Ecko Unlimited Batman Arkham City Threads Available Now!

Ecko Unlimited has unveiled its limited edition Batman Arkham City threads. The crown jewel of the collection is the full-zip Batman hoodie pictured above. In addition to Batman clothes, the line includes t-shirts that feature Joker, Penguin, Catwoman, and Harley Quinn. The t-shirts list for $19.50, while the hoodie runs for $149.50. The shirts are available on Amazon if you’d like to support this site. The thing to do, of course, is to wear the Batman hoodie and randomly spout, “I’m Batman!” in the style of How It Should Have Ended.

Any of you going to pick any Ecko Unlimited Batman threads?

Coffee Talk #527: Your Various Internet Communities

As I mentioned to RPadholic smartguy the other day, I’ve been thinking a lot about the various Internet communities I belong to and how they compare to Internet videogame communities. Obviously I can’t be objective about videogame communities, but for the most part I find them pretty excellent. There are a lot of nice people that love talking about games and I’ve read loads of informative posts by them (you guys and gals are the best of the bunch!). Of course there are trolls and nuisances and racial slurs thrown about, but in my experience that’s mostly the work of young and stupid gamers. I’m not excusing it, but I understand and will naively assume that they’ll grow out of it.

Using videogame communities as a measuring stick, here’s how the other communities I play in compare…

Welcome to Coffee Talk! Let’s start off the day by discussing whatever is on your (nerd chic) mind. Every morning I’ll kick off a discussion and I’m counting on you to participate in it. If you’re not feelin’ my topic, feel free to start a chat with your fellow readers and see where it takes you. Whether you’re talking about videogames, getting hyped for the start of the NBA season, Lance Armstrong getting stripped of his Tour de France titles, or Apple continuing to cut off Samsung as a parts supplier, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

As I mentioned to RPadholic smartguy the other day, I’ve been thinking a lot about the various Internet communities I belong to and how they compare to Internet videogame communities. Obviously I can’t be objective about videogame communities, but for the most part I find them pretty excellent. There are a lot of nice people that love talking about games and I’ve read loads of informative posts by them (you guys and gals are the best of the bunch!). Of course there are trolls and nuisances and racial slurs thrown about, but in my experience that’s mostly the work of young and stupid gamers. I’m not excusing it, but I understand and will naively assume that they’ll grow out of it.

Using videogame communities as a measuring stick, here’s how the other communities I play in compare. Naturally, I’d love to hear about the different communities you participate in and how they’re different from gaming nerds.

Tech: In general, the tech communities I play in are civil and informative. Commenters are mostly mature and I’ve learned a lot from them. AVS Forums is a particularly wonderful place that’s mostly free of stupidity. Tech conversations get exasperating when it comes to mobile phones. The Android vs. iOS discussions often devolve into Fandroids vs. iSheep arguments. It’s almost as bad as PS3 vs. Xbox 360 flame wars. Aside from that, the blogs and forums I read are mostly fun, interesting, and civil places.

Boxing: As much as I love boxing, I’ve come to the conclusion that many boxing fans are morons. Promoters, sanctioning bodies, and cable networks make it difficult to be a boxing fan. People that post in boxing forums, like Doghouse Boxing, almost make me want to stop watching the sport. The thing is, boxing isn’t that popular and there aren’t many places to discuss the sport in detail. Doghouse Boxing has some great posters, but it also has an alarming number of idiots that spout all kinds of slurs, can’t string together intelligent sentences, and don’t know how to carry a civil conversation. Too many of the threads there devolve into flame wars between Floyd Mayweather, Jr. fans (FloMos) and Manny Pacquiao supporters (Pactards). These discussions are worse than any PS3 vs. Xbox 360 flame war I’ve seen.

Vaping: I’m really enamored with the vaping community at the moment. The crowd at E-Cigaratte Forum is really knowledgeable and supportive. With vaping tech moving at a rapid pace, it’s great to have lots of people that are familiar the various parts and mods. Since everyone that posts is a former cigarette addict, the environment is really encouraging, especially to newcomers. It’s all about helping people find the right gear and juices that will help them quit tobacco smoking forever. I’m going to write more about this in a future Vaping Diary.

Now it’s your turn! When you have a chance, please tell me about the different Internet communities you participate in and how they compare to videogame communities.

