Holiday Time

The holiday season of 2012 is nigh. The year is almost over. The Mayans are very close to being wrong. Best of all, GeekNights is in full swing. A lot of exciting things are coming your way. Holidays and cold may hinder our schedule, but we have been in this situation before. I do not lie when I say we spent an entire day podcasting and videoing, and we now have a backlog of unreleased content for your entertainment. If hoidays or snow storms keep you trapped, and you really can't find anything better to do, make us the second to last place you look for geeky things to fill your eye and ear holes.

Counter-Strike:GO Server

Last month we talked about Natural Selection 2. It is still the hotness, and it should not be ignored. However, we have just wiped up some of our shit talk. There is now a GeekNights/Front Row Crew Counter-Strike: Global Offensive server. All the info is posted in the linked forum thread. It seems like we are actually getting some regular players usually in the evening EST. If you want to play CS:GO with people who listen to the same podcast that you listen to, then this is for you. If you don't want to play games with us, then GTFO.

Ask Rym and/or Scott

Listener Juan sends in this beautifully simple question.

Hi guys,

You mentioned a few months ago that you used a specific VPN
service to anonymize your traffic, and that this VPN service was
very fast. Now I was wondering which one was this. I can't seem
to find the episode.

Juan. The VPN service that I was speaking of is IPredator. It's run by the same people who run the Pirate Bay. Yar! For 15 Euros, you get 3 months of service. You can use it with all of your devices, including your smartphone, but only one device at a time. It uses software that is already built into your OS, so you don't have to worry about installing any shady apps. When enabled, it creates an encrypted connection between your computer and some computers in Sweden. All of your Internet traffice goes over this connection. Then from the endpoint in Sweden, the packets go where they need to go, and the results come back to your computer through the same tunnel.

Since so many people are using it, it is nearly impossible for anyone, except the people running it, to know which packets belong to which people. Your ISP will also not be able to spy on what you are doing. They will only know that you are sending and receiving some amount of encrypted data.

Even if you do not plan to use this for concealing your piracy activities, I still recommend everyone get it, or a competing service. When you connect your phone to some shady public wifi in a coffee shop or hotel, you can turn this on to keep yourself safe from any nearby nerds that might be using firesheep. It turns any untrusted Internet connection into a safe one. That alone is worth well more than the small price they are charging.

If you have a question for the newsletter send it to geeknights@frontrowcrew.com.

Book Club

The last book club selection was The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. The new selection is The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. Rym is excited for the new movie coming out, so he wants to get educated before then. I don't mind, since I want to read all the classics. If you haven't read it, you should get right on that to become a smart person.

New Podcasts

Internet Relay Chat

In honor of our new IRC channel on irc.foonetic.net/#geeknights we recorded an episode all about IRC. For you veterans of the chat, we reminisce about the old days. For you nubs, we can help you get started.

Burning Con 2012

Right before the hurricane hit, a bunch of nerds were gaming it up for two full days in downtown Manhattan. It was Burning Con 2012. We each ran a session, and played in the rest. If you were somehow unable to make it, or you just wonder what it's like to play tabletop RPGs for two days, give it a listen.

Area 88: The Blue Skies of Betrayal

It was a Wednesday night. We needed to record a show. There were no anime or comics that we had both read. We looked on the DVD shelf, and what did we see? A discount disc from CPM that we picked up at a con many years ago. Did you know that UN Squadron for the Super Nintendo was based on this anime? It's a pretty good game. But we don't talk about that during this episode, We just talk about the first episode of the OAV.

The Name of the Wind

Well, if we changed book club selections, that can only mean we recorded and released a book club episode for you to listen to. If you read it already, or if you don't care about being spoiled, check it out.

New Videos

Forum Weather Report

It is a calm and happy time in the forum. The presidential election is over. The hurricane is over. Now is the time of nerdery. As we approach the holiday season the joy of geekery is all around. New video game systems are released. The Hobbit will soon be in theaters. People get all sorts of awesome holiday gifts. Everyone come to the forum to get all warm and cozy. How about some threads muiscally celebrating legalization of the green plants or the release of the Wii-U?

Thing of the Newsletter

Angry Video Game Nerd: The Movie - Official Trailer

Fan Art

Oh shit, someone made a fan art. Thank you to our listener Jasque for this pic. You misheard womAn as womEn, but you are awesome anyway.

Remember, your fan art doesn't have to be graphic art. It can be audio, video, game, sculpture, or any other artistic or crafting medium.

Closing

For the closing of this newsletter I am giving a special secret sneak peek to you who are so dedicated that you subscribe to and read the entire newsletter all the way to the bottom. We have recorded two pretty good podcasts that will be released very soon. One of them may even come out today. One is a Monday show where we interview a freelance astrophysicist about the nature of the universe and, of course, geekery. We also recorded a profile in geek episode with listener favorite friend Conrad. We have also already recorded the first episode of our 39+ part complete Utena video series. Look forward to them all coming soon.