-
Decode: Strip Search
The ancient Greeks had an interesting way of sending secret messages. The reader receives a strip that, to be deciphered, must be wrapped around an object of a specific diameter. Print and cut out the strip provided here and wrap it around a number-two pencil, starting with the top edge and going downward from left [...]
07.23.12 -
Former McDonald???s Honchos Take On Sustainable Cuisine
The soon-to-be-chain restaurant Lyfe Kitchen is shooting for responsible, healthy, and delicious fast food.
07.23.12 -
Alt Text: Carl Linnaeus, Homo Sapiens and the Vampire Conundrum
It turns out that 18th-century zoologist Carl Linnaeus is the official standard by which all other Homo sapiens are judged. But what does this mean for vampires?
07.23.12 -
Artists Create Giant Portraits on Live Grass
For 20 years Heather Ackroyd and Dan Harvey have been using live grass as biological photo paper. They literally grow their own photographs.
07.23.12 -
Undead: The Rabies Virus Remains a Medical Mystery
Thousands of years of medicine proclaimed rabies-infected Precious Reynolds would die. Then her doctor tried something remarkable.
07.23.12 -
July 23, 1962: Telstar Provides First-Ever TV Link Between U.S., Europe
President Kennedy is scheduled to be the first image beamed across the Atlantic but he's late, so Europe gets part of a Cubs-Phillies game instead.
07.23.12 -
If you build it...: Be on Time to Support This Lego Death Star Clock
I regularly browse through the Lego Cuusoo website to look for new geeky gold nuggets to support. Quite surprisingly, many very impressive projects seem to be left behind. The latest one I came across, and with still very little votes (mine was number 160) is this Death Star II clock.
07.23.12 -
Blindness, Bone Loss, and Space Farts: Astronaut Medical Oddities
A gallery looking at some of the strangest medical and psychological problems to affect astronauts during long-term spaceflight. Will any of these doom a mission to Mars?
07.23.12 -
Why Does the Net Still Work on Christmas? Paul Mockapetris
Paul Mockapetris invented the Domain Naming System, or DNS, which automated the management of internet names and addresses by spreading the duties among myriad servers set up across the network. Ultimately, it allowed the internet to operate without a single, central naming authority.
07.23.12 -
The Story of Steve Jobs: An Inspiration or a Cautionary Tale?
Steve Jobs was a Buddhist and a tyrant, a genius and a jerk. What is your interpretation of his thorny life story?
07.23.12
-
3-D Printing Goes Hollywood With Stop-Motion Animated Feature ParaNorman
With tens of thousands of 3-D printed parts, millions of hours of work, and billions of pixels invested, ParaNorman represents unparalleled innovation.
07.23.12 -
Tackling the World’s Deadliest Motorcycle Track… on Four Wheels
DOUGLAS, Isle of Man - The Isle of Man TT is 37.73 miles of twisting, rolling, climbing public roads that make the N??rburgring Nordschleife look like a go kart track. So sinewy and numerous are its bends that it was once famously decreed "unlearnable," and its notoriously unforgiving nature is matched only by its prolific death toll. From Glen Helen to Greeba Castle, the lack of runoff and nasty propensity for unplanned high-speed meetings with stone walls, lamp posts, store fronts and tree trunks makes death and dismemberment a rather binary affair on this island that's barely a 30-minute flight across the Irish Sea from Birmingham. But here's something you might not know about the Isle of Man: While hundreds of racers have lost their lives in competition over the last century or so, exponentially more non-racers have met their makers during the two-week period in which rampant race culture takes over the otherwise sleepy bedroom island.
07.23.12 -
Cross-Cultural Sharing With Food: Li??ge Waffles
Today I'd like to introduce you to the Li??ge waffle. This Belgian waffle isn't what we think of in the United States when we hear the name "Belgian Waffle." It is yeast based, and contains pearl sugar. It is much denser, sweeter, and crunchier than your typical pour-maple-syrup-on-it variety. In my family, we tend to eat this variety on its own, as finger food. Plus they are more a dessert than part of a meal.
