Geek culture

iOS game Cut the Rope jumps to comics

SAN DIEGO--It's not often a comic book begins its life as a video game, but the popular iOS and Android game Cut the Rope and its star character Om Nom are about to make the reverse leap from games to comics. Game publisher Zepto Lab and comics publisher Ape Entertainment made the announcement at the San Diego Comic-Con.

Zepto Lab has called it "one of the best-selling iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad games of all time" and will be using the digital comics series and graphic novel collections to create a deeper backstory for Om Nom, the … Read more

The 404 866: Where we refrain from physical activity (podcast)

Today marks the beginning of a weekend spent indoors to escape the heat and the smell coming from a sewage plant in Harlem that's been spewing millions of gallons of untreated New York sewage into the Hudson River since last Wednesday. On today's episode, we're chatting about a mysterious similarity between the trailers for the new Spider-Man movie and Mirror's Edge, a pocket urinal solving a wee problem, and more tips on how to help Jeff's dad load songs onto his iPod.

The 404 Digest for Episode 866

Workers struggle to repair damaged sewage plant. John Mayer gives his dad iTunes help. New Spider-Man trailer may be ripping off Mirror's Edge. Go-Guy pocket urinal solves a wee problem. A video voice mail from Kokesh, creator of The 404 Show Title Generator!

Episode 866 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

The force is strong with this Xbox 360 'Star Wars' bundle

While we were less than thrilled with the Kinect Star Wars demo at E3 2011, we're pretty sure this sweet R2-D2-inspired Xbox 360 will sell.

Announced today at Comic-Con 2011, the Limited Edition Kinect Star Wars Bundle will include the custom console with a 320GB HDD, a copy of Kinect Star Wars and Kinect Adventures, a white Kinect sensor, a gold C-3PO-inspired wireless controller, a wired headset, and exclusive downloadable content.

Microsoft formally announced Kinect Star Wars at E3 2011 and demonstrated lightsaber gameplay and force movements. Our own demo netted some awkward results that left an overall stale impression, but we're still eager to see the final product--whenever that may be. The big news today along with the bundle is that podracing will also be a game mode as well.

There's no release date yet for the bundle either, but it'll go for $450. That's not a bad deal if you're starting completely from scratch.

Click through for an enormous detail shot of the R2-D2 Xbox 360 console, complete with a blue--as opposed to green--LED panel.… Read more

The 404 865: Where we don our bedtime spanx (podcast)

The Sleep Doctor Michael Breus is back on the show to answer your questions about how sleep affects everything from your weight to your memory, and even your mental health. We never get enough time to talk to Dr. Breus, but today we pick his brain about waking up sleepwalkers, how to get your kids back on a summer sleep schedule, and the best natural sleep aid.

The 404 Digest for Episode 865

Rocked to sleep-- not just for babies anymore. Check out Dr. Breus's book, " The Sleep Doctor's Diet Plan: Lose Weight through Better Sleep" For-hire Brooklyn woman reads you bedtime stories. Go the ***k to sleep! Add Dr. Breus on Twitter!

Episode 865 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Vader steers you to the Dark Side on Garmin GPS

Road rage much? If you've got a Garmin, you can now get your Force freak on with Darth Vader as your co-pilot.

About a year after TomTom, Star Wars characters have come to Garmin navigation devices starting with the Sith Lord himself.

Available for $12.99 from Spot It Out's GPS App Shop, Garmin.com, and Best Buy, the Vader voice package features directions such as "You have reached your destination, impressive, most impressive" and "Traffic ahead. The Emperor has foreseen it."

I bet he didn't foresee Carmageddon.

Parts of the "Star Wars" score are thrown in, as well as TIE fighter and lightsaber sound effects.

Check out the demo below. I don't know who does the voice work, but the TomTom version sounds a little more evil. … Read more

The 404 864: Where there's Lion pie in my eye (podcast)

Wilson's especially giddy today because Apple just released two new MacBook Airs and a pair of new Mac Minis that all feature a data port for high-speed Thunderbolt peripherals. On today's episode, we're also talking about Rupert Murdoch's pie in the face, a social network for Anonymous hackers called AnonPlus, and the proper way to teach your parents how to use modern technology.

The 404 Digest for Episode 864

Apple updates MacBook Air, Mac Mini. Anonymous unleashes social network AnonPlus.

Episode 864 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more

Pee whiz! Pollee, a urinal just for the ladies

I saw an electronic toilet seat on sale at Costco the other day that made me think about advances in toilet technology. That's not a topic most people spend any time contemplating.

Copenhagen, Denmark's culture design agency UiWE has dedicated plenty of time to the topic with its PeeBetter project. As the name might lead you to believe, it's all about figuring out better ways for people to pee in public spaces.

Follow me here. So far, the big triumph of the PeeBetter project is Pollee, a prototype urinal for the gals. It debuted this summer at the massive annual Roskilde music festival, where notoriously long bathroom lines have held up women for hours.

UiWE says it best: "Pollee is an open air, touch-free urinal made for a semi-squat position." It can handle four women at a time compared with a traditional toilet's inefficient quantity of one. It also features the clean, rounded lines of contemporary Danish design.… Read more

preGame 56: Bastion

preGame returns with a live demo of the first title off the Microsoft Summer of Arcade line up. Tune in to catch a live in-studio demo of the retro-inspired action-RPG, Bastion!

With summer in full swing, gaming news is a bit scarce, so we've rounded up the best headlines from the past few weeks. We'll get things rolling with a chat about the newly announced Batman: Arkham City Collector's Edition and what gamers can expect to find in the $100 bundle.

Next, we'll discuss the fallout from the ModernWarfare3.com controversy that was forwarding visitors to … Read more

The 404 863: Where we're broadcasting live from outer space (podcast)

Anthony David Adams joins us on today's episode in hopes that one of our listeners has the next object that will allow him to trade his way into space. He started with a toy spaceship and five trades later, he already has a ticket for a One Zero G Space Flight, so hit him up if you want to make him an offer.

While he's trading his way up, Anthony's also looking to build space exploration kits replete with Space HD Video Exploration Modules for at least 100 school districts, so sign up your local school at the Students in Space Project Web site. If you'd like to donate to the SpaceKits Project, PayPal donations are accepted at donate@onetoyspaceship.com.

On top of all that, Anthony brings our listeners a chance to win a free Nook and a watch from Nooka, the company designing the packaging for the Students in Space kits! The contest is simple:

Like OneToySpaceship.com Leave a comment on this blog post that answers this question: I want to go to outer space because________ and I am willing to trade ____________. Send out a tweet linking to the contest, and that's it!

Thanks again to Anthony for coming in today, and be sure to listen to the full episode to hear how he got started with the space project, why it's necessary to make redundant backups of our intergalactic hard drive, and how he plans to be the first member of the Parsec High Club.

Episode 863 Subscribe in iTunes (audio) | Subscribe in iTunes (video) | Subscribe in RSS Audio | Subscribe in RSS Video… Read more