As usual on Saturdays I get to announce our Puzzle of the Week winner who was selected at random from all the correct entries. Many congratulations to:
Brian Gillespie
Here is the solution to last week’s puzzle:
Using the clues, find the famous lady:
So the solution we needed was:
Her Majesty The Queen
Look out for a new puzzle starting tomorrow.
Image courtesy Hand Stylus
I’ve been going through a bunch of styluses lately. It turns out they mostly suck. Picture trying to write something with a hot dog encased in metal. Not exactly an artists dream, and usually I just give up and used my finger. You know, one of the ten styluses Steve Jobs
The Hand Stylus ended up not sucking. Hooray! They sent me a couple of prototypes, and I’m glad I checked them out. The Hand Stylus is being funded as a Kickstarter project. Funding closes June 17, and the styluses should hit stores sometime in mid to late July for a retail price around $35-40. (Hand Stylus designer Steven King emailed me to tell me the retail price would actually be $25-$29) You can save $5 on a stylus and tip bundle if you buy it through the Kickstarter.
Continue Reading “Review: Hand Stylus Shows Promise” »
Is this too confusing for new readers: Avengers vs. X-Men, image copyright Marvel. Yes, that's a Red Hulk. It's a long story.
One of the biggest topics of discussion among readers of Marvel and DC superhero titles is whether the books they love are too laden with backstory and tales dependent on past events–i.e., continuity–to attract new readers.
Last year, DC rebooted their entire universe which was a big splashy event designed to attract new readers, lapsed superhero comic readers, and current readers of the Marvel line. Initially a success, there are questions of the long-term viability of that strategy.
But if DC is full of continuity, including four current or past Robins, and countless Green Lanterns, including the newly revitalized original, Alan Scott, who has been re-imagined as gay, Marvel is even more so, with its seemingly endless number of X-titles that include characters that not even I, who has read X-comics for over twenty years, can sort out.
Still, while hitting the reset button to start fresh might sound like a good idea, it’s not as easy as it sounds.
I found out firsthand the difficulties involved when playing “The Apprentice” game on the Brian Bendis comic book forum. It’s really a game designed as a series of writing prompts/pitches on popular superhero characters and it has been great and amazing fun to play. The first assignment for our team of six was to reboot the Marvel universe into 52 monthly titles.
Not only did we have to decide what the new starting point was, we had to decide on creative teams, and also on weekly shipping schedules. To make the game interesting, we couldn’t just pick creators out of a hat. We had to use creators who could reasonably expect would agree to be on the books.
Big Blue Studio Speaker, Image: Brookstone
The problem with a lot of our snazzy devices is that, although they hold a ton of music and will play it, they don’t sound all that good. You turn up the volume on your phone or your laptop and the sound gets tinny or distorted or just plain awful enough that you have to be hooked to your device with a pair of earbuds or it’s just not worth it. Brookstone’s new Big Blue Audio products provide an affordable solution to this problem with Big Blue Studio and its portable little sister Big Blue Live.
Big Blue Studio connects wirelessly with Bluetooth-enabled devices at a range of 33′ so you can listen to your favorite music without being tethered to a speaker. It’s very easy to get started and I had this speaker filling my living room with sound within minutes of opening the box. Open the box, plug it in, and then press and hold the front button to put it in pairing mode. A blue light blinks and you hear a series of beeps to let you know it’s working and then you can select the speaker from your device. That’s it.
Continue Reading “Brookstone’s Big Blue Audio: Wireless Bluetooth Speakers With Punch” »
After 25 years with NPR, the Magliozzi brothers are hanging up their radio headphones and plan to "stop and smell the cappuccino". Photo: CarTalk.com.
After 35 years with WBUR in Boston, and nearly 25 years with NPR, Car Talk’s Tom and Ray Magliozzi, A.K.A. Click and Clack, A.K.A. The Tappet** Brothers, have announced their retirement from producing new shows after their 25th anniversary show in this September.
Read their June 8th announcement from Click and Clack’s mouth…er…keyboard…right here.
**What on earth is a tappet? Wikipedia offers a somewhat vague definition. Suffice it to say it’s a critical part of an automobile engine.
Continue Reading “Geeks We Love: Tom and Ray Magliozzi of NPR’s Car Talk Retiring” »
Photo: Karen Nolan (Lego)
It turned out to be a great first day on the Great Lego Lemonade Stand Build in downtown Philadelphia yesterday! If you didn’t catch the post about this great fundraiser for pediatric cancer research, check out the information we gave you yesterday or go to Alex’s Lemonade Stand to get the details.
