This month on Podcastmadness.com – we give you a chance to win the Artisan 810 all-in-one printer. This is a printer that connects via WiFi so you do not have to run a cable to the printer. I have been using the Artisan line for a while now and really utilize the scanner and the ability to print pictures and PDF’s.

Just head over to Podcast Madness to get going. Listen to this week’s Podcast and the Day in Tech History to get your codes.

Contest has closed. Thanks to all participants.

This month we are giving away an Epson Artisan 700 printer. This is a wireless printer /scanner with CD/DVD printing capability. Here are all the options:

• 4 in 1 Print / Copy / Scan / Ultra Hi-Def Photo
• Up to 38 ppm, photos in as fast as 10 sec1
• Auto Photo Correction; preview on LCD
• Professional quality CD/DVD printing
• Wi-Fi and Ethernet networking
• Scan and restore faded photos
• Ultra Hi-Definition photos last 4x longer than photo lab prints
• Print personal note paper & greeting cards

There are three parts to this contest.

• Follow on Twitter – @geekazine
• Comment below with your twitter name
• In the next few weeks, during the Quickcast – Week in Tech History podcast (published on Mondays), I will announce the third requirement.
  • Check out the latest quickcast on this – we give you the 3rd step – a codeword to enter in twitter. #geekazine rocks.

On June 30th, we will draw a winner from all the names recieved (randomizer on the comment list). We will have other prizes as well, to be announced later.

Good Luck!

Video explaination:

Press release here: http://www.free-press-release.com/news/200905/1243448369.html

Last week in this place. I ate a lot of Brats this last weekend. Goodbye to friend ‘Supergirl’. Show Prep on Google Docs. Still need an iPhone App developer.

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Put Your Financials into order – Edward Jones

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I – S.U.N. (Straight Up News)
Lenovo S12 on ION
Kumo or Bing – Microsoft in a transition
The 10 TB Disc – All your music and movies on a DVD
Win 7 Netbook Strategy Rethought
iPhone Painting on cover of New Yorker
Hulu LIVE – Dave Matthews Concert is the first
Aneesh Chopra CTO – Senate approves
Apple Accepts Eucalyptus – a win for an iPhone App
Followup on Craigslist Lawsuit
Google U Libraries
Diamond Encrusted Nokia
- Palm Pre – $549

JOTW – I don’t know what I’ve been told… Vista is the Army’s Gold….

II
Twitter TV? – TV in 140 characters or less.
The Vista Army – What are they thinking?

QOTC – Will you or do you have a Netbook?

III
Will Netbooks Fail? – Will we find a Happy Medium?
Circuit City Return Policy – Be ready to give up Junior.

Extras:
Red Bull Diet – Good for you?
The New Soundwave – Transformers USB 4 port hub

Steampunk PC

Bud Adjustable Workstation

YouTubin:
Dell Mini 10v on Ubuntu, Android and XP

CES Videos – Geekazine
CMSExpo Videos – SDRNews

The Geekazine Weekly Podcast is produced every week for distribution on Wednesdays. Feel free to contact Geekazine for more information. You can also Twitter – Plurk – Myspace – Facebook Group – FriendFeed or Digg the Podcast. The Geekazine Podcast is under a Creative Commons no-deriv license

Today we talk with Matt Dworkin, a Double agent for Geek Squad in the DC area. We talk about what it’s like to be a part of the Geek Squad.

We are also giving away 2 $25 gift cards to Best Buy. All you have to do is comment below. On Oct 15th, we will draw 2 names for the gift cards. Need not be present to win.

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No Ouside show  – Mic Cable – Donate old iPhone – PC reload news – Batman Poster – Call and Win!

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I – S.U.N. (Straight Up News)
USPS Gets New Bar Codes – GCN
VIA quits Motherboard Business – Ubergizmo
ATI Radeon HD 4870 x2 – Gizmodo
Top 15 Cell Phones – Infosync
Best Buy Vending – Chicago Tribune
iPhone 3G Chip Problems? – GigaOm
AVS Forums Crash – Engadget
NVidia QuadroPlex D2 – Engadget
Hubble Hits 100,000 – Ars Technica
PSP Camera is a Fire Hazard – Gizmodo
Lenovo with WACOM – Dvice

AccessoryGeeks.com

II
IBM Virtualization – InfoWorld
Microsoft Free World – LinuxInsider
64 bit Windows Gaining – CNet
Zune Wants You – Ars Technica

