QQ Recommends [TV Series]: The Inexplicable Universe with Neil deGrasse Tyson

Do you love Science? Math? History? Neil deGrasse Tyson? (If not... for shame!).

I just wrapped up the first two episodes of The Inexplicable Universe with Neil deGrasse Tyson (via Netflix), and I can't compliment the series enough. Neil is a great communicator and this series gives him a platform to teach us about the origins of our very knowledge (at least so far!).

I can't wait to for my next lesson! :D

See you in class,
Jordan

Quest 24: What do other geek cultures think of American geek culture?

Special Guests: Sam Fold (The Brit) and Somer Esat (The Aussie)!

Quest 24 goes culturally wild with a Brit, an Aussie, and your Merican Duo as we deep dive into the geekyness of their cultures while comparing it to our very own!

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Minutes

• 00:00 - Mic Check and International Introductions
• 04:00 - Where is Somer from, and do they read manga there?
• 07:50 - Did Tom get his money's worth from his Next Generation HD Blu-rays?
• 10:45 - Why is Jordan only Paragon Level 75, or how long can one cold last?
• 13:40 - If Sam is so hardcore, then why hasn't he beaten NetHack yet?
• 17:00 - Is America setting geek culture trends for the rest of the world?
• 19:20 - When did it become cool to be a programmer?
• 22:35 - Is British geek culture on the rise again?
• 25:00 - Why might Australians be adverse to geek culture?
• 27:45 - Is the Big Bang Theory just making fun of geeks?
• 30:30 - What are our respective culture's definitions of "geek"?
• 39:00 - Is there anything so nerdy that it could only happen in the US?
• 43:00 - Are we in the middle of a board game Renaissance?
• 44:45 - Is Dungeons & Dragons still the pinnacle of geek culture?
• 50:40 - Is the prevalence of comic books specific to American geek culture?
• 56:50 - How do different nerd cultures perceive each other?
• 61:00 - What aspect of Australian geek culture influences Americans most?
• 64:00 - What aspect of British geek culture influences Americans most?
• 68:30 - Wrap up and hot seat!

Music

• Ultima VI: The False Prophet 'Gates of Creation'
  Why? It's a game about Lord British and remixed by an Aussie. It's PERFECT!

QQ Review [Film]: Captain America 2, The Winter Soldier

Is this the best Marvel movie yet? No, but it's really good.

With X-Men having been the only Marvel property that I enjoyed while growing up, I am just absolutely amazed how Marvel has managed to continuously make care more and more about their other properties with each and every film they release. To be honest, Captain America was always a cheesy concept to me; a star spangled man running around fighting evil with a shield. Yet somehow the 2011 film managed to turn that camp to its' advantage, with Chris Evans taking center stage as the relatable protagonist and the action being just self aware enough to go over the top without requiring me to take it too seriously, I was shocked to find myself enjoying that movie as much as I did.

(I am going to try a new format with this review, it will have only three sections: The Good, The Bad, and The Verdict.)

The Good

Captain America 2, The Winder Soldier, had a very difficult job: keep the movie fresh and fun without being able to fallback on any of original support cast, any of the World War 2 environment, or any of the 40s camp.

So how did it do? Amazingly well!

QQ News: March 30th, 2014

A fire hose of geeky news headlines for the weeks leading to March 30th, 2014.

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Headlines

• 00:00 - Date and Introductions
• 01:50 - Facebook Buys Oculus Rift For $2 Billion (Kotaku)
• 02:40 - Oculus Kickstarter Backers Are Demanding Refunds (Kotaku)
• 03:00 - Notch Canceled Oculus Rift Minecraft Because Of Facebook (Kotaku)
• 03:20 - Cliff Bleszinski Labels Notch a "Pouty Kid" - Updated (Escapist)
• 03:30 - Facebook May Rebrand Oculus Rift, Import Interface (Escapist)
• 03:40 - People Are Buying Stocks With The Name 'Oculus' (Kotaku)
• 04:10 - Valve's Michael Abrash Joins Oculus VR as Chief Scientist (Escapist)
• 05:20 - John Carmack Voices Support For Oculus Acquisition (Kotaku)
• 08:00 - What does the QQ Cast think about the Oculus buyout?
• 13:45 - Oculus Rift Selling "Just Fine" After Facebook Buyout (Escapist)
• 17:30 - X-COM Creator Julian Gollop Announces Chaos Reborn (IGN)
• 19:00 - Sony signs 1000 licensed indy developers (Joystiq)
• 20:00 - Arcade Classic Gauntlet Is Getting A Remake (Kotaku)
• 21:30 - Happy 15th Anniversary, EverQuest (Kotaku)
• 22:45 - Do Titanfall Bots Play Nice With Eachother? (Rockpapershotgun)
• 24:50 - 'Twitch Plays Pokemon' Has Defeated Lord Helix (Kotaku)
• 25:50 - Who owns Duke Nukem? (Rockpapershotgun)
• 27:10 - SimCity Offline Mode Launches Today (IGN)
• 27:50 - EA loses worst company in America contest (Kotaku)
• 29:50 - Google Brings Cross-Platform Multiplayer to Android and iOS (IGN)
• 31:45 - Disney Purcahses Maker Studios (Kotaku)
• 36:00 - Alien: Isolation Hatches October 7 (Kotaku)
• 37:00 - ET Atari Documentary (Joystiq)
• 38:30 - Suspended Animation a Reality, Human Trials Underway (Escapist)
• 39:00 - Wrap up and rapid fire news reel!

