Geeking Out

The YouTube Comedy Week kicked off yesterday with a three and a half hour show that starred performances and videos by: Beardyman, Brody Stevens, Dax Flame, Epic Meal Time, Epic Rap Battles of History, Eric André, Dax Flame, FIDLAR, Fine Brothers, Gabe Liedman, Garfunkel & Oates, Grace Helbig, Hannibal Buress, Jack McBrayer, Jeff Ross, Jenny Slate, Jerrod Carmichael, Jon Dore, Justin Willman, KassemG, Kyle Kinane, Kyle Mooney, Lil’ Bub, Nathan Fielder, Norm Macdonald, Owen Wilson, Pete Holmes, Reggie Watts, Rhett & Link, Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Silverman, Seth Rogen, Shane Dawson, Skrillex, Smosh, T-Pain, The Gregory Brothers, The Lonely Island, The Key of Awesome, Three Loco, Tim & Eric, Toby Turner, Todd Glass, Tom Green, Tummy Talk, Vince Vaughn, Will.i.am and Workaholics just to name a few.  And that was just the beginning... Tom Green, Andy Milonikis, Sarah Silverman Read more »

Cbs228 writes "During last week's Google I/O conference, the company announced a replacement for its aging Talk instant messenger: Google Hangouts. Hangouts, which is only available for Android, iOS, and Chrome, offers closer integration with Google+. Unfortunately, the new product drops support for the XMPP instant messaging protocol, which has been an integral part of Talk for over ten years. XMPP delivers instant messages to desktop clients, like Pidgin, and enables communication between users on different instant messaging networks. Hangouts users attempting to communicate with contacts on non-Google servers, such as jabber.org, have found that all communications have been suddenly and inexplicably severed. A Google account is now required to communicate with Hangouts users. Google Hangouts joins the ranks of an already-crowded ecosystem of closed, incompatible chat products like Skype." Interesting, because Google Wave was based on XMPP and Google was integral to the creation of the Jingle extension that enabled video chatting over XMPP. Note that no end date has been set for Talk yet, but the end must surely be nigh given Google's recent history of axing products like Reader and iCal support from their calendar app without much notice. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

"An artist is somebody who produces things that people don't need to have." — Andy Warhol "Most people in America think Art is a man's name." — Andy Warhol John Currin's 1991 painting Bea Arthur Naked recently sold for 1.9 million dollars at Christie's auction house. While not exactly a work that defines bad art—more like bad taste—the painting of Bea does call into question the intensely subjective nature of the visual arts. Is something good if someone is willing to buy it for a large sum of money? Just where are the lines drawn between the great, the terrible, the completely inept and the merely competent works of art?. Does something stink if viewers still love it? Can a horrid mess grow into a beloved masterpiece over time? Are certain artists just ahead of their time? Can someone purposely make "bad art?" Thankfully, many of these questions have been pondered and answered with great consideration by those who I consider expert at the subject..  Read more »

rudy_wayne writes with news that the Prenda lawyers recently sanctioned by a federal judge are starting to face consequences. From the article: "On Friday, Paul Hansmeier, a Minnesota attorney who has been pointed to as one of the masterminds of the Prenda copyright-trolling scheme, filed an emergency motion to stay the $81,000 sanctions order while he and his colleagues could mount an appeal. Today the appeals court flatly denied his motion. Two appellate judges signed this order, and it gives Hansmeier the option to make a plea for delay with the district court judge. That would be U.S. District Judge Otis Wright, the judge who sanctioned Hansmeier in the first place. Hansmeier is also getting kicked off a case he was working on that was totally unrelated to Prenda's scheme of making copyright accusations over alleged pornography downloads. On Friday, the 9th Circuit Commissioner ordered Hansmeier, in no uncertain terms, to withdraw a the case involving Groupon since he has been referred to the Minnesota State Bar for investigation. The commissioner has delayed Hansmeier's admission to the 9th Circuit because of Wright's order, which refers to Wright's finding of 'moral turpitude.'" Read more of this story at Slashdot.

