Wouldn’t you know it, season two of The Tester  is almost here.  Round Two ends in a couple of days and I’m preparing for the greatest televised “car-accident-dog-and-pony–human-hamster-balls-in-a-football-field-show” on the planet.

And so, the world goes on without me while I smile, laugh, cringe, even feel mildly guilty…  but only a little bit, just before I press “Replay”.

This week on The Most Popular Girls On The Internet:

• Cassandra gives news on the UGN website development.
• I confess on how many people I’ve shagged in Fable 2.
• Dougy serenades us with his latest nerdcore song.
• Our main topic:  The realities of software testing.

Wait, before we get to all of that serious stuff, let’s have a glass of Port and watch someone slip on their own nuts.

• Big Red Potion
• The Digital Cowboys
• Epic Fail
• Frugal Gaming
• The Gamer Scene
• GamerDork
• Ninja Fat Pigeons

The podcasting gods were not with us, though. We lost two takes of the podcast when Audacity crashed on us – then a giant storm came through and the power went out!

Of course, by the time we got to the third take, we were so inebriated on delicious Scotch whiskey that we abandoned all semblance of a format and just talked about whatever came up – drinking, gaming, fuck it in the bin, the UGN, etc. etc.

I hope you enjoy listening to Neil’s beautiful voice (oh, and Tara and me, too!)

Make sure to listen through to the end where I sing a sultry happy birthday song for Neil.

Enjoy!

It arrives in the Twin Cities but once a year, and for the fans like us, it is a much anticipated event. We count down the days, flock to parties and panels. By the end of the last day, we are already thinking about what we are going to plan for next year.

As the last drunkards were singing in the Cow Asylum, cleaning people scattered about the poolside, bending over to pick up discarded party flyers, glowsticks and articles of clothing. There, in the dawn’s morning light, my sleep-deprived, bloodshot eyeballs twitched within their sockets. I realized that this year, along with the twitchy eyeballs and a weird tickle in the back of my throat, I would be leaving CONvergence with some great new friends and some knowledge on podcasting and Indie game development.

I can’t wait for next year.

It arrives in the Twin Cities but once a year, and for the fans like us, it is a much anticipated event.  We count down the days, flock to parties and panels. By the end of the last day, we are already thinking about what we are going to plan for next year.

As the last drunkards were singing in the Cow Asylum, cleaning people  scattered about the poolside, bending over to pick up discarded party flyers, glowsticks and articles of clothing.  There, in the dawn’s morning light, my sleep-deprived, bloodshot eyeballs twitched within their sockets. I realized that this year, along with the twitchy eyeballs and a weird tickle in the back of my throat, I would be leaving CONvergence with some great new friends and some knowledge on podcasting and Indie game development.

I can’t wait for next year.

Think Geek is ordered to cease and desist selling Unicorn Meat

The British have created the world’s first Bionic Cat. They had the technology!

If you’re a judge, it’s probably not a good idea to become gaming buddies with a defendant.

Some say it was Nintendo although currently, I have Cassandra almost convinced that it’s actually Naughty Bear!

Actually it was neither.    It was in fact, The Entertainment Software Association who won E3.

We gamers forget that E3 is a tradeshow that is put on by the ESA; the real winners of the war (real or imaginary) are decided later on by sales figures.  Those are tallied after stuff is, like, you know… actually released into stores.

This week’s featured Nerd Rock was a creation by Bryan Simon!  Check out his YouTube page here!

Thank you to Dina, Dave, Jeremy, Miranda, Ned, and Kevin for your great questions!

Also, the song is Gamer Funk by Rob Balder. Man, I can’t wait for Con!

While Microsoft unveiled it’s new sleeker, quieter, thinner, younger, and blonder version of the XBOX 360, all of us were still trying to get Skittles  out of our brains. 

Maybe one day, we will.

In the meantime, click play to hear TMPGOTI’s version of Kinectimals.

We are honored to have Kevin Stallard with us this week.  When he’s not leading Felicia Day around to panels and getting trapped in elevators with George Takei, Kevin directs the MMORPG Fan Track at Dragon*Con.  This wonderful gem of a convention takes place each Labor Day weekend in Atlanta, Georgia.

We discuss it all – setting up the panels, the events, the celebrities, the nerd stench, the parties, and how I completely ruined the end of Red Dead Redemption for Cassandra!

