Re: Geek Week - Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

...continued from...

And for my final post celebrating Geek Week, how about this delight from PBS in the early 90's? I'm betting that you're already humming the theme just from reading the title of this post!


There's been rumblings that it'd return, and while it's not new episodes, I'll happily take a rebroadcast. This show had such a profound affect on me as a child, making me the trivia buff I am today. After all, you never know when a small piece of information about South America will be all that stands between you and the capture of a master thief!

I'll leave you with this. Sadly, while Lynne Thigpen as passed away, I'll always fondly remember her as The Chief.

And yes, this is from one of the video games, but she's The Chief no matter what medium!

Re: Geek Week - Square One TV

...continued from...

I decided to celebrate Geek Week myself by highlighting a couple of my favorite (and very geeky) PBS shows as a kid. To start, how about Square One TV!


It was hilarious and did a great job at making education fun for all ages, like this song for negative numbers:


Or how about it's own (mildly scary) version of Pac-Man:


And don't forget Mathnet, the gritty world of crime colored by math:


I can only hope that when I have kids there are shows like this on TV.

All Things Geek on YouTube

A few months ago YouTube tested the waters with Comedy Week, featuring the comedy talents of notable YouTube channels. Needless to say, it was a hilarious romp that kept the laughs coming (one of my favorites: What kind of Asian are you?). How do you follow this up? With a week dedicated to geeks, of course! It began yesterday and isn't exactly a secret (as those who found the easter egg would know), but I'm slow to post as always.



And YouTube's pulled out all the stops it seems. They have each day set aside for different geeky celebrations. For instance, yesterday was "Blockbuster Sunday", today is "Global Geekery Monday", followed up all week long with the likes of "Braniac Tuesday", "Super Wednesday", "Gaming Thursday", and "Fan Friday". Meanwhile, this leaves Saturday to be a full day of the best of the best.

Highlights so far:

• Blockbusters hosted by Red Dwarf's Kryten:

• The latest Doctor Who news:

• Top animations from around the world:

There are other treats too such as being able to test your geekery, and it's been reported that many other easter eggs are on their way. After all the hectic geeking out at San Diego Comic Con a few weeks ago, it's nice to slide right back into full geekitude with this. While I don't fully know where the week will take us, I look forward to sitting back and enjoying the ride.

You can stay up to date with all week long at YouTube's own channel.

Meanwhile I've decided to post a couple extra small, nostalgiac, geekish posts this week (with videos!), so stay tuned. And if you have any geekery you'd like to share with me, please do! I'm always on the lookout for something new.

Chromecast: Google + TV = Win

Full disclosure: I'm a Google employee. Now that I've gotten that out of the way, I'm going to be late to the game and talk about the new Chromecast.

So, what if I told you that you no longer have to buy a Smart TV to have the capabilities of a SmartTV? You'd say "Well duh! We've all already heard about the Chromecast! It launched a week ago!" And you'd get angry at me for being behind the times and whatnot. And I wouldn't listen because that's not something I do.

But think about it: SmartTVs have been around for a while now but they still aren't supplying good user experiences. All of the last generation of game consoles had some SmartTV features and they've been around since 2006-2007. Samsung introduced its initial line of "Internet TV"s in 2007. AppleTV is originally from 2007 as well. Heck, TiVo's existed since 1999 and even the GoogleTV itself has had 3 years to get better. Given all this time and all these people vying for the market, you'd hope something really wonderful would come out of it. But nothing so far has been all that great of an experience. Yes, they're usable, but they're not fun to use.

Let's talk about the Google TV. I think it was a good thing, but I feel it wasn't taken far enough. It was expensive and bulky, yet it still managed to be slow and clunky. Setting it up took forever: sign in, adjust for overscan, figure out the audio, yada yada yada. The users had to navigate it with a keyboard and touchpad mouse, either using a decent Logitech keyboard or the dreaded Sony label maker. But it was still a good thing; it was Google trying out the TV space, making mistakes and learning.

And look at that, now we have the Chromecast! Instead yet-another-set-top-box or TV itself, here's a small and simple dongle usable with any TV with HDMI. How do you set it up? Just quickly tell it your wifi network and bam, you're ready. How do you interact with it? Use your phone, tablet, or desktop, a.k.a. things you know how to use. I got mine in the mail the other day and it was ready to go within literally two minutes after plugging it up. And it's cheap! Just $35! This will sell insanely well at the holidays assuming the supply will hold out.

I've had plenty of time to play with it and there's something great about quickly finding some video on YouTube or Netflix and instantly watching it on your TV. While you're watching YouTube, find some more and queue them up. Or feel like just working around the house and need a soundtrack? Send music to the TV instead.

