Geeking Out

An anonymous reader writes "Last month, Google revealed that it was planning to finish defining its VP9 video codec on June 17 (today), after which it will start using the next-generation compression technology in Chrome and on YouTube. The company is wasting no time: it has already enabled the free video compression standard by default in the latest Chromium build." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

A short scene from World War Z, the movie that could quite possibly become one of the biggest disappointment of all time… for fans of the original book at least! In theaters Friday! [Paramount]

3...2...1...Letdown! Sorry, Europa Report, but you were trying so hard to make the science believable (and a geek friend of mine insists it still isn't, though it should be sufficient for most audience members), that you forgot to make the fiction any good. The ambitions behind this movie - to make a realistic sci-fi film - are noble, but the execution is terrible from a story perspective. Continue reading "LAFF Review: Europa Report" >

From the writers of The Hangover comes a movie 21 years in the making. Straight-A college student Jeff Chang (JUSTIN CHON of the Twilight Saga) has always done what’s expected of him. But when his two best friends Casey (SKYLAR ASTIN of Pitch Perfect, Wreck-It Ralph) and Miller (MILES TELLER of The Spectacular Now, Project X, Rabbit Hole) surprise him with a visit for his 21st birthday, he decides to do what’s unexpected for a change, even though his critical medical school interview is early the next morning. What was supposed to be one beer becomes one night of chaos, over indulgence and utter debauchery in this outrageous comedy. 21 & Over marks the directorial debut of Jon Lucas and Scott Moore. You may not have heard of their names, but as the writers of The Hangover, they can name claim to having written the highest grossing R-rated comedy of all time. And so, in celebration of the release of 21 & Over on DVD and Blu-ray June 18 we take a look at some of the other top partnerships in film-writing. Roberto Orci & Alex Kurtzman What better way to kick off the list that with the Kings of Recent blockbusters. This power-duo, who have scribed this summer’s box office hit Star Trek: Into Darkness are currently working on The Amazing Spider-Man 2 due to be released next summer which sees Spider-Man face-off against two villains – Electro and Rhino. Previously, Orci and Kurtzman worked on the first Star Trek movie (2009), The Legend of Zorro, Mission: Impossible III, Transformers, and Cowboys & Aliens. Alongside J. J. Abrams, they are also the creators of the Fox science-fiction series Fringe, on which they also served as consulting producer. The Hollywood Reporter listed Orci as one of the 50 most powerful Latinos in Hollywood of 2007. In 2011, Forbes magazine described Orci and Kurtzman as "Hollywood's Secret Weapons" as over the course of the previous six years, their films grossed a combined total of over $3 billion at the box office.  The partnership also wrote People like Us, originally known as Welcome to People, which was Kurtzman's directorial debut Christopher Nolan and David S Goyer. Batman Begins, The Dark Knight Rises and Man of Steel. Need we say anymore? Ted Elliott and Terry Rossio Although you may not have heard of these screenwriters, no doubt you have seen their films. Writing partners Elliott and Rossio are responsible for films such as Aladdin, Shrek, Antz, Treasure Planet, Little Monsters, The Road to El Dorado and The Mask of Zorro. However, Elliott and Rossio are not only animation giants, but are responsible for penning the hit Pirates of the Caribbean. The pair went on to write the rest of the Pirates films, and Rossio even signed on with Disney to write a 5th installment (currently set for 2015) of the franchise. It is no doubt that this writing team has helped create some of the most memorable and influential film characters of all time... whether it be an eye-liner wearing pirate or a big, green ogre. Impressive. Wes Anderson and Owen Wilson Owen Wilson who is more famous for his acting than for his screenwriting skills, has said in the past that he never wanted to be an actor, but a writer. Anderson and Wilson met at the University of Texas in Austin. Soon the two penned Bottle Rocket. In 1996 the film was released and despite critical acclaim, only earned one million dollars. After getting a foot into Hollywood, Anderson and Wilson went on to write two of Anderson’s most famous flicks: Rushmore and The Royal Tenenbaums. The films defined Anderson’s style and launched his career as a prominent director. While the two have yet to rekindle their screenwriting bromance, their writing relationship proved to be the foundation for two very prosperous careers. Farrelly Brothers Peter and Bobby Farrelly are responsible for writing the classic film Dumb and Dumber. Not only that, but the brother team wrote suc