TCT Podcast – $37 USD at Sourcingmap.com
Email

Ten Year Watch
Maya

III
iPhone Kill Switch – Engadget
Chinas Green City – Slashdot
Particle Supercollider – GCN
CA No-Compete – Slashdot

IV
Anitvirus in the Cloud – ArsTechnica
GMails ‘I’m Sorry’ Blog
Sprint Airave – Bizjournals
-Do they Work? – TechFAQ

Apple – get an iMac

Listeners’ Notes:
Rotatable iPod Alarm Clock
Anime Eyes
In Car Microwave
Diving for Antiques
Gamers Table
What to do with that old iPhone
400 Photoshop Actions

YouTubin
Uniteds Newest Commercial

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I decided to take the Podcast outside since it was a nice day. If this works, we’ll do it again next week, too.

Computer Reload – Looking for investors – Listener Drive Continues

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I – S.U.N. (Straight Up News)
Toxic Soil on Mars – CNet
iPhone 2.0.1 – Gizmodo
MobileME Launch was Mistake – Engadget
Video Games Read Your Mind – USAToday
Cablevision wins DVR Ruling – USAToday
Phishers Phish Phishers – ZDNet
Kimber to Friendster – TechCrunch
Clone Your Pet – BBC
BaseBall Geek – AP

AccessoryGeeks.com

II
The CHAD at it again – CNet
No More Windows – BBC
Air Force Goes Vista – GCN

TCT Podcast – 53″ Stainless Steel Roll A Way tool chest from Kobalt
TechTweak: Firefox – When download has stopped…

III
Month of No Startups – Scobleizer
Time Warner AOL Split – HardOCP
iPhone ATT Lock til 2010 – electronista

Edward Jones

IV
Nissan Lead Foot Pushes Back – AutoBlog
More Smaller Cores – Register
Circuit City: Sorry MAD – NetworkWorld

Get an iMac

Listeners’ Notes:
Create Ultimate Windows CD
Electronic Tongue
Your Own Jetpack
Periodic Rings
Wood Geek Art

YouTubin
Multi-Touch Hologram
Dancing Prisioners

Twitter – Pownce – Plurk – Myspace – Facebook Group – FriendFeed – Digg the Podcast

Purses – Code Cleanup – PC reload – Monthly Goal to get new listeners

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I
S.U.N. (Straight Up News)
Alcatel-Lucent CEO out – BusinessWeek
DSpace and Fedora Collaborate – NSDL
Facebook Not Scrabulous – Silicon Alley Insider
Google Walks from Digg – TechCrunch
100 Channel FIOS
Zune Guy Upset – Wired
iPhone with Photos – Gizmodo
OpenXBox – ChicagoTribune
VMWare offers ESXi – GCN
Happy Birthday Wil Wheaton – Wired

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II
AT&T Doesn’t want WiMax? – CNet
Jerry Yang is Happy. Why? – USAToday
-Yahoo Stock Dump – CNet
Jobs Health – NYTimes

Cool Tech – Photo Finder from ATP Electronics

III
FCC/Comcast – Wall Street Journal
Glass Trackpads – Computerworld
How Microsoft can Beat Google – The Register
Worst Company in America – Consumerist

Edward Jones

IV
Moby Dick 140cpp – geeknewscentral
Cuil Cool
Dude? Wheres My Laptop – RD
Crop of Sunscreen – CNN
Michael Dell Interview – GigaOM
-Dell Hybrid – Gizmodo
First 100 Registered Sites – Daily Gyan

Buy an iMac – Apple.geekazine.com

Listeners’ Notes:
Headless Laptop – TJ
Solar System Guide
Cooler Keyboard
Speed Reader
Send a Business Card
Nano and Atom Benchmark
Charging Gizmo Art
Microsoft Sphere
Color Coded Cutting Board
Eyeball Lamp

YouTubin
DIY LCD Projector

Twitter – Pownce – Plurk – Myspace – Facebook Group – FriendFeed – Digg the Podcast

Digg grew to a powerhouse site in a very short time. The Popular News Aggregator service continues to be a great place for people to not only read news, but also contribute to what they think is news. Alexa reports that Digg has been fluctuating around the top 100 to 150 sites being viewed. 52.5% of those viewers are in the US.

The rumor mill is stirring up again that Google has put interest in buying Digg. TechCrunch reports that the “Rumor” is Digg will be selling for $200 million although CEO Jay Adelson denies it. Will this be a good deal for Digg, or can they grow and survive on their own?

