[Daily Geekery] December 22, 2010

I don't know why I kept thinking today was the last banking day of the year. I mean seriously, what's up with that? Oh well, at least I got all my bills paid early, queued a few stock orders on Citisec Online that successfully completed while I was sleeping and pretty much put my house into order.

Now I just need to finish wrapping my Christmas gifts for my family (since I already completed the ones for my officemates) and then it's on to the holidays in earnest!

Oh yeah, but first geeky stuff!

Links:

• Gawker: Ambulances Called, Show Stopped After 'Big Accident' in Spider-Man Musical - Major accident during one of the performances of the new Spider-Man Musical. This show is so cursed - I don't see how it's going to survive as a Broadway show for so many reasons!
  
• Geekosystem: Packaging Minimalism - Some really cool concept designs for minimalist versions of popular products.
  
• io9: Visions of the Dark Knight in unreleased Arkham Asylum concept art - Batman: Arkham Asylum was a really kick ass game that redefined what a Batman game should be like. And it turns out the concept art behind the game is even more awesome!
  
• Gizmodo: Giz Explains: Where Dust Bunnies Come From - An interesting, informative yet rather gross piece of the nature of dust.
  
• io9: 5 things you can do to save Fringe right now - Don't let Fox kill another great science fiction TV series! Do your part! Fringe needs YOU!
  
• CNN: FCC approves controversial 'net neutrality' rules - The FCC approval of its first set of official rules regarding Net Neutrality should have been celebrated as a great day for internet freedom. Except the FCC agreed with Google and Verizon about mobile internet being okay for varying speeds controlled by ISPs. Or the fact that even regular broadband can still have "fast lanes", but only to the "benefit" of users. How is this good news again?
  
• ABS-CBN News: No more holiday economics, says PNoy - FINALLY, an end to our country's ridiculous habit of having more than 20 holidays falling on week days. Now weekend workers get a fair shot at holidays too! And if you're so pissed about it, then get your local congressman to file a bill to change how the holiday is determined!
  
• Deal News: Seasons Repeatings: How to Regift and Not Get Caught - Yes, an essential guide for all you people who receive a lot of unwanted gifts during the holiday season!

Videos:

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

The Roast of Mario

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Undercover Videogame Bosses

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

ConquistaDora The Explorer




And that's today's Daily Geekery!

[Daily Geekery] December 21, 2010

Christmas is just around the corner and the end of the year just a little beyond that. It's interesting how a lot of the geeky stuff that I'm sharing tend to be summary lists, top 10 lists and all other kinds of lists of things and articles that start with "The Best Of..." and all those kinds of things.

I wonder if I should be compiling similar lists for the Geeky Guide. Hmmm...

Links:

• TIME Tuned In Blog: Vacation Robo-Post: The 10 Worst TV Shows of 2010 - If there are the best of things, then there are the worst of them too. See some of your favorites on this list? You may need to think about that now.
  
• io9: The 10 most regrettable Eighties scifi and fantasy villains on film - The 80's are such a sacred time filled with many amazing geeky icons that live on until today. But the 80's was also full of a heck of a lot of crap. But it's fun crap that's still worth celebrating!
  
• Gizmodo: The Secret Soviet Laser Tank - Soviet Laser Tank. Let's read that line one more time just for the heck of it. Soviet. LASER. Tank. What more need be said?
  
• Techland: The 10 Nerdiest (Read: Most Glorious) Movie Moments of 2010 - Techland - This was a pretty great year for geekdom, especially at the movies. Man, this sounds like something worth discussing in an entry of my own.
  
• io9: 15 Easter eggs to watch out for in Tron Legacy - Easter Eggs are always fun. Easter Eggs in a movie that is clearly trying to tap into the 80's sub-culture built around a flop of a movie? Totally awesome!
  
• Lifehacker: Most Popular Repurposing Tricks of 2010 - Man I'm such a sucker for these Lifehacker lists. Time to get the soldering iron out of storage!

