The Great Geek Manual

God damn it. American television networks do it again. The Middle Man, the best bit of comedy produced since Buffy and the only decent current sci-fi apart from Dr. Who, is now “hibernating in a high tech vat” indefinitely.

Damn it. Damn it. Damn it. Just this weekend, I finally got my brother to watch it, and we were just agreeing how brilliant the series was while were watching the Academy Awards. I should have know that would jinx it for sure.

According to the New York Post, a network rep exclusively confirmed to PopWrap that, “ABC Family has decided not to renew the series for a second season.” However, over at the MiddleBlog, the series’ creator seems mildly optimistic that something might happen if the DVD box set of season one sells well this summer, and he’s quick to assure fans that one more comic is forthcoming. The comic will tell the story planned for the unaired series finale.

I’m scrambling to find a write-in campaign to join, but efforts to save this amazing series are almost as scattered as the series’ ratings. If anyone has any suggestions, post them below!

Art

• Over at The Art of M. S. Corley, you can see what the Harry Potter series would look like as Penguin classics. Also, don’t miss what the Lemony Snicket series and Spiderwick series would look like.

Film

• The List Universe picks Top 20 Greatest Science Fiction Movies of the Eighties, and they’re not the ones you’d have guessed.

Internet

• Cory Doctorow discusses How the Internet Will Devour, Transform, or Destroy Your Favorite Medium.
• Little Fivers runs down Signs a Sci-Fi Geek Is Sick.

Literature

• Free Fiction: Read “Dark Planet” by Lavie Tidhar and “Summon, Bind, Banish” by Nick Mamatas at Apex Online.
• Free Fiction: Read “The Listening Glass” by Alexis Glynn Latner at Analog.
• A Christian discusses Frank Herbert’s works without either criticism or sarcasm, claiming “Dune Helped Forge My Religious Identity.”
• The Guardian, which previously ran their list of the 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read, has just published a list of their readers’ all-time favorite science fiction and fantasy novels.
• Try to guess who you would pick as the top three horror writers of all time. Then, see how your picks compare with Mania’s Top 20 Greatest Horror Writers of All-time.

Television

• Bukisa takes a look at the Top 10 Mythological Men of Science Fiction, including our dear Dr. Who and the unforgettable Captain John Sheridan.

Video Games

• Kotaku pontificates on Why You’ll Never Be Happy With Video Game Films.
• Quake Live goes into open beta on February 24th.

Do not fear to be eccentric in opinion, for every opinion now accepted was once eccentric.

- Bertrand Russell

1871
Charles Darwin publishes Descent of Man in London, England. In it, Darwin wrote, “The sole object of this work is to consider, firstly, whether man, like every other species, is descended from some pre-existing form; secondly, the manner of his development; and thirdly, the value of the differences between the so-called races of man… During many years it has seemed to me highly probable that sexual selection has played an important part in differentiating the races of man; but in my Origin of Species I contented myself by merely alluding to this belief. When I came to apply this view to man, I found it indispensable to treat the whole subject in full detail.” Read the full text of Descent of Man online or listen to the audiobook at Darwin Online.

1896
Henri Becquerel unknowingly discovers radioactivity during an investigation of the phosphorescent rays of some “double sulfate of uranium and potassium” crystals. He will later report to the French Academy of Sciences reports that he placed the crystals on the outside of a photographic plate wrapped in sheets of very thick black paper and exposed the whole to the sun for several hours. When he develops the photographic plate, a black silhouette of the substance appears on the negative. When he places a coin between the uranium crystals and the wrapped plate, its image appears on the negative.

1931
The Fields Medal is established to recognize outstanding contributions in the field of mathematics by John Charles Fields, the chairman of the Committee of the International Mathematical Congress (ICM). The first medals will be awarded in Oslo, Norway in 1936.

1949
The first rocket to reach outer space is launched from the White Sands Proving Grounds in New Mexico. The modified German V-2 ballistic missile reached a record altitude of 244 miles, breaking the Kármán line, which, 62.1 miles above the Earth’s sea level, will later be established by the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale as the upper limit of Earth’s atmosphere.
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1455
This is the traditionally accepted anniversary date for the publication of the Gutenberg Bible, the first book printed using movable type. View pictures of the Gutenberg Bible.

1893
Rudolf Diesel receives a German patent for the diesel engine. He will have produced an actual prototype of the engine for testing by July 1893. The engine is designed to be fueled by powdered coal injected with compressed air. Read more about diesel engines at How Stuff Works.
Read more about the history of diesel engines at Powerpedia. See Rudolph Diesel’s first engine on display at the Deutches Museum, Munich.

1896
The Tootsie Roll is introduced to the US by Austrian immigrant Leo Hirshfield at a small store in New York City. He names the chewy chocolate candy after his five-year-old daughter, Clara, whose nickname is “Tootsie.” The Tootsie Roll is America’s first individually wrapped penny candy. By 1905, production will be moved to a four-story factory. During World War II, Tootsie Rolls will be added to the rations of American soldiers because of their ability to withstand severe weather conditions and give quick energy. Tootsie Rolls are made from a base of sugar, corn syrup, soy-bean oil, skim milk and cocoa. Read more about the history of the Tootsie Roll at the official Tootsie Roll website.

1910
The first radio contest is held in Philadelphia, Philadelphia.
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1630
Popcorn is introduced to the Pilgrims by an Indian named Quadequina, who delivered it to them in deerskin bags as his contribution to the first Thanksgiving dinner. Indians had been growing popcorn for more than a thousand years before the arrival of European colonists.

1774
The English House of Lords rules that authors do not have perpetual copyright.

1828
German biochemist Friederich Wohler informs Jakob Berzelius that he has synthesized the organic chemical, urea, which was formerly found only in urine. This marks the first time that a chemical produced only by living organisms has been synthesized.

1912
National Cash Registers (NCR) becomes the first company ever prosecuted under US antitrust laws. Antitrust laws will later play a significant role in the computer and telecommunications industries. Among the top executives of NCR is Thomas J. Watson, who will later found of International Business Machines. Visit the official NCR website.
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“I suspect that democracy is not viable in a technologically advanced society. Free people wield too much ability to destroy.”

Daemon by Daniel Suarez, 2006.
Chapter 45: Respawning, Character: Sobel

1804
The first self-propelling steam locomotive makes is tested at the Pen-y-Darren ironworks in Wales, on its normally horse-drawn tramline. The railway engine is able to pull a load of fifteen tons at a speed of about five miles per hour. However, adhesion is a problem. The iron wheels slip on the iron rails and the the cast-iron rails of the tramways are not strong enough to support the weight of the new machine. The experiment is soon abandoned.

1858
The first electrical burglar alarm is installed in the US by Edwin T. Holmes in Boston, Massachusetts. When a door or window is opened, a spring is released, closing an electrical circuit.

1875
Jeanne Calment is born. Calment will live for 122 years and 164 days, which is the longest confirmed lifespan of any human being in history.

1878
The first telephone book is issued in New Haven, Connecticut by the New Haven Telephone Company. It lists twenty-one names.

1884
Edition one of the Oxford English Dictionary is published.
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