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Episode 68: The pause.com Entertainment Podcast

Lou Zucaro — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 22:34:22 +0000

Episode 68 of The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is live!

NOTE: To subscribe to the pause.com Entertainment Podcast on iTunes Click here to open iTunes to our podcast, then click the SUBSCRIBE button.

We start out this episode with a correction (from Tony, of course) and some listener mail.

In this episode, Tony talks about Playstation Plus as well as Spirit on the iPad. Lou needs to free up some time to actually play some games sometime soon. Miscellaneous video game news follows.

In TV (~19:05), Tony talks a little about True Blood, and Lou talks about Warehouse 13, Supernatural, Chopped, Top Chef and Top Gear. Random TV news tidbits after that.

In Movies (~43:30), Tony saw Youth in Revolt and Lou saw Predators. And, for once, both Tony and Lou saw the same movie…Inception (although not together). Miscellaneous movie news follows.

In the Mash-Up segment (~1:15:05) the news this week includes:

Apple has won the Software Insecurity World Cup, beating out Oracle and Microsoft
Microsoft is giving every employee a Windows Phone 7 device
Audi will unveil the production version of the A7 on Monday!
Netflix says that 61% of their customers stream movies
Congress is working on patching a loophole that currently allows inmates to have cell phones
Rumor: An Apple phone may be coming to T-Mobile this fall
Astronomers have discovered a star, R136a1, that’s 265 times more massive than the sun, and 10 million times brighter
Amazon is selling more downloadable ebooks than they are hardcover books
The 2011 Kia Sportage has been revealed and it’s pretty snazzy
Raytheon has a functioning laser that can shoot down a plane
A company called ThruVision has demoed a full-body scanner for airport security, etc.
Apple will give free cases to iPhone 4 users through September, in a lame-o effort to bandage the iPhone 4 antenna debacle
Some iPhone 4 users are receiving mysterious, blank, undelete-able e-mail messages from 12/31/1969
A company called Pinel & Pinel has made a really, really cool-looking, retro arcade cabinet

As always, the end of the episode is when Tony & Lou reveal their votes for this week’s Best & Worst entertainment moments.

The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is hosted by long-time friends Tony Incopero and Lou Zucaro. Join them as they discuss all sorts of fun things in the world of entertainment, gaming, gadgets, cars and more with a healthy dose of their sense of humor.

iTunes subscribers! If you’re not seeing this episode on our iTunes page (linked at the top of this post) never fear! Just make sure you’re subscribed and your iTunes software on your computer will retrieve the latest episode. Just hit the refresh button in your library’s Podcasts page if you don’t see it!

Episode 67: The pause.com Entertainment Podcast

Lou Zucaro — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 15:24:43 +0000

Episode 67 of The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is live!

NOTE: To subscribe to the pause.com Entertainment Podcast on iTunes Click here to open iTunes to our podcast, then click the SUBSCRIBE button.

In this episode, Tony talks about Veggie Samurai on the iPad, the Crackdown 2 demo, and the Red Dead Redemption Guide on the iPad. Lou talks about some World of Warcraft stuff. Miscellaneous video game news follows.

In TV (~21:15), Tony talks a little about True Blood, and Lou talks about the Doctor Who Specials, Supernatural, Modern Family, Chopped, Top Chef and Persons Unknown. Random TV news tidbits after that.

In Movies (~47:00), Tony saw Toy Story 2 and Second Skin. Lou saw Knight and Day. Miscellaneous movie news follows.

In the Mash-Up segment (~1:07:50) the news this week includes:

Hitachi has unveiled their LifeStudio external hard drives, in both mobile and desktop varieties. They come with software that automatically organizes your content based on type & date. The interface is very nice looking and uses 3D navigation. Social integration is also a part of the package, so that it’s easy to upload your content to various social sites.
Remember that Apple-lover dating site we mentioned called Cupidtino? They have over 22,000 idiots, er, members
Steve Jobs sent an e-mail to a user who complained about the lack of Blu-ray on Apple products, saying “Bluray is looking more and more like one of the high end audio formats that appeared as the successor to the CD – like it will be beaten by internet downloadable formats”
Apple are a bunch of liars.
A line of candy called Benedetto Chocolates has the most concentrated source of protein in the world. There’s more protein per gram than any other protein bar, drink or meat. Supposedly, they taste just like great chocolate. Go to benedettofoods.com to get yours now.

As always, the end of the episode is when Tony & Lou reveal their votes for this week’s Best & Worst entertainment moments.

Why Apple’s iPhone 4 Signal Strength Explanation is B.S.

Lou Zucaro — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 16:27:47 +0000

Last week, Apple outed itself as a bunch of liars when they released an open letter to iPhone 4 owners stating, in effect, that holding the phone wrong wasn’t causing the signal to go down, but that the signal was always reported incorrectly. Oops.

The open letter was, in my opinion, a MASSIVE blunder by Apple. Here’s why…

Apple has basically admitted to two huge lies with their open letter. First is the lie about the “holding the phone wrong” thing. Apple has simply screwed up. I don’t know if nobody there ever tried to hold the phone “wrong” or if they simply wrote it off as more bad reception issues, but let’s face it, they screwed up.

Worse, though, is that Apple’s explanation that by “holding the phone wrong”, you’re actually getting the correct signal strength reading as opposed to the b.s. one they’ve been giving us all along is, in itself, yet another lie.

For that to be true, there would need to be a sensor in the phone to determine how you’re holding the phone AND something in the software that would basically say “If the user is holding the phone this way, display the correct signal strength instead of the fake +2 strength we usually report”.

Do you really think that both of those elements are in the iPhone 4 and that, somehow, Apple “missed” the fact that somebody had written in a routine to check how the phone was being held and change how the signal strength was displayed? Of course not.

This is just one more example of Apple feeding lie after lie to its customers in order to attempt to absolve themselves of responsibility for bad decision-making at the highest level. And in this case, poor quality control and testing, too.

Episode 66: The pause.com Entertainment Podcast

Lou Zucaro — Mon, 28 Jun 2010 03:26:09 +0000

Episode 66 of The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is live!