07.23.12 -
Kickstarter Alert: Help Kickstart There’s a Zombie in My Treehouse
Len Peralta is one of our favorite artists, and he's part of a new Kickstarter that's right up the GeekDad alley. He and co-creators Ken Plume and John Robinson have a new project going to fun the creation of an iBook for their seminal work, There's a Zombie in My Treehouse. But that's just the start.
07.23.12 -
Thermacell Lantern: The DEET-Free, No-Spray Insect Repellent
My family and I just returned from our annual Killbear provincial park camping trip. Located near Parry Sound, Ontario (Canada), there are always three things we can count on whenever we camp at Killbear: racoons, black bears and mosquitoes. We follow bear-smart camping practices which help to avoid encounters with campsite raiders ??? both big and small ??? and always pack lots of sprays, candles and other measures that we hope will minimize the bug problem. This year, Thermacell provided one of its mosquito-repelling lanterns to add to our anti-bug arsenal.
07.23.12 -
movies: Transformers Prime: One Shall Stand Coming on DVD
TransformersPrime_OneShallStand_CoverArtFans of the current Transformers Prime series, take note: next week the One Shall Stand DVD will be released. It's actually a seven-episode story arc, taken from the end of Season One and the beginning of Season Two. (Yes, of course they ended the first season on a cliffhanger.) It involves a big showdown between Optimus Prime and Megatron, a worrisome connection between Megatron and Bumblebee, and ... I'll let you find out the rest when you see it.
07.23.12 -
Review: Celestron Deluxe Handheld Digital Microscope
A few months back, I was walking around the USA Science & Engineering Festival here in the DC area and saw a number of people looking closely at microscopes at a Celestron display. Being a space and astronomy buff, I was familiar with Celestron's telescopes but was unfamiliar with their microscope line. Celestron was kind enough to arrange for me to review one of their microscopes and I was really pleased with my findings.
07.23.12 -
Russia’s Top Cyber Sleuth Foils US Spies, Helps Kremlin Pals
Ex-Soviet intelligence officer Eugene Kaspersky and his geek squad traced Stuxnet and Flame. Now he has a vision for the future of Internet security.
07.23.12 -
A Few Notes About Our New Site Design
You may have noticed a few changes around here starting last week. Serendipity being what it is, I was on vacation, and unable to make a proper introduction for our new site design, but after letting it sink in for a few days, and seeing some of the comments from our readers come in, I'd like to take a moment and express some of the intent behind the new look.
07.23.12 -
GeekDad Puzzle of the Week: Contiguous Consonants
Over the past few weeks, my wife Allison and I have done our annual summer trip up north with the kids to visit family in northernmost New York and southern Ontario, Canada.??During the Canadian segment, I went for a drive with my father-in-law so that he could speak at a local college.??On the way, we passed signs for Arnprior, Ontario -- an unusual town, I commented, because its name had four consonants in a row.??That got me thinking... are there a lot of reasonably common words with four or more consonants in a row?
07.23.12
-
A Google-a-Day Puzzle for July 23
Google's daily brainteaser helps hone your search skills.
07.23.12 -
How Do You Choke Away the British Open? The Science of the Tight Collar
Spurred by Adam Scott’s collapse today at the British Open, where he bogeyed the last four holes to??lose by a stroke, I’m reposting this feature that I originally published here in September, 2010, as “The Tight Collar: The New Science of Choking.” It was selected the following summer for inclusion in??The Best American Sports [...]
07.22.12 -
Watch Live Now: Giant Asteroid Flies By Earth
Beginning at 4:30 Pacific (7:30 Eastern) you can watch a live embed feed from the Slooh Space Camera.
