{"id":7451,"date":"2012-11-04T10:56:44","date_gmt":"2012-11-04T15:56:44","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/2012\/11\/04\/"},"modified":"2012-11-04T10:56:44","modified_gmt":"2012-11-04T15:56:44","slug":"geek-month-in-review-october-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/?p=7451","title":{"rendered":"Geek Month in Review: October 2012"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By JB Sanders<\/p>\n<p>Onwards to Halloween!<\/p>\n<p><Strong>What&#8217;s Invisible? More Than You Think.<\/Strong><br \/>\nGreat educational (but fun!) animated TED talk about what you can&#8217;t see and other random weird things.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"280\" height=\"157\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/8EUy_82IChY\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><Strong><a href=\"http:\/\/abcnews.go.com\/Nightline\/video\/bracing-impact-save-lives-plane-crash-test-shows-17371755\"target=\"_blank\">How to Survive a Plane Crash<\/a><\/Strong><br \/>\nWatch news footage (and some commentary) of safety experts crashing a big jet into the ground, and see what effect where you sit and what you do to prepare for the crash can do for you.<\/p>\n<p><Strong>Molotov Cocktail in Slow Motion<\/Strong><br \/>\nVery cool flame blossom on this super-slo-mo video of a molotov cocktail thrown against the side of a house.<br \/>\nObviously, don&#8217;t try this at home without a company of firefighters and an ambulance handy.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"280\" height=\"157\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lfvceHUBWnU\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Molotov_cocktail\"target=\"_blank\">And for reference<\/a>, the Molotov Cocktail got its name during Winter War between the Soviet Union and Finland. It was not complimentary to Mr Molotov.<\/p>\n<p><Strong><a href=\"http:\/\/kottke.org\/12\/10\/stop-motion-lego-dr-strangelove\"target=\"_blank\">Stop-Motion LEGO Dr Strangelove<\/a><\/Strong><br \/>\nAnd you&#8217;ve already clicked on the link, haven&#8217;t you? If you haven&#8217;t, it&#8217;s part of the war-room scene.<\/p>\n<p><Strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.treehugger.com\/green-architecture\/concrete-mushrooms-albanians-bunkers.html\"target=\"_blank\">Safest Country in Europe?<\/a><\/Strong><br \/>\nAlbania: home of 750,000 bunkers. Seriously. That&#8217;s one bunker for every 4 Albanians. Apparently the paranoid dictator who ruled there had them built between 1967 and 1986. They&#8217;re being repurposed as restaurants, nightclubs, tattoo parlors, and storage facilities.<\/p>\n<p><Strong>Dr Who a Religion?<\/Strong><br \/>\nVideo posits whether Dr Who fans constitute a religion. Interesting discussion, and no spoilers.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"280\" height=\"157\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/3Csjr8bXvPw\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><Strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/entertainment-arts-19827066\"target=\"_blank\">Enjoy Rain Without the Wet<\/a><\/Strong><br \/>\nA new 3D art installation at London&#8217;s Barbican Centre fills a room with rain &#8212; except where each visitor is standing. No running, though, or the detection systems that prevent rain from falling on you won&#8217;t be able to keep up.<\/p>\n<p><Strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.retronaut.co\/2012\/10\/behind-the-scenes-of-raiders-of-the-lost-ark-1980\/\"target=\"_blank\">Behind the Scenes Photos: Raiders of the Lost Ark<\/a><\/Strong><br \/>\nSee Lucas and Spielberg before the billionaire years. See laughs. See the way they did the melting faces.<\/p>\n<p><Strong>How to Control Your Own Dreams<\/Strong><br \/>\nEver wondered how to control your own dreams? To perform Lucid Dreaming? Wonder know more!<br \/>\n(Controlling the dreams of others is covered in a different video.)<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"280\" height=\"157\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/lYSX51xBkos\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><Strong>Does D&#038;D Make You More Successful?<\/Strong><br \/>\nThis question posed by the IDEA channel guy and then discussed. LOTS of geeky gaming references contained within!<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"280\" height=\"157\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VFtlDhksGHA\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><Strong>Underwater Atomic Explosion for Your Files<\/Strong><br \/>\nApparently a lot of the footage taken of the early atomic experiments has been declassified and put up on YouTube. This one is an underwater explosion, with a ship in the foreground for scale. <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"280\" height=\"157\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ggH-ObiUWEE\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><Strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.technologyreview.com\/view\/429561\/the-measurement-that-would-reveal-the-universe-as\/\"target=\"_blank\">Are We All in a Computer Sim? Ask Physicists!