NOTE: To subscribe to the pause.com Entertainment Podcast on iTunes Click here to open iTunes to our podcast, then click the SUBSCRIBE button.

At the beginning of the show, the guys start out by reading some listener mail. The segment is still entitled “Fred”. Please give us a better name for this segment!

In this episode, Tony talks about Dante’s Inferno. Lou talks a bit more about Mass Effect 2 as well as some World of Warcraft stuff. Miscellaneous video game news follows.

In TV (~30:45), Tony talks about The Green Room with Paul Provenza and True Blood, and Lou talks about the season 2 finale of Supernatural, as well as Doctor Who: Waters of Mars. Random TV news tidbits after that.

In Movies (~44:40), Tony saw The Road and Michael Jackson’s This is It. Lou saw A-Team. Miscellaneous movie news follows.

In the Mash-Up segment (~1:09:45) the news this week includes:

A project called Desertec is underway to build a massive solar field in the Sahara
Tesla will use the Tesla Roadster’s platform to underpin at least four other models
The first iPhone 4 reviews are in!
iOS4 is supposedly causing pre-iPhone 4 models to run extremely slowly
The price of Barnes & Nobles’ Nook ebook reader has been dropped, and they’ve introduced a $150 Wi-Fi only version. Amazon has since dropped the price of the Kindle to $190
TRON Legacy toys & collectibles should start hitting stores soon
July 9, 2010 has been designated Collector Car Appreciation Day by the Senate
Apple’s refreshed Mac Mini has HDMI and easily-accessible RAM
Motorola’s Droid Incredible stores JPG images of sites you visit on the web via the phone’s browser. You have been warned
Toshiba has revealed it’s Libretto W100 dual-touchscreen, Windows 7 tablet computer
Houston police might soon be using unmanned aerial drones. For what, we’re not sure yet
Northrup Grumman will begin building the LEMV surveillance ship for the U.S. Army. Basically, it’s a big-ass blimp
LEGO will release a 2,500+ piece set of the Imperial Shuttle from Return of the Jedi in September, for about $260

As always, the end of the episode is when Tony & Lou reveal their votes for this week’s Best & Worst entertainment moments.

Episode 65: The pause.com Entertainment Podcast

Lou Zucaro — Tue, 15 Jun 2010 11:43:47 +0000

Episode 65 of The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is live!

The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is sponsored by MenuMinder, Chicago’s best restaurant search site. MenuMinder lets you search for exactly what you’re in the mood to eat or drink. MenuMinder: Find Food for Your Mood

NOTE: To subscribe to the pause.com Entertainment Podcast on iTunes Click here to open iTunes to our podcast, then click the SUBSCRIBE button.

At the beginning of the show, the guys start out by reading some listener mail. The segment is still entitled “Fred”. Please give us a better name for this segment!

In this episode, Tony talks about Red Dead Redemption. Miscellaneous video game news follows.

In TV, Lou talks about Stargate Universe. Random TV news tidbits after that.

In Movies, Lou saw Iron Man 2 and Tony saw two movies this time around. Miscellaneous movie news follows.

In the Mash-Up segment the news this week includes:

The iPhone 4 has been announced and was something of a letdown for most people who expected it to actually be a 4G phone, which it isn’t. New features, other than the new design, are the front-facing camera with Wi-Fi video calling, a better camera, LED flash, and better battery life. AT&T is letting most current iPhone customers upgrade for the standard new contract price (with a 2-year extension of course)
iFixYourI have found the first chink in the iPhone 4′s armor: That special glass that’s used on the front and back? The one Apple claims is 20 times stiffer and 30 times harder than plastic? Yeah, not so much. iFixYourI dropped the phone 3 times from 3 1/2 feet and on the third drop, the glass on the front of the phone shattered into a gazillion pieces after a loud “pop” sound.
Google now shows photo backgrounds on the Google home page
A designer at Lockheed Martin has proposed a new design direction for Lamborghini
Some visionaries at Japanese construction firm Shimizu Corporation have come up with a plan called Luna Ring: A 6,800 mile-long belt of solar panels built around the moon’s equator. The power would be transmitted back to Earth using microwave and laser technology. The whole thing would be built by robots using raw materials on the moon.
We mentioned before that Commodore would be making a comeback, and now there are some details. The Invictus will be a computer-in-a-keyboard with an integrated touchscreen that has wireless HDMI, an Atom processor and nVidia’s ION graphics. No word yet on pricing or availability.
Hackers have stolen 114,000 e-mail addresses from iPad owners thanks to a vulnerability that is apparently mostly AT&T’s fault.
Speakal, makers of some fun & whimsical speaker systems, have unveiled their latest, called the iCrystal Docking Station, which docks your iPhone / iPod in the middle and flanks it with a pair of backlit, omni-directional spherical speakers.
Matt Simmons, a Houston energy expert, is spearheading a plan to nuke the BP oil leak, proposing that doing so would seal off the leak permanently. The Russians have done this 5 times in the past…4 times successfully and 1 time not so much.
Netflix says that their DVD-by-mail shipments will likely continue to grow through 2014, after which they’ll start to taper off as streaming becomes the delivery method of choice for more and more people.
For some reason, VW is going to release another Phaeton.
Scientists have invented a sort of anti-laser called a “dark laser” that uses non-light in very short, very precise wavelengths that they say could vastly improve laser-based telecommunications and computer functions since the dark lasers are more stable than traditional lasers.

As always, the end of the episode is when Tony & Lou reveal their votes for this week’s Best & Worst entertainment moments.

The Uni-Signal, or Universal Sign Light, is a traffic light concept that changes the shape of the lights on a traffic light so that colorblind people won’t have trouble telling if they’re supposed to stop, slow down or go.

Episode 64: The pause.com Entertainment Podcast

Lou Zucaro — Mon, 31 May 2010 17:05:02 +0000

Episode 64 of The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is live!

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NOTE: To subscribe to the pause.com Entertainment Podcast on iTunes Click here to open iTunes to our podcast, then click the SUBSCRIBE button.

At the beginning of the show, the guys start out by reading some listener mail. The segment is still entitled “Fred”. Please give us a better name for this segment!

