The Flickcast

Google Details New Gmail Look and Features

Posted on November 1, 2011

If you’ve been paying attention you probably know that Google is in the process of revamping Gmail and its interface to offer new features and new looks. In fact, if you’ve looked at your Gmail today, you may already have the new look and features.

You may notice a button at the bottom right that will enable the new interface. Here’s some details on the new look.

Gmail’s conversation view has been streamlined and now includes photos of each contact. Additionally, it will automatically resize itself to look best depending on your screen size thanks to a new “elastic density feature.”

Themes now support HD images and there is a new “smarter navigation” panel on the left hand side of the display that is customizable. Google also added a drop-down search box for more accurate email searches.

Check out Google’s video that explains even further (with visuals!) after the break.

Trade Paperback Tuesday: ‘JLA: Volume 1’

Posted on November 1, 2011

Everyone knows that Wednesday is new comic book day. While picking up your new issues consider looking at some of the trade paperbacks and hard covers of past issues and story lines. But which ones should you choose?

That’s why every Tuesday, The Flickcast will recommend a collection of comics that are just as good, if not better, than the issues you are currently buying. Books that deserve to be read, and bought the next time you walk into your local comic book store.

“I’m only human; They don’t believe I can penetrate their stronghold. They don’t believe I pose a threat. Wrong.” – Batman – JLA #3

Everyone has their favorite superhero team. For some, it is the X-Men, for others it is the Avengers, but for me, it will always be the Justice League. The team’s membership includes not only Superman and Batman, which just by themselves are unstoppable, but includes classics like Flash, Green Lantern, Martian Manhunter, and Aquaman.

Now, the Justice League has over sixty years of publishing history. So a reader wanting to read the Justice League may be a little confused about where to start, and that’s where our Trade Paperback Tuesday pick comes in.

JLA: Volume 1 collects the first nine issues of Grant Morrison and Howard Porter’s run in the 1990’s plus a Secret Files special. Morrison treated his Justice League team as if they were the Greek Gods themselves protecting their kingdom from their castle in the clouds. (This Justice League had its Watchtower base on the moon!) His team also included the “Big 7” of DC Comics, and eventually expanded to a membership of twelve.

iPhone 4S Battery Drain Issue Could Be Time Zone Setting Bug

Posted on November 1, 2011

If you have a shiny new iPhone 4S as some of us do here at The Flickcast and you’ve experienced less-than-stellar battery life, this will be of interest to you. There’s been a few reports around the Internets, and elsewhere, that the iPhone 4S’s battery life leaves something to be desired.

Sure, it could have to do with the fact that it features a faster processor or that Siri is a bit power hungry. Or, as was postulated by the folks at iDownloadBlog, it could be the iPhone 4S’s Time Zone service that’s causing the problem.

Reportedly, a bug in iOS 5 (which ships on all iPhone 4S units) forces its location tracking feature to remain active much more than necessary which drains the phone’s battery far more quickly. Users can manually turn off the automatic time zone setting by going to Settings > General > Date & Time. Once there, toggling “Set Automatically” to “Off.”

We’ve tried this “fix” on a couple of our own devices and so far it doesn’t seem to make much of a difference. That said, and this is in no way scientific, we tend to get pretty much the advertised battery life on our iPhone 4S units. So, maybe it’s actually a hardware problem on some units and not software after all? Or, perhaps it’s a carrier issue as our iPhone 4S units are all using Verizon and not AT&T?

Whatever the issue, Apple is usually pretty fast to issue a fix for these problems so expect to see one sooner rather than later. In the meantime, let us know if you try this “fix” and what your results are, if any.

FX’s ‘American Horror Story’ Gets Renewed For a Second Season

Posted on November 1, 2011

When AMC’s The Walking Dead hit it big last year, we knew that TV studios and management companies would be capitalizing on the trend and pushing as many of their horror TV projects they have to the top of the greenlight list. The true test, however, is whether any of those shows would turn out to be decent.

Ryan Murphy’s American Horror Story has proven that fact with only a handful of episodes, and FX has taken notice as well. The cable network has just announced a second season for the show. THR has the official word from the network.

“It’s one thing to have the ambition and guts to reinvent a genre in a way that makes it captivatingly fresh for a broad audience — it’s something else entirely to have the craft to back that ambition up,” said FX president and GM Jon Landgraf. “Ryan Murphy and Brad Falchuk have hit the trifecta withNip/Tuck, Glee and now American Horror Story, which will be scaring FX’s viewers to death for many years to come.”

