Contest is over! Thanks for entering!

Last week, HP was gracious enough to send me a rather sizable gift card to purchase this HP Mini XP Netbook, which I recently reviewed. The laptop has quickly become my personal, day-to-day computer, and I’m absolutely thrilled with it. You can read the review here. Even my bunny, Rory, seemed to enjoy the computer.

However, there were a lot of funds leftover from my netbook purchase, and HP was kind enough to let me spend the excess money on a good cause. As a result, Geekadelphia will be donating several brand new HP printers (specifically, a handful of these HP Deskjet D2660′s), to some in-need institutions around Philadelphia. We may host a book-drive or something to go along with this. Not sure yet. Details to follow.

In addition to dishing me out that gift card, HP also sent over a $250 gift card for me to give away on the site. That’s right, as much as it pains me, I’m giving away $250 in HP bucks. Want to win the gift card? Like all our contests, this one is easy. Just leave a comment letting us know which HP laptop is your favorite. Hit up their store, look around, and let us know what you liked. Official rules for their contest are located here. Basically, you’ve got to be over the age of 18, a US resident, can’t redeem the gift card for cash, and can’t be related to or living with any of the Geekadelphia crew. One entry per person.

What can you buy with $250 in HP cash? A ton of calculators, a printer (or four!), or even this other Mini Netbook, which’ll end up costing you a little less than $30 after that giftcard. Awesome. HP has also hooked us up with some excellent exclusive coupon deals. We’ve included them after the jump. Have a look.

Contest kicks off today, and will run until September 14th! We’ll randomly select our winner, and you’ll be notified via email. Good luck!

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Section 8 (Left), Tattooed Mom (Right) … Just in case there was any confusion.

Well, it’s here. The Section 8 party at Tattooed Mom. Party kicks off tomorrow at 8PM at our favorite South Street bar. You’ll catch me upstairs, dancing and partying the night away, while I give out posters, raffle off video games, arm wrestle Brian James Kirk (he has the strength of a bear, that has the strength of two bears), and chow down on some tasty custom made cupcakes. You may even catch me talking shop with the Technically Philly boys. After-all, we are throwing the party with ‘em. Where will you be?

The game hits stores on September 1st, but fear not. I’ll have some coupons that I’ll be raffling off, which you can trade in for a free copy of the game. For the PC or the Xbox 360. Your choice, thanks to SouthPeak, Timegate, and their wonderful PR team.

So far we’ve got nearly 50 people RSVP’d on Facebook, including folks from Philadelphia’s VGI, Joystiq, and… according to the rumor mill… a developer or two from Timegate. Awesome. This party is our way of trying to bring monthly video game release parties to our fine city, and we’ve had an excellent response from the community. Come join in the fun. You’ll enjoy it.

Section 8 Bash @ Tattooed Mom
Wednesday, August 26th @ 8PM

The HP Mini XP Netbook – As Photographed on my Couch

Ah, HP. It’s been a long time since I’ve experienced one of your computers. My parents used to have one of your PCs back in the 90′s. It was a 486, and I spent a lot of time taking it apart, playing Day of the Tentacle, and lurking around in AOL Chat Rooms. What? Don’t judge me! I was young, foolish, and in love. Her name was PrincessBlu32, and… hey, wait, a minute. I don’t have to explain myself to you, HP! I’m here to review your new netbook.

Hewlett-Packard recently sent me their new Mini 110 XP Edition netbook, a small, sleek, and surprisingly powerful little computer. With a large (by netbook standards) 10 inch diagonal screen, 160GB hard drive (what!), 1GB of RAM, built in Wi-Fi and SD card slot, three USB slots, a webcam, and a nearly full size keyboard, there is a lot to like about this little fellah.

HP’s webstore describes the 110 as “the perfect companion when you’re on the go. Whether you’re at home, around town, on campus, or across the country,” and I’ve got to say, they’re absolutely right. This little guy weighs in at a little more than 2 lbs! It also comes with Windows XP installed, a brilliant move on HP’s part. If it had come with Vista… well, I doubt I would have been able to turn it on. Thanks HP, you made the right choice.

