Editor's note: Geek Out! posts feature the latest and most interesting in nerd-culture news. From scifi and fantasy to gadgets and science, if you can geek out over it you can find it on Geek Out! Look for Geek Out! posts on CNN's SciTech blog.

This Saturday, BBC America will air the season (or "series," in British terminology) premier of Doctor Who.

The new season is either the Doctor's fifth or 31st, depending on who you ask because of a decade-and-a-half hiatus. And it's a good time to jump in and start watching if you're unfamiliar with the venerable British sci-fi franchise.

Here's a basic rundown on the BBC series:

To date, there have been 11 different actors to play the title character of
the show.

When it started in 1963, the first actor to play the Doctor became too
sick to continue, so the writers created an interesting twist in which he died and regenerated into a completely different person.

The concept was a hit with fans and because of that angle, Doctor Who has become the longest running science fiction show in history, according to Guiness Book of World Records.

For most fans, their first Doctor is the one that remains their favorite Doctor for life. (Tom Baker fans, unite! OK ... David Tennant fans, too.)

Doctor Who follows the adventures of an alien known as a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey.

Known only as "the Doctor," he travels through time and space in a ship called the TARDIS (an acronym for Time And Relative Dimensions In Space). Probably the most recognizable image from the series, the TARDIS looks like a blue British police box from the 1960s.

The Doctor typically travels with a human companion, usually a woman who at some point falls in love with him during their time together. It's a pretty good gig.

This season, we not only get a new Doctor - Matt Smith, who, at 27, is the
youngest actor to ever be cast in this role - but also a new companion named Amy Pond (played by Karen Gillan).

From the clips we’ve seen, the chemistry between the pair is promising. It's a glimmer of hope for fans who have been skeptical about such a young Doctor replacing David Tennant, whose Doctor made such an indelible mark on the franchise.

As longtime fans, we think that the direction of the new season is really exciting and hope it will make us miss the 10th Doctor a little less and start to think of Matt Smith as THE Doctor.

This season, the time travelers will battle villains both classic (the Daleks) and new (vampires?!).

We're especially excited because the entire season will be authored by Steven Moffat.

Moffat is the creator of some our favorite episodes including "Silence in the Library/Forest of the Dead" and "Blink," which featured the Weeping Angels that many agree are some of the scariest opponents ever. And, guess what? The angels will make a repeat appearance this season.

With a following that spans all ages and groups, this is the perfect time to
join on the bandwagon and become a fan of the Doctor.

Are you considering giving the Doctor a shot? And, longtime fans - any thoughts to share with potential newcomers? Let us know in the comments.

Posted by: Karyn Lu, Topher Kohan
Filed under: Geek Out!

Editor's note: Geek Out! posts feature the latest and most interesting nerd culture news. From scifi and fantasy to gadgets and science, if you can geek out over it you can find it on Geek Out! Look for Geek Out! posts on CNN's SciTech blog.

[Correction: I mistakenly say in the video that Sarcraft 2 is published by
Activision/Blizzard, but in fact it is being published by Blizzard
Entertainment. Sorry, Blizzard!]

I got a chance to check out “Starcraft II,” along with colleague Larry Frum.

Subtitled “Wings of Liberty,” the sequel – currently in closed beta - is a long-awaited follow-up to Blizzard’s much-loved real-time strategy game.

The attached video is our full review. But here are a few high points:

Pros:
Beautiful to look at
Smooth game play
Smooth controls

Cons:
Unbalanced game play, based on which race you play
Hard to see whole map
No single-player mode

We both like what we’ve played so far, and patch updates from Blizzard have done a lot to help with the unbalanced game play.

The game will have three releases. We’re expecting the first will allow single-player play as a Terran [i.e. human] and the future ones will expand to the other two - Zerg, Protoss. And with just the first full release, players will be able to go online, at battle.net, and play the other two races in multi-player mode.

What was our final verdict? Watch the video to find out.

Are you in the closed beta? Have you had a chance to play? Let us know what you thought in the comments below.

Posted by: Topher Kohan
Filed under: Geek Out! • video games

Editor’s note: This is the latest in CNN.com’s ongoing “Tech Torture With Topher” video-blog series, in which we “torture” CNN.com staffer Topher Kohan by depriving him of a technological convenience for a week to see how he copes with it. This week, Topher is trying to watch all his beloved TV shows online instead of on his TV.

Hey all,

So today ends this week's experiment. Here are the 4 things I've learned from this one:

1. I watched less TV this week and I really liked it, so hopefully that will continue.
2. I won't give up watching TV on my cable box and DVR, but I will start to supplement it more and more with TV online.
3. Hulu is my favorite site for watching TV.
4. And the downside? I couldn't find a way - legally, that is - to watch live sports and premium channels like HBO online.

So can you watch all your broadcast TV online? Yes - if you're not a sports fan and don't care about watching a show the night it airs.

