Tag Archives: geeks
I Never Promised
Since it was Zuke who made the promise on a reduction of video awesomeness, I am still free to post as many videos in a row as I like because he’s not the boss of me. Now that I’ve exercised an act of defiance…
Below you will see the reason why every geek must go to San Diego Comic Con at least once: the exclusive toys. As geeks, we all love toys; that’s no secret. Our collections probably drive our spouses insane. We especially love toys that other people are unable to acquire. This is where getting your hands on some of these convention exclusives comes into play. (I think that it’s something to do with our desire to see others want. Probably because we all wanted something, be it girls or the whole collection of Star Wars toys, as we were growing up.)
Actual Breaking Geek News
According to the New York Times, Disney has made a bid to purchase Marvel Comics for $4 billion.
Walt Disney Company said Monday it has agreed to buy Marvel Entertainment, the storied comic book company that owns the rights to such popular characters as Spider-Man and and the Fantastic Four, in a cash and stock deal it valued at $4 billion. The deal comes more than 10 years after Marvel was at the center of a bruising and highly public takeover battle between two feisty financiers.
Shareholders at Marvel will need to approve the transaction, which boards of directors at both companies have already approved.
If this actually goes through, it will probably mean a few things for us as geeks: first, every superhero movie from here on out will feature a Miley Cyrus, a.k.a. Hannah Montana song. Second, every movie from here on out has the potential to be stuck in the same type of development hell that plagues the DC franchises. And finally, Selena Gomez as the Wasp in the upcoming Avengers flick. On the plus side though, Disney is amazing when it comes to marketing so it’s also possible that we’ll see a lot of great toys and possibly even some more cartoons on TV.
It’s A Trap!
I recently discovered a television show that is almost finished with its second season. How I went almost two full seasons without watching The Big Bang Theory is beyond me but I’m so glad that a friend recommended it to me because it’s one of the funniest shows I’ve ever seen.
In case you’re unfamiliar with the show’s premise, it’s about two male Caltech prodigies in their twenties, one an experimental physicist (Leonard) and the other a theoretical physicist (Sheldon), who live across the hall from a blonde waitress with show-biz aspirations (Penny). Like a typical sitcom, they engage in zany antics but with a geeky twist. It’s the geeky twists that I can appreciate and usually find myself laughing out loud at.
The show has been renewed for two more seasons so I’d highly recommend getting caught up and joining in on the fun every Monday night. Here is a small sample to get you started.
More Freeware Options
Every geek that I know has a favorite media player. Mac geeks swear by iTunes because they’ve been brainwashed by Steve Jobs. Some Windows geeks love Windows Media Player because it has Windows in the name. And let’s not forget about Real, WinAmp, or the numerous other “standards” that people use. Despite these options, some people have and have discovered new and better ways to watch the Star Wars Holiday Special or listen to their vast MP3 collection.
I’ve mentioned before how I am able to watch various movies and TV shows at my desk while I’m working. Because these files come from an assortment of locations, I have to deal with a large number of codecs and other hoop jumping in order to watch everything that I want.
I hate Apple so I’ll never get caught using iTunes if there’s an alternative. I used to be a total WMP guy. Note that I say “used to”. About a year ago I discovered VLC Media Player. I started using it because it handled DVD playback much better than WMP. A side effect of my switch was that I no longer had to try and determine which codec pack I needed to watch the latest episode of a particular show; VLC handled every file that I threw at it flawlessly. Because of this amazing efficiency, I was able to watch what I wanted when I wanted. Not an hour later after trying an assortment of codecs.
For a long time, VLC was my media player of choice. The only drawback is that I wasn’t able to use the keyboard controls on my Logiech MX5500. Since I have this keyboard at home and at the office, this was a huge drawback but the pros far outweighed the cons so I kept using VLC.
A few months ago, I discovered a new media player: GOM. This is another free media player that handles DVDs as well as just about any video format you throw at it including Real Media, Quicktime, DivX, Xvid and FLV. The nice thing about this program though is that it uses internal codecs so, in most cases, no codecs are installed on your system. To date, I haven’t run into anything that GOM couldn’t handle which makes me very, very happy. My keyboard buttons also work with it so I don’t need to try and hit that pause button with my cursor.