In this episode, Tony talks about HD Pinball (on the iPad). Lou talks about Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor for the iPhone. Miscellaneous video game news follows.

In TV (~26:20), the guys talk about Lost before Tony moves on to American Idol. Lou gives some quickie thoughts on 24, V, Flash Forward, Fringe, Chuck, Stargate Universe and Top Chef Masters. Random TV news tidbits after that.

In Movies (~53:25) Tony saw Iron Man 2 and Lou saw approximately zero movies. Miscellaneous movie news follows.

In the Mash-Up segment (~1:04:00) the news this week includes:

Japan’s JAXA space agency has announced that it will have a moon based operation by 2020
The X-51A Waverider set the record for the longest hypersonic flight (that we know of) yesterday, when it flew at Mach 5 for just over 200 seconds
Apple has overtaken Microsoft to be the world’s most valuable technology company
Sony has created a 4″ OLED display that’s so thin & flexible, it can be rolled up around something the diameter of a pencil
Google Chrome’s final build is now available for both the Mac and Linux.
Audi’s 2011 A8 will feature a Wi-Fi hotspot that can be activated by inserting an active SIM card into a slot built-in to the car
HP’s Slate is alive once again, reborn with a new soul, in the form of a special version of Palm’s Web OS
Foxconn, who makes stuff for Apple and Dell among others, is in the hot seat lately due to an increasing number of suicides
The 16GB iPhone 3GS is now $97 at Wal-Mart
Samsung has started showing off a 19″ AMOLED screen that is 30% transparent
Rumor has it that a 3D Blu-ray of Avatar will ship with all Panasonic 3D TVs starting in August
An irate AT&T customer went into an AT&T store and shot one of the employees yesterday. The suspect was shot by an off-duty police officer who happened to be there
Verizon announced that when it turns on 4G service, no unlimited data plans will be available
NBC and Time Warner have told Apple that they’re not ready to ditch Flash for HTML 5
There’s a rumor that Comcast may soon offer 105Mb service for about $200 / month

As always, the end of the episode is when Tony & Lou reveal their votes for this week’s Best & Worst entertainment moments.

Episode 63: The pause.com Entertainment Podcast

Lou Zucaro — Fri, 21 May 2010 22:09:57 +0000

Episode 63 of The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is live!

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NOTE: To subscribe to the pause.com Entertainment Podcast on iTunes Click here to open iTunes to our podcast, then click the SUBSCRIBE button.

At the beginning of the show, the guys start out by reading some listener mail. The segment is still entitled “Fred”. Please give us a better name for this segment!

In this episode, Tony talks about HD Pinball (on the iPad). Lou talks about Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor for the iPhone. Miscellaneous video game news follows.

In TV (~26:20), the guys talk about Lost before Tony moves on to American Idol. Lou gives some quickie thoughts on 24, V, Flash Forward, Fringe, Chuck, Stargate Universe and Top Chef Masters. Random TV news tidbits after that.

In Movies (~53:25) Tony saw Iron Man 2 and Lou saw approximately zero movies. Miscellaneous movie news follows.

In the Mash-Up segment (~1:04:00) the news this week includes:

Apple has “lost” another iPhone 4G, this one apparently purchased in the U.S. and then it wound up in Vietnam. According to some sites, the guy purchased it for $4k.
GM posted its first profit in three years: For Q1 2010, the General posted net income of $865 million and, combined with lower operating costs and the sale of Saab, posted a profit for the first quarter of $1.2 billion.
Dupont has figured out a way to print 50″ OLED screens in just 2 minutes.
A $10 app called Wi-Fi sync for the iPhone that would let you sync wirelessly (without having to connect the cable) was rejected by Apple
Home Depot has been ordered to pay $25 million to the guy who invented a safety device that Home Depot stole. The device protects employees’ fingers while cutting wood for customers. Inventor Michael Powell pitched the idea to Home Depot, who then stole the idea.
Google has grounded its fleet of Street View cars after discovering that bits of data were accidentally sampled from open Wi-Fi networks. They’re having a 3rd party review the data (which was never viewed) and are awaiting an “ok” from authorities so that they can delete it.
Hertz will begin renting the Nissan Leaf all-electric vehicle starting early next year.
Google will debut the first version of its Chrome OS in a couple of weeks.
Mazda terminated its dealer agreement with the dealership in Canada who sold a used Mazda6 to a woman with learning disabilities for $25k (Canadian dollars) over the sticker price of a new car.
Workers at the Wintek factory in China that supplies touchscreens to Apple for the iPhone and iPod Touch, are suing the factory because 62 workers there have suffered from N-hexane poisoning.
If you’ve ever wondered how seriously (or not) Facebook takes your privacy, consider some instant messages sent by Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg to an unnamed friend in which he offers to give the friend “any” information about Harvard students & faculty he has, and called his users dumbf***s for trusting him
The Chinese government is putting together a plan to encourge (or even force) carmakers to merge before expanding operations.
Disney will shut down its Star Tours rides on July 27th (in California) and September 8th (in Florida).
Researchers have figured out how to hack car systems like OnStar
A robot called I-Fairy officiated a wedding in Japan

As always, the end of the episode is when Tony & Lou reveal their votes for this week’s Best & Worst entertainment moments.

Episode 62: The pause.com Entertainment Podcast

Lou Zucaro — Wed, 12 May 2010 16:18:30 +0000

Episode 62 of The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is live!

NOTE: To subscribe to the pause.com Entertainment Podcast on iTunes Click here to open iTunes to our podcast, then click the SUBSCRIBE button.

At the beginning of the show, the guys start out by reading some listener mail in a segment still entitled “Fred” (until somebody suggests a better idea that Tony doesn’t veto, which nobody has yet, although it’s been tried)

In this episode, Tony talks about Just Cause 2 as well as Plants vs. Zombies (on the iPad). Lou talks about starting a new WoW character on a different server. Miscellaneous video game news follows.

In TV (~33:15), Tony talks about Glee a bit. Lou talks about 24, Idol, Community and a few other little things. Random TV news tidbits after that.

In Movies (~50:45) Tony saw Date Night and Lou saw both Kick Ass and, on video, The Fourth Kind. Miscellaneous movie news follows.

