Gweek 032: Bitter Seeds and the Game of Go

Welcome to the Gweek podcast, episode 32! Gweek is where the editors and friends of Boing Boing talk about comic books, science fiction and fantasy, video games, board games, tools, gadgets, apps, and other neat stuff. In this episode I am joined by Boing Boing’s technology and coding maestro, Dean Putney. Our guest host for this episode was podcaster and technology journalist Tom Merritt.

UPDATE: Anders Kierulf, the developer of SmartGo Kifu says:

For the iPhone, there's SmartGo Pro ($12.99) as well as SmartGo ($2.99), both of which also include the tutorial. (There's also SmartGo 9x9 for $0.99.) My plan is to make SmartGo universal, so that there will be an alternative to the $20 Kifu version on the iPad for people who are just starting with Go.

For learning about Go, there's the free universal SmartGo Books app. It currently includes 26 books about Go that can be bought with in-app purchase, and both "Go: A Complete Introduction to the Game" and the five-volume "Learning to Play Go" series will give you a great intro to the game, to complement the tutorial built into the other SmartGo apps. Unlike a printed book or PDF, you can replay the moves in the diagrams.

Here's what we talked about:

Sword and Laser Podcast

Tom Merritt’s SuBBrilliant News

Handmade Music Factory

Bitter Seeds, by Ian Tregillis

IQ84

Simplee

The Perry Bible Fellowship

Tom Merritt’s website and Twitter account

We'd like to give a special thanks EdgeCast Networks, our bandwidth provider and sponsor!

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Mark Frauenfelder is the founder of Boing Boing and the editor-in-chief of MAKE and Cool Tools. Twitter: @frauenfelder. Come and hear Mark speak at the ALA conference in Chicago on July 1.

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chellberty

need to reupload file only goes to just under 2 minutes.
Todd Blatt

If anyone wants to play Go and doesn’t want to buy the app, you can play online, or go to an actual go club. there’s probably one in your city. www.usgo.org http://www.gokgs.com
alex4point0

Love the Go dogpile! +1 for the clubs and playing online.
Recommend Panda-Tetsuki, http://www.gentgo.be/tetsuki/, free for iphone and ipad, and their android version is in beta. Observe and participate in online games with human players. If you’re new, start with ‘kibbutzing’, watching other people play low-ranked (20-15 kyu) games, and ask questions.It’s up to version 4.0 (^_^) and was updated last May. Tetsuki was given 4 1/2 on MacWorld two years ago. (http://www.macworld.com/article/139725/2009/03/go.html )Hikaru No Go has been translated into English and is available in 23 (!) volumes.

BoingBoing: More Go! (my carved bowls, my slate and clamshell stones, my floor board: let me show you them.)
http://www.jjsaul.com Jim Saul

Only getting 894k file when I try downloading here, too. Cuts off the moment the guest says “Sub-brilliant News”… conspiracy to shut down revelation of secrets by the agents of Bob?
Reverend Loki

Here’s some things about the Logitech Revue with the latest update:

* There are 2 apps you can get for your Android phone to serve as remote controls instead of the keyboard: Google TV Remote and Logitech Harmony app. Though I haven’t played with it, I imagine the Logitech Harmony app gives you about the same functionality as the standalone universal remote, which I understand is quite popular.

* The Revue is controlled via IR from the keyboard or over WiFi from your phone. It also has 3 built in IR blasters and one more additional you can plug in with extension (included) to control just about everything else you own.

* Browsing a site on your phone and want to pull it up on the TV? Share -> Google TV Remote, and it’s there.

* Netflix app is far superior to what is on pretty much every other blue-ray player or other device that I’ve seen (OK, I haven’t seen it on a game console). You don’t need to visit Netflix on the PC and add things to a queue to find it, just search from the TV.

* Nice having Google Music app on your set top box.

* Admittedly, the hardware is a little underpowered. This is my biggest beef, but it’s only occasionally an issue.
Mark_Frauenfelder

Did you try this link: http://goo.gl/wRZyP

It works for me!
- chellberty
  
  still not working. could try a cyberlocker. anybody else get it to work?
- http://www.jjsaul.com Jim Saul
  
  Works as a stream for me, so I can listen to the whole show. Oddly, I still only get a truncated file if I try to save the mp3, so probably on my end. (chrome browser, fyi)
  - Mark_Frauenfelder
    
    How about this?
    
    http://wpc.500b.edgecastcdn.net/00500B/gweek/gweek_032.mp3
    - http://www.jjsaul.com Jim Saul
      
      That does the trick – saves as 52 minutes. Thanks!
      
      (edit – I also cleared the caches, so anyone still having an issue try that… my lazy browser may have just been repeatedly reaching back to the original truncated download attempt.)
DeanCutlet

Murakami is great, but 1Q84 is a horrible let down. Do not waste your time reading the novel.

It is an exceptionally vapid non-story and could be used as evidence that Murakami has slipped into senility (or at least lost the ability to create and tell a story).

Ever wonder why there is a 3rd book? Well, the Japanese public would have burned him alive if he left it off so poorly at the end of the second book.

After reading 1Q84, you will feel as though Murakami punched you squarely in both eyes. You have been warned.