Saturday, July 19, 2014

QQ Recommends [Presentation]: I'm Not A Real Friend, But I Play One On The Internet

Tim Hwang gives a wonderful presentation about online bots. He talks about how they are used to influence communities, how they are made to seem human, and where they might go in the future.

The presentation is informative, thought provoking, humorous, reasonably short, and even a little scary! We definitely recommend that you check it out.

YouTube Video

Enjoy
Tom

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Quest 28: What happens when we don't record for a month?

Special Guest: Sans Dan!

Quest 28 is a kitchen sink of stories, news, and rambling because it's been a month since our last recording! On the plus side, we are a lot louder this time.

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Minutes

00:00 - Mic Check and Introductions
02:50 - What is Jordan up to, or is his computer plugged in?
07:25 - What is Tom up to, or what happens when you skip a flight?
13:00 - What makes a hotel "fancy"?
15:05 - Is Firefall coming out of beta?
15:50 - Which World of WarCraft dungeon is about to change?
18:05 - Did Sony really change their E3 speech at the last minute?
21:10 - How was Chris Evans' Snowpiercer?
22:20 - Will creating unique DLC hinder the creative process?
26:40 - Which console is Dragon Quest X coming to next?
28:20 - What is new in Dungeons and Dragons Fifth Edition?
36:10 - Could Wizards of the Coast be the next Marvel?
39:00 - How awesome is Chromecast?
40:40 - Which E-Sport has a ten million dollar prize pool?
41:30 - How fast is the Mario Brothers speed run world record?
42:15 - Are you looking forward to new Hearthstone content?
43:30 - Is an Idiot Aboard worth watching?
44:40 - How much does it take to kick start a potato salad?
46:55 - Can you sell early access in a retail box?
51:00 - What does it mean when you Farkle a motorcycle?
57:30 - Who do you call when your PS4 bricks?
58:15 - What did you buy on the Steam summer sale?
60:10 - Wrap up!

Music

Gauntlet 'GAUNTLET!!'

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

QQ News: June 15th, 2014 (E3!)

A fire hose of geeky news headlines for the weeks leading to June 15th, 2014, including our E3 experiences!

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Headlines

00:00 - Date and Introductions
01:40 - Splatoon is a Family Friendly Shooter for WiiU (Escapist)
03:10 - Nintendo Unveils Mario Maker for Wii U (IGN)
05:15 - Final Fantasy Type-0 Coming to PS4 and Xbox One (Escapist)
07:30 - Mii Fighter Joins Super Smash Bros. Roster (IGN)
09:20 - Nintendo's white PlayStation 4 Debuts (Kotaku)
10:30 - A White Version of the PS4 Drops On September 9th (Kotaku)
11:30 - Star Fox Project for Wii U Revealed at E3 (Theepochtimes)
13:45 - Lara Croft Returns in Rise of the Tomb Raider (Escapist)
15:00 - The Wii U's First Big JRPG Is A Sequel To Xenoblade (Kotaku)
16:45 - Apple implements random MAC address on iOS 8 (Techtimes)
19:30 - Mother Surprises Daughter With Bus Load Of Cosplayers (Kotaku)
20:15 - Brazil start first match of the World Cup with own goal (Sports)
21:15 - A computer just passed the Turing Test (Washington Post)
23:55 - Mario Kart 8 Quadruopled Wii U Weekly Sales (Joystiq)
26:22 - Steve Wozniak Got Banned from Nintendo Power (Gizmodo)
27:35 - Miyamoto Tries Oculus Rift. Oh, The Possibilities. (Kotaku)
29:00 - Fans watched 2.4 billion hours of eSports in 2013 (Joystiq)
31:20 - Star Citizen Multiplayer Roll-Out Begins (Roberts Space Industries)
32:45 - Yoshi's Woolly World Revealed at E3 (IGN)
33:45 - Wrap up and rapid fire news reel!

Monday, June 9, 2014

Quest 27: What was so exciting about WWDC?

Special Guest: Jegan Chen!

Quest 27 reviews the excitement from Apple's WWDC announcements! Oh, and to make Tom happy we also talk about the Microsoft Surface Pro 3.

