[Geeky Guide] A Fairly Geeky 2008

Image by Patrick Doheny via FlickrWell fellow geeks, it's the last day of the year. This may not have been the most productive year in terms of the Geeky Guide, but we certainly made some interesting steps forward.

It was great that I finally go back to the US this year although it was a shame that I didn't get the chance to meet any Geeky readers that might have been in the Los Angeles area. Sure, it drastically reduced my posting frequency, but I did get to see a lot of great things while I was out there and I got to watch the LA production of Wicked to boot!

This year was one of my most gadgetful since I finally had a laptop and a pretty gnarly digital camera but sadly I lost both when someone broke into my home. That forced me and my partner to move out of Pasay over to Makati and thus further reduced my posting frequency given the initial (and somewhat on-going) challenges with our internet provider.

This was also the year that I finally decided to get a domain for this blog and while I probably haven't maximized its potential given the domain, at least we already have it and that's a good start. Maybe as we move forward we'll think of bigger and brighter things to do with it, haha.

So to all you fellow geeks or just wandering readers who lost their way and ended up here, let me just greet you a VERY HAPPY NEW YEAR!

The Geeks are coming for you 2009!!!

[Personal] A Geeky Housewarming Mixer [SURVEY]

If you (a) actually read this blog and (b) live a reasonable distance within or just beyond the Metro Manila area here in the Philippines then allow me to ask a quick question:

Would you be interested in coming to a housewarming / mixer / social for fellow Geeky Guide readers / supports / fans like you?

I live in the Palanan, Makati area now and I'm thinking of a weekend in Janaury. Reply in the comments or email me in case you're interested / free.

I can probably offer finger food and we'll need to chip in for drinks but beyond that, mostly everything is fair game, I guess.

Cheers.

[rOckY]

[GeekyCast] Reviving the GeekyCasts

It's been ages since I last posted a GeekyCast - more than a year, in fact, and given the recent prodding of MyPodcast.com's deletion notice, I figured it wouldn't hurt to try my hand (or my voice) at another one for the heck of it.

This is more of just a general updates podcast to get back into the groove of things and sort of help everyone know what's been happening with the Geeky Guide and why posting frequency has dropped off. Perhaps I'll be able to manage a better one when we have the time after the holidays, eh?

Download this episode (9 min)

[Viral Video Chart] Gaming Expert

For many parents, you can't help but finding new ways to enjoy that period of childhood when babies soak up things like a sponge. We teach them their first words and then move on to their first catch phrases that look great on home video.

Then you get geek parents who teach their kids gaming knowledge to feature on YouTube. Riiight...


#7 - Gaming Genius

[Viral Video Chart] Mac vs PC

The Mac vs PC argument has been going on for years and will probably never end until computers become self-aware and resolve the argument themselves. In the meantime, geeks around the world continue to argue about which is better.

And then there are those who take things to the next level and create YouTube videos involving Transformers-style robots duking it out. Yeah, I'm still a sucker for all things robotic.


#1 - Mac vs PC

[Holidays] Happy Holidays!

I'm going to be going home to the folks for Christmas Eve and so instead I have this scheduled blog entry to make sure I don't forget to say...

HAPPY HOLIDAYS FELLOW GEEKS!!!

[Viral Video Chart] Fanmade ThunderCats Movie Trailer.

This little video has really been making the rounds as of late, and I can perfectly understand why. In case you didn't get the memo, the 80's are pretty much cool again and with the success of the Transformers movie, another projects like G-Force / Gatchaman and Astro Boy are also making their way to the big screen. So why not everyone's favorite feline-inspired superheroes, The ThunderCats?

Sure, it's just a mash-up of different movies with the ThunderCats colors superimposed on the actors. However you have to admit that it's a pretty darned good mash-up that does a great job of capturing what every fan wants to see on the big screen. Now all we need is someone to make this concept real...


#2 - Thundercats Movie trailer (fanmade)

[GeekyCast] To Podcast or Not To Podcast?

Image by abstrakone via FlickrIt's been ages since I posted my last GeekyCast here on the Geeky Guide - so long, in fact, that I bet there's a large number of site readers who may not even know I once ventured into this side of things. Well, I did, and results were mixed.

I got a notification from my podcast host, MyPodcast.com, that given the length of time since my last post, my account is due to expire soon and all previous podcasts are scheduled for deletion within the month. A part of me was worried about this and wanted to rush out a quick podcast just to prevent the deletion, but then it got me thinking about the whole thing first.

So this begs the question - should I continue with the GeekyCasts at all or is this just a waste of time? Do you, the geeky readers of this site, feel that the GeekyCasts were a valuable addition to the site's content or was this just an idle diversion that took me away from the core demographic of the blog and why people bother to read the Geeky Guide at all?

Vote yea or nay in the comments section or just leave your opinion, it's fine by me.

[YouTube] The Room

I'm the kind of YouTube viewer that actually clicks on the "Promoted Videos" when they catch my fancy - more and more I've noticed that there are certainly some rather interesting short films that make their way onto the list and not just commercials being promoted by major companies. You should try it out sometime.

