The Great Geek Manual

1522
Ferdinand Magellan’s ship, the “Victoria,” returns to Spain, becoming the first ship to successfully circumnavigate the globe.

1879
Telephone Company, Ltd. opens the first public British telephone exchange on Lombard Street in London using Edison’s telephone system. The service will be, in effect an exclusive club, to which members will pay a subscription. At first, the exchange serves just eight subscribers. By the end of the year, there will be about two hundred subscribers, and two more exchanges will open on Leadenhall Street in the City, and at Westminster.

1947
The aircraft-carrier Midway becomes the first US vessel to launch a long-range rocket. The test, which is a part of Operation Sandy, fires a captured German V-2 rocket from the flight deck several hundred miles off the east coast of the US.

1952
CBFT-TV, Canada’s first television station, opens in Montreal, broadcasting programs in both English and French.
Read the rest of this entry » » »

Just as there’s intrinsic value in helping other humans, there’s intrinsic value in helping higher intelligence come into existence. These future minds will experience growth and joy beyond human capability.

- “AI And What To Do About It” by Ben Goertzel on Forbes.com, June 22, 2009.

1787
Clause 8 of Article I, Section 8 of the United States Constitution governing copyrights and patents is adopted by the constitutional convention.

1831
Charles Darwin first meets Captain Robert Fitzroy, commander of HMS Beagle, who would be his cabinmate on a the historic five-year expedition during which Darwin will visit the Galapogos Islands.

1857
Charles Darwin sends a letter to Harvard botanist Asa Gray, discussing his theory of evolution. The encouragement that Darwin will receive from Gray and other colleges will prompt him to finally publish his theory after twenty years of indecision.

1916
The epic motion picture Intolerance directed by D. W. Griffith opens in New York City.
Read the rest of this entry » » »

Art

• Brickshelf has posted a gallery of Lego creations inspired by Frank Herbert’s Dune.

Film

• The latest film clips from The Road make the movie look beautiful and haunting.
• Mike Brotherton names his picks for The Ten Scariest Science Fiction movies. Me, I vote for Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth. That thing gave me nightmares for a week.
• The SciFi Squad wants you to think you’ve read its list of The Top Ten Sci-Fi Mind Control Movies.
• Shiznit picks The 10 Greatest Post-Kill Puns. It’s no surprise that Arnold reigns supreme.
• WHY are people still reporting things that come out of Megn Fox’s mouth? In her latest idiotic soundbyte, Fox Compares Michael Bay to Hitler.

Internet

• The Vine has an amazing photo gallery of Rare Behind-the-Scenes Star Wars Images.

Read the rest of this entry » » »

Source: The Telegraph

RedBubble is selling these in a variety of colors for US$23.74.

Source: RedBubble

1882
Thomas Edison supplies electricity to the first customers of the Edison Illuminating Company at 257 Pearl Street in New York City. Edison inaugurates its operation by pulling a switch on the Wall Street office of his primary financial backer. The station’s “Jumbo No. 1″ generator is a direct-current steam-powered dynamo. It can power about seven hundred sixteen candlepower lamps. Within fourteen months, this first power station serves 508 subscribers and powers 12,732 bulbs.

The New York Times becomes the first newspaper to use the electricity generated by the Edison Illuminating Company. The paper uses the electricity to power twenty-seven lamps in the editorial room and twenty-five lamps in the counting room. The following day, the paper will run an article reporting that its employees unanimously prefer the light provided by the carbon-filament lamp over the building’s former gas lighting.

1888
George Eastman registers the Kodak trademark and receives a patent for his camera which uses roll film. (US No. 388,850) This design is the first Kodak mass-produced camera, and it will largely be responsible for popularizing photography in the mass market. As described in its advertising, the device is simple to operate. “Pull the String, Turn the Key, Press the Button.”

1906
Robert Eugene Turner of Norfolk, Virginia is granted a patent for his typewriter, described as a “Type Writing Machine,” with a carriage powered by a motor to “return automatically when the end of the writing-line is reached, also to return same by pressing a key-lever on the keyboard to return the carriage at any point of its stroke.” The machine spaces lines by manual or automatic means. (US No. 830,115) A low-powered motor was adapted to feed the carriage in the printing direction, a high-powered motor for returning the carriage in the reverse direction, and the necessary mechanism to control their action.
Read the rest of this entry » » »

So, I was flipping through the channels looking for something to watch last night and the best thing on was The Matrix Reloaded. (I know, it’s a sad commentary on cable programming.) Only, when I turn to it, I realize that the movie in on WZPX, the local ion affiliate, which is best known for constant Reba re-runs and the occasional Lonesome Dove marathon.

It was like realizing that I’d just stopped on the Lifetime channel.

So, I start flipping again. I find Stargate. Only, it’s on AMC!

Completely depressed, I turn to the On Demand menu for my nightly SFF fix. Know what’s on? Ads for the teenie-bopper-pleasing Twilight!

Then it hits me. Oh my God, I’m getting old.

Depressed and rejected by my own television, I retire to my bookshelves for the night with a quarter of a chocolate cake and some vintage Bradbury to reinvigorate my inner child.