The Great Geek Manual

…The space-time metaphor represents a monumental failure of imagination….We’ve been thinking about virtual presence as if we have to send our bodies out there. [But] if we could design reality for our minds, what powers would we grant ourselves? The ability to be anywhere instantly would be a step in the right direction. The ability to be everywhere, all at once, without going mad, is the real challenge. Why should we settle for avatars, when we can be angels?

- Brian Moriarty at the 1996 Computer Game Developers’ Conference.

Art

• Joe Corroney is selling an array of Star Wars Propaganda posters and offering the art for free as wallpapers.
• Naldz Graphics has rounded up a gallery of Fantastic Cosplay Photos.
• Singularity has posted a gallery of Photoshopped Cyborg Animals from Worth1000.com .

Comics

• GeekDad asks Should Superhero Stories Kill Off Kids? The short answer is no.
• Stephen King is slated to release a comic entitled American Vampire.
• Strange Horizons considers Superman as Science Fiction.

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Hardcover Book Releases

The Crucible of Empire by Eric Flint and K.D. Wentworth
Not Less Than Gods (The Company) by Kage Baker
Oath of Fealty by Elizabeth Moon
Secret of the Dragon (Dragonships of Vindras) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Stuck on Earth by David Klass
The Trade of Queens: Box Six of the Merchant Princes by Charles Stross
Warriors by George R.R. Martin and Gardner Dozois
Wild Ride by Jennifer Crusie and Bob Mayer

Paperback Book Releases

Blood Harvest (Deathlands) by James Axler
Bound In Blood (Seeker) by P. C. Hodgell
The Last Man by Mary Shelley
Sacred Ground (Rogue Angel) by Alex Archer
Sapphire by Amanda Reiber
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1802
The United States Army Corps of Engineers is established by an act of Congress authorizing President Thomas Jefferson to “organize and establish a Corps of Engineers … that the said Corps … shall be stationed at West Point in the State of New York and shall constitute a Military Academy.”

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.
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The trouble with normal is it only gets worse…

- Bruce Cockburn, Canadian folk songwriter.

Audio Fiction and Podcasts

• Listen to “Bridesicle” by Will McIntosh at Starship Sofa.
• Listen to “Charlie Harmer Looks Back” by Brendan Detzner at Pseudopod.
• Listen to “Eros, Philia, Agape” by Rachel Swirsky at Tor.com.
• Listen to “A Light in Troy” by Sarah Monette at PodCastle.
• Listen to “Remote Control” by R.R. Angell at Transmissions From Beyond.

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Art

• Check out this Bioshock parody by Zander and Kevin Cannon for the April Fool’s edition of Game Informer.
• Finally! A graphic portraying the power of the Death Star vs. the power of the Force.
• Michael Kutsche has a gallery of Alice in Wonderland artwork.

Comics

• AV Club does a decent job profiling the work of Alan Moore.

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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.
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