Rory The Bun Approves of HP’s New Netbook!

Now, when HP emailed me the gift card to purchase this little machine, there were some significant funds leftover. Thanks to their kindness and generosity, they allowed us to spend the extra funds on several brand new printers that we’ll be donating to local in-need institutions. Updates on that in the coming days.

As for the netbook, full review with additional photos after the jump!

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It is impossible to find a high rez version of Olmec! WTF!

Surely you remember Legends of the Hidden Temple, the kids gameshow that ran in the mid 90′s on Nickelodeon. It goes down in history with games like GUTS, Double Dare, and Wild & Crazy Kids, but holds a special place in my heart for being so Indiana-Jones-ish. Plus winners got to go Space Camp. SPACE CAMP! Everyone wanted to go there as a kid.

Well, this Thursday, August 27th, there’s a Legends of the Hidden Temple themed concert (what!) going on at The Stratum, featuring local Philadelphia bands like Airports, Trenchmouth, and Gransel & Hetel. There’s a good drive for Philabundance going on, so bring some canned goods.

Guests should wear proper Legends of the Hidden Temple team colors. Red (Jaguars) Blue (Barracudas) Green (Monkeys) Orange (Iguanas) Purple (Parrots) or Silver (Snakes). On a related note, why was the Iguana team orange? Shouldn’t the Iguanas have been green? Bah.

So come on down. Maybe you’ll win a Pendent of Life. And with a Philabundance food drive in full swing, you’ll at least give someone else a better one. A better life, that is.

Get more details about the event over on Facebook.

Dammit Joe, way to get me addicted to a new game. I had another game, all lined up to feature on here, but nope. You had to introduce me to Cube Colossus.

Developed by Lucridrine, Cube Colossus is your standard, fast-paced shoot ‘em up space game… with a twist. Keyboard targeting, combo chains, and probably most surprising of all… a story. Sure, you’re trying to escape from an evil cube while countless enemies blast away at you, which isn’t exactly deep, but the storytelling is an impressive feature. Especially in a flash game.

You won’t be able to handle the game solely using your mouse, either. Or just your keyboard. As you advance through the levels, you’ll be targeting using your keyboard. It gets intense, and you’re going to love it.

I recommend putting headphones on if you got ‘em. The music is great, but you don’t want to get fired. Happy Friday!

Cube Colossus @ Games Free

Our boys over at Technically Philly write seriously good pieces. We’re talking quality journalism. We think they deserve more traffic, so we’ll be highlighting their articles at the end of the week. The Internet. It’s about sharing and caring, people.

Technically Not Tech: McJawn – Sean talks about the folks behind McJawn, a blog / magazine, ran by a collective of artsy kids and college students, that seems to be picking up steam. You might recognize them from their 4 Square games in Rittenhouse Square. Have you gotten hit in the face by a kickball yet while trying to read in the park? No? I have. You’re missing out.

NTIA Extends Broadband Stimulus Deadline – Remember that whole Digital Philadelphia thang the boys wrote about last week? You should, it was fantastic. Apparently the deadline for the grant has been extended. Read up.

BFTP Elects Two New Board Members – But they didn’t hire Brian James Kirk. Tsk tsk, guys. Don’t you know he’s a celebrity?

Q&A With Shawn Glisson of Boost Mobile – This was posted last Friday, after I wrote up my round up. Definitely worth including here.

Shop Talk: Vuzit Grow Up – Sean highlights the document sharing site, Vuzit, and their current growth.

Technically Philly
www.technicallyphilly.com

Ah, Section 8. The game is almost here, just two weeks away. And here in Philadelphia, we’re throwing a release party. The game drops the first week of September, at next Wednesday we are throwing down at Tattooed Mom.

Check out the story behind Section 8 in the video above, courtesy of Joystiq.

You can RSVP for the release party over on our Facebook page. Nearly 40 people are attending, and we’re hoping for more! We’re throwing the event with Technically Philly, with cupcakes provided by the sweet gals of Open Source Cupcakes.

