News – Geeking Out About.com

The Heartbleed Bug and how to talk about it with your non-geeky friends

Posted on 11 April 2014 by admin 1 Comment

One thing that my husband has been up late working on is patches and fixes due to the Heartbleed bug, information about which was publicly disclosed at the beginning of this week. What is it, and how does it affect you?

Basically, an error in the coding of a system called Open SSL meant that a person could send a query to a server and receive in return a random chunk of the server’s memory. With enough querying over time, this same person could eventually gain enough clues to compile information about the users whose information is stored on the server.

A more compact explanation can be seen in visual form, here:

Click to go to the website. © Randall Munroe

See that last panel? If you read the small print of the server’s text balloon, you’ll see that it states: “User Karen wants to change account password to…” It’s that kind of information that gets stored on a server, and that kind of information that can now be acquired due to this bug.

So, which sites and which services are affected by this bug? Mashable has a great list of popular sites and services here: The Heartbleed Hit List: The Passwords You Need to Change Right Now.

This is by no means a complete list, so here’s what you should do immediately to protect yourself and your private information:

Change the passwords that you use on the sites mentioned on the Mashable list, immediately.
If you used those passwords on other sites (because it was easier in your mind), change all of those passwords, too. Do not use the same password for different sites going forward.
If a site or service which uses a secure certificate (you see https:// in your address bar at the top of your browser window when you browse to it rather than just http://) is not on the Mashable list, go to that site’s homepage to see if they have a comment on their News section about whether or not they use(d) Open SSL and/or if they’ve patched the problem. If they have, change your password. If they have not, inquire and keep hounding them until you get an answer.

In closing, please make sure you’re always using best and safe practices when using the Internet. Like going to the dentist, changing all your passwords is a tedious and unpleasant chore, but it must be done at least twice a year.

Your teeth—and your information security—will thank you for it.

Geekly Speaking About… “The Commander Shepard Challenge”

Posted on 21 October 2011 by admin Leave a Comment

Default Commander Shepards — Does a Shepard by any other gender kick as much ass? We're about to find out...

If you’ve been listening to our “Geekly Speaking About…” podcasts, you’ve probably heard co-editor Jillian Pullara and me talking about Commander Shepard from the Mass Effect series of games from Bioware. While she’s mostly played the PC game version and I rocked the Xbox 360 version, we both have a similar sensibility towards the main character in that we think she totally kicks ass. Lowell Greenblatt also loves playing Commander Shepard and thinks that he’s got a real compelling story to tell.

But the problem between us is that our Commander Shepards are different genders. And that got us to thinking: Could playing the character in the Bioware game as the opposite of your preferred gender change your perception of the game?

Reference links and show notes, after the jump:

Link dump ahoy! Here’s the PC Gamer editorial by Kim Richards, Kotaku’s coverage, and finally the Penny Arcade comic and newspost.
It’s also interesting to note that according to this newspost that Jerry Holkins has never played a male Shepard, saying: “I’ve made it pretty clear that I tend to play women in Bioware games – Shepherd (sic) is not now, nor has ever been, a man. I don’t know who the dude traipsing around in the commercials is; a jerk, most likely.”
Here’s the most recent information about the Mass Effect movie adaptation. And speaking of movies, here’s the IMDB page for Doomsday, the movie that Lowell referred to when he was speaking about wooden female action heroes.
I messed up: Sarah Michelle Gellar originated the role of Kendall Hart, who was Erica Kane’s daughter on the AMC soap “All My Children,” for which Gellar won a Daytime Emmy. And then she became Buffy.
And once again, that snazzy intro to the podcast was “Roma Pt. 2” by greyguy, which I found on ccMixter.org.

Is your Commander Shepard female or male, and why? Would you be willing to play as the opposite gender for a while? Why or why not? We welcome all answers and feedback in the comments.

Vincent D’Onofrio’s directorial debut to be picked up for distribution?

