{"id":1080,"date":"2011-08-02T15:54:00","date_gmt":"2011-08-02T15:54:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2011\/08\/02\/geek-month-in-review-july-2011\/"},"modified":"2011-08-02T15:54:00","modified_gmt":"2011-08-02T15:54:00","slug":"geek-month-in-review-july-2011","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/2011\/08\/02\/geek-month-in-review-july-2011\/","title":{"rendered":"Geek Month in Review: July 2011"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By JB Sanders<\/p>\n<p>Fireworks Time!<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.lovethesepics.com\/2011\/05\/creepy-crusty-crumbling-illegal-tour-of-abandoned-six-flags-new-orleans-75-pics\/\"target=\"_blank\">Need a Post-Apocolypse Movie Location?<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nThen just fly on down to the Big Easy and check out the former Six Flags New Orleans. All this destruction was a result of 1 month of brackish water (averaging 7 feet deep) and then leaving the front gate of the park open for a few years. Seriously, it&#8217;s only been six years, not 100 like these pictures make it seem. Yikes.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.ox.ac.uk\/media\/science_blog\/110705.html\"target=\"_blank\">Bionic Glasses<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nFor real, people. These glasses sample what the person is seeing (or should be able to see) and figures out what&#8217;s there by interfacing with a computer in their pocket. Not an &#8220;in 5 years&#8221; product, a real thing right now.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/technology-14030720\"target=\"_blank\">Print Your Own 3D Chocolate Creations<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nCAD it, then have it made of chocolate. Mmmmmmmm, chocolate.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/inhabitat.com\/semi-rigid-self-powering-car-concept-car-is-made-from-3d-printed-cartilage\/semi-rigid-car-2\/?extend=1\"target=\"_blank\">The Cartilage Car Fuels Itself<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nIt&#8217;s 3D-printing and weirdo concept cars of the future all in one. The car was created using the 3D-printing technique, and the composite artificial material most closely resembles cartilage, which makes the car nearly impervious to impacts. It also creates it&#8217;s own biofuel. How? Algae reservoirs (with LED&#8217;s for night-time production) in the places in the artificial cartilage body that would otherwise be bone marrow in a creature. Freaked out with the scifi yet?<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/inhabitat.com\/geek-alert-led-light-paintings-created-by-roomba-robot-vacuums\/\"target=\"_blank\">Psychedelic Light Paintings Using Your Robotic Vacuum Cleaner<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nHow often are we going to be able to use a headline like that? See these long-exposure photos of Roomba-mounted LED lights. It&#8217;s MUCH cooler than that sounds.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/star-trek-padd-app-2011-7\"target=\"_blank\">Star Trek Geeky<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nI would like to posit that this app is one of the most geeky things in all Geekdom. We&#8217;re talking an iPad app that not only looks and acts like it&#8217;s out of Star Trek (NG, but still), it also is an an interactive encyclopedia of Star Trek lore.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.featureshoot.com\/2011\/07\/caren-alpert-san-francisco\/\"target=\"_blank\">Food Photos by a Science Geek<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nSee cake sprinkles, chocolate cake, sugar, pineapple, and blueberries (among many other things) through the lens of an electron microscope. Yes, that means everything is very small.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/moviemikes.com\/2011\/07\/bruce-campbell-confirms-new-evil-dead-is-real\/\"target=\"_blank\">New Evil Dead Movie! <\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nBruce Campbell has confirmed that there is a new movie in the works.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/science-environment-13709293\"target=\"_blank\">A Ship So Big&#8230;<\/a> <\/strong><br \/>\nIt needs it&#8217;s own zip code? This beast will be 6 times larger than the largest US aircraft carrier. Let that sink in a moment. Six times bigger than those nuclear-powered floating islands. Check out the illustration showing one of those liquid natural gas carriers (with five giant domes on deck) docked next to it.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-2015191\/Isle-happy-Beautiful-island-complete-castle-goes-sale-750-000.html\"target=\"_blank\">Looking for that Ideal Island HQ?<\/a> <\/strong><br \/>\nFor a mere $750,000, this island fortress (circa 1850) could be yours. Comes complete with island. May require some upgrades. Cable-car permit included.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.news.com.au\/travel\/holiday-ideas\/gallery-e6frfqf9-1226095349733?page=1\"target=\"_blank\">Super Yacht<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nWhen super villains build their super-yachts, this is what they wish they looked like. It&#8217;s got it&#8217;s own escape sub, a missile defense system, an anti-papparrazi laser and a pool that turns into a disco.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Spatially Impossible Hotel, Cheap<\/strong><br \/>\nSo someone was building a level for Duke Nuke&#8217;em based on the Overlook Hotel from the movie the Shining. Cool, right? Well, they noticed that there were parts of the hotel, as portrayed in the movie, that were just impossible. They mentioned this to a film professor, and the result is a walk-through of the unworkable.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" width=\"425\" height=\"349\" src=\"http:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/0sUIxXCCFWw\" frameborder=\"0\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.criticalmiss.com\/issue10\/CampaignRealMonopoly1.html\"target=\"_blank\">Wait, Monopoly Can Be Fun?<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nEver wonder why a game invented in 1930 is still around, even though everyone agrees it&#8217;s boring and takes too long? Here&#8217;s why: the house rule in practically everyone&#8217;s house has been to ignore one of the fundamental rules of the game, making it  you guessed it, slow and boring. Seriously.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.brainpickings.org\/index.php\/2011\/07\/12\/nathalie-miebach-musical-weather-data-sculptures\/\"target=\"_blank\">It&#8217;s Weather &#8212; No, It&#8217;s Music &#8212; No, It&#8217;s Sculpture!<\/a> <\/strong><br \/>\nArtist takes weather data, translates it to a musical score and then into sculpture. See it to believe it:<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"http:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/magazine-14305667\"target=\"_blank\">Prime Numbers are Everywhere<\/a><\/strong><br \/>\nNot just a weird movie concept. See why a 13-year life-cycle is a useful tool.<\/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>3D printing chocolate and cars, an illegal tour of abandoned Six Flags New Orleans, a new &#8220;Evil Dead&#8221; movie, and &#8220;one of the most geeky things in all Geekdom&#8221;?!  You&#8217;ll have to click on in to find out more!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1080"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1080\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/themagicalbuffet.com\/wordpress\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}