The creators of Rock Vibe need money to get this project off the ground, as building hardware isn’t exactly a cheap endeavor. So far they’ve raised about $15,000 on Kickstarter (an incredibly cool crowd-funding site, if you haven’t seen it). Unfortunately they have not yet reached their goal of $32,000, and they only have three days left.

In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that one of the creators of Rock Vibe is a woman named Rupinder Dhillon who is the sister of a good friend. That doesn’t take away from how cool her project is. Hardware/ software combinations like Rock Vibe will help blind gamers now, but I have no doubt that their concept has the potential to heighten the gaming experiences of sighted gamers in the future.

Please join me in supporting the development of Rock Vibe.

Best Christmas Movie

Winner

Die Hard (1988) - ”Now I have a machine gun. Ho ho ho.” It’s a tale of redemption set on Christmas. That makes it a Christmas movie. Deal with it.

Runner-up

Elf (2003) – Everyone likes this movie. If you don’t I recon you might be one of those damned communists.

Best Christmas Television Episode

Winner

South Park – Woodland Critter Christmas (Season 8, Episode 14, 2004) – Stan helps some adorable Woodland Critters give birth to their savior. Insanity ensues. This isn’t for the faint of heart, or for young children.

Full Episode

Runner-up

Futurama – Xmas Story (Season 2, Episode 8 1999) – 1,000 years in the future, a robotic santa (John Goodman) distributes gifts on Xmas. Robot Santa’s behavior standards were set too high in the factory and he judges everyone as naughty… And tried to murder them for their misdeeds.

Best Christmas Song

Winner

O Holy Night – Matt Mulholland - Be sure to read the description of this song, and stick around for the crescendo at the end; Mulholland has exceptional vocal range.

Runner-up

The Night Santa Went Crazy - Weird Al Yankovic

Happy Holidays!

Kim was blessed with dominion over a hill no foreign leader cared enough to conquer, and he did such an exemplary job of keeping his people in the dark that the overwhelming majority of them have no idea what the world beyond their town looks like, let alone realize how obscenely oppressed they are. There is no better example of the dangers of excessive government than that of North Korea. It’s like the people of North Korea are living in the Matrix. They are slaves, and they don’t have any idea just how thoroughly they have been subjugated.

One day the people of North Korea will have to wake up, and I do not envy the pain and anger they will feel when they realize how extensively they have been harmed by their dictators. I have my doubts that Kim’s death will bring about that change, but I hope it comes sooner than later for them. No one deserves to live in mental and physical slavery.

Good riddance Kim. Even if your death doesn’t improve the lives of your people, the world is a better place without you in it.

Sure adapting the classic board game Battleship for a movie seemed a little strange, but I gave it the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the movie would be a WWII naval extravaganza like Pearl Harbor (without sucking), or some Cold War ear Hunt For Red October with more explosions and less Alec Baldwin. Nope.

Now that some trailers are available it’s clear that “adapted’ is the wrong word, “mangled” is more accurate.

Judging a movie by the trailer is typically a bad idea, but this is clearly the proverbial exception. This dreck looks like someone dumped Battleship (the game) and Transformers 2 into a Blendtec Blender for a rousing game of “Will It Blend?” The answer is, yes, it will blend, but I wouldn’t recommend drinking it.

That trailer looks like it was yanked from Michael Bay’s porn collection.

I dub thee, Battleshit.

(Image via IMDB)

Growing up my parents pretty much only purchased toys on birthdays and at the Holidays, but they would buy reading material whenever we asked. The thing was, I hated reading. I didn’t enjoy reading mostly because I had a very difficult time learning to do it. GamePro was the first written material I encountered that helped me see the immediate benefits of reading. Best of all, I could get a new one every month!

I persuaded my mom to buy me a subscription when I was in second grade, and I read every issue from then until its recent cancellation. There were times where I didn’t own any current gen consoles, and couldn’t play the games they wrote about, but I still kept and read the magazine (I’m looking at you Playstation 1 era). GamePro introduced me to geek culture and quirky writing. I discovered satire through the magazine’s April Fools LamePro editions which initially confused me, but clearly impacted me.

I thought about canceling a few times over the years, but I am a man of few rituals, and reading GamePro every month was probably the only life-long ritual I’ve ever had. I’m bummed to see it go.

Goodbye GamePro, thanks for teaching me to read.

(Via IndustryGamers)

Arm Cannon takes their name from Mega Man’s primary weapon, they combine metal and classic 8 & 16 bit music in creative and fun ways. There’re a lot of bands out there that do this, but Arm Cannon is my new favorite.

If you like that, consider checking out two albums; they’ve got a lot of great music.

In other news, I was off the blogging wagon for a while, but I’m back on.

