The Geeks, Games and Greatness Podcast: Episode 7

Episode 7! In which we talk about ICON, Necromunda, Magic the Gathering, DS9, Torchwood, the OUYA gaming console, blue ice fridges and fun things to do on the internet.

Download

Links:
LoadingReadingRun - www.loadingreadyrun.com
Capture the cat - http://www.members.shaw.ca/gf3/circle-the-cat.html
The Spark quizzes - http://www.sparknotes.com

You can also now find us on our brand new Facebook group! http://www.facebook.com/GeeksGamesGreatness so go and like us on Facebook and drop us a comment :)

You can also get hold of us on twitter: @OddModlin and @i4n0fd00m
or by email: oddcastblog@gmail.com

Geeks, Games and Greatness Podcast - Episode 4

Your next installment of the Podcast is here! In which we talk about Doctor Who, Horse Riding, AFDA, Animation, GeoCaching, South African politics, Microsoft Surface tablets and privacy on the internet.

As you might have noticed, we're playing around with the name. If you have a suggestion for us as to what it should be, please leave us a comment, get hold of us on twitter (@OddModlin and @i4n0fd00m) or drop us a mail (oddcastblog@gmail.com)

So have a listen, share it around and tell us what you think :)

Thanks,
-Odd

Big Brother Inc.

According to a new study performed by Krux Digital, in the last year there has been a huge surge in the number or companies and services that are following you around the Internet.

Finding out what you do on the Internet is a massive business now and you are the product. Does that freak you out a little? It should. According to the Krux Digital study, the number of companies tracking you on “popular” sites has nearly doubled in the last year and the number of “data collection events” has risen 400% in the same period.

So what is all that information being used for? Who’s checking out what we’re doing? Well… that’s just the thing: We don’t know. You are not asked if you want to give the information, it is just taken. You are not asked if you are ok with them selling the information, it’s just sold. You are not given any warning about what sites or services are tracking you or what information they’re gathering. That should trouble you, it certainly troubles me.

It is, however, not all doom and gloom. The Internet is full of smart people (as well as trolls and cats) and they are aware of the problem – The smart people… the trolls and cats would not be of much use in this instance. So if this post has got you thinking, then I suggest you head over to TED and watch a video by Gary Kovacs. He will explain the situation, give you some tools to track the people that are tracking you and offer some suggestions on how we can work against this worrying trend.

One of the major powers of the Internet is it’s anonymity. That can get irritating when we have to deal with the trolls, but ask an Egyptian or Chinese citizen about how important it is and you will see that we need to be very careful about how we let the Internet develop.

-Odd

“If you stare long into the abyss, the abyss states back into you” – Friedrich Nietzsche

Third World Internet Lament

My illustrious brother recently visited us from down under, full of amazing stories of technology from the first world. It was awesome to see him again (it's been 4 years since he was last out here), but it was sometimes difficult not to strangle his bragging self.

Hearing what sort of infrastructure and services they have in the first world (even one that is on the other side of the world from EVERYTHING) really put our own situation into perspective for me. My boet has a 4mb line at home... for home use... privately. Our businesses are seen as super-advanced if they have that kind of speed!

Australia is also improving their network speeds by rolling a full fiber-optic network. Back at home, I'm pleasantly surprised if my exchange stays online for more than two days running.

We also have a dearth of gadgets in South Africa. I've been meaning to start a podcast for a while now, and in the interests of such I'm trying to get my hands on a midlevel microphone. Something like the Samson Meteor... think I can find in SA? Think I can find something comparable? Think I can find a shop that sells ANY sort of microphone? If you answered no to all of those questions... you're both extremely cynical and absolutely right.

I love this country, I think we have the best weather, people and scenery in the world... but I do sometimes wish we could catch up to the first world just a bit. Maybe just make the attempt? I'll take false hope, really... anything?

-Odd

"The Internet is becoming the town square for the global village of tomorrow" -Bill Gates

In The News

Swiss scientists design a turbine to fit in human arteries - this little gizmo could create enough power to run pace makers and other suck bio-implants... as long as they figure out a way to mitigate the turbulence it causes.

Laser used to transfer data at 26terabytes per second - now that is FAST! and unlike similar projects, this one does it with a single multi-colour laser. So it's cheep(ish).

Is Graphene a miracle material? - a great article on a new wonder material... watch out for this stuff, it's going to be making a big impact.

Grand Co-operative driving challenge - building smarter driverless cars that can communicate with each other to make better use of the road. Cool.

