Be on the lookout too, for another written post.  I’m going to announce the details on our first major contest.  What’s at stake to win?  A guest spot in one of our episodes!  And not these ones we shoot on the webcam, no… the high quality stuff.  Yeah.  And pie, as well.  There’s also pie to be had.  But I’ve probably said too much.

So tell your friends.  Tell them to tell thier friends.  Be here on Friday.  You shant be disappointed.

I took a course in 10th grade which taught me how to code in java, and I’ve long since forgotten most of it. That all changed this weekend when Zach hit me with this idea he has for out new layout.

I won’t spoil anything, but it involved me learning Javascript in less than a week. Well. I learned what I needed to in about an hour.

The greatest thing about coding, is you can do it for free. You don’t HAVE to take a class, and there are plenty of websites out there that will help you learn how to use it.

For instance, I used http://www.webcheatsheet.com/javascript/ to learn how to use Javascript. They also have ASP, SQL, HTML, and PHP. All there, all FREE. The great thing about it being free, is if you get good enough (which I assume one would have to buy a book to gain that kind of knowledge), you can actually SELL your code, and turn a profit. In an economy like this, it’s relying on your self, your own skills, that can get you jobs, or even just get you paid a little extra on a side job that you can learn what you need to learn in a few  hours.

It’s not just Javascript either. There was a point where I was learning ActionScript so that I could make flash programs. While I gave up on that one (I just didn’t have the time then), Javascript is easy to use (mainly because of my Java based history), easy to learn, and easy on the eyes. The code cleans up real well, and with a program, Aptana, you can easily write and track your code, making it extremely easy to see what pairs up where.

Of course, it does take some time to figure everything out. You’ve got to remember to organize your code, or you’ll end up getting lost within it. The worst thing about writing code is having to delete it and rewrite it because you forgot to get it organized.

In the end, it’s a valuable skill to learn, and places like webcheatsheet.com are giving it away for free.

I think this is what love feels like.

The boys put the NO-L4D2 group on blast. For six minutes.

I say odd in a very selective manner.  I don’t mean to say it’s bad.  Nether do I mean to say it’s an ill-concieved move.

The spelling is just goofy as hell.

Not to say that in itself is bad.  It’s been in fashion for years now, especially in the era of the internet domain names (flickr anyone?) to blatantly misspell a word so that one may trademark it.  Which is largely what this boiled down to- a trademark issue.  Sci-Fi is a genre.  It’s a generic term invalid for trademarking.  What’s the next best thing?  Misspell the fukk out of it.

I’m a design student by trade, so I’m a little more attuned to branding than the average bear.  This doesn’t bother me at all, but then, Sci-Fi Channel and I haven’t always gotten along.

What this spells more, to me, is a sea change behind the scenes at the company.  It started with things like them broadcasting professional wrestling and turning Starbuck into a woman, moving into things like this.  Sci-Fi used to regularly count itself among the most watched cable networks, and likely will continue to do so after this rebranding.  What these guys are after, I think, is mainstream recognition.  Just like most other geek hobbies or interests, heavy sci-fi is usually derided as ‘nerd fodder’ or the like.  While I’d argue we’re a nation of geeks already, sometimes softening the blow will still let you get a hit out.

In an interview with Wired.com, Craig Engler, (senior vice president and general manager of Sci Fi Digital) said of the new name, “It’s a brand that catches up with our programming… “It is our stake in the ground. Last year was tremendous for us, with Battlestar Galactica getting recognition as one of the best dramas on television.”

I’ll buy it.  Where else am I gonna watch the 70′s Incredible Hulk reruns?

Posted in Actual News, Geek-Out Tagged: Television ]]> http://justactionnews.wordpress.com/2009/07/08/why-oh-why-syfy/feed/ 5 Just Zach http://justactionnews.wordpress.com/2009/07/06/happy-birthday-you-old-coot/ http://justactionnews.wordpress.com/2009/07/06/happy-birthday-you-old-coot/#comments Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:58:25 +0000 Danny Methane http://justactionnews.com/?p=953 ]]> 62 years ago today, one of the worlds greatest champions was born.

This champion does not have a clean record, unfortuneately. Having been an accessory to the murders of over one million people, I’d say he’s pretty damn evil. But today is his birthday, and we must focus on the goods.

The champion I speak of does extremely well in a jam, and if he ever finds himself against an opponent who’s in a jam, he seizes the opportunity, and goes for the kill.

A child of World War Two, this champion grew up in a broken home. His mother was never around, and his father kept entering him into competitions to win money.

“Enough with the cherade!” you shout. “We want to know who it is!”

Today, my friends, is the birthday of the AK-47.

Arguably, the most reliable gun in the history of firearms, the AK-47 was designed to work in wet, muddy, or icy conditions. The biggest advantage it has over the US issued M16 is the fact that it rarely jams up. It’s not all that accurate, by any means (If you had a can of beans 100 meters down range, you could empty a 30 round magazine and still not have anything to eat,) but what it lacks in accuracy, it makes up for in firepower.

Firing the standard 7.62 x 39mm round, it matches the M16 perfectly. In a head to head match with the M16, the AK-47 wins in the categories of reliability, simplicity, and easiest to produce.

Remember, this weapon was made in an era where high-tech meant high rate of fire. It wasn’t meant to be a one-shot one-kill gun. It was meant for you to fire into the side of a farm house and hope any one on the inside was riddled with holes.