Halo 4, CraigsList, and Piracy-For-Profit

The full version of Halo 4 has leaked and opportunistic people are selling Xbox 360s — with the game preloaded — on CraigsList. Kotaku’s Evan Narcisse did some honest-to-goodness (and high-quality) journalism on the matter. He interviewed some of the sellers and found a wide variety of justifications. None of them were very good. Disappointingly, though not surprisingly, these sellers will surely find customers.

Let’s be honest. I’m sure that most of us have pirated a song or a movie at some point. While it’s a bad practice, one of the common justifications cited is that pirating a movie/song doesn’t necessarily mean a sales loss for the publisher. In this case, Microsoft is definitely losing sales. People that spend a lot of money to buy pirated copies of Halo 4 almost definitely would have purchased the game legitimately.

Piracy-for-profit is just bad news. If it becomes more rampant (and I think it will) then companies — big and small — will tighten their belts. While some pirates justify taking advantage of large corporations like Activision and Microsoft, the people making “normal” wages at these companies will be the first to suffer. If people sell pirated versions of games developed and published by medium- and small-sized companies, the ramifications are even scarier.

That’s my take on it anyway. What do you think of the Halo 4 piracy-for-profit deal? Will this develop into a bigger issue for several companies? Or do you think it’s no biggies? Definitely check out Evan’s article when you have a chance. It’s one of the best pieces of videogame reporting I’ve read all year.

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Vaping Diaries #4: A Visit to The Vapor Spot (Los Angeles)

After lunch, my friend Paul and I stopped by The Vapor Spot. While there are hundreds of web site where you can purchase vaping goods, there aren’t very many physical stores, so I was curious and excited to see what this place had to offer. Seconds after walking in, I was greeted by the owner, JJ. He’s very friendly and customer-service oriented. You can tell straight away that he wants to make his customers happy. I asked him a bit about the shop, browsed around, and did some scouting for a video interview RPadholic N8R and I will be shooting there in the future. I left the shop thinking, “I want to hang out here!”

The Vapor Spot has a bunch of vaping gear and juices for sale. As you’d expect, there’s a higher markup than Internet stores since JJ has to pay for physical space and utilities. The idea is that personal attention and customer service will keep people coming back. I watched JJ work out gear issues with one of his patrons and he was very accommodating. The shop lets users sample loads of e-liquids. You can walk in with your own gear, buy some cartomizers for $1 a piece, and sample away — very, very cool. Those are two examples of how The Vapor Spot hopes to succeed.

One of the highlights of my browsing was coming across these gorgeous Pyrex tanks by Cirrus Vapes. These are hand made in the USA. At a glance, the quality seems excellent. The beauty was undeniable. I was very much smitten with these tanks. Paul had to smack me on the back of the head because I was just staring at (and possibly drooling over) these gorgeous products for like three minutes. The Vapor Spot is one of the few stores in America where you can pick these babies up.

It will be interesting to see if The Vapor Spot will succeed. From my brief visit, it seemed like a busy store with loyal customers. In many ways, it reminded me of an old-school record store. Remember those mom-and-pop deals that were super friendly and where you could spend hours hanging out? It’s totally like that. While many vapers use the Internet to learn more about products and buy goods, there are many people that would like to get advice and recommendations from an actual person. This is where The Vapor Spot can excel. Vaping is a relatively new phenomenon and new products are coming out all the time. It can be daunting and confusing for newcomers. Shops like this one can be a valuable resource to vapers.

Even though I generally hate the brick-and-mortar retail experience, I really hope The Vapor Spot does well. It’s a cool store that can help people find the right gear and e-liquids — cool stuff!

Game of Thrones Ascent For Facebook Anyone?

The social manipulation and political intrigue of HBO’s outstanding Game of Thrones meets the social manipulation and political intrigue of Facebook in Game of Thrones Ascent by Disruptor Beam. The developers are aiming to bring the rich world of George RR Martin’s books and HBO’s television shows to a social-game environment. Gamasutra has loads of details on the game and quotes from the team. Here’s one of my favorite clips:

In our game, we’re offering a chance to step into a role and play out those alliances and social conflicts in a story and character-driven environment that is ready-made for it.

We’ve claimed that we’re actually an ‘anti-social game’, and players will be able to backstab each other to their heart’s content. A goal for his team is to deliver on letting audiences experience the primary themes of power and obligation.

As a huge fan of the books and show, I’m way psyched for this one. Insomniac Games has shown me that I can love a Facebook game every bit as much as a traditional console game. I’m hoping Disruptor Beam will captivate me in a similar way…but with dragons and wicked machinations.