<\/a><\/Strong><br \/>\nIt is all really just the matrix\/system\/virtual world? Cosmologists and particle physicists are looking for the answers in some high energy cosmic rays. Extreme science geekiness within.<\/p>\n<p><Strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-19950923\"target=\"_blank\">Two Suns? Pshaw!<\/a><\/Strong><br \/>\nHow about 4 suns? There&#8217;s a planet out there, just discovered, which has four suns: two in it&#8217;s own binary system (which it orbits) and another binary star pair that orbits the first binary pair. Woo!<\/p>\n<p><Strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.eso.org\/public\/news\/eso1241\/\"target=\"_blank\">Alpha Centauri Has an Earth-like Planet<\/a><\/Strong><br \/>\nThe nearest solar system to ours apparently also has a planet Earth-sized. That is SUPER handy, and not just for all the scifi that now becomes possible.<\/p>\n<p><Strong>The Science of Blushing<\/Strong><br \/>\nEver wonder why people blush? I mean, besides putting their foot in their mouth or when someone makes a rude suggestion. Here&#8217;s the science.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"280\" height=\"157\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/-qDi7IbYGVY\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><Strong>You&#8217;ve Never Seen Lightning Like This<\/Strong><br \/>\nWatch a video of lightning capture at 7,207 frames per second. Yes, you can see just about everywhere it goes. No sound, so feel free to watch it anywhere.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"210\" height=\"157\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/_1mB5rM8WHU\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><Strong><a href=\"http:\/\/what-if.xkcd.com\/16\/\"target=\"_blank\">And Speaking of Lightning<\/a><\/Strong><br \/>\nHere&#8217;s a great article on various lightning safety tips and myths, with some great links (including that previous video of a slo-mo lightning strike).<\/p>\n<p><Strong>What You Know About Galaxy Formation is Wrong<\/Strong><br \/>\nAstronomers are discovering that what everyone generally thought about how galaxies form and change over time is wrong.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"280\" height=\"157\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/voq3Wfr5cho\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><Strong><a href=\"http:\/\/dusty-abell.deviantart.com\/art\/Star-Trek-The-Original-Series-333378020?q=gallery%3Adusty-abell%2F707485&#038;qo=1\"target=\"_blank\">Original Star Trek Goodness<\/a><\/Strong><br \/>\nSo here&#8217;s a poster-sized picture of practically every major character to have appeared in the original Star Trek series, plus tons of bad guys and ships, too. Enjoy!<\/p>\n<p><Strong><a href=\"http:\/\/dusty-abell.deviantart.com\/art\/NOW-IN-COLOR-only-smaller-70s-110357385\"target=\"_blank\">70&#8217;s Scifi and Superheroes of Television<\/a><\/Strong><br \/>\nWhile we&#8217;re on the subject of giant posters of scifi, here&#8217;s a character and ship from every scifi or superhero thing made in the 1970&#8217;s (same artist). See how many you can identify.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/john1.bmp\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/07\/john1.bmp\" alt=\"\" title=\"\" width=\"272\" height=\"240\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2629\" \/><\/a> <strong>About John:<\/strong><br \/>\n<em>John&#8217;s a geek from way back. He&#8217;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&#8217;s on his desk).<\/p>\n<p><strong>Geek Credentials:<\/strong><br \/>\n<strong>RPG:<\/strong> Blue box D&#038;D, lead minis, been to GenCon in Milwaukee.<br \/>\n<strong>Computer:<\/strong> TRS-80 Color Computer, Amiga 1000, UNIX system w\/reel-to-reel backup tape<br \/>\n<strong>Card games:<\/strong> bought Magic cards at GenCon in 1993<br \/>\n<strong>Science:<\/strong> Met Phil Plait, got time on a mainframe for astronomy project in 1983<br \/>\n<strong>His Blog:<\/strong> <a href=\"http:\/\/glenandtyler.blogspot.com\"target=\"_blank\">http:\/\/glenandtyler.blogspot.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What&#8217;s up with blushing, how to control your dreams, is Dr. Who a religion, and so much more in this month&#8217;s &#8220;Geek Month in Review&#8221; from JB Sanders!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[31,11,17,26,34,29],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7451"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7451"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7451\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7451"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7451"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/blog1\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7451"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}