Teaching robots to read - It's not quite at a human level... but this sort of research is what is going to make personal robots possible. Keep up the great work!

In The News:

Quantum teleportation breakthrough could herald instantaneousness computing - the idea of quantum teleportaion has been around for a while... but they're actually developing usable applications for the theory.

Robot throws first pitch at a baseball game - all to encourage science and maths education. Robots are cool.

iPhone tracks your location - This has been huge news over the last few weeks.... Apple has since released a new version of iOS that apparently fixes this. If you're using an iPhone/iPad... update your software!

Cracker sized satellites to launch with Space Shuttle Endeavor - A new era in satellite technology? Or just creating more traffic and space-junk in orbit?

Sony Online Gaming Platform Hacked - reports say somewhere around 25 million users had their information stolen... scary, scary, scary things.

WebManga: Goblins

Goblins is a WebManga (meaning it has a storyline that continues across the whole of the comic) created by Tarol Hunt and Danielle Stephens. Based entirely in the world of Dungeons and Dragons, it has masses of insider jokes and very cleverly plays havoc with DnD's black and white view of morality.

Goblins follows the adventures of a group of goblins, who decide that they have had enough of watching parties of adventures attacking their villages and war camps. So to better protect their people, they throw tradition to the wind and take on adventurer levels.



This story is masterfully executed, with the standard DnD character races being almost exclusively evil from the viewpoint of the goblins and these strange moral choices mixed in with traditional DnD themes and humor makes for a really gripping read.

Goblins has an extensive archive, which really must be read through from the begining if you're going to have any idea of what's going on, but it's interesting to watch how Tarol's artistic style evolves over the course of the comic and there are enough gags and truly epic fight scenes to keep you entertained.

Tarol has a great grasp of his characters, the humor is smooth (if very niche to DnD) and I think he's got the best fight scenes that I've seen in any comic, not just in the online medium.

This is a brilliant comic, and I've added it to my regular reading list. I suggest you do the same.

-Odd

"The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict." Martin Luther King, Jr.

In The News:

Google teaches computers regret - google is again pushing the envelope, this time in the field of AI

Chinese Space Program confounded by X-Prize - the capitalist model of privatising the space program seems to be paying dividends.

Robotic jet fighter passes two test flights - the first truly robotic war machine, no pilot, no remote control... it does it's own thing... does this sound like skynet to anyone else?

Crowd-sourced choir sings over the internet - such a cool thing!! 2000 people from around the world all pulled together into a single choir.

NASA gives out funding to private space firms - more on the private space industry... I want to holiday in earth orbit... how cool would that be?

In The News:

Geminoid-DK: possibly the creepiest android yet built - another master piece by Japanese roboticist Hiroshi Ishiguro. This thing is so far down the uncanny valley that it's scary.

Printing a human kidney - a TED talk demonstration of this amazing technology... we're fast approaching the immortal tipping point.

Masdar city runs into problems - the ambitious project to build 'the city of the future' in the middle of the desert has run into funding problems during the recession.

50 000 Japanese download the Android flashlight app after disaster - mobile computing is saving lives... go google!

Death and the Powers: A robot Opera - an opera combining human and robotic performers... and it's getting good reviews.

Internet killed the LAN (Star)

I should preface this by saying that I don't play a lot of computer (or console) games anymore. I'm not even on the WOW bandwagon, but I used to be a regular gamer and I still try to keep an eye on the industry.

I've noticed a trend in the gaming industry that has worried me for some time. It happened quite a while ago... there was no outcry, no one checked if I was ok with it... it just happened. They took all the LAN support out of games.

LAN stands for Large Area Network... and it used to be the social space for gaming geeks. We would all descend on someone's house, link up all our computers and spend the weekend in a sleep deprived Valhalla of death matches, co-op strategy and camaraderie. Some of my most precious memories stem from this period of my life. Battling through the Dust mission in the original Counter Strike, frantically building up an army in WarCraft 3 or sniping from Faces in Unreal Tournament is so much more meaningful when that headshot you just pulled off causes the guy on the other side of the room to scream in anguish.

This style of play is not possible now. Modern games have dispensed with the LAN in favor of internet based multi-player. The internet is quite a cool place, I suppose, it allows you to play people from all over the world, people who you wouldn't have the opportunity to meet otherwise, but it doesn't have the same feel as getting a bunch of your mates into the same room and slaughtering them in your favorite FPS.

