Monthly Archives: July 2014

New York City Wants to Turn Payphones into Free WiFi Hotspots

new-york-city-wifiSince payphone use is so amazingly low now, it surprises me that New York City reports having over 7,300 payphone kiosks in town. However, the city is planning to put them back to use. Rather than keeping them as simple payphones, the City of New York wants to convert payphones into free wifi hotspots.

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Britain Decriminalizes Online Piracy

copyright-bannerWhile American companies are still attempting to charge and sue digital pirates into oblivion, Britain is moving to a more progressive system that’s built on the basis of the old adage that you can attract more flies with honey and vinegar. Starting in 2015, Britain is introducing the Voluntary Copyright Alert Programme (VCAP) that will decriminalize copyright policy.

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Comic Book Pull List for July 23, 2014

transformers-vs-gi-joe-1There are a lot of new franchises this week for your perusal. Marvel continues to roll out new single-character focused series with the debut of Storm #1. For 90s nostalgia, there’s Super Secret Crisis War: Johnny Bravo #1. And for 80s crossover action figure nostalgia, you have to take a look at Transformers vs. G.I. Joe #1.

On the sci-fi franchise front, Titan takes over the Doctor Who franchise with new adventures of 10 and 11 in Doctor Who: The Tenth Doctor #1 and Doctor Who: The Eleventh Doctor #1. And if Mass Effect fans want to keep giving money to Mac Walters, allegedly one of the two writers of ME3’s ending, the finale of the Mass Effect: Foundation series takes us right into the Citadel DLC with a tale about Maya Brooks in Mass Effect: Foundation #13.

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How Much of Your Brain Do You Use?

If you’ve been watching TV lately, it’s very likely that the incessant ads for an upcoming movie is rotting your brain. The promos for Lucy, the upcoming action movie starring Scarlett Johansson and Morgan Freeman, show that the movie is based on the premise of what would happen if humans used more than 10% of their brains.

Of course, that pseudo-scientific notion has been dismissed by the scientific community and anyone with half a brain (pun intended) for years. Unfortunately, many people still believe this. In fact, you use all of your brain in order to function.

Newbee Wins The International 2014

the-international-2014-headerA whole year of competition, two weeks in Seattle and one tournament featuring the top Dota 2 teams led to one final Best of Five series for the biggest prize in the history of eSports. But in the battle of #1 seed Vici Gaming and plucky underdog Newbee, there could be only one champion. After a long and odd season, it was Newbee who raised the Aegis of Champions and took home $5 million as The International 2014 champion.

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Game Trailers Roundup for July 21, 2014

It seems as though we do one week on, one week off for game trailers. One week, we get a whole pile of trailers for upcoming and announced games. The next, almost nothing. This week is a week with lots of trailers.

We lead off with the trailer for this week’s Episode Four of The Walking Dead: Season Two. I know I’m behind on the reviews for this season so I’m hoping to get both Episode Three and Episode Four done this week. From the triple-A ranks, E3 favourites AC Unity and NHL 15 get new trailers. From the indies, World of Speed and The Long Dark get trailers and I’m still excited about The Long Dark.

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Newbee and Vici Gaming Facing Off in The International 2014 Grand Final

the-international-2014-headerAfter two weeks of games, the nineteen teams that started in Seattle have been narrowed down to just two. Having topped the Phase Two round robin, Vici Gaming went the long way through the Main Event playoffs to make the final. They’ll do battle with a team that went through a 10th place qualifier to get out of the round robin, stormed through Phase Three and powered to the Grand Final through the Winner’s Bracket, Newbee.

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Sam Wilson, The Falcon, to Take Over as Captain America

captain-america-sam-wilsonFor 73 years, Steve Rogers has been protecting America and leading the Avengers. That’s come to an end (for now) in Captain America #21. With Steve’s Captaining days having come to an end, he needs a replacement to take up the shield. To do so, Marvel has called in one of his sidekicks, Sam Wilson, The Falcon, to take over as Captain America.

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Geek Links of the Week

I’ve never mentioned the show Heroes of Cosplay on the blog because cosplaying friends say that the show is the usual reality show dreck and has nothing to do with cosplay other than cosplayers. But since there’s been a bit of Heroes of Cosplay drama lately, here’s a look at how the show affects conventions and what the non-reality star cosplayers think of this outside intrusion into their hobby. [Rebel666]

So you’re paying for a 75 MBPS connection on Verizon FIOS. How fast is Netflix streaming? If you guessed 0.5% of your maximum speed and 12.5% of Netflix’s maximum streaming speed, you’d be right. There is a way around that, though. [I Am Not A Programmer]

Apple will censor iTunes so games with any sort of message can’t end up on the App Store but they don’t care if you blatantly steal someone else’s game and try to sell it as your own. [Action Trip]

It seems to be Yogscast week this week. First, they come up with a questionable revenue model. Now, they’re in the middle of a Kickstarter controversy over a cancelled Yogscast game. [Gamasutra]

Since we’ve been talking about shady YouTube deals, free-to-play games and DLC on the blog lately, how about we let Dorkly explain how they came into existence. [Dorkly]

The Special Effects of Game of Thrones

If you’re a fan of Game of Thrones, you already know that it’s the most expensive show on television. Of course, the fact that it’s one of the most watched and most critically acclaimed shows on television probably makes it worth the investment for HBO. Obviously, the majority of the money goes to the special effect department who do a fantastic job but have you ever wondered how much work they actually have to do to recreate the Seven Kingdoms for TV?

For today’s Friday of Ice and Fire, let’s take a look at what goes into making Game of Thrones come to life on HBO.

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