Issue 87 – Impromptu Podcast
Jon, Serv, Ron, Cary, Shag, and Ed get together for an impromptu recording. We mostly just chat and happen to stumble upon a few interesting topics (well to us anyway). Including: Great Actors, things that disturb us, and our favorite bad movies.
Email the geeks at: thegeeks[ at ]theuniquegeek.com
Comment Line: 813-321-0TUG (813-321-0884)
Skype: theuniquegeek
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The members of this cans can also be found here:
Jon - twitter.com/JonBoutelle
Shag - OnceUponAGeek.com – twitter.com/OnceUponAGeek
Ed – ECTech.info – twitter.com/EdwardCrosby
Review In 100 Or Less: Human Target
I watched Fox’s ‘Human Target’ last night. The show is based on a DC Comics character, but I admit I know very little about him. What I do know is TV, and this is good old fashion fun television. Think ‘24′ minus all of the angst.
It stars Mark Valley (who also stared in one of my favorite shows of all time, ‘Keen Eddie’), Chi McBride (who seems to be making a career out of sitting behind a desk), and the brilliant Jackie Earl Haley (Watchmen, Little Children, and the upcoming Freddy Krueger).
Don’t forget to set the DVR: Wednesday nights.
Final Word Count: 100
That’s What We Are Talking About 1/17/2009
We talk a lot on the podcast about the listServ, and I encourage you to head over there and join the discussion, but what I thought I would try to do each week is hit some of the highlights from the last week on discussion group. So here is my first attempt at doing just that….
We started the week off with Ron pointing out the the ‘official’ trailer is up on YouTube
James and Ed countered by trying to claim they never liked the A-Team… This only proves that Kid Ed was the same grumpy old man as he is today. That, or that he had a problem that the A-Team could solve but he couldn’t find them. (James, you get a pass… this time)
Cary (who was very busy on the board this week) brought this nugget to our attention:
Shag replied that he was worried about what our kids will say about us.. Don’t worry Shag, it can’t be anything worse than what you were called in High School.
Cary also brought us this great link from Neatorama in which we learn what The Big Lebowski would have been like if The Bard had penned it.
Ed posted this little nugget which started the obligatory “I Heart (Heart) Dr. Who / Dr. Who Sucks!’ (full disclosure: I am on the hate side) back and forth between Serv and Shag.
Cary (told you he was busy) started a lawyer hate-fest with a post about this article – eventually the ThUG unofficial in-house lawyer, Ron, was called in to set everyone straight.
Ron also posted his thoughts on Kim Kardashian being sued for tweeting that the cookie diet is unhealthy in this post. For the record: the Cookie Monster disagrees – he has eaten nothing but cookies and hasn’t gained a pound in years.
Cary also did a lot of pontificating on Google and the Nexus One, which was all interesting, but I want to close this post out with a trailer that Serv brought to the table – it is full of awesome.
Be sure to head over to the discussion group for more Geek Goodness.
Until next week…
2009 – The Geek Year In Review
Jon, Serv, Ron, Cary, Shag, Ed, Sterling, and Need Coffee’s very own Widge and Scott blather on about the year that was 2009. We hit on what was the best and worst of 2009 in geekdom. We also have a brief explanation of where the heck we have been for 4 months.
Email the geeks at: thegeeks[ at ]theuniquegeek.com
Comment Line: 813-321-0TUG (813-321-0884)
Skype: theuniquegeek
Sponsor: Try GotoMeeting free for 30 days! For this special offer, visit www.gotomeeting.com/techpodcasts
Subscribe via iTunes OR via Some Sort Of Other Feed Thingie
The members of this cans can also be found here:
Jon - twitter.com/JonBoutelle
Shag - OnceUponAGeek.com – twitter.com/OnceUponAGeek
Sterling – NewBardsPress.com
Ed – ECTech.info – twitter.com/EdwardCrosby
Widgett - NeedCoffee.com - twitter.com/Widgett
Scott – NeedCoffee.com – twitter.com/Scottums
DC09 Photos Are Up
Hey gang!
As you may have heard, several of The Unique Geeks were in Atlanta this past weekend for Dragon Con. Well, original Unique Geek and (apparently) official photographer, Shag (Once Upon A Geek) has posted some 600+ photos up in our gallery.
Just click on that photo gallery tab above (or if you are too lazy click here) and enjoy the goodness that was D*C 2009.
Speaking of Dragons: DDO Now Costs 0 Gold
With all of the post-DragonCon stuff that I have to do, I almost missed this news bit. Dungeons and Dragons Online (DDO) is now free!
Now, I know a lot of you are WOW players and don’t think much of the other MMOs out there but, honestly, this is great news. Yeah it may have a hint of “look at us” desperation, but it also proves that there is money to be made by giving your base product away. It is a trend we are starting to see more often from the gaming community. Give the game away, but charge for perks.
