metal Gear Solid 4 (get your drool cups ready)
The Windows Vista versions
Google Earth
ASRock Dual Adaptor board

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The outro music for this episode is ‘The Picard Song’ by DarkMateria.
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SHOW LINKS WILL BE UP LATER (sorry guys)

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The outro music for this episode is Excitebike ‘TitleTechnoPhatulence’ by DJ 3dn3r .
Click here for song info.

This week, Ryan returned to the world of college, but took time out of his oh-so-busy schedule to record yet another Widget classic! Topics include Zane’s triumphant comeback and his shiny new processor, how communism is stopping binge gaming, the Soundblaster X-Fi, transparent laptop screens, and much more. We’ve dropped it like its hot, now feed my children, feed!

Ep. 7 links:
China imposes limit on gaming time
The rumored Pioneer Blu-Ray burner
Guru3D review of the Soundblaster X-Fi
X-Arcade = $119.00
Transparent Screen Gallery
Pirates of Silicon Valley DVD impressions
Virtual Pinball going to Ultracade
Tekken – Dark Resurrection announced
Google search for Suge Knight
Bill Hicks Official Website

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The outro music for this episode is Sonic & Knuckles ‘Catapult’ by Beatdrop.
Click here for song info.

Sorry about the lateness gang! Now that we have the long-distance recording solved, we’re all set!

1. I’ve turned anonymous comments back on, you just have to use the word verification box. But hey, no big deal, right? It beats requiring a Blogger account just to write a one sentence post.

2. We have a new email address! No more Roadrunner email! Send your complaints/comments/credit card numbers to feedback@thewidgetshow.com. The old email address forwards directly to the new one, but it still wouldn’t be a bad idea to make a note of the new one.

3. And finally, there’s a whole bevy of changes coming. Most notable is going to be the switch to WordPress for the blog. Blogger is good and all, but we’re all about control over here at The Widget.

Now get out there and spread the word! We’re breaking new records (well, for us anyways) with our subscriber base, but we want more. The Widget hungers for the souls of geeks.

(Excitement levels may vary depending on your age, alcohol tolerance, and love for the Atari VCS. Please consult your physician before using The Widget)

Ep. 6 Links
Pixar’s John Ranft Dies
“Big Fish” Giant McGrory Dies
Nero Homepage (Recode is a part of Nero 6)
The New Amazon.com Sex & Sensuality Section
Help Me Get A G5 (don’t really help him though)
Rage Of The Dragons Review (far superior to Tim’s on-the-spot one)
Beats of Rage Homepage
Valve’s Steam
GameXStream
Best place to find Real Alternative and Quicktime Alternative
Men In Coats video
Archive.org

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The outro music for this episode is ‘Simon’s Town’ by Digimatic.
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Sorry about the lateness of this one guys. Our bandwidth is TAXED! We are in the process of getting a new server going that should help us avoid this from ever happening again. Thanks for the patience!

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The music you hear in the background of the intro and outro is ‘Raveinthemirrormaze’ by Frank Keller.
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Ep. 5 Links
Buddy’s (Tim’s dog) MySpace
DTV: Internet TV Player (Mac OSX only)
Aleph One: The Marathon Ports
Rise Of The Triad (one of Tim’s favorite games of all time)

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The outro music for this episode is ‘Holy Orders (Be Just Or Be Dead)’ from Guilty Gear X. Song performed by Live House S.S.H..

By the way, make sure you tune in for this weeks show, where our special guest is going to be David Lawrence from Online Tonight. We’re going to be talking about computers, videogames, and various other nerdy goodness. Meanwhile, hit this link to check out David’s website. Online Tonight

PS. One of our fans has thoughtfully created a digg for us. Help us reach new members by showing your support! Thanks

Widget Digg

[edit]
As of tuesday, August 9th, we’ve slipped down to the 60 spot on the iTunes charts. Hey, its still higher than we ever expected, so its okay by us (but feel free to force all your friends to subscribe to us via iTunes, even if you have to threaten them with physical violence). In fact, take a picture of them clicking the link below so you can prove your loyalty to your masters at The Widget.

This episode was recorded on wednesday, August 3rd, because this weekend we are celebrating the marriage of Zane and Jodi. If we somehow manage to survive the drunken haze we are sure to end up in, next weeks recording will return to its normal friday schedule.

Ep. 4 Links
Soda Machine Hacking
Crosswalk Hacking
Tom’s Hardware (Ryan’s favorite tech site
The Heatsink Test Video
The Mega Man Effect
ASCII Matrix
Wikipedia entry for FCKGW

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Also this week, we’ve whipped up a bit of bonus content for you. Its wacky cool The Widget Wallpapers! Now you can listen to us, and have our logo plastered up on your computer, your friends computer, and all of the computers at CompUSA (don’t really do this one please). Click the thumbs for the full-size pics.

One more thing, I’ve suddenly realized we haven’t been giving credit to the artists that made the awesome remixes at the end of our podcasts thus far. Well that changes starting now! This episodes outro music is “Air Man” from the Project X Megaman 2 remix soundtrack. Check out their awesome blend of techno and metal spread over a fluffy pastry of Megaman goodness. Project X homepage.

Episode 3′s outro music is “Super Mario Bros. 2″ by Insomnic.
Click here for song info.

Episode 2′s outro music is “Kung-Fu Soundtest” by badlsdtrip.
Click here for song info.

Episode 1′s outro music was taken from the “Transformers Breakdance” video. Music by Lazer.
Click here for the original video!

Ep. 3 Links
X-Arcade
RetroBlast.com
Twin Galaxies Scoreboard
Garry’s Mod for Half-Life 2
Fileplanet’s Half-Life 2 Section

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Ep. 2 Links
Andy Milonakis’ IMDB Entry
The Original Andy Rap Video (NSFW)
Isla Fisher’s IMDB Entry
Bolo Yeung’s IMDB Entry
Gamelink.com (NSFW, seriously)
Women Behind Bars
Super-Hero Hype
BBSpot.com
Russian Brides
V For Vendetta Website
Random Vin Diesel Facts

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Oh, and you can find us on Odeo now also! The Widget Odeo Channel (odeo/70ff793af0f05b20)

Official blog for The Widget (where you are currently)
http://www.thewidgetshow.com

RSS feed for your favorite podcasting client
http://feeds.feedburner.com/thewidget

Email address for The Widget
feedback@thewidgetshow.com

We’re also now on iTunes! Download the newest iTunes, then click on ‘Podcasts’ in the sidebar, and then click on ‘Podcast Directory’ in the bottom left. Do a search for ‘the widget’ and there we are.

You can add us into iTunes by going to ‘Advanced’ then to ‘Subscribe to Podcast’ and then entering the RSS feed above. Viola! Every episode delivered to you as we make them.

We’re also listed on Odeo, you can check out our feed and subscribe here.

Alright people, get out there and listen! Remember, podcasting is just a name, you don’t need an iPod to listen, any mp3 player or computer will work (or you could burn it to a cd). Plus, if you don’t want to use the RSS feed, download the mp3 file directly. But please, use this only if you really have to, the RSS feed is the preferred method. And don’t forget, your feedback is welcome. But don’t just tell us the show sucks, tell us why so we can try to change it. Thanks!

*The Widget is intended for mature audiences, so that means don’t let mom catch you listening to it*