Episode 102 - Super Geek Sunday
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Welcome to episode 102 of Geek Bytes Podcast.
I’m Ramon Mejia and I’m Edgardo Acosta
Every podcast we bring you the roundup of the week’s best Geek and Tech news, then we discuss that news and anything else we’re interested in that week.
In Geek News this week, we’ll talk about Robots to make you coffee and carry your stuff, The Batman loses it’s director, Doctor Who loses a Doctor, some great superhero TV news, and much more.
Now let’s Begin our show with Geek News
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Geek News
We begin with…
A Jury has decided Facebook subsidiary Oculus must pay Zenimax $500 million for the violation of a non-disclosure agreement by Oculus founder Palmer Luckey. Luckey had worked as a contractor for Zenimax before launching his Kickstarter to start Oculus. The jury found that Oculus was not guilty of misappropriating trade secrets.
Zenimax was seeking $4 billion. Instead the fine breaks down with Oculus owing $200 million for breaking the NDA and $50 million for copyright infringement. Oculus and Luckey must pay $50 million each for false designation, and Oculus co-founder Brendan Iribe must pay $150 million for the same charge. Facebook plans to appeal the ruling.
Keep in mind that last year Facebook reported $8.81 billion in revenue.
http://www.polygon.com/2017/2/1/14474198/oculus-lawsuit-verdict
Cafe X opens in San Francisco, bringing robots to the coffee shop
(Play Video 1)
Founder Henry Hu noticed that baristas spent a majority of their time moving cups around while making espresso drinks. So, much like anyone’s natural reaction to that epiphany, Hu decided to build a fully mechanized coffee shop. At scale, Cafe X should be able to increase margins within the industry while reducing wait times for hurried patrons.Customers visiting Cafe X’s first US location at the AMC Metreon in San Francisco will be able to order espresso drinks involving milk and flavorings from on-site kiosks and a dedicated app.
https://techcrunch.com/2017/01/30/cafe-x-opens-in-san-francisco-bringing-robots-to-the-coffee-shop/
Boston Dynamics Wheeled Robot
(Play Video 2)
Scared by those Boston Dynamics robots that walk like people? Venture capitalist Steve Jurvetson shared footage from a recent Boston Dynamics presentation of a robot that uses a pair of Segway-like wheel. The robot called Handle can balance its own weight according to speed, movement and terrain, though it does seem designed for smoother areas. Boston Dynamics also teased a new creepy robot with legs called Harmony.
That’s right Boston Dynamics, make the faster than people for the robot apocalypse.
https://thenextweb.com/gadgets/2017/02/01/boston-dynamics-robot-segway-wheel-legs/
The Robot Cart
(Play Video 3)
Gita was developed by Piaggio, an Italian automotive company that makes various lightweight vehicles but is most famous for making the iconic Vespa scooter. The robot is an experimental new way of transporting stuff. The top of the robot opens up, allowing it to store up to 40 pounds of whatever you might otherwise lug around yourself. The company is about to begin testing Gita in a number of industrial settings, including factories and theme parks. But the hope is that the robot may also appeal to consumers who might want a robot assistant as they walk, run, or ride a bike (it has a top speed of 22 mph).
https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603558/this-robot-will-carry-your-stuff-and-follow-you-around/
PETER CAPALDI ANNOUNCES HE’S LEAVING DOCTOR WHO
Already the final series for longtime lead writer and executive producer Steven Moffat, it’s long been speculated that Capaldi would leave the series following the upcoming tenth. And during a radio appearance on BBC Radio 2, Capaldi dropped the bomb that, yes, he will indeed leave the show after Series 10 bows, slated to premiere on April 15th.
http://nerdist.com/peter-capaldi-doctor-who-leaving/
Chris Terrio, screenwriter on "Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice," and "Justice League", has rewritten Ben Affleck's THE BATMAN! Then Ben Affleck left the project as the director.
Director Denis Villeneuve, of Arrival and Sicario fame, is officially signed up to direct the upcoming Dune reboot. The news was confirmed by Brian Herbert, son of Frank Herbert, who wrote the original 1965 Dune novel.
http://www.theverge.com/2017/2/1/14468876/dune-reboot-denis-villeneuve-director-official
Kevin Sorbo and Teri Hatcher have both been revealed to have recurring villain roles on Supergirl. While details of their characters aren’t known, but it’s described by the CW as “a mysterious new role that will become the new Big Bad of Season 2.”
https://deadline.com/2017/02/kevin-sorbo-supergirl-villain-the-cw-1201901590/
https://deadline.com/2017/01/supergirl-teri-hatcher-season-2-cast-recurring-1201898430/
Director Michael B. Bay has announced that Transformers: The Last Knight will be his last Transformers movie. Then again he’s also said that after every one of the the Transformer films.
