This week, Will, Norm, and Jeremy are joined by TekThing’s Patrick Norton to discuss the Ready Player One movie, Microsoft’s new Surface 3, Project Spartan, Google’s ChromeOS HDMI stick, Amazon’s Dash buttons, and Liar’s Day. Enjoy!
One Day Builds
Adam embarks on one of his most ambitious builds yet: fulfil…
Show And Tell
Adam recently completed a build of the royal St. Edwards cro…
Making
Viewers often ask to see Adam working in real-time, so this …
One Day Builds
Adam and Norm assemble a beautifully machined replica prop k…
One Day Builds
One of the ways Adam has been getting through lockdown has b…
Making
Adam unboxes and performs a quick test of this novel new hel…
Making
When Adam visited Weta Workshop early last year, he stopped …
One Day Builds
Adam tackles a shop shelf build that he's been putting off f…
Show And Tell
Time for a model kit build! This steampunk-inspired mechanic…
One Day Builds
Adam reveals his surprise Christmas present for his wife--a …
Bezos don’t look so smart when I buy a camera or sat-nav and every time I visit i get bombarded with suggestions for cameras and sat-navs i might want… but of course I don’t want because I just F%$%*$ bought one!
They say ‘buying patterns’ I say automatic dumb Sql query… meh.
knows all the hip kids today listen to ‘dangermau5’.
That announcement was the saddest internet performance I’ve seen this week by the way, and I saw a video of a baby goat with a human face. They all looked like they had access to a theater clothing chest and had to quickly dress 2 minutes before coming on stage, Nicky Minaj looked like she was going to cry, Madonna and deadmau5 did a 4 minute lasting awkward fistbump-highfive-handshake-hugcombo, and Madonna ‘s signing move just proved she should stop acting like a 20 year old.
I don’t get who would pay for this over Spotify and thought it was a fairly pathetic cry from the riches that can’t cope with the way the people want to buy their music nowadays. The times of CD money is over, they should face that and invest in performances.
Have anyone asked Garry if he’s playing Cities: skylines? He was so excited for sim city which was absolute shite. So I would think he’d be into a city builder that’s actually good (from what I hear. I don’t buy on release)
It is fucking amazing and only 20 bucks.
Woo! Patrick Norton!
Desire nice. My 5 month old (and my job) refuse to let me play games, so I plan to buy it when I have time. When he’s in his teens or so..
Two power companies to check out with similar tech. http://www.bloomenergy.com/ And http://www.bluegen.info/What-is-bluegen/
I think that the home battery will make it possible to charge cheaply at night and use or sell back during the day.
I definitely was not alive in the 80’s, in fact I was not born until 95. However i absolutely loved and devoured Ready Player One. Its a fantastic book and i think it will hold up to a younger audience. My generation loves video games and I hope that the movie will spark some renewed interest in retro games. I cant wait and I hope it is as good as it can be.
After ‘The Martian’ (which I very much enjoyed) and all the positive discussion around ‘ready player one’ I thought I’d give it a pop and got it through Audible. I can see why with the incessant 80s referencing people have an affection for it (thought it’s distinctly North American 80s in tone), but the actual ‘plot’ as such is cringe inducing garbage that simply doesn’t hold up to any degree of scrutiny and undermines itself constantly through the sheer absurdity of its ever so young Mary Sue protagonist whose entire shtick whenever a challenge arises is simply to state ‘Fortunately I just so happened to be an expert in that because I’ve played/watched/listened to it for hundreds of hours’ ad nauseum.
Seriously. Paging Gladwell, ‘Check this Kid out, he’s an expert in everything’
Honestly the main take away from the whole affair was ‘ take any must read book recommendations from Tested with a big pinch of salt’ in future.
Sorry.
Electricity companies never pay you more for your solar power than current the wholesale price. They always charge you the retail price. Selling solar power back to the grid is not a way to make money.
Desire I really hate the things the artist were saying at the press conference. Super hyperbolic things like “We don’t work for free.” and “We are going to take back the music”. It smacks of being completely out of touch and whiny. They are blaming us – the listeners – for using these services when really they need to be banging down the doors of their distributors who are getting the vast majority of the money that should be going to the artists.
Ah, there you are. I expected vitriol about RP1. Many share your opinion, and I have to assume that the book doesn’t hold up without a shared love of the subject matter. Born in 1974 and raised on Atari, I knew a surprising amount of the trivia discussed in the book, though I never thought it would be useful. What Ernie Cline did was write a book where that trivia is the key to saving the world. He turned me into Luke Skywalker — not because I have the force, but because I (and this is true) had the full script to Holy Grail printed and taped to my bedroom wall in high school. I’ll also beat you at Joust and catch your references to Captain Crunch, Trash-80, and Zork.
My point is, there’s nothing unbelievable to me about the protagonist Wade Watts’ knowledge. I do think the book has problems, but that’s not one. A perfect game of Pac-man though? Come on. Not going to happen.
Subsonic now supports sonos. Which is awesome.. If I had a sonos system =)
Blade Runner is 117 min long. Do the math as well as consider the reality of actual consumption for a minute then consider that the protagonist is no only an ‘expert’ in that, but he’s also an ‘expert’ in innumerable other times sinks as well (especially games), and not to the detriment of anything else (all at the tender age of 16 no less). Watts is a Mary Sue: –
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue (link in case you’re unaware of the phenomena).