07.22.12 -
T minus 5 days – Capsule Test Postponed – Two-Stage Rocket Still GO
Some quick info. I got news today from the Fuel Tank Pressure Test Department (FTPTD) that the common bulk head tank for the LES propellant failed the hydrostatic pressure test. We always perform a 150% performance pressure test and deformation where spotted at 142%. This means that the LES engine has been grounded and the [...]
07.22.12 -
Space-Age Alternate History
Beyond Apollo chronicles space history through missions and programs that were planned or proposed but which didn't happen. In today's post, Beyond Apollo blogger David S. F. Portree confesses that his historical specialty often leads him to imagine what might have been if space history had taken some different turns.
07.22.12 -
The International AIDS Conference Returns: So Much Still To Do
A quick Sunday note: At 5 p.m. today, Eastern time, something extraordinary will happen in Washington, D.C. It won’t look like much — just the opening of a big conference in a big convention center — but when the 19th International AIDS Conference begins its opening ceremonies, it will mark the first time in 22 [...]
07.22.12 -
See Superman Fly in First Man of Steel Trailers
The first trailers for Zack Snyder's Superman movie Man of Steel start with moody shots of Clark Kent (played by Henry Cavill) working on a fishing boat and generally looking like he could be in a jeans commercial. We also see a little laundry-day foreshadowing from Clark's childhood, and then comes the money shot: Superman soaring through the sky, leaving contrails behind him.
07.22.12 -
Sherlock as it was Meant to be Seen: In Lego
Combining a love of Lego, Martin Freeman, and the ever delightful Benedict Cumberbatch, check out this Lego version of "The Reichenbach Fall"
07.22.12 -
ConnectiCon Cosplay Parade!
International Comic Con in San Diego had all the action on the West Coast last week but the 10th annual ConnectiCon, held at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford last weekend, had a lot going for it for us geeks on the East Coast.
07.22.12 -
GeekMom Puzzle of the Week ??? #15
Each Sunday, a new quiz will be posted and you will have until 11:59 pm PST the following Friday to submit your answer. The kind folks over at ThinkGeek will be providing a $50 gift certificate for each week's winner.
07.22.12
-
Game on!: The Spiel des Jahres for 2012
The dog days of summer are here, and those of you who are cardboard enthusiasts might be looking for something new to play on a warm summer evening, you're in luck. The Spiel Des Jahres were just announced recently in Germany. The Spiel Des Jahres is the premier international board game award presented every year around this time.
07.22.12 -
Carbon, Bacteria, and Fish Balls: The Machines of the Future
Today, microprocessors are built with silicon. But tomorrow, they'll be built with something else. This past week, with a paper published in the academic journal Nature Communications, researchers at Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nuremberg in Germany and the Swedish research institute Acreo AB revealed a new means of building chips using graphene -- a substance long hailed as the future of micro-electronics -- and their work takes the material that much closer to fulfilling its potential.
07.22.12 -
Superbug Summer Books: ZOOBIQUITY
In the summer of 1997, I was a newspaper reporter covering the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and I heard from a contact at the CDC that a team was headed to Hong Kong to check out an odd case. A 3-year-old boy had died of flu. That was sad, but not notable [...]
07.22.12 -
GeekDad Review: Monster Digital’s LeMans SSD
If you've been following technology news lately you know that the new rage for making laptops thinner, lighter, and more power efficient is replacing the spinning disk drive with a Solid State Drive, or SSD. SSD units have no moving parts and excel at speeding up data retrieval in some cases. Monster Digital has released an SSD product line, called the LeMans, that promises an easy upgrade path to update your laptop spinning disk drive to an SSD. Monster Digital provided a 120 GB unit for me to try out. So how does the LeMans live up to expectations?
07.22.12 -
GeekDad Puzzle of the Week Answer: Dog Siblings
I discovered yesterday that labradors don't coexist peacefully with hook-wielding four-year-olds, and so I'm crossing the fishing beach off the list of 200 possible dog outings in Boulder, Colorado. In fact, I'm crossing it off with gusto. At least for me, these things that sound like good ideas sometimes require revision in hindsight...
