Weekend Reading: Marvel Comics, Combat Jacks, Rob Liefeld & Star Trek

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials, Movies, Reviews, Marvel Comics,

First off, smart thoughts on the state of various elements of the comics industry - retail, Marvel, 24 Hour Comics Day - from Tom Spurgeon at The Comics Reporter.

Bleeding Cool has the story announcing Rob Liefeld’s latest retirement from comics. And then moments later says he’s back.

Here’s a nice review of Mark McKenna’s new indy comic, Combat Jacks. “While McKenna might be known as a great inker, he is certainly a surprisingly good writer too. The story and dialogue of Combat Jacks is quite enjoyable, making me wish there were more comics like this sadly rare done-in-one sci-fi/horror story.”

Who was the mysterious Marvel Comics creator known as Kevin Banks?

Click to continue reading Weekend Reading: Marvel Comics, Combat Jacks, Rob Liefeld & Star Trek

Unboxing Live 099: Microsoft Surface tablet

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Features, Handhelds, Laptop, Microsoft, PC, Videocasts,

Microsoft's Windows 8 has arrived, and alongside it, the Microsoft Surface tablet with Windows RT has been released! Surface is Microsoft's first first-party tablet PC device that it has ever released, and we were able to get our hands on it a little early to give you a look at what you'll find in the box. While we prepare our full Surface review, check out our unboxing video above where we give you a look at the tablet, the Touch Cover, and the setup process!

Big thank you to GoToMeeting for sponsoring the show - be sure to check them out! GoToMeeting with HDFaces provides rich, super-simple collaborative virtual meetings.

Apple complies with UK judgment, acknowledges Samsung tablets not as cool as iPad

Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Apple, Corporate News, Handhelds,

Apple acknowledged today that it has been legally ordered by a UK judge to publicly state on Apple.com, or a full page ad in a UK newspaper, that Samsung tablets are "not as cool" as the iPad. The UK's case revolved around whether Samsung's tablets infringed on the iPad design and trade dress, which Apple lost. Such a verdict leads one to conclude that if Samsung's designs were, in fact, "cool," that Apple would have won the case.

Leave it up to Apple's genius to take full advantage of the situation by killing two birds with one stone. By including the judges contradictory ruling verbatim, they highlighted the unflattering statements regarding Samsung products compared to Apple's, as well Samsung's failure to make its products cool based on the perspective of "the informed users overall impression." The saving grace for Samsung is based specifically on the choice of name branding on the back of the device.

Click to continue reading Apple complies with UK judgment, acknowledges Samsung tablets not as cool as iPad

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Jailbreaking your iPad and unlocking your iPhone ruled illegal by Library of Congress

Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Apple, Smartphones, Corporate News, Software,

Somber news for the jailbreaking and unlocking community. Per rule of the Library of Congress, it will be illegal to unlock any smartphone (including iPhone) or jailbreak any tablet (including iPad) purchased after January 1, 2013. The only exception is jailbreaking or rooting a smartphone, which is covered by the DMCA for the next three years. 

B. Wireless telephone handsets – software interoperability

Computer programs that enable wireless telephone handsets to execute lawfully obtained software applications, where circumvention is accomplished for the sole purpose of enabling interoperability of such applications with computer programs on the telephone handset.

C. Wireless telephone handsets – interoperability with alternative networks
Computer programs, in the form of firmware or software, that enable a wireless telephone handset originally acquired from the operator of a wireless telecommunications network or retailer no later than ninety days after the effective date of this exemption to connect to a different wireless telecommunications network, if the operator of the wireless communications network to which the handset is locked has failed to unlock it within a reasonable period of time following a request by the owner of the wireless telephone handset, and when circumvention is initiated by the owner, an individual consumer, who is also the owner of the copy of the computer program in such wireless telephone handset, solely in order to connect to a different wireless telecommunications network, and such access to the network is authorized by the operator of the network.

This exemption is a modification of the proponents’ proposal. It permits the circumvention of computer programs on mobile phones to enable such mobile phones to connect to alternative networks (often referred to as “unlocking”), but with limited applicability. In order to align the exemption to current market realities, it applies only to mobile phones acquired prior to the effective date of the exemption or within 90 days thereafter.  - US Library of Congress. 