In the Mash-Up segment (~1:10:50) the news this week includes:

Anthony Orsini, principal of the Benjamin Franklin Middle School in Ridgewood, NJ, is urging parents to be responsible and get their kids off of social networking sites
Rumor: Next iPhone will shoot 720p video; the beta of IPhone OS 4.0 also seems to allow you to use the iPhone / iTouch to transfer files to / from your computer
The Beta of Google’s Chrome 5 web browser is 1/3 faster than Chrome 4
If you want another low-cost car option rather than just the Tata Nano, your dream may come true: Chinese carmaker Geely has stated that their IG concept will come to market
HP’s Slate may not be dead after all.
Seagate’s GoFlex drives have an ExpressCard adapter and USB 2.0 cable for power, so that you can use a USB 3.0 drive (and their incredible speed) on a laptop without a USB 3.0 port
A french guy made a video showing how Flash 10.1 trounces HTML 5 in terms of frame rate
A new product called Iris 2 Iris has a Logitech webcam built in, works with all PCs and laptops, and works like a teleprompter to let you actually make eye contact with somebody you’re having a webcam conversation with
Toshiba is working on the world’s lightest 13″ laptop, weighing in at about 2lbs with an SSD
The HTC Evo 4G may be available on June 6th for $200 with a contract, which is pretty good considering it’ll be the fastest smartphone out there
Russian Regional President Kirsan Illyumzhinov is under investigation because he claims to have been abducted by aliens
If you need any further proof that Apple is now, as John Stewart said, “the man” and is run by a bunch of humorless J-holes, Ellen ran a spoof iPhone commercial on her show the other day, and was bullied by Apple to apologize for it
Finally, the Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic sold for an undisclosed sum between $30 and $40 million. Often cited as the most beautiful car ever made, only 4 copies of the 57SC Atlantic were produced

As always, the end of the episode is when Tony & Lou reveal their votes for this week’s Best & Worst entertainment moments. See Tony & Lou’s collective best entertainment moment here.

Sony Style Search Weirdness

Lou Zucaro — Wed, 12 May 2010 15:41:24 +0000

Ever get the feeling that that fancy schmancy e-commerce site you’re on was copied / pasted from some other project? Sony might be feeling that right now. Go to http://www.sonystyle.com and do a search for something like a845, like I did when I was trying to find out information about the OLED-screened video Walkman. Yeah. Um. Pretty sure none of those search results has to do with my search. Or anything having to do with Sony for that matter.

Unless of course Sony now intends to be the Amazon of obscure college textbooks or something.

Episode 61: The pause.com Entertainment Podcast

Lou Zucaro — Fri, 30 Apr 2010 19:58:26 +0000

Episode 61 of The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is live!

NOTE: To subscribe to the pause.com Entertainment Podcast on iTunes Click here to open iTunes to our podcast, then click the SUBSCRIBE button.

In this episode, Tony talks about the Xbox Live Game Room, as well as Bird Strike on the iPhone. Miscellaneous video game news follows.

In TV (~16:45), the guys talk Lost, V, and American Idol. Tony talks about Glee a bit. Lou talks about Chuck, 24 and Stargate Universe. Random TV news tidbits after that.

In Movies (~52:05) Tony hasn’t had time to see anything, and neither has Lou. Miscellaneous movie news follows the nothingness.

In the Mash-Up segment (~1:06:55) the news this week includes:

The whole “lost iPhone 4G” saga has gotten ugly, with police illegally raiding Jason Chen’s home and seizing all of his computers despite a California law that says that warrants can’t be issued to seize the computers of journalists
In other Apple news, the WWDC starts on June 7
The last space shuttle launch will be in November, as Discovery will blast off on its final voyage, ending the era of the Space Shuttle program.
Top Gear’s Jeremy Clarkson hates BMW’s new X1 crossover so much that he actually called it Rubbish. In short, he didn’t like anything about it. Read the full article via the link on pause.com (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/driving/jeremy_clarkson/article7105825.ece)
DARPA lost it’s Falcon Hypersonic Technology Vehicle 2 (HTV-2) 9 minutes into its maiden voyage. It’s a hypersonic glider capable of traveling at speeds over Mach 20, and is designed to deliver a payload of conventional weapons anywhere in the world in under an hour, without being mistaken for a nuclear missile
Sony will officially discontinue the 3.5″ floppy disk next year, after 30 years
McAfee Total Protection ended up being a Total Disaster last week as it identified a crucial Windows XP system file as malicious software and deleted it, sending affected computers into an endless reboot cycle.
Volkswagen is holding an App My Ride contest in which contestants can submit Flash apps that showcase concepts for a next-generation infotainment system
A Russian lunar rover missing on the moon for about 40 years has just been located
The new MacBook Pro with a Core i7 processor is reportedly running at up to 100 degrees Celsius
Some chemists have figured out how to change the shape of salt crystals to make things taste just as salty while actually using 25% less sodium. Lay’s will start using it next year.
The JooJoo, formerly the CrunchPad, is now available in Europe
YouTube has officially opened it’s video rental store, where you can watch high-quality movies for anywhere between 99 cents and 3.99. You can only watch the movies for up to 48 hours, and there aren’t a ton of movies on offer yet.
The San Francisco Chronicle published a great article on how long it would actually take for hybrid cars to pay off in fuel savings.

As always, the end of the episode is when Tony & Lou reveal their votes for this week’s Best & Worst entertainment moments. See Tony & Lou’s collective best entertainment moment here.

Episode 60: The pause.com Entertainment Podcast

Lou Zucaro — Mon, 19 Apr 2010 21:13:57 +0000

Episode 60 of The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is live!

NOTE: To subscribe to the pause.com Entertainment Podcast on iTunes Click here to open iTunes to our podcast, then click the SUBSCRIBE button.

In this episode, Tony talks about the Splinter Cell: Conviction demo. Lou talks about starting Borderlands. Miscellaneous video game news follows.

In TV (~17:50), the guys talk Lost, American Idol, Top Chef Masters and Tony talks about Celebrity Apprentice. Lou talks for a bit about 24 and Stargate Universe. Random TV news tidbits after that.