07.22.12 -
A Google-a-Day Puzzle for July 22
Google's daily brainteaser helps hone your search skills.
07.22.12 -
Why Batman Believes in Gun Control
The Dark Knight has a long history of hating firearms and the life-shattering harm they can do in the wrong hands.
07.21.12 -
A Killer Without Regret
In the summer of 1920, a 29-year-old son of Minnesota farmers docked his boat (acquired with stolen money) at a small island in New York City’s East River. One by one he hired out-of-work sailors to crew for him. And one by one, he shot them in the head with a Colt .45 and dumped [...]
07.21.12 -
T minus 6 days ??? Capsule and Two Stage Rocket Launch Coming Up
Finally I???m back on track, after two weeks of very much needed vacation with the lovely family. While I was away everyone else at Copenhagen Suborbitals has been working like crazy preparing for these two launches coming up: - Tycho Deep Space Capsule / LES, pad abort test - Smaragd-1, two stage rocket, launch Our [...]
07.21.12 -
Dear Movie Theaters: Costumes Aren’t the Problem
Midnight movie openings with people attending in costumes have become a bit of a tradition throughout the country. But in the wake of the tragedy in Colorado, some movie theaters are moving to ban costumes. But are costumes really a problem?
07.21.12
-
DIY Spectrometer
A spectrometer takes light from some source and splits it into its different wavelengths. The simplest way to do this is with some type of diffraction grating. Different wavelengths of light constructively interfere at different angles. The result is this rainbow effect you see with a prism. If you are in a physics lab, you [...]
07.21.12 -
Be Amazed by the Maze of Books
Ever walked through a maze of books? Prepare to be 'aMAZEd'.
07.21.12 -
Just for Laughs’ Andy Nulman Reveals His Formula for Funny
Film has Cannes. Sports have the Olympics. Music has South by Southwest. Comedy? It has Just for Laughs. The co-founder of the Montreal festival talks about his grueling gigs, tricks of the trade and why comedy is not for morons.
07.21.12 -
Video: Dark Knight Producer Praises Christopher Nolan’s Vision
Charles Roven, one of the producers on Christopher Nolan's Batman movie trilogy, says the director's unique take on the character drove the project from before Batman Begins. Roven also talks about Man of Steel in this video interview conducted during Comic-Con.
07.21.12 -
GeekMom Puzzle of the Week #14 – Solution and Winner
As usual on Saturday's I get to announce our Puzzle of The Week winner who was selected at random from all the correct entries.
07.21.12 -
What Was Your Favorite Childhood Toy? Vote Today!
What was your favorite toy from childhood? The Indianapolis Children's Museum wants to know. Vote today!
07.21.12 -
weekly rewind: 2 Books to Prepare You for The Dark Knight Rises
With The Dark Knight Rises opening this week, we'll get another glimpse at the latest incarnation of Batman: and, of course, all of his wonderful toys. Insight Editions recently released two art books for Batman fans, one focusing on Christopher Nolan's interpretation, and the other tracking the history of the Batmobile, arguably the most fascinating of all Batman's many gadgets.
07.21.12 -
Another Chance to Get Penny Gems
In case you didn't order some Penny Gems when I wrote about them in April, you've got another chance. Penny Gems are the brainchild of Dave Howell, who created these colorful tokens as a substitute for generic game pawns and tokens. Now, I haven't started using these in place of my regular houses and cities in Settlers of Catan, but for those games that require you to provide some pawns, I've found these to be a fantastic solution.
07.21.12 -
This Week On The GeekDad Community
Our wonderfully geeky community has been growing steadily over the last few months and we're really starting to see some great content coming through from our members. Here are a few of the highlights from this week.