Off in the distance, I saw a minivan slam into a bicyclist. I wasn’t close enough to see the details, but when I drove up I truly thought that the bicyclist was dead. The only other people on the scene were witnesses who saw the whole thing, and were freaking out on the phone with 911, and the distraught man who crashed into the cyclist.

I got out of my car to try to help the guy on the asphalt. I checked to make sure he was breathing; wasn’t bleeding too badly; and started talking to him as he slowly regained consciousness. Then I just kept him talking until the cops showed up.

The cops are what I’m writing about.

Over the years I’ve had a number of interactions with the police (none where I’ve done something wrong). Every time I deal with the cops I think, “there is no way they are going to be assholes to me this time.” And every time I’m disappointed. I’m not looking for them to be pleasant, I’m just looking for them to not be assholes. I set low standards, and they always fail to meet them.

These cops seemed completely indifferent, uncaring, and unhelpful towards the victim. They were also very mean to the witnesses. It’s totally fucking unnecessary.

I’m so damn tired of police treating people poorly. They are supposed to serve and protect. Citizens aren’t the enemy; especially those of us who actually try to help in bad situations.

I’m not looking for a medal, or even a thank you. It’s not about that. I just don’t want the police treating me like shit when I try to help a person in need.

The next time I hear an off-duty cop bitch about how “they spend all day seeing the worst of humanity,” I’m going to tell them to open their eyes and pay attention and be thankful when they happen upon someone doing the right thing when they didn’t have to. People do it all the time, but if you’re so jaded, you will never notice.

My goal was to record the presentation and slides and post a video, but I’ve been experiences some technical difficulties of the crashing variety whenever I try to record my screen and voice at the same time. So here are the slides, and I hope to add the full video presentation soon:

Rules_of_Mobile_App_Design (PDF)

Every significant job I’ve ever had was needed because of something Steve Jobs created. The guy invented the personal computer as we know it. The same goes for the smart phone. He didn’t do either alone, but he was the man with the vision. He was one of those rare Nikola Tesla-like people who could see the future, and then make it (Unlike Tesla, he was really good at making money while creating amazing things).

I hadn’t thought about the fact that nearly every dollar I’ve earned, and most of my hobbies and interests exist because of Steve Jobs. I also hadn’t expected to be so upset when he died.

Steve was an uncompromising visionary who made amazing things a reality. He was the kind of man I could respect while disagreeing with him. Under his leadership Apple consistently set the bar for quality in technology & design.

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how little time we have to make a real impact, and create amazing things. So much of my client work is unfulfilling because I’m doing work for people who don’t understand or care about technology. They have no concept about what is possible, and therefore have no desire to push the boundaries of possibility. They have the budgets, but they have don’t have the will. We live in incredible times, in large part because of the contributions of Steve Jobs. I have realized for a long time that I need to take control of my life’s work, and make great things, but seeing the headlines of Steve’s death have made me realize that tomorrow is not the day to take action. Time is too short.

Thank you for helping create that future Steve. Thank your for all of your ideas, your actions, your gadgets, your software and your uncompromising vision. You are immortalized in the technology that structures our lives, and our future.

(Images via gapingvoid & Oatmeal)

Join me on a brief and mildly narcissistic trip through some of my favorite blogging memories:

• Arguably my best post, at least from an academic perspective is Wonder Woman: The Super Secret & Kinky Origin of a Feminist Icon. Derived from a portion my undergraduate thesis, this post has been cited in a few academic papers, and according to my web analytics has been frequently referenced on some BDSM discussion boards. I am after-all here to educate and entertain.
• My most popular single day post dates back to April Fool’s Day 2010. I collaborated with a mystery designer to introduce the world to the iProbe; it’s still my favorite post.
• In one of TGW’s stranger episodes, guitar legend Peter Frampton stopped by to comment on a post after I berated him for a very disrespectful performance at The Stone Pony.
• When I first started The Geek Whisperer, I wanted to define the difference between geeks & nerds… But I found the task painfully difficult and subsequently spent two and a half years pondering the question before I wrote Geek vs. Nerd vs. Dork.
• And last but not least, I was (and still am) cited in a Wikipedia article on Firefly/ Serenity; my favorite scifi universe.

Never forget to practice safe computing.

After nearly six years off the air, the Bluth family is returning with new television episodes and a movie, with their very specific brand of uncomfortable humor. In doing so Arrested Development will join the ever-growing list of excellent shows that Fox prematurely cancelled, only to bring them back in some form. That list includes:

• Firefly
• Futurama
• Family Guy

“Series star Will Arnett seconded Hurwitz’s pledge on his Twitter feed, @arnettwill, while, er, standing next to co-star Jason Bateman: ‘I’m peeing with @batemanjason at the moment … and we can confirm that we are going to make new AD eps and a movie.’”