I always used to laugh at people who said that computer games were anti-social. I used to regularly get together with 12 or 15 of my friends (in person) and connect through the medium of gaming. Now I think those same people have a point (even if it is accidentally). Even with voice chat, it's just not the same thing.

I miss LAN parties... I wonder if I can get a group of people together who want to play the ancient games that enabled this pinacle of geek culture.... Counter Strike anyone?

-Odd

"Join the Army, see the world, meet interesting people - and kill them." -Pacifist Badge, 1978

In the News:

Sweden to replace stamps with SMS - great new use of existing technology.

Researchers show method to disable cellphones by SMS - as cellphones become more advanced, they become exposed to the same dangers as computers... this is worrying.

Google gives Japan a hand with People Search - Great lateral thinking here. Putting existing technology to work, helping during a time of crisis. Google FTW.

Laser scribing to create better solar cells - anything that provides clean energy (without the risk of melt-down) has to be a good thing.

Cuba sentences a US citizen for setting up Internet connections - Disturbing, yes, but not inconceivable. We've recently seen the effect that the free transfer of information over the internet has had on dictatorships.

What do these words even mean?

I've been thinking about this one for a while now.

If you're reading this blog, then you probably use these words all the time without even thinking about them. Like me, though, I doubt you have any idea what they mean. What words am I talking about? I'll use one of them as an example for the purposes of this post. What I'm talking about is "LOL".

"LOL" supposedly stands for Laughed Out Loud, but that's not what it means anymore. There are times when I'm reading something that I will actually laugh out loud (and yes, my co-workers look at me funny when I do), but how would I communicate that fact to anyone? The word "LOL" has been used so often that it has lost all meaning. For instance:



What part of this makes you laugh at all? never mind out loud? Then why are they called Lolcats? shouldn't they be Awwwcats?

So here's a challenge for my readers: come up with a term I can use when I actually laugh out loud?

-Odd

"At the height of laughter, the universe is flung into a kaleidoscope of new possibilities."      -Jean Houston

In The News:

Creationists in America at it again - this time they're co-opting the arguments of a pro-evolutionist to try get "intelligent design" back in schools... what's wrong with these people?

Taiwan researchers turn to silk for flexible devices - cool tech... and i'm looking forward to the day I can blog from my tie.

Cyber attack against South Korea - at what point does a digital attack warrant a physical response?

Electronic gadgets maybe be effecting your sleep detrimentally - no way! you mean the long hours I spend watching videos instead of going to sleep is preventing me sleeping? wow...

Warner Brothers to release movies via Facebook - This makes a lot of sense to me. If I had a cheap, easy, available platform to watch movies online, I might not pirate as much as I do... maybe... possibly.

In The News:

Video Games: An hour a day is key to success in life - see... I told you I was working!!

Israeli General claims credit for StuxNet worm - A retiring general from Israel has been credited with instigating the StuxNet worm which attacked Iranian nuclear facilities... wow.... I never thought I'd see someone own up to it.

Too many Facebook friends causes stress - hmmm.... maybe I'm damaged... but if I only see you online... I don't really care... but it's still and interesting article.

Anything you search for can and will be used against you in a court of law - wow.. .this is seriously scary... so much for the anonymous and neutral nature of the 'net.

The Khan Academy is the future of education - This is an absolutely incredible idea!!! With the lack of effective teaching in this country... We should really jump into this program.

In The News:

New Zealand emergency services computers go offline - they were able to make do while their IT guys brought them back online, but this highlights just how dependent we've become on computers.

IBM Watson (Super computers) vs. Humans in Jeopardy game - two of the champions of this american game-show are taking on IBM's new Watson Jeopardy super computer... after the first round, Watson is tied for first.

Removing a 'dumb' gene from mice makes them smarter - interesting article, but like it points out: we have no idea what other effects removing this gene will have... the whole field of study seems terribly hit-and-miss to me.

Steps towards a robotic eye - I've posted a lot of the build up to this specific piece of tech in earlier News, but this article sums up where we are quite nicely.

Obama seeks big boost in cyber-security spending - looks like we might be amping up to a new arms race... the cyber-arms race.... why do I have a picture of a bear with robot arms in my head?

In The News:

"Soft" robot has deft touch - massive metal hands have trouble holding squishy objects? You don't say! .... while this is possibly a big advance in robotic science, I unfortunately foresee the sex industry making the most use of it.

Could the US shut down the internet? - coming off of Egypt's not so succesful shutdown, this article explores how that happened and if it could be duplicated in the US... the short answer is "not really".

