The Great Geek Manual

Human affairs are like a chess game: only those who do not take it seriously can be called good players.

- Hung Tzu-ch’eng

In life, unlike chess, the game continues after checkmate.

- Isaac Asimov

Note: While the first quote is widely circulated, I can’t find a definitive source for it. Some cite Seneca the Elder, the Roman philosopher as its author, while others cite Hung Tzu-ch’eng, a Chinese philosopher of the Ming Dynasty. Somehow, I don’t think either of the men played modern chess, so I just choose the one most widely cited in literature.

1867
Joseph Lister publishes an article on his discovery of antiseptic surgery in the medical journal The Lancet. The article is the first of a series in which Lister applies Pasteur’s theory that the micro-organisms which cause gangrene might be inhibited chemically. In the articles, he details his successful use of phenol (carbolic acid) on medical instruments, surgical incisions, and wound dressings to reduce infections.

1919
The wireless telephone is invented, enabling pilots to communicate in flight with each other and the ground for the first time.

1926
Robert Goddard launches the first US liquid-fuel rocket in a field in Auburn, Massachusetts. The rocket is an experimental model of Goddard’s own design which places the rocket ahead of its fuel tank, shielded from flame by a metal cone. The design is intended to provide the rocket with greater stability, but it failed to function as it was intended to.

1942
The first V-2 rocket is tested, but it explodes on liftoff. A V-2 will eventually become the first man-made object to make a sub-orbital spaceflight.
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1493
Christopher Columbus returns to Spain from his first voyage to the new world, which began on August 3, 1492. The return comes after spending a week in Portugal, where his ship had been blown by a storm during the return trip.

1915
The English Divisional Court of Appeal rules in the case of Ellis v North Metropolitan Theatres Ltd. that local authorities do not have the right to ban cinema exhibitions on Sundays.

1959
At Brookhaven National Laboratory in Upton, New York, the first US atomic reactor built specifically for medical research, the Brookhaven Medical Research Reactor (BMRR), reaches criticality. The reactor will be decommissioned in December 2000.

1960
The National Observatory at Kitt Peak, Arizona is dedicated. Housing twenty-three telescopes, it is the largest and most diverse gathering of astronomical instruments in the world. Visit the official Kitt Peak National Observatory website.

1963
The International Business Machines (IBM) Data Processing Division (DPD) introduces the IBM 1050 data communications system. Visit the official IBM website.
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People like us, who believe in physics, know that the distinction
between past, present and future is only a stubbornly persistent illusion.

- Albert Einstein in a letter of condolence to Michele Besso’s family, March 15, 1955.

I realize that these are probably intended for kids, but come on! I mean, after my thumbs have cramped into the kill position from an intense Halo match, it get’s kinda hard to hold on to those girlie ovoid bars of soap.

The best part of these beauties isn’t even their shape, though. This soap comes in Apple Jack, Cola, Dragon’s Blood, and Mountain Dew scents! Now, your girlfriend (or mom) can’t necessarily assume that you’re unshowered just because you stink of your favorite sugary treat.

Ironically, the stuff is completely devoid of animal products, detergents, or sugar solutions, at least two of which can be counted among most geeks’ favorite things. I don’t know why they’re trying so hard. They could have put rat poison in the things, and they’re shapes would still have sold me.

You can pick these up over at Etsy, the handmade craft marketplace, for anywhere from US$5.25 to $8.75 a piece. They would make great Easter basket stuffers for your kids or hygene reminders for that “extra-special” roommate in your life.

Source: Etsy

Today is White Day in Japan and Korea, a holiday similar to Valentine’s Day, in which men give gifts to women. It is also Pi Day, an International celebration of the mathematical constant, Pi.

1794
Eli Whitney patents the Cotton Gin, a mechanism to separate cotton seeds from the plant’s usable fiber. Before the Cotton Gin, removing seeds from cotton was a task largely accomplished by slave labor. The invention, which makes it possible for a single person to clean fifty pounds of cotton in a day, will revolutionize the textile industry and significantly decrease the demand for slave labor in the US.

1839
Sir John Herschel uses the word “photography” for the first time in history during a lecture given to the Royal Society in London.

1891
The construction of the first submarine telephone cable across the English Channel is completed.

1915
The first issue of the Sunday Pictorial, the first newspaper to make extensive use of photography, is launched in the UK.
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I may not have gone where I intended to go,
but I think I have ended up where I needed to be.

- The Long Dark Tea-Time of the Soul by Douglas Adams, 1988.

Art

• The SteamPunk Workshop has posted a video interview with Tim Sepe, Steampunk Artist.

Comics

• For some mysterious reason, Jericho is going to return as a comic… you know, for all the CBS loyalists who read comics. Is it just me, or do those seem like incompatible demographics?

Film

• It’s been announced the one of the best science fiction film franchises out there, the Chronicles of Riddick is about to become a trilogy, which, to my mind, is very good new.
• Switched grades 10 Films That Would Flunk Science Class.
• There may be a Dark City 2 in which the last film’s protagonist returns as a power-corrupted villain. It’s not the best news I’ve ever heard, but I would love to see more done in the Dark City setting.
• Yes, the critiques are still pouring in a week later: VideoHound shares 8 Complaints about Watchmen That Are Hard to Dismiss

Internet

• Hongkiat points the way to 20 Best Websites To Download Free EBooks, then twenty more.

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