Images:

Sinfest: December 20, 2010



Photoshop Disasters: December 19, 2010



Geekosystem: Batwoman on DADT


 Gizmodo: Retro Thor By Olly Moss


And that's today's Daily Geekery!

[Daily Geekery] December 17, 2010

Well, it's finally the weekend! While the rest of you are probably making stellar weekend plans, I still have one more work shift this Friday night. Ah, the joys of the call center life.

In the meantime, a few links to satisfy your geek cravings.

Links:

• Geekosystem: 9 Great Interpretations of the Internet as Physical Space - Yeah, things always seem better as a list. And with TRON: Legacy finally in theaters, leave it to these geeks to find an appropriate topic. Now I want to re-watch Reboot!
  
• The 17th Annual Screen Actors Guild Awards - The awards season continues and still no nominations for Fringe. What gives?
  
• Techland: TRON: Legacy Review: Virtual Reality Odyssey? Or Takedown of Cyberculture? - A TIME piece on why the TRON: Legacy works, but not necessarily for everyone.
  
• Mashable: 10 Creative Uses of the New Facebook Profile - As much as I'm not a big fan of the profile myself, it does present for some creative applications. And some really silly ones, too!
  
• Syfy cancels Stargate Universe: Is this the end of the Stargate Franchise? - I feel guilty for not taking the time to watch more of the Stargate shows and yet having downloaded a lot of the episodes in preparation for that time I'll get around to it. And now the show is being canned - say it ain't so, SyFy!
  
• 15 sites and services that shuttered in 2010 image - 15 sites and services that shuttered in 2010 - While the Oscars normally marks the passing of members of their industry during the annual awards ceremony, here's our version for the tech world of the internet.

Images:
 Geekosystem: The End of Delicious?
 Gizmodo: Sex and the City 2 as an Inception-style map


And that's today's Daily Geekery!

[Daily Geekery] December 16, 2010

Well, my being sick forced me to stay home instead of going to work today. That's always a mixed blessing since it sucks to be home sick and unable to make the most of things. At the same time, it means my work duties will pile up a bit more, leaving me with roughly the same amount of work but with less time to get things done. You know how it is.

And by some strange coincidence, not as much stuff seemed interesting enough for me to share online. Go figure.

Links:

• Gizmodo: Court Rules That the Government Needs a Warrant Before Secretly Reading Your Email - Given the recent successes on the side of various governments to just seize ISP or web email data at will, this is an important and interesting US ruling.
  
• TIME: Runner-Up: Julian Assange - Person of the Year 2010 - Seriously speaking, I felt Assange contributed a heck of a lot more within the year of 2010 compared to Zuckerberg. Did Facebook do anything particular significant this year?
  
• Chrome Web Store: Chrome For A Cause - I know, this seems like it's fake or something, but it's still an official Google Chrome app, so that has to mean something right? It's only for four days, so I'm still game for it.
  
• Gizmodo: Why TIME's 2010 Person of the Year Means Nothing in 2010 - See, even Gizmodo's guys agree with me!
  
• CNN: House passes 'don't ask, don't tell' repeal - Sure, this is yet another baby step forward, but step forwards are always good! The bigger question is whether or not it will get through the Senate this time around given how the last bill was rushed to vote and failed.

Images:
 Graphjam: Harry Potter Logic
Videos:  OK Go GPS Parade (Back From Kathmandu)


And that's today's Daily Geekery!

[Daily Geekery] December 15, 2010

Well, I'm definitely sick and it's making life so much fun. I even got sent home from work mid-shift, which is a rarity given my role and my department. Go figure.

But I still have some geeky stuff to share with you all, should you have the time. I bet a lot of you are stuck at home sick as well given the colder-than-normal weather the Philippines is experiencing.

Links:

• Geekosystem: 50 Funny Amazon Reviews - Nothing amazing or revolutionary, but certainly entertaining.
  
• Lifehacker: Six Days Working Entirely from Chrome OS - A first-hand account of living the Google Chrome OS life - and it's not that bad!
  
• io9: The 1980s was when science fiction franchises got big - A nice look at why the 80's is great for science fiction and not just for big hair and shoulder pads.
  
