The 12th Doctor Revealed!

For Whovians worldwide, today was a HUGE day for all of us.  It was announced just a few months ago that Matt Smith would not be reprising his role of the legendary Time Lord: The Doctor.  This created a sort of outrage from the fans of Doctor Who worldwide.  As Matt has garnered the adoration of Doctor Who fans new and old.  Matt Smith portrayed the 11th incarnation of the Doctor, following David Tennant's infamous role of the 10th Doctor.  I had just started watching Doctor Who just a few months before Tennant's Doctor regenerated.  The regeneration episode was one of the hardest episodes of any television show I had ever watched.  It felt as if your favorite character was in the process of dying.  And sure, I was a little unsure how Matt Smith would do as the new version of the Doctor.  But am incredibly happy to say that just mere moments into Smith's first episode named 'The Eleventh Hour', I was sold on the change.  Smith had capture the essence of all that made Tennant's Doctor fun, but also he brought a sort of wonder.  The wonder that Smith radiated through every episode gave the viewer the eye sight of a child.  Seeing things that we see everyday and making them fresh and new and alien all over again.  Seriously, who else could make Bow Ties, Tweed Jackets, Stetsons, and the Fez cool again?

Matt Smith as The 11th Doctor

But alas, it's that time again.  As we have been blessed with the stage presence of Matt Smith as our favorite time-traveling alien, it is time for a change.  For Mr. Smith, I wish you all the best sir.  Even though you were not my "first" Doctor, your Doctor will always hold a place in this Whovian's heart.  And I wish you nothing but success moving forward.  You have made a lifetime fan out of me and my wife.

Now, on the the big announcement.  Today (Sunday, August 4th, 2013) the announcement was simulcast from the BBC One and BBC America,  Here in America the timeslot was 2:00p to 2:30p EST.  The special was pretty cool.  We saw some interviews from Matt Smith, wishing his successor all the best and got some insight from previous Doctor Who actors and fans.  Toward the end of the special, we found out who will follow Matt Smith as the "Mad Man in the Little Blue Box"...

Congratulations to Mr. Peter Capaldi!

Peter Capaldi- The 12th Doctor

For those who aren't familiar with Mr. Capaldi, he is no stranger to the world of Doctor Who.  First staring in an episode entitled 'The Fires of Pompeii' and also staring in Torchwood (a spin-off of Doctor Who).  For those who may be stunned by a previous Doctor Who actor showing up again... Remember, this is not the first time.  Also in the 'Fires of Pompeii' we first met Karen Gillian who later moved on to star as a separate role opposite Matt Smith as the 11th Doctor's Companion, Amy Pond.

It has been stated by Steven Moffat and other show runners that the coming season of Doctor Who will bring us a much darker Doctor.  And with the teaser of Jon Hurt at the finale of this past season, and how he ties into the whole Doctor Who numbering scheme without messing up what we all know of Doctor Who is going to be a huge story arc as well.  And with this being the 50th Anniversary of Doctor Who, Steven Moffat has gone on record stating that the decision on the next Doctor has to be right.  And I believe the decision made to bring Mr. Capaldi to lead role was taken into heavy consideration and we as fans have to respect both Moffat's decision and Matt Smith's desire to move on to bigger projects.

And as Doctor Who fans, please wish Peter the best.  I'm sure he will do everything in his power to be the Doctor that we not only want... But the Doctor that we need at this point in the story.  Remember, the story of the Doctor is much larger than just the past 4 years of Matt Smith.  And as always, keep the fan-boy/girlism to a minimum.  We haven't seen the last of Matt Smith.  And remember, change is constant and not everyone will like change.  Doctor Who is very much a story about change and progression.  And don't forget, Matt will be back as the Doctor before Capaldi takes the role.  But one thing is for sure, Matt's regeneration into Capaldi's Doctor will more than likely pull so many tears world wide as we see the bittersweet regeneration glow. Who knows?  Will it be similar to Tennant's heartfelt comment "I don't want to go..."?  Or will it be Matt's iconic: "Geronimo!".  Time will tell.

So as loyal Whovians, embrace the change and welcome the Doctor back at the end of the year.  Much as the Ood told the 10th Doctor "This song is ending, but the story never ends...".

Until then, we will not know how the story of the Doctor will progress nor how Peter Capaldi will do in the roll.  All we can do is embrace the way of the Doctor: "GERONIMO!"

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Guildies, Daleks, Labor Day Weekend, Oh My!

