GeekSugar

TV Tech: My Favorite Geeky Guy PC Users

GeekSugar — Mon, 19 May 2008 09:00:11 -0700

I'm a mac girl, but I still have a little love for PCs and famous men who love them (or routinely use them on camera). With all my favorite primetime shows like The Office coming to an end for the season I was inspired to look back at male PC users I adore despite my better judgment. Kidding. I promise.

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Netflix Partners Up With NBC to Offer Shows Online

GeekSugar — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 09:00:02 -0800

Tensions certainly grew in my house this week when we realized that someone forgot to set the DVR to record Heroes. Thankfully, I had a Dr. Phil lightbulb moment and remembered that my laptop is connected to a Slingbox, so we ended up watching it online-crisis diverted! If you happen to be a Netflix subscriber, NBC has announced a deal with Netflix to offer more TV content on Netflix.com. This deal will allow subscribers to view past episodes of other NBC series including Heroes, 30 Rock, Friday Night Lights and The Office. And if you are not a Netflix user, Heroes is available as a streaming video on NBC.com each week, although you're stuck watching all the annoying ads. Photo courtesy of NBC

Masi Oka's Ad Appeals to One Laptop Per Child Donors

GeekSugar — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 07:00:10 -0800

The One Laptop Per Child project, an effort to provide $100 computers to children in developing countries, has been in the works for some time, but a recent publicity campaign has catapulted the project into the mainstream. The OLPC has released an ad featuring Heroes star and former Geek of the Week Masi Oka. In it Masi implores the public to purchase and donate computers to children in need.

"Imagine that you give a laptop to a child and that one child can come up with these great ideas," Oka says in the video. "We can give them the power to learn. The power to connect with all ideas around the world. Imagine the difference we can make."

Between Nov. 12 and 26, OLPC is offering a Give One Get One program in the United States and Canada. During this time, you can donate the XO laptop to a child in a developing nation, and also receive one for the child in your life in recognition of your contribution.

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Google Adds Facial Recognition To Image Search

GeekSugar — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 08:00:40 -0700

You've got to give this a try. It's almost as cool as Google's new streetside views feature, although it's a secret that's been kept on the down low. Say you want to find pictures of Hayden Panettiere (aka Claire Bennet) from the show "Heroes". You type in Claire Heroes in the Google Image box and your results appear. Now say you just wanted pictures of Hayden's face. By simply adding &imgtype=face to the end of your Google Image search URL, your new search will only provide headshots of Hayden.The official Google Blog claims that this new facial recognition software will "make it a lot easier for you to organize and find the photos you care about." Stay tuned for more stalkerish updates associated with this new recognition tool.

Images courtesy of nbc.com and Getty Images

Heroes Star Masi Oka Opens Up To Wired

GeekSugar — Wed, 25 Apr 2007 10:00:47 -0700

In the fresh May issue of Wired Magazine Heroes star and one of my favorite Geek of the Week contenders Masi Oka opened up about being a geek in real life and on screen.

The interview was actually just a slice Behind the Scenes With Heroes Creator Tim Kring and "Hiro," Masi Oka, which details the story of how the Crossing Jordan and Chicago Hope creator came up with the idea for the show. For those of you that haven't been watching, Heroes has quickly garnered cred from the mainstream press and viewers as well as the usual sci-fi cult fans.

According to Wired, Oka, who plays time traveler Hiro Nakamura, said he bases Hiro's wide-eyed innocence on an anime character from Dragonball Z.

He also said he "wants Heroes to include more geeky references." "Sometimes I try to sneak one in there," he told the magazine.

Here are some highlights from the story:

Masi Oka, who plays salaryman Hiro Nakamura on Heroes, is scarfing down baked chicken in the back of a strip club in Van Nuys, California, on a break from filming the April 30 episode. "Tim's a great barometer for people who are not into comics," Oka says. "If Tim understands it, the whole world will. The writers might geek out and come up with some time- traveling, mind-bending fifth-dimensional thing. Tim says, 'Whoa, what does that mean?'"