While I still primarily use WMP to listen to my MP3 collection, when it comes to video files, I always run to GOM. If you’re looking for a new way to enjoy the video files on your computer, I’d suggest giving GOM a try. Of course VLC isn’t too shabby either.
How Does Free Sound?
Years ago, it used to be that when I needed a program, I’d either buy it or find somebody who could give me a copy. With the internet the way that it is now, nearly every application you could want can be found online. However, downloading copyrighted software poses its own set of problems that may not be worth the money you’d be saving by downloading the latest version of Adobe Photoshop. Therefore, I propose an alternative: freeware.
Over the past few years, freeware has taken a giant leap forward. Most people are familiar with applications such as Open Office and Linux that have taken a piece of Microsoft’s pie. Whether these people have used these applications is beside the point. My point is that there are viable alternatives to expensive programs out there that don’t cost a dime. On this note, I thought that it would be fun to share some other free applications that I have fallen in love with over the years.
Roadkil’s Unstoppable Copier
This is a great program that I just discovered a week or two ago. Have you ever tried to copy a file and received a stupid prompt that you could have done without? Or maybe you failed when trying to copy a file that was larger than 4GB to a FAT32 partition. I’ve done both and this little app took care of all of my issues. It’s great for backing up data to an external hard drive before a reformat.
Amic Email Backup
This is a handy application for Windows users that will back up your mail databases. As those who have worked tech support know, email is generally a big deal, especially to stuffy executives. It’s no less important to my wife who freaks out every time that just restoring her Outlook files doesn’t make everything “like it was”. This is a great tool that is easy to use and I highly recommend it.
DriverMax
I hate trying to keep my drivers current but it’s something that most geeks would recommend doing. DriverMax makes it easy by scanning your system and then telling you what needs to be updated. It will also export your current drivers for those times when you want to reinstall everything but don’t want to spend days looking for that rare driver.
I have a lot more freeware that I’d like to introduce you to but since I’m busy at work, I’m going to have to save it for a part two. Stay tuned…
Let’s Keep Voting
I’m going through some serious election withdrawal. So, to fill the emptiness that I’m feeling inside, I decided that it’s time for a new poll. You may remember that when I asked our last poll question, Do you consider yourself a geek?, I mentioned that there would be a follow-up poll, and a later follow-up post. I am shamed to admit that I forgot where I was going with that and ended up jumping the gun with my post about geeks and their love for Lego. In an attempt to ensure that our faithful reader doesn’t feel ripped off, it’s only fair to follow-through with the second part of the poll.
This time around, we’re asking if you have an affinity for Lego products. This could be interpreted as your love for the amazing video games, the great, if not elusive, playsets, or even something as simple as the pens or keychains. Even if you think they’re really cool and wish you could buy them but don’t, that’s still an affinity. Now is the time that you vote.
Lego + Geeks = True Love
A fully functional PC built out of Lego
I have a question that has been plaguing me recently: why is it that geeks love Lego? One of my earliest memories is of receiving a Lego space set. It set me on a multi-year journey to accumulate as many of those bricks as possible. To this day, I am still drawn to Lego sets but, much to my wife’s relief, finances keep me from filling my house with them. I honestly don’t get it though. Why do I love them so?
I have a few theories about why we as geeks are drawn to Lego sets. The first is that we love to build things. Whether it’s building a computer or a model of the USS Enterprise, we like the process of assembling. I’m not saying that geeks would all like to be working on construction sites, our hands are far too delicate from years of typing on a keyboard for that, but our desire to build seems pretty obvious. Since we aren’t out working construction, we need to somehow appease our inner engineer. Enter the Lego.
My second theory is somewhat tied to the first. Beginning in 1911, geeks were playing with Erector Sets. In 1949, the Denmarkians began production on a plastic interlocking brick. Although I have no proof, I’m sure that in the minds of children, this brick was far superior to the collection of small metal beams found in Erector Sets. When the company that manufactured the Erector Set went bankrupt in 1967, a giant void was left that opened the door for Lego to thrive. Without the Erector Set readily available, how else would geeks satisfy their urge to build if it wasn’t for Lego?
Today there are numerous websites dedicated to the interlocking brick that Lego created and people from all over the world assemble at conventions to show their creations and to find out what new sets Lego has in store. When you add geek-friendly franchises such as Star Wars and Harry Potter to the internet and convention aspects of this hobby, it appears to create the perfect storm that allows geeks to be sucked into its vortex. Maybe that’s part of why geeks love Lego?