Late Monday Picks: John Carpenter’s ‘Halloween’

Posted on November 1, 2011

This week’s pick is John Carpenter’s independent horror classic hit Halloween that held the record as the highest grossing independent film of all time. Halloween helped to usher in a new era of slasher films throughout the 1980s and 1990s. Carpenter’s use of camera angles, music, photography, and story help create one of the most frightening films of all time.

Carpenter sights many influences ranging from Howard Hawks, John Ford, and Orson Welles. Carpenter’s then girlfriend and producer at the time Debra Hill had a concept about a group of teenage babysitters stalked by a masked killer. The script was called “The babysitter murders.” Producer Irwin Yablans suggested the title Halloween. Carpenter and Hill reworked the script to have it occur on Halloween night, and changed the title to Halloween.

Graduating from USC film school in the early 1970s, Carpenter’s first big break was the action hit Assault on Precinct 13 which producer Irwin Yablans viewed at the Milan Film Festival along with financier Moustapha Akkad. Both men liked Carpenter’s style and approached him about making a film for them. Akkad fronted the film’s three hundred and twenty thousand dollar budget and Carpenter was given four weeks to come up with the film.

The Bitcast – Episode 2: ‘The Beancast’

Posted on October 31, 2011

Week two and WallE and JC are back at it again to give you the top news in the video game world with The Flickcast’s only podcast dedicated to the world of video games, the Bitcast.

This week, the dynamic duo of Pokemon decimation bring talk about Rockstar Games’ announcement of Grand Theft Auto 5 and speculate on what we might find out when the first trailer comes later this week. Where the game will take place and just what the sales of this massive title might be are just two of the points they discuss.

In their Topic of the Week, WallE and JC talk super hero video games. The good. The bad. The ugly. And everything in between. From the original X-Men game on the NES to the most recent releases, WallE and JC have no problem letting their opinions known.

And in this week’s “Now Playing” session, the two talk about their most recent super hero gaming addictions caused by this week’s Topic of the Week.

So, what are you waiting for? Click through to listen to this week’s episode!

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Check This Out: New Trailer for James Gunn’s Upcoming Game ‘Lollipop Chainsaw’

Posted on October 31, 2011

When you’ve written and directed some awesome movies like Slither and Super, what else might you want to do? Why, a video game of course.

That’s just what director/writer James Gunn has done with his upcoming game Lollipop Chainsaw. To be honest, it’s a bit hard to describe so perhaps we should just let the man, and the trailer, do the talking, or killing, for itself. Here’s what Mr. Gunn has to say about it:

Happy Halloween everybody! To celebrate, we all thought you’d enjoy the ultimate Trick: a 2nd trailer for our forthcoming game, Lollipop Chainsaw, developed by Suda 51 and myself, and starring the ever beautiful Juliet Starling.

I’ve been hard at work these past couple weeks finishing up the script and directing actors as we recorded the majority of our voice overs. Working with Suda, Warner Games and Grasshopper Studios has been a great experience, and I’m grateful that something as special as LC is my first game. I can’t wait to share it with you, as well as some of the cool.

Now, check out the trailer after the break. Look for Lollipop Chainsaw to arrive next year.

Get Your First Look at Marvel’s ‘Defenders’ #1

Posted on October 31, 2011

One of our favorite comic book writers, Matt Fraction, has a new series coming out from Marvel and we are, of course, excited to bring you a preview of it today. The new comic, called Defenders, takes the superhero genre and bends it in a brand new and very fun way.

But don’t take our word for it, here’s the official scoop from Marvel:

When the impossible is everywhere and the very fabric of reality is threatened by insanity, the world needs more than super heroes…they need Defenders! Enter Defenders #1, from the top-selling creative team of Matt Fraction (Fear Itself, Invincible Iron Man, Mighty Thor) and Terry Dodson (Uncanny X-Men), as Doctor Strange assembles a new team of heroes to face a new kind of threat that will leave readers shocked.

Doctor Strange, Iron Fist, Namor, Red She-Hulk, Silver Surfer and more of your favorite Marvel Heroes will band together exploring corners of the Marvel Universe you never knew existed for missions so deadly they have to be kept secret. Once a Defender, always a Defender – no matter the cost or sacrifice.

Fraction is joined by artist Terry Dodson and to help get you as excited as we are, check out poreview pages for the comic after the break. Look for Defenders #1 in comic shops on December 7.

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