07.21.12 -
A Google-a-Day Puzzle for July 21
Google's daily brainteaser helps hone your search skills.
07.21.12
-
Patients, Prisoners, and Mass Shootings
The medical resident??PetulantSkeptic drew my attention to the graph above, which he included in a short, sad post he wrote last fall: I’m currently doing a psychiatry rotation at an outpatient behavioral health clinic which primarily serves the substantial indigent population here. I’ve tried to sit down and write about the experience but all [...]
07.20.12 -
When Tragedy Hits, Photojournalists Balance Reporting and Emotion
Earlier today photojournalist Barry Gutierrez made a photo of Tom Sullivan as he came running over to the media waving a black and white photo of his son Alex and asking frantically if anyone had seen him. The photo Gutierrez made of Sullivan has now been broadcast around the world and quickly become an important window into the heart of an unfolding tragedy. It's also become an example of the value that trained photojournalists like Gutierrez provide during events like these.
07.20.12 -
Ikea???s Augmented Reality Catalog Will Let You Peek Inside Furniture
Ikea prints 211 million copies of its product catalog every year. That???s more than 20 times the population of Sweden, the home of the build-it-yourself furniture empire. These are impressive numbers for a print catalog in a digital world, but Ikea is now changing with the times with a head-first dive into augmented reality.
07.20.12 -
Don’t Blame The Dark Knight Rises for Theater Massacre
Nobody should blame the movies for Friday's horrific killing spree during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises at a theater in Aurora, Colorado. If anything, Batman is probably a gun-grabber.
07.20.12 -
Interactive Player Piano Will Take Your Twitter Request for ‘Call Me Maybe’
Player pianos haven't been tearing up the scene since the first half of the last century. But this weekend, thanks to some crafty engineering, Seattle partiers will get to jam to one that takes requests via Twitter.
07.20.12 -
Meet Squirrel, the Image That’s Also a Webpage
What happens if you create an image that's also a webpage? What happens if you then embed that image/webpage inside itself? "Squirrel" is the web's own version of Inception.
07.20.12 -
U.S. Admits Surveillance Violated Constitution At Least Once
In a very rare public concession, a leading aide to the nation's top spy not only admitted a federal sidestep of a major section of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. She also acknowledged that the court overseeing such surveillance "has reached this same conclusion."
07.20.12 -
Is a Better iOS Gmail App Coming? Google Buys Sparrow
On Friday, Sparrow CEO Dom Leca announced in a blog post that Google has purchased his young but successful company known for iOS and OS X email clients. Sparrow's software looks and works more like social networking apps than traditional email clients.
07.20.12 -
Deep Inside a Facebook Hackathon, Where the Future of Social Media Begins
Inside Facebook's 32nd hackathon, a three-day event dubbed Camp Hackathon. If the company has its way, Facebook's biggest new features ??? the ones that haven't even been invented yet ??? will be germinated here.
07.20.12 -
Game|Life Podcast: The Endless Summer of Downloadable Games
The cast of the Game|Life podcast is downloading and playing anything we can get our hands on this summer. Disc-based games are few and far between in the long stretch of time before the holiday season, but the gap is filled in handily these days with downloads.
07.20.12
-
Ikea’s Augmented Reality Catalog Will Let You Peek Inside Furniture
Ikea prints 211 million copies of its product catalog every year. That's more than 20 times the population of Sweden, the home of the build-it-yourself furniture empire. These are impressive numbers for a print catalog in a digital world, but Ikea is now changing with the times with a head-first dive into augmented reality.
07.20.12 -
Beck Writes New Songs for PS3 Game Sound Shapes
Three new Beck tracks -- "Cities," "Spiral Staircase" and "Touch the People" -- will be released next month as part of a new videogame called Sound Shapes, for PlayStation 3 and PlayStation Vita.