In a nutshell, if you’re in the Philadelphia area, take a minute to stop by and help finish this colorful, important project. One of our favorite Lego Master Builders, Steve Gerling (seen in this photo, standing at the right) designed the unique project and is on site to orchestrate its construction.
If you’re all about the actual lemonade, show up tomorrow (Saturday, June 9) to take part in smaller, speciality builds and get your free cup of refreshment. Maybe it will inspire you to go home and make your own stand out of any raw materials of your choosing (I’d personally suggest a card table and a folding chair, but that’s just me…).
Some of the Board Games I Own © Sophie Brown
My name is Sophie and I’m a Born-Again gamer.
Don’t get me wrong, I’ve always played games: board games, card games, video games, the whole lot, but I’ve never really considered myself to be a “gamer.” I’m not getting into discussions about how you define a gamer — that’s a whole other ball game so to speak, I’ve just never felt like a gamer myself. The board games I played as a kid and a teenager are the ones everyone and their aunt has in a cupboard somewhere: Monopoly, Scrabble, Trivial Pursuit, and so on, I’ve also never played many of the “classic” video games series like Halo, Mass Effect, or even Mario. That’s right, I have never played a Mario game in my life. Instead I grew up with my beloved Amiga 1200 playing The Addams Family, Jurassic Park, and Alfred Chicken (curse you Alfred Chicken, you stole too many hours of my childhood).
Recently I decided to start gaming more and I’m going to be sharing all these new experiences here on GeekMom, from new board games (well, new to me anyway) to video games to card games. I’ve recently been playing Portal and also become totally addicted to Skyrim — BEST. GAME. EVER. Outside the video game world I’ve been playing the Harry Potter Diagon Alley Board Game — a lucky second-hand discovery — and Zombie Dice (although admittedly the latter is on my iPhone because the app is free). A friend and I have also been attempting to decipher our way through The X-Files Collectable Card Game, somewhat of a gaming flop from 1996 and the only CCG either of us have ever played. Well, unless you count that one time a guy got me to play Magic: The Gathering with him when I was 16, but that was more about him finding a way to get me into his bedroom so it doesn’t really count (nor did his plan work). Anyway, if there’s anyone out there who wants to help us learn this one then please get in contact — no really, we need the help!
I hope you enjoy this new series with its complete mix of all types of games. I’ll soon be writing about the Diagon Alley game but until then you can read through my review of the classic 7th Guest, another game I played as a kid which was re-released earlier this year. If you’re a fan of board games, newbie or veteran, I suggest you check out Wil Wheaton’s new series Table Top over at Geek and Sundry where you can also occasionally see Felicia Day playing some classic video games on The Flog.
Maker Faire artists. Image: ScrapKins, used with permission.
One of the booths my son and I went to at the recent Maker Faire in the Bay Area was ScrapKins. There, we were taught how to take a toilet paper tube and turn it into a monster. My son was quite creative with his, but it is practically NSFW, in an eight-year-old boy kind of way. So instead, I’m showing you what some of the other kids at the Faire put together.
Check out the ScrapKins website. They have all kinds of fun projects to do with materials found around the house, and they have a book, Scrap Kins Build-it Book, too!
Can't Stop the Serenity Logo 2012 © Can't Stop the Serenity
June 8th sees the beginning of the 2012 “Can’t Stop the Serenity” (or CSTS) events all over the world. What is CSTS?
Can’t Stop the Serenity (CSTS) is a unique opportunity to indulge your geeky side while doing some good! Since 2006, fans have organized screenings of Joss Whedon’s Serenity to raise funds and awareness to support Equality Now in their work for the protection and promotion of the human rights of women around the world.
The 2011 events raised over $150,000 for Equality Now and a small range of other charities, often local to the screening locations. Since 2006 when the events began CSTS have raised over $600,000.
For 2012 there are dozens of events happening all over the world including the UK, Australia, Canada, and the USA. I will be attending my first CSTS event this year and it sounds just shiny. As well as the screening of Serenity we will also be enjoying a BBQ at a local pub, raffle of Firefly goodies, and a screening of Doctor Horrible’s Sing-A-Long Blog. I’m really looking forward to finally meeting my local Browncoats who will be donating 25% of their profits to Anthony Nolan, a charity who help save the lives of people with blood cancer who need a blood stem cell, or bone marrow transplant, in memory of James Bullock who was a key helper in previous CSTS events.
For now I’m just trying to put the finishing touches to my costume and reading about GeekMom Mandy’s experiences at previous CSTS events in Charlotte, NC. Let us know if you’ll be attending any CSTS events this summer and if you do, remember to share your photos on our Flickr page.