• LinkedIn Blog: Did you use one of these 10 most overused buzzwords in your LinkedIn profile this year? - Buzzwords are always a problem in the working world and they litter resumes like pepper in Cajun cooking. This is a fun look to see which ones are used the most - and the ones that you're guilty of using!
  
• TIME Tuned In Blog: 2010 Golden Globe Nominations Announced: The TV Awards - James Poniewozik weighs in on the strange list of Golden Globe nominees for the year.
  
• Lifehacker: Most Popular Free Windows Downloads of 2010 - Lifehacker is a great source for all things geekily techie and this is a great list of free Windows software to make your geeky life better.

Images:
Gizmodo: Rockets Of The World
 Geekosystem: Lucasfilm Christmas Card


And that's the Daily Geekery for today!

[Daily Geekery] December 14, 2010

Most of the local news about the final decision on the Visconde Massacre case came out while I was asleep, so I don't have any articles about that in today's geeky share list. That's the consequence of working in the Philippine call center scene - you miss all the local stuff but you end up being more updated about stuff that happens over in the US or something. Go figure.

Plus I'm not feeling well and I've resorted to watching the gay musical Fruit Fly to make me feel better...and I'm actually enjoying it. Whee!

Links:

• Lifehacker: How to Take Great Portrait Photos - This is an essential article to read for any would-be portrait photographer.
  
• How-to-Geek: How to Use Breaks in Microsoft Word to Better Format Your Documents - More people at work need to remember stuff like this when working on documents. Read up people!
  
• Digital Photography School:
  Epic Cosplay Shoot – Behind the Scenes - Okay, this was pretty awesome. Plus Kingdom Hearts - way coolness!
  
• Topless Robot: 5 Good Things and 5 Exceedingly Bad Things about the Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark Musical - I had been reading a lot of bad press about this musical, but this definitely takes the cake. So sad!
  
• Gizmodo: The Loneliest Spacecraft in the Universe - Now it's time to review what Soyuz is given we're reaching the end of the shuttle era.
  
• How-to-Geek: Is Your Desktop Printer More Expensive Than Printing Services? - An interesting method for determining if it's really worth it to have a printer at home.
  
• Gizmodo: These Samurai Toothpick Holders Bring Great Honor To Your Appetizers - Yeah, almost anything with a samurai katana handle becomes pretty cool.

Images:
Geekosystem: R2-D2 Headphones
 Geekosystem: 8-Bit Angry Birds
Graphjam: Pig Butchering Guide
Videos:  Teach Parents Tech
 We Are the Hag


Okay, the last one was just totally campy. I wanted to share the strange joy that is this movie Fruit Fly.

And that's the Daily Geekery for today!

[Daily Geekery] December 13, 2010

Okay, these Monday Daily Geekery posts are really heavy ones - I may need to consider some sort of a "Weekend Edition" for these posts or maybe just kill the Daily Geekery experiment entirely. They're fun and all and they aren't too complicated to write although they do take time given all the link copying and pasting and all that stuff.

Let's get over this one - huzzah!

Links:

• Lifehacker: Cut Out the Fake Work and Focus on Projects that Really Matter - Are you days filled with "fake work"? This Lifehacker post is a great wake-up call and a challenge to re-examine your daily work routine.
  
• Gizmodo: Why Most Hardware Specs Are Total Bullshit - A Gizmodo rant about why the listed specs may not matter as much.
  
• Lifehacker: Browser Speed Tests: IE 9, Firefox 4 Beta, Chrome's Crankshaft, and Opera 11 Beta - While the folks at Lifehacker / Gizmodo do this every now and then, the latest tests seem to indicate the new version of Chrome holds a lot of promise.
  
• Gawker: The Top Three Myths About Anonymous - You know, they're not exactly the anti-thesis of Big Brother.
  
• io9: Completely crowd financed film The Tunnel could be better than The Descent - This movie is cool since (1) all financing was crowd-sourced and (2) it promises to be freakishly scary!
  
