And the Geek Oscar for the best light-saber goes to…

By Mark O’Neill


“I’d like to thank George for making my light-sabre a nice shade of red….”

The writers strike has been resolved and the Oscars back on track for February 24th. But before Daniel Day-Lewis can pick up his Oscar, we need to first have the “Scientific and Technical Awards of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences” – apparently otherwise known as the “Geek Oscars”.

These Oscars are apparently for the techie geeky side of movies – the CGI effects and the other special effects that go into making a good movie. Did you totally dig that alien monster in a movie you watched last night? The people who wrote the software for that alien are probably contenders for a Geek Oscar. George Lucas is probably a regular nominee.

As the Washington Post put it : “without these people, movies would just be actors acting. You might as well go see a play.”



Monster Cables: A bastardization of epic proportions

Everyone loves their expensive home theater setup. Some of us have poured thousands of dollars into enjoying reruns of the Brady Bunch; and after splurging on the TV, audio setup, and next gen media player, said devices need to be wired up for optimum viewing pleasure. Most people with money to burn would decide on outrageously overpriced Monster cables to get the job done.

Sure, Monster has –up until recently– had a pretty spotless reputation with HDMI and other cabling, but did you know that retailers make about an 80 percent profit off of pretty much every Monster cable that they force down your throat? The Consumerist put together a handy table which outlines the wholesale price of these cables as compared to what you and I would actually pay. A 19 foot Monster HDMI cable retails for about $180 with the wholesale clocking in at just under $100, creating a comfortable profit margin of 80 bucks.

You’re probably thinking right now: “But Ilya, if Monster Cables make things just a smidge more ‘Hi-Def’ then aren’t they worth it? Can’t you spare some of your advance journalistic integrity and rugged good looks to explain to me why the price is actually worth it?”. Sorry, but they’ve been proven to offer just about no visible improvement over cheaper wires.

In short: Go with cheaper cables and put the extra few hundred towards some new equipment.

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The Simpsons….in real life!

By Mark O’Neill

I’m sure lots of you are big fans of the Simpsons and if so, then here’s something you’ll appreciate.  Someone went to a lot of time and effort to recreate the opening scene from the programme.  Judging from the look of the police officer and the background, it looks like it was shot in Great Britain.

The video is remarkably accurate, right down to Maggie blasting the car horn!

“So Jaredpower, what’s your burger-flipping experience?”

By Mark O’Neill

What is it with all the Second Life stories appearing in the mainstream media at the moment? Papers such as the Washington Post and the New York Times are suddenly going all Linden Labs crazy.

It seems that as well as the virtual reality world being used by terrorists and spies, it is also being used by employers to conduct virtual job interviews. The big employers are buying up virtual islands where they can hold company meetings and interviews.   A New York Times reporter undertook a dummy interview with Linden Labs to see how it was all done.

I guess it would be a big advantage if the job applicant was in another part of the country or even another country altogether.   Holding virtual interviews like this would also be beneficial if the job vacancy was in the area of computers, programming and virtual reality.   If the applicant demonstrated proficiency in getting into Second Life for the interview then they have already partly proved they are comfortable in that area.

But to be honest, if I was an employer and the job applicant’s name was Jaredpower Afarensis then I would be putting the local psych hospital on my phone speed-dial.

Let’s play Sim Iraq!

By Mark O’Neill

The latest tool in the US government’s arsenal in the war on terror – a virtual reality Sims game. Or as the Pentagon likes to call it, a ‘Human, Social, and Cultural Behavior Modeling program‘

Just a few days ago, I mentioned how the US intelligence community was using ‘Second Life’ for training. Now it seems it is also building virtual reality models of Iraq to get to know the place better.

They are hoping that by using these Sims-type games for training, they will discover :

how people communicate; what avenues of communication are traditionally trusted; who in that culture holds power and influence; how do tribal and trade associations interact; and where/how can societal behaviors contribute to options for stability and reduction in conflict potential.

Or they can just do what I did when I played the Sims. Set up a penthouse, buy a hot-tub and invite lots of hot girls around for a party.

Go for a spin in Google Earth’s F-16!

By Mark O’Neill

I am just about getting the hang of this flying thing in Google Earth’s flight simulator. But now it has just got a lot cooler! A very enterprising person has made an overlay picture of a F-16 cockpit that you can use while flying.

Just double-click on the file to open up Google Earth, load up the flight simulator and take off.

Make sure you’re using the F-16 though and not the other plane. Then as you fly, you can see the cockpit panels in front of you. Remember though that it’s only a picture so there’s still no sound.

Express your love geek-style

By Mark O’Neill

Only six days to go until Valentine’s Day so you need to start thinking now about how to best express your feelings to the love of your life (unless the love of your life consists of a computer!).

As a public service to our geeks, Geeks Are Sexy will now help you to make this year’s Valentines Day one to remember.

How about a T-shirt that takes one of the greatest love ditties of all time and turns it into Geek-Speak? You can even give the lady of your life one of her own.

While wearing that Romeo (or Juliet) of a T-shirt, you can then proceed to the next stage by giving him or her your best chat-up line along with a geeky Valentines Day card (nothing beats telling them that they “are your Tetris“)

While they are swooning to that, you can then serve up some tasty nutritious Macaroni and Cheese and a bottle of Mountain Dew.

Then snuggle up on the couch and watch a nice romantic movie that both of you will like.

Then get him or her over to the bedroom area and show off your geek sex techniques (cue predictable one-liners about “defragging their hard-drive”).

But if giving him or her a T-shirt doesn’t rock your boat then here’s even more gift suggestions.

Oh and if you don’t have a Valentine yet then this year may be the year for you. Here’s five ways to say “Be My Valentine!” to a geek. I just love the idea of ambushing them in World of Warcraft.

What are your Valentines plans?   Got any tips to share?