Thanks for reading and for being part of my blog. If you can take the time, leave a comment below on what you like and don't like about this week's "Tech Torture with Topher." And please suggest ideas for future "tortures" I can try.

Also, don't forget to hop over to my Twitter feed (TopherAtl) and join the conversation there.

Editor’s note: Topher Kohan is the search engine optimization (SEO) coordinator for CNN.com, a “Star Wars” aficionado, a tech dork and an all-around good guy. (No, really, he is — just ask him.)

Posted by: Topher Kohan
Filed under: Tech Torture with Topher

Editor’s note: This is the latest in CNN.com’s ongoing “Tech Torture With Topher” video-blog series, in which we “torture” CNN.com staffer Topher Kohan by depriving him of a technological convenience for a week to see how he copes with it. This week, Topher is trying to watch all his beloved TV shows online instead of on his TV.

Hello all,

It's Day 4 of this little experiment and I thought it would be good for me to expand my online TV viewing and look at some sites other than Hulu.

So I checked out Fancast.com and was very disappointed. I decided to watch the season finale of "White Collar," clicked on the link and found out it was just the show's embed from Hulu. The user experience was terrible - they added more ads and the full-screen option was pixelated.

So for comparison, I went back to Hulu and watched the same show again. It looked great.

I also checked out a show using Netflix's instant-watch feature, which I thought was really good. There are no commercials and it buffers really well.

The big thing I have come to realize this week is that I am watching a lot less TV then if I was just sitting on my couch in front of my cable TV.

OK, so tonight is Thursday Night Football on the NFL network. I'll try to follow along on NFL.com, which offers real-time updates. But I'd love to hear from you about your favorite places to follow live sports for fee on the Web.

Thanks for reading and watching, and please keep up the comments - the conversation on this topic has been great. Also, don't forget to hop over to my Twitter feed (TopherAtl) and join the conversation there.

Remember I'm working with the great folks at CNN's iReport to challenge our audience to try this tech torture themselves this week, then report back to us on how it went. View their challenge here.

Editor’s note: Topher Kohan is the search engine optimization (SEO) coordinator for CNN.com, a “Star Wars” aficionado, a tech dork and an all-around good guy. (No, really, he is — just ask him.)

Posted by: Topher Kohan
Filed under: Tech Torture with Topher

Editor’s note: This is the latest in CNN.com’s ongoing “Tech Torture With Topher” video-blog series, in which we “torture” CNN.com staffer Topher Kohan by depriving him of a technological convenience for a week to see how he copes with it. This week, Topher is trying to watch all his beloved TV shows online instead of on his TV.

Hello all,

So I flew back to Atlanta from Chicago last night, and with all the delays I got home after midnight on the East Coast. That meant I was able to watch Tuesday night's TV on Hulu.

So I watched the season premiere of "Better off Ted" and my first-ever episode of "The Good Wife," which came recommended by friends. One of the great things about watching TV online is that I can go back and catch past episodes of a show that I've heard good things about.

Correction from yesterday: Viewers, you are correct - CBS is not on Hulu. Some CBS shows are listed there, but the link takes you to CBS.com to watch them. I watched three shows on CBS.com the other night and the experience was not as good as Hulu - there were more ads, and the video player crashed twice.

Thanks for reading and please keep the comments coming! Also, don't forget to hop over to my Twitter feed (TopherAtl) and join the conversation there.

Remember I'm working with the great folks at CNN's iReport to challenge our audience to try this tech torture themselves this week, then report back to us on how it went. View their challenge here.

Editor’s note: Topher Kohan is the search engine optimization (SEO) coordinator for CNN.com, a “Star Wars” aficionado, a tech dork and an all-around good guy. (No, really, he is — just ask him.)

Posted by: Topher Kohan
Filed under: Tech Torture with Topher

Editor’s note: This is the latest in CNN.com’s ongoing “Tech Torture With Topher” video-blog series, in which we “torture” CNN.com staffer Topher Kohan by depriving him of a technological convenience for a week to see how he copes with it. This week, Topher is trying to watch all his beloved TV shows online instead of on his TV.

So it's Day 2 and I'm on the road for work.

Last night was not that bad. I watched Monday Night Football on NFL.com and, I have to say, it was a great experience. It wasn't as good as watching the game live, but I knew exactly what was happening the whole time.

Later, I caught some of my favorite shows, like "Big Bang Theory," on Hulu. I'm flying home tonight, so I'll try and catch up on some TV viewing if I can find Wi-Fi in the airport.

We still hope you'll comment below and keep the conversation going. Also head on over to my Twitter account (Topheratl) and join the conversation there.

To help you get started, I've made some short videos that walk you through the sites I'll be using to watch TV online. The first one is about Hulu.com

Editor’s note: Topher Kohan is the search engine optimization (SEO) coordinator for CNN.com, a “Star Wars” aficionado, a tech dork and an all-around good guy. (No, really, he is — just ask him.)