Dakster Sullivan will be marching for the last time this year in Star Wars Weekends. She will be joining her fellow Jedi for Prequel day and leading the clones out as Aayala Secura. This will be her second time marching as Aayla and considering the positive response she got last time, she is really looking forward to it.
Kris Bordessa has been watching her youngest son work with a team all month to produce their first submission to LEGO Cuusoo. After much building and international collaboration, the team proposed a collection of three Portal sets, complete with amazing mock-ups for packaging and promo images. Their project is currently in the review stage.
Patricia is attempting a “Back to Basics” campaign this summer, returning to her cooking and baking roots by trying to minimize processed foods. In fact, tonight she made granola from scratch for the first time! Her kids are finishing up school this week and then they’re preparing for their annual road trip for Father’s Day weekend in Lancaster County, PA: a family reunion.
This week Kelly Knox is planning to head to Seattle’s Experience Music Project Museum to catch the opening of a new exhibit, Icons of Science Fiction. She’s also hoping there’s an end in sight to all of the rain so that summer can start properly!
A screenshot from Good Luck Charlie as the family discusses baby names in "Name That Baby," airing Friday, June 15th, at 7:30 p.m. on the Disney Channel
After years of being the sole property of 8 p.m. EST on network television, the family sitcom has largely migrated to cable, especially the Disney and Nickelodeon channels with shows like Hannah Montana on Disney and iCarly on Nick.
One of the biggest current hits on Disney is Good Luck, Charlie.
There were two reasons I was interested in Good Luck, Charlie. The first has to do with baby names. The fictional Duncan family is expanding this year and instead of simply revealing the baby’s name after birth, Disney asked for its viewers to vote on possible names. It seemed a fascinating tech twist on the age-old subject of how to name children.
Twenty-five million fans of the show from around the world voted on the internet to select the baby’s names. Interestingly, the votes were event split between boy’s and girl’s names. The name will be announced in a one hour special airing on Sunday, June 24th. If the child is a boy, he’ll be either Noah, Jonah, Toby, Bobby Jr., or Bo. If the child is a girl, she’ll be Sydney, Erika, Mallory, Talia, or Jenny.
The name that stands out for me in that mix is Talia, which is also the name of the daughter of Batman villain Ra’s Al Ghul. Talia is also the mother of Batman’s son, Damian Wayne, currently the new Robin in the Batman comics. I doubt, however, that there are enough Batman fans to have pushed Talia on the list so I can only conclude it’s a popular worldwide name.
The second reason the show caught my attention is that the actors who play the parents Bob and Amy Duncan on the show have some serious geek cred.
Eric Allan Kramer, Bob Duncan on Good Luck Charlie, and the former Thor
Eric Allan Kramer , who plays Bob Duncan, is the original Thor. If you’re my age, you remember when The Incredible Hulk series starring Bill Bixby and Lou Ferrigno devolved into a series of television movies that tried–but failed–to launch other superheroes. Kramer played Thor in The Incredible Hulk Returns, a role that he said was one of his first after arriving in Hollywood.
Leigh-Allyn Baker, who plays mom Amy Duncan, has done extensive voice work for video games, including voicing Jean Gray in X-Men Legends and X-Men Legends II: Rise of Apocalypse.
I talked to Kramer and Baker last week about their own names, their kids’ names and what it’s like working with their young co-stars.
Naming a baby is more than an academic exercise for Baker, as the actress is expecting in September. She has a son named Griffin Samuel, age three, who was given a family name but her new child’s name is wide open, as she decided not know ahead of time whether her baby is a boy or girl.
Her own unusual name, Leigh-Allyn, comes from two uncles she was named after. We talked a bit about how hard it was to find mugs or keychains with our names as children because hers is as likely to be mass-produced as my own (Corrina).
This week Nicole Wakelin is joined by GeekMom Editor and fiction author Corrina Lawson who can now add comic book writer to her list of accomplishments. She recently wrote her first short comic for Gray Haven Comics. Her story will appear in The Gathering #12 which is a special all women issue of the anthology. Listen in as Corrina talks about how she got a chance to write a comic and the creative processed that followed. You’ll also learn how you, too, can write your own comic, and cross that item off your geeky bucket list.
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Music: Rebecca Angel
What happens when PBS Digital Studios collaborates with Symphony of Science’s John Boswell to pay tribute to children’s television legend Fred Rogers aka Mister Rogers? Pure magic! This magic is in the form of a song titled Garden of Your Mind, featuring the late, great, and beloved Fred Rogers.