Direct Download

Minutes

00:00 - Mic Check and Introductions
02:10 - What is Tom up to, or how fast is Mario Kart 8?
05:20 - What is Jordan up to, or how cool is Swift?
08:00 - What is Jegan up to, or what do you play on the train?
11:30 - What was announced at WWDC?
15:30 - Is the era of Tim Cook all about software?
19:50 - Is Swift a "moderization" of Apple development?
29:00 - What design changes are coming to iOS?
37:20 - Are UX changes getting harder for users to adapt to?
43:30 - What do we think of the Surface 3?
48:50 - Is "laptop replacement" perfect marketing for the Surface Pro?
53:10 - Do you remember pico projectors?
55:10 - Is the younger generation only experiencing the internet on phones?
58:20 - Wrap up and hot seat!

Music

Chrono Cross 'Cross Fire'

Sunday, June 8, 2014

QQ Recommends [Comic]: Hobbes and Bacon

Calvin and Hobbes is considered to be one of, if not the best, comic strips to ever grace newspapers. It's author, Bill Watterson, embodied what it mean to be an artist, a writer, and even a philosopher. His integrity ultimately lead the comic to be discontinued in 1995, when he refused to sell out and merchandise the strip.

Did you ever wonder what happened to Calvin after the strip ended?
So did the team over at the now defunct web comic, Pants are Overrated.

They created a small four part series showing one possible future where in Calvin and Susie got married, and had a daughter named Bacon. I personally feel that these few strips are the perfect homage to great Calvin and Hobbes; they capture the spirit original work while transitioning it to an adult perspective on parenting. If there ever was to be "more" Calvin and Hobbes, this is exactly what I would have wanted it to be.

Enjoy,
Tom

Tuesday, June 3, 2014

QQ News: June 1st, 2014

A fire hose of geeky news headlines for the weeks leading to June 1st, 2014.

Direct Download

Headlines

00:00 - Date and Introductions
00:40 - YouTube Is Buying Twitch For $1 Billion (Kotaku)
03:40 - Oculus partnering with Samsung for VR device (Joystiq)
05:20 - Oculus Rift Coming Soon to Chuck E. Cheese's (Escapist)
06:30 - Microsoft's Ballmer Buys LA Clippers For $2 Billion (Escapist)
08:10 - Microsoft's Nadella: We're Not Getting Rid Of Xbox (Escapist)
09:40 - LeVar Burton Kickstarting More Reading Rainbow (IGN)
12:20 - Reading Rainbow May Come to Consoles (IGN)
14:20 - Nintendo Made A GameCube Controller Adapter For Wii U (Kotaku)
16:30 - EA Shuts Down Longtime Game Studio Mythic Entertainment (Kotaku)
18:00 - Star Wars: Attack Squadrons Cancelled (IGN)
19:55 - Warcraft Movie "Officially" Finished Filming (Escapist)
21:00 - Superman/Batman Title Revealed, And It's Hilarious (Escapist)
22:25 - Superman Writer Called Out For Sexist She-Hulk Shaming (Escapist)
25:30 - CryEngine license subscriptions now available on Steam (Joystiq)
29:00 - Impa playable in Hyrule Warriors (IGN)
29:50 - You'll Be Able To Play Dragon Quest VIII On iOS Soon (Kotaku)
31:40 - Journey studio nets $7 million (Joystiq)
32:25 - AOL Outspends Google on Net Neutrality Issues (Escapist)
34:30 - Google Fiber Working with Netflix, not Charging Fast Lane (Escapist)
37:00 - Nintendo Has A Plan To Share Money With YouTubers (Kotaku)
38:20 - Final Fantasy III is now available on Steam. (Kotaku)
38:40 - Wrap up and rapid fire news reel!

QQ Review [Wii U]: Mario Kart 8

Mario Kart 8 is the best entry to the franchise in a long time.

Mario Kart 8 focuses on racing, and puts the emphasis on speed. Everything in this iteration has been refined to get you around the both gorgeous and creatively designed tracks as quickly as possible. There is a lot to talk about here, so let's started!

The Good

The new anti gravity track segments allow for not only some very visually interesting set pieces, but they also bring about a paradigm shift with regard to how you think about engaging other karts: bumping another kart while in anti gravity mode will cause you both to receive a boost! This requires you to carefully consider when and where to bump other players as you want to be the only one who benefits from the boost.

Other mechanics that return in Mario Kart 8 include drafting, motorcycles, kart customization, gliding, jump boosts, and coins. While no single one of these is a huge game defining mechanic, I really enjoy how diverse the game play feels as a whole with all of them working together.