The Great Geek Manual

Astronomy

Leading astronomers are already lobbying to have Pluto’s Planethood Re-instated.

Biology

Don Knotts’ science cred increases as scientists his “Mr. Limpet” performance is validated when scientists Trace Human Speech to Talking Fish.

Gorillas aren’t as endangered as previously though. A new population of 125,000 gorillas have been discovered in the swamps of the Congo Republic.

Could a saltwater crop called Salicornia be the answer to world hunger, fuel shortages, AND global warming? One farmer thinks so.

Energy

MIT researchers may have overcome a major barrier to large-scale solar power: storing the energy for later use like a plant… more here, here, here, and here.

Will pond scum become the new oil? Will scum magnates be the next oil tycoons?

Physics

The stunning photos of the Large Hadron Collider are so amazing that you almost forget that it might destroy the universe.

Technology

A look at 50 Ways NASA has changed the world over the past 50 years.

Finally, science produces something useful. Live Science talks about how nanotechnology can keep your underwear clean.

Using PlayStation 3 consoles for Molecular simulations is either the most brilliant use or the worst waste of gaming hardware ever.

BBSpot suggests the top eleven Changes Geeks Would Make to the Summer Olympics.

Blackenheimer has posted his favorite Kids in the Hall segments all in one place.

The Dark Knight: Early Joker Concept Art reveals far darker plans for the film.

Foodzorz features a gallery of Geek Cakes, including one decorated as an iPhone.

French study reveals that illegal downloads nearly equal box office receipts in France, then those willey pirates stole the study and shared it online, stealing researchers’ thunder. But what did they expect?

PC World presents 15 Great, Free Privacy Downloads to protect your computer.

A Slow Motion Video of Lightning is topping Digg this week for good reason.

Video Game Celebrity Lookalikes.

Here it is, the trailer for Sam Raimi’s adaptation of Terry Goodkind’s The Sword of Truth series.

I’ve been waiting to see how this one turn outs. The fantasy genre has been very under-represented in television, and when it does turn up, its usually crap – Buffy exempt, of course. With the fantasy genre riding high at the box office, one highly-rated fantasy series could start a trend. At least, that’s what I’m hoping.

After watching the trailer, I’m even more hopeful. Not because the series it how I imagined it, but because it’s not going to be another Beast Master. And when it comes to television, that’s really the best you can hope for.

Personally, I’m praying this series pulls down Seinfeld-level ratings, encouraging other big screen directors to step up and make some television based on a few good series, like the Wheel of Time.

Dreaming permits each and every one of us
to be quietly and safely insane every night of our lives.

- Dr. William C. Dement, founder of the Sleep Research Center at Stanford University.

Film

• Den of Geek presents the Top 10 Killer Plants.
• Fans everywhere cry out as news that an Indiana Jones V in on its way hits the web.

Literature

• Do Hugo Winning Novels Make Great Films? The short answer is no.
• Free Fiction: Spider Robinson reads both Day Million and We Purchased People by Frederik Pohl.
• JusthastobePlausible shares 20 British SF Novels You Should Read.
• Solare Flare has a great list of Ten Steampunk Novels You Ought To Read.
• Stephanie Meyer actively encourages her fan community, leaving the world shocked at what a bitch J.K. Rowling really is.
• The World Fantasy Awards Nominations have been announced. You can check them out now at Locus Online.

Video Games

• Den of Geek presents 10 Franchises that should be Lego Computer Games.

Writing

• Online Astronomy Resources for Writers gathered by Mike Brotherton.

AComment presents Top JavaScript/Ajax Effects for modern web design.

Breathtaking Math Art based on physics fractals.

David Letterman presents the Top Ten Signs Your Airline is Cutting Costs on the Late Show.

A few uses for all of those left-over CD Spindle Boxes you have lying around.

Fifty Search Engines for Librarians, most of which you’ve never heard of.

Robots will account for thirty percent of U.S. military in twelve years… within fifteen, the world will be at the mercy of world government composed entirely of teen hackers.

Ten Green Concept Cars that are waaaaay out there from Wired.

Ten Skills you Need to Succeed at almost anything.

The fifty best Websites for Writers is an excellent bookmark list for new writers.

Turns out Apple can remotely disable apps installed on your iPhone. Surprise!

I don’t believe people are looking for the meaning of life
as much as they are looking for the experience of being alive…
Life is without meaning. You bring the meaning to it.
The meaning of life is whatever you ascribe it to be.
Being alive is the meaning.

- Joseph Campbell

1941
Station WNBT, Channel 4 in New York City, broadcasts the first television program to feature audience participation when the studio audience plays charades.

1944
International Business Machines Corporation (IBM) president Thomas J. Watson Sr. presents the Automatic Sequence Controlled Calculator (ASCC) to Harvard University in a formal dedication ceremony, after which the system becomes known as the Harvard Mark I. It is only the second program-controlled machine, being preceded only by Konrad Zuse’s Z3. The system is the result of Professor Howard Aiken’s research into computation, and it was financed and built by IBM. The whole machine is fifty-one feet in length, eight feet in height, weighs five tons, and incorporates 750,000 parts, including 3,304 electromechanical relays and 72 accumulators. Unlike in Zuse’s earlier binary machine, the arithmetic is still fixed-point and decimal, with a plug-board setting determining the number of decimal places. Input-output facilities include card readers, a card punch, paper tape readers, and typewriters. There are 60 sets of rotary switches, each of which can be used as a constant register, like a mechanical read-only memory. It would perform at a rate of six seconds per multiplication. The system will most famously be used to create ballistics tables for the US Navy.

1955
Tokyo Telecommunications Engineering, the forerunner of the later Sony, launches a line of the first transistor radios in Japan.

1959
The first photographs of the Earth from space are transmitted by the satellite Explorer 6.
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