Posted on 24 November 2010 by admin 1 Comment

In addition to being able to hear “Law & Order: Criminal Intent” actor Vincent D’Onofrio speak about his experiences directing his first movie, a slasher/musical called Don’t Go Into the Woods, the audience members at the Center for Communication screening and Q&A of the film heard from D’Onofrio himself that he had a meeting with people from Tribeca Films to pick up the film for distribution. However, when contacted, a spokesperson from Tribeca Films declined to comment.

Shot on a budget of $100,000 in upstate New York, the Don’t Go Into the Woods centers around an indie rock band who while taking a break from their “daily distractions,” end up disappearing one by one and dying from gruesome deaths, singing all the while. D’Onofrio and his collaborators Sam Bisbee, (co-executive producer, co-screenwriter and composer) and Joe Vinciguerra (co-executive producer and co-screenwriter) answered questions at the Q&A session, which was moderated by Brad Balfour from the Huffington Post.

About the production process, D’Onofrio said that there isn’t a big difference between writing a love song and writing a song about death, and added that there wasn’t any CGI used in the production. Also in attendance was one of the actors, Cassandra Walker (Ashley), who said that while she heard the music before reading the script, the concept was a bit wild to her.

Finally, D’Onofrio proved that he was well-versed in horror film lore by expounding a bit on “refrigerator logic” and how it applies to his film:

Further details about a release date for Don’t Go Into the Woods will be added to this article as they become available.

Thanks to Lyssa Spero for contributing to this article.

Trailer Watch: “Top Gear” USA

Posted on 12 November 2010 by admin 4 Comments

Oh dear.

Mentioned during the “60 Minutes” segment on the original U.K. show, the U.S.-based version of the show will feature these three guys:

Adam Ferrara: A comedian and actor, his biggest credit to date is starring as Chief Nelson on “Rescue Me.”
Tanner Foust: A stunt driver whose credits include two of the The Fast and the Furious movies, he’s also a rally driver and has competed in the X Games.
Rutledge Wood: He’s the dark horse of the trio, having no major mainstream screen credits to his name, other than appearing on SPEED in a show called “NASCAR Smarts.” This show is so off the radar it doesn’t have its own Wikipedia page.

Now, I’m not the most car-obsessed person in the world and I love original-flavor “Top Gear.” I also loved “Initial D” when I first saw it. And yet something really bothers me about the approach they’re taking in the trailer.

Lemme backtrack a second: German race car driver Sabine Schmitz has been featured on the original “Top Gear” several times; the most recent appearance was in 2008 when she and her two “D Motor” co-presenters took on the lads in a series of crazy races, one of which involved the removal of a prosthetic arm.

The thing I noticed about the German team was that Schmitz seemed to have the most personality and charisma out of the three (and I am willing to concede that perhaps I like her a lot because she’s a female racer). However, all three were pretty fun to watch during the double-decker race because they were as aggressive and crazy as Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May.

These three guys? I don’t get a sense of that kind of craziness, and that’s what keeps people watching “Top Gear.”

However, Jalopnik.com’s Ray Wert is on board after having been given a peek at the show’s segments and offers this perspective on one of the guys:

But, [Tanner Foust] rocks because he wears his heart on his sleeve. While riding shotgun in a Lamborghini with him around the Las Vegas Convention Center, I told him that fan-boys of the UK series were rooting for this version of “Top Gear” to fail. His first response was viscerally physical. His jaw set, his eyes narrowed behind his sunglasses and he gripped the steering wheel more tightly. For a split second I had a vision of him letting go of the steering wheel and lunging at my neck. Then he explained just how much the concept of Top Gear meant to him.

It was at that moment that I realized he looked so hurt by the comment because the guy’s just like us — a fan-boy.

Anyway, this is going into my DVR, and if all things go right, you may even be able to either read or hear a commentary of the show between me and our U.K. TV expert Kara Dennison.

