Tag: Geek Stuff

Rediscovered Red-Crested Tree Rat is Really a Pokemon

The red-crested tree rat hasn’t been spotted since 1898, so scientists were thrilled to encounter one earlier this month. Too bad it’s nothing more than a frickin’ Pokemon! Just look at it. It’s obvious that this thing isn’t a “normal” creature. I’m also certain that it doesn’t call itself a red-crested tree rat. It surely has a cute Japanese-sounding name that it repeats over and over again.

Come on guys. Back me up on this one. Don’t you think this so-called red-crested tree rat is just a Pokemon?!?

Source

Comcast Blocking The Pirate Bay: A Sign of Things to Come?

Updated: According to TorrentFreak Internet service providers Comcast, Rogers, and Optus have started blocking The Pirate Bay. The site is used by millions of people to acquire pirated movies, television shows, and music tracks. Honestly, I’m surprised this hasn’t happened sooner and that more ISPs haven’t blocked the site. Sure, people will cite free speech and net neutrality, but telecommunications companies tend to act first and deal with the consequences later.

Any of you use Comcast? Is your access to The Pirate Blocked? If so, are you going to change providers? For those of you not on Comcast, would you change ISPs if you didn’t have access to The Pirate Bay?

Update: Apparently this might be a problem with The Pirate Bay and not ISPs. Phew!

Source

Facebook Hired PR Agency to Slam Google

In an awesome bit of nerd warfare news, Facebook hired a PR agency to get negative articles written about Google. Considering the somewhat shady origins of The Facebook, aggressive and morally questionable tactics shouldn’t be too surprising. Still, it was a brazen move that was reckless at best and idiotic at worst. Here’s more from The Daily Beast’s Dan Lyons:

For the past few days, a mystery has been unfolding in Silicon Valley. Somebody, it seems, hired Burson-Marsteller, a top public-relations firm, to pitch anti-Google stories to newspapers, urging them to investigate claims that Google was invading people’s privacy. Burson even offered to help an influential blogger write a Google-bashing op-ed, which it promised it could place in outlets like The Washington Post, Politico, and The Huffington Post.

But who was the mysterious unnamed client? While fingers pointed at Apple and Microsoft, The Daily Beast discovered that it’s a company nobody suspected — Facebook.

There are several amusing things about this situation. First, I can’t believe that Facebook even did this. Did it really think that it wouldn’t come back to haunt the company? Considering the opinionated and informal nature of modern tech journalism, of course someone was going to rat out the PR flack and of course someone would connect the dots back to Facebook.

Secondly, I love that this story was written by Dan Lyons. Some of you know him as Fake Steve Jobs. That’s awesome.

Source

Coffee Talk #348: Internet Bandwidth Caps Revisited

As I mentioned in March, AT&T has started bandwidth caps for its DSL and U-Verse Internet services. On the cable side, Comcast is still using the same cap it introduced in 2008…as if its network hasn’t improved.

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, “Sugar” Shane Mosley running away from the smaller Manny Pacquiao, Phil Jackson’s future, or the latest episode of Game of Thrones, Coffee Talk is the place to do it.

As I mentioned in March, AT&T has started bandwidth caps for its DSL and U-Verse Internet services. DSL customers are now capped at 150GB per month, while U-Verse customers are now capped at 250GB per month. The typical (BS) reasons of “network management” and “avoiding congestion” were the reasons given for the caps. The reality is that AT&T will make money from overage fees. Conveniently, the caps also help protect the company’s U-Verse television service from Internet streaming services like Hulu and Netflix.

On the cable side, Comcast remains capped at 250GB per month — you know, the cap that it introduced in 2008. Internet use has only gotten heavier since then, with streaming video and downloadable games really taking off over the last few years. Meanwhile the cap remains the same. Certainly Comcast has improved its network capacity, throughput, and efficiency, but for some reason it hasn’t increased its cap.

If you’re an AT&T or Comcast customer then you should be pissed off by these bogus practices. If you’re not, you should be pissed off by the trend. Bandwidth caps stifle innovation in Internet services. If you like being able to download a full Xbox 360 game as an impulse purchase or want to maximize the value of your Netflix subscription then you should act. Write your Internet service provider and your congressman about AT&T’s caps (pure money grab) and Comcast’s laziness. Let’s start of Monday with some righteous anger and kick this week’s ass!!!

Gran Turismo…the Clothing Line

If Konami’s Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker clothes aren’t your style, then perhaps the Gran Turismo Boutique has something that’s more you. Touted as “custom made performance wear exclusively developed for Gran Turismo enthusiasts”, this clothing line is as sleek and expensive…just like the cars you see in Gran Turismo 5.

If you have a moment, check out the Gran Turismo threads. Any of you interested in picking some up?

Source via Joystiq

Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker…the Clothing Line

Konami has announced a line of clothing inspired by Metal Gear Solid: Peace Walker. The threads go on sale April 11, 2011 and encompass a wide variety of products. Sadly for the ladies, it’s a men’s clothing line. Here are some details from the press release:

Available for purchase online in US and Canada beginning on April 11, 2011, the collection, featuring well-known Peace Walker images, will include coats, sweatshirts, pants, t-shirts and hats, all inspired by clothing worn by characters in game. Additional items in the clothing line will be released quarterly and surrounding certain special events throughout the year.

The clothing line was created in partnership with musterbrand LLC, a global design group focused on bringing digital creations to the real world.

It’s a good thing Konami didn’t send this press release out on April 1 because I would have dismissed it as a joke. As it is, I want to know if you would proudly wear some Peace Walker branded threads. Perhaps I’ll grow a Solid Snake mullet to complete the look.

N8R’s Nicotine-Dust Filled iMac

Ever wonder what the insides of an iMac look like when they’re covered with nicotine dust? Thanks to RPadholic N8R, you won’t have to wonder any longer. Here are some nasty pictures of the gruesome effects of smoking…on an iMac.

Ever wonder what the insides of an iMac look like when they’re covered with nicotine dust? Thanks to RPadholic N8R, you won’t have to wonder any longer. Here are some nasty pictures of the gruesome effects of smoking…on an iMac.

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Happy Birthday Twitter!

Twitter turned five-years old yesterday. It’s crazy how fast the service has grown and how influential it has become. People use it to follow their favorite celebrities, athletes, and verbal entertainers. People use it to track their favorite news sources in real time. People use it to stay informed about global disasters (Haiti, Japan) and make sure their loved ones are safe. People use it to spread news on the latest political revolutions (Egypt, Libya) as they happen. In retrospect, it’s hilarious that pundits initially dismissed Twitter as a web site about nothing.

As for me, I use Twitter to follow news, keep in touch with friends, see what some of my favorite writers are up to, promote RPad.tv content, communicate with readers, and more. It’s my favorite social media tool, by far. I love its quickness, brevity, and ease of use.

What do you think of Twitter’s growth over the last five years? Are you impressed by what it has become? Do you enjoy using Twitter? For those of you that are down on it, what don’t you like about Twitter?

Mozilla Releases Firefox 4

Hot on the trails of Google Chrome 10 and Internet Explorer 9, Mozilla has released Firefox 4. The browser offers a number of interesting features and a huge speed improvement. I’ve been playing with the browser for about an hour and I’m very impressed with it. In terms of speed, it seems quite competitive with the latest Chrome and IE products. That said, I don’t see it displacing Chrome as my primary browser.

Have any of you downloaded FF4 yet? If so, I’d love to hear your thoughts on Mozilla’s latest and greatest.