This particular video comes from the Vancouver Film School, that seems to have posted a lot of their videos under an official YouTube channel. This reminds me such much of the Cube film franchise given the premise, albeit with a lot less gore involved at least. It's definitely worth a look-see, I assure you.


The Room - Vancouver Film School (VFS)

[Movies] X-Men Origins: Wolverine HD Trailer

The buzz around next year's Wolverine movie is certainly growing, and the latest trailer really starts to tell the viewer a lot more about what the story plans to cover and some of the wicked ways they go about it.

It's certainly worth the time to view it.

X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HD

#2 - X-MEN ORIGINS: WOLVERINE HD

[Writing] Authors Serving Different Purposes

Image by Kenn Wilson via FlickrAs of late, I'm finally reading my long ago purchased copy of Neil Gaiman's Fragile Things, an anthology of various short stories he's written. Like any other frustrated writer, reading really good stories or novels from authors like Gaiman are certain to trigger a wide variety of possible reactions and thoughts. As I pondered over my own sentiments based on this particular Gaiman creation, the idea for this entry really came to be.

As much as I love and respect a select number of authors, I appreciate them for very different reasons and they make me think or do different things as well. Yes, I know there's nothing special about this and it's a near certainty given the diverse world of writing and who unique we all are as individuals, but still I thought it would be an interesting exercise to think about the authors I like and try to better understand what each one brings to my virtual writing table.

Let's start with the author that triggered this entire line of thought - Neil Gaiman.This master of the fantastic and mystical is one of those rare authors that really strike me in a significant way. Sure, like many other I recognize and respect his talent as a writer and I enjoy reading his various works, but that's not it. For me in particular, Neil Gaiman is the author that inspires me to write. I can constantly battle with the challenge of writer's block on my own as long as I want to but there are few writers that make me want to return to the desk and try again. Gaiman is that kind of an author for me - he just does something for me that makes me want to try writing again and again and again even though I often run out of steam and hit road blocks as I try to develop stories to their logical end.

In contrast, the man I tout as my more favorite author of all - Frank Herbert - does not inspire the same creative drive in me. Instead Herbert is the man I return to in order to find new insights or wisdom to some extent. I've read all of the core Dune Chronicles books and I've re-read all of them countless times already. With every reading I uncover some new gem or marvel, something else that reminds me of just how complex the world out there is and how closely we skirt danger just by being human in a world of average people. I don't necessarily go running back to write down my thoughts after an intimate encounter with Herbert;s stories, but the intellectual exercise is certainly refreshing in its own way and certainly rewarding one way or another.

Another author I go out of my way to follow is the rather enigmatic Haruki Murakami. I couldn't possibly expect to write stories of the same caliber as he does nor could I claim to fully understand everything he writes about. Oh no, Murakami certainly has a way of testing the very limits of your imagination at times and then effortlessly breaks those definitions apart and forces you to re-think your perspective of the fantastic. Murakami is the author I return to when I want to feel a sense of wonder with the world and to better appreciate the possibility of things beyond our mortal ken. His stories make even the most mundane events become extraordinarily strange given his penchant for blurring the lines between cold reality and surreal fantasy.

Then there's Terry Pratchett who I dare not try to emulate in terms of writing style and who clearly does not inspire one into deep philosophical thinking. Instead I turn to him for humor of a higher order - not your common slapstick or tired cliches but more along the lines of witty and intelligent humor, pointed barbs formed by word craft that really provide an interesting perspective to things and never fail to make me smile. His Discworld novels retain a very special place in my heart (and in my shelving arrangement) given they're the kind of books a pseudo-intellectual geek like myself can always return to when the "real world" gets too overwhelming.

That's just a sampling of how I view the authors I tag as my "favorites" or ones that I like / follow, and you very well know there's a lot more to be said about any one of those authors. I might even take the time to expand this into a full sries of entries with more details and actual citations from their works in order to explain my thinking, who knows right? But of course, these are just my authors of interest.

How about you geeky reader? What authors do you follow? Do you know why you do? Do they inspire you into action or just into deep thought? Do they make you want to follow in their footsteps as writers or do they simply give you something to do when the power's out? Have you ever really taken a long, deep, hard look at the kinds of stories or books that you read and tried to figure out why?

Perhaps it's time you did. There's certainly value in the suggestion.

[Geeky Guide] Back to Regular Programming

Well, it's been pretty much a month since my partner and I moved out of the higher crime risk area of Pasay City into the relatively safer neighborhood of Makati City. As mentioned in a prior post, my ability to update the Geeky Guide was going to be severely limited given I didn't have an ISP at our new address just yet and after a month of phone calls, site surveys and follow-ups, we finally settled down to a deal with Globe Wireless Broadband and we're back online.

I know I've missed a lot of events of significant geeky importance over the past few weeks and I'm doing to do my best to make up for things. For those of you who stuck around and waited for my return, my appreciation. I do hope I make it worth your while.

So on with the geekery!

rOckY