Maybe one day we will see new episodes of The Tick, Dollhouse, Human Target & Terminator the Sarah Connor Chronicles… But I’m not going to hold my breath.

At the moment, Fox isn’t confirming the resurrection of Arrested Development. If this doesn’t happen, I will be pissed.

(Source)

When I started The Geek Whisperer someone close to me asked, “How are you possibly going to have enough to say to make this last more than a few weeks?” The truth is that even if I wrote all day, every day I’m not sure I’d ever run out of cool things to talk about; we live in very interesting times. This blog is about sharing my passions and interests, and I’ve never had a shortage of either. This is both a blessing and a curse.

It’s wonderful because I can’t remember the last time I was bored.

It’s painful because I will never learn all that I want to learn, or accomplish everything that I hope to accomplish.

What’s a geek to do?

The simple answer is evolve. I will not abandon this blog. I love writing it far too much to stop. Even if everyone stopped reading, I’d still keep writing.

The bigger question is how will I evolve?

I’ve got a lot of things in the works that I’m incredibly excited about, and will reveal over time. To pursue those passions, I need to post less. However my intent is to post high quality content when I do. The short, “check this out” posts that filled the gaps between substantial thought are going away because people don’t seem to read them very often.

Thank you for reading

As I’ve said many times before, I appreciate everyone who takes the time to read.

Thank you for sharing my links; buying from the Shop; commenting; and taking the time out of your day to read. I know there are a lot of other great websites out there and I’m thankful for every person who feels that mine is worth their time.

Thank you for your continued support. Here’s to the next three years.

Bonus: Check out the terrible alien/ Michael Jackson-esque photoshopping of this woman! Good job Verizon.

It’s usually not a terrible deal, but there is one big reason why you should keep your retired mobile device:

Mobile devices break.

They are portable, small, handled often, and as a result are easy to drop.

The screens are prone to glitches and wear-out over the course of a year or two.

Replacement

When they die, you may have a warranty, and your retailer will get you a refurbished one, but it will take a few days to a few weeks.

During that time you will either have to pay for a loaner (which is usually a shitty Droid Eris or something equally crappy), or you can use your own old phone.

You will be much better off with your own phone, but you won’t have your old phone if you don’t keep it.

The natural inclination is to watch these films in numerical order: I, II, III, IV, V, VI.

Don’t do that.

My preference is to watch them in the order of their release because that’s the natural way that the story unfolds: IV, V, VI, I, II, III.

However after a long drawn-out conversation with some friends I’m willing bend a little and go with this order: IV, V, I, II, III, VI. This order lets you see Luke’s story unfold, followed by Anakin’s, and both of their narratives collide and resolve in the final chapter.

Either option is solid, just please don’t watch them in numerical order. Every time a person watches Star Wars in numerical order Yoda sheds a tear.

No kidding, 6 year-old David is weeping into an empty hole through the space-time continuum.

(Via BoingBoing)

FYI – For no reason the last minute minute of this song is dead air.

Enjoy!

(Via Kotaku)

Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.

I’ve got nothing to add to that bit of wisdom.

Via: Vaccines episode from Season 8 of Penn & Teller’s Bulllshit!

Better still, I’m offering Doggie Doo through The Geek Whisperer Shop!

Just knowing that this game exists makes me happy.

TGW – German Children’s Game

The idea that Arrington, one of the biggest names in tech writing is going to start a venture capital fund to essentially funnel money into companies that he is hyping so he can profit on both fronts is at the very least ethically questionable. The fact that the guy is shocked that the PR backlash has forced Huffington to put the screws to him is insane.

As Dan Primack pointed out, Huffington is in a lose-lose situation. She either wasn’t paying attention to Arrington’s not-so-secret, secret plans, or she knew and didn’t take the time to think about the implications for her organization. Both conclusions make her look foolish.

Arrington has once again confirmed that he’s unethical.; no shock there. However, I never had him pegged for an idiot. The guy sold his website to AOL. Even if this VC debacle never happened, he was inevitably going to lose control of TechCrunch simply because HE SOLD IT TO AOL!!! AOL’s only great strength is compromising things. They wrecked Engadget.

Anyone who followed the TechCrunch sale to AOL knew that it wouldn’t end well. Near as I can tell it means that Arrington either thought he could:

• Cash-in and out-muscle AOL over the long-haul (Delusional)
• Live with AOL (Also delusional)
• Ride out his contract and start something new like Joshua Topolsky (This is way too reasonable and level for Arrington)
• He was planning on leaving in a PR inferno because he’s an attention whore, and this is a good way to draw attention to his next project (Evil mastermind)
• He has no self-control and is throwing a tantrum because he has to live by someone else’s rules (Giant baby)

I don’t know what he was thinking, but I’m tired of him. I look forward to the day when he is merely a footnote in the history of the Internet.