Proposal for cyber war rules of engagement - with the possible exception of earth orbit, this is going to be the biggest theater of war in modern conflict, so it's probably a good idea to set some boundaries.

All the internet has (kind of) run out of space - all the IP addresses for the world wide web have now been shipped out for sale... so all 4.3 billion addresses have been marked for sale. That's quite a number... but don't worry, the introduction of IPv6 that will happen shortly should mean that you won't even notice the difference.

RoboEarth teaches robots to learn from peers - I'm just glad they didn't name it SkyNet... this project aims to connect all robots through an internet-like network so that they can share what they learn... either making them better servants of more invincible overlords... not sure which yet.

Appalling Ignorance

Last Friday night found me at a (truly epic, supremely awesome) party, but I'm not going to blog about how many drinks I had/ numbers I got/ fights I fought. What I'm going to blog about is ignorance.

I'm not sure how the topic came up, but I made some offhand comment about what's happening in Egypt... and I truly hope that by now all of the people reading this blog know what I'm talking about, because no-one I was chatting with at the time did. Inconceivable!

So, throughout the course of the evening, I accosted various groups of people at the party and asked them what they thought of the situation in Egypt (yes, I'm that weird guy at the party that you try to avoid eye contact with). The final result? I found two people who knew what was happening (both already friends of mine. Naturally.)

It blew my mind... here was a group of my supposed peers who had absolutely no idea. Sure: we were at Bohemians and a large proportion of the crowd were students starting a heavy weekend and so may not technically be peers of mine anymore, but they're STUDENTS, their entire purpose is supposed to be the accumulation of information (if not knowledge).

I don't understand how, in the modern era of the syndication, communication and community of information, people around me could be so unaware of the world around them.

Colour me shocked... It was still an awesome party though ^^;

-Odd

"He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would surely suffice." - Albert Einstein

In The News:

Manchester airport introduces hologram staff - that's right, if you travel through Manchester airport, you can be directed, assisted and reminded of security procedures by a helpful hologram... so cool!

520 day mock Mars mission nears landing - they're doing a dry run... that must mean we're pretty close to actually going... anyone besides me want to go to Mars?

Google beats Bing at Jeopardy questions - who would win if search engines played this popular US game show? Google of course!

Egyptians find new ways to get online - with all the unrest in Egypt, the government shut down the internet... which is troubling in and of itself... but as this article shows: The flow of information is far more robust than most people think.

Fernando Torres signs for Chelsea for 50 million pounds - 50 MILLION POUNDS?! For a guy that can kick a ball around a little? As signs of the apocalypse go... in my book this one is right up there with rains of blood and the appearance of the angel of death.

It Made My Day

This year has been a tough one so far... It's been busy, stressfull and full of drama from all angles... but I'm not going to use this space to bitch and moan to all of you, instead I'm going to tell you a couple things I use to destress myself:

1. Spend time with my gorgeous lady - My girlfriend is seriously the greatest person on earth... She's amasing... and she's far too good to me ^^



2. Read IMMD - It Made My Day is a site on the CHEEZburger network (you know I love my Motis), on which people post their own little moments of win... it's amazing how reading through a few of these can brighten me up. I suggest you all give it a try if you're feeling a little down.

3. Paint little plastic men - I'm still trying to finish off my Necromunda gaming board... so to motivate myself, I started painting up some Space Marines I had lying around as a Inquisitorial kill squad (pity the guys I'll be DMing when these dudes hit the table).

I rediscovered how much I enjoy painting minis (even if I couldn't get the scale texture to work on the Salamander's shoulder guard). In fact, I'm enjoying it so much that I've made the decision to stop playing WOW in favour of Warhammer (as soon as my current batch of airtime runs out). So keep an eye out in the next few months as you should be getting some painting tutorials, battle reports and such ^^.

 

Well, the month is almost over, and i'm still up and kicking (and posting)... so check back next week for another installment and as always - use the comment link below to tell me how much this blog inspires/irritates you.

-Odd

"I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forget their use." -Galileo Galilei

In The News:

Meditation alters brain structure - New research provides scientific evidence of what many cultures have taken for granted for centuries: Meditation improves your brain.

Artificial retinas see well enough to balance a pencil on it's tip - a bit step to functional robots.

Apple App Store reaches 10 billion downloads - TEN BILLION! thats a lot of apps....

Android Smart-phone to be sent into space - ... this a test to check it's viability to run satellites... can you iPhone do that? didn't think so.

Computer program recognizes human emotion from conversational analysis - this should make it possible to actually have a conversation with a robot without wanting to rip it's head off.