This trend seems to have started with the advent of smartphones and social networking. It then moved to the “big boys” with games like EA’s Battlefield Heroes.
Personally, I have been playing BF Heroes since it came out of beta and it is a blast. They make the free play compelling enough that there is reason to want to buy some of the add-ons (if only to show support of the game). As a result, I have spent over $30 on acquiring BattleFunds for things like increased XP rate, unique uniforms, and special gestures. The important thing is that the “paying” player doesn’t have an advantage over the free player. The difference is not in damage, weapons, or skills – it is in the exterior appearance and the speed of leveling . The point is, you don’t HAVE to buy any Battlefunds, you WANT to buy them.
So while I think it is super-cool that DDO is now free, I have a couple of issues with the way DDO is doing the free play.
First is limiting the classes you can use as a free player. I have only a small issue with this (and in fairness , I have not logged into the service to see what classes are available vs. not), but if any of the classes that are limited to paying players have a distinct advantage over the free classes, I call BS.
The next issue I have is with limited chat/mail/auctions (again to be fair – I have not logged in yet). If these changes give the paid player an unfair advantage then boo!! I also find it weird that the communication channels (chat) would be something you would hamper. I would think you would want free communication between everyone, so that ‘freebies’ could hear about the cool crap they don’t/can’t have yet.
Lastly (and the one I have the biggest issue with), the message boards are mostly limited to paying players. The free folks need to be heard too. Yeah, maybe you have an “exclusive” forum for the paid masses. But, if you segregate the free and paid you diminish the voice of the majority of the players of your game.
Here is my short list of what a good “free play” game should have to be successful:
- Compelling game play (Duh!)
- Level playing field for “cash” players and free loaders. For example: you should not be able to buy a +5 damage weapon when the highest “free” weapon is a +3. Instead, do things like renaming equal weapons and enhanshing graphics for the paying players.
- Give a nice variety of clothing and weapon options to the free players, but expand the line for paying players.
- Free players and paying players need to face off against each other. The only way to convince a free loader that they want a particular item is for them to see it everywhere.
- Don’t lock free players out of the discussion (I’m talking to you DDO). Their input is just as valuable as the paid players. The job of the game company is to convert the free players to cash players; you don’t do that by ignoring them.
I should note that I bought D&D Online when it first came out (some years ago) – my issue was keeping up with my friends that had way more time to play than me. I could not stand forking out $10 a month for something that I did not play that often. The game IS fun and you can easily burn away an afternoon on it but, for me, it was not worth the $10 due to time constraints.
So if you haven’t checked out DDO – go do so now. It’s free – warts and all.
40 Days of DragonCon (Day 37) – Rox’s Survival Guide: Log Entry 007
Dragon Con Survival Tips by Rox of Spazhouse
Log Entry 007: Restaurants
There are plenty of places to sit down for a good meal around the Peachtree Center area. I have compiled a short list of popular restaurants in the area. This is not all inclusive and, for some, you may have to venture a bit of a ways.
Note: If you have experiences with any of these restaurants (or have a favorite spot that isn’t listed) and wish to share, please leave a comment.
Helpful Tip: For iPhone and iTouch users download the Urban Spoon or Eat A Rama Applications. The Wifi will get your location and help you find restaurants around you.
Benihana
229 Peachtree St. N.E. • 404-522-9629 • Moderate
Avanzare
265 Peachtree Street NE
Lower level of the Hyatt. The lamb is excellent
Trader Vic’s
255 Courtland St. N.E. • 404-221-6339 • Expensive (Make reservations)
(Lower level of the Hilton Hotel. Need to take the Special Elevator to reach the restaurant)
Sun Dial Restaurant
210 Peachtree St. N.W. • 404-589-7506 • Expensive
Sear
265 Peachtree Center Avenue • 404-586-6134 • Expensive
(Upper Level of the Marriott Marquis)
Max Lager’s American Grill & Brewery
320 Peachtree Street • 404-525-4400
Nikolai’s Roof
255 Courtland St. N.E. • 404-221-6362 • Expensive
(In the Hilton Hotel and Towers)