I think that I have answered my question. I believe that this can all be summed up in one simple mathematical formula: Internet + Conventions + Geek Properties + Assembling = True Love
Man Crush
(Good News my father is doing much better, and should be able to go home in a few days. He had the best kind of inter cranial hemorrhaging. So I thought I’d post an additional slightly more light post as well)
Let me get it out of the way first. I am a staunch heterosexual. I like girls. I once broke my own hand over a girl I fancied who wasn’t even my girlfriend (ask Zuke he tried to set the bone, with emphasis on tried). However despite this I have to admit that I have a bit of a man crush. I’ve narrowed them down to my top 3. (Don’t worry my wife already knows). So in no particular order:
Testing In Job Interviews
We’ve all been there: no job, no prospects, nothing but lots of time to eat Cheetos in our underwear while we play video games. (Not Cheetos that have been stored in our underwear. That’s disgusting.) We’ve all felt the excitement of getting a job interview only to be verbally and emotionally abused by the IT manager as they “test” your ability to perform the duties of the job they are hiring for.
A few years ago, I was in this situation. I was interviewing for an IT support position with a chain of time share resorts. It was a group interview with the president of the company, the head of human resources, and the IT manager. As was expected, I was asked a series of questions regarding how I would handle a certain situation. I would give my answer and immediately the IT manager would tell me that I was wrong and that I needed to try again. Eventually I would run out of ideas and then they would tell me the correct answer. Probably 90% of the time, the correct response was my first response. As you might imagine, after 20 minutes, I was pretty irritated by this. When the time came for me to do actual hands-on “testing”, I got up and walked out. How was I to know what these people were looking for in an employee when the correct answer was always wrong? No, I didn’t get the job.
This morning I came across this article over on Slashdot. The author is basically asking why IT professionals are tested during the interview process when other professions aren’t.
My wife works as a nurse. I know that she didn’t have to take a test to prove that she is a good nurse; it was just assumed based on her credentials. I have multiple certifications and a university degree in IT. Why is it that when I go for an interview, I have to prove that I know what I’m doing? Shouldn’t my credentials or work history be sufficient? It’s not like I have people’s lives in my hands like nurses or doctors do.
I have a theory about this that I want to run by you. Employers know that IT geeks can take them down. The testing is just a way of seeing what kind of control a company can exert over its IT staff before it’s “too much.” If the geek balks at the testing because it’s an obvious waste of time, the employer won’t hire them because they could pose future “problems”. What do you think? Am I completely wrong?
Where Have All The Special Features Gone?
Next Tuesday, the biggest blockbuster of the year will make it’s triumphant DVD debut. This film also happens to be a geek-friendly movie based on one of the coolest super heroes in history. If you haven’t figured it out by now, I’m talking about The Dark Knight. This is one DVD that will be making it’s way into my collection.
I have a major gripe over the way that movie studios have been screwing people that buy DVDs over the past few years. When DVDs first started hitting the market, they were advertised as having super cool bonus features including deleted scenes, commentaries, trailers, bloopers, featuretes, etc. DVDs were a gold mine for the movie lover that enjoys useless information in documentary form. Those days are now gone, and I don’t even blame the introduction of Blu-Ray discs. I blame greedy movie stuidos that know that movie geeks will pay extra for this stuff.
The Dark Knight DVD release is a perfect example of what I’m talking about. Warner Brothers decided that there will be single-DVD releases in both widescreen and full-screen. These will have the movie. Um… OK. It wasn’t that long ago that the single-disc version would be a veritable cornucopia of extras. If you want any of those, you’ll have to upgrade to the twice as expensive two-disc DVD. This will include:
That may seem like a lot but guess what? Regular DVD player owners are getting screwed. The Blu-Ray version comes with all of the above plus the following:
My question is this: what does everyone think of how movie studios enticed us into the DVD market by offering all manner of sweetness only to move said sweetness to multi-disc versions of the film? I can understand it but I hate it. And for those of us who hate Sony and refuse to buy their products, what about giving us über versions of regular DVDs a la The Lord of the Rings? Is that really too much to ask? We used to get these things for the price of a DVD and now we don’t and that just pisses me off.