In Movies (~39:05) Tony hasn’t had time to see anything, but Lou saw Shutter Island. Miscellaneous movie news follows.

In the Mash-Up segment (~51:35) the news this week includes:

The iPad is out. Super.
A volcano erupted in Iceland on April 14th and pumped so much ash into the atmosphere that only now, five days later, are European test flights suggesting that it might be ok to start flying again.
Seagate and Paramount have an agreement whereby select Seagate FreeAgent Go portable hard drives will be pre-loaded with Paramount movies. For instance, you can buy a 500GB FreeAgent Go right now with last year’s Star Trek pre-loaded and available for activation for no charge.
The latest iPhone 4G rumors…are meaningless, now that somebody found an iPhone 4G that some (very in-trouble) Apple insider lost at a bar in California: New form factor with a flat bottom, glass or clear plastic or ceramic back, front-facing camera for video calling, bigger lens on the back for the regular camera and the camera now has a flash, higher-resolution screen, new location for the micro SIM card, separate volume up and down buttons, and a much bigger battery.
A line of clothing called Ping has embedded electronics that can “sense what you’re doing” and send out updates to Twitter, Facebook, etc.
Dell will be releasing a couple of iPad competitors called Streak…one 10″ version and a 7″ version. The smaller of the two could be out later this year.
Light Peak may be coming to computers as early as next year. Again, it runs at 10 Gbps, which is fast enough to transfer an entire Blu-ray movie in 30 seconds.
NASA and GM will be seinding a robot called Robonaut 2 (aka R2) to the International Space Station to help astronauts with stuff. And things. R2 is a humanoid-type robot, and will be heading to the ISS in September.
Flip is finally releasing a camera with a widescreen, called the Flip SideHD. It’ll record 12 hours of video on the internal 16GB of storage, and has a 2-hour battery life. $280 when it comes out.

As always, the end of the episode is when Tony & Lou reveal their votes for this week’s Best & Worst entertainment moments.

Episode 59: The pause.com Entertainment Podcast

Lou Zucaro — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 22:18:30 +0000

Episode 59 of The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is live!

NOTE: To subscribe to the pause.com Entertainment Podcast on iTunes Click here to open iTunes to our podcast, then click the SUBSCRIBE button.

In this episode, Tony talks about finishing God of War 3. Lou talks about starting Dragon Age Origins as well as World of Warcraft‘s Trial of the Champion. Miscellaneous video game news follows.

In TV (~22:05), the guys talk Lost, American Idol, Flash Forward, Modern Family and The Office. Lou also talks for a bit about both Chuck and 24. Random TV news tidbits after that.

In Movies (~44:50) Tony talks about seeing Alice in Wonderland in 3D, and Lou saw Repo Men. Miscellaneous movie news follows.

In the Mash-Up segment (~1:03:25) the news this week includes:

HTC’s Evo is the first 4G cellphone, and it’s got some fantastic features, including the ability to be a mobile hotspot for computers and other phones, a front-facing camera for video calling, and the ability to stream HD video to an HDTV as well as stream HQ videos from YouTube; on Sprint’s WiMax (Clear)
Adobe’s new Content-Aware Fill is so amazing that it almost looks fake. Check out the video here.
Tata has had a few issues with Nanos spontaneously catching on fire while parked.
Best Buy will open its first UK stores in May
RCA has discovered a way to absorb power from WiFi sources to recharge electronic devices.
The British military is bringing the future one step closer with new technology that will enable fast-recharging forcefields for their tanks, unleashing a burst of energy just as a projectile is about to hit
VirginGalactic’s Enterprise (SpaceShipTwo) completed its maiden voyage the other day
Apple will begin selling the iPhone without a contract for unsubsidized prices; the phones will not, however, be unlocked
According to Steve Jobs, a future version of the iPhone OS will let you check any and all e-mail accounts you have set up on your phone through a single screen
Kalamazoo has released their Artisan Fire Pizza Oven…an open front, open flame pizza oven that, after taking 20 minutes to get to the right internal temp, can bake a neopolitan style pizza in about 2 minutes; $6500
Samsung’s new Galaxy S and Wave phones can shoot & play back DivX-certified 720p video
Toyota has actually had issues with electronic acceleration since 2002, and even issued a service bulletin to dealers about it back then, contrary to their position that they’ve never known about such issues
The USB ports on the Xbox 360 will soon be able to be used for memory storage
The Ferrari 458 Italia will be featured as an Autobot (the good guys) in Transformers 3
The Commodore 64 will be making a comeback, complete with a shiny new case, DVD drive, memory card readers and trackpad; it’ll still be a “computer in a keyboard”; no word on guts or OS version as of yet
Nintendo’s 3DS glasses-free 3D version of the DS will make its debut at E3 this year
The App Store is now integrated into Facebook
BMW revealed that 80% of 1 series owners believe their cars are FWD; this sort of solidifies my personal opinion of 80% of BMW owners
James Cameron “has a deal with Fox” that any time his movies make over a $1 billion, the DVD / Blu-ray will be released without any annoying trailers or ads. Score 1 for Cameron.
A “slip” in a Microsoft job posting specifically mentioned the forthcoming Courier journal device. Which means it’s real. Or Microsoft’s HR department are all morons. Or both.
FedEx will roll out the first four all-electric vehicles in its fleet in June, in Los Angeles
GameCrush is a new service where you can pay a minimum of $8.25 to play video games with hot chicks (who get to keep 60% of the fee), then rate them on their hotness and video game playing abilities. You can play Flash-based games like checkers or Xbox 360 games; For much more info, read the Kotaku article here and then get out your credit card

As always, the end of the episode is when Tony & Lou reveal their votes for this week’s Best & Worst entertainment moments.

Episode 58: The pause.com Entertainment Podcast

Lou Zucaro — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 22:07:06 +0000

Episode 58 of The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is live!

NOTE: To subscribe to the pause.com Entertainment Podcast on iTunes Click here to open iTunes to our podcast, then click the SUBSCRIBE button.

In this episode, Tony talks about finishing Heavy Rain as well as starting Assassin’s Creed II. Miscellaneous video game news follows.