I know, I know...It's been quite a while. I hope everyone has been doing fine. It is by no chance that I am making my first post after somewhat of a hiatus on this very evening. After all with this past week being a huge week in tech, gaming, and nerdism alike; how could I possibly stay away?  Since my last post we have seen all sorts of craziness pop up on the interwebs. Aside from all the political jargon us Americans are having to put up with on Facebook and the general media, we have the "he said, she said" lawsuits between Apple and Samsung (for which it looks link Samsung is in deep bantha fodder over), new iPhone buzz and talk of an iPad Mini?! When does it stop? I always considered my iPod Touch to be a mini iPod... I guess Apple has proved me wrong once again.  Well played Apple... Well played.

In other quick news, my Samsung Galaxy Epic Touch 4G (from here on called the "S2") received it's Ice Cream Sandwhich OTA update a few weeks ago...Yay! Nope, no joy could be expressed.  As it appears my perfectly good S2 with great battery life (would go almost a full day of moderate use on a single charge cycle) is now a fancy phone which lags, screen animations hang up, buttons quit responding, and am lucky to pull a 4 hour life from a full charge... Thanks for breaking my phone!! If anybody knows of a good custom ROM, please leave comment with suggestions.

In better news, this week marked the release of "Guild Wars 2". If you don't know what Guild Wars 2 is.... Then you should be fed to the Char. Just kidding. Guild Wars 2 is a sequel to the much celebrated MMO title "Guild Wars". The original GW managed to survive the development cycle of it's sequel during a time when other MMO titles were being closed down or forced to switch to a "freemium" free-to-play business model.  The appeal to the Guild Wars games for me has to be the fact that there is no monthly charge to play the game; unlike other MMO titles. You purchase the game once and access to play is free from that point forward.  See Blizzard, it can be done!

I certainly hope GW2 is able to garner the same success that it's predecessor has let us long time fans enjoy for years now. The original Guild Wars brought us a total of 3 stand alone campaigns (Prophecies, Factions, and Nightfall) and one expansion that was not a standalone expansion but helped shape the mold for GW2 (Eye of the North).  The original game still has some players left running through it (I have spent some time in-game over the last several days) so don't hesitate to pay us a visit sometime. I do plan on picking up Guild Wars 2. But it may be a few weeks before I get around to it.

Lastly and most importantly, tonight was the premiere of Season 7 of Doctor Who! It aired 9:00pm EST here in America on BBC-America and will be reairing at midnight tonight. It was a fantastic episode with more clever lines from the Doctor, a special cameo that leaves more questions than it answers, and a wild start to the new season.  Even though we now only have four more episodes till we have to wait for the Christmas Special (and a new companion); this season will definitely be a big one with the season premiere focusing on the Doctor's oldest and most feared enemy: The Daleks!

Wow, all of that was a keyboard full. But there you have it. And on that note, I will bid you all a good night. And for those of us in the USA, I hope you all have a great Labor Day weekend!  Allons-y, Geronimo, or maybe even a good old fashioned "Goodnight!" will do.

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Doctor Who Big Screen Bound?

"Leave us alone, we did it right
the first time...All 11 of us!"
-The Doctor

So it appears that David Yates (director of the "Harry Potter" films) is aiming to bring Doctor Who to the big screen.  Yep, I'm not hot on this idea.  Were the "Harry Potter" movies well directed?  As a matter of fact they were.  Granted I did not read any of the books, the movies seemed very well put together.  However, please leave Doctor Who alone.  Just because the show is rocking it and growing it's viewer base doesn't warrant a blockbuster movie be made.

You may be asking, why?  A lot of my opinion on this matter is the fact that the franchise will get royally screwed up.  Doctor Who has been running off and on for decades.  Yates has already gone on the record to make mention that the movie will not follow the television series.  In a sense wouldn't this be considered a "reboot"?  What better way to break a franchise than do a theatrical reboot of it?  It just doesn't sit well with me.

Now you may be saying, well you are just a fanboy of Matt Smith...  Nope, Matt Smith is a spectacular Doctor (just a David Tennant was).  I love Doctor Who regardless who the Doctor is played by.  I have never understood the allegiance to one particular actor who plays the Doctor (as many, many Who fans are).  You are basically saying that the only Doctor for you is *insert fav Doctor here*.  This isn't fair and in my opinion not what Doctor Who is about.  We all know the Doctor can regenerate meaning that at any time a new actor could step into the Time Lord's shoes.  And is no doubt one of the big factors behind the series longevity.

Anyways, I could go into a thousand reasons why Doctor Who should be left alone when it comes to making big-budget, theater released movies.  But mostly it goes against everything we have come to know and love of Doctor Who.  For years it has made it's name as being one of the few Sci-Fi television shows which incorporates the traditional "man-in-a-costume" monster or alien over computer generated graphics.  Only now with the last two seasons of Who are we really getting more cgi monsters being shown off.  This gives is a particular charm in my opinion.  Especially with so many other television shows pulling off lower quality cg creatures.  A big budget movie would no doubt do away with that particular nuance that for many has made Who what it is.  I don't care who you get to write the script or fill the shoes of the Doctor.  This is wrong by all means of the definition of the word "wrong".

