{"id":10633,"date":"2014-09-05T15:40:44","date_gmt":"2014-09-05T20:40:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/2014\/09\/04\/"},"modified":"2014-09-07T06:15:12","modified_gmt":"2014-09-07T11:15:12","slug":"the-geek-month-in-review-august-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/?p=10633","title":{"rendered":"The Geek Month in Review: August 2014"},"content":{"rendered":"

By JB Sanders<\/p>\n

Is it still summer?<\/p>\n

Live Inside a Volcano<\/a><\/strong>
\nThis sounds like an ideal villain lair, and the pictures in the article support that claim.<\/p>\n

Ape Selfies!<\/a> <\/strong>
\nThis is how the end begins: ape selfies. Read how a photojournalist, whose camera was pinched by a black macaca nigra monkey who then took thousands of photos (including a selfie), is now claiming that Wikipedia has no right to use the picture. Wikipedia is claiming that the copyright \u201cbelongs\u201d to the monkey, and therefore is in the public domain.<\/p>\n

The monkey\u2019s lawyers were unavailable for comment.<\/p>\n

Babylon5 on the Big Screen?<\/a> <\/strong>
\nIt could happen! Seriously, JMS is working on a script and seeking funding right now.<\/p>\n

Self-Assembling Origami Robots<\/a><\/strong>
\nSure, they start out flat and uninteresting, but they don\u2019t stay that way. Watch as a robot assembles itself out of flat metal and walks away.<\/p>\n

Glow-accented Shelving<\/a><\/strong>
\nGot a crack in that nice piece of lumber you bought for shelves? No worries! Fill it in with glowing resin. Not sure how that would look? Check out this album.<\/p>\n

Neuronic Processors<\/a><\/strong>
\nIBM has released a chip that includes synapse-like elements on the chip. The coming future of AI? Probably. But it\u2019s no photonics.<\/p>\n

The Perhapsatron<\/a><\/strong>
\nSo in the 50\u2019s, this guy (scientist Jim Tuck) built what he hoped was going to be a fusion reactor, and it looks a lot like the arc reactor from Tony Stark\u2019s lab. That\u2019s Iron Man, folks. What a great kick-off to a scifi story, though. And he really did call it the Perhapsatron.<\/p>\n

Best Birthday Present Ever? Secret Treasure Room<\/a><\/strong>
\nSo these parents discover a storage space next to their kid\u2019s bedroom, but instead of telling him about it, they hide the entrance behind a heavy dresser, wait until his 4th birthday, have it secretly renovated, and make it into his own Secret Treasure Room. Personally, I would have gone for more of a pirate motif in my Secret Treasure Room, but it\u2019s not bad.<\/p>\n

Dr Who Themed Restaurant<\/a><\/strong>
\nWho\u2019d have thunk it? Tucked away in a sleepy upstate NY town, this eatery features \u201cfish fingers\u201d (french toast sticks) and pudding, plus a smashing decor.<\/p>\n

Pyramids and Beehives of Mars<\/a><\/strong>
\nMakerBot (3D printer makers) and JPL (without rockets, it\u2019s just science) solicited entries in a contest for a Mars habitat design that could be constructed using \u2014 you guessed it \u2014 3D printers. Check out the three entries that one, including one pyramid design and one based on beehives.<\/p>\n

How to Build a 1KB Hard Drive \u2014 In Minecraft<\/a><\/strong>
\nThat\u2019s right, build a virtual digital storage device inside the game (\u201cgame\u201d) Minecraft. Essentially, this person builds a giant assembly of blocks and moving bits to create the drive. It gives me ideas for a way to \u201cstore\u201d some kind of special encryption key \u2014 just encode it onto a virtual storage device you built inside a game, and let\u2019s see someone figure that out.<\/p>\n

Robot-driven 3D-Printed Hoverbike<\/a><\/strong>
\nI think we may have reached a nirvana of geek topics: 3D printed, robots, and hover bikes. Woo!<\/p>\n

The Space Economy<\/a><\/strong>
\nWhat benefits there will be to mining the asteroid belt, in a handy bunch of info graphics.<\/p>\n

$\"\"$ <\/a> About John:<\/strong>
\nJohn’s a geek from way back. He’s been floating between various computer-related jobs for years, until he settled into doing tech support in higher ed. Now he rules the Macs on campus with an iron hand (really, it’s on his desk).<\/p>\n

Geek Credentials:<\/strong>
\nRPG:<\/strong> Blue box D&D, lead minis, been to GenCon in Milwaukee.
\nComputer:<\/strong> TRS-80 Color Computer, Amiga 1000, UNIX system w\/reel-to-reel backup tape
\nCard games:<\/strong> bought Magic cards at GenCon in 1993
\nScience:<\/strong> Met Phil Plait, got time on a mainframe for astronomy project in 1983
\nHis Blog:<\/strong>http:\/\/www.glenandtyler.com\/<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"