How many of you are still looking for a good substitute for Google Reader? You might want to consider the one that has been created by Digg. They have announced that their Digg Reader version 1 will begin rolling out next week. Everyone will have access to it by June 26th, 2013. That’s a few days before Google kills off Google Reader (which is set to die on June 1, 2013). Digg says that their engineering team, that has been building the Digg Reader since March of this year, consists of 5 people. They asked people what they wanted to see in a Reader and the response indicated that people want it to be fast and simple, and that they wanted the Digg Reader to let them import their feeds and folders from Google Reader. Here’s what the beta release of the Digg Reader will include: * Easy migration and onboarding from Google Reader. * A clean reading experience that gets out of the way and puts the focus squarely on the articles, posts, images, and videos themselves. * Useful mobile apps that sync with the web experience * Support for key actions like subscribing, sharing, saving, and organizing. The Digg Blog also notes that the Digg Reader will be a “freemium” product. All of the features that are being introduced next week will be part of the free experience.

Runefox writes "Cerulean Studios, the company behind the long-lived Trillian instant messaging client, has released preliminary specifications to their proprietary "Astra" protocol, now named IMPP (Instant Messaging and Presence Protocol), which provides continuous client functionality as well as mandatory TLS encryption for clients. According to their blog, Cerulean Studios' motivation for the release is to promote interoperability among the throngs of IM services and clients available by allowing others to also use the protocol. Future concepts include federation with XMPP. While the documentation is in an early state and the protocol is claimed to still be in development, it is hoped that it will help decentralize the very heavily fragmented messaging ecosystem. It's implied that, in turn, greater options for privacy may become available in the wake of the PRISM scandal via privately-run federated servers, unaffiliated with major networks, yet still able to communicate with them." Read more of this story at Slashdot.

In keeping with McFarlane's odd announcement strategy as of late, a press release with no pictures is issued, and then BigBadToyStore posts the vendor images anyway. Good going, Todd. The good news is that it's a new sculpt, not like the awfully deformed mini-Daryl that already came out. The bad news is that Todd once again wants a contrarian scale for his figures that doesn't play well with anything else, so rather than go for the standard 8" or 12", he went for ten. Though it's possible 8" and 12" are licensed elsewhere. This is being touted as the first in a new series; I'd have to imagine either Rick of Michonne would be next. Though an upscaled version of the Bicycle Girl Zombie would be cool. Daryl can be preordered for the divine price of just under $33.

By Charles Knauf  Howdy everyone in Forces of Geek land! It’s your old pal Charlie, ready to give you another heaping helping of Venture Brothers goodness. Tonight’s episode was a real treat in particular for anyone who’s ever watched G.I. Joe as a kid (which, admittedly, is probably 99% of our readership – the last 1% being an accidental redirect for the “Forces of Greek” webpage; a fantastic yogurt spot in Hollywood that John Stamos highly recommends). *WARNING – SPOILERS AHEAD* Read more »

Great news for gender and race equality! The new class of NASA astronauts is 50% female for the first time in history. The class of eight astronauts are an equal mix of men and women, but is also made up of a variety of racial backgrounds making it the most diverse astronaut class in history. Let’s take a look at the new astronauts. NASA tweeted about the new class this morning: NASA has a new group of potential astronauts who will help push the boundaries of exploration. Check them out! http://t.co/2qZt0P6OCl — NASA (@NASA) June 17, 2013 The new class of astronauts will begin training in August at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. The class is comprised of Josh A. Cassada, Ph. D., 39, Victor J. Glover, 37, Lt. Commander, U.S. Navy, Tyler N. Hague (Nick), 37, Lt. Colonel, U.S. Air Force, Christina M. Hammock, 34, Nicole Aunapu Mann, 35, Major, U.S. Marine Corps, Anne C. McClain, 34, Major, U.S. Army, Jessica U. Meir, Ph.D., 35, and Andrew R. Morgan, M.D., 37, Major, U.S. Army. (via NASA, image via Flying Jenny) Meanwhile in related links Flare star becomes 15 times brighter in less than three minutes Hubble discovers evidence of planet forming 7.5 billion miles from its own star Some really bad suggestions for the newly discovered class of star

For the past few years, 4G LTE has been a staple of top-of-the-line smartphones and tablets. But as 2013 draws to a close, we're going to see a new wireless technology start stepping up to the plate: 4G LTE Advanced. It's going to kick 4G LTE's ass.