Any of you interested in Game of Thrones Ascent for Facebook?

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McKayla Maroney is Not Impressed With “Rowdy” Roddy Piper

Sadly, the McKayla is Not Impressed Tumblr page hasn’t been updated in a long time. Thankfully, one of the latest images is an awesome one. It’s McKayla being unimpressed with WWE legend “Rowdy” Roddy Piper! I’m not sure how you can be unimpressed with such an awesome man, but leave it to McKayla to find a way. Although he kicked all kinds of ass in They Live, he was out of bubblegum (video below). Perhaps that’s why McKayla wasn’t impressed. Continue reading “McKayla Maroney is Not Impressed With “Rowdy” Roddy Piper”

What Are You Playing This Weekend?

It’s all about The Unfinished Swan for PlayStation 3 for me. The game launched for PlayStation Plus members earlier this week and is available for everyone next week. I’m thrilled that critics and fans alike are digging this one so far. Right now I’d say it’s my second-favorite game of the year next to Final Fantasy: Dimensions. The good/bad news is that I started the game on an old work account without realizing it. Starting over again on my personal account is like getting the gift of The Unfinished Swan all over again. Ha!

Aside from that, I’m working on a few personal vaporizer reviews. Since I was never a fan of smoking inside my apartment, PVs allow me to game and vape all I want. Bonus! On a side note, there’s a vendor that crafts a hand-made e-juice called Hadouken. I’m going to have to buy some on principle.

Vaping Diaries #3: Why Use a Variable Voltage E-Cig?

In addition to experimenting with different flavors and different ingredient percentages of e-liquids, hardcore vapers can take things to the next level of (awesome) nerdom by using variable-voltage devices. Typical e-cigarettes, like Safe Cig for example, run at 3.7 volts. Variable voltage models allow you to change the voltage anywhere from three to six volts in increments of 0.1, depending on the model. This allows for even more versatility and experimentation. Different voltages will cause different results with various juices and atomizers, allowing for a myriad of possibilities. Being able to control voltage helps people find the perfect vape.

As far as e-liquids go, voltage levels can alter throat hit, vapor production, and flavor. They’re especially useful for people that are sensitive to or are allergic to propylene glycol. Juices that contain heavy levels of vegetable glycerol or are completely comprised of  it can perform poorly on some e-cig setups. With variable voltage devices, those juices can result in blissful vapes.

Low-resistance atomizers are a no-no on many fixed-voltage devices since they result in more watts. Some batteries simply can’t handle atomizers rated at two ohms or lower. Variable-voltage devices can accomodate atomizers of all ratings. Again, this allows for more experimentation (i.e. nerd fun) that can help people find the perfect vape.

Variable-Voltage devices are another reason tech geeks enjoy vaping. It’s all about experimenting in order to find the perfect blend of taste, throat hit, and vapor. Well-made juices and great equipment will get you far, but finding the voltage that complements that combination perfectly will take things to the next level.

Google October 29 Press Conference and You

Google is holding a major press conference on October 29, 2012. With tons of rumors and some photo leaks of an LG Nexus phone floating around, most experts are certain that product will make a debut at this presser. Earlier in the year, it was rumored that Google will have multiple partners for the next round of Nexus phones.Perhaps the “playground” theme on the invite indicates that multiple children will be frolicking in the Nexus world.

Last month I wrote about a possible Nexus 5 by HTC. Recent rumors point to a Nexus phone by Sony. One interesting, but somewhat disappointing, guess is that Samsung will release a Galaxy Nexus+ that uses the same body as the previous model but with updated innards.

Other guesses have included an updated Nexus 7 and the release of Android 4.2.

What do you think of the Google presser rumors? Are any of you interested in a new Nexi? If so, which rumored Nexus partner interests you the most? (The right answer is HTC, btw.) Please gaze into your crystal balls and predict the Google presser happenings!

Apple October 23 Press Conference and You

Apple has sent out invites for a presser on October 23, 2012. All signs point to the iPad Mini being unveiled, but there are other product rumors floating around. Some pundits believe that a 13-inch Retina Display MacBook Pro will also be announced. Other think that the iMac will be getting a (much-needed?) refresh. There are even rumors of Apple going big with cloud offerings, starting with streaming music with a video coming next year.

Are any of you interested in the iPad Mini? How about the other rumored products? Please leave a comment with what you’d like to see announced during Apple’s October 23, 2012 presser.