Hello, welcome, and G’day, we are so happy to have you join us again for our latest episode. When we say episode we don’t mean Buck having a rant and all that; just thought we should clarify that up front. Now we have a bumper episode this week with lots of stuff for you to enjoy.
First up we have Professor bringing us news about Atari’s plan to open a chain of hotels. They have announced that they will be themed and focus on developing E-sports functionality. But we wonder is it going to be presented with the old style timber/brown laminate like we used to see on the old Atari? Guarantee that it won’t be the first option for the honeymoon market, although, any ladies who think that would be cool let us know that we are wrong once again. Following this Professor has the ESA’s environmentally unfriendly stance against the right to repair and modify your machines/consoles. BOO HISS!!! How lame can these idiots be, I mean, don’t they realise that advancements in technology have come about by people looking under the hood and figuring out ways to do things better?
Next up we have DJ talking about IDW losing money and what they are planning to do about it. Apparently they have announced they are struggling in various markets with the material they are presently distributing. Of course the solution would be to develop new material, breathe new life into the company instead of just pumping out more of the same thing. But, no, they are hoping that their partnership with Netflix will save them. Then DJ brings us news on the critic’s reviews on Birds of Prey for us to laugh at and make fun of. Seriously, does anyone actually take them serious anymore? Buck suggests that if Rotten Tomatoes give a film a bad rating it must be good, and if it is good then stay away. What do you think, does that sound like a good approach to use?
Then Buck has the latest on the Spitzer Space Telescope, which has just retired. After being on mission since 2003 it has provided heaps of data for scientist, with the first images and data being of the Tarantula Nebula. In homage to its origins the last images and data developed by Spitzer were also of the Tarantula Nebula. Which honestly is a hotbed of activity, with the explosion of a supernova that was first discovered in 1987 (interestingly called 1987a) and still sweeping through space creating some awesome images. Also there is a collection of 40 massive stars at least 50 times the size of our sun all in a tiny area together. If this isn’t enough for you Buck also brings us news of the latest evolution of robot tanks. Before anyone gets all Terminator Judgement Day on us, they are not all armed and those that are still need a person involved to fire on a target. But for those who are looking for an alternative to a trailer that hitches to your car, we might have a solution for you.
We hope you enjoy this bumper episode this week. As normal we have the usual shout outs, remembrances, birthdays, and special events. Let us know what you think, make requests if you have a topic you are interested in having us dig into. Or just drop us a line and we will give you a special shout out. As always, remember to take care of yourselves, look out for each other and stay hydrated.
Atari’s new idea : Gaming Hotels - https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2020-01-27-atari-to-open-gaming-hotels-in-at-least-eight-us-cities
ESA’s stance on Right To Repair - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KAVp1WVq-1Q&feature=youtu.be
IDW loses money…a lot of money - https://www.bleedingcool.com/2020/01/25/idw-loses-17-1-million-in-2019-projects-profitability-in-2021/
Early reviews of Birds of Prey have arrived…. - https://boundingintocomics.com/2020/01/27/early-audience-reviews-for-margot-robbies-birds-of-prey-arrive/
The Tarantula Nebula - https://phys.org/news/2020-01-tarantula-nebula-web-mystery-spitzer.html
Robot Tank…now with no firepower - https://www.bbc.com/news/business-50387954
Games Played
Professor
– Steamworld - http://imageform.se/game/steamworld-dig/
Rating: 3.5/5
Buck
– Thunder Run: War of Clans - https://www.facebook.com/ThunderRunWarOfClans/?epa=SEARCH_BOX
Rating: 3/5
DJ – DNP
Other topics discussed
Niagara Falls' real-life Mario Kart track
Nintendo wins legal battle against one of Tokyo's real-life 'Mario Kart' tours
- https://www.engadget.com/2020/01/29/nintendo-tokyo-mario-kart-legal-win/
Final Fantasy VII cafes
OutRun (arcade game released by Sega in September 1986.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Out_Run
Mario Bros. (platform game published and developed for arcades by Nintendo in 1983.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mario_Bros.
The Verge PC Build (Reuploaded) by Ext_Nation
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UZ4viTwfFxA
Louis Rossmann - Why I don't use Apple products
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sfrYOWlKJ_g
JerryRigEverything (American YouTuber and tech reviewer. He has gained fame and popularity for his technology reviews including smartphones, watches, apps and much more.)