“Top Gear USA” premieres on the History Channel on Sunday, November 21 at 10:00 pm Eastern/9:00 pm Central and will likely repeat.

Trisha’s Video of the Day: Hawaii gamers bring new meaning to the words “defending home base”

Posted on 2 August 2010 by admin 1 Comment

When you’re gaming late at night at your favorite Internet cafe, you don’t expect to become fodder for your local news channel; however, that’s exactly what happened to some PC gamers in Hawaii last week:

Just like the reporters at local channel KHON, I don’t think that everyone in this sort of situation should fight back; however, given that the staff eventually knew who the alleged assailants were, I’m sure that Dylan Hays knew he’d be okay when he started fighting back.

Kudos to the midnight crew at PC Gamerz for defending their home.

Keeping Tabs, SDCC Edition: Helen Mirren loves Harvey Pekar, and more

Posted on 25 July 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

Until a miracle happens and I’m able to justify spending gobs of money to go, it’s highly unlikely that I’m going to be able to provide the kind of coverage of Comic Con (aka “Nerd Prom”) or any other major geekfest that you deserve. However, what I can do now and going forward is to highlight the stuff that really turned my crank:

“The Gray Lady” may have been able to make the con relatable to its older readers and audiences, but Michael Buckner’s photograph of Dame Helen Mirren—star of the upcoming Red, based on the graphic novel by Warren Ellis—stole that panel’s show and put things in perspective by showing up in a T-shirt memorializing recently deceased American Splendor creator Harvey Pekar. I’d like to think he would have gotten a kick out of that. (Source: The New York Times)
Did you realize that there was an Iron Man anime series? No, not “animated” as in the 1994 TV series starring the voice of Airplane‘s Robert Hays as Tony Stark, but a new series created by Studio Madhouse (Ninja Scroll, Black Lagoon) in conjunction with Marvel Studios. At the SDCC panel, new executive vice president and head of television Jeph Loeb (“Heroes”) and Madhouse COO Masao Maruyama confirmed that the series will launch in the U.S. and Canada in 2011, after its debut in Japan on October 1 on the G4 network. Other Marvel anime series which will also appear on the network in the U.S. are Wolverine, X-Men and Blade, and it sounded like negotiations were forthcoming on whether or not all four would also appear on G4 in Canada. (Source: ANN)
If anyone took director Guillermo del Toro up on his offer to show him their work, I’d love to hear the story. No, seriously; this is what he told fans at his Q&A panel:

“I cannot read screenplays, but if you have a portfolio, or you have a short you want me to see, fuck it, give it to me. If you see me on the floor, accost me,” he challenged the crowd. And he also gave his public email address for them to contact him.

(Source: The Hollywood Reporter Heat Vision blog)
It was sing-a-long time at the “Big Bang Theory” panel, moderated by TV’s Wil Wheaton, where the Barenaked Ladies performed the entire theme song and not just the TV edit to a room full of fans. (Source: The Hollywood Reporter Live Feed blog)

More to come when I’m feeling less tired.

Walt Disney to produce a live-action movie about gargoyles

Posted on 15 July 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

The latest news out of the House of Mouse has me pretty bewildered.

According to Marc Graser at Variety, the next live-action film in the Walt Disney Studios pipeline will be something about gargoyles, with Zoe Green in final negotiations to write it and Lauren Shuler Donner producing.

I can hear many of you thinking, “Wait, ‘Gargoyles’? As in the awesome 1994 animated cartoon about a bunch of creatures who by day are lifeless statues but at night come alive and protect a modern day New York City metropolis from the schemings of a businessman named Xanatos?”

And this is where I have to dash your hopes and say that no, Graser’s sources say that it’s not tied to it, but will be something entirely different:

[The project] centers around a world and mythology of the menacing stone statues that the studio was keen to explore, sources said. Both Disney and Shuler Donner were circling separate gargoyle projects and ultimately paired up and hired Green to tackle an idea hatched with Disney exec LouAnne Brickhouse, who is shepherding the project at the studio. Shuler Donner will produce through the Donners’ Co., which she runs with husband Richard Donner.