Beyond the initial thrill of ‘I remember that’ (and for the record ‘I remember that also’ so you can check your geek privilege at the door) there’s nothing remotely redeemable about the narrative, least of all the broad brush characterization or the tacked on tokenism.
RP1 possesses an interesting conceit (what if the world was in the grips of VR?) but it doesn’t really explore the impact to any great degree but instead trades on well worn stereotypes around a pretty risible boy meets girl plot line.
When I hear people say ‘My favourite book ever’ it makes me wonder as to the paucity of their literary exposure to come to such a conclusion to be honest.
A book based on video game story telling, and loved by people why adore such things? How can it not be deep and meaningful?! I’m sure the people who love RP1 as great literature are the same that think Halo has a nuanced plot, and Lara croft is a deep and complex character..
By the way, to Jeremy’s point. Loving something doesn’t mean I can’t point out when something is a shitty story. I like the hobbit books, but have no problem recognizing that the movies are awful.
A perspective from the trenches of web development for The nightmarish hellscape of fragmentation that is the Android Browser is a much bigger hassle than one more reasonably standards compliant desktop browser you can easily test in using a single VM.
Hey, no reason to get personal! And I would never spell favorite that way, you erudite snob. 🙂
Like I said, the extent of Watts’ knowledge doesn’t bother me. Sure, it may be hard to do the math, but I’m along for the ride due to my own common experiences. The first time I read the book I had no idea what to expect, but it clicked when I got to the duel with the demi-lich Acererak. I don’t want to ruin it for others, but when Acererak said the word, “Birds!” I laughed and thought, “Okay, it’s that kind of book.” From that point on, I happily forgave the deficiencies in exchange for being Luke Skywalker.
You’re right that the VR-addicted world is relegated to backdrop status, and could have been better explored. Most of the characters are sketches of what they could be, and I never bought the relationship between Watts and Art3mis. Totally right. Normally that would be a deal-killer, but I don’t love this book like I love Shakespeare or The Martian. I love this book like Quake or Wizardry. It’s a new experience, a new game — one in which I would thrive. At that point, I’m hooked; thin characters, sophomoric writing and all. Add 1980s youth culture trivia? Well, that’s just not fair. Now you’re in favourite book territory.
“My favorite book” doesn’t really have anything to do with literary excellence or exposure to the great classics. Its a deeply personal thing that’s different with every person that reads that book.
Book use the readers personal experiences and imagination far more that any other media, so when somebody gives you a recommendation of their favorite book its really a look into their lives even if you experience it differently to them.
While Ready Player One might not be added into the realms of literary classics it does do what it was meant to, ignite a spark of recognition and bring a person back to that period of his or her life.
I might very well give that book a go myself because it comes very close to a favorite movie of mine where being the best in a certain arcade game meant you could be called upon to go out and save the galaxy from a invading force…
BTW Jeremy did you know Ready Player One is slated for a possible movie release? Mr. Spielberg has supposedly signed on to direct.
Ender’s Game? Another favorite of mine, too. When one of my friends heard I hadn’t read it, he brought me his personal copy the next day and forced it into my hands.
Yes! In fact, did you know we discuss Spielberg’s involvement on this very podcast? Crazy.
No Spoilers! I normally listen to pods during the weekend while I have downtime 😉
Yeah, Ender’s was great it ticked all the right marks with me.
Anywoo while you wait for RP1 to come out here is something to fill in the time…
http://game-oldies.com/play-online/joust-nintendo-nes#
I was sent, after getting a fist fight after school and breaking my hand, on the bus to the emergency room at the age of 10…
you’re Portland hip…
Criticism is not necessarily vitriol. You might be happy to hand wave away bad characterization and massive plot holes, but that doesn’t invalidate the arguments against RP1 as a substantive work.
The point of posting here was to heads up other people that maybe, just maybe RP1 might not be the mutts nuts that you guys enthused about, and that anyone who hasn’t read it should perhaps approach with caution (maybe get that sample chapter or two first on the Kindle) rather than jumping in whole hog and potentially being disappointed like I was (those 16 hours of ‘it’s surely going to get better eventually?’ are gone).
Yes, totally fair, and good of you.
It really pisses me off that every time you guys talk about music streaming, you NEVER mention Xbox Music, which is an awesome service. You didn’t even report that you can store Music on OneDrive and stream it through Xbox Music now.
And every time you talk about voice recognition, you talk about Alexa, Siri, Google Now, and NEVER Cortana. I’ve been a Tested fan from day 1 but this is getting ridiculous.
I Agree with you guys I am 16 know and was raised as a “free range” kid when i was 8 years old i got a dremel and when i was 10 years old i got a jigsaw and used it a lot. i am in high school know and i have come to realize the difference. Because of that i got into making and with inspiration for you guys while i worked i participated had a successful maker faire booth last year and and confirmed for one this year.
You guys rock!!!!
Thanks for all the talk about this Ready Player One book …had to check it out… got hooked on the first page and couldn’t put it down. It is an instant classic. Like all my favorite sci fi it makes topical social commentary relatable. Luke Skywalker never worried about paying the rent, but Cline has entire paragraphs devoted to expenses and income and having to get a side job. Alot of scenes in the book make it feel very connected to the current world in a way a lot of modern sci fi does not. For example, this website could have come straight out of the book, but it’s real:
http://www.unicor.gov/services/contact_helpdesk/
Not a lot of modern sci fi is commenting on that in a relatable way. as much as I love District 9 i never met anyone who was a bug alien – but i know plenty of people who have worked in call centers. Thanks again for the recommendation.