Posted by: Topher Kohan
Filed under: Tech Torture with Topher

Editor’s note: This is the latest in CNN.com’s ongoing “Tech Torture With Topher” video-blog series, in which we “torture” CNN.com staffer Topher Kohan by depriving him of a technological convenience for a week to see how he copes with it.

Welcome back you all!

This week I'm going to give up my TV! Not watching TV - just the TV set itself.

Instead, I'll see if between now and Friday I can watch all the TV I would normally watch - which is a lot - online, legally, on my computer or smartphone. I'm also traveling for work this week, which may throw a new wrinkle into this experiment.

To add some more fun to the mix, I'm working with the great folks at CNN's iReport to challenge our audience to try this tech torture themselves this week, then report back to us on how it went. View their challenge here.

We still hope you'll comment below and keep the conversation going. Also head on over to my Twitter account (Topheratl) and join the conversation there.

To help you get started, I've made some short videos that walk you through the sites I'll be using to watch TV online. The first one is about Hulu.com

Editor’s note: Topher Kohan is the search engine optimization (SEO) coordinator for CNN.com, a “Star Wars” aficionado, a tech dork and an all-around good guy. (No, really, he is — just ask him.)

Posted by: Tech Torture with Topher, Topher Kohan
Filed under: Tech Torture with Topher

Editor’s note: This is the latest in CNN.com’s ongoing “Tech Torture With Topher” video-blog series, in which we “torture” CNN.com staffer Topher Kohan by depriving him of a technological convenience for a week to see how he copes with it. This week, Topher is trying to conduct all his digital business only on his smartphone while traveling for work.

So here we are at Day 2! Yesterday was a travel day and an easy day for only using my iPhone - I was on a plane most of the day, so there wasn't much need for my laptop.

Today will be the first big test: I'm attending a conference in San Jose, California and have to resist the urge to carry around my laptop. Tomorrow I will have a full update on the ups and downs of this adventure (misadventure?).

So with that, please take a look at the video, leave your thoughts in the comments and jump on Twitter to follow the conversation there. Thanks!

Posted by: Tech Torture with Topher, Topher Kohan
Filed under: Tech Torture with Topher

Hello all,

It's Day 3 with no smartphone and, wow, this sucks.

I feel disconnected, and not part of the collective online world. I know - lame, right?

I keep having the feeling I am one or two steps behind in my work because of my lack of connectivity. I know this is crazy, because I added it up and between my home and office computers I'm very close to being as connected as I was when I had my iPhone. But it still feels like I am missing things.

I took my laptop to my meeting yesterday and found myself more distracted than if I had my smartphone. Because I had a full screen in front of me, I was peeking and reading in ways that I would have never done with just my iPhone in my pocket.

I got some great comments on yesterday's post, including one from Josh that I talked about in this video that I think you all will like once you watch.

Thanks for watching and keep the comments coming! It's the only way to keep this conversation going, and it always raises new and exciting discussions I never would have thought of.

Here's a question I asked in the video: What is the one piece of technology you own that you could not live without?

Please take a minute and drop a response. And jump on over to Twitter to join in that conversation.

Other post in this series:

Tech Torture with Topher: Bye-bye smartphone
Tech Torture with Topher: I want my smartphone back!!
Tech Torture with Topher: My Phone's Back and all's Right With the World

Posted by: Tech Torture with Topher, Topher Kohan
Filed under: Tech Torture with Topher

Welcome back everyone to a new Tech Torture with Topher.

First off, thanks to everyone who made the last TTWT such a hit. Because of you all, we get to do a new one this week. The torture topic? My smartphone.

Let me explain. Like many of you, I have a company-issued phone through which my bosses and co-workers often contact me. I have it with me all the time and believe I couldn't do my job without it.

But is that really true? We're about to find out. I'm giving up my CNN-issued iPhone for the week and will try to get by instead on an old phone with no Web, e-mail or even texting capability. How will this impact my day? Will I e-mail more or less? Will I spend more time at my desk?

What impact, if any, will it have on Twitter, Facebook and AIM - which I use not just for personal reasons but to keep in contact with other people who work in the same field?

I'm sure some of you will be wondering what the big deal is. You don’t have an iPhone or a BlackBerry and you get along just great in your day-to-day life. But in the past month I've heard from a lot of people who say they couldn't do their job without their smartphones. So it's not just me.

OK, here we go. I'll post daily updates throughout the week. In the meantime, hop over on to Twitter or leave a comment below. And check back in tomorrow to see how I'm doing.

Other post in this series:

Tech Torture with Topher: Bye-bye smartphone
Tech Torture with Topher: I want my smartphone back!!
Tech Torture with Topher: I want my Phone Back
Tech Torture with Topher: My Phone's Back and all's Right With the World

Editor’s note: Topher Kohan is the search engine optimization (SEO) coordinator for CNN.com, a tech dork, a “Star Wars” aficionado and an all-around good guy. (No, really, he is — just ask him.)

Posted by: Topher Kohan
Filed under: Tech Torture with Topher