Digg started in 2004 by Kevin Rose, Own Byrne, Ron Gorodetzky and Jay Adelson. The idea was to aggregate news items and put popularity to it. People would place a “Digg it” icon on their site in which you could easily send the article to Diggs news feed.  If another person liked the site, they would Digg it. Others could just as easily Bury it. Some sites get Dugg so much so quickly, the flooding of viewers takes down the web page. It’s a very powerful medium, and definitely something that Google could use.

There are other sites like this. Fark is one of the oldest in which we talked about in a previous article on Geekazine. Yahoo has their “Buzz”, which is awfully similar to Digg. Reddit, Technorati, Del.icio.us and StumbleUpon all have similar popularity systems. However, Digg seems to be more popular in the US. According to Alexa Del.icio.us, for example, actually has a decent popularity in Germany.

Why would Google want Digg?

Two things here. First is the voting system. It’s not only very sound but also comes with a ton of analytical widgets that can spot trends and keywords. Even more, a large number of people actually have the “Digg” widget located on their sites, some of them have multiple widgets just on one page.

Second, it’s the community. Digg has a lot of members that contribute countless numbers of articles. When a new article is submitted, it must first be verified so it’s not a duplicate. After agreeing it’s not and a quick CAPTCHA verification, it gets put into the Queue. Of course that is where the members really shine. They can rise that article up to the top, or drop it like a mobster in Cement shoes off the East River.

What does Google gain in this?

Like I said, Digg has some cool systems in place to view trends and keywords. Their “Digg Labs” shows statistics as they happen in cool little flash pages. Trends and Keywords are big for marketing. Specializing ads, pitching companies with almost picture perfect statistics – All can give Google a better advantage in the market today.

It also can be great to see in search results. Maybe an “Article Trends” chart could be called up to find out when that information was most popular. It could definitely be put to use in their Webmaster Tools, Adsense and DoubleClick ventures.

What would that mean to Digg?

One of two things. The Digg Staff would either be incorporated into operations at Google – basically be called Google Digg or DigGoogle:  or Google would let Digg look like a separate being and cross platform with them. I would guess the latter is going to happen. Sometime full incorporation means job exodus and loss of creativity. Not to mention members jumping ship to other competitors.

On another front of this, Microsoft put in 11.3 Million in a 3 year advertising deal to Digg. If this acquisition happens, this contract could be axed overnight. If that happens, hey Microsoft – we at Geekazine have some ad spots you can purchase for considerably less. Give me a call.

Of course it won’t be the end of the world for Microsoft. Like I said before, there are other sites that are very similar. Digg will always have competition via Yahoo, Reddit, Technorati, Del.icio.us or on any of the other sites.

Bottom line, this merge would be great for both. Kevin Rose and the gang would get a boost for all the work put into Digg and maybe a shiny new title. Google would get a ranking system and analytical tools which in turn would also be bestowed upon the community of webmasters for their sites. It looks like a good Win Win situation for everyone.

That is, if it’s true…

Drum work – New 5 min segment – Thanks to Slashdot Review for the Plug – Email

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I
S.U.N. (Straight Up News)
XBOX and Laptop combo
Happy Anniversary Cubicle
4.2 Billion in Software Piracy
iPhone 2.0 is unlocked
Xeon Core 2 prices slashed
Tokyo SE Glitch

Win a Gift Certificate from AccessoryGeeks.com

II
Is MicroYugo over? – NYTimes
Psystar is not the only one
What is  Product Transition – AppleInsider
Facebook to Porn – MailOnline

30 sec. – Caffination Podcast
TechTweak – Services on machine.
On this day: Car Invented (1886); Ice Cream Cone (1904); Nippon Air Hijack (1999)

CareerSaver -

III
Youtube Tivo – Tom’s Hardware
Windows vs. Linux – ITWire
No Mouse in 5 Years – Gizmodo
Protect From Zaps – NYTimes

Edward Jones

IV
Facebook Redesign – ArsTechnica
Linux Mobile – ComputerWorld
7 Things IT should Do – InfoWorld
Will this Replace LCD – Technology Review

Listeners’ Notes:
Nerf Vulcan – Mick
Robots Find Stoaways – James
Wall-E Preorder
Evapo-Rust
Touchscreen Steering Wheel

