The Great Geek Manual

Thirty years ago the Friday before last, George Lucas first introduced us to the Storm Trooper. It wasn’t until decades later that we learned the true origins of the Storm Trooper in “Attack of the Clones,” and still, we have no insight into the day to day life of the hundreds of thousands of soldiers who uphold the rule of the Empire. It’s question that’s long intrigued me.

So I went on the hunt for an answer and was rather surprised by the abundance of information available on the topic. Here’s what I discovered…

Sony’s latest and greatest memory card will fit an amazing amount of data onto a tiny, tiny sliver of a device. It’ll make it possible to carry somewhere close to two Terabytes (2,048GB) on a keychain, though the one pictured has only a 512MB capacity. Not only will the miCard be able to pack in the bytes, it’ll be lighting fast, as well, at 480Mbit/sec. These devices will be a new format all together, but, unlike other Sony formats, this one is designed to be USB compatible.

Source: T3

Today is the thirtieth anniversary of the day that the first practical and commercially-successful personal computer, the Apple II, went on sale. The Apple II featured an a 1MHz MOS 6502 processor, an integrated keyboard, a built-in BASIC programming environment, expandable memory (4K expandable to 48K), a monitor capable of color graphics, a sound card, and eight expansion slots. As Wired Magazine’s Tony Long puts it, “The Apple II resembles today’s modern desktops in the way a ’38 Plymouth resembles a Cadillac Escalade. Cruder, perhaps, with fewer bells and whistles, but a smoothly functioning machine nevertheless.”
Read the rest of this entry » » »

Some Regal Cinemas movie theaters have released a new gadget that lets movie goers complain about disturbances during a movie, pirates, or projection issues with the movie itself. Called the Regal Guest Response System, the remote control device is handed out to “a random member of the Regal Crown Club Loyalty Program attending each movie.” If anything annoying happens, they just have to press a button to page a manager.

It’s a great idea. Lately, it seems like ushers are a thing of the past and every other movie I go to see features a jackass on a cellphone three rows behind me. Still, what would possess Regal Cinemas to stop at FOUR buttons? I mean, if you’re going to have more than just the one button necessary to call someone in, why not be a little more specific with the complaints? I’ve personally come up with another ten options that I would personally like to see added to these gizmos.

10. Screen-Talker – Some fool believes that the characters can hear what the audience is saying

09. Cellphone – Talking to friends while watching movies? What a fantastic idea. Come remind them that they can do that at home for free.
Read the rest of this entry » » »

Crowds assemble! Milling throngs converge! Spectators attend! The Great Geek Manual is back online and updating after more than a week! All three of you may now resume your daily consumption of my Geekiness!

What happened? I’m glad you asked. No, scratch that. In all reality, I was utterly shocked when, Saturday night, Larry asked what had happened to my content. True, I somewhat suspect that “Larry” may actually be my mother attempting to make me feel good about my blogging or my younger brother attempting to reinforce the delusion that legions of imaginary fans hang on every word of my blog in order to prevent me from hanging with him in the virtual world. (It turns out that stories about his bobble-headed babyhood are just as embarrassing in the presence of his WoW guild members as when retold in a loud voice at the counter of the local comic book shop in a ploy to curtail his hours of perusing.) However, in this one case, I think that “Larry” may, in fact, be a real person, because:

1.) While my mother did receive a computer for Christmas, she still shakes it like an Etch-a-Sketch when she wants to start over and…
2.) My brother peppered out last conversation with broad praise for my recent posts, despite the fact I haven’t posted anything recently, in an attempt to hide the fact that he hasn’t visited my blog in several weeks. Violence ensued.

As such, I have concluded that Larry is a real person or a highly sophisticated bot with truly excellent taste, and, in either case, I will regale you with the explanation.
Read the rest of this entry » » »

It’s Universal Day of the Jedi, and, as with any holiday, it’s important to remember what this special day is really all about. And this holiday is all about one thing: commercial whoring, and how! Disney is the latest to jump on the band wagon.
Read the rest of this entry » » »

To commemorate the 30th Anniversary of the theatrical release of Star Wars, the guys over at Geeks of Doom compiled a list of the film’s thirty most memorable quotes. All in all, I think it’s a good list, though, of course, R2-D2 and the Jawas got a few zinger in, but I suppose the list is only of English quotes and I think the translation of the Jawa “Pucinni!” probably translates into something indecent. And no, the omission of “Luke, I am your Father” isn’t a mistake, it’s just not from Star Wars Episode IV: A New Hope.

30. “This will be a day long remembered. It has seen the end of Kenobi, and will soon see the end of the rebellion.”

29. “What a piece of junk!”

28. “Don’t call me a mindless philosopher, you overweight glob of grease.”

27. “I’m Luke Skywalker, I’m here to rescue you.”

26. “Watch your mouth kid, or you’ll find yourself floating home.”

25. “Evacuate in our moment of triumph? I think you overestimate their chances.”
Read the rest of this entry » » »

ABC News has posted an online features this week featuring recent photos of the actors who played roles in Star Wars along with a screenshot of them from the film. It’s interesting to see how the cast has aged over the last thrity years.
Read the rest of this entry » » »