by A.J. Focht
Welcome to the first edition of Your Week in Geek; catching you up on all your nerdy updates since… NAO!
Last week started right in the middle of the PlayStation Network outage. It wasn’t until Tuesday, April 26th, that Sony manned up and admitted their system had been hacked and that many of the network users may have had personal information stolen (such as user names, passwords, and credit card numbers). Sony is currently fighting on two fronts as they try to criminally pursue and prosecute those responsible for the attack, while fighting off a class action lawsuit filed by the raging masses. Despite the uphill legal battle, Sony has announced the PlayStation Network should be back online in the first week of May.
[..]
by A.J. Focht
Technology is advancing all around us, and it’s not always easy to be for it when it continually changes so many facets of everyday life. I recently purchased a Kindle, after several days of convincing myself that it was ok. You see, I have complained about them for years, never intending to buy one. The concept of getting rid of my paper books was more than appalling, and the English major inside me died a little every time I saw someone with one.
Then things began to happen that made me reevaluate the idea of a handheld reader. Kindle announced its 3G Wireless model with access to Wikipedia from anywhere (little did I know it was actually full internet access). Soon after this announcement, I moved into my current apartment. It didn’t take me long to realize that I have too much stuff. My book collection takes up its own case as well as three other shelves. As I tried to shove all of my books into the tiny living space, I found myself considering the advantages of a handheld reader for the first time.
[..]
by A.J. Focht
Super heroes are in right now. While their popularity has been steadily growing for years, each blockbuster movie released only fuels the fanboy frenzy. Video games, movies, television, and merchandise have never been more adorned with super hero icons. The question though is: Who’s super heroes are they?
[..]
by A.J. Focht
As the New Year begins, a lot of people are looking for ways to cut their spending. If you’re one of these people, you might want to start by scrapping your cable bill. Having any kind of network programming bill (cable, satellite, etc.) is becoming unnecessary. Even in those awesome ‘bundle’ packs you are paying significantly more than you have to, since most of the content included by the cable and satellite companies is now being offered by internet streaming services.
[..]
by A.J. Focht
Today’s media is overrun with rehashed tales of old myths. It is nearly impossible to come across a fantasy story that doesn’t re-use mythical beings. Vampires, werewolves, and zombies all come from traditional myths and plague our airwaves and book stores; every author is looking for a way to put their own spin on this time tested material.
Some authors are very good at taking traditional myths and adapting them, whereas others should be hanged, drawn, and quartered for their crimes against them. Most myths have grey areas that can be adapted, but they all have their canon – lists of facts and pieces of the myth that cannot be changed without altering that which is intrinsic to it. When an author starts altering these facts they upset the status quo. They weaken not only the fabric of the mythological being – but our ability to suspend our disbelief. This leaves their final product looking like a cheap bastardization of the original.
[..]
by AJ Focht
The music industry has won the day as file sharing program Limewire has been forced to stop its “searching, downloading, uploading, file trading and/or file distribution functionality.” Limewire was ordered by US courts to shut down its services after being found in violation of mass copyright infringement.
This major file sharing service may have closed down but it is only a temporary block until its users find another site. The music industry has been fighting internet pirating sites since Napster, and for each victory they win another hundred sites pop up in their place. The Internet Industry Association says, “the music industry needs to focus on new business models.”
With that in mind, could MySpace be the answer the music industry is waiting for? With the launch of the new Myspace reboot, the site has taken a step away from the social networking world and is going in a new direction.
[..]
by AJ Focht
The military uses virtual simulations to help train their soldiers but are you getting similar training when you ‘pwn noobz’ from home? Well maybe not the exact same training but there are many benefits you might not know about (especially since the mainstream media has such a low opinion of gamers and gaming they’re unlikely to highlight them). How can playing an hour of video games each day help your development? Gaming friends, please read on:
[..]