In TV (~22:05), the guys talk Lost, American Idol, Modern Family and The Office. Lou also talks for a bit about why the last episode of Chuck was great, and mentions Human Target again. Random TV news tidbits after that.

In Movies (~44:50) Tony talks about seeing Precious and Year One, and Lou saw Green Zone and an old Michael Crichton classic, Runaway. Miscellaneous movie news follows.

In the Mash-Up segment (~1:03:25) the news this week includes:

London’s Strata is the first skyscraper to have turbines built-in from the design up
Discovery Store has a 10″ globe that uses electronic induction to float above its base and turn, while also showing nighttime lighting density across the world
The JooJoo just got an OS makeover, likely in order to compete with the iPad.
Some of Fuji’s new cameras not only include face detection for people, but for cats & dogs as well.
Rumor: iPhone 4.0 software will include actual multitasking
Video game streaming service OnLive is launching on June 17th, but it won’t be on TVs yet.
Rumor: The Zune HD2 will be like the iPod Touch in that it’ll be both a PMP and run apps, presumably running Windows Phone 7
Google’s Apps Marketplace is open, with about 50 apps available already.
Cicso’s new CRS-3 system aims to improve the foundation of the internet offering a claimed 322 Terabits of data routing per second
If you want one of TiVo’s new Premiere boxes and you have an HP MediaSmart Server EX490 or EX495, you’ll be able to move TiVo recorded programs onto your MediaSmart server and back again
Kojiro, a robot from JSK Robotics Lab at Tokyo University, is sorta seen as the future of robotics
British scientists claim to have figured out a way to extract hydrogen from water with 60% efficiency
Check out pause.com for new videos of Microsoft’s Courier dual-touch-screen tablet computer, which looks like about the coolest portable gadget in history

As always, the end of the episode is when Tony & Lou reveal their votes for this week’s Best & Worst entertainment moments.

New Microsoft Courier Videos Make it Look AMAZING

Lou Zucaro — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 15:15:40 +0000

It’s just…so…cool…

…and…

Kojiro: A Robot That Moves More Like a Human

Lou Zucaro — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 14:49:20 +0000

Tokyo University’s JSK Robotics Laboratory demonstrates this extremely cool robot that uses about 100 tendon-like control devices to make Kojiro work and move more like a human than other robots.

Episode 57: The pause.com Entertainment Podcast

Lou Zucaro — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:49:35 +0000

Episode 57 of The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is live!

NOTE: To subscribe to the pause.com Entertainment Podcast on iTunes Click here to open iTunes to our podcast, then click the SUBSCRIBE button.

At the beginning of the show, the guys start out by reading some listener mail in a segment still entitled “Fred” (until somebody suggests a better idea, which nobody has yet, unfortunately for Tony)

In this episode, Tony talks about The Misadventures of P.B. Winterbottom demo as well as the new Borderlands DLC, The Secret Armory of General Knoxx and wanting to be done with Heavy Rain. Miscellaneous video game news follows.

In TV (~25:55), the guys talk American Idol, Lost and Undercover Boss. Lou also talks for a bit about Chuck and 24. Random TV news tidbits after that.

In Movies (~59:40) Lou didn’t see anything this week and Tony talks about his Oscars picks. Miscellaneous movie news follows.

In the Mash-Up segment (~1:20:25) the news this week includes:

TiVo’s big announcement? The TiVo Premiere, with HD menus, video on demand through Netflix and Amazon, and cross-platform searching
The Geneva Motor Show featured a bunch of cool new and concept cars
Microsoft and Carnegie Mellon have teamed up to work on a skin-based input device called Skinput. Naturally.
Glasses-free 3D TV may be commercially viable within 5 years
NASA radar equipment has found about 600 million metric tons of water ice on the moon’s north pole
Microsoft’s Project Pink cell phone is a reality and will be released on Verizon, but it’s NOT Windows Phone 7, so its OS is a bit of a mystery
LG’s first Windows Phone 7 device will be called the Panther
Western Digital has a new lower-cost line of SSDs called SiliconEdge Blue, as well as new versions of their My Passport Studio portable external hard drives with e-paper displays showing drive name & capacity even when the drive’s not plugged in or on
Car and Driver magazine put a speed testing rig in the Top Thrill Dragster roller coaster at Cedar Point and clocked it going to 120mph in 2.8 seconds
Paraben has a USB driver that’ll find porn images on your computer, even if you deleted them
Logitech has released new Harmony remotes including the 600 ($79), 650 ($99) and 700 ($149) with screen, color screen and color screen with rechargeable batteries, respectively
Blockbuster is reinstating late fees. Because they’re idiots.
Apple is suing HTC over 20 alleged iPhone patent infringements
Watch OK Go!’s masterpiece video for This Too Shall Pass

As always, the end of the episode is when Tony & Lou reveal their votes for this week’s Best & Worst entertainment moments.

Episode 56: The pause.com Entertainment Podcast

Lou Zucaro — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 05:06:26 +0000

Episode 56 of The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is live!

NOTE: To subscribe to the pause.com Entertainment Podcast on iTunes Click here to open iTunes to our podcast, then click the SUBSCRIBE button.

At the beginning of the show, the guys start out by reading some listener mail in a segment currently entitled “Fred” (until somebody suggests a better idea)

In this episode, Tony and Lou both talk about Bioshock 2, and Tony talks about Bayonetta and Heavy Rain. Miscellaneous video game news follows.

In TV (~34:50), the guys talk American Idol and Lost. Lou also talks for a bit about Human Target. Random TV news tidbits after that.

In Movies (~59:10) Lou didn’t see anything this week, but Tony talks about A Serious Man. Miscellaneous movie news follows.