- https://www.youtube.com/user/JerryRigEverything
- https://youtube.fandom.com/wiki/JerryRigEverything
Every Console In One Box - The Origin Big O by Unbox Therapy
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ErQQc6cUSTA
Star Trek (comic book series by IDW Publishing, based on the Star Trekscience fiction entertainment franchise created by Gene Roddenberry.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Trek_(IDW_Publishing)
Captain Marvel (2019 American superhero film based on the Marvel Comics character Carol Danvers.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captain_Marvel_(film)
Punisher (A fictional character appearing in American comic books published by Marvel Comics. The Punisher made his first appearance in The Amazing Spider-Man #129.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punisher
Spiderman 3 (2007 American superhero film based on the fictional Marvel Comics character Spider-Man.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spider-Man_3
Dexter (American television crimedramamystery series that aired on Showtime from October 1, 2006, to September 22, 2013)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dexter_(TV_series)
Snakes on a Plane (At one point, the film was given the title Pacific Air Flight 121, only to have it changed back to the working title at Samuel Jackson's request.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Snakes_on_a_Plane#Production
Black hole (A black hole is a region of spacetime exhibiting gravitational acceleration so strong that nothing—no particles or even electromagnetic radiation such as light—can escape from it.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_hole
The Amazing World of Gumball (British-American surreal comedy animated television series created by Ben Bocquelet for Cartoon Network.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Amazing_World_of_Gumball
Cartoon Network - The Amazing World of Gumball | The Meaning Of Life
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZspV3ser1Q
Tarantula (The spider originally bearing the name "tarantula" was Lycosa tarantula, a species of wolf spider native to Mediterranean Europe. The name derived from that of the southern Italian town of Taranto.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tarantula#Etymology
RoboCop (1987) - It's Only a Glitch (Dick's boardroom demonstration of the Enforcement Droid 209 goes awry when the droid opens fire on Kinney.
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TstteJ1eIZg
Law Abidding Citizen (2009) - Weaponized bomb disposal robot kills people
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrK-UojUTNw
Remote controlled weapon station (A remote controlled weapon station (RCWS), or remote weapon station (RWS), also known as a remote weapon system, (RWS) is a remotely operated weaponized system often equipped with fire-control system for light and medium-caliber weapons which can be installed on ground combat vehicle or sea- and air-based combat platforms.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Remote_controlled_weapon_station
Common Remotely Operated Weapon Station (CROWS) (a remote weapon station systems used by the US military on its armored vehicles and ships. It allows weapon operators to engage targets without leaving the protection of their vehicle.)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CROWS
In Flanders Fields by John McCrae
- https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/47380/in-flanders-fields
Dulce Et Decorum Est (poem written by Wilfred Owen during World War I, and published posthumously in 1920)
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dulce_et_Decorum_est
Podcast Nine and Three-Quarters (TNC Podcast)
- https://thatsnotcanon.com/nineandthreequarterspodcast
Shout Outs
- 26 January 2020 – Kobe Bryant died – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Death_of_Kobe_Bryant
On January 26, 2020, a Sikorsky S-76B helicopter crashed in Calabasas, California, around 30 miles (48 kilometers) northwest of Los Angeles, en route to Camarillo, California. It was carrying former basketball player Kobe Bryant, his daughter Gianna, six family friends including baseball coach John Altobelli and his wife and daughter, and the pilot. All on board were killed.
- 26 January 2020 – Australian of the Year 2020 awarded to eye surgeon James Muecke - https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-01-25/australian-of-year-awards-2020-announced-in-canberra/11901006
Dr Muecke was honoured in a ceremony in Canberra. In 2000 he co-founded Vision Myanmar at the South Australian Institute of Ophthalmology and later co-founded Sight For All, a social impact organisation aiming to create a world where everyone can see. More recently Dr Muecke's work has specifically focused on preventing the leading cause of blindness in adults — type 2 diabetes. When accepting the award from Prime Minister Scott Morrison, Dr Muecke said he viewed type 2 diabetes — something that impacts nearly one in every 10 Australians — as a "looming catastrophe for our health system".
- 28 January 1958 – Lego patents its First Bricks - https://www.nationalgeographic.org/thisday/jan28/lego-patents-its-first-bricks/
The Lego Group, with headquarters in Billund, Denmark, patented its design for interlocking plastic bricks. The design was so stable that those bricks can still be used with Lego sets created today. Today, the Lego Group, based in Denmark, is worth more than a billion dollars.
Remembrances
- 26 January 2020 – Louis Nirenberg -https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Nirenberg
Canadian-American mathematician, considered one of the most outstanding mathematicians of the 20th century. He made fundamental contributions to linear and nonlinear partial differential equations (PDEs) and their application to complex analysis and geometry. His contributions include the Gagliardo–Nirenberg interpolation inequality, which is important in the solution of the elliptic partial differential equations that arise in many areas of mathematics, and the formalization of the bounded mean oscillation known as John–Nirenberg space, which is used to study the behaviour of both elastic materials and games of chance known as martingales. He died at the age of 94 in New York.
- 28 January 1918 – Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCrae
Canadian poet, physician, author, artist and soldier during World War I, and a surgeon during the Second Battle of Ypres, in Belgium. He is best known for writing the famous war memorial poem "In Flanders Fields". McCrae died of pneumonia near the end of the war. "In Flanders Fields" appeared anonymously in Punch on December 8, 1915, but in the index to that year McCrae was named as the author. The verses swiftly became one of the most popular poems of the war, used in countless fund-raising campaigns and frequently translated. He died from pneumonia with "extensive pneumococcus meningitis" at the age of 45 in Boulogne-sur-Mer.