For additional highlights, read more

On the show, Oka's character is an office worker who lacks fashion sense, loves comics and videogames, and quotes Star Trek. But in a cheeky conceit, the chubby nebbish Hiro is the central hero of Heroes. And it's his geekiness that gives him an edge. Because Hiro is so well versed in the myth and lore of superheroes, he's the one with the clearest sense of what to do with his powers.
Oka himself is a geek made good. Before he pursued acting, he was a CG artist at Industrial Light & Magic, crafting f/x for films like War of the Worlds and Revenge of the Sith. (He still does occasional work for the company - no one else knows how to use the programs he coded.) His endearing performance on Heroes earned him a Golden Globe nomination for supporting actor. And for today's shoot, he's ditched his standard nerdy wardrobe for the much cooler "Future Hiro" outfit - a black tunic, soul patch, and badass samurai sword.

Watch Hit TV Shows On MySpace

GeekSugar — Thu, 19 Apr 2007 13:02:03 -0700

Networks like The CW and NBC are trying to tap into highly trafficked social networking sites like MySpace by offering video streams of popular TV shows. According Broadcasting & Cable, when The CW promoted America's Next Top Model on MySpace, their season-premiere ratings increased 36 percent among teens compared to its 2005 debut.

With over 61.5 unique visitors in January and even more in February, MySpace has become one of the best places for networks to showcase their goods.

MySpace also plans to launch a service where users can stream or 'host' shows on their MySpace page. As well, starting this summer NBC Universal and News Corp. will be launching a site with MySpace being their primary source for distributing TV and videos. Great - even more reasons to stay glued to my laptop!

Geek Of The Week: Milo Ventimiglia of Heroes

GeekSugar — Mon, 02 Apr 2007 11:05:47 -0700

It can be argued that every character on NBC's hit Heroes, is prime Geek of the Week material, mostly due to the fact that they are all ordinary people who discover they possess extraordinary abilities...the life story of most geeks. But dreamer Milo Ventimiglia, who tries to convince his politician brother that he can fly, is in a league of his own. Of course, my judgment might be clouded by the fact that he's so beautiful.

According to one of his fan sites, Milo attended El Modena High School in California and was Associated Student Body president, which is geeky enough for me.

Source and Source

NBC And MobiTV Team Up For On-Demand Mobile TV

GeekSugar — Thu, 15 Mar 2007 09:00:37 -0700

Television networks are now trying to play catch up with YouTube by offering consumers prime-time television shows on their cell phones.

On Wednesday, NBC Universal announced that it would let viewers purchase full-length shows like The Office and Heroes to play on their phones. This new service will be delivered through MobiTV 'allowing viewers to stream full episodes of top-rated shows starting at $1.99 for a 24-hour period after the show airs.'

What's great about this is that you don't need to fill up your phone's memory card by downloading shows- unlike Apple's iPod video player. Now you can be watching your fave shows instantly, without the hassle of wasting time and memory.

What do you think? Will this be a popular new trend - TV on cell phones? I think it would be pretty cool if you pay a monthly fee and have unlimited access to certain shows. Now that would be sweet.

[via Reuters]

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Taylor Swift, Travis Barker, and Pete Wentz Talk Band Hero

GeekSugar — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 15:40:05 -0800

Available in stores today, Band Hero is Activision's latest game, which lets friends and family members rock out with their Guitar Hero instruments to favorites like "ABC" by the Jackson 5 and "Wannabe" by the Spice Girls. You can even sing along with other famous singers including country superstar Taylor Swift who performs some of her most popular hits like "Love Story," "You Belong With Me," and "Picture to Burn."

Here's some footage from the making of the Band Hero commercial, which includes mini-interviews with Taylor and her musical heroes including Travis Barker, and Pete Wentz.

Band Hero for the Wii costs $60.

No Doubt Suing Activision For Splitting Up the Band

GeekSugar — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:20:40 -0800

Although Band Hero was just released with a star-studded lineup yesterday, and there's already word of legal trouble. No Doubt has filed suit against Activision, the maker of Band Hero, for using their likeness for songs they didn't record, as well as splitting up the band in different scenes which weren't approved. No Doubt's band manager Jim Guerinot explains:

The band [members] are bitterly disappointed that their name and likeness was taken and used without their permission. They agreed to play three No Doubt songs as a band. Activision then went and put them in 62 other songs and broke the band up [and] never even asked.

I don't know about you, but I'm a little surprised that a band as popular as No Doubt would be complaining about being "split-up" virtually and having their characters performing other tunes. It sounds a little like the other lawsuit Activision was involved in earlier this year over Kurt Cobain's avatar. What's your take on this news?