In the Mash-Up segment (~1:15:25) the news this week includes:

A month after Google’s Chrome 4 web browser was released, there are already over 2,000 extensions available for it
Sprint’s WiMax service will be available to 120 million people by the end of the year
Microsoft will soon have three new BlueTrack mice under $30, to be released in March & April
Apple has yanked a ton of sexually-themed content from the App Store
A guy named Mike Dobson made a robot out of LEGO Mindstorms (and some software running on a PC) that can solve any Rubik’s cube in about 11 seconds
The latest iPad / iPhone SK mentions front-facing camera, a camera flash, zoom and video conferencing
MSI has a new all-in-one PC with full 3D capabilities; it’ll be sold later this year with a 24″ LED display and will include shutter glasses
NASA plans to send remote-controlled robots to the moon sometime within the next 3 years
Windows Phone 7 Series could be on an LG phone as early as September
The synthesizer used to create the Doctor Who theme song is up for auction on eBay
Louie Sulcer, a 71-year-old from Woodstock, Georgia, was the lucky guy who downloaded the 10 billionth song from iTunes

As always, the end of the episode is when Tony & Lou reveal their votes for this week’s Best & Worst entertainment moments.

Ridiculously Cool Rubik’s Cube-Solving LEGO Mindstorms Robot

Lou Zucaro — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 16:29:35 +0000

I love LEGO. But I’m nowhere near smart enough to build something this amazingly cool. A Rubik’s Cube-solving LEGO Mindstorms robot that can solve any random cube in about 20 turns or, in the case of the example here, about 10.75 seconds. Brilliant.

Episode 55: The pause.com Entertainment Podcast

Lou Zucaro — Sat, 20 Feb 2010 16:11:56 +0000

Episode 55 of The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is live!

NOTE: To subscribe to the pause.com Entertainment Podcast on iTunes Click here to open iTunes to our podcast, then click the SUBSCRIBE button.

In this episode, Tony and Lou both talk about Bioshock 2 as well as Plants vs. Zombies on the iPhone. Lou talks a bit more about both Mass Effect 2 and WoW. Miscellaneous video game news follows.

In TV (~26:20), Tony talks Lost, which Lou missed, but he talkes about American Idol and the Olympics (a little). Random TV news tidbits after that.

In Movies (~49:35) Tony talks about An Education and Lou saw The Proposal, Layer Cake and half of RocknRolla. Miscellaneous movie news follows.

In the Mash-Up segment the news this week includes:

Microsoft has unveiled Windows Phone 7 Series
HP is plainly challenging the iPad with the HP Slate
Scientists may have accidentally discovered a female viagra, called Flibanserin
FCC Chairman Julius Genachowski has put into effect the 100 Squared initiative to get 100mb broadband to 100 million homes asap
Sony’s Dash runs Chumby apps, Sony widgets and will feature Netflix streaming, all for $199 when it launches in April
Barbie’s 126th career is: Computer Engineer
Buffalo’s got a 4-port USB 3.0 hub out for $90
The TruePower U-Socket is like a regular power outlet except it’s got two USB jacks in addition to the normal electrical plugs. $20 once available.
Naval architect Berkeley March has unveiled Project 1000, a 656-foot super yacht with a two story movie theater, night club, helipad and more, for $1 billion
The next TiVo will likely have full HD menus, improved search and TiVo Premiere (whatever that is)
The UK government has declassified another 7 years of UFO files, from 1994 – 2000 here
AT&T will get Motorola’s Backflip running Android on March 7th
Electrolux has unveiled a concept kitchen appliance with a fully touch-enabled, moldable surface
Samsung is about to reach 20% market penetration on TVs…a level no single manufacturer has had in over 60 years

As always, the end of the episode is when Tony & Lou reveal their votes for this week’s Best & Worst entertainment moments.

Windows Phone 7 Series Is Really, Really Beautiful

Lou Zucaro — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 16:16:59 +0000

Sure, none of us has used it yet, but the same was true when Apple first demo’d the iPhone. But based on what we’re seeing here, Microsoft has gone way past everybody else, including Apple, to dream up and deliver something truly new and wonderful.

And if the above isn’t enough, there’s a longer hands-on video from MSDN’s Channel 9 here: (UPDATE: Which wasn’t working, so here’s the link)

Episode 54: The pause.com Entertainment Podcast

Lou Zucaro — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 03:56:40 +0000

Episode 54 of The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is live!

NOTE: To subscribe to the pause.com Entertainment Podcast on iTunes Click here to open iTunes to our podcast, then click the SUBSCRIBE button.

In this episode, Tony talks about Borderlands as well as Star Wars: The Force Unleashed. Lou talks a bit more about both Mass Effect 2 and WoW. Miscellaneous video game news follows.

In TV (~21:30), the guys talk Idol and Lost. Lou didn’t see Modern Family or The Office, but he did see Chuck, 24 and the Heroes season finale. Random TV news tidbits after that.

In Movies (~51:20) Tony talks about The Blind Side and Funny People. Lou saw Edge of Darkness and talks about that for a bit. Some movie news is after that.

In the Mash-Up segment the news this week includes:

The Chicago Auto Show has started
Motorola is splitting into two divisions (cell phones & wireless networking)
Toyota is fixing the faulty gas pedals at a rate of 50k per day
Sony has announced two new Blu-ray players, the BDP-S470 and BDP-S570 for $200 and $250 respectively
Google will soon begin testing gigabit internet to up to half a million people
iTunes pricing for standard-def TV shows will drop to 99 cents when the iPad launches in March
Microsoft is looking into making a version of Office for the iPad
The Fiat 500 will go on sale in the U.S. by year’s end
A Radio Shack store in Manhattan exploded after a “manhole explosion” sparked a transformer fire
Quisda’s QCM-330 cell phone has a 4″, 1280×1024 resolution
Audi has unveiled the A1, with no word yet on U.S. availability
TiVo is about to announce “something big” (yes, we reported this as news)
Apple will give a $10k iTunes gift card to the person who downloads the 10 billionth song
Canon has announced the EOS T2i aka EOS 550D, which even shoots 1080p video
A Microsoft employee posted a blog entry about how Windows 8 will be unlike what people are used to from Windows
Rumor: Hulu may reformat videos (aka not use Flash video) for when the iPad launches

As always, the end of the episode is when Tony & Lou reveal their votes for this week’s Best & Worst entertainment moments.

Episode 53: The pause.com Entertainment Podcast

Lou Zucaro — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 19:08:08 +0000

Episode 53 of The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is live!