07.20.12 -
Microsoft Adds ‘Big Boobs’ to Linux Kernel
Microsoft has contributed thousands of lines of code to the Linux kernel, the open source software at the heart of the widely used Linux operating system. And now, the software giant has contributed some controversy too.
07.20.12 -
Review: Sonos Sub Wireless Subwoofer
Sonos has released a subwoofer to complement its array of wireless Play speakers and Connect amps.
07.20.12 -
videos: Trailer For Red Dwarf X Released
Smeg-heads of the world rejoice - the trailer for the upcoming new series of British science fiction sitcom Red Dwarf has just been released!
07.20.12 -
Review: Motorola Atrix HD Smartphone for AT&T;
Motorola revisits its popular Atrix smartphone line and finds success. The Atrix HD has a beautiful screen, a pleasantly uncluttered user interface and an attractive $100 price tag.
07.20.12 -
Watch an Asteroid Fly by Earth Live on Sunday
Watch live this weekend as an asteroid the size of a city block flies past the Earth.
07.20.12 -
NoSQL Rebels Aim Missile at Larry Ellison’s Yacht
In Silicon Valley and beyond, a new kind of database is rising. Dubbed "NoSQL" by its proponents, it sprang out of Google, Amazon, Facebook, and other web giants, who used it to run their massive online operations, but now it's moving into the rest the world, backed by a growing number of startups. And this means trouble for Larry Ellison and Oracle.
07.20.12 -
Indie iPad Hit Osmos Gets Absorbing Multiplayer Mode
More than two years after its original release, Hemisphere Games' Osmos has been updated with new competitive multiplayer modes. Along with Game Center support and new local and online multiplayer maps, this update brings Retina graphics to the iPad version of the game.
07.20.12 -
How to Stretch a Nissan Leaf
If you???re an eco-conscious elitist but require the pomp and circumstance of a chauffeur, your options are limited. Which is why a custom stretched Nissan Leaf was commissioned by a hotel chain in Tennessee.
07.20.12
-
Firefox 15 Beta Plugs Memory Leaks
Firefox developed a reputation for being a memory hog over the years, but Mozilla's recent efforts have largely changed that -- except when it comes to add-ons. Now, with Firefox 15 in the beta channel, Mozilla is focusing its memory shrinking efforts on slimming down add-ons as well.
07.20.12 -
Mesmerizing Videos of Northern and Southern Lights Seen From Space
The billowing radiance of the northern and southern lights is among the most beautiful sights known to humanity -- and that's when seen from the ground. In these videos captured through the International Space Station's windows, 200 miles above Earth's surface, the auroras borealis and australis dance across continents.
07.20.12 -
This Exquisite Forest Brings Collaborative Animation to Chrome
A new project lets artists and storytellers build upon each other's animated tales to create Creative Commons-licensed works, much like the Exquisite Corpse parlor game.
07.20.12 -
The Bizarre, Breathtaking Science Photos of Fritz Goro
The photographs of Fritz Goro highlight the beautiful, strange, amusing and poignant within the realm of science. The German-born Goro spent four decades as a photographer for LIFE magazine. He invented macrophotography and many other techniques to capture his unique subjects.
07.20.12 -
Nintendo Gives Away Special Edition Donkey Kong In Japan
In a bid to make more customers aware of its online marketplace and to promote two new releases, Nintendo will give away free copies of Donkey Kong to digital 3DS shoppers. This rare "original version" includes a level rarely seen outside of the classic arcade version.
07.20.12 -
Comfort (Food) Chemistry
In light of today’s horrific mass-shooting tragedy in Colorado, I’ve decided to postpone my planned piece on the horrors of poison gas. It’s coming your way eventually. Right after the rather troubling history of?? death penalty chemistry. But for today, let’s give ourselves a break, and talk about lighter subjects, easier aspects of life.?? [...]
07.20.12 -
Drinking Wine in B-Flat Major
Call it half full or half empty; either way this glass plays an E flat.