This song and video left a huge smile on my face, and reminded me just how much I miss Mister Rogers.
The inspiration for the video, as explained by PBS on their YouTube page:
When we discovered video mash-up artist John D. Boswell, aka melodysheep, on YouTube, we immediately wanted to work together. Turns out that he is a huge Mister Rogers Neighborhood fan, and was thrilled at the chance to pay tribute to one of our heroes. Both PBS and the Fred Rogers Company hope you like John’s celebration of Fred Rogers’ message.
If you haven’t yet familiarized yourself with the wonder that is the Symphony of Science, I highly recommend you do so. All of the tracks are free. You can even download the videos and source tracks, allowing you to create your own Symphony of Science remixes. You can also download the entire Symphony of Science album on Bandcamp and the Remixes for the Soul including album, Garden of Your Mind, on Bandcamp, plus follow John D. Boswell on Twitter @musicalscience.
What did you love about Mister Rogers?
The barge that carried the Space Shuttle Enterprise up the Hudson pulls up alongside the Intrepid Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum in New York. Image: Kathy Ceceri
There was an impromptu party on Manhattan’s West Side yesterday to welcome the space shuttle Enterprise to its new home aboard New York’s biggest floating attraction, the Intrepid Sea, Air and Space Museum.
Taking advantage of the beautiful spring weather, New Yorkers and tourists alike, flocked to the shoreline on foot, on bicycles, pushing strollers and holding older kids by the hand. They came to watch the Enterprise as it made the final leg of its journey from JFK Airport to midtown. The Enterprise — yes, it was named after the iconic star ship! — was built in 1976 as a prototype. It never flew on its own.
The Enterprise had previously resided at the National Air and Space Museum’s Steven F. Udvar-Hazy Center just outside Washington, D.C., but was moved to New York to make way for the space shuttle Discovery, which was retired following its last flight. In April, the shuttle was ferried by air from Washington to JFK. From there, it was loaded on the barge, sailed past Coney Island and under the Verrazano Bridge to a waypoint in Bayonne, New Jersey.
According to the Intrepid’s website:
Weather and tidal conditions were favorable allowing Enterprise to arrive home ahead of schedule. Once safely moored to the craning barge, crews began the tedious task of lifting Enterprise from water level on to the flight deck of the former USS Intrepid. Although it was a slow and steady process, space shuttle Enterprise safely touched down on the flight deck of Intrepid Sea, Air & Space Museum, on schedule, at around 4:30 pm.
I was lucky enough to see the space shuttle pull into its berth purely by chance. I was in New York for the day attending BookExpo America at the Javits Center, a convention hall only a few blocks from the Intrepid. I happened to take a break from the exhibitor’s hall just as a TV screen tuned to a local news station was showing video of the Enterprise making its way upriver. I dashed out of the Javits and down to the water’s edge, where I joined the festive crowds watching the historic event. As it happened, I was also passing through upstate Waterford, New York just as three Cold War era aircraft that had to be moved to make room for the Enterprise were being carried by barge on the canal to their new home, the Empire State Aerosciences Museum in Glenville. Sadly, that time my luck wasn’t so great, because I didn’t find out why people were lined up along the bridges and riverbanks as I drove through town until I got home that night and turned on the news.
Although we visit New York fairly regularly, my family has never made it to the Intrepid, but with this latest addition we’ll be sure to go. Intrepid’s Space Shuttle Pavilion, including Enterprise, will open to the public on July 19th.
Photo: Alex's Lemonade Stand
Calling all Philadelphia area readers! If you love lemonade, Lego bricks, or kids, head on down to the National Constitution Center and take part in the construction of a lemonade stand built completely out of Lego. This weekend just happens to be National Lemonade Days weekend, and the inspiring folks at Alex’s Lemonade are encouraging kids to get out there and build their own stands (most generally out of something other than a kazillion Lego bricks).
Photo: Alex's Lemonade Stand
The Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation was started by, and named after, a brave little girl who spent many of her eight years on the planet fighting that awful demon called cancer. When she was feeling well she’d hold lemonade stands, to help other kids who were fighting the same disease. Alex’s body finally wore out in 2004 but her family keeps her memory and her tradition alive, by encouraging kids around the world to host their own lemonade stands, then contributing the money to pediatric cancer research. Since Lego bricks are all about kids, the Lego Company is raising awareness of this special organization by using what they have, lots and lots of bricks, to build their own stand.
If you happen to be in Philly from Thursday, June 7th through Saturday, June 9th, drag yourself (and your kids, of course) down to help snap some bricks together.