At Dragon*Con, you never know who'll show up in your room.

For more information on Dragon*Con be sure to check out…

http://www.dragoncon.org

http://www.dc-mmo.org/

This week’s nerd break is brought to you by DaveAndDaves from their album, ‘I Heard These Songs on the Internet.’

Pokémon Gangsta Rap

Coming up next week, we’ll be featuring listener questions.  They’re already rolling in!  Send yours to tmpgoti@gmail.com for our next recording on Friday June 11th, if you’d like to hear it read aloud through your magical internet device*.

Until next time… my last words are:

Derek Smart!

*computer

This week we’re joined by two guests: Jeff (Sassy’s husband) and Monkeyboy (long time friend), both of whom have watched all of Lost with Sassy. Every Lost night, we’d get together, have some drinks, and enjoy being confused by Lost.

Before we get into Lost, we talk about Red Dead Redemption (of course), a very boring game about prohibition, and then somehow degrade into a discussion of porn and what should go in a drink called a Hairy Nipple.

I yelled at the television, “I love this game!”

I was the only person in the room, but I just knew that I couldn’t be the only person on earth who was experiencing this nerd bliss.  I guess I was so carried away, I wasn’t paying attention to the important things, like being on a cliff.  Unike the hawks circling overhead, my horse does not fly.  The fall didn’t kill me.

The peaceful waters did.

This week, it’s Red Dead Redemption.  Cassandra tries her first crack at online multiplayer in a shooter.  Meanwhile, back at the ranch, I round up a posse to kill “CHARLEZ INGALLZ”.

A surprise guest appearance from across the pond, at the end of the podcast.

This week we are joined by Casey, a real live LARPer who answers all or questions about LARP (at least the NERO kind of LARP).

Important things we learned:*

• You can’t just run around yelling “Lightning bolt! Lightning bolt!”
• If you want to get someone’s clothes off you can just say “I am skinning you – one. I am skinning you – two…”
• Beds can come alive
• It’s not okay to go to Denny’s in your costume, but it’s perfectly okay to go to Walmart wearing elf ears

* May not actually represent exactly what Casey said, but I’m pretty sure it’s what I heard.

Before we get into that, though. We discuss our week. Actually, it’s been two weeks since the last ‘cast, so we had a lot of catching up to do!

In between, there’s some nerdcore hip hop from MC Frontalot.

If you’re looking for another podcast to enjoy, why not try GamerDork?

Gee, all I said was good morning.  Hey wait a minute- who was he calling little kid?  I’m an adult.  I pay taxes for fudge sake!  As I sat on my beanbag in my Snoopy pajamas, I pondered whether to stay, or leave, or if I did stay, what sort of retort should I give. So many online games now contain programmed matchmaking to take away this type of experience. There is no need for players to decide which match they will join, it is decided for them. No need to decide who gets to play or stay in the match. It’s decided by a server. It is all very orderly. That is, except for Rainbow Six Vegas 2. Here, you’re on your own. It’s lobby roulette.

I just landed on red number 7.

So, in my sweetest “little kid” voice I replied, “Meet me in the middle of the map, and I’ll show you.”

Laughter and hooting erupted over on the host’s team. “Hahaha! Lets kill this little shit, this is going to be a massacre! Hope you like getting TEA-BAGGED HAHAHA!” – their laughter was cut off with the launch of the game.

As things progressed, it appeared that I was doing well in this match.  Quite well, in fact.  There was a twist of a crooked grin tugging at the corner of my mouth.  Lutheran Sunday School guilt began to set in (Oh, I’m a bad, bad person… shame, shame on me.) but it was gone as soon as the joy of rag-doll physics demonstrated from the aftermath of a frag grenade launched me into a twisted euphoric glee. “Vinny Jones” was sparring in the schoolyard again.

After each kill, I depressed my thumb down on the right stick of my XBOX controller, crouching over my kill to the count of three. It was a dirty thing, but I had already rationalized that I’m not tea-bagging – that would be unladylike (one-two-three) I’m curtsying… so it’s OK. Forget Vinney Jones. I’m just an asshole like the rest of these guys. (one-two-three)) An unabashed four-year-old child with shiny shoes, stomping on ant hills on a cracked sidewalk. (one-two-three) I am Walter Kovaks / Rorschach in the prison lunch line – “I’m not locked in here with you, YOU’RE locked in here with ME!”