07.20.12 -
Darpa Funds Hack Machine You’d Never Notice
If you saw this bad boy under your desk, would you say anything? It may look like a surge protector, but it’s really a remote access machine that corporations can use to test security and log into branch offices. Called the Power Pwn, it’s a stealthier version of the little box that can hack your [...]
07.20.12 -
Kickstarter of the Week: This Podcast Is Kicking Ass: How 99% Invisible Will Change Public Radio
The hugely inventive podcast 99% Invisible treats the design of everyday things like a forensic science. In each episode, creator and host Roman Mars highlights some nearly-invisible design process that you had no idea was incredibly interesting and then shows you why it is. It's on our must-listen playlist, and season 3 is our Kickstarter of the Week.
07.20.12 -
An Electric Car That Actually Goes Far?
Researchers have long had high hopes for lithium-air batteries, a device that has the potential to store 10 times more energy than the best lithium-ion batteries on the market today. So far, lithium-air batteries have been unstable, falling apart after a few charges -- but researchers now report making them stable.
07.20.12
-
wayback machine: 10 Reasons Why the Apollo 11 Moon Landing Was Awesome
Today marks the 43rd anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing. Forty-three years ago mission commander Neil A. Armstrong and lunar module pilot Edwin Eugene 'Buzz' Aldrin, Jr. walked on the moon while command module pilot Michael Collins orbited above. A few days from now, however, will mark the 43rd anniversary of the day people really reacted to what just happened. As with all major events in time, there is always a day of reflection. I'd like to honor that day of reflection with my top 10 thoughts about the Apollo 11 moon landing.
07.20.12 -
Real-Life Horror: Shooter Slays 12 At Dark Knight Screening
The brutality of Christopher Nolan's Gotham City became horrifyingly real during a midnight screening of The Dark Knight Rises in Aurora, Colorado as a gunman burst into the theater and murdered at least 12 people. And at least some in the theater initially thought the incident was part of the show.
07.20.12 -
movies: 10 Things Parents Should Know About The Dark Knight Rises (Spoiler-Free)
Our list of 10 spoiler-free things parents (and everyone else) should know about The Dark Knight Rises.
07.20.12 -
Hurry! It’s the Book That Can’t Wait!
This book's ink will evaporate two months after it's opened. Would that inspire you to get around to reading it?
07.20.12 -
Geeking Out in Orlando: Islands of Adventure
We're looking at the top ten geeky things to do in each of the major theme parks in Orlando and then we'll ask for you to vote on which has the best geeky attractions. So far we've looked at Disney???s Animal Kingdom, EPCOT and Disney's Hollywood Studios and today, we???re looking at Universal's Islands of Adventure. This park has some serious geek credentials as it's home to three major geek brands: Marvel, Jurassic Park AND Harry Potter.
07.20.12 -
This Week With the GeekMoms
This week the GeekMoms are having fun both at play and on vacation--and a little of both.
07.20.12 -
Sookie Scores the Plot
There's this little series on HBO called True Blood. You might have heard of it. You may have even heard it's based on a series of books somewhere. But who has time to read when there's great sex and gore on TV? Find. The. Time.
07.20.12 -
Has the Hitchhiker’s Guide Lost Its Wow Factor?
I am currently in the process of introducing a friend to The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy amongst other geek classics. Last night when she came over for the evening I sat her down to watch the first episode of the BBC adaptation from 1981 and she really enjoyed it. I however found myself wondering something as we watched: will the Guide itself ever be as amazing for her as it was for me and for all the generations prior to mine who watched, listened or read about it?
07.20.12 -
The GeekMoms Podcast #26: Chevy’s Mom Engineers Talk Cars and Encouraging Kids’ Dreams
General Motors recognizes the importance of having women involved in the development of its cars and had a whole team of mom engineers working on the new Chevy Malibu. GeekMom Nicole Wakelin talks with two members of that team and discusses what it's like being a woman in a predominantly male field as well as how to encourage kids to pursue their dreams in spite of stereotypes that might tell them otherwise.
