Friday, April 1, 2011

Forever Geek

Forever Geek

Hand-Knit Tardis Blanket

Posted: 01 Apr 2011 05:00 AM PDT

Doctor Who is all over the place again, and fans are definitely happy about it. While this is not about the new Doctor Who trailer or anything like that, you just might fancy getting your hands on the creation of hedoknitstic, who posted some really nifty photos of a hand-knit afghan blanket on Flickr.1

For those of you who are still “enjoying” the cold in certain parts of the world, then there is no better blanket to have than this one.
tardisknit

You don’t even have to turn your computer on to see Tardis – just wrap yourself up in this warm (or so it looks) blankie and you’re all set. And yes, the blanket was really handmade by hedoknitstic. If you check the photostream, you’ll see the stages of its creation. At some point, its even a bit unrecognizable.

tardisknit2

It took about two and a half months to finish the entire thing, but hedoknitstic says that if she were to make another one, she’d need about six months. Oh, and this thing is comprised of 202,200 stitches! I don’t know if she is open to making Tardis blankets for sale, but she did point the way to the pattern, which can be found for free at Ravelry.2

  1. hedoknitstic on Flickr
  2. Ravelry Pattern for Tardis Blanket

Play As 2 Spider-Men in “Edge of Time”

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 03:00 PM PDT

When time goes all wonky and Peter Parker ends up dead, who you gonna call?

As it turns out, it’s Spider-Man to the rescue. Of… himself. Hm.

Well, two different Spider-Men come to his aid, actually: “classic” Amazing Spider-Man and futuristic Spider-Man 2099. Spider-Man: Edge of Time is Activision’s next Spidey game, and it puts you in the shoes of these two different superheroes in two different times, both trying to save Peter Parker’s life and prevent a catastrophic future (which is somehow connected to Peter’s death). Confused yet?

Don’t be. Activision‘s last game, Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions, put you in the spider-booties of not two, but four different Spider-Men — including these two. The studio that created that title, Beenox, is responsible for Edge of Time. By those standards, Edge of Time is actually a simpler affair. Fan-favorite writer Peter David is crafting the story, which is said to be packed with suspense and an always counting-down clock.

You’ll go back and forth between Amazing Spider-Man and Spider-Man 2099, and observe how the changes you make in the modern day affect the world of 2099. Edge of Time is scheduled for release this Fall.

Shattered Dimensions was good fun, if uneven, so here’s hoping Edge of Time improves on the formula. Hey, it’s got to be better than the musical, right?

Wins and Fails This Week in Geek v 20

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 12:08 PM PDT

Google Plus One
-1 to keyloggers, +1 to pioneering TV, -1 to collegiate education, +1 to privacy and, of course, a big old +1 to robots, too. Not sure what the preceding means? Read on and learn all about it in this, our milestone twentieth edition of Wins and Fails This Week in Geek.

WIN: +1
Google receives 1 skill point for reinventing the wheel as they roll out their Facebook "like"-esque feature called "+1", which allows users to share content they enjoy with others. To use +1 you need a public Google profile; your name will be displayed along with your vote. The feature isn’t fully implemented yet but Google users are invited to participate in an experimental phase via Google Labs. Because of Google’s tremendous popularity this may well be a sure-fire win amidst Google’s long string of social media fails.

FAIL: Just Plain Panic
This week’s hysteria over the story that Samsung shipped machines with a keylogger installed was, it turns out, completely unnecessary. After further investigation it was revealed the keylogger was a false alarm created by an antimalware program. The false positive was triggered by multi-language support in Windows. Now, why did a simple story about an alleged keylogger under investigation by Samsung and security companies cause such wholesale panic? Somewhere along the line a supervisor at Samsung who spoke to Mohammed Hassan of Network World on the phone confirmed that a keylogger was indeed installed by Samsung in order to monitor the way their machines were being used. Samsung has yet to comment on what exactly the supervisor was smoking at the time.

FAIL: Copyright Infringement
Or at least Boston College’s definition thereof. A "helpful" university document intended to instruct students what activities constitute copyright infringement contained all the usual suspects, but one addition that you’d not expect to find. Boston College considered the use of WiFi to be an intellectual property no-no. That’s right – using a wireless router leads to copyright infringement, according to a leading university. Puzzled? Me too. It’s worth noting that the college has removed the reference to WiFi violating copyright since the story broke yesterday – hence my usage of the past tense throughout this paragraph.

WIN: Privacy
It’s not often these days that privacy enjoys a good old fashioned win, but following the Google Buzz privacy fiasco last year, the FTC and Google have reached an agreement that gives security a shot in the arm. Google must now submit, and by all accounts will do so willingly, to independent privacy audits on a regular basis for the next 20 years. Also included in the settlement between the FTC and Google are stipulations that Google must develop and uphold a stringent privacy program, and must get users’ consent before sharing their information with third parties.

WIN: Robots
Yet again, robots are winning. This time the US is sending special robots to Fukushima to help gather data about radiation levels in areas of the plants too unsafe for humans to enter. The robots will need handlers, who are accompanying them to Japan, and it’s unsaid how near to the robots they will have to be. Presumably a safe enough distance, however, or these would be very pointless robots indeed.

WIN: Pioneering TV
The significantly popular show Pioneer One‘s third episode debuted online on Monday – and in fact, online is the only place you’ll find it. You can stream episodes on blip.tv or download the .torrent files from VODO’s web site. Pioneer One is an entirely web-based "television" program. Regular readers might recall an in-depth review I wrote about Pioneer One‘s first two episodes some time ago. Expect a review of episode three next week. Meanwhile, tune in and enjoy!


“Like” Facebook? You’ll “+1″ Google

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 11:59 AM PDT

 

For ages, it’s been rumored that Google was planning a social network to rival Facebook, since Facebook has radically changed the way so many of us use the web. Google has finally unveiled its next big thing, but it’s not a social network at all. It’s more of a “social search” function built into its popular search engine results.

“Google +1” is a direct competitor to Facebook’s ever-present “Like” button, and you can try it out right now. It hasn’t been implemented for all users yet, but if you opt in to Google +1, you can mark the websites you like best. When one of your Google friends or contacts (via Google Profiles) runs a similar search, they’ll see your +1 likes as a sort of personal advice/recommendation. (You have to have a public Profile to activate the +1 feature.) It adds a more social aspect to web search, and it makes a whole lot of sense once you see it in practice.

It remains to be seen if Google +1 will be able to successfully compete with Facebook’s Like button, since Facebook has such a huge head start. But like Facebook, Google is expected to have its +1 button showing up on other webpages (like the one you’re reading now), paid ads, and lots more.

LOL of the Week: Ironic Hitman: Blood Money Kill

Posted: 31 Mar 2011 10:47 AM PDT

So TheAuZZieGamer is my new YouTube favorite because he makes really entertaining walkthroughs. Like really. Just listen to his sound effects when he makes a kill. His series for Hitman: Blood Money caps the whole thing. In this short “bonus” video he shows us what is hands down the best way to kill your target in the ‘A New Life’ Episode.
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