Episode 69 – Star Trek Fans Sad; Star Wars Fans Happy
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Geek News
We begin with…
Olli the 3D printed Automated Bus
(Video 1)
Local Motors has introduced the Olli, a self-driving, electric 12-seat bus at its new National Harbor location in Oxon Hill, Maryland, outside of Washington, DC. Not only is Olli built from 3D-printed components, it's also the first vehicle to use IBM Watson’s cognitive learning platform — it'll actually learn about its passengers. The shuttle was designed by crowdsourced contest winner Edgar Sarmiento, and will be offering rides to curious passersby all summer in DC. Pilot programs in other cities are in the works, too
http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/17/11962776/local-motors-olli-3d-printed-autonomous-bus-photos
Can your robot wash dishes?
(Video 2)
Boston Dynamics released a video of it’s latest robot, the SpotMini. The SpotMini is a sort of tiny robot giraffe capable of an impressive battery of skills, like putting dishes in the dishwasher and (somewhat begrudgingly) delivering a can of soda.
The non-hydraulic mini version of the company’s Spot robot runs for 90 minutes on a charge and sports a slew of different sensors including depth cameras and a a solid state gyro to help it move around and interact with its environment. The bot also features a level of autonomy for certain tasks – though some human guidance is also required to get the job done.
https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/23/spotmini/
Playstation Neo 2016?
While Microsoft has announced that they’re introducing a new Xbox code named Scorpio in 2017, Eurogamer’s reporting sources say a 4K PlayStation Neo will launch before the end of the year. Is this Sony’s play to upstage Microsoft? http://www.gamespot.com/articles/more-powerful-ps4-neo-will-launch-this-year-report/1100-6441018/
CW Shows no longer on HULU
The Mary Sue reports that negotiations between the CW and Hulu for next day streaming rights have broken down. That means you won’t be able to watch your favorite CW shows like the Flash and Arrow on Hulu anymore. However, the CW Netflix agreement still stands so you’ll be able to watch full seasons of CW shows there.
http://www.themarysue.com/the-cw-ends-deal-with-hulu/
Star Trek Fan film guidelines released
CBS has released their guidelines for Star Trek fan films and they’re pretty bad. Reading the guidelines, it’s pretty clear that a lot of these rules are informed by the ongoing litigation about Axanar, a Star Trek fan film that raised over $1.2 Million from crowdfunding.
The fan production must be less than 15 minutes for a single self-contained story, or no more than 2 segments, episodes or parts, not to exceed 30 minutes total, with no additional seasons, episodes, parts, sequels or remakes.
The title of the fan production or any parts cannot include the name “Star Trek.” However, the title must contain a subtitle with the phrase: “A STAR TREK FAN PRODUCTION” in plain typeface. The fan production cannot use the term “official” in either its title or subtitle or in any marketing, promotions or social media for the fan production.
The fan production must be a real “fan” production, i.e., creators, actors and all other participants must be amateurs, cannot be compensated for their services, and cannot be currently or previously employed on any Star Trek series, films, production of DVDs or with any of CBS or Paramount Pictures’ licensees.
The fan production must be non-commercial:
– CBS and Paramount Pictures do not object to limited fundraising for the creation of a fan production, whether 1 or 2 segments and consistent with these guidelines, so long as the total amount does not exceed $50,000, including all platform fees, and when the $50,000 goal is reached, all fundraising must cease.
The fan production must only be exhibited or distributed on a no-charge basis and/or shared via streaming services without generating revenue.
http://geekandsundry.com/paramount-cbs-release-guidelines-for-star-trek-fan-films/
Ghostbuster Theme song Redone
(Video 3)
Fall Out Boy and Missy Elliott have released their updated version of Ray Parker Jr.‘s Ghostbusters theme for the upcoming, female-led reboot of the franchise.
While the song does keep many of Parker’s lyrics, it is a very different type of song. It’s a faster, more upbeat rock interpretation with a hip hop breakdown.
http://nerdist.com/new-ghostbusters-theme-by-fall-out-boy-and-missy-elliott-released/
Darth Vader Confirmed for Rogue One
io9 has confirmed that Darth Vader will play a major part in the upcoming Star Wars movie Rogue One. It has also been confirmed that he will be voiced by James Earl Jones.
Also released this week are images of a new type of TIE fighter, the TIE striker
Storm Trooper in Black Armor holding a storm trooper doll.
http://io9.gizmodo.com/weve-finally-got-some-solid-details-on-rogue-one-a-sta-1782419027
Zordon Cast in Power Rangers Movie
Bryan Cranston announced this week on Twitter he will be playing Zordon in the franchise reboot. Known on the show as a giant and slightly opaque floating head, Zordon is a galactic sage, the creator and mentor of the Power Rangers, and the adversary of villain Rita Repulsa, who will be played by Elizabeth Banks.
http://www.theverge.com/2016/6/21/11997314/bryan-cranston-zordon-power-rangers-movie-2017
Defenders Villain Rumor
Even though we still have two more Marvel Netflix shows that are going to be released before the superhero team up show, the Defenders, is filmed there are already rumors about who the main villain is going to be.
The Real Stan Lee reports that insiders at Marvel are talking about making the main villain Mephisto, a demon who likes to steal the souls of the heroes. It is supposedly part of a plan to introduce more supernatural elements into the MCU, with plans to have Moon Knight, Blade, and Ghost Rider make the jump to streaming at some point.
http://therealstanlee.com/mephisto-defenders-villain/
That’s it for Geek New.
If you like the podcast and want to help support us you can find out all the ways to do so at geekbytespodcast.com/support
Now onto our Discussion section
(Music 3)
In our discussion section we talk about anything we find interesting that doesn’t fit in with the News section. This week we’re talking about…
Our interview with Luke Chmilenko, author of Ascend Online. One of my favorite stories set in a game world.
Luke not only writes one of my favorite stories but he has also entered his novel in a contest on Inkshare sponsored by The Nerdist and Geek & Sundry.
Inkshares is crowdfunded publishing. Any author can submit their story and as long as they reach their pre-order goals, Inkshare will provide all the services of a publisher. Editing, design, digital and paper distribution, marketing, and sales of movie and TV rights.
However, for this contest, the top three novels with the most unique reader pre-orders on July 15th will be published even if they haven’t reached their pre-order goal, and at least one novel will also be included in the Nerdist collection of Inkshare books.
If you’ve read Ascend Online and you love it as much as I do, support Luke by pre-ordering his book on Inkshares now. Pause this, go pre-order and come back.
If you’ve never read Ascent Online, I can’t recommend it enough. You can check it out for free on the royal road. We’ll have the links to Luke’s Inkshare page and his royal road page in the notes.
(Play Video 4)
Royal Roadl: http://royalroadl.com/fiction/6519
Inkshare: https://www.inkshares.com/books/ascend-online?referral_code=bff9dbf0
Also, check out our LitRPG recommendation page at http://www.geekbytespodcast.com/reviews/2016/1/8/why-i-love-litrpg-novels
That’s it for the show.
Thanks for watching and listening.
For the Geek Bytes Podcast I’m Ramon Mejia and I’m Edgar Acosta. Now Go Geek out about something.
(Music 4)
Music Credits
"Happy Bee", "Movement Proposition", "Theme for Harold (var.3) ", "Take the Lead"
Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/