This old geezer is STILL in combat today, while there’s evidence that the US Army wants to replace the M16 (see H&K XM 8 and H&K HK416).

Wherever you stand on the loudest debate in history, M16 or AK47, today is a day to put your arms down, join together and sing the praises of the AK47.

If it weren’t for him working every day I don’t, we could have a video up for you.  But that’s neither here nor there, really.  He’s my cohost, and I’ll stand by his work right up until I can replace him.  Until then, though, I’ve got a teaser for you.

That’s all you get for the moment.  2.0 goes live in a few weeks.  I just know you’ll enjoy it.

Forget the recent smattering of celebrity deaths… (God rest ye, Billy Mays) … I read some news today that has completely thrown me for a loop.

Global Gaming Factory X AB, a “new media channel to reach visitors of Internet cafes and gaming venues” has shelled out 7.8 million dollars US to aquire the infamous torrent site as early as next month.  This comes on the heels of the announcement of The Video Bay, the original Pirate Bay crew’s take on YouTube, but without the necessity to be beholden to corporate interests.

We’re facing something unprecedented here, I think.  The single most popular site online for pirate content may very well be coming clean.  Is the end of torrent piracy?  PSH.  Hell no.  Someone will just step in to fill the black market shoes this ‘new’ Pirate Bay will be leaving behind.  Another site will step in to regain the lost popularity… and because these guys seem to be intent on turning this operation legal, I can guaran-damn-tee the popularity will be out there for grabs.

I quote the GGF CEO Hans Pandeya:

“We would like to introduce models which entail that content providers and copyright owners get paid for content that is downloaded via the site.”…”In order to live on, The Pirate Bay requires a new business model, which satisfies the requirements and needs of all parties, content providers, broadband operators, end users, and the judiciary,”…”Content creators and providers need to control their content and get paid for it.”…”faster downloads and better quality”.

Now don’t misunderstand my position here, I fundamentally agree with what he’s saying.  The people responsible for the games and movies and music and all those other goodies you bootleg DO deserve to get paid for their hard work.  You didn’t buy it, so you owe them.  Period.  However, this ‘crusade’ piracy advocates style themselves as being on some sort of free speech joyride usually kills any middle ground between both sides.

Everybody loves free stuff, but there’s no such thing as a free lunch.  Here’s to hoping this GGF can make a ‘greener’ Pirate Bay, as it were.

The GGF press release

The Pirate Bay press release

Yeah, me and the rest of America.

$201 Million dollars in $5 days? That’s just friggin’ ridiculous.

Let me start off by saying: This movie was good, but it wasn’t “Star Trek” good.

The visual effects were stunning (thank you, Michael Bay), the story was good (at least as good as a story containing 40 foot tall robots blowin’ shit up can be), and there were, overall, more Transformers, which was my biggest gripe about the first one.

My biggest gripe with this one is that there were too many Transformers, and only 4 of them got significant screen time. I guess it’s not too bad. You do get to see a Corvette slice an Audi R8 in half…

Megan Fox is hot as ever, and I don’t care if you don’t like Shia LeBeouf, he was pretty good in this movie. Tom Kenny is a great voice actor, and it’s funny to hear a voice similar to SpongeBob call Megan Fox a bitch. I don’t know, though. They seemed to take their rating too far. It seemed like they were trying too hard to make the core audience laugh. The mom eating pot brownies, the sex jokes. It just wasn’t natural, and somewhat took away from the experience. Star Trek set some pretty high expectations for movies this summer, and unfortunately, I can’t say that Transformers met those expectations. Like the Iron Man/The Dark Knight fued last summer, I have a feeling that’s going to be Star Trek/Transformers this summer.

Both of them are must see pictures.

On a side note, the Transformers: RotF game isn’t too bad either. Deathmatch style online play is pretty awesome. Especially since you get to be 40 foot tall robots blowin’ shit up.

If you play any online PC games, give these guys a hit! www.terminusest.org

Tell ‘em Toxxikation sent you!

I hardly use it anymore.  Anyone who checks the Just Action News promo MySpace profile could attest to that.  But it’s not just me, it’s the nation at large.  Look.

That folks, is the writing on the wall.  It’s Facebook’s market to loose now.

MySpace just cut 1/3 of it’s staff to better compete in a suddenly very hostile enviroment.  This in and of itself might not sound like much, what with businesses announcing “corporate contractions” and “downsizings” and “strategic repositionings” (and the unemployment rate teasing double-digits for the first time in years)… but remember, this is MySpace.  MYSPACE.  They were the long and short of Web 2.0 not but a few scant years ago.  Social networking used to be synonymous with Tom Anderson and his little patch of internet.  But now…

I mean, just look… MySpace has been flat for the entire year.  Facebook is now the nation’s most popular social networking site.  And Twitter… is actually making real world impact.  The Twitter folks actually delayed server repairs for Iranian election demonstrators organizing through Twitter.  The jet plane that landed in the Hudson River was first found through Twitter.  Twitter sucks the air out of a room.  It’s got problems of it’s own, you know, what with a very terrible retention rate, but it’s growing at least.  More than I can say for MySpace.  It’s one thing to have the most subscribers or to generate the most ad revenue, but it’s something else entirely to affect lives or influence the governments of nations across the globe.  It’s just one of those funny side-effects of being a wired world.

It’s not just yet an also-ran like Xanga, Bebo, MyYearbook or the others… but unless they do something, MySpace won’t ever be the mover and shaker it was.