Here’s the part I don’t understand. “Gargoyles” was, and still is, a property that has legs (or wings, if you want to be technical about it). It has a rich history and mythology of its own that’s already been established, and in the right hands, could be adapted in a way that would make it interesting to a modern audience but keep the people who grew up with the show and love the franchise happy.

It also features David Xanatos who is such an awesome villain that he has not just one but four tropes and an index named after him.

Why wouldn’t the execs at Disney want to take a property they already own, shell out some minor payments to the original creators to keep them around as “consultants” and then go whole hog on that?

The answer may lie in the fact that according to Graser, they’ve already tried to adapt the animated series in the 1990s to no avail; my response to that is that with what we’ve seen effects studios capable of in Avatar, it wouldn’t hurt to give adapting the original animated series one more try.

RIP: American Splendor creator Harvey Pekar (1939-2010)

Posted on 14 July 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

When news broke on Monday that American Splendor creator Harvey Pekar was found dead in his Cleveland Heights, Ohio home, I wrote via Twitter: “I didn’t have the pleasure of meeting him in person, but [Pekar] is and will always be an inspiration to struggling creators.”

Pekar is best-known for the pioneering comics series American Splendor which told the story of Pekar’s own life and the lives of the people around him in his home in Cleveland. It was this series which lead to several guest appearances on “Late Night with David Letterman,” the last of which in 1987 got him banned from the show:

Afterwards, Pekar continued to write his comics and collaborate with several artists, one of whom introduced him to the filmmakers who would create a film about his life in 2003 starring Paul Giamatti, in which he also appeared, and subsequently wrote about in a series of Splendor stories.

What I find inspirational about Pekar is that as a writer, he had a story to tell that he believed in, and not only did he get to tell that story every day of his life, he was able to draw people into sharing his belief that stories about everyday people were important. It didn’t hurt that he was in the right place and the right time to befriend legendary underground artist R. Crumb and make use of him as a personal artist with the release of his first Splendor story in 1976, but that doesn’t explain why so many artists after Crumb not only signed up to work with him, but consider having done so one of the highlights of their careers.

Dean Haspiel, one of the later Splendor artists and also the artist for Pekar’s autobiographical graphic novel The Quitter—as well as the inspiration for the Ray Hueston character in the HBO series “Bored to Death,” but we’ll get into that some other time—was interviewed all over the place and one of the quotes I like the best is from this piece on his personal blog:

Harvey Pekar was a pioneer of the autobiographical comic book and it was working with him on The Quitter that put me on the map in our beloved industry. Harvey lived life and every last detail was written and drawn and published. He couldn’t have done half of it without his wife, Joyce Brabner. The best way to honor Pekar now is to read his life, just like he would have wanted you to.

So go. Read this. And everything on this page. And watch this.

And remember that no single person’s life is unimportant.

Black Star Warrior needs your help, badly

Posted on 14 July 2010 by admin 1 Comment

Once again, Google informed me that the latest and final part of the Black Star Warrior documentary is online, and this one has an appeal for help at the end:

As the YouTube comments have so far stated, this is really tripping my “This is fake” buttons, but I also agree that it’s so well-done that I don’t care. The glimpses at the end of the documentary of what looks like “actual” footage is pretty interesting, and if indeed they will be releasing a trailer to go along with this, you know I’ll be all over it. Also, isn’t Comic Con coming up soon?

Anyway, if you think you can help, go visit LandoIstheMan.com for more information.

Former wrestler, director’s son get their hands on Manos sequel

Posted on 7 July 2010 by admin 1 Comment

Back in June, it was reported by MST3Kinfo.com that one Rupert Talbot Munch, Sr. was going to be arriving at this year’s San Diego Comic Con in his usual cosplay attire as Torgo from Manos: The Hands of Fate with a special announcement in tow: Munch is producing a sequel to that infamously bad movie. Featuring original cast members Jackey Raye Neyman Jones (Debbie, the young daughter) and Bernie Rosenblum (the guy in the make-out car), the film has also recently added three more cast members.