But wait, there's more! Google's already published the Cast SDK used to get the content to the TV, so now anyone can make their website or app work with it. Imagine playing Scrabble where the TV's the board and your phone/tablet is your tile rack. Or how about some asymmetrical gameplay like the Wii U has with its gamepad? Or something simpler like a killer photo share app or getting webcam to work with it as well and use Google Hangouts or Skype with your TV? There are so many awesome possibilities. I, for one, welcome our new multi-device experience overlords.

Long story short? Get  a Chromecast, or find a friend with one and play with theirs. You're gonna like the way it works, I guarantee it.

Grump grump grump

[caption id="attachment_1182" align="alignright" width="321"] Separated at Birth?[/caption]

I've been called many things in my life, but the most enduring is likely the adjective "surly". So obviously when Grumpy Cat came to the internet's doorstep (reddit.com) last year, I knew that the comparisons to myself would begin soon enough. For instance, the picture comparing my young, handsome self to Tardar Sauce was taken around 7 years ago, and quickly labeled "Grump grump grump".

Things haven't changed much since though. I've recently been told that Grumpy Cat is my spirit animal. I think I can live with that... somehow. I almost feel like this is a paradox in the making though, as if I admit I like being compared to Grumpy Cat, then I'm also admitting that I'm in no way grumpy enough to be worthy of that comparison! Oh how my mind boggles...

Maybe I'll just have to go full Grumpy Cat for Comic Con this year. Hrmmmmmm?

Full disclosure: Grumpy Cat is one of my favorite memes today. Surely this is due in no small part how well the meme relates to me. But as such, I guess I can't complain for once.

Also, for those of you with a PS3, Wii U, internet-connected set top-box or television, check out YouTube on it today. You might find something apropos...
You can also see it at www.youtube.com/tv.

EDIT: Welp, nevermind. Looks like we're not doing that... so yeah, that's less cool >_>

The Gateway

I can't believe that it took me nearly a year to do more than just drive across the Golden Gate Bridge...

Last summer, I walked across it instead!

Some of you might've heard of the Golden Gate Bridge before. For most of us, it's only recognizable because of Full House:

[caption id="attachment_1136" align="aligncenter" width="983" caption="Whatever happened to predictability..."][/caption]

Wait a second, that's not the right picture... Alamo Square and the Painted Ladies are not the Golden Gate Bridge. Why I'm so certain: do you see any water in that picture?

Sidenote: I dare you to not have the Full House theme stuck in your head right now.  Mwahahahahaha.

Yeah, let's try this again...

Nope. Nope nope nope. I can sorta get it, this is the Japanese Tea Gardens. As you can see, there's a gate, so we got one word right this time. And it's in Golden Gate Park, so that's sorta close. Otherwise, again, it's the completely wrong picture.

Maybe the 3rd time's the charm?

Wow. We went from being slightly related to the bridge to not at all. That can't be good.

So, this is the Palace of Fine Arts. It's a nice little park/place to get wedding pictures (seriously, everyone does).

At least we're moving in the right direction though: North.

[caption id="attachment_1137" align="aligncenter" width="983" caption="That's more like it!"][/caption]

There we go! That definitely looks more bridge-like! And yes, the picture does no justice to its great and mighty orange-ness.

In case you're wondering, the name "Golden Gate" refers to the entrance to San Francisco Bay itself. That's why there's so much named after it: the bridge, the park, the university, the cemetary, and even the casino.

[caption id="attachment_1142" align="alignleft" width="179" caption="Me, happy(ish)"][/caption]

Anyway, it was a good walk. Chilly, windy, and deafening, but good. The bridge is just over one and a half miles in span, so it's a decent walk to get down to one end and back. Also, you don't realize just how giant it is until you're crossing it. Sure there's the Bay Bridge too, and it's longer and has more traffic. But there's something just majestic and awesome about the Golden Gate Bridge. It has the kind of style the Bay Bridge will never have.

Did I say earlier it was windy? That's an understatement. Everyone's seen those old movies where it's so windy the guy is walking backwards right? If you want to experience that, cross the Golden Gate Bridge on foot. It's definitely a fun experience, and I was enjoying myself. It was as if nothing could go wrong.

Or at least, that's just what they wanted me to think!

[caption id="attachment_1139" align="alignright" width="225" caption="Me, sad..."][/caption]

We were nearing the north end of the bridge. Before I knew it, blam came a gust and knocked my hat away! Straight over the side! To be lost forever!

That hat had been a close and dear friend. I'd had it since I was a freshman at Georgia Tech. It was my band cap, coming with me for every football game, helping cheer on the Yellow Jackets. There were so many things that cap accompanied me through, whether my yearly Get-A-Clue excursions or even my last trip to Greece. It was with me through good times and bad, and it was always there when I needed it!

