Monday, April 21, 2014

QQ Recommends [PC Game]: Dwarf Fortress

For a mind-bashing, procedural hallmark, Rogue'sh-like, ASCII art, adventure- Check out Dwarf Fortress. Trust me, you'll hate it... at first...

It's dangerous to go alone. Take this:

Enjoy,
Jordan

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

QQ News: April 11th, 2014

A fire hose of geeky news headlines for the weeks leading to April 11th, 2014.

Direct Download

Headlines

00:00 - Date and Introductions
00:30 - What the Heartbleed Bug Means for You (LifeHacker)
05:20 - Amazon FireTV Set-Top Box Goes On Sale for $99 (Escapist)
08:40 - Scientists Use StarCraft II To Prove How Scary Aging Is (Kotaku)
09:40 - Square Enix Has Finally Realized That People Like JRPGs (Kotaku)
11:40 - Scaling the Facebook Data Warehouse to 300 PB (Facebook)
13:00 - The Wil Wheaton Project Coming to Syfy (IGN)
15:10 - DayZ Of Our Lives: SOE Zombie-Based Survival (RockPaperShotgun)
16:15 - Amazon Buys Comixology, Biggest Digital Comics Store (Kotaku)
17:30 - Mozilla CEO Brendan Eich Steps Down (Escapist)
19:55 - Minecraft Pocket Edition Sells 21 Million Copies (Escapist)
20:20 - Minecraft reaches 12 million sold on Xbox 360 (Joystiq)
22:10 - Smash Bros. 3DS Out This Summer, Wii U This Winter (Kotaku)
22:30 - Zero Suit Samus, Sheik, Yoshi Return in Super Smash Bros (Escapist)
23:20 - Samus' New High Heels Are, Well... (Kotaku)
24:10 - Report: Drone Hacked, Crashes, Injures Athlete (Kotaku)
26:15 - Top Gun 2 to Tackle Drones (IGN)
26:55 - GameSpy Shutdown Will Affect A Lot Of Games (RockPaperShotgun)
29:15 - Wrap up and rapid fire news reel!

Tuesday, April 8, 2014

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

Monday, April 7, 2014

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!

Direct Download

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!