NOTE: To subscribe to the pause.com Entertainment Podcast on iTunes Click here to open iTunes to our podcast, then click the SUBSCRIBE button.

In this episode, Tony talks about Borderlands as well as Sword & Poker on the iPhone. Lou talks about WoW a little bit, and starting Mass Effect 2. Miscellaneous video game news follows.

In TV (~21:00), Tony didn’t really watch any TV (huh?!) and Lou talks about Idol and complains about not being able to talk about Lost because Tony didn’t watch it yet. Random TV news tidbits after that.

In Movies (~41:35) Tony talks about Inglourious Basterds and, um, Lou didn’t see anything. Some movie news is after that.

In the Mash-Up segment the news this week includes:

The U.S. Transportation Secretary has advised people to stop driving Toyota cars affected by the gas pedal recall
Hasselblad’s H4D40: a 40 megapixel DSLR for $20k
The latest OS update for the Nexus One includes multi-touch for photos, maps & the web
Rumor: The 27″ iMac problems are serious enough to have halted production
President Obama wants NASA to scrap plans to put a man on the moon by 2020 (boo)
Microsoft’s new $60 SideWinder X4 keyboard that lets you press up to 26 keys at a time and have them register correctly
Scientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory successfully fired 192 lasers to the 1 megajoule level for the first time – the first step toward controlled nuclear fusion
Honda has developed a solar hydrogen-making machine for peoples’ garages
Gateway’s new FX6831-01 and FX6831-03 gaming computers, for $1,300 and $1,700
IE8 now has a bit over 25% of the browser market (used to be IE7 was the leader)
The next iPhone is referred to in the SDK by codename N89
The Hubble has detected an “x-shaped” object moving through space at 11,000 mph and scientists have no idea what it is
DARPA has approved Boston Dynamics’ contract: The BigDog will see some action!

As always, the end of the episode is when Tony & Lou reveal their votes for this week’s Best & Worst entertainment moments.

Episode 52: The pause.com Entertainment Podcast

Lou Zucaro — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 16:46:43 +0000

Episode 52 of The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is live!

NOTE: To subscribe to the pause.com Entertainment Podcast on iTunes Click here to open iTunes to our podcast, then click the SUBSCRIBE button.

In this episode, Tony talks about Borderlands. Lou talks about WoW a little bit, and the huge disappointment that was the Star Trek Online Beta. Miscellaneous video game news follows.

In TV, the guys talk about American Idol and Lou talks about Chuck and 24, with a couple of random TV news tidbits after that.

In Movies Tony talks about The Book of Eli and It’s Complicated. Lou didn’t see anything. Poor Lou. Some movie news is after that.

In the Mash-Up segment the news this week includes:

Apple’s iPad has been revealed
Spin Master made a lifesize light cycle from TRON Legacy that somebody should send to Lou
The Mars Spirit Rover is likely stuck where it is…for ALL ETERNITY!
A Wisconsin prison has upheld its ban on Dungeons & Dragons
The Big Trak is making a comeback, thanks to a company called Zeon
The U.S. military’s YAL-1 airborne laser platform conducted its first successful missile engagement test
A Dell technician was accused of being a peeping Tom when he remotely activated Diane Annunziato’s webcam during a support session…without her permission

As always, the end of the episode is when Tony & Lou reveal their votes for this week’s Best & Worst entertainment moments.

The iPad

Steve Espinosa — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 01:52:27 +0000

The New release for Apple is the new iPad, it features everything that the ipod touch does just in a 9 x7 inch design. Some new features for the iPad is iBook which on the main screen shows you a book shelf of all the books you have downloaded onto your phone and ready to read. It has a LED backlight screen for the best quality picture, some accessories that are available is a keyboard doc that lets you type instead of using the touch screen. It is a sleek design and will be what you wait in line for, not only for the chance to be the first to get your hands on it but also for the surprisingly low base price of $499 now this includes 16GB Wi-Fi, while other prices include Wi-Fi plus the 3G network and an increase of memory all the way up to $829. For all the Tech specs and videos and pictures click here.

Episode 51: The pause.com Entertainment Podcast

Lou Zucaro — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:15:53 +0000

Episode 51 of The pause.com Entertainment Podcast is live!

NOTE: To subscribe to the pause.com Entertainment Podcast on iTunes Click here to open iTunes to our podcast, then click the SUBSCRIBE button.

In this episode, Tony talks about Borderlands, as well as the 1 vs. 100 online game. Lou talks about WoW a little bit. Miscellaneous video game news follows.

In TV (~27:30), the guys talk about American Idol and Chopped, as well as how they both missed Modern Family for some reason. Lou talks about the return of Chuck, as well as Fringe and Heroes, with a couple of random TV news tidbits after that.

In Movies (~59:00) Tony & Lou talk about Sherlock Holmes and Tony also saw The Hurt Locker. Lou talks about The Book of Eli. Some movie news is after that.

In the Mash-Up segment (~1:23:30) the news this week includes:

Used space shuttles going for CHEAP; space shuttle engines are free plus shipping
LG’s newspaper-sized, flexible e-ink display
The Bugatti Veyron costs some owners up to $300k / year just to own & service
Rumor: Apple will release a 22″ touchscreen iMac this year
Frabrice Gonet’s Black Pearl watch
Rumor: Windows Mobile 7 won’t be backward-compatible with previous versions (oh darn)
The Woz clarified his statements about Google’s Nexus One
An idiot named Justin Barry put a bomb threat up on a screen at the Apple Store in Staten Island, NY
Sony will not release any OLED TVs this year
Netflix’ instant streaming movies and their source, Starz
Gizmodo has a list of their top eBook readers. Here’s Lou’s List:
The 18 Pro earbuds from Ultimate Ears, which are $1,350. Dollars.
NASA discovered a bag of cocaine at their Discovery hangar in Cape Canaveral
You can help victims of the earthquake in Haiti by texting HAITI to 90999, which will let you donate $10 to the Red Cross, and will be billed directly to your cell phone bill

As always, the end of the episode is when Tony & Lou reveal their votes for this week’s Best & Worst entertainment moments. And not to give away anything, but here’s a link to Lou’s favorite thing this week.