By Tea Krulos A fantastic episode and an amazing finale for this season and one that is really in the spirit of the upcoming 50th anniversary. This finale opens with some cameos of Clara (Jenna-Louise Coleman) chasing down the Doctor (Matt Smith) - in his various incarnations -in a montage clipping from episodes throughout time and space. Soon Clara also finds herself dropped into a delightful dream-state mad tea party along with Who favorites Madame Vastra (Neve McIntosh), Commander Strax (Dan Starkey), Jenny (Catrin Stewart) and-- helloooo sweetie—our gal River Song (Alex Kingston). Read more »

It certainly would like to position itself that way. And what with the numerous leaps of science-logic in movies like Star Trek Into Darkness, a nitpick-proof sci-fi flick sounds intriguing (I thought Gravity could be it, but y'all managed to effectively pick the nits in that trailer). Here, I too have questions. Such as... -A mission to one of the moons of Jupiter? What could possibly go wrong...apart from your intelligent computer trying to kill you and a black oblong turning you into a giant space baby? Nothing else? Okay then. You don't maybe wanna try for Mars first? -Is this a found-footage type of movie? Because those work best when there aren't any famous people in the thing. Sorry, but don't try and tell me this is some compilation of actual space broadcasts when I know good and well that Sharlto Copley is alive and well here on earth where he's getting ready to pimp Elysium at Comic-Con again. -Does it basically turn into a rip-off of Alien there at the end? Or worse, Apollo 18? Or am I being deceived by extra clever marketing and editing? Watch the trailer after the jump and you can decide. I'll be catching this at the LA Film Festival next month. Continue reading "Is Europa Report the Realistic Space Film You've Been Seeking?" >

…because you have to smell good, when you’re fighting crime. And wearing tight suits that don’t breathe. Ew. Don’t know what scent would fit you best? Try them both for $19.50 apiece! SCENTS:Top – Bergamot, Lavender, Black PepperMid – Cardamom, Geranium, Warm PatchouliBottom – Vanilla Bean, Musk SCENTS:Top – Fresh Ozone, Ginger Zest, Lemon SorbetMid – Crushed Greens, Nutmeg (Mane Specialty), Blood Red GrapefruitBottom – Warm Amber Egyptian Musk [Hot topic | Via]

Check out what I checked out this week. Whether the comics are inspiring or disappointing, I read them all. Welcome to The Pull List. And, as always...Spoilers ahead! Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #23 (Pick of the Week) Writer: Brian Michael Bendis Art: Dave Marquez Colors: Justin Ponsor Letters: Cory Petit Publisher: Marvel Comics Price: $3.99 The life of Miles Morales has been altered forever. In the last issue. Venom killed his mother and in her final moments, she learned how Miles had been spending his time after school. She was as proud as only a loving mother could be and cautioned him to never tell his mutant-hating father. Like Peter Parker learned so long ago, life as Spider-Man is a painful ride for his loved ones. Now, it’s Miles' turn to walk the long and hard road of tragedy before the hero can rise once more. The story picks up one year later. Miles is older, bigger, and no longer the web crawler. We all know that Miles will eventually find the inspiration to wear the mask again, but Brian Michael Bendis did a great job of convincing you otherwise while masterfully capturing the aura of loss between Miles and his father. The emotion of it all resonates so poignantly because we’ve seen it before with Peter Parker, and since Miles is just a kid. That's the essence of it all right there. Bendis never lets the reader forget this fact without ever throwing it in your face. Most comics with super-powered youngsters tend to forget this important fact. There is an innocence to his character that is so natural that you can’t help but to root for him. The use of Dave Marquez’s talents was the right way to go. We are so used to seeing the amazing work of Sara Pichelli, but a different hand was required to augment the story's jump in time. Justin Ponsor was money as always in the coloring department. If I had to use one word to describe this series it would be "captivating" and this issue is just another example of why. Grade: A- Read more »

Nerval's Lobster writes "Location is everything when choosing the site of a data center. Firms such as Microsoft and Google and Facebook spend a lot of time looking into the costs of land, power, regulation and taxes before placing their respective data centers in a particular place. Sometimes, that local tax bill comes into play in a big way. Just ask the National Security Agency which learned it faces a multimillion-dollar annual state tax on the power consumed by its new data center in Camp Williams, south of Salt Lake City. The Salt Lake Tribune obtained a series of email exchanges between the feds and the state, with the NSA protesting a $2.4 million tax on its annual power expenditure, pegged at about $40 million. Harvey Davis, director of installations and logistics for the NSA, sent a letter (subsequently quoted by the newspaper) to state officials that made the logistics argument: 'Long-term stability in the utility rates was a major factor in Utah being selected as our site for our $1.5bn construction at Camp Williams. HP325 [the new law] runs counter to what we expected.'" This would be the data center William Binney et al claim is logging almost all domestic communication. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

By Christopher Cerasi I was all set to write yet another blog analyzing yet another tepid episode of Da Vinci’s Demons, but I actually really liked this past Friday’s episode. It is entirely due to its main guest star, the truly creepy - and amazing - Paul Rhys as Vlad Dracula. Yes, that Dracula. Read more »