And if you’re not in the Philadelphia area, crack out the card tables and paper cups and set up your own stand for the weekend. It’s a fun rite of passage and a great way to help others.
1. Throw a BYOB party. This is cheap, imagination-driven fun. You wield cutting implements and supply lots of tape. Guests are charged with one simple task: Bring. Your. Own. Box. Together kids can construct a fort or spaceship or whatever they please out of the boxes, then spend hours playing in it. There are plenty of other ways to amuse kids with cardboard boxes too.
2. Make sponge bombs out of cheap household sponges, then soak and use for tossing games. Unlike water balloons, these will last all summer. They also make a lovely smacking sound when dropped on an unsuspecting sibling from the top of a slide. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.
3. Take late-night walks. Kids enjoy this even more when they are in charge of the flashlights.
4. Find out how advanced hooping has become and how to get your kids started. You’ll want to provide a good example of hula hoop enthusiasm. Here’s how to make a hoop that will fit your, ahem, grown-up hips.
5. Set up a bike, trike, or scooter obstacle course. Mark the course with sidewalk chalk or masking tape. The course may lead them around cones, through a sprinkler, under crepe paper streamers hanging from a tree branch, and on to a finish line. Next, encourage them to set up their own obstacle courses.
6. Practice cloud appreciation.
Continue Reading “Outdoor Summer Fun: 30 Ideas for Your Geeklets” »
In the era of big studios and even bigger stars, still photography was a burgeoning art. The people behind the lens, and in front of it, were still learning how to capture the feel of a film and the essence of a character in a single shot. Hollywood Movie Stills tells the story of how those early film stars were shaped by the studios that promoted them and the photographers who captured their images.
There are beautiful pictures of iconic stars like Greta Garbo, Lillian Gish and Humphrey Bogart on the sets of their most beloved films mixed with scenes of their personal lives, sound stages, and the film crews. But this isn’t solely a book of pictures, something to look at but not read, but rather a book that tells a story.
Continue Reading “Book Review: Hollywood Movie Stills Captures the Glamour of the Golden Age” »
bikn Image: Ubergizmo.com
Bikn is a modern leash for your iPhone and everything you don’t want to lose. When I received the device and two smart tags last month, I knew instantly what I was attaching them to…my 6-year old son and my husband. They were a little confused when I told them to get lost so I could go find them, but they did it anyway. We spent some quality family time while I tried to figure this thing out.
The starter kit comes with one iPhone case and two smart tags. For starters, you will need to insert your iPhone into the case and download the free Bikn app from iTunes. Downloading the app and setting it up was pretty simple; actually using the app was even easier. Each tag has a colored loop that helps you organize who is who in the app.
Once we had it settled on who got what tag, my son learned a new way to push mommy’s buttons; specifically the paging button on his tag. Each tag comes with a button that, once pushed, will send out a signal to the iPhone case. The paging won’t stop until the smart key button is pushed again or the iPhone app deactivates the page. You can imagine how much fun I had all afternoon with my son wanting to constantly push the button to hear the neat beeping sound it makes. I felt like R2-D2 was following me around. Continue Reading “Bikn – A Modern Day Leash” »
Photo by Andy Shustykevych courtesy of CC license
Having a toddler who has developed a rather fussy attitude towards his food, means that week after week I am left with plates of discarded meals. The composter is currently half assembled, we have yet to purchase the pigs that my husband would like to keep, and so I get rid of roughly two cans of trash a week. Every year when we drive up to camp, we pass a large landfill and I wonder when we are going to run out of room for everything we discard.
We GeekMoms have very different opinions about what to do about the trash problem. Some are of the composting kind, some are of the opinion that, in the absence of your own livestock, waste food can be donated to local farms. Others take an interest in the development of local BioFuel options. My opinion? All of the above. I would love to finish our composter this weekend, and as soon as I have a handle on having two kids I will happily get pigs to consume their waste! But I would also like to see my town make more of the contents of our dump than they currently do.
Image: Regenesisbiofuel.co.uk
Continue Reading “Taking Out The Trash: The Next Wave of Biofuel” »
Droplet_Splash by Ard0 (public domain)
I’m not exactly germophobic, but while I’m out in public I make an effort to avoid picking up too many cooties. Still, it’s impossible to avoid all contact with other people’s crud, especially for those of us who live in big cities. Sanitizing wipes don’t work in every situation, and for that reason I’m grateful to Destin of Smarter Every Day fame for providing an elegant solution to a delicate problem. With science!
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