07.20.12 -
Device Jams Drivers’ Phone Signals, Alerts Police, Public and Passengers
There???s no shortage of devices that supposedly prevent drivers from talking or texting by blocking mobile phone signals or that alert parents and employers about the behavior. But the Cellphone Accident Preventer (C.A.P.) from a trio of researchers at an Indian university takes preventing behind-the-wheel mobile phone use to a new Orwellian level by making distracted-driving indiscretions public ??? and automatically ratting them out to the police.
07.20.12
-
Tools of the Trade: Robo-Cams at the Olympic Games Make Human Photogs Sweat
At this year's Olympic games, Reuters, in addition to its army of traditional photographers, will have 11 robots set up in places no shooter would otherwise be able to get.
07.20.12 -
Education: Singularity University Converging Into Capitalist Machine
Singularity University might lead the alternative-education field by converting to a benefit corporation, which would allow it to pursue both profits and principals.
07.20.12 -
The High Tech of Rural America: 9 Unusual Gadgets and Contraptions
Erase all preconceived notions about the technological competence of rural America. The people who work the land are using technologies that rival what???s coming out of the world???s most advanced R&D labs. We present nine must-see examples.
07.20.12 -
9 Unintentional Dark Knight Rises Lessons
Like the previous two Batman films created by Christopher Nolan, The Dark Knight Rises is a densely structured narrative with morally fluctuating characters. It's even got some thinly veiled messages about the state of our world. But because there's so much there there, on a few occasions there are lessons to be learned that Nolan and his writing partner and brother Jonathan Nolan most likely didn't intend. Some of these latent messages give a glimpse into life in their fictional Gotham, while others are merely plot holes. And nearly all are unintentionally funny.
07.20.12 -
Unlock Your Inner Rain Man by Electrically Zapping Your Brain
Neuroscientist Allan Snyder believes we all possess untapped powers of cognition, normally seen only in rare individuals called savants, and accessing them might take just a few jolts of electricity to the brain. Using brain stimulation, he thinks it's possible to temporarily remove that mental suppression and unlock the savant inside each of us.
07.20.12 -
U.S. Missile Shield May Make China Build Better Missiles
China has bet the security of its billion citizens largely around one weapon system: missiles. Which is why planned U.S. advancements to Washington's mobile missile shield is freaking Beijing out. Its military chiefs figure they need to upgrade their own cache of various missiles or risk losing the ability to deter the U.S. Navy and Air Force. Not exactly the response American military planners had in mind.
07.20.12 -
This Antagonist Binds to Our Pleasure Receptors
From Serbian yacht builders Art of Kinetik comes Antagonist, a boat so beautiful that it could find a home in a marina or a museum.
07.20.12 -
TV Fact-Checkers: Breaking Down Breaking Bad’s Dark Chemistry
If there's one thing constantly running through the heads of nerds watching Breaking Bad it's that Walter White might be the most badass chemist of all time. Most of the badass part comes from the skills of Bryan Cranston, who plays White, but the chemist part comes from the diligent work of researchers Gordon Smith and Jenn Carroll, who make sure every molecular formula that comes out of his mouth is perfect.
07.20.12 -
Markets: Microsoft???s First-Ever Loss Doesn???t Faze Wall Street
Investors weren't running away even as Microsoft reported its first unprofitable quarter in its 26-year history as a public company.
07.19.12 -
Apple Erects ‘Tactical’ Data Center With Own ‘Man Traps’
Apple is building a smaller, ultra-high-security data center alongside the massive computing facility in western North Carolina where it serves up its iCloud services and other online tools, according to a local report.
07.19.12
Services
Quick Links: Contact Us | Login/RegisterLogout | Newsletter | RSS Feeds | Tech Jobs | Wired Mobile | FAQ | Sitemap