4th Edition: New DnD on the Horizon

A segment on the latest episode of the Totally Rad Show featured the guys' thoughts on the new 4th Edition rules for Dungeons and Dragons that is scheduled to be released later this summer. They were very happy with the changes and recommended the new rules set to anyone looking to get into or get back into Dungeons and Dragons.

I am particularly excited about this release due to the online aspect.

As a bonus I have here a video from the introduction of 4th edition made by Wizards of the Coast:

Amazing List of Sketches

Nerve has a listing of the top 50 comedy sketches of all time, and they've actually taken the time to find video clips for most of them!

GTA4 Looks Very Good

"This game is finished to such an astonishing level of detail, so overflowing with people and events and experiences and stuff, that even if we dedicated this entire magazine to listing the amazing things that could happen in Liberty City we'd still barely scratch the surface."

- OXM's review of GTA4

Judging from the first, glowing review (scans here) and the collected knowledge on the game presented by Kotaku (including multiplayer info) it seems that the only question I need to ask is, regular or special edition?

Rick on Rickrolling

The internet, it is a strange place that is for sure. It has brought us All Your Base, the Star Wars Kid, the Dancing Baby, Chocolate Rain and lots of other memes of varying hilarity. One of the latest memes is the Rickroll or the act of tricking someone into clicking on a link to a video of Rick Astley's 1987 hit "Never Gonna Give You Up."

One enterprising reporter was able to get a brief interview with the Rick-ster himself, and got him to comment on his recent internet resurgence.

The next iPhone?

On the most recent Diggnation, Kevin Rose gave up some (rumored) information on the newest iteration of the iPhone, telling of a video chat option as well as 3g support.

Cookies For Obama

My Thoughts on the iPhone

Having owned an iPhone for a little over two months now, I have come to the conclusion that it is the best tech purchase I have made in recent memory. It's become an indispensable tool in my everyday life, but its the little things that make it truly an asset. From being able to check my email at any time, to having the answer to any question that comes up in conversation, with it in my pocket I'm no more than a tap away from the solution.

The combination of the full-fledged web browser and the ease of navigating said pages with the multi-touch interface makes even the most complicated sites a cinch to access. The only setback is the browser's inability to view flash portions of the sites, hopefully something that will be remedied sometime in the near future with a software update.

One other gripe I have is the slow response of AT&Ts EDGE network, which is not 3G, and is very slow. This is a feature that I believe will be available in the next iteration of the phone, which I predict will come out by the end of the year.

The release of the SDK and the forthcoming application store will greatly increase the software available on the phone and will allow a host of third party developers to release tons of new and useful apps. This is something that I am particularly looking forward to since I chose not to jailbreak my phone and thus cannot access the user created apps that have emerged so far.

Overall, I am delighted with my purchase and would wholeheartedly recommend the iPhone.

Must Love Dogs... and Robots

This video has managed to combine two of my favorite things... dogs and robots into one awesome package. I want one of each.

Stuff White People Like

Stuff White People Like is a blog which documents the habits and idiosyncrasies of the common white person. Very funny stuff, his observations are spot on and many hit quite close to home.

FOWA..... an open future

After attending The Future of Web Apps conference in Miami, I came away with the idea that the future is wide open. There is a movement afoot that aims to open up the information contained within the myriad of social networking sites sprinkled throughout the internet.

Central to this idea is the concept of OpenID, which allows for one set of data (name, location, likes, friends, etc.) to be stored in one place - to be accessible by any site that the user wishes. This means that once you have set up your OpenID, you will never have to worry about filling in another set of online forms, all you would have to submit is your OpenID and the rest would be filled in. Importantly, this means that you won't have to go searching for your friends each time, they would already be filled in on your OpenID page and the particular app can crawl the site looking for who is signed up.

This also makes it easy to stay current, any changes or updates made to your OpenID would be pushed to all the sites which you have authorized to access this information.

Google has embraced this idea of openness and has released an API kown as OpenSocial which will help facilitate the adoption of these open standards.

