ArsGeek

Spore – finally a game to get excited about

2. September 2008

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

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

29. August 2008

3 Comments

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

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

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

27. August 2008

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

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

The Invasion Has Begun: Death Star Spotted Above San Francisco

25. August 2008

8 Comments

The Invasion Has Begun: Death Star Spotted Above San Francisco

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

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

25. August 2008

15 Comments

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

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

Designing the Singularity: Intel receives the Overreaching Statement Award.

22. August 2008

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Designing the Singularity: Intel receives the Overreaching Statement Award.

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

Can You Do This? I’ll Bet You Can’t. I Couldn’t.

21. August 2008

4 Comments

Can You Do This? I’ll Bet You Can’t. I Couldn’t.

Remember in grade school there was this kid who could make fart noises with his armpit? How cool that was? You wanted to be able to do that too, but never seemed to be able to pull it off. And remember how in high school, the same kid was still making fart noises with his armpit? But now you thought it was gross (You never admitted to anyone you still tried to make it work alone in your room). Have you ever wondered what happened to that guy?

Songbird enters Beta! Go and get it!

21. August 2008

44 Comments

Songbird, the long in developement ultimate media system for cross platform audio/visual joy has entered Beta! The new release features a new UI, faster media scanning, drag and drop goodness, a first run wizard (with EULA - is that really a feature?), smart playlists and album art. Wee!

How to get updated world weather maps as your desktop background in Ubuntu

20. August 2008

34 Comments

How to get updated world weather maps as your desktop background in Ubuntu

I also like to see what's going on with the world, particularly the weather but often find myself not in orbit so I'm unable to track worldwide weather patterns like I want to. Then a though occurred to me - what if I set up one of my Ubuntu boxes to have a map of the world with clouds overlayed, updated every hour? Neat! I now have a map of the world with cloud overlays updated hourly for my background.

Adam Savage Is a Geeky God

19. August 2008

58 Comments

At the end of July, the H.O.P.E. (Hackers On Planet Earth) conference was held in New York. One of the featured speakers was Adam Savage, co-host of the Mythbusters. Savage talked about his geeky passion for creating and learning, and described (among other things) his personal recreation of a dodo skeleton. He also took questions from the audience.

Frotz for the iPhone and iPod Touch!

18. August 2008

4 Comments

It wasn't too long ago that I noticed a nerdcore rapper tackling the subject of text based adventure games. Now it seems that the popular software (popular amongst us text based adventure game enthusiasts that is) Frotz has been ported to an Apple App!

Zombie Playground – the fantastic work of Jason Chan

14. August 2008

4 Comments

Zombie Playground – the fantastic work of Jason Chan

I love, LOVE this work of art by Jason Chan. (link to full sized image on his site) Oddly, I found it in a link on his website called The Junk Drawer. I recently stumbled on Jason's website be freak internet search accident and I'm glad I did. He's done a number of comics, illustrations for a few games and many independent works and his work is wonderful.

Netflix shipping problems

14. August 2008

5 Comments

Just a heads up that Netflix is having some issues with their shipping system, which "shut down unexpectedly". Here's the official word:

You Know You Are A Geek If…

13. August 2008

1 Comment

You Know You Are A Geek If…. You are actually afraid of Chuck Norris, and have a respectful fear of Christopher Walken. J00 c4n und3r574nd wh47 7h15 54y5. Your fingers are permanently in the WASD formation. Read on for more!