hapless geek’s Oscars Central 2015

The 87th Academy Awards is just under a month away, and hapless geek is back once again supplying the ammo to predict who leaves Tinseltown with that coveted golden statuette. Last year we predicted the top awards of the show in Best Picture, Best Director, Best Lead and Supporting Actor, Lead and Supporting Actress, and Best Screenplay (Original and Adapted). We will add a couple more categories...

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Taking the Autonomous vehicle one step further...

Back in 2012, we did a write up on Driverless cars. It was a project that was/is spearheaded by Google and involved a test fleet of at least eight vehicles, consisting of six Toyota Prius, an Audi TT, and a Lexus RX450h. Fast forward to 2014, and the Geneva Motor Show. Swiss automaker Rinspeed has put forward their concept of an autonomous vehicle except this one takes it to the next level... in a...

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The Koenigsegg Obsession: One:1

Sometimes, obsession is a good thing. What we are referring to of course, is Koenigsegg's obsession with weight savings, and giving exactly what customers are looking for... and then some. How about 1360HP in a car that weighs 1360kgs? Sure, why not. Formula 1 technology included? Absolutely. Incidentally, 1360HP equates to 1MW (megawatt), so effectively Koenigsegg may have just developed the...

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The Aston Martin DB9 Special

The Aston Martin DB series is one of the most iconic cars in automotive history, partly due to the fact that it is James Bond's vehicle of choice, and due to Aston's own racing pedigree. The DB9 grand tourer is a combination of suave, sexy, muscle and elegance in a gorgeously well sorted package. With a 6.0 L naturally aspirated V12 putting out 510HP and a colossal 620 Nm of torque, the DB9 is...

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2014 Oscar Wrap-Up

Oscar Sunday 2014 has come and gone, and the best and brightest of Hollywood were honored at the 86th Academy Awards. We at hapless geek enjoyed the night’s festivities, just as much as we enjoyed bringing our predictions of the top award recipients of the evening to you. Let’s recap our night with a final look at the night’s winners!  Our guesses of the night—Best Picture, Best Director,...

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Driven: 2013 Skoda Yeti

We would put the Skoda Yeti in the same league as the Subaru Forester. They aren't exactly SUVs but do have the ground clearance like one. Spacious inside? Absolutely! Capable of lugging goods around? Most definitely. And they most definitely do not drive like SUVs, but more like regular cars! The Skoda Yeti is a very understated, fly under the radar kind of vehicle. You could drive past...

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Adrenaline Shot: Lamborghini Huracán LP 610-4

As the successor to Lamborghini's best selling model of all time the Gallardo, their latest installment does have some big shoes to fill. Fortunately, by the looks of it, the Huracán LP 610-4 (the LP stands for the engine orientation - Longitudinale Posteriore, 610 is the power produced by the engine and the 4 stands for the fact that the vehicle is all wheel drive and power is delivered to...

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Adrenaline Shot: McLaren P1

Now that the venerable McLaren P1 is finally out, all the automotive magazines and TV shows have been chomping at the bit to give the newest bad boy on the block a proper thrashing. I mean, who wouldn't!? With 900+ HP on tap, running on sci-fi technology, the P1 has truly become the latest benchmark the realm of automobiledom. Designed by Air is what McLaren calls it and to know more about the design...

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Critiqued Special: And the Oscar Goes to....

We’re finally here! Oscar Sunday 2014 is upon us, and the best and brightest of Hollywood will be at the Dolby Theater in Los Angeles to honor the best of this past year in cinema for the 86th Academy Awards. We here at hapless geek are excited to see what unfolds, but it wouldn’t be a party without some bets and predictions for who will take home the golden statue.  We’ll be making our guesses...

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Critiqued: The Wolf of Wall Street

Jordan Belfort was notorious for living in excess. Stock market fraud and swindling unsuspecting fathers and small-time businessmen were just another day at the office for the New York stockbroker in the 1990s. Belfort thumbed his nose at authority and convention to live the lavish life others could only dream of, if they weren’t in on the rouse themselves. However, it was also those...

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Critiqued: 12 Years a Slave

There’s a certain kind of discomfort that accompanies Steve McQueen’s films. Exploring the human rights of jailed ideologists in Hunger was his debut endeavor into cinema that earned him international acclaim. The specter of sexual depravity and family dynamic is scrutinized in great detail with his second feature film Shame, a film that many folks haven’t seen, but should. Now everyone...

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Critiqued: Nebraska

Sometimes the perception of one’s life isn’t seen from the same angles others see them. You set your life up for maximum fulfillment, for financial stability, for the family. Whatever the reason, the goal in one’s life is to be happy and have purpose. In Alexander Payne’s Nebraska, that perception isn’t particularly reality. Bruce Dern is Woody Grant, a quiet, set in his ways, alcoholic-in-denial...

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Critiqued: Philomena

When I was a kid, many Saturday nights my sister and I sat with our mom to watch PBS and their block of British comedies: Keeping Up Appearances, Chef, Fawlty Towers and As Time Goes By. And as much as “the Bucket woman” tickled our fancies, it was the last show of the night that always intrigued me. As Time Goes By starred Geoffrey Palmer and Judi Dench as former lovers that rekindled their...

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Analyzed: Project Tango

"The future is awesome. We can build it faster together." That's the tag line from the latest venture from the geniuses at Google; Project Tango. Leave it up to them to come up with real world applications of something that we used to see in Sci-Fi TV shows or movies back in the day. Project Tango is a focused exploration of what might be possible in a mobile platform. It is not part of Android...

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Critiqued: Gravity

The first thing that should be said about this film is that it took over four years to make. Four. Principal photography only took about 3 months. The pre-visualization, post-production and all the rest of the preparation for the movie to reach your Cineplex took another 48 months to create. There’s a lot to be said about dedication to the craft if you’re Alfonso Cuarón and the team he assembled...

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