My thumb was getting tired, but I decided that the adrenaline high was better than slamming a Red Bull while getting a lap-dance from Scarlet Johanssen and Ashton Kutcher – at the same time.

At the end of the match, we returned to the lobby.  I thought everyone would be clamoring to get the first word in just like they had before we’d started our game.  But it was eerily quiet.

“Hey guys, great game… fancy another?”

Still not a sound, aside from some kid who stuffed his microphone too close to his face responded – with his breathing which will likely land him the next Darth Vader part in a Lucas Arts film.

“Guys?”

Then, the heavy breathing stopped.

“Hey gu–”

This week, it’s my favorite topic. “Nerd rage” – in its various forms can be  found on message forums, social networking sites, online games, and long lines when one goes to  see The Empire Strikes Back.  What causes nerd rage, and what is the reward for instigating it?

Cassandra and I  discuss this and more, in the show.

So get ready.

Angry Gamer NERD RAAAAGE!!

Emo Gamer (sniffle) … nerd rage.  (cut-cut-cut)

Don’t forget to send your rage in to tmpgoti@gmail.com

Before we get into the preview, though, I talk about how much I love the new Doctor Who (Matt Smith) and how much the movie Kick Ass kicked ass.
Tara reports the sad news of a red ring on her xBox (again!). This leads us on a rambling conversation about MMOs. (We’re coming back to WoW, people!)

Then we preview the movies:

5/7 Iron Man 2
http://mashable.com/2010/04/23/iron-man-2-augmented-reality/

Taking a picture of Tara taking a picture of our soundboard

After a very frustrating time getting our soundboard working, we got down to business! Tara talks about why she loves QA testing and gearing up for the summer Game Battles season.

I am disappointed in the ending of Torchwood: Children of Earth and am enjoying Mass Effect 2 (but why do games have to be so samey-samey?!). Then, I gush about my new-found internet crush Patrick Beja.

Our break features an awesome 8-bit version of Pink Floyd.

After the break, we tackle the topic of Downloadable Content.
Why is there such a thing? When does it create unfair advantages? What happens in the development cycle that contributes to parts of games being dlc?

Here’s a link to the article I reference:
Going Gold: To Your Heart’s (Downloadable) Content

I guess I wouldn’t make a very good Game Crush “playdate” but that’s all right. It certainly has made for some good debate on this show. Game Crush is a new adult social networking site where people can sign up to be “Players” or “Playdates”. The Players can purchase points to play with Playdates. Playdates can have their own profiles to post angled and photo-shopped bathroom mirror pictures, set their profiles to “Flirty” or “Dirty” and be rated by Players for their hotness. According to their site, which is still down, GameCrush PlayDates start at $6.60 USD for ten minutes.

Really?

I could post about how this is slavery to women, or whatever… but the important question here is: What else can I get for $6.50? A pack of smokes. A cheap bottle of wine.

…

Six cheap-ass Indie games on XBOX Live.

After you have a listen to the show, we’d like to know your thoughts. You can share those thoughts by either posting a response on our facebook page, email at tmpgoti@gmail.com or feel welcome to respond here.

“…. after I slip into that skin tight balaclava and some Anaconda armor”.

We’re joined by our friend and fellow geek, Michele

Tara plays an April Fool’s prank on Jim, while they both anxiously await the arrival of their new iPad. Also, she loves her new job!

Michele experiences the horror of Nerd Stench at a game store and then explains train games to us. She’s also been designated as the sci-fi/fantasy geek at work and is putting together a presentation to train librarians on sci-fi and fantasy genres (robot on cover? sci-fi! Tree on cover? Fantasy!)

Sassy received the  pattern for her steampunk skirt and also bought the fabric  to sew it. Next costume piece? Bloomers! She also downloaded xBox Game Room and has been reveling in playing Centipede.

We end the show with a special rendition of My Favorite Things followed by an awesome version by the band Pomplamoose.

Cassandra indulges in 70s Dracula, and post-apocalyptic movies.

I’m going to get you all caught up on the Indie Games I’ve been playing. One of which is Anger Management. I’m all better now after therapy. Also, Shoot 1up (Thank you Insaniac!) this game is truly one of a kind. One particular ‘Boss’ in the final levels of the game reminds me of this really cool lady that I met last year at CON-Vergence.