Quest 23: What is Video Game March Madness?

Special Guest: Lynn DeVries!

Quest 23 goes mad with all of the crazy releases in the month of March!

Note: Jordan's microphone was having some issues, so he sounds "distant". We apologize and will continue to L2Podcast for future recordings :(

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Minutes

• 00:00 - Failed Mic Check and Introductions
• 01:00 - What is Lynn not geeking out on?
• 04:50 - Can you hear what Jordan is geeking out on?
• 08:45 - Does Tom only geek out on his tablet?
• 10:00 - Is this the best March for gamers, ever?
• 11:00 - Why are we not all playing Titanfall?
• 20:30 - Is South Park the best licensed game ever?
• 31:35 - Will the Diablo 3 expansion reap your soul?
• 43:25 - Can Heroes of the Storm save Tom's Marriage?
• 48:15 - What did Hearthstone add in their release?
• 49:00 - What class is your new 90 in World of Warcraft?
• 51:30 - Wrap up and hot seat!

Music

• Donkey Kong Country 'Diddy Evolution'

QQ News: March 14th, 2014

A fire hose of geeky news headlines for the weeks leading to March 14th, 2014.

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Headlines

• 00:00 - Date and Introductions
• 00:35 - Is a Farscape Movie in Development? (IGN)
• 01:30 - Candy Crush studio King seeks up to $7.6 billion IPO (Joystiq)
• 02:30 - Oculus Rift Production Halted (IGN)
• 03:20 - Sega slashes profit forecasts by 36 percent (Joystiq)
• 04:45 - Seth Rogen Directing Sega vs. Nintendo Film (Escapist)
• 05:20 - Tomb Raider stretches to 6 million sold, one year later (Joystiq)
• 06:50 - Donkey Kong Sells a Mere 36,000 Units in Japan (Escapist)
• 09:05 - Valve VR leader joins Oculus R&D with new Seattle team (Joystiq)
• 11:25 - Oculus Preparing To Launch RiftCon VR Convention (Escapist)
• 11:55 - Titanfall PC's 48GB install the result of uncompressed audio (Joystiq)
• 13:30 - Twitch Announces Mobile Streaming And Capture Tools (Kotaku)
• 14:50 - Marvel Building a Connected Universe Across Its Games (Kotaku)
• 16:00 - Marvel Unlimited Drops Subscription To 99 Cents (Escapist)
• 17:10 - Disney Interactive lays off 700 (Joystiq)
• 18:45 - Frozen Hits $1 Billion at Box Office (IGN)
• 19:30 - Jack Tretton steps down as Sony Entertainment president (Joystiq)
• 20:30 - DayZ Lead Developer Will Step Down, Start His Own Studio (Kotaku)
• 21:35 - NASA taps Kerbal Space Program to replicate space mission (Joystiq)
• 22:40 - 11 Percent Of Americans Think HTML Is an STD (Escapist)
• 23:40 - Asheron's Call developer ceasing development after 15 years (Polygon)
• 24:50 - Cumulative PS4 sales surpass six million units worldwide (Kotaku)
• 25:30 - Nintendo Shutting Down Wifi Service On DS, Wii (Escapist)
• 28:20 - RadioShack to Close as Many as 1,100 Stores (Escapist)
• 29:50 - Kickstarter reaches $1 billion in pledges (Joystiq)
• 30:35 - US Tax Plan Singles Out Violent Videogames (Rockpapershotgun)
• 32:15 - Space Jam 2 is Happening (IGN)
• 33:10 - Apple TV Generated Over $1 Billion in Revenue in 2013 (Live)
• 34:15 - Wrap up and rapid fire news reel!

Quest 22: Why does it have to be a confession to be a geek?

Special Guest: Zen the labrador!

A little late, but Quest 22 touches our hearts with a deep and meaningful question! This week we discuss Confessions Of A Final Fantasy Addict by Jason Schreier, and I Was A Final Fantasy Addict by Rachel Sanders.

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Minutes

• 00:00 - Mic Check and Introductions
• 02:00 - There can be only one! ...Pokemon Twitch stream?
• 05:05 - How much overtime does it take to keep Jordan from gaming?
• 08:55 - Does Tom Cruise make bad movies, or just not good movies?
• 12:10 - What are the "Confessions Of A Final Fantasy Addict"?
• 16:05 - Are geek activities that different from "normal" hobbies?
• 18:40 - Are physical games that different from video games?
• 20:15 - Why is fantasy football socially acceptable?
• 24:00 - What is a healthy game / life balance?
• 26:15 - Are geeks special, or are we becoming normal?
• 29:45 - Is playing a game just "pretending to be someone else"?
• 33:20 - Why is it considered "childish" to play video games?
• 36:20 - Were you a Final Fantasy addict, or are you still?
• 40:40 - Do you have the same gaming "itch" as when you were younger?
• 45:20 - What did you think of Bravely Default?
• 48:45 - Wrap up!

Music

• Super Mario Bros. '8-bit Eighties'