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iPad mini and iPad 4th generation now available for pre-order

Posted by Andru Edwards Categories: Apple, Handhelds,

Just as Apple promised at its iPad mini event, the new iPad mini is now available for pre-order, as is the 4th generation iPad. We are guessing these are going to go fairly quickly, so if you wanna get one delivered on the November 2 launch day, you'd better hurry over to Apple's online store to place your order.

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Late 2012 Mac mini scores high in benchmark testing

Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Apple, PC / Laptop,

Macminicolo gotten ahold of the newly refreshed Mac mini and has found that it scores nicely with Geekbench. Some good take aways: the Mac Mini line is now on the same level as a Mac Pro and Xserve from 2010, assuming in stock configuration. Ram is now DDR3 at 1600MHZ, has Intel's latest Ivy Bridge processors and it clearly shows in the chart. The Mac Mini server includes the Fusion drive, which should make things that much more snappy.

"We’ve now been able to benchmark the Mac minis with the great Geekbench. Keep in mind these are the standard build minis, with the stock hard drives and RAM. We’ll load some up with 16GB of RAM and SSDs to see their top performances. But for now, here are the three new minis compared to minis past."

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Comic Book Jobs: Editor @ Abrams ComicArts

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

One of the industry’s premier comics publishers is looking for an editor to come aboard.

Abrams ComicArts wants “a detail-oriented individual, with innovative product development skills in the area of comics and middle grade and young adult graphic fiction, to be responsible for editing and project managing 7 - 10 titles per season.”

As editor, you’d be acquiring titles for their ComicArts list and well as graphic novels for Amulet Books. Abrams ComicArts publishes a lot of great stuff - everything from the Diary Of A Wimpy Kid books to William Stout’s Legends Of The Blues to The Carter Family: Don’t Forget This Song by Frank M. Young and David Lasky.

Click to continue reading Comic Book Jobs: Editor @ Abrams ComicArts

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Quote Of The Day: Joe Staton

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Editorials,

“Today would be the birthday of Bob Kane, who seems to have had something to do with the creation of Batman. We have a sequence coming up in the (Dick) Tracy strip which features the henchmen Kane, Sprang and Robinson. So Happy Birthday to all involved, not forgetting Bill Finger. I based the sketch of Kane on a photo in the Jerry Robinson book... pointy little chin, bulbous eyes, long nose, weird grin with sharp teeth. I wonder, has it ever occurred to people who know about such things that the Joker was actually based on Bob Kane?”

- Joe Staton, artist on the Dick Tracy comic strip, posted on his Facebook page

Be sure to check out our other notable quotes!

[Artwork: Dick Tracy @ King Features]

The Walking Dead: Season 3 So Far!

Posted by Tom Mason Categories: Reviews, Television, Image Comics, Marvel Comics,

Of all the great horror icons - Frankenstein's monster, vampires, mummies and Black Lagoon creatures - my favorites are zombies.

I was a kid when I discovered that comics were forbidden to use the word "zombie" if they wanted the Comics Code Authority's Seal of Approval (so Marvel revived an old Robert E. Howard word "Zuvembie" as a workaround). So it should be no surprise that I’ve loved me some Walking Dead ever since the first comic appeared on the stands. I’m a sucker for horror comics and it hit me at just the right time. Also, Kirkman was telling his horrific story in a very intriguing way - bad stuff was happening, characters you liked were going to die, and it was hard to peg just where it was all going.

(Spoilers after the jump!)

Click to continue reading The Walking Dead: Season 3 So Far!

Letterpress by atebits takes the App Store by storm

Posted by Jason Diaz Categories: Games, iPad Apps, $0.99, Free Apps,

If you like games like Words with Friends and Draw Something, then you're going to get addicted to Letterpress. The game creator is none other than Atebits; the maker of the wildly successful Tweetie app, which Twitter ended up buying. The game centers around random letters displayed in grids, with the objective of making words out of letters. Sounds simple enough, however, the game becomes increasingly more complex as your opponent has the ability steal letters, thus, altering the score. The game ends when the colors on four sides becomes solid.

Letterpress is Game Center-ready and is a universal binary app, which means it works with all iOS devices natively. The best part is that the game is free to play, but for an extra 99 cents, you can add more functionality such as the ability to keep a record of words previously used, choose new color themes, and have a bunch of games going at once. We highlight recommend it.

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