Also, a shout our friends Jim and Rebecca for letting us tour their studio last week!

In this SPECIAL episode, we shall introduce our listeners to a never to be repeated, ‘Bubie Segment’.

In the news, (chicka-chicka-chicka) we agree that ‘Stupidity = Profit!’

The UK proposes a home page for every citizen. For those less fortunate, it could be a new way to apply for your benefits after you lose your employment unless of course, they have shut your internet off because you haven’t payed the invoice, due to being unemployed how awesome!

Discuss and agree, disagree, or agree to disagree with us as to whether the internet opens us up to more debate and discussion, or whether or not we tailor our forum and social networking to those who simply agree with us, making sure we’re right, lest we ‘defriend’ those who disagree. ‘Help, Help, I’m being insulated from being insulted!’

With love,

Miss Kettle and Miss Pot.

Heavy Rain, Forza 3, Final Fantasy XIII,  and DDR

Starting the Geek to 5k

Podcast discoveries:

• Fanboys Lunchcast
• Ladies of Leet
• The Geekshow

In the neeeews:

Jobcentre ejects Jedi Knight

Hobbit to Start Filming in July

Are you Addicted?
http://arstechnica.com/gadgets/news/2010/03/net-addiction-to-a-new-level-users-update-from-bed-dinner.ars
http://www.livescience.com/technology/apple-iphone-addiction-100308.html

Cassandra checks out Hellbound with Chuck Norris.

Meanwhile, I’ve been perusing indie games on XBOX Live.

Cocktails: Shake It Up – Not a game, but a drink recipe database. The trial version is free!
Magical Cube- If you’re into Amime characters with abnormally huge staring eyes that stare at you with vacant expressions, it may be magical for you!

We have a special guest on this week’s show! Laurie Richardson of Geek to 5K Fame joins us via Skype – This ever-inspiring lady is convincing Cassandra to run in the Heartbeeat 5000, and she tells us why laziness is her dump stat. Check it out!

In other news, Myspace is selling your Raw Data for as low as $10. Holy crap, you could buy someone’s mood statuses and crappy bulletins, or you could buy about 10 Indie games on XBOX Live. Decisions, decisions!

Gabe Newell of Valve took the Pioneer Award at this year’s GDC, and made cutsie with their latest viral marketing campaign.

Speaking of Viral, Cool Band OK Go has their new video out under their own label. “This too Shall Pass” is from their new album “Of the Blue Colour of the Sky”. It’s directed by James Frost, OK Go and Syyn Labs. The group has split from EMI and has created their own label. With EMI out of the picture, can we embed your video, guys? D’ya’ think? Can we? Huh? Huh?

OK Go – This Too Shall Pass

Tara is ramping up for her new position at work, but what she’s really dreaming about is wandering around London with a 3G device that can point her in the direction of the nearest pub. She’s also dreaming of a 3G ipad, but we don’t know how to get any devices working in England.

Then we digress into a discussion of a Benny Hill or Monty Python marathons to get us in the mood for our trip.

Sassy has started Mass Effect 2 and is loving it – even the planet scanning!

She also joined a community on LiveJournal called steamfashion, whose members helped her find a pattern for a skirt for her steam punk outfit.

And both have checked out the movie Year One.

In the news….

• PSN goes Y2K on our asses
• Tara gives us the cave woman version of an Activision, Infinity Ward argument over Modern Warefare 2
• We have some competition from a woman who Conan O’Brian made very popular on Twitter
• HBO has officially picked up A Game of Thrones! Peter Dinklage!

Are you authentic in representing yourself online?

As CONVergence 2010 approaches, Cassandra unveils the Discreet Companion Ladies Raygun , a cool project brought to us by Make Magazine, thanks to Miranda for the link and information!

Thanks to Kevin for the Nerd Rage this week:

nERD rAGE!!!11ONEONEeleven

True to librarian style, Michele’s exploration of an online dating site turns us down a strange path, into a discussion about grammar.

Lets eat, grandpa!
Lets eat grandpa!

Music Segment
Those Minerals (Mass Effect 2 rap)

Google Buzz
http://www.pcworld.com/article/189249-2how_to_use_google_buzz.html
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/introducing-google-buzz.html
Chip Chick’s Gadgets for kids

Happy Birthday, Darwin!
http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2010-04.html
http://darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin2010-03.html

Discussion: Even the best games have those side quests that make you want to gouge your eyes out, but are you missing out by not doing them?

