This week in Computer Talk Radio, Benjamin kicked off the year with a bang, bringing news of a coming movie from the director of Pirates of the Caribbean. Unfortunately, this movie likely will not be as epic. It centers on a man playing SecondLife, a massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) that is more of a social networking site/advertising nexus. The man’s wife then has to deal with the horrors of never seeing her husband, who has developed an addiction to the virtual world. Unfortunately for all involved, SecondLife has pretty much disappeared as of late, despite being featured on CSI: New York last season. If you still like the idea however, check out a few others that are still going strong.

            Benjamin also talked with his Mac Expert, Deborah, about the new Mac Books, and of course, the fact that Steve Jobs didn’t do the keynotes for Apple at MacWorld. Jobs, the face of Mac keynotes since 1997, decided not to do the keynotes this year for an unknown reason. Interestingly, this will also be Macintosh’s LAST YEAR at Mac World. So…. What’s Mac World going to be without Mac?

            Further in news, Benjamin touched on the rise of online Banking. However, this isn’t about checking bank statements and such from Wescom of Wells Fargo online. This is more about exclusively online investment sites like Mint and SmartyPig. These sites sprung up quite a bit in the past year or so, and were considered a huge gamble. After all, how do you trust a website with all of your personal data? How can you track the firm if the site goes online and the owners take all your cash with them? Entrepreneurs starting these sites became quite worried when the economy took a fall, thinking people wouldn’t trust them at all. However, they were quite wrong. As people saw their funds dropping they began to lose faith in the banking systems of old. So many turned to these online sites, and users have increased threefold in the past year.  Unfortunately, the sites have yet to turn a profit. They are bringing in revenue, but no real profit, though things are brightening up. All these entrepreneurs have to do is hope that things continue as they are even after the economy turns back around.

            In a less serious subject, Benjamin talked about various technologies with strange names, like Firefox, Twitter, Blackberry, and the iPod. Turns out that the iPod was meant as a sort of “pod,” or “Portal,” from the traditional Macintosh products to a new genre. So, naturally, pod was the given choice. But everything Mac must start with an “i,” so throw one of those in front, and it instantly becomes the latest Mac phenomenon, the iPod. For the entire list, check out the show audio.

            Benjamin also discovered that the majority of jailed journalists is now comprised of digital journalists. China has the most jailed journalists, 28, and 24 of them are online journalists such as Hu Jia, a humans’ rights activist. Two organizations working to fight this are the Electronic Freedom Foundation (EFF.org) and the Privacy Rights Clearing House (PrivacyRights.org). They both reach out to gather awareness of the situation and many like it, and the EFF now has lawyers and is taking cases to court. If you are in need of assistance, please contact them for help.

            Additionally, Benjamin interviewed the people at LogMeIn about their service. No, this is not a form of noodle, despite what Benjamin’s son was thinking when he saw the service. This company allows you to access your computer via another by typing in the IP address. Check out www.logmein.com for more info.

            Benjamin also talked about Video Games this week, and how 20% of Americans are playing once a day, and 36% of senior citizens also play once a day. This is anything from a simple game of Brickreaker on your cell phone to a first person shooter on a computer or Console. Parents are even playing a lot, especially younger ones under 40, who play with or against their kids, though usually not online. Online gaming like Xbox Live and the Playstation Network remain mostly the realm of teens and twenty-somethings, though the group is expanding. Benjamin also shared that he looks forward to playing Starcraft 2 with his son sometime soon, whenever it releases, hopefully this year. Let’s just all hope he lets Benny play as Protoss instead of only Terran. If you have any comments on the statistics or just want to voice support for Benny’s freedom to play as any race in Starcraft, please contact Benjamin at ComputerTalkRadio.com.

Make Sure to listen to the show audio below!