The Great Geek Manual

In the case of good books, the point is not to see how many of them you can get through, but rather how many can get through to you.

- Mortimer J. Adler

1506
Explorer Christopher Columbus dies in poverty in Spain.

1747
An experiment to remedy scurvy among sailors during long sea voyages is conducted by British ship surgeon, James Lind, on the HMS Salisbury. He regulates the diets of the sailors, and specifically includes lemons and oranges. The results of the trial will quickly prove that the enormous number of deaths caused by scurvy cab easily be prevented. The discovery will allow passengers to undertake long voyages in relative health for the first time.

1830
D. Hyde of Reading, Pennsylvania patents the fountain pen. However, the first truly practical fountain pen won’t be invented until 1884 by Lewis Waterman.

1856
David Edward Hughes of Louisville, Kentucky is issued a patent for the first telegraph ticker that successfully prints type. (US No. 14,917) The following year, he will sell the rights to his invention for US$100,000 to the Commercial Co.

1891
The first public demonstration of a prototype Kinetoscope is given at Edison’s laboratory for approximately 150 members of the National Federation of Women’s Clubs. A three second “film” directed, produced by and starring William Dickson is used for the demonstration. The film depicts William Dickson waving in greeting. Subsequently, the film will become known as the “Dickson Greeting“. The New York Sun will describe what the clubwomen saw in the “small pine box” they encountered:
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…it is shameful that there are so few women in science… In China there are many, many women in physics. There is a misconception in America that women scientists are all dowdy spinsters. This is the fault of men. In Chinese society, a woman is valued for what she is, and men encourage her to accomplishments yet she remains eternally feminine.

- Chien-Shiung Wu
As quoted in “Queen of Physics,” Newsweek, May 20, 1963.

Book: Magic Strikes
ISBN-13: 978-0441017027

Author: Ilona Andrews
Series: Kate Daniels Series
Publisher: Ace
Genre: Urban Fantasy
Release: March 31, 2009
Length: 320 pages (Paperback)

Rating: C (70 / 100)

Verdict

Andrews introduces a number of very innovative plot devices to the urban fantasy genre, and her storyline is a rapidfire rollarcoaster that doesn’t leave an idle moment in which a reader might grow bored. However, the tough-girl heroine pursued by a romantic interest she can’t possibly allow herself to indulge is becoming a very, very tired cliche in the urban fantasy genre and Andrews fails to develop her characters into three-dimensional people. As such, while this book is a fine way to spend some spare time, it’s never going to make any top ten list.

Borrow it, don’t buy it. This book is about on par with the entertainment value of an episode of any genre television series you’d care to name.

Synopsis

Official: Drafted into working for the Order of Merciful Aid, mercenary Kate Daniels has more paranormal problems than she knows what to do with. And in Atlanta, where magic comes and goes like the tide, that’s saying a lot. But when Kate’s werewolf friend Derek is discovered nearly dead, she must confront her greatest challenge yet. As her investigation leads her to the Midnight Games—an invitation only, no holds barred, ultimate preternatural fighting tournament—she and Curran, the Lord of the Beasts, uncover a dark plot that may forever alter the face of Atlanta’s shapeshifting community…
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From Around the Web

10 Amazing Gadgets You Can’t Get Here – Do tiny TVs, intelligent cell phones, and superpowerful netbooks and headphones make you drool? Get a tissue–you can’t buy any of this terrific tech in the U.S. just yet.

The 10 coolest jobs in tech – They may not have high wages or great career prospects, but there are some jobs so desirable that you’d pay to do them.

Cory Doctorow discusses DRM at Microsoft Research – This talk was originally given to Microsoft’s Research Group and other interested parties from within the company at their Redmond offices on June 17, 2004.

HOW TO: Exchange Business Cards With Twitter @Replies – twtBizCard, from the same people behind the beautiful yet simplistic twtapps, makes its grand entrance as quite possibly the simplest way to send and receive business cards. Now exchanging business cards is as easy as sending an @reply to a Twitter name with the hashtag #twtBizCard.

Nerf Sentry Gun – This Nerf Sentry Gun was developed as a final project for Cornell University’s CS1114 Matlab Robotics class. It features a motion-controlled Nerf gun equipped with optical recognition software that allows the device to recognize identification badges.

New search engines aspire to supplement Google – Despite what you may think, Google is not the only player. New search engines that are popping up across the Web strive to make searches faster, smarter, more personal and more visually interesting. Read the rest of this entry » » »

Art

• Check out this Lego Half-Life² photo gallery at Flickr.

Film

• Captain Kirk’s Dad, Chris Hemsworth has been cast as Thor. I’m happy to see them finally manning up on this film.
• Horror of horrors, Abrams Doesn’t Rule Out Shatner in ‘Trek’ Sequels.
• I don’t much care for Sandra Bullock, but Betty White always cracks me up. Watch Betty White tell off Ryan Reynolds behind the scenes of The Proposal.

Internet

• Print your own money using the Hasbro website.
• ScreenRant has posted photos of the BattleStar Galactica Prop Auction.

Literature

• Free Fiction: Listen to “Witch Girl!” at The Horrors of It All.
• Free Fiction: Read “Baby in the Basket” by Cecil Castellucci at Strange Horizons.
• Free Fiction: Read “Darkness Ends” by Gustavo Bondoni at Atomjack.
• Free Fiction: Read “The Ark” by Boyd Morrison at Manybooks.
• Free Fiction: Read “The Infinite when it was Two Digits Old” and “Counting up to Infinity” by Allen I. Fleishman at Cuphead.com.
• Gizmodo claims Asimov’s Laws of Robotics Are Total BS.
• Over at the Guardian, Robert McCrum discusses the End of Literary Culture, saying that “We should not rue the passing of a bookish golden age that never existed.”

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1908
Electrical engineer Frank Pearne and his son, Howard, also an electrical engineer, receive a patent for the typebar page printer. (US No. 888,335)

1910
The Earth passes through the 24-million-mile-long tail of Halley’s Comet for approximately six hours. A few years earlier, astronomers discovered that another comet contained Cyanogen, and scientists predicted that, if Earth passed through Halley’s comet tail, everyone would die.

1922
Charles Francis Jenkins achieves his first successful television transmission in his laboratories.

1924
Bell System engineers publicly demonstrate the first transmission of pictures over telephone wires.

1927
Sid Grauman’s Chinese Theatre opens on Hollywood Boulevard. Read more about Grauman’s Chinese Theatre.
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Apple II was kind of like a baby conceived during a group orgy, and [later] everybody had this bad headache and there’s this bastard child, and everyone says, ‘It’s not mine.’

- Randy Wigginton, quoted by Insanely Great by Steven Levy, 2000.