Nerd Rage Alert – there are assholes in your Ventrilo (oh yes, there are!) and they want you to fail your Romance Quest in Jade Dynasty.

Facebook Alert! Facebook released their new user interface to 80 million users. People are angry, and reaching for their Prozac as they demand better free service. (insert sarc-mark here)

Gizmodo asks,Are you addicted to technology? I run Cassandra through a few of these questions.

Tara’s  been playing Mass Effect2  and her clan has another win in Game Battles

Cassandra geeks out at the annual Lord of the Rings marathon, wonders what’s up with all the dominating women in Legend of the Seeker, and checks out Caprica

Cassandra provides a music segment in which she shares songs that are good to listen to when you’re frustrated about work.

In the news….

The MAXiPad

http://www.engadget.com/2010/01/27/editorial-engadget-on-the-ipad/

eHarmony Settles Lawsuit, Will Merge Gay and Straight Dating Sites

http://mashable.com/2010/01/28/eharmony-lawsuit/

Don’t Drink, Drive, Kill someone, Drink, and post to the photos facebook.

http://arstechnica.com/web/news/2010/01/dont-drink-drive-kill-someone-drink-post-on-facebook.ars

This week in the news… (ticker-ticker-ticker)

Hillary calls China out on it’s espionage and censorship.  This comes in the wake of recent hack-attacks on Google.

Spying and censoring is okay…. unless you decide to hack your spy. Has anyone seen my sarc-mark laying around?

In the social networking arena, Kevin Rose, founder and CEO of Digg announced that Digg will be getting a facelift to be more in line with Facebook and Twitter.

Speaking of Facebook and Twitter, what would news look and sound like, if you only received your news from the posts of people in your social circle? Some reporters in Europe are about to find out.

And lastly, Cassandra and I gush about Neil Gaiman and the American Gods Festival that is being planned. The Venue: House on the Rock.

Lego Universe MMO
http://universe.lego.com/en-us/Splash/Default.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fen-us%2fDefault.aspx

Start Trek Online
http://www.startrekonline.com/

List of Pre-order items for STO
http://www.rarityguide.com/forums/star-trek-online-sto/15133-cryptic-published-star-trek-online-pre-order-retailers-page-full-list-preorder-bonuses-inside.html

Mass Effect 2:
http://masseffect.bioware.com/

SarcMark
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6995354/Sarcasm-punctuation-mark-aims-to-put-an-end-to-email-confusion.html

FCC Dude gets banned from Facebook

Sepukoo follow up story

Born of Hope

While Sassy was out fighting crime with a bucket in one hand and a sword in the other, I kept myself entertained by counting flowers on the wall, answering market research telephone interviews, and pondering the great mysteries of life, such as… what happened to my first MMORPG love – EverQuest?

Nicole, a/k/a Vapour of the Maelin Star Pyre server stopped in to TMPGOTI studios.  This level 85 magician and level 1 pod-caster patiently educated me, while giving the dish on what it’s like to be in a super-duper über guild .

Although this not a very lengthy episode, we still had enough time to make one of my lifelong dreams come true.  No, not the dream about sitting in a hot tub between John Travolta and Gil Gerard.  I mean the other one where Nicole gives a dramatic reading of a genuine, “Boo-hoo, I’m leaving the guild” post.

I have no apologies for my behavior in this episode Sorry!

Don’t forget to send your comments to tmpgoti@gmail.com

The holidays are creeping upon us like a warm, fuzzy spider – one that creeps on things.  This week, Tara the Scrooge grumbles about her crashed computer which contains the ghosts of TMPGOTI past.  No worries, when you’re thrifty, you don’t need a new computer when there are so many parts from other dead computers within arm’s reach.  Go, Frankencomputer, go!

Admittedly, the “Interesting, Like, Yanno’, I dunno’” count goes up slightly through the roof, but we make up for it with tips on how to tell if your new workplace is either a good fit, or a trap door into the salt mines.  We revisit major ISPs accusations of bandwidth hogs are eating all of the goodies, and the question of – what is a bandwith hog?

Also, a lo0k at the new privacy settings on facebook, and how to commit facebook suicide.

Also, Internet Bandwidth Hogs – fact, or fiberfiction?