• io9: Geeky Gifts For Kids - A quick guide to geeky gifts for kids...or those who think they're still young enough for them.
  
• Geekosystem: Blizzard’s Rumored 5-Year Plan Leak Looking Less Rumor-y Now That People Are Resigning - Well, now isn't this interesting? A schedule for how Blizzard is going to milk us!
  
• The Oatmeal: Cat vs Internet - Okay, this strip was ridiculously funny. But you need to be a geeky cat owner to get a full appreciation for things.
  
• io9: Your Favorite Science Fiction Yarns, Reinvented as Kids' Books - I would so pay for a kiddie version of Dune.
  
• Lifehacker: The Main Reason Why You Suck at Interviews: Lack of Preparation - As someone who has conducted a LOT of job interviews, I totally agree with this article. Prepare people!
  
• Inquirer.net: ‘Tell truth about GMA’ campaign launched - First the Truth Commission. Then now it's a Truth Campaign. Can't people try, I dunno, gathering evidence and trying to file an air-tight case against the former president instead of just whining about it?
  
• IDW: Classics Mutilated - I so want this - so cool!
  
• Geekosystem: The Punk Justice League of America - Yeah, we geeks are a sucker for reimagination concept art like this.
  
• Playstation.com: The Sly Collection - I will get this. Just sharing.

Images:
Geekosystem: Real Life Hello Kitty
 Hand-crafted Plants vs Zombies car accessories!
 Geekosystem: Marvel Dinos
 Gizmodo: Facebook Artwork


And that's today's Daily Geekery. Here's to a good week ahead for all of us!

[Daily Geekery] December 9, 2010

Another day, a heck of a lot more geeky things to enjoy. There's just so much going on in the geeky world, whether your particular line of interest is related to tech, television or somethings else that starts with the letter T.

Okay, my shares don't all start with the letter T, but it made for an interesting opening line.

Links:

• How-to-Geek: How to Use and Customize Google Chrome Web Apps - Chrome Apps are still in their infancy - heck, a lot of them are just bookmarks. But there's a lot of potential and the concept is bound to go far and so you can expect more and more of these guide to come out.
  
• How-to-Geek: Create Your Own Geeky LED Holiday Lights with Old Bottles - How-to-Geeky decided to get something out for the holidays - your own LED-inspired decor made from old bottles!
  
• Gizmodo: Transparent Specimens: Making Flesh Invisible - Yeah, it may seem like animal cruelty or perhaps just mutilation, but it's still pretty darned cool too look.
  
• Lifehacker: The Five Best Chrome Webapps That Aren't Just Bookmarks - Our first look at Chrome Web Apps is a mixed bag at best with a LOT of bookmarks disguised as apps. So a lot of fellow geeks, such as the Lifehacker crew, are trying to sort through the initial mess and figure out which ones just might be worth installing.
  
• io9: 7 scenes from The Walking Dead comic that should have been in the show - With the recent conclusion of the first 6-episode season of The Walking Dead, naturally some things got left out. What do you think?
  
• Geekosystem: Chrome OS Explained - Don't get what the whole deal is with the recently announced Google Chrome OS? Well here's the skinny via Geekosystem.
  
• Lifehacker: When eBooks Are More (and Less) Cost Effective Than Physical Books - With the recent announcement of the new Google eBookstore, a lot of attention has now been drawn towards eBooks and their value. Here's a quick guide.
  
• TIME: New Gay Resorts Hope to Attract a Booming Travel Market - Gay travel makes for an awesome opportunity for business. So why not completely gay-focused (and not just friendly) hotels?
  
• TIME Tuned In Blog: Review of Glee, A Very Glee Christmas - James Poniewozik have an interesting look at things in the TV world. And so I always hear (read) what he has to say when it comes to shows, even ones like Glee.
  
• So, Why Is Wikileaks A Good Thing Again? - A fun site that tries to break down all the Wikileaks revelations (and not just he recent cables) for the benefit of those who like hipster-friendly memes.
  
