1UP Yours - A Video Game Podcast

1UP Yours is a podcast from the people at 1UP.com - one of the more prominent gaming press sites, although not as huge as IGN or Gamespot. This is unfortunate, because 1UP seems to be more advanced than either of those sites, with their letter-based grade system and their 21^st century web design. The site’s forward thinking is demonstrated in this podcast, with host Garnett Lee starting thoughtful discussions and being honest when it comes to interviews, previews, reviews, and his audience. The cast has been switching around lately, but I believe that the general mindset of 1UP’s employees will keep the discussion at the high level that it has always been at. I listen to many video game podcasts, some of which feature annoying rants and aimless, off-topic discussion. This one stands at the top of the heap.

1UP Yours Podcast Page

The Spore Creature Creator

Spore is the brainchild of Will Wright- the man behind one of the best-selling video game franchises ever, The Sims. Players begin the game as a small microbe trying to absorb other microbes and eat food. As it grows into a full creature, the player can design the creature and watch it react and adapt to its environment. The game goes from this small, molecular level to a level in which civilizations of creatures are interacting with others. It's received a lot of hype, and it's due out this September. The Spore Creature Creater is a pre-release utility for the game, giving players access to the design utility of the game, which has been pushed to its limits to create many familiar characters. I have to say, these are impressive. Some of my favorites:

Master Chief:


Kirby:

Yoshi(this guy did the eyes really well):

A house(2D genius):

Big Daddy:

Mario Star:

Pikachu(this one's pretty good):

Ice cream!

While we're still on pokemon... Celebi:


A goomba:

Pizza?

The Cloverfield Monster:


And my favorite creation, a breadstick:

Bill Gates and his Fortune

Daily Mail reports that Bill Gates will not be leaving his $58 million dollar fortune to his children, but rather his own charity, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. The article has an air of disapproval, especially because it highlights an incident in which Bill Gates supposedly blocked a donation from Microsoft to the Prince's Trust charity. Reading the comments on the same article on Switched, there seem to be mixed reactions. I think that there's a little bit too much disapproval - Bill's kids are going to be fine!
It's understandable to think that this might be a slap in the face for his kids, but even so, his kids are still going to benefit from their father's wealth. People tend to forget that he'll be spending money on his kids for a long time - college tuition, car insurance for the many cars they'll be driving, etc. He might be the kind of guy who doesn't want to spoil of kids, but hey, when you're sitting on one of the largest fortunes of the world, I would say it's impossible to not spoil your children. Just look at his house. With a thing that's as huge and expensive as that, I don't see how you can have children living in there who aren't well off.
My point here is that through all the benefits they get from being Bill Gates' children, they'll most likely be rich as adults anyway. Although this might be a nice kickback when Bill and Mel kick the bucket, they won't be in as much need as those who might get the money through a charity.

Buzz Out Loud – CNET’s Podcast of Indeterminate Length

Buzz Out Loud’s tagline might be a little misleading – only because it doesn’t describe its content. Although it is a podcast of “indeterminate length,” it is generally 35-45 minutes long. The show is all about tech news – hosts Tom Merritt, Molly Wood, and Jason Howell talk about anything tech-related, from the iPhone 3G to Firefox 3. This podcast shows evidence of professional production without sacrificing the casual environment of a roundtable discussion. They record daily, Monday to Friday, with a video version that comes out every Friday. You can watch a live feed of them recording the podcast every day at about 1:30 EST at http://www.watchbol.com.

This is one of my favorite podcasts - I love listening to it every day and I highly recommend it.