Hulu has announced that they have picked up RUNAWAYS for a full series as opposed to an introductory episode order. Hulu also announced the cast for the series but I don’t know who any of these teen actors are.
http://mcuexchange.com/hulu-ordered-runaways-straight-series-show/
Olivia Holt and Aubrey Joseph have been officially cast in the star roles of Freeform's CLOAK AND DAGGER series.
The live-action interracial romance follows the duo, two teenagers from very different backgrounds, who find themselves burdened and awakened to newly acquired superpowers while falling in love. Tandy can emit light daggers and Tyrone has the ability to engulf others in darkness. They quickly learn they are better together than apart, but their feelings for each other make their already complicated world even more challenging.
http://comicbook.com/marvel/2017/01/26/marvels-cloak-dagger-character-descriptions-released/
J.J. Abrams is Producing a World War II Supernatural Thriller
J.J. Abrams and his Bad Robot company are producing a World War II supernatural thrilled called Overlord. The film follows "two paratroopers who are caught behind enemy lines after their plane crashes on a mission to destroy a German Radio Tower in a small town outside of Normandy during the D-Day invasion. After reaching their target, the two paratroopers come to realize that besides fighting off Nazi soldiers, they also must combat against supernatural forces that are a result of a secret Nazi experiment."
Zombie Nazis folks. There are going to be zombie nazis.
http://epicstream.com/news/JJ-Abrams-is-Producing-a-World-War-II-Supernatural-Thriller
Sony adds PlayStation 4 hard drive support
The Playstation Blog announced this week that the latest PS4 update supports USB 3.0 hard drives up to 8 TB in size, and you will be given the option to install and download games directly to the external hard drive. “Also, all the applications saved in the external HDD will appear in the Content Launcher of the Home Screen so it’s easy to keep track of what apps you launched recently,
http://www.polygon.com/2017/2/3/14496778/playstation-4-external-hard-drives-finally-supported
The Nintendo Switch may get VR functionality
In an interview with Nikkei, current Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima stated that the company was “studying” ways to add VR features to the console.
“If we are able to resolve the issues with playing [VR] comfortably for long hours, we will support it in one form or another,” said Kimishima.
http://www.ign.com/videos/2017/02/03/switch-will-support-vr-on-one-condition-ign-daily-fix
PILLARS OF ETERNITY 2: DEADFIRE HITS 1M IN 24 HOURS
Getting funding for unusual games can be challenging. So, Obsidian Entertainment opted to go with video game funding platform Fig for help with the sequel to their Pillars of Eternity RPG.
Fig not only allows the usual backer rewards for folks who want to play the game, it allows people with enough money to invest in the game and reap financial rewards from later sales. Trying out something new is always a bit of a risk but this is one that seems to be working so far.
The crowdfunding campaign for Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire was so successful that it raised a millions dollars within 24 hours of opening and as of today, they’ve raised over $2 Million dollars.
http://geekandsundry.com/pillars-of-eternity-2-deadfire-hits-1m-in-24-hours/
Final Beauty and the Beast Trailer
(Play Video 4)
This final trailer for Disney's live-action remake of Beauty and the Beast is pretty much a tour straight through the movie — but here, where you probably already know the story, it actually works pretty well. It’s the animated feature with fleshy people, mostly. It comes out March 17th.
THE HANDMAID'S TALE
(Play Video 5)
The Handmaid's Tale looks gorgeous, tense, and deeply creepy – The story follow Offred as she is forced to abandon a life of freedom and become a type of concubine/surrogate/servant in a dystopian future where the U.S. has broken up into smaller radicalized states. It’s a story about subjugation, identity, gender roles, how culture shapes people, and ultimately rebellion. The show premieres April 26th on Hulu.
That’s it for the show
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Thanks for watching and listening.
For the Geek Bytes Podcast I’m Ramon Mejia and I’m Edgar Acosta. Now Go Geek out about something.
(Music 4)
Music Credits
"Happy Bee", "Movement Proposition", "Theme for Harold (var.3) ", "Take the Lead"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/