A couple of weeks ago, I dropped the ball and entered the world of DSLR photography. My weapon of choice, the Nikon D40, a reasonably priced professional grade camera. I did not want to post a review right when I got it, so I opted to use the crap out of it for a few weeks then review it. Below is my unboxing video which I posted to my YouTube account, but never posted on the site:

I have had the camera for 13 days and I have taken over 1200 pictures. Let me first offer this disclaimer, I am a BEGINNER when it comes to photography. I am not offering photography advice just yet. This is a review of the camera!

I shopped around pretty good looking at Nikon and Canon models. I choose the Nikon D40 for 2 main reasons:

1. I could not find a bad review about this product. I read probably close to 100 reviews and all of them were positive. Professionals and amateurs all said it is an amazing camera.
2. The second reason was price! This camera was about $100 to $200 cheaper then any other DSLR camera on the market.

Would you be willing to pay a one time charge of $99.99 to view over 10,000 movies and TV Shows at anytime instantly? Well thanks to a partnership between Roku and Netflix, the entire Netflix “instant view” collection is now available to stream directly to your TV.

The Roku box is just a little bigger than 5 cd cases staked on top of each other. While netflix only offers stereo audio and SD support, the box is equipped with HDMI, Optical Audio, and component video. Netflix has confirmed that it will upgrade the unit via a software upgrade in the near future to support HD and multi channel surround audio. They have not specified the exact specs of the upgrade, but they confirmed it is on the way, and current units will be fully upgradable!

I am sure everyone who is reading this has heard about the soon to come 3G upgrade to the very popular Apple iPhone. Many are expecting it to premier with the full 2.0 software and the ability to use 3rd party apps with out the need to hack the phone. Currently if you look at Apple.com you will see that the iPhone is unavailable for purchase:

Many are speculating that this is just the result of Apple being sold out of the branded AT&T versions. While this could be, you will also find that the U.K. Apple store is also out of stock. When iPhone’s leave the factory they are carrier specific. What are the chances that Apple would run out of 4 different carrier specific models at the same time?

In the most recent “The Dark Knight” trailer released you see a red liquid get spilled on the ground and then later the above image flashes up for a few seconds. After this was discovered hidden in the trailer many believe that Two Face will make an appearance in the second installment of Chris Nolans Batman films. Later in teh film you see the below image where you can see a light burn line on the edge of his face.

Below is a image that I am not post a thumbnail to. It is rumored to be the concept are for the Two Face makeup. Be warned, this image is getting removed from site left and right by request of Warner Brothers, which makes it seem like it is infact the true concept art of Two Face in the up coming “Dark Knight” film.

LINK TO IMAGE (**SPOILER ALERT**)

What are ya’lls thoughts on this image? Real or Not? Do you like it? It personally scares the crap out of me.

UPDATE: Well, Warner Brothers got to me, and requested I take it down. I hope you all got to see it while it was still up. I guess it is safe to say that Warner has confirmed this is the image of Two Face. Below I have attached the email that they sent me:

VIA ELECTRONIC MAIL

RE: Unauthorized Use of Warner Bros.’ Property

Dear Chris,

Tobeageek.com is offering 1 image from THE DARK KNIGHT, consisting of the Two Face character. I have a good faith belief that such content is not authorized by Warner Bros., its agent, or the law and therefore infringes Warner Bros.’ rights. I have attached a photo of the infringing image.

Image to be removed is located at:

http://www.tobeageek.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/dentburn.jpg

I swear, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that I am the copyright owner or am authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Please confirm that you have taken the appropriate action at your earliest convenience. Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter and please advise should you have any questions or require any additional information.

Thank you,

/mb

(name removed)

Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc.

4000 Warner Boulevard

Bridge Building 156 South, #5109

Burbank, California 91522

Phone: (removed)

Fax: (removed)

(email removed)

There once was a time when you had to wait a good 20 minutes to watch a good video on the net. Well times have changed and online viral videos have become huge! I have been collecting great viral videos from all over the net for a few weeks now. Here are some of my favorites. I know some of these are trying to be real but they are actually fake, please don’t whine about it in the comments section.

Some of these videos are for mature audiences. While they are all clean visually, some of them are based on sexual explicit topics and use foul language. I have identified which ones are mature with the letters NSFW (Not Suitable For Work)

The Babysitter: (NSFW)

Flagpole Sitta Lip Sink:

Facebook Reality:

There are more after the jump. I hope you are enjoying them so far!

Adobe® AIR™ is slowly becoming the next big thing for developers. It is a platform that uses already developed web techniques like Ajax, Flex, and Flash to create desktop applications that work across all operating systems. Many sites like AOL, Finetune, eBay, Nasdaq, Pownce, and Nickelodeon have already taken advantage of this new technology.

I am currently using the Pownce application which allows you to share content and see what others have shared with you without the use of a browser. On top of it being covenant, Adobe® AIR™ allows you to design outside the standard Windows window design. As you can see in my screenshot of the Pownce program to the left.

