Episode 63 – Hyperloop Renewed and TV Show Cancellations

 

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I’m Ramon Mejia…….and I’m Edgar Acosta

Welcome to another episode of Geek Bytes Podcast.

Today is May 13th, 2016 and this is episode 63 of the podcast.

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  trailers of the week and much much more..

In our Discussion section we’ll talk about our review of Captain America: Civil War

Now let’s Begin our show with Geek News

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Geek News  

We begin with…

Hyperloop One

Hyperloop Technologies has changed its name to Hyperloop One and showed off a test of its linear-electric motor on a test track in the desert north of Las Vegas. A 10-foot sled was accelerated to 400 mph along a test track into a pile of sand at a force of 2.5Gs. CTO Brogan BamBrogan hopes to have a quarter-mile track with tubes by the end of the year.

https://youtu.be/1e-Po9C8Kj8

http://gizmodo.com/watch-the-first-full-scale-demo-of-the-hyperloop-1776048315

Amazon takes on YouTube

TechCrunch reports that this week Amazon launched Amazon Video Direct. This service allows creators to upload their own videos to Amazon’s Prime Video and generate royalties based on the hours streamed. Creators must fill out tax information and link a bank account, plus create pages for their series and provide artwork for display. They can choose to include shows in Amazon Prime, streamed free with ads, rented, sold or any combination.

Amazon video is available in Japan, the UK, Austria, Germany and the US. Variety reports Amazon will pay creators 50% of retail, 55% of ad-supported free streaming and 15 cents per hour streamed in on Prime in the US, 6 cents per hours streamed elsewhere, capped at $75,000. The top 100 titles get paid a monthly bonus.

It seems like Amazon is looking to take on the big players in the user generated content services like YouTube.

http://techcrunch.com/2016/05/10/amazon-takes-on-youtube-with-launch-of-amazon-video-direct/

 

Google Translate in Any App

Google is making it way easier to translate text on Android: just highlight it.

The new feature is called Tap to Translate, and it arrives in an update to Google Translate for Android. The feature allows Translate to automatically pop up inside of other apps after you've highlighted text in a foreign language, all without copy and pasting. The pop up will also allow you to translate text from your first language back into the foreign language you're reading.

https://youtu.be/4xtEp55MKRE

http://www.theverge.com/2016/5/11/11656900/tap-to-translate-google-translate-inside-any-android-app

 

The Four Houses of the American Hogwarts

The Daily Mail reports that they were able to get a sneak peek at the four houses of the American School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, Ilvermorny, featured in the upcoming film Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them.

Federico Ian Cervantez accidentally discovered the four houses on the Pottermore site. The houses of Ilvermorny are Horned Serpent, Wampus, Thunderbird and Pukwudgie. Furthermore they are described as:

The Horned Serpent is described as 'dragon-like serpents with horns and long teeth. They are often associated with or said to control the weather, particularly rain, lightning, and thunder. Magical abilities ascribed to them include shape-shifting, invisibility, and hypnotic powers'

The Wampus is a cat-like creature 'described as some kind of fearsome variation of a cougar'.

The Thunderbird is a legendary creature 'often described as a very large bird, capable of generating storms and thunder as it flies'.

The Pukwudgie is:  'two-to-three-feet tall and human-shaped, but with a larger nose, ears, and fingers and smooth, grey skin that sometimes glows. Its magical abilities include disappearing and reappearing, partial or complete transformation into a porcupine or cougar, and creating fire'.

What house do you think the American sorting hat would place you in? Is the American sorting hat a pilgrim hat?

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3582151/Harry-Potter-hacker-discovers-names-four-houses-America-s-Hogwarts-ahead-Fantastic-Beasts-Them.html

 

Disney Infinity not Infinite after all

Disney announced Tuesday it is shutting down its Disney Infinity line of games and collectible toys and ending its self-published console game business. Two last playsets will be released in the next two months. Disney did say they were open to third party game makers using their intellectual property but internal game making will be shutting down.

http://arstechnica.com/gaming/2016/05/disney-infinity-shuts-down-as-disney-drops-out-of-game-publishing/

 

Justice League movie Villain revealed

According to a report from BirthMoviesDeath's Devin Faraci, that isn't the only person it was teasing. The villain at the center of Justice League is, in fact, Steppenwolf, who didn't even appear in the theatrical cut of the film. Instead, he was featured in a deleted scene involving Lex in the Kryptonian ship.