The Future of Web Apps

Today, I am attending the Future of Web Apps conference in Miami. There will be presentations given by those affiliated with some of the top technology companies (flickr, google, AOL, digg, pownce, etc) in the world. I will hopefully be able to cover some of the more interesting tidbits from the event. Stay tuned.

Atheist sees image of big bang in piece of toast!

Here is the link to the article and a picture of the now holy relic.

Thats no moon... it's a grill-station

I never really thought about where incredibly useful items such as Yoda Pez dispensers or shampoo bottles with Darth Vader's head as a cap come from. Who designs such fantastical creations? Well, I've found one of these masters of all things Star Wars. Jayson Geyer is a product designer who was approached by Pepsi to come up with some ideas for Star Wars movie tie ins in preparation for Episode I. He has posted a large gallery of rejected drawings. Prepared to have your minds blown by some of these amazing products.

I picked some of the best ones to feature here:

One night in Paris, this one is SFW

This breathtaking photo of Paris at night just needs to be shared...

Rock Band!

Drums, guitar, bass, vocals - what, oh what should I try first?

Yup, as you can see in the picture, I bought Rock Band, and am now in the process of living out the drummer fantasies that I've had since I was 5. A full review will follow shortly.

Wireless USB: Finally something in something useful

Engadget is reporting that Dell is now offering a wireless USB card option with its latest M1330 laptop. This is a great idea. A wireless 4 port USB hub is bundled along with the internal wireless USB card, allowing one to hook up a printer, camera dock, ipod, etc. while at one's desk at home without having to physically connect the peripherals to the laptop itself. Hopefully this idea will catch on and other companies (especially Apple!) will have this as an option in the future.

Call of Duty 4: Too Realistic?

Former Marine Eric W. Hall, missing since last Sunday is believed to be actively evading the search effort to find him. According to some, he has been suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder, which was exasperated by his playing of Call of Duty:

Relatives believe he is suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. They say that before he disappeared, Hall was using his hand like a gun to shoot at imaginary people.

Birge said that before Hall went missing he also played the video game "Call of Duty." The family said the game may have triggered some unpleasant war memories. Hall's best friend was killed in the same battle in which Hall's leg was injured.

The U.S. armed forces uses computer games in order to train some of their soldiers and under controlled conditions, games can be used to actually treat post-traumatic stress disorders. It seems that further research needs to be undertaken on the effects of realistic video games on those actively suffering from PTSD or those who have gone without mental counseling since returning from war.

More geekery...

In keeping with the geek theme of today I present:
12 Reasons Why a Geek Will Steal Your Girlfriend in 2008...

Geeks become mainstream, part II

In my last post of the same name, I highlighted several shows ABOUT geeks. This is only the tip of the iceberg, because the past few years have seen a dramatic rise in shows FOR geeks.

An increasing number of shows on prime time television deal with subjects and themes which appeal directly to a core geek demographic. These aren't crappy b-rate shows on cable, but major critically acclaimed productions, with huge budgets and audiences.

Lost, Heroes, Battlestar Galactica, the Sarah Connor Chronicles, Bionic Woman (just to name a few) all with varying degrees of science fiction, fantasy, and fanboy service are all shows on broadcast television, far from the geekish realms of deep cable (with Battlestar contemplating a move to NBC proper).

Recently, an article in Wired examined this trend through the lens of the X-Files. It profiles many of the X-Files alumni who are now involved in this geek television renaissance.

I see this as further proof of the geek invasion and imminent takeover of pop culture.

The Nerd Handbook

Rands in Repose has one of the most insightful and entertaining blog posts that I have read in some time. It basically is a "instruction manual" on the increasingly popular archetype known as the "Nerd" directed towards those who love and admire them. I'll call it "Nerds for Dummies". The author's insight can come only from being a lifelong nerd himself (although I prefer the term "geek") and if you ever were perplexed by the actions or motivations of your nerd, this is the one document you need to get inside his/her head.