This week’s featured Nerd Rage is a shining example of kindness of humanity via Ventrilo; one man’s professed love for the game we know as,  World of Warcraft.  I just lied to you in that last sentence.  Beware: Nerd Rage is generally not safe for work, small children, your mom… or nuns.

News

• Google Publishes Google Wave Feedback
• Sex in Video Games
• The Cloud  in London 2012

Listener Contributions

• Dispair, Inc Calendar 2010

We are so thankful for all our listeners! We hope you have lots to be thankful for in your lives.

Golly gosh, I’m tickled as pink as a drunk uncle’s nose that you have surfed over to our obscure corner of the internet.  Perhaps you arrived here with the purpose of  gaining a deeper understanding of the world wide web, or maybe it’s because you were looking for Mango porn.  Whatever the case may be, we highly encourage you to just relax, digest a bite of  tryptophan, and strap on your headphones.  Your pleasure centers want you to listen to the smooth and sultry sounds of The Most Popular Girls on the Internet, Episode 39.

In this week’s show, we peer into the internet glory-hole of Black Friday ads.  We gape in surprise at people who gape in surprise, at an anonymous poster running amok on a newspaper blog post,  “What is the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten?”.  We placed tinfoil hats upon our heads to learn about smartphone spyware, and last but not least, we conspired about the possible benefits of brain control* in lab animals and humans – asking the important  question: Are we zombie-slaves to our brains?

Afterwords, there will be cake.

* Thanks to  TJ, for the fantastic links!

Tara catches us up on the progress of her PMS clan initiation. I bought a DS Lite for my Mumsy (don’t tell her – it’s for Christmas!). I also started reading A Feast for Crows, the latest book in George R R Martin’s Song of Ice and Fire.

Also, Tara bought me an xBox headset (which I haven’t used yet).

In the news (chicka chicka chicka)…

• Water Found on Moon, Researchers Say
• SPDY: Google wants to speed up the web by ditching http
• Aviary - free online creation tools
• Play Warhammer Online forever! For Free!

Then we end things with the Ultimate Showdown!

My Podcast Alley feed! {pca-ca80fbd18a69b52051728b1bff79d3d5}

The internet is abuzz with the release of the Android versus iDon’t. and AT&T versus Verizon – there’s a  map for that.   You know, if the Apple iPhone had a LiveJournal update, it might read something like this:

“Dear Livejournal… Verizon is out to get me.  Android didn’t respond to my quiz.  Well, I have to go now, and do a different task. – kthxbye.”

mood: smug.

And in the news: (*ticker*ticker*ticker*)

Twitter’s has a list of lists, Game of Thrones is finally done with casting and the Google dashboard wants you to know how much you are being spied on.  This week’s show includes some really good (albeit strange) discussion.  We began with waxing psychological, posing the most perplexing questions:

1. “Why does Cassandra prefer swords and axes to guns?”
2. Does my zeal for competitive First Person Shooter (FPS)  games actually mean that I wish I had a schlong, err, wait no… veined meat pipe,  uhm, love sausage – male genitals?
3. “What would you do if a giant spaceship flew over your city?”

The song during the break is from this video:

We are all connected

We talk about everything from Katamari Forever to which famous scientist we’d do it with.

Oh, and here’s the picture of the burnt wiener. You’ve been warned.

Of course, there’s some nerd rage thrown in there, too.
Enjoy!

I’m catching up on Lost and have learned that Katamari Forever is coming out two days before my birthday!

Tara’s “tackling” Madden and improving

Here’s the links to the odd stories we covered:
What does your UPS guy steal from you?
Trek Spring Collection Preview: First Look At Genki Star Trek Fragrances
State govs saying ‘No thanks’ to mystery laptops

Deadliest Warrior (sound)

Tech Snark is the podcast Tara co-hosted last year and it was tons of fun to reconnect with these snarky women.

We talk about what we’ve been up to and then attempt to talk about some news stories after the break, but we get distracted by zombie bars, Brett Favre, and old man butt coozies.

I didn’t edit much this week, so I hope you like the crazy, raw, and uncut feeling of this episode.

Snark Fu
Fringe Festival
Donny Dirk’s Zombie Den
Brett Favre
Carl Sagan’s Cosmos

Video in Print Ad
Star Wars Uncut

We reminisce and discuss forums we used to admin or frequent. Druzzil Ro for Tara and Fantasy Freak for me.

