Mar 21

Michael Atkinson falls on his own sword and resigns from the front bench

Many weeks ago on a Geek Actually Podcast episode I said that we needed patience and sooner or later Michael Atkinson, the South Australian Attorney-General, would either be voted out or give up the fight. I was ridiculed by the chat room, they said that he was in a safe seat and he would be around forever. I tried to counter this with the Prime Minister John Howard example from 2007. John Howard was in one of the safest Liberal Party seats in the country, not only did he lose the election but he was so unpopular at the time, he also lost his seat in parliament.

Ha! The South Australian State Elections just took place and Michael Atkinson, although not voted out, has resigned from the front bench. Patience is a virtue my friends. He claims that the new Government has a majority of one and he didn’t want his controversial ideals to make waves for the re-elected Labour Government. This is probably the most reasonable and responsible act I have ever seen him make. Michael Atkinson will remain in Parliament, but he will stay on the back bench.

Now that Mr. Atkinson is no longer that states Attorney-General we might actually get an intelligent debate on the R18+ rating for games issue.

Goodbye Attorney-General Michael Atkinson, you will not be missed.

To read more read this article on AdelaideNOW

Mar 20

Google is leaving China in April

Well, we have been covering this for a few weeks on Geek Actually Tech and now it would seem that it is official, Google is leaving China. On last weeks show we reported that Google was about 99.9% sure it was going to leave china and now the Chinese media has made an announcement that Google will be packing up shop and leaving in April. The China Business News says Google is going through with it’s threats and will be out of China on April 10th. At this time Google has yet to confirm this.

Google has been threatening to withdraw from China over censorship issues and the cyber attacks earlier this year.

At this time, Google has continued filtering search results on google.cn to comply with Chinese censorship demands but  Google has threatened to stop filtering.

Also on the podcast we talked about companies in China that have voiced concern about Google leaving and wanted possible compensation for lost income if the giant left. Google confirmed that it had received a letter supposedly from a group of 27 Chinese agencies claiming that they wanted to open talks with Google over compensation. However, several of the agencies have told the Associated Foreign Press they knew nothing of the letter. This has raised doubts over the authenticity of the letter and Google is now reviewing the letter.

As to the future of Google products (like the Nexus 1 phone) in China. All the stories so far about this have been about Google.cn, there doesn’t seem to be an answer about other Google products yet. My guess is if they pull out of China, it will be a complete pull out.

Mar 20

Geek Actually Replay – Geek Actually Episode 76 Live Show

Here is this weeks live video version of The Geek Actually Podcast Episode 76 – Dominos and Beer. This week David and Josh are joined by Brandon McClelland for two movie reviews. Robert Altman’s classic film ‘M*A*S*H’ and the new film ‘Green Zone’. The audio podcast of this episode can be found on this site or on iTunes.

Almost every week we record the Geek Actually Podcast while feeding it live to Ustream. We record the Ustream feed and it is available go back and watch later if you want. It occurred to me that we should just embed the past shows here so you can find them easily. You never know, you’re listening to that podcast and something visual happens, now you can simply find the show here and watch what happened. Enjoy. (Note: We only started recording the feed as of episode 46, there are no videos of earlier shows.)

Mar 20

Geek Actually Replay – Geek Actually Tech Episode 6 Live Show

Here is this weeks live video version of The Geek Actually Tech Podcast Episode 6 – Enemy of the Internet. This week after the usual news and trivia, we talk about what computer is right for you. The audio podcast of this episode can be found on this site or on iTunes.

Geek Actually Tech Episode 6 – recorded March 17th 2010

We try to record the live stream of the Geek Actually Podcasts while feeding it live to Ustream. Some weeks technical issues get in the way. We embed the past shows here so you can find them easily. You never know, you’re listening to that podcast and something visual happens, now you can simply find the show here and watch what happened. Enjoy.

Mar 20

Trailer – Predators

On this weeks Geek Actually Podcast (ep 76) we showed a preview of the new Robert Rodriguez produced ‘Predators’. Josh informed us that a full trailer was also available and here it is.