Moe’s Southwest Grill
70 Peachtree St. NE • Inexpensive
Pittypat’s Porch
25 International Blvd.
Ted’s Montana Grill
133 Luckie St. NW
Atlanta Grill
181 Peachtree St • 404 659-0400
Morton’s of Chicago
303 Peachtree Center Ave • 404 577-4366 • Expensive
(Call the restaurant to make reservations)
Gladys Knight & Ron Winans Chicken & Waffles
529 Peachtree St. NE (Closer to Midtown) • 404.874.9393 • Moderate
Dania’s
26 Peachtree Road • 404-588-0069 • Inexpensive
(Across from Woodruff Park)
Django
495 Peachtree Street • 404-347-8648 • Moderate
Ginger Bay Cafe
182 Courtland Street • 404-521-0061 • Moderate
(Caribbean Food – Near the Sheraton)
Olympia Prime
133 Peachtree St. N.E. (Located near the Georgia-Pacific Center) • 404-593-2588 • Expensive
Paschal’s Restaurant
180-B Northside Drive • 404-525-2023 • Moderate
Haveli Indian Cuisine
225 Spring St NW • 522-4545 • Mainly Buffet • Moderate
Atlanta Downtown Hooters
209 Peachtree St NE • (404) 522-9464 • (404) 688-5369
(You know what you get here)
40 Days of DragonCon (Day 36) – Rox’s Survival Guide: Log Entry 006
Dragon Con Survival Tips by Rox of Spazhouse
Survival Tip 006: Getting Around
MARTA (itsmarta.com)
Marta gets you to the places you need to go. I like MARTA. MARTA welcomes cyclists on the train and buses have BOB or Bike on Board racks on the outside of the buses. If you are flying in from the Airport, it is easy to find the MARTA station. It is up a set of escalators on the outside of the terminal.
You can take either North Springs train or Dunwoody train. Both cruise into Peachtree Station. Once you you head into the Five Points Station, Peachtree is your next stop.
Train Frequency
Weekday Peak Service (6:00AM – 9:30AM / 3:00PM – 7:30PM): Every 10 minutes
Weekday Off-Peak Service: Every 15 minutes
Saturday All Day: Every 20 minutes
Sunday All Day ( and Holidays [Monday]): Every 20 minutes
From Five Points Station the trip to the airport is about 16 minutes.
A single fare is $1.75
Visitor multi-Day pass runs (1-4 Days) $8.00 – $12.00
This is an unlimited ride pass and can be purchased at the Airport Station.
On returning to the Airport the MARTA station deposits you right into a Delta terminal. You can check in easily there.
NOTE: For those attendees who are in hotels in out lying areas the last trains heading to the North East Station is at 1 a.m. from the Airport. Last train from Peachtree is 1:19. You may need to make arrangements if you plan on staying at some of the very late programming.
Buses
At many of the stations you can catch different buses to different parts of the city, such as at the North Avenue Station you can catch the Route 2 Ponce DeLeon bus to venture to Little Five Points, the cool, hip place with the shops and restaurants. If you do this you need to get off at Moreland Ave. and either walk down to Little Five Points a few minute walk or catch the Route 6 – Emory
Many of the schedules you can find online and can download handy pdfs.
Buses seem to run every 45 minutes on Saturday.
40 Days Of DragonCon (Day 32) – Podcast Interview: Widge And Ken
As part of our 40 Days countdown we will be interviewing various directors (and some panelists) of the DragonCon Fan Tracks.
In this issue we feature panelists and moderators extraordinaire: Widgett Walls (NeedCoffee) and Ken Plume (QuickStopEntertainment).
I am stil unsure of what Leigh and I set out to accomplish when interviewing Ken and Widge. I can say I don’t think we accomplished it. Instead, we ended up on going on a journey of funny that was only vaguely related to the topic of DragonCon (so basically like any panel they are on). However, we do get the added bonus of learning Leigh’s secret power… and now I wish I could un-know it.
If you haven’t ever been subjected to Ken and Widge’s madness be sure to check out: Nuts On The Road, Weekend Justice, The Ken P.D. Snydecast, or follow them on Twitter (@Widgett , @KenPlume) .
(While your at it, follow @JonBoutelle and @LeighBC … just saying)
Email the geeks at: thegeeks[ at ]theuniquegeek.com
Comment Line: 813-321-0TUG (813-321-0884)
Skype: theuniquegeek
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[Editors Note: Sorry this is late going up - Life got in the way... have a good one.]
40 Days Of DragonCon - Podcast Interview: Widge And Ken [79:59m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download40 Days Of DragonCon (Day 29) – Podcast Interview: Derek of the Skeptic Track
As part of our 40 Days countdown we will be interviewing various directors (and some panelists) of the DragonCon Fan Tracks.
In this issue we feature Derek from the Skeptic track.
Leigh joins me in being all sorts of scientific and truthful as we chat with Derek. Join us as we uncover the facts behind the Skeptic track and Derek tries to hide that he is a fortune telling alien ghost hunter.
Be sure to head over to the official Skeptic Track website to get the latest happenings.
Also, be sure to check out Derek and Swoopy’s podcast – Skepticality.
Email the geeks at: thegeeks[ at ]theuniquegeek.com
Comment Line: 813-321-0TUG (813-321-0884)
Skype: theuniquegeek
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40 Days Of DragonCon - Podcast Interview: Derek of the Skeptic Track [31:34m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download