But no! That bridge (a.k.a. evil incarnate) decided to take from me something I held dear! How dare it?!

Well, I guess I got sidetracked. This was supposed to be about the bridge, and how it's really pretty dang cool. It's definitely a marvel, and walking along it gets you to think how much has gone into it. To think it's 75 years old makes it even more amazing. I'd definitely suggest taking the time to visit it yourself if you make it out to the Bay Area.

But just remember, it's a harsh mistress. If you decide to take the journey, make sure everything you wear is tied down. Who knows what the bridge will decide to take next? A baby? I wouldn't put it past that orange devil!

Epilogue:

While I miss my hat, I was able to procure a new band cap last fall. Right now it's just a replacement, but maybe, given time, we can build a solid rapport and it will graduate into being my dear friend like its predecessor. I'm sure we'll have many adventures together, I just have to hold onto this one. I'll tell you now though, the one place it will never be allowed to go is across any bridge, especially giant orange ones.

Also, I guess it's now been another year since I moved out here. Maybe I should finally make my way to Muir Woods...

Look! Up in the Sky! It's Supermoon!

You might want to take a look outside tonight. The Moon will be strutting its stuff as today it's no moon, it's a Supermoon! Obviously something called a "supermoon" must be supernatural in some form or another. I mean it's lining up with the peak of an annual meteor shower (Eta Aquariids) and Cinco de Mayo. Coincidences like this simply don't happen!  Other than today of course, when they do.

If you want to know what it means for your horoscopes, I'd suggest going to speak with a licensed astrologer. You might also need to stock up on some homeopathic medicines while you're at it, as you never know where the day will take you.

Ok, back to the point at hand. So "supermoon" is actually a colloquial term and is not accepted astronomer jargon. Astronomers would tell you tonight is the perigee-syzygy of the Moon in the Earth-Sun-Moon system. Yeah, that's not very helpful is it? I'll explain.

The Moon orbits the Earth in an elliptical orbit. On an ellipse, the perigee and apogee are the closest and farthest points from the center respectively. So the first part of a supermoon is that the Moon is at its closest point to Earth in its orbit. For the Moon specifically, the orbit is around 405,000km away at its apogee and around 360,000 km away at its perigee. It's basically 50,000 km closer at perigee than at apogee! The orbital period of the Moon, the time it takes to make one full revolution from perigee back to perigee, is called the anomalistic month and averages out to around 27.5 days.

Now syzygy should be a more familiar term, however we tend to use other names for it. To clear things up, no, I do not mean that episode of The X-Files where the two high school girls go crazy with mind powers and kill Ryan Reynolds. Syzygy is the term for when the positions of three astronomical bodies make a straight line. A true syzygy with the Earth, Moon, and Sun would be in times of solar and lunar eclipses, as either the Earth is directly between the Sun and Moon or the Moon is directly between the Sun and Earth. The term is also used more generically however to denote new moons and full moons. These aren't times when the three bodies are aligned, but they do represent a specific alignment of the Sun and Moon in relationship to the Earth. A lunation, or synodic month, is the time it takes the Moon to complete one lunar phase cycle; it averages around 29.5 days.

So really a perigee-syzygy in this sense could mean we're experiencing a new moon or a full moon while the Moon is at its perigee. Of course, why would we care about a new moon, we can't see it! So "supermoon" is really just a full moon at its closest point in orbit. Due to it being closer, it will actually be noticeably larger than average (the reported number is 12%). If the Moon were at it's apogee instead, it'd only be three-quarters as large and bright as you can see it today (it turns out 50,000 km can make quite a difference).

[caption id="attachment_1117" align="aligncenter" width="600" caption="The periods of the anachromal and syndochal months are above, with the lower graph representing the period of their interference."][/caption]

Now, as I mentioned, the Moon completes a revolution in about 27.5 days, but the lunar phase cycle takes 29.5 days. This causes a beat period between the two as they go in and out of phase together (shown above). This entire cycle is called the full moon cycle and occurs once about every 14 lunations (just under 14 months).  In fact, the last supermoon was in March 2011. So don't worry too much if you miss this one, the next one should be around July 2013. And if you miss the Eta Aquariids, they'll be back next year the same time as always.

The point of the story? It's just a big moon, spiraling around us at a kilometer a second, as we go spiraling around the Sun at 30 kilometers a second. Same as always, no big deal. But go out and enjoy it, because it'll be cool. If you're lucky, you'll see some shooting stars as well. And if you're really lucky, you won't party too hard for Cinco de Mayo and actually be able to remember your evening under the supermoon.