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Archive for August, 2011

Geek Media Round-Up: August 31, 2011

Aug 31 2011 No Comment  148 views

Art

Fallout Monopoly

  • 100 Amazing Minimal Movie Posters
  • The Concept Art for John Carter of Mars
  • If you’re a nerd living in NYC, don’t miss Lightsaber Battle NYC 2011!
  • The Making of a Cover: Buffy Season 9 #1 by Georges Jeanty.
  • Posters: Twenty-Five Years Of Mario Dying
  • Win Screen is a Solitaire sculpture

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This Day in Geek History: August 31

Aug 31 2011 No Comment  222 views

1831
Charles Darwin visits his uncle, Josiah Wedgwood II, to discuss his father’s opposition to his voyage aboard the HMS Beagle. Darwin is enthusiastic about the opportunity, but his father considers it a waste of time that would only delay his son’s anticipated career in the clergy. Darwins uncle will write a letter to Robert Darwin, reassuring him of the value of such a trip, and ultimately changing his mind.

1842
The U.S. Naval Observatory, one of the oldest scientific agencies in the U.S., is authorized by an act of Congress. Its primary task is to act as a depot for the Navy’s charts, navigational instruments, and chronometers, which are calibrated by timing the transit of stars across the meridian. Visit the agency’s official website.
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Geek Quote of the Day

Aug 31 2011 No Comment  34 views

It is a small world. You do not have to live in it particularly long to learn that for yourself. There is a theory that, in the whole world, there are only five hundred real people (the cast, as it were; all the rest of the people in the world, the theory suggests, are extras) and what is more, they all know each other. And it’s true, or true as far as it goes. In reality the world is made of thousands upon thousands of groups of about five hundred people, all of whom will spend their lives bumping into each other, trying to avoid each other, and discovering each other in the same unlikely teashop in Vancouver. There is an unavoidability to this process. It’s not even coincidence. It’s just the way the world works, with no regard for individuals or for propriety.

      - Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman, 2005.

Free Fiction Round-Up: August 30, 2011

Aug 30 2011 No Comment  91 views

Audio Fiction and Podcasts

  • Listen to “Beneath The Ruined Tower Of Zenopus” by Paul Fini (Chapter 2, 3).
  • Listen to “Bruise For Bruise” by Robert Davies at Pseudopod.
  • Listen to “Corps Cadavres” by Neil John Buchanan at Pseudopod.
  • Listen to “Dark Detour” by Lance Young at Dunesteef.
  • Listen to “Darkest before the Darkwater” by Tee Morris at Peculiar Occurrences.
  • Listen to “Doors” by Rajan Khanna at PodCastle.
  • Listen to “From Around Here” by Graeme Dunlop at Cast Macabre.
  • Listen to “God-Shaped Box” by D.K. Thompson at Journey Into…
  • Listen to “Soulmates” by Mike Resnick and Lezli Robyn at Escape Pod.
  • Listen to “The Sultan of the Clouds” by Geoffrey A. Landis at StarShipSofa.

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This Day in Geek History: August 30

Aug 30 2011 1 Comment  57 views

1831
Charles Darwin replies to the letter from Reverend Henslow, telling him of the offer to sail on the HMS Beagle. Darwin had learned natural history from Henslow, who had recommended him for the unpaid position as a naturalist. Darwin told Henslow that his father would not permit him to leave on such a the voyage. Meanwhile, his father had written to his brother-in-law, Josiah Wedgwood II, about his concerns regarding the proposed two-year voyage.

1953
The NBC network broadcasts the first compatible color TV program to have been publicly announced, “St. George and the Dragon,” on the “Kukla, Fran, and Ollie Show.”
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Geek Quote of the Day

Aug 30 2011 No Comment  41 views

Privacy is not something that can be counted, divided, or “traded.” It is not a substance or collection of data points. It’s just a word that we clumsily use to stand in for a wide array of values and practices that influence how we manage our reputations in various contexts. There is no formula for assessing it: I can’t give Google three of my privacy points in exchange for 10 percent better service.

      - The Googlization of Everything: And Why We Should Worry by Siva Vaidhyanathan, 2011.

Geek Media Round-Up: August 29, 2011

Aug 29 2011 1 Comment  154 views

Art

Arian Noveir

  • Interview: TolkienLibrary.com interviews Benjamin Harff about his hand-illuminated edition of The Silmarillion. Complete with click-to-see-larger pictures of his work.
  • Interview: Tor.com interviews Chesley Award-Winner Michael Whelan.
  • Arian Noveir is selling comic book paintings.
  • Edouard Martinet “upcycles” junk into anatomically correct creature sculptures
  • Paper dolls from all your favorite TV shows. Just print and cut, and maybe stage your own drama if you like.

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This Day in Geek History: August 29

Aug 29 2011 No Comment  38 views

1831
Charles Darwin returns home from a geology field trip in North Wales to find letters from Reverend John Henslow and George Peacock informing him that he will soon be invited on a scientific voyage of HMS Beagle. He is just twenty-two years old and has just graduated from Cambridge University. The offer is to be a naturalist aboard the HMS Beagle for a two year survey of South America, leaving on September 25th. Although he immediately accepts the offer, his father and sisters are opposed to the trip. They regard the trip as an idle pursuit that will delay his expected career in the clergy. His father is prepared to change his mind, but only if Darwin can find a qualified man who views the exploit as worthwhile. Darwin will spend the next two days doing just that.

English chemist Michael Faraday discovers electromagnetic induction using his “induction ring,” the first electric transformer. Faraday discovered that changing the intensity of a magnetic field produces an electric current in a wire. Induction will become the fundamental principle behind electric generators.
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