As one of the New Gods, Steppenwolf is the uncle of Darkseid. He is also a member of Darkseid's Elite. He leads the military of Apokolips and also rides a hoverbike which may be at the same level of technology as Orion's.

According to Faraci, in Justice League Steppenwolf will have a contentious history with Darkseid, and while Darkseid will be in the film in some form or another, it might not be until the end, setting up the second part of Justice League.

https://youtu.be/s-MUzvASr8s

http://birthmoviesdeath.com/2016/05/11/we-know-the-villain-of-justice-league

 

TV Renewals and Cancellations

It’s that time of year folks. Is your favorite show getting canceled? Or is it safe for another year? Here’s the list so far according to Deadline.

Renewals

Dr. Ken -- ABC

American Crime -- ABC

The Catch -- ABC

The Real O’Neals -- ABC

Supergirl -- CW

Crazy Ex-Girlfriend -- CW

Reign -- CW

Jane the Virgin -- CW

The Vampire Diaries -- CW

iZombie -- CW

The 100 -- CW

Legends of Tomorrow -- CW

Supernatural -- CW

Arrow -- CW

Flash -- CW

Cancellations

Grinder -- Fox

Grandfathered -- Fox

Bordertown -- Fox

Cooper Barrett -- Fox

Galavant -- ABC

The Muppets -- ABC

Agent Carter -- ABC

Castle -- ABC

The Family -- ABC

Nashville -- ABC

Containment -- CW

CSI Cyber -- CBS

www.deadline.com

That’s it for Geek New.

If you like the podcast and want to help support us you can find out all the ways to do so at geekbytespodcast.com/support

Now We’ll move on to trailers of the week.

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In our Trailers of the Week section we discuss the best trailers that came out this week. Remember you can watch the full trailers at geekbytespodcast.com; We begin this week with…

Assasin’s Creed

Through a revolutionary technology that unlocks his genetic memories, Callum Lynch (Michael Fassbender) experiences the adventures of his ancestor, Aguilar, in 15th Century Spain. Callum discovers he is descended from a mysterious secret society, the Assassins, and amasses incredible knowledge and skills to take on the oppressive and powerful Templar organization in the present day. In theaters next year.

https://youtu.be/mcTtP1JnJ_E

Nerve

Industrious high school senior, Vee Delmonico (played by Emma Roberts), has had it with living life on the sidelines. When pressured by friends to join the popular online game Nerve, Vee decides to sign up for just one dare in what seems like harmless fun. But as she finds herself caught up in the thrill of the adrenaline-fueled competition partnered with a mysterious stranger (played by Dave Franco), the game begins to take a sinister turn with increasingly dangerous acts, leading her into a high stakes finale that will determine her entire future.

Starring Emma Roberts, Dave Franco. https://youtu.be/2PR9MOPTI7g

Voltron: Legendary Defender

This netflix original remake of the classic 1980s cartoon looks promising. It has action, adventure, and giant monster fighting action of the original. The series is being developed by executive producer Joaquim Dos Santos (The Legend of Korra, Avatar: The Last Airbender). The series is set to premiere on June 10th.

Five unsuspecting teenagers, transported from Earth into the middle of a sprawling intergalactic war, become pilots for five robotic lions in the battle to protect the universe from evil. Only through the true power of teamwork can they unite to form the mighty warrior known as Voltron.

https://youtu.be/DdqoQjaOGeU

That’s it for Trailers of the week. Now onto our Discussion section

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In our discussion section we talk about anything we find interesting that doesn’t fit in with the News section. This week we’re talking about…

Captain America: Civil War

We saw Captain America: Civil War this past weekend and here’s what we thought about it.

Basic Plot: Avenger’s are split on the new law, Sokovia Accords. Superheros work for the UN or they go to Super Max Prison. The Winter Soldier is on the loose and being framed for an attack on the UN.

Surprise show stealers:

The Black Panther

Ant-Man

Spiderman

Helmut (Baron) Zemo

https://youtu.be/nYbOGor7Wk4

That’s it for the show.

Remember to check out our website, geekbytespodcast.com, for all the links from the podcast and our original content like author interview, reviews, and recommendations.

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.

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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/