According to Stephen J. Pytak of the Pottsville Republican Herald, former WWE wrestler Gene Snitsky, the grand marshal in that town’s Independence Day parade, will have a starring role in the film, which is slated to begin filming in El Paso, Texas in early 2011. This report confirms the news announced by Munch, Sr. via Twitter where he also mentioned that original director Hal Warren’s son Joe would also be joining the cast as well as Benton Jennings, a character actor and the son of a man who played one of the cops in the movie.

I remember the first time I saw Manos; I also recall that one of the favorite things my geeky circle of friends loved to do back in the day was to inflict it upon the unwary. I think that part of its appeal is just how horribly bad it is, but it never actually becomes a So Bad It’s Good movie, no matter what the editors at TV Tropes say. It’s just bad.

Looking at Munch’s video announcement, however? I think I may have to re-think my analysis of what exactly “bad” is.

Keep up with all the sequel news at TorgoLives.com.

LEGO movie builds up steam with announcement of directors

Posted on 29 June 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

Lego Platoon — Will these guys be the next to make it big in Hollywood? (Source: Dunechaser)

After two years of blogging about upcoming movies, I thought that I’d seen all of the most ludicrous things you could adapt into a movie actually get the green light and funding to become a movie. Yes, even the upcoming Candyland and Battleship films.

Until this exclusive from Borys Kit over at The Hollywood Reporter‘s Heat Vision blog which announces that there will be a movie based on the LEGO franchise, that is.

According to Kit, Phil Lord and Chris Miller (Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs) are in final negotiations to direct a blended live-action/animation movie featuring the ubiquitous building bricks for Warner Bros., under the supervision of producers Dan Lin and Roy Lee with Jill Wilfert handling the money and creative contributions on the LEGO side. And there is bound to be lots of creative influence from the LEGO folks, who are shrewdly and wisely protective of their brand, trademark, and copyright.

There is no word yet what the plot will be, but Kit reveals that Lord and Miller will be working on this film the second they’re done with the upcoming remake of 21 Jump Street .

Marvel Studios starts looking at Dr. Strange

Posted on 22 June 2010 by admin 1 Comment

According to Mike Fleming in an exclusive for the New York branch of Deadline.com, screenwriters Thomas Donnelly and Joshua Oppenheimer have been tapped to write the script adaptation of the Marvel comic Dr. Strange.

This isn’t the first geek-oriented property that Donnelly and Oppenheimer have been involved with. The duo, which was credited along with two other writers for 2005’s Sahara, had also been hired by Columbia Pictures to work on the script for the adaptation of Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and have also worked on the upcoming remake of Conan.

Fleming opined that the property would be the first superhero property that would be made into a movie under the studio’s new arrangement with the Walt Disney Company, something which geeks everywhere will be watching with a wary eye.

Inside the Lines: Romance author invades comics world, and other stories

Posted on 3 June 2010 by admin 4 Comments

In the “Damn, they stole my idea” department, New York Times best-selling romance novelist Janet Evanovich and her daugher Alex teamed up with Dark Horse Comics to create a graphic novel called Troublemaker featuring Alex Barnaby, a female racecar mechanic whose vantage point as a raceday spotter leads her into mystery and intrigue. The art is by Joëlle Jones (Dr. Horrible) and volume 1 will be out just days before the annual Nerd Prom in San Diego this July. (Source: Newsarama.com)

American manga artist Amy Reeder (Fool’s Gold) has “graduated” to the big times and will be penciling DC Comics’ upcoming ongoing Batwoman series starting with the second story arc which will see the light of day in early 2011. She’ll be working on scripts by artist/co-writer J.H. Williams III, whose pencils will kick off the series later this year. I’m rather hopeful about this prospect of seeing more female pencilers working on “Big Three” books, and really hope that she (and the book) does well. (Source: Newsarama.com)