YouTubin
Chad Vader Training #1

Twitter – Pownce – Plurk – Myspace – Facebook Group – FriendFeed – Digg the Podcast

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-511b01904537b65efbeedeb80bde4a5d}

Call the Voice Line and win a gift card!
Tires – new Affiliate – Apology on LIVE SHOW

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I
Bye Bye XP, Maybe – Register
Apple Raking in the Dough – Cnet
Did they listen? iPhone with a Keyboard? – Register
Microsofts’ Powerset Aquisition – VentureBeat
Guilty for Bittorrent – Ars Technica

Win a Gift Certificate from AccessoryGeeks.com

II
Cure for Cancer? – CTV
Apple 10.5.4 – ZDNet
AOL Price Bump – Cnet
Google Closing AdSense – Inquisitor

30 Second Promo – The Force Field

III
Voyeuristic Ads?
First WiMax Deployment – Engadget
Family Guy on Google? – Silicon Alley Insider
Google Media Server – TechCrunch
Geocoding a Classic – Boingboing

Edward Jones

IV
First look Ubuntu 8.10 – Ars Technica
GoDaddy bids against customers – Nodaddy
Massachusetts: Tech Savvy – Yahoo
Prince Charles Wino Car – DailyMail

Listeners’ Notes:
Make Music with Slime – Fred
13 Best Movie Robots – Tom
Dell Sex Chat
iPhone Guided Tour
AMK Kids Instrument

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That’s great, it started with video tapes, movies in the home at 8, Lenny Bruce is still not afraid. I remember when we got our first VCR. It was a Betamax and we had some of the coolest movies. Of course, the Beta went the way of the do do bird. Then it was VHS. Come and almost gone.

Now it’s the DVDs turn. Earlier in the year the big question was “Who was going to replace DVD’s: HD DVD or Blu-Ray?” Now we know that answer – but does it matter? Blu-Ray players really haven’t been selling like hotcakes and if you have one, you know that it’s not the fastest thing on the planet. The ultimate irony is that Sony owned Beta and lost to VHS. Now Sony won with Blu-Ray, but will that only be a small win as alternate formats are entering into the market?

Netflix has been battling Blockbuster for reign over online Movie rentals. Blockbuster has an option to return movies to the store and get more instantly, whereas Netflix provides ondemand movies and TV series on your computer. This week Netflix stepped it up by putting out a settop box. For 100 dollars you recieve an appliance that will allow you to easily download and play movies on your TV.

$100. For a service you already have. I suppose it’s better than the 295 dollar slingbox or AppleTV. I could put together a media center computer to do the same thing, but even if I used the Linux Media Center, the price of computer, video card and extras would also cost over $100. Even a PS3, Wii or Xbox with proper software will cost more than $100.

Only thing that would be cheaper is a DVD player. No high definition, but for $30 you have a way to watch movies. If you are just planning to fall asleep to a show, that’s probably the best way to go.

But nowadays we want more. Bigger TV, bigger sound system and better experience. Some have gone as far to put in theatre seats, curtains and a full concessions bar into a dedicated room. After all, why pay $9 to $30 dollars a person when you can entertain for the evening without a sticky floor.

Add in the illegal “bittorrent” crowd. Downloading movies from peer to peer clients and holding them onto hard drives. Then watch everything without leaving the house.

So many ways to watch the same old content. Why should we go to the local Wal-Mart and get a disc? Do we still need the tangible media? Or can we trust the digital content?

Many things get lost with these alternate media outlets. Cover art, for example, is reduced down to a couple digital pictures. No need for a small guide with your collectors edition Star Wars. It’s all on a document format or even in the DVD itself. Just have to read it on the screen.

Getting back to Blu-Ray, why do we love, then dis the format? Was it the longer load times for High Definition content? Maybe it was the fact that Sony decided to jack up the prices on players. Would you choose the Movie Short Circuit on DVD for 5.99, or on BluRay for 23.99?

Personally I haven’t bought a DVD in about a year. I have a Blockbuster account and it suits me fine. I don’t need the highest of definition because I dont have a TV to support it. If I did, it still wouldn’t make the biggest of differences.

Electronic media is growing fast, simply because it’s the fastest to get what you want. Order and watch and if you lose those download files, well you can easily buy it again. But who ever watches a movie more than once?

Oh wait. I’m on 200 times with my copy of “Roadhouse”. oh well. It’s symbiotic, Patriotic, Slam the Net. Right? Right.