The Great Geek Manual

Audio Fiction and Podcasts

• Listen to “Black Feather” by K. Tempest Bradford at PodCastle.
• Listen to “Cafe Culture” by Jack Dann at StarShipSofa.
• Listen to “The Cull” by Robert Reed at ClarkesWorld Magazine.
• Listen to “Forests Of The Night” by Abigail Hilton at Dunesteef.
• Listen to “The Handmaid’s Tale” by Margaret Atwood by the BBC.
• Listen to “The Man Who Hated Gravity” by Ben Bova at StarShipSofa.
• Listen to “Paper Cradle” by Stephen Gaskell at ClarkesWorld Magazine.
• Listen to “Raising Jenny” by Janni Lee Simner at EscapePod.

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1784
The Pennsylvania Packet and Daily Advertiser, the first daily paper in America, is first published.

1883
The first direct telegraph connection between the U.S. and Brazil is completed.

1893
J. Frank Duryea drives the first gas propelled car manufactured in the U.S.

1895
The Duryea Motor Wagon Company, the first automobile manufacturer, is established.
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The size and age of the Cosmos are beyond ordinary human understanding. Lost somewhere between immensity and eternity is our tiny planetary home. In a cosmic perspective, most human concerns seem insignificant, even petty. And yet our species is young and curious and brave and shows much promise. In the last few millennia we have made the most astonishing and unexpected discoveries about the Cosmos and our place within it, explorations that are exhilarating to consider. They remind us that humans have evolved to wonder, that understanding is a joy, that knowledge is prerequisite to survival. I believe our future depends powerfully on how well we understand this Cosmos in which we float like a mote of dust in the morning sky.

- Cosmos by Carl Sagan, 1980.

Art

• Boba Fett Adidas sneakers
• Is it me, or does Ian McKellen have more of an attitude the older he gets?
• No Man Is an Island?

Cross-Media

• AOL picks the Top 10 Pirate Songs.
• MSNBC picks the 10 Greatest Fictional inventors of All Time.
• Sing Something Sci-Fi: a list of 15 sci-fi and fantasy actors who have performed extra-curricular vocal duties.

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1633
Galileo Galilei is tried before the Inquisition of the Catholic Church on charges of heresy for teaching his theory that the Earth orbits the Sun.

1848
The international non-profit organization American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) is founded. The organization defends scientific freedom, encourages scientific responsibility, offers science outreach programs, promotes cooperation between scientists, and supports scientific education. Visit the American Association for the Advancement of Science website
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Who is more humble? The scientist who looks at the universe with an open mind and accepts whatever the universe has to teach us, or somebody who says everything in this book must be considered the literal truth and never mind the fallibility of all the human beings involved?

- Carl Sagan in Interview with Charlie Rose, 1996.

1848
Hyperion, a moon of Saturn, is discovered by William Cranch Bond, George Phillips Bond, and William Lassell.

1928
The first talking cartoon film, Walt Disney’s Steamboat Willie, premieres at the Colony Theatre in New York, introducing Mickey Mouse.

1957
Eight former Shockley Semiconductor engineers sign papers to form Fairchild Semiconductor. The “Fairchild Eight” include: Julius Blank, Victor Grinich, Jean A. Hoerni, Eugene Kleiner, Jay Last, Gordon Moore, Robert Noyce, and Sheldon Roberts.
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