Let us know you’re coming! Invite some friends!

Section 8 Release Party @ Tattooed Mom
Wednesday, August 26th, 2009
8PM – Midnight

Photography by D. Yee and Richard Caraballo

The last time I saw Nullsleep perform, was at Don Miller’s (No Carrier’s) art opening at the University of the Arts. Mixing his music using a Gameboy, his skills with the chiptune… well, it’s a sight to behold and a joy to hear.

This month at 8static, Nullsleep will be performing alongside three other musicians, including Covox (Sweden), Oxygenstar (CT), and Ro-Bear (PHL). This show marks the launch of Covox’s tour.

Visuals will be provided by Paris Treantafeles, an 8static regular.

For more information, and visit 8static’s official website. The show goes down on August 22nd at Studio 34.

8static
www.8static.com

Did you miss the BBQ the other weekend? Sure you did. Because it rained. We didn’t tell Bianca. The result was hilarious.

So instead, this Sunday, the MakePhilly folks are hosting their third annual Water Rocket BBQ. They’re inviting you to come on out, have some BBQ, and pimp out your own custom water rocket in Fairmount Park. There’s a great tutorial up on Instructables on how to make a soda bottle rocket. It also happens to have an excellent paint job. This water rocket is also a solid pick.

The Geekadelphia crew will be on the scene with some awesome, custom painted rockets. Friendly competition with the regulars? Possibly. Loud swearing and punches dealt between myself and Hive 76? Definitely.

Head over to the MakePhilly website to RSVP for the event. It’ll be fun, promise.

MakePhilly Water Bottle BBQ
Sunday, August 23rd @ Noon
www.makephilly.com

Fairmount Park (Lemon Hill Picnic Area)
Here’s the Location on Google Maps

Photo lovingly stolen from Technically Philly

McGillin’s is turning 150 soon, and to celebrate, they’ve invited a number of authors, all of whom have mentioned the famous pub in their works, to come back to Philadelphia for a special reading. One of these authors, has particular interest to us geeks. Duane Swierczynski.

So what’s the big deal about Duane? His latest work with Marvel comic’s The Punisher series brought Frank Castle’s escapades to our fine city. The late, great, Stephen Wells covered Duane’s story back in February. Read about it here on the Philly Weekly’s website.

Next Tuesday, August 25th, Duane visits Philly, and will be signing and reading his recently published paperback with fans. Awesome. In his comics, Duane created a historic tavern called the Interesting Times Pub, modeled after McGillin’s.

There’s no cover at the event, and pints of McGillin’s 1860 IPA are reduced to $2 for the party.

See you there, geeks!

McGillin’s
www.mcgillins.com

Really, there’s nothing like a good experimental game. Inspired by the short story The Distance of the Moon, this great little flash game, I Wish I Were the Moon, is absolutely wonderful.

The premise is simple. Use your mouse to take a photo of anything in the game, and place that box someplace else on the screen. Move the boy off the moon and into the water? Maybe the boat next to his gal? It’s up to you.

There are seven endings. See what ones you can get.

The super talented game creator, Dan Benmurgui, has several other games available on his site. Take a look!

I Wish I Were The Moon via Kongregate

Our boys over at Technically Philly write seriously good pieces. We’re talking quality journalism. We think they deserve more traffic, so we’ll be highlighting their articles at the end of the week. The Internet. It’s about sharing and caring, people.

Section 8 Video Game Release Party – The Tech Philly boys are partnering up with these douches to present a video game release party at Tattooed Mom. Terrible move guys.

Digital Philadelphia – The guys were hard at work at this for quite some time, and wow, did it pay off. Check out their outstanding feature regarding Philadelphia and its wireless internet saga.

Microsoft Sells Razorfish – For a cool $530 million. Did you know Razorfish had an office in Center City? I didn’t. Now I know, and knowing is half the battle.

David Clayton at the Klein Gallery – Art + Technology = This Guy.

Technically Philly
www.technicallyphilly.com