There are a ton of programs that are being developed for the Adobe® AIR™ platform. Check out the application showcase to see if there are any programs that might interested you. Some popular websites like Twitter, Digg, Google, and Flickr have some great third party designed applications. The main applications I use currently are Pownce, Twitter, and Digg.

I am currently looking for someone to help me develop a ToBeAGeek.com RSS reader. If you have experience working with Adobe® AIR™ and are interested please contact me.

Related Links

-Get the free AIR SDK
-Download Adobe AIR now
-Get Adobe AIR applications

Many are calling 2008 the year of the PS3. Well, they are not doing this just because they can, they are saying this because PS3, PSN, and the Blu-Ray camp all have a lot coming their way this year. Sales on Sony’s PS3 is already up over 114% for 2008 (1). Most people accredit this increase to the HD-DVD & Blu-Ray war coming to an end with Blu-Ray coming out on top. While I think this is a huge factor in the sales growth, I also think it has to do with some of the big name exclusive PS3 titles that are coming out for the PS3 the first half of 2008. Below I am going to give a review of the PS3 as both a game system and a Blu-Ray player.

I will first start off by saying that I was a early adopter of Blu-Ray. I purchased my first BR player back in November. It was a standalone Sony BDP. I traded in my Sony BDP for a PS3 in January. My main reason for switching was the soon-to-be released GTA: IV. While waiting for GTA: IV, I also purchased Uncharted: Drake’s Fortune and Burnout: Paridise.

In the age of live broadcasting, websites hoping to attract new “streamers” are emerging at an alarming rate. Lifecasters wanting to find the best site to publish their daily activities look for a few main components: accessibility to viewers, an easy-to-use interface, and design capabilities. Once you filter through these options, three main websites prove to set the example.

Some prefer Justin.tv (aka JTV), founded in late 2006 and includes such features as automatic archiving of all your shows, an optional standalone broadcast agent for Macs, and a convenient bandwidth check so that you’re able to stream at the best quality possible.

Another choice is Ustream.tv that came out in early 2007. With Ustream you have features like Cohost, that allow you to do PIP with another live streamer so others can see you two (or three!) communicate, “create a poll” and also, if you decided to record a show, you have the ability to save it to your computer as a flv, wmv, mp4, or mov file.

The last popular website is called Stickam, which was created in 2004. A favorite tool of those on Stickam is the multiple video chat option that allows you to see and hear up to 6 other users in the chat. Another nice feature is the Audio and Video Mixer that allows you to broadcast any uploaded media while you’re streaming without having to download any other software (such as CamTwist or WebcamMax)

Each of these platforms have their positive and negative aspects, yet all of them include such options as manual recording of shows and sending notifications out to friends through other programs such as Twitter, AIM, and Myspace. Although Stickam remains popular in the broadcasting community, Justin and Ustream remain the most comparable. While Justin is said to have more of the look and feel of a community, it is also known to be quite “laggy”. Then again you have Ustream that has much less lag, yet supposedly uses more CPU when viewing streams.

Possibilities are endless if you choose to use all three sites, though many broadcasters like to incorporate their shows with one main page. When deciding upon your final choice, it all comes down to what kind of audience you are hoping to reach, what the topic of your shows are, and are you planning on displaying yourself as a professional… or are you just somebody wanting to make new friends? Your best bet is to try each of these sites out and make the decision for yourself

Hey everyone, as you might have noticed, I have finally launched the new design to the site. This is a 100% custom design created by myself. There are still some bugs in the design of the site. If you find one, please comments about it or use the contact form to email me.

I have added To Be A Geek to Twitter, so if you have an account, please follow ToBeAGeek and I will update on new blog post, and news about the site.

We are still being hosted at the wonderful Media Temple (mt). We are currently working a partnership deal with them. If you have a website, be sure to check out Media Temple (mt) hosting, they are great, and reasonably priced!

We have also continued tracking our traffic statistics with the great Mint program. The Mint program cost only $30 for a lifetime single license membership. Check them out at: http://www.haveamint.com.

Please use the comments section to leave your remarks on the new design. Good, Bad, Ugly, its doesn’t matter. Any feedback is positive feedback!

So what is naked vlogging? We it is exactly what you think it is. It is a group of people who make YouTube videos of themselves naked. But the crazy thing is that it is totally clean and done in a tasteful way.

Naked vlogging was started by Chris3ff. You can see his original naked vlog here.This trend has now grown to over 150 YouTube users that post video diaries naked. These naked people tend to discuss how their day was, what they did over the weekend, or discuss news topics and give their 2 cents. These naked vloggers keep things completely clean (no nudity) and only discuss tasteful topics.

Here is a video of one mans comedic take on this current trend:

[youtube:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OyUB7ed-5wM]

Here is a list of people that you can find vlogging naked:

• K80Blog - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3SGIyOLOMg - my favorite
• speedyconkiwi - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6PSNKb6g1U
• Dinzla - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc230e4lCXU
• ldsqtbea - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R2nn8HtxrU0
• jasonmit - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sACw4UNeEdg

Those are just a few all videos are on YouTube and contain NO NUDITY. Submit links to your naked vlog (keep it clean) in our comments section. I will be moderating all submissions.