We have a new addition to The Geek Beat team: Christine Mathias will joining the crew as a correspondent covering geek entertainment. Christine has been in radio programming for ten years, developing entertainment content for morning shows and acting as pop culture guru for news/talk hosts at KGO in San Francisco. In her own words, “No one has ever loved television more than her.”

The advancement of Geek Culture surprises her, because of the years of cockeyed looks she endured when she espoused her love of Greek Mythology, Superheroes, and the Dragonlance Chronicles.

Oh, and she was in marching band. If that doesn’t cement her geek cred, we don’t know what will.

So, welcome, Christine! Your first deadline is tomorrow. No, really. We’re not kidding.

At last week’s Comic-Con, yours truly had the unbelievable good luck to interview Jewel Staite about her new role as Dr. Jennifer Keller on Stargate: Atlantis. Jewel talks about what it’s like being the new kid on Atlantis, compares Dr. Keller to her favorite role, Kaylee on Firefly/Serenity, and comments on how much she hates doing “doctor babble.”

To play the video, click the image above. We recommend you have QuickTime installed before you try this.

Note: Special thanks to the Done The Impossible folks for acting as my impromptu video crew when the originally scheduled group press conference was switched to one-on-one meetings at the last minute. Thanks also to Brian Wiser for alerting me to the switch and filling in as my sound guy.

Those in the know are aware that the Tonner Doll Company makes some of the most insanely detailed, beautifully crafted, cherished childhood friends. Their licensed dolls, based on such entertainment franchises as Harry Potter, Pirates of the Caribbean, and DC Comics, are sought after by collectors everywhere and often go for top dollar.

So it comes as no surprise that Tonner’s latest hot property – the limited edition replica of the adorable Mimzy plush bunny from the movie The Last Mimzy, which retails for $59.99, has been selling on eBay for well over $150 a pop. After all, the doll has been limited to only 500 pieces and was sold out almost the moment it was announced. (more…)

Last Friday, we were greeted by the most terrible news imaginable – made even more terrible by the fact that it was completely unexpected. Pete Wilson, a great friend and benefactor of The Geek Beat (and without whom, we probably wouldn’t be here), died following a massive heart attack during hip replacement surgery at Stanford Hospital.

I have been a regular guest of Pete’s news and talk show, The Pete Wilson Show, since my days as Editor-in-Chief of Macworld. When I left Macworld in 2001, Pete was one of the few members of the media who stayed in touch, still inviting me on his show from time-to-time to do tech commentary. Only now, instead of just Mac stuff, Pete gave me a forum to talk about all manner of technology. As a journalist focused exclusively on the Mac for the previous 20 years, this was an amazing opportunity to expand my scope and incredibly generous of Pete to make possible.

It was Pete who encouraged me to start The Geek Beat, when our ad hoc sessions evolved into quarterly events with me writing buyer’s guides on all manner of stuff and then discussing them on the air with Pete. And it was Pete’s show, more than anything else, that was responsible for driving that all-important initial traffic to our site. Pete got nothing out of this. In fact, at first, I was at something of a loss to explain this unprecedented act of generosity. But as I got to know Pete better, I realized that was just who Pete was – a good and generous man.

Of course radio was just a small part of Pete’s world. And I will leave it to others more qualified to eulogize his considerable achievements. However, I believe it’s how someone handles the small things in life that is the best measure of their worth. And based on that measure, Pete was a very worthy man, indeed.

We will miss you, Pete. We are all diminished by your absence.

Pete’s family has asked that in lieu of flowers, donations be made to your favorite charity in his name.

When you tire of trolls, elves leave you empty, and ancient nameless horrors only elicit a yawn, there’s nothing quite so renewing as a good bout of role-playing in a post-apocalyptic, dystopian near-future where the only magic is the death that your boom-stick rains upon the legions of mutant abominations that roam a fractured landscape.

I am speaking, of course, of the Fallout series. Perhaps the most cathartic role-playing game ever to grace a pixel, the series’ combination of skills-based battle, state-of-the-art (for the time) graphics, and darkly humorous storylines is a breath of fresh air in a genre that takes itself entirely too seriously. (more…)