I give an update on my progress in Mass Effect and then we hit the news.

First we discuss a blog called Gamer’s Girl, which talks to women who date gamers and how to deal with them.

Then, it’s onto a thesis on mathematical models of zombie infestation.

After nerd rage, we revisit a couple stories from last week and share listener feedback on them.

Also, we announced at the end of the show that next week we’ll be recording with the women from TechSnark – it’s a reunion!

This week’s show has us drinking Cassandra’s new alcoholic concoction, “The TarRAWR” (recipe here) while pondering on what people really do when Twitter goes down since you can’t actually Twitter about it.

Also, we get past the brass knuckles and discuss EA’s Dante’s Inferno contest, of diabolical-public-relational-proportions.  If you wonder how we personally feel about such contests, take a listen. At one point, I ask about how the “booth babes” viewed this advertisement. While I can’t take a general consensus, here is one self-proclaimed attractive woman’s opinion given on the Ars Technica forum.

Lastly, whether or not you have the right to modify your computer  hardware after you buy it.  Is illegally modifying your XBOX  illegal? How about modding them for other people? Apparently so. Cassandra and I had a little debate going on this one, slightly obscured by the TarRAWRs that we’d consumed.

So grab a frosty beverage, because you’ll find all of this and more, in the show below!

Sorry for the lateness – life got in the way. Damn real world!

Enjoy!

We’ll be back in the studio next week, though. I can’t wait!

I hope you enjoy it. Welcome to any new listeners who found us through cvg, too. Can’t wait to see you all next year!

I’ll post later this week with pictures and videos.

Emma helps us prep for the show

This week Tara is on vacation, so Michele joins me in the studio to talk about Sims3, TruBlood, Twitter in Iran, Michael Jackson killing the internet, Geek to 5k, and look forward to CONvergence!

Touchbase

New soundboard

Samsung Instinct

Flip Cam (sound)

News

Actual Great Moments in De-Evolution

Women Gaming Clans, Booth Babes

Frag Dolls

PMS

Booth Babes video

• Microsoft’s Project Natal
• Sony announces new PS3 motion controller
• Microsoft details Games on Demand, Avatar Marketplace
• Mass Effect 2
• Beatles Rock Band

This week we touch base (poor Tara sprained her ankle and I’m reading a great book called The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss)

Then we discuss President Obama’s Cyber Security Office, a new Cyber Czar, and the Defense Dept developing offensive cyber attacks. Innnteresting (and a little sexy).

Have you ever been gaming and had that pesky call of nature pull you away from the raid? Well now there’s the WoW Pod - a real world hut that’s built to meet all your physical needs while gaming.

And we’re both excited by the announcement of the new Zune HD and possibilities of a new combined xBox and Zune marketplace.

And, of course, there’s Nerd Rage, which continues the them of cyb0r. heeheee

We had good intentions on recording another segment in the morning, but hangovers and having other fun got in the way, so Tara and I wrap things up after Michele headed home.

Hope you enjoy!

Here’s a pic of us the morning after the slumber party:

This week in our touch base  we talk about seeing Franz Ferdinad at First Ave (which was awesome!), I revisit my job hunt and my progress on the geek to 5k run (running makes me angry!), and Tara is revisiting some old games (like Oblivion).

Then we review Wolverine, which we saw right before recording. Best thing about it? Sexy boys!

Tara talks about the Wolverine video game and Assasin’s Creed 2, which is coming out soon.

After a little nerd rage exctiement:

We talk about those times when you’re with people who are even too nerdy for you (the “I don’t know this pen” situation)

And finish up with a little listener feedback.

Steampunk Segway

Best of the Twin Cities

This week we touch base and then hit a couple news items:

• Susan Boyle
• Pirate Bay trial

Before we preview some of the movies that are coming out this summer.

• Star Trek
• X-Men Origins: Wolverine
• Terminator Salvation
• Land of the Lost
• Year One

I guess I found it all very cool.

Links:

Hello Kitty AK-47

Google Mail Goggles

Obama’s Online Townhall Meeting

http://themostpopulargirlsontheinternet.com/shows/TMPGOTI_Ep9.mp3

Hi! Look at me – I’m actually adding the links to this post in a timely manner! I have to since Tara was totally awesome and got the podcast edited in record time.

