Episode 36 – Slave Leia and the Hunger Games Theme park
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Welcome to another episode of Geek Bytes Podcast.
I’m Ramon Mejia…….and I’m Edgar Acosta
Now 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 Germany’s nuclear fusion machine, Activision Blizzard buys Candy Crush maker, No more Slave Leia, the Hunger Games theme park, the George Lucas Museum, A new Star Trek series, the ‘Van Helsing’ Series, 'The Witcher' movie, Trailers of the Week and More…
In our Discussion Section we’ll talk about how we feel about the new Supergirl and Ash Vs Evil Dead shows.
Now let’s Begin our show with Geek News
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Geek News
Germany’s about to switch on a revolutionary nuclear fusion machine
For more than 60 years, scientists have dreamed of a clean, inexhaustible energy source in the form of nuclear fusion. And they’re still dreaming.
But thanks to the efforts of the Max Planck Institute for Plasma Physics, experts hope that might soon change. Last year, after 1.1 million construction hours, the institute completed the world’s largest nuclear fusion machine of its kind, called a stellarator.
They call the 52-foot wide machine the W7-X. And following more than a year of tests, engineers are finally ready to fire up the US $1.1 billion machine for the first time, and it could happen before the end of this month, Science reported.
While other types of fusion reactors, like the tokamak, have been built, they consume more energy than they produce.
Because of the stellarators’ design, experts suspect it could sustain a plasma for at least 30 minutes at a time, which is significantly longer than any tokamak. The French tokamak “Tore Supra” holds the record: 6 minutes and 30 seconds.
If W7-X succeeds, it could completely turn the nuclear fusion community on its head and launch stellarators into the lime light.
Amazon opens first physical store
The brick-and-mortar store, Amazon Books, is a physical extension of Amazon.com with books being selected based on customer ratings and pre-orders on Amazon.com.
The in-store and online prices of the books would be same, Amazon said on Monday.
The store will also have an option to test drive Amazon's devices such as Kindle, Echo, Fire TV and Fire Tablet.
Amazon Books, which is located in Seattle's University Village, will be open every day except Thanksgiving and Christmas Day, the company said.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/11/03/us-amazon-bookstore-idUSKCN0SS08B20151103
Activision Blizzard buys Candy Crush maker King for $5.9 billion
The Verge reports that Call of Duty publisher Activision Blizzard has bought King Digital Entertainment, the creator of mobile smash hit Candy Crush Saga, in a deal worth $5.9 billion. Candy Crush accounts for a third of the company’s profits. King's games had 474 million monthly active users in the third quarter of 2015. Compare that to Blizzard’s biggest mobile game Hearthstone, which has 30 Million active users.
Activision makes games like: Call of Duty and Destiny.
Blizzard has made such games as: Warcraft, Starcraft, World of Warcraft, and Hearthstone
http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/2/9662214/actvision-blizzard-buys-candy-crush-king-5-9-billion
Operation KKK Is Beginning To Unmask Hate Group Members
Online activist group Anonymous has followed through on its promise to divulge the names of people it believes are involved in the Ku Klux Klan. On November 2nd, Anonymous outlined its plan to release about 1,000 names, with a chosen date of November 5th for the full info dump. An early leak of the list claimed to name politicians and police officers as KKK members, though many of those "outed" at the time denied their involvement. The list released today includes fewer than 1,000 names, though it claims to reveal popular online gathering spaces for KKK members and the names of regional groups. Anonymous notes that it collected the data over 11 months through interviews with experts, public documents and "digital espionage." In some cases, purported KKK affiliates spoke with Anonymous members via chat services, the group says. "You never know who you are talking to on the internet," Anonymous writes.
http://www.engadget.com/2015/11/05/anonymous-kkk-names-posted/
Disney Wiping Slave Leia From All Star Wars Merchandise
Comicbook.com reports on the rumor that the Carrie Fisher "Slave Leia" costume from Return of the Jedi is being wiped from all forthcoming merchandise.
Apparently even Marvel Comics is not allowed to have their Star Wars comic book artists draw Princess Leia in a sexy pose.
The info comes from well known comic book artist J. Scott Campbell who replied on a Facebook page with:
"Disney is already well on it's way to wiping out the 'slave' outfit from any future products period. You will NOT see and future merchandising featuring the slave outfit ever again. Trust me."
http://www.cosmicbooknews.com/content/disney-wiping-slave-leia-all-star-wars-merchandise
There might be a Hunger Games theme park coming to Atlanta
Lionsgate is working with theme park developer Avatron Smart Park on a 100-acre Atlanta area attraction, one that'll feature studio properties like The Hunger Games andNow You See Me when it opens in 2019. According to The New York Times, the park is just one piece of Lionsgate's larger licensing strategy, which includes other future theme parks in Dubai (Motiongate, which will also include films from DreamWorks and Sony) and China. The park will include a recreation of Katniss' District 12 home, a virtual hovercraft tour of Panem, and a roller coaster that mirrors the high-speed trains linking the Capitol and the country's various districts.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/2/9659470/hunger-games-mockingjay-theme-park-lionsgate-atlanta
Chicago Finally Agrees to Build the George Lucas Museum
Wired reports that the City of Chicago has finally approved plans for the George Lucas Museum of Narrative Art.
The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art will house Lucas’s private art and memorabilia collections, which includes Star Wars and Indiana Jones props as well as Norman Rockwell paintings and an extensive batch of movie posters.