• Geekosystem: Eight Great Google Chrome Web Apps - Geekosystem's turn at the plate to sort through all the new Chrome Web Apps for the potentially good stuff.
  
• Geekosystem: UK Safe Sex Campaign Parodies Mario and Mega Man, is Crazy [Video] - Oh yes, the best way to promote safe sex is by creating an 8-bit style of video that is obviously inspired by the likes of Super Mario and Mega Man. Oh joy!
  
• Lamebook: Street Fighterbook - Yeah, it's always fun when fictional characters engage in pseudo-Facebook activities.
  
• Lifehacker: Most Popular Top 10s of 2010 - I love things that appear in lists. What I love more are geeky top ten lists.

Images:

I so agree with this, hehe.
 Geekosystem: Chris Nolan's map of Inception
 Gizmodo: Justin Van Genderen's concept travel posters for comic book cities
Videos:  The Killers - Boots

See more funny videos and funny pictures at CollegeHumor.

Oh the joys of retcons indeed.

And that's the Daily Geekery for today!

[Videos] Musical Touch Tones

The folks over at Gizmodo certainly have a knack for finding quirky, geeky, unusual things all over the internet. Ranging from major industry news to random images of humor, they're bound to find something.

Case in point, this hilarious video of a guy who set up several touch tone phones as his virtual keyboard and proceeds to play actual music. Oh yes, it's geekery at its best!


Telephone Piano

[Star Wars] Lego Mini-Scale Creations

Lego remains to be one of the geekiest toys ever created thus the advent of Star Wars-themed creations remains one of the most logical things ever.

We've seen Lego creations that have been pretty big followed by even geekier creations that are freakishly bigger and we've seen creations that have gone old school, and so it's no surprise that someone would try...

...going very, very, very small! As in using a scale of 1cm : 2 meters. My thanks to Gizmodo for all the Lego geekery.

[Microsoft] Enter: Vista

Today's the "big" launch of Windows Vista, the latest version of the Windows Operating System.

Of course the question on everyone's mind is if it's worth the time, effort and most of all money to switch to the new OS already. The Geeky Guide has been doing its part to research possibilities, and here's what we've come up with in terms of research data.

Dropping by CNET.com, there's a lot to be said about Windows Vista, of course. There have been some disappointments for XP users upgrading to Vista since the new license policy doesn't allow for a clean install - you need a certified version of Windows XP still installed on your PC. Furthermore, experts are saying Vista isn't worth solely the security aspect in terms of a purchasing decision. Vista for now performs similary to a well-patched Windows XP so security alone shouldn't force a decison. Heck, most users are going to end up with the home edition, won't even get all the security features that the Microsoft marketing folk keep ranting about.

I guess if you really want to experience Aero, then go right on ahead and upgrade. Otherwise, it's better to wait it out some more while the other software and hardware companies catch up in making their products fully compatible with the new OS.

PC World also had a lot of interesting things to say about Vista's release. They have both a list of 15 reasons to switch and why you shouldn't as well, and both sides present some pretty interesting arguments. Of course for those wanting to just know more about what it's all about, try checking out this extensive guide. Lastly, if you're just after the look-and-feel of the new OS, you might want to experiment with these Windows XP hacks to make your PC run like Vista.

On the other side of the fence are those that argue that this is also a good time to consider switching to a new OS since migrating to Vista will have a learning curve factored in as well. You can consider going Mac now or perhaps trying Ubuntu Linux as some bloggers argue. (Credit to Digg for that last reference.

Personally, I think it's too early to tell if it's worth the switch. For now I'm staying with XP unless I need to get a new computer. Only then will I consider going the Vista route, or perhaps I'll finally make that switch to Ubuntu, hehe.

Related Links:

• Engadget: Windows Vista in pictures
  
• CNNMoney.com: Microsoft launches Vista worldwide
  
• CNET.com: Windows Vista Complete Guide
  
• CNET News.com: Vista's actual launch? Think whisper, not bang
  
• ZDNet News: A frat party for Vista's debut
  
• Gizmodo: Vista Launch Party Schwag Bag: Add It Up