Geek culture

Are we alone? That question has plagued scientists and space enthusiasts for generations. The release of Ridley Scott's "Prometheus," which opens nationwide today, may reignite questions about life beyond the boundaries of our galaxy.

The film marks the legendary director's return to the science fiction genre. Scott directed the 1979 film "Alien," which pit protagonist Ellen Ripley, played by Sigourney Weaver, against one of the most iconic extraterrestrial antagonists of all time, the titular alien.

In Scott's new film, the crew of Prometheus embarks on a mission to search for alien life, but is instead greeted with unexpected horrors. A series of mysteries unfold throughout the film, which is set in the future, with all of the advanced technology to be expected from the imagination of the legendary filmmaker.… Read more

LOS ANGELES--David Cage had a great E3. The French game director and the development team he leads up, Quantic Dream, are responsible for some of the industry's most ambitious interactive entertainment experiences like 2010's Heavy Rain. At an event where originality and innovation were the hottest of commodities, showing a game like Beyond: Two Souls was like hitting the jackpot.

I was lucky enough to attend a breakout session hosted by Cage where he dove a little deeper into the world he has created for Beyond: Two Souls. … Read more

We've arrived at the last episode of The 404 Minority Report, so we have an extra long show for you today starting with a long overdue discussion about Mayor Bloomberg's proposed ban of 16 ounce sugary drinks in New York. He started with banning smoking in beaches and parks, then moved onto limiting trans fat in restaurant, and now he hopes to enact large-scale portion control of any sweet drinks more than16 ounces in bodegas and street carts.

No word yet on how this will affect Big Gulps at the 100 7-11 stores opening up in the city this year, but we have questions about who will enforce the laws, how it will (or won't) change dietary habits, and whether or not Joseph will still have access to his 25.4 ounce Gatorade.… Read more

LOS ANGELES--As E3 2012 shuts its doors, we're not entirely sure we ever want them to open up again. Scott and Jeff spent a day going to press conferences and two full days on the show floor. It wasn't pretty and what follows is a brutally honest take on the show.… Read more

"If the Internet goes off, you may need this reference book."

So says artist and designer Ben West on his Web site. West, along with colleague Felix Heyes, has created an impressive, 1,240-page tome made up of the first result produced by a Google Images search on each of the 21,000 or so words found in an everyday dictionary.… Read more

As we move further away from our analog roots and become more entrenched in digital music, what are we to do with the forgotten musical instruments of yesteryear? Austin, Texas, artist and art teacher Christopher Locke has an idea. He salvages old horned instruments to create incredible audio players for the most ubiquitous digital music devices around. … Read more

I once took out 861 infected villagers, crawly creatures, chainsaw-wielding weirdos, and bosses in a single session of Resident Evil 4. That's a lot of splatter, chest holes, ammunition, and blood bursts. That's a lot of violence.

Some of the new games unveiled at E3 this year make my personal splatterfest record look pretty tame. The Splinter Cell: Blacklist trailer is age-restricted. I counted at least a couple dozen kills over the course of the trailer, most of them up close and personal.

CNET Executive Editor Molly Wood's rant on the amount of violence in the new … Read more

As Google takes Street View off-road with its new Trekker backpacks, German company Streetview Technology is taking the mapping technology in yet another new direction -- DIY terrain.

That's right, with "DIY streetview," people can create their own versions of Google's popular, unpopular, and sometimes artsy high-tech atlas.… Read more

The dating Web site eHarmony got hit by the same group that released a list of LinkedIn member passwords yesterday, so be sure to change your passwords for both if you have accounts.

Buzzfeed also parsed through the list of leaked passwords to reveal some pretty depressing sentiments from employees. While many accounts used overly simplistic passwords like "LinkedIn" or "password1," some of the more disturbing pass phrases include things like "suicide," "solonely," "iwishiwasdead," and "divorce." They're still not very strong in terms of security, so be sure to add a special character or a number during the bleak changeover.… Read more