The Great Geek Manual

1456
The printing of the Gutenberg Bible is completed. Although it is not the first book to be printed by Gutenberg’s new movable type system, it will be the work for which Gutenberg will be remembered, it will mark the advent of the “Gutenberg Revolution” and the “Age of the Printed Book”.

1831
Charles Darwin is invited to travel aboard the HMS Beagle.

1853
The first potato chips are prepared by Chef George Crum, an American Indian, at Moon’s Lake House in Saratoga Springs, New York. According to later accounts, railroad magnate Commodore Cornelius Vanderbilt was dining at the resteraunt, but he sent his fried potatoes back to the kitchen, complaining that they were “too thick.” The chef, George Crum retaliated by slicing paper thin strips of potatoes and frying them to a crisp. Vanderbilt loved these “Saratoga Chips” and they became an instant success.

1869
The first US patent for a waffle iron is issued to Cornelius Swarthout of Troy, New York. (US No. 94,093)
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1609
Galileo first demonstrates his telescope.

1889
The first ship-to-shore wireless message to be received in the US is, “Sherman is sighted.” US Lightship No. 70, San Francisco, announces the arrival of the US Army troopship Sherman to the crowd assembled at the Cliff House. Reporters there from the San Francisco Call, who relay this information to a city awaiting the return of its hometown regiment from the battlefields of the Spanish-American War. The lightship, miles out at sea in deep fog, relays the message via wireless telegraphy, which will later be known as radio, through the fog to the Cliff House. This is the first nineteenth century use of wireless telegraphy outside of England.

1956
Bell Laboratories announces their experiment with a “picture phone” transmission that sends pictures along with sound over regular telephone lines.

1962
First live television connection between the United States and Europe, via the Telstar satellite.
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When I think of all of the roleplaying merchandise that I would love to receive as a stocking stuffer and all of the D&D merchandise I would love to see on the shelf of my local comic book shop, that very last thing that comes to mind in soap. And yet, someone’s gone and done it. They’ve put dice into soap with funny names, and not just any soap. Nine dollar a bar designer soap. They contain citronella perfume oils, jojoba oil, lemon grass, lemon verbena, natural glycerine, and vitamin E. They’re 100% vegan, completely cruelty free, and they smell pretty, too.

Almost like someone who has never rolled a die in anger designed them.

They may not be purchase-worthy, but they’re still good for a gawk. They come in variety of scents, including “Breath of Life,” “Lair of Dreams,” “Lavendryad,” and “Orc OFF!” There’s even one named “Elven Fruits,” after the people who buy them.

Get you Gawk on now over at Paizo.

Art

• A gallery of Fifties Space Art for your amusement.
• Middle Class Batman. DC seriously needs to do a storyline based on the concept.

Film

• Cracked.com shares the Insane True Stories Behind 6 Cursed Movies.
• Interview: Geek Sugar features an interview with Ashley Eckstein, the voice of Ahsoka in Clone Wars.
• Who are the 10 Best Directors working in Hollywood right now?

Internet

• The Daily Green has posted 10 Helpful Ways to Recycle Used Books.
• For the really, really bored: An agonizingly bad Twilight trailer spoof.
• Lisa Spindler runs down Thirteen Things you Didn’t Know about Living in Space.

Literature

• Free Fiction: The incredibly creepy “Billy And The Wizard” by Terry Bisson is now available from StarShip Sofa. Spoilers: Clyde or the wizard may be a pedophile, but Billy won’t stop pulling the damn string!
• Feminist SF runs down the Top Ten Obscure Works of the genre to feature a female protagonist.

Television

• TopTenz counts down the Top 10 Simpsons Guest Appearances.

Video Games

• A number of studies discussed at the American Psychological Association convention demonstrate that computer games can actually develop problem-solving skills in younger players.

The 10 Most Awesomely Insane Nerd Crafts

20 Crazy Things People Do to Get Wi-Fi Connections is a quick list to put a smile on your face.

As her senior thesis project, a girl Disassembled Household Appliances and photographed their components.

GamaSutra has a great History of Atari for hardcore gamers.

Global Nerdy blogs about Celebrity Computer Endorsements, starting with Seinfeld.

This gallery of Places Hit by the Blue Screen Of Death is partially Photoshop’d but no less funny for it.

A Hacker Uncovers (more) Chinese Olympic Fraud.

A Short Illustrated History of the Nerd asks the question, are nerds born or made?

Yet another port of Myst is coming out, this time for the iPhone.

In honor of the 118th anniversary of H.P. Lovecraft’s birthday earlier this week (August 20), this week’s link round-up is devoted to Cthulhu in all his incarnations.

565
St. Columba allegedly saves the life of a Pict who was being attacked by a monster in Loch Ness. The account will later be recorded in the book Life of St. Columba by Adamnan. It is the beginning of the Loch Ness Monster myth. Adamnan recounts the event in the book, “…(He) raised his holy hand, while all the rest, brethren as well as strangers, were stupefied with terror, and, invoking the name of God, formed the saving sign of the cross in the air, and commanded the ferocious monster, saying, “Thou shalt go no further, nor touch the man; go back with all speed.” Then at the voice of the saint, the monster was terrified, and fled more quickly than if it had been pulled back with ropes, though it had just got so near to Lugne, as he swam, that there was not more than the length of a spear-staff between the man and the beast.”

1901
The Cadillac Motor Company is founded.

1906
The Victor Talking Machine Company of Camden, New Jersey, manufactures its first Victrola record player. The devices, including the hand cranked unit and horn cabinet will sell for US$200. It stands out from other phonographs with its elegant wooden cabinet, which conceals the device’s horn and turntable while providing storage space for records. The cabinet, which is available is several contemporary styles, is an innovation that will be imitated by later entertainment systems, including radios and televisions.

1911
The theft of the Leonardo da Vinci’s Mona Lisa from the Louvre museum in Paris, France the previous night is discovered.
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I [..] am rarely happier than when spending an entire day programming
my computer to perform automatically a task that it would otherwise
take me a good ten seconds to do by hand.

- “Last Chance to See” by Douglas Adams, 1990.