From the keyboard of a dedicated Whovian... Mr. Yates take your Who Movie concept and stick it in the Tardis' swimming pool!

Original Source: http://bit.ly/uFAZ3e

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Doctor Who: Post Finale Thoughts and Comments!

So tonight was one of the biggest television nights of the year at our house.  When the season finale of 'Doctor Who' aired.  And in my opinion, this episode was easily one of the best in a long time.  I love how so much was referenced even from the beginning of Matt Smith's 11th Doctor appearance last season.

They even threw in a quick Rose Tyler reference!  And without trying to spoil it for anyone who maybe hasn't seen it yet.  Be sure to check it out.  And better keep a sharpie marker handy just incase you encounter the Silence! lol

Anyways, Saturday nights will feel empty from now until the Christmas Special.  So back to Netflix we go to catch up on the last several years of David Tenant's reign as The Doctor.

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Season Finale of Doctor Who Tonight!

Well folks, it's that time again (seems like we just had a finale of some sort)...Anyways, tonight at 9:00p EST on BBCA (here on the east coast) we get the season finale of Doctor Who.  The episode entitled 'The Wedding of River Song' promises to bring us closer to the mystery that has thus far this season surrounded the Doctor's death by the hand of River.  What will happen?  Did the Doctor's flesh ganger somehow survive and being used as a decoy for the killing...How will the Doctor survive?

I'm sure this will be an amazing episode.  As all of the previous season finale's have been.  In a way it's bitter sweet to see this season close.  It seems like only a few months ago this season started.  Be sure to check back after tonight's episode for my reactions.  Also be sure to follow along on Twitter as I'll try to fire off some tweets using #techiesmarts so be sure to tweet along and see me a message!

Tick tock goes the clock, Doctor!

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This Week In The News: 'My Bad McAfee', iAndroid, and more

This week has a few noteworthy news topics. McAfee Attacks! iPhone meet Android, you're new OS. We get a new Doctor...Who that is!

First up this week, McAfee attacks! During an update that McAfee rolled out, widespread complaints started rolling in. Apparently, the update quarantined the 'svchost.exe' file therefore causing affected computers to continuously reboot themselves. The 'svchost.exe' file is a critical system file that Windows uses during boot and runtime to operate. McAfee is noting that only a small percentage of user's were affected. But according to several articles (including this one from PC World http://www.pcworld.com/article/194776/mcafee_error_little_relief_in_sight.html ) mention complaints from hospitals and in some cases, law enforcement.  So tell me, how can a 'security' company rollout such a problematic update?  Surely McAfee has some sort of quality assurance control, that allows them to ensure the integrity of each update and even each software release they produce.  Sure, we are used to companies like Microsoft releasing regular service packs and updates which have been known to fix a few bugs, but create a few more.  But when this happens to your antivirus/web security tools, you're now open to other attacks too. 

Personally, I used to be a McAfee customer (when I bought my first Dell about 6 years ago).  Then I moved to Norton, didn't stay there long.  Now I am happy with AVG.  The reason I moved from the previous two companies: they're software got too big.  They both decide to implement scanners for everything from email to file scanning.  Those systems became bloated and caused things to run slow for me.  So far, I haven't encountered any issues with AVG.  But they day that AVG grows too big for itself, I'll move on to another solution then as well.  I say do security, do it right, and with as little intrusion on the system and it's resources as possible.  As with anything, if you are looking for an antivirus solution, do your homework for what is best for you.  Big names aren't always the best solution.


Next up in the news: the iPhone is hacked again, this time to run Android.  Mr. David Wong; who is well known with certain iPhone hacking/jailbreaking communities, has managed to get a first generation iPhone to run the Android operating system.  Does Android take over the phone?  Nope, it's dual boot.  Using OpeniBoot the device will boot up the Android OS.  According to Wong, the system is still a little buggy, it is possible.  This isn't possible on a stock iPhone or iPod Touch.  The device has to be 'jailbroken' first (which voids the Apple Waranty).  Apple Insider


Also in the news, this last Saturday we were treated to the regeneration of a new Doctor on Doctor Who (in America anyways, the UK are a couple episodes ahead of us).  I'm a relatively new Doctor Who fan, but if you are a sci-fi fan and have never checked out Doctor Who...Do yourself a favor and give ti a chance. 

Finally this week, the Ubuntu 10.04 Release Candidate was released.  This means we are getting pretty close to the official 10.04 release.  The beta releases and release candidates can be downloaded now for those of you who want to check it out.  http://distrowatch.com/?newsid=06022

Happy Surfing!

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