‘Bad Santa 2′ Confirmed With ‘Mean Girls’ Helmer
“Mean Girls” and “Freaky Friday” director Mark Waters has been tapped to direct and produce “Bad Santa 2″ for Miramax and Broad Green Pictures.
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Billy Bob Thornton is returning as the Bad Santa himself, alongside stars Tony Cox and Brett Kelly as Marcus and Thurman Merman, respectively.
http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2015/11/03/bad-santa-2-confirmed-with-mean-girls-helmer/
A new Star Trek series will premiere in 2017
Star Trek fans rejoice! CBS has confirmed that a new Trek series is being developed and will debut in January of 2017 on CBS. The rest of the series will air exclusively on CBS All-Access. While not much else is known about the new Star Trek series, it will be the first new entry into the show since the cancellation of Star Trek: Enterprise in 2005. This is the first program developed specifically for CBS' online platform.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/11/2/8325241/star-trek-series-2016-alex-kurtzman-cbs-television-studios
‘Van Helsing’ Series Picked Up By Syfy
Van Helsing, a 13-episode sci-fi series from Nomadic Pictures, has been acquired by Syfy. Neil LaBute serves as writer/showrunner on the drama, a new take on the Dracula myth.
Van Helsing, which begins production in January 2016 in Vancouver, BC for a fall 2016 premiere, centers on Vanessa Helsing, the daughter of famous vampire hunter and Dracula nemesis Abraham Van Helsing. She is resurrected five years in the future to find out that vampires have taken over the world and that she possesses unique power over them. She is humanity’s last hope to lead an offensive to take back what has been lost.
https://deadline.com/2015/11/van-helsing-series-syfy-1201603002/
'The Witcher' will be a movie in 2017
The Witcher is perhaps best known as a video game series. However, the Witcher games are based on a long-running series of novels and short stories by Andrzej Sapkowski, and these tales are being turned into a film. The Sean Daniel Company (the studio that produced The Mummy franchise) is teaming up with Platige Films on the project, alongside Oscar-nominated director Tomasz Bagiński. The movie is set to release 2017.
http://www.engadget.com/2015/11/05/witcher-movie-2017/
Snoopy Receives A Star On The Hollywood Walk of Fame
Ahead of the upcoming release of the new animated Peanuts movie, the fictional character Snoopy has received his very own star on the Hollywood Walk of fame. Snoopy joined the likes of fellow cartoons Mickey Mouse, Tinker Bell, Bugs Bunny and more with his star’s arrival on Hollywood Boulevard (number 2,563, according to AFP). The plaque landed in its proper place, right next to Charles Schulz’s star.
That’s it for Geek News
We'll move on to Trailers of the Week.
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Trailers of the Week
Every week we bring you the best trailers that came out this week. We play you clips and talk about them. We’ll start with…
Star Wars: Episode VII- The Force Awakens – Japan trailer
A surprising new trailer for the latest Star Wars movie popped up today. The new Japan trailer shows plenty of new footage. Here it is.
Disney’s Alice Though the Looking Glass
Alice returns to the whimsical world of Wonderland and travels back in time to save the Mad Hatter. In addition to reuniting the characters from the last movie Disney introduces new characters: We are also introduced to several new characters: Zanik Hightopp, the Mad Hatter’s father and Time himself, a peculiar creature who is part human, part clock. In theaters May 27th, 2016.
The Hateful Eight
In post-Civil War Wyoming, bounty hunters try to find shelter during a blizzard but get involved in a plot of betrayal and deception. Will they survive? Watch this Quentin Tarantino western December 25th.
In the Heart of the Sea
Based on the 1820 event, a whaling ship is preyed upon by a sperm whale, stranding its crew at sea for 90 days, thousands of miles from home. Starring Chris Hemsworth. In theaters December 11th.
London Has Fallen
U.S. Secret Service agent Mike Banning (Gerard Butler) springs into action when terrorists attack London during the funeral of the British prime minister. The sequel to hit movie Olympus Has Fallen will blow up theaters March 4th, 2016.
Preacher
Preacher is based on the classic Vertigo comic book series by writer Garth Ennis and artist Steve Dillon that followed Jesse Custer’s search for God. And that’s not a religious euphemism. God has literally abandoned Heaven, and Jesse has taken it upon himself to find the almighty alongside Cassidy and Tulip. Jesse also possesses the word of God, a power which allows him to command almost any being in creation. That power comes from Jesse’s merger with the offspring of a demon and an angel, and that power will ultimately put him and his friends in all manner of danger.
AMC will debut the first season of Preacher in mid-2016.
That’s it for Trailers of the Week
Onto our Discussion section
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Discussion Section
Super Girl
http://www.cbs.com/shows/supergirl/
Ash Vs Evil Dead
https://www.facebook.com/ashvsevildead/videos/506290926219371/
Movies coming out this week: The Peanuts Movie, Spectre, Brooklyn – Immigrant Irish 1950s, Miss you Already- Drew Barrymore and cancer friend, Trumbo – Blacklisting during the McCarthy era
That’s it for us this week.
For a review of the topics we covered and any of the links in show notes for this episode visit our site geekbytespodcast.com and click on our link to the podcasts.
If you like the podcast and want to support us you can find all the ways to do so by visiting geekbytespodcast.com/support
For the Geek Bytes Podcast I’m Ramon Mejia and I’m Edgar Acosta. Thanks for listening everyone. Now Go Geek out about something.
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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/