Mar 20

Geek Actually Episode 76 – Dominos and Beer

Hosts: David McVay, Josh Philpott and Brandon McClelland

The Geek Actually Podcast, your weekly dose of ‘the week in geek’. This week we are joined by our new friend and aspiring actor Brandon McClelland. This week we re-introduce our tech section with a few unusual tech stories, and let’s just say if you find these interesting, you are a geek. After our usual entertainment news section we review two films, one old and one new. First up, a listener request (thanks Popshot), we review the classic Robert Altman film ‘M*A*S*H’ and then we take a look at the new Matt Damon/Paul Greengrass film ‘Green Zone’. Here are the links to our stories.

Watch us live at geekactually.com/live 12pm Saturdays (AEST UTC +11)

Tech News

Look out Harry Potter, you’re not the only one with an invisibility cloak!
http://www.news.com.au/technology/researchers-create-3d-invisibility-cloak/story-e6frfro0-1225842645660

Forget touch screens, how about touch skin! Skinput is just around the corner.
http://www.news.com.au/technology/skinput-turns-humans-into-a-walking-touchscreen/story-e6frfro0-1225842249103

We can all relax, Apple doesn’t own the letter ‘i’
http://www.smh.com.au/digital-life/mp3s/apples-future-wont-be-brought-to-you-by-the-letter-i-20100312-q27r.html

For more deeper stories and more detailed tech news, listen to Geek Actually Tech. Recorded live on Wednesdays at 8pm AEDST and the podcast is available on iTunes Thursdays.

Entertainment News

Peter Graves Dies at 83
http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/news/la-me-peter-graves15-2010mar15,0,836018.story

Tim Burton to make a new 3D stop motion animated film – The Addams Family
http://www.deadline.com/2010/03/tim-burton-next-3d-animated-film-da-da-da-snap-snap-the-addams-family/

The new Predators sneak peak video – Watch it here

Conan news: Mickey Rourke out, Ron Perlman in. Check. Rose McGowan joins the cast…wait what about Red Sonja?
http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/03/14/conan-casting-ron-perlman-replaces-mickey-rourke-as-conans-dad-gi-joes-breaker-joins-cast/
and https://geekactually.com/2010/03/18/does-this-mean-red-sonja-is-now-officially-dead/

Joaquin Phoenix’s meltdown is over apparently
http://movies.indiatimes.com/Gossip/Oscar-winning-Resul-signs-Joaquin-Phoenix-film/articleshow/5675203.cms

Watch Joaquin Phoenix’s Letterman appearance (the video we watch) here.

The Hobbit is finally getting underway, shooting begins in July.
http://www.mckellen.com/cinema/index1.htm

The new Heavy Metal film not dead, not if James Cameron and David Fincher have anything to do with it.
http://www.slashfilm.com/2010/03/12/heavy-metal-isnt-dead-david-fincher-still-flogging-a-revamp-of-the-animated-anthology-with-james-cameron/

Film Reviews

‘M*A*S*H’ the classic 1970 Robert Altman anti-establishment/anti-war film based on the novel ‘M*A*S*H’ by Richard Hooker and starring Donald Sutherland, Elliott Gould, Sally Kellerman and Robert Duvall. The story of life on a mobile army hospital and the character’s total disregard of authority during the Korean war. The film went on to spawn a TV series that lasted 10 years. The film was nominated for five academy awards (it won 1 for screenplay), nominated for six Golden Globes (it won best picture musical or comedy), nominated for five BATFA awards and it won the Palm d’or at Cannes. On top of that it won best director for Robert Altman at the Director’s Guild Awards. An odd little film that still delivers it’s message today even though it is showing signs of dating. Robert Altman’s style was unique and visionary, no other film was like it when it came out.

‘Green Zone’ the new film by Paul Greengrass, starring Matt Damon, Greg Kinear, Brenden Gleeson, Amy Ryan and Khalid Abdalla. The plot, on discovering the intelligence on WMD sites is false, U.S. Army Chief Miller, with the help of CIA operative Martin Brown, goes rogue to discover the truth about the invasion of Iraq. Based loosely on the book ‘Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq’s Green Zone’ by Rajiv Chandrasekaran. A disappointing film that plays with the facts and ultimately fails to deliver a punch in either the political intrigue or the action.

This episode carries an explicit tag due to infrequent coarse language.

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