This week we start out with our usual touchbase. I’ve been playing Beautiful Katamari until my eyes bled (well, maybe not that much).

Tara has had an epiphany about what improves her gaming skillz, which leads us into drinking stories and discussing living under a bridge.

As for the news, our first story is one in which we learn that EQ2 has given it’s raw data logs to researchers. These researchers are studying this data for socialogical findings. Here, I digress into my lovefest for data and databases. Yeah, I’m a freak.
Science gleans 60TB of behavior data from Everquest 2 logs

Then I go into a whole-lotta talking about Facebook. It was everywhere in the news this week! I get a whole bunch of things off my chest about the social networking phenom. I probably shouldn’t spend this much time analyzing Facebook.

Terms of service bru-ha-ha
Everyone else is on Facebook. Why aren’t you?
Why Facebook is for Old Fogies

Then we wrap up with some non-traditional nerd rage – this time with British accents!

Episode 5

I’ll update with links later!

http://themostpopulargirlsontheinternet.com/shows/TMPGOTI_Ep4.mp3

Episode 3 of The Most Popular Girls on the Internet

As usual, we start out by talking over our geek adventures from the last week.
I attended a Lord of the Rings Nerd-a-thon (watching all three extended versions back to back) and almost have to quit the podcast when Tara reveals the shocking truth about her feelings towards the movies.

Tara has been owning newbs in Rainbow Six and had some clan invites, but she isn’t sure whether the invites are because she’s a good player or because as a woman she’s being “collected” by people to make their clan cooler.

We also plan a trip to the going out of business sale at Circuir City to get a router – so I can finally get my wireless working and stop just talking about it!

Then we talk about the interesting news of the week:
KAAAAAAAHN!
We start talking about the death of Ricardo Mantalbon, but soon digress into memories of 70s pop-culture…and Tara’s crush on Mr. Roark. From there, somehow we end up talking about KISS, Winnipeg, MST3K, Second Life, and Benny Hill. Yeah, I’m scared at how our minds work, too.

Obama is dreeeeeeamy (and is having his Blackberry taken away)
We talk about the hunkiness of our 44th president as a segway into the fact that he probably will have to leave his Blackberry behind once he gets in the Oval Office.

Steve Jobs – cancer or MANopause?
We speculate on what will happen with Apple if Steve Jobs has to leave do to illness and complain about the media coverage that treats Jobs kinda crappily (at least on msn)

What World of Warcraft Did to Me
Just click on the link after you listen to the show. It’s so sad.

New gaming label legislation
We start talking about how stupid warning labels on games are and end up talking about teddy-bear f***ing. I said it before and I’ll say it again – Sometimes we are frightened by how our minds work.

We give you your weekly dose of nerd rage

And end by answering the age-old (or at least decades old) question:
My girlfriend is jealous of the time I spend gaming, what should I do?

Keep listening! Comment here or email us at tmpgoti@gmail.com

Download the show (right click, save as)

In this episode, we start by touching base on the geeky things we’ve been up to. Tara’s hand is now deformed from playing too much Xbox and I finally got to see the Daily Show and Colbert Report for the first time, as well as the X-Files movie, which is a big bummer.

Then we get into some interesting  stories of the week:
OH NOES LJ IS DYING!!!
Virtual London West End for cyber shoppers
New Actor Selected to Play Doctor Who
Sacrafice a Friend (or 10) and get a free Whopper

Links to stuff we mention:
MyShape.com
Otherland
Snowcrash

We end with some nerdrage that is both terrifying and hilarious. You should really check out the YouTube video because there are hilarious subtitles.

At this point, we should have dolled out some geek advice, but we were way too tipsy to go on and decided we’d be better off ending things

Inaaugguuurralll Episode of TMPGOTI (best if you right click and Save As)

In this episode, we talk about our backgrounds in geekery, new years resolutions, and Tara flashes me a boob (this is before I even talk about the dildo picture).

We hit some of the topics of the day including:

Micorsoft Patents a F**king Realtime Censor

Wired’s Sexiest Geeks of 2008
Twitter breaking major news stories

Then we give you your weekly dose of nerd-rage:

You don’t fucking deserve to kill Illidan!

And finish up with by answering a question for our Geek Advice Segment, in which Jim shows us his Klingon forehead ridges.

Jim's Klingon Ridges

Let us know what you think – comment here or email us at TMPGOTI@gmail.com