After taking heat and a lot of licks for his underperforming directorial debut for The Spirit, comics artist Frank Miller is returning to the medium that made him great and revealed some of the first pieces of art for Xerxes, a 300 prequel story about the leader of ancient Persia who was the antagonist in the numerically-named film/comics series. Scheduled to be published by Dark Horse Comics in 2011, the ouroboros will begin its turn and if director Zach Snyder likes it enough, he said he’ll option it for a live-action adaptation. (Source: The L.A. Times Hero Complex blog)

Quick Cuts: Paul Rudd is an Idiot Brother, and other stories

Posted on 2 June 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

Paul Rudd has just signed a deal to be the star of the Jesse Peretz-directed comedy called My Idiot Brother, about a sunshine-spewing optimist who brightens up the lives of his three sisters and overbearing mother. Written by Peretz’ real-life sister Evgenia and her writing partner David Schisgall, the film will start production in New York in July, even if the sisters haven’t been cast yet. (Source: The Hollywood Reporter)
Dustin Lance Black (Milk) is turning his writer’s and director’s eye towards comics; he will be doing both for the live-action adaptation of 3 Story: The Secret History of the Giant Man. Originally a graphic novel from Dark Horse by Matt Kindt, the plot will concern the relationship between a daughter and her father–who just happens to be suffering from a strange medical condition where he can’t stop growing. Warner Bros. will be producing/financing. (Source: The Hollywood Reporter)
James McAvoy (Wanted) has been signed to star in X-Men: First Class as Professor Xavier; still no word who will be his star-crossed Magneto. (Source: Entertainment Weekly)
“Community” star Donald Glover has started a grass-roots campaign to get himself an audition to be in the Spider-Man 4 movie and all I can think of is that scene from the very first episode of “Boston Legal” where the Reverend Al Sharpton gave Alan Shore his rabbit by giving a speech in the courtroom which featured this line: “Give us an African-American Spider Man!” Glover, if you’re reading this, your people totally need to talk to Sharpton’s people (and the “Boston Legal” writing team). (Source: Donald Glover’s personal blog)

R.I.P.: Actor Gary Coleman, 42, dies from brain hemorage

Posted on 28 May 2010 by admin Leave a Comment

On Wednesday evening, “Diff’rent Strokes” star Gary Coleman fell at his Utah home and was rushed to the hospital. According to the CNN report from two hours ago, he is suffering from a brain hemmorage and is on life support.

Already, Wikipedia is saying that he’s dead, but I believe I’m going to wait a few hours before we report any further.

Our best thoughts are going out to his family and friends right now.

Update: It is with a heavy heart that we type these words to inform you that according to the NY Times blog, USA Today, and The Washington Post, among the other Internet articles posted about this, that Gary Coleman has passed away today, at the age of 42.

An entire generation of geeks grew up with Coleman when he starred in the sitcom “Diff’rent Strokes” as a Harlem youth being raised along with his brother by an rich widower from 1978 to 1986. Other than his signature catchphrase (“Whatchoo talkin’ ’bout, Willis?”) one other thing that Coleman was known for was his short stature, caused by a congenital kidney defect.

After the show’s ended, Coleman found it difficult to get further work in Hollywood and in 1999, he sued his parents over the mismanagement of his trust fun and won. He never really regained the kind of public adoration he had as a child actor, though guest appearances in several TV shows and an unsuccessful run for the governorship of California kept him in the public eye.

Even further exposure was gained when book-writer Jeff Whitty and composers, Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx made Coleman a character in their hit Broadway play Avenue Q, depicting him as a “former child actor” who’s now the superintendent of a run-down building somewhere in Manhattan. (Incidentally, the show’s reaction to his death can be read here.)

Coleman is survived by his wife.

Category: News