- 28 January 1996 – Jerry Siegel - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camillo_Golgi
Jerome Siegel who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter and Jerry Ess was an American comic book writer. His most famous creation was Superman, which he created in collaboration with his friend Joe Shuster. Siegel and Shuster had been developing the Superman story and character since 1933, hoping to sell it as a syndicated newspaper comic-strip. But after years of fruitless soliciting to the syndicates, Siegel and Shuster agreed to publish Superman in a comic book. In March 1938, they sold all rights to Superman to the comic-book publisher Detective Comics, Inc., another forerunner of DC, for $130 ($2,361 when adjusted for inflation). Siegel and Shuster later regretted their decision to sell Superman after he became an astonishing success. DC Comics now owned the character and reaped the royalties. Nevertheless, DC Comics retained Siegel and Shuster as the principal writer and artist for the Superman comics, and they were well-paid because they were popular with the readers. He died from a heart attack at the age of 81 in Los Angeles,California.
Famous Birthdays
- 28 January 1611 – Johannes Hevelius - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Hevelius
A councillor and mayor of Danzig (Gdańsk), Kingdom of Poland. As an astronomer, he gained a reputation as "the founder of lunar topography", and described ten new constellations, seven of which are still used by astronomers. He discovered four comets, in 1652, 1661, 1672 and 1677. These discoveries led to his thesis that such bodies revolve around the Sun in parabolic paths. He was born in Danzig,Pomeranian Voivodeship.
- 28 January 1912 – Jackson Pollack – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jackson_Pollock
American painter and a major figure in the abstract expressionist movement. He was widely noticed for his technique of pouring or splashing liquid household paint onto a horizontal surface ('drip technique'), enabling him to view and paint his canvases from all angles. It was also called 'action painting', since he used the force of his whole body to paint, often in a frenetic dancing style. This extreme form of abstraction divided the critics: some praised the immediacy and fluency of the creation, while others derided the random effects. He was born in Cody Wyoming.
- 28 January 1966 – Seiji Mizushima - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Seiji_Mizushima
Japanese anime storyboard artist and director. He has directed such series as Shaman King, Fullmetal Alchemist, Mobile Suit Gundam 00, Un-Go, and Concrete Revolutio. He also directed anime films such as Fullmetal Alchemist: Conqueror of Shamballa and Mobile Suit Gundam 00 the Movie: Awakening of the Trailblazer. He was born in Fuchū, Tokyo.
Events of Interest
- 28 January 1887 - The first digging work on the Eiffel Tower started - https://www.toureiffel.paris/en/the-monument/history
It took two years, two months, and five days after construction began. The pieces of iron are connected by 2.5 million rivets. They were put in place by between 150 and 300 workers who were employed to build the structure. The structure may be named after Gustave Eiffel, but it was actually his senior engineers, Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier, who designed the building.
- 21 January 1981 - The World Land Speed Record on a public road is broken by Rudolf Caracciola in the Mercedes-Benz W195 at a speed of 432.7 kilometres per hour (268.9 mph). - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercedes-Benz_W125_Rekordwagen
The streamlined car was derived from the 1937 open-wheel race car Mercedes-Benz W125 Formel-Rennwagen, of which also a streamlined version was raced at the non-championship Avusrennen in Berlin. The main difference to the Grand Prix race car, which had to adhere to the 750 kg (1,653 lb) limit, was the engine. While the GP car had the 8-cylinder inline M125, which was rather tall, the record car was fitted with a V12 engine that was lower, which reduced drag. It remained the fastest ever officially timed speed on a public road until broken on 5 November 2017 by Koenigsegg in an Agera RS driven by Niklas Lilja, achieving 445.6 km/h (276.9 mph) on a closed highway in Nevada.
- 28 January 1896 – Walter Arnold of East Peckham, Kent, becomes the first person to be convicted of speeding. He was fined oneshilling, plus costs, for speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), thereby exceeding the contemporary speed limit of 2 mph (3.2 km/h). - https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/Walter-Arnold-Worlds-First-Speeding-Ticket/
The London Daily News detailed the four counts, also known as “informations”, on which Walter Arnold faced charges at Tunbridge Wells court. Arnold’s vehicle was described several times in the newspaper court report as a “horseless carriage”, and the case clearly raised some interesting philosophical as well as legal points for the bench. The first count, which reads oddly now, was for using a “locomotive without a horse,” the next for having fewer than three persons “in charge of the same”, indicating the enduring influence of horse-drawn and steam locomotion when it came to legislating the new vehicles. Next came the actual speeding charge, for driving at more than two miles per hour, and finally, a charge for not having his name and address on the vehicle. The case may have had an influence on the changes to legislation shortly afterwards. The fearsome machines no longer needed a minimum of three people to control them.
Intro
Artist – Goblins from Mars
Song Title – Super Mario - Overworld Theme (GFM Trap Remix)
Song Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-GNMe6kF0j0&index=4&list=PLHmTsVREU3Ar1AJWkimkl6Pux3R5PB-QJ
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