{"id":7410,"date":"2011-06-21T06:54:52","date_gmt":"2011-06-21T13:54:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/?p=7410"},"modified":"2015-11-04T15:40:24","modified_gmt":"2015-11-04T20:40:24","slug":"geekathon-is-alive-and-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/geekathon-is-alive-and-well\/","title":{"rendered":"geekathon is alive and well"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>A user-made video using images from <a href=\"http:\/\/saturn.jpl.nasa.gov\/science\/index.cfm\">NASA&#8217;s Cassini space probe Saturn mission<\/a>, set to the eerie tune of Nine Inch Nail&#8217;s &#8220;Ghosts&#8221;:<br \/>\n<iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"http:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/24410924?title=0&amp;byline=0&amp;portrait=0&amp;color=000\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" frameborder=\"0\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div style=\"clear:both\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<p>So one of my personal philosophical dilemmas is sand. Not sand at the beach, but deserts. The thought of continental sand really bothers me, it&#8217;s something my mind can&#8217;t seem to resolve. It also plagues me, thinking that there are huge, vast tracks of land that we can&#8217;t do anything with. However all that sand in the desert might be useful after all, if one Abu Dhabi-based professor has his way, making bricks from bacteria that &#8220;cement&#8221; sand without heat:<br \/>\n<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"7418\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/geekathon-is-alive-and-well\/metropolis_next_generation_-thumb-550xauto-64492\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/metropolis_next_generation_-thumb-550xauto-64492.jpg?fit=550%2C236&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"550,236\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"metropolis_next_generation_-thumb-550xauto-64492\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/metropolis_next_generation_-thumb-550xauto-64492.jpg?fit=500%2C215&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/metropolis_next_generation_-thumb-550xauto-64492.jpg?fit=550%2C236&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/metropolis_next_generation_-thumb-550xauto-64492.jpg?resize=500%2C214&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" title=\"metropolis_next_generation_-thumb-550xauto-64492\" width=\"500\" height=\"214\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-7418\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/metropolis_next_generation_-thumb-550xauto-64492.jpg?w=550&amp;ssl=1 550w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/metropolis_next_generation_-thumb-550xauto-64492.jpg?resize=125%2C54&amp;ssl=1 125w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/metropolis_next_generation_-thumb-550xauto-64492.jpg?resize=500%2C215&amp;ssl=1 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><br \/>\nI&#8217;m not saying it resolves my notions of continental sand, but maybe there&#8217;s a sustainable architecture that can at least put me at ease!<br \/>\n<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"7417\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/geekathon-is-alive-and-well\/metropolis_next_generation_brick_05\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/metropolis_next_generation_brick_05.jpg?fit=530%2C443&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"530,443\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"metropolis_next_generation_brick_05\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/metropolis_next_generation_brick_05.jpg?fit=500%2C418&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/metropolis_next_generation_brick_05.jpg?fit=530%2C443&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/metropolis_next_generation_brick_05.jpg?resize=500%2C417&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" title=\"metropolis_next_generation_brick_05\" width=\"500\" height=\"417\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-7417\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/metropolis_next_generation_brick_05.jpg?w=530&amp;ssl=1 530w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/metropolis_next_generation_brick_05.jpg?resize=125%2C104&amp;ssl=1 125w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/metropolis_next_generation_brick_05.jpg?resize=500%2C418&amp;ssl=1 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><br \/>\n[via <a href=\"http:\/\/dvice.com\/archives\/2011\/06\/eco-friendly-ho.php\">dvice<\/a>]<\/p>\n<div style=\"clear:both\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<p>Lego <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Orrery\">orerry<\/a> by V&#038;A Steamworks:<br \/>\n<object type=\"application\/x-shockwave-flash\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\" data=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/apps\/video\/stewart.swf?v=71377\" classid=\"clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000\"><param name=\"flashvars\" value=\"intl_lang=en-us&#038;photo_secret=0637082afb&#038;photo_id=5730732979&#038;flickr_show_info_box=true\"><\/param><param name=\"movie\" value=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/apps\/video\/stewart.swf?v=71377\"><\/param><param name=\"bgcolor\" value=\"#000000\"><\/param><param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\"><\/param><\/object><\/p>\n<div style=\"clear:both\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<p>IBM is 100 years young, and unlike some high-value gadget companies they&#8217;re actually responsible for a ton of the tech we use or pass by in our daily lives &#8211; with <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ibm.com\/ibm100\/us\/en\/\">a centennial website<\/a> about their &#8220;second century&#8221;.<br \/>\n<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"7414\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/geekathon-is-alive-and-well\/ibm_tumblr_lmwn951sef1qzozj1\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/IBM_tumblr_lmwn951seF1qzozj1.jpg?fit=500%2C367&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"500,367\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"IBM_tumblr_lmwn951seF1qzozj1\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/IBM_tumblr_lmwn951seF1qzozj1.jpg?fit=500%2C367&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/IBM_tumblr_lmwn951seF1qzozj1.jpg?fit=500%2C367&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/IBM_tumblr_lmwn951seF1qzozj1.jpg?resize=500%2C367&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" title=\"IBM_tumblr_lmwn951seF1qzozj1\" width=\"500\" height=\"367\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-7414\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/IBM_tumblr_lmwn951seF1qzozj1.jpg?w=500&amp;ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/IBM_tumblr_lmwn951seF1qzozj1.jpg?resize=125%2C92&amp;ssl=1 125w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><br \/>\nAnd no, CNN, you&#8217;re wrong, Apple in fact <a href=\"http:\/\/www.cnn.com\/video\/#\/video\/tech\/2011\/06\/16\/google.chromebook.debut.cnn?iref=videosearch\">did not &#8220;invent&#8221;<\/a> the personal computer &#8211; that&#8217;s just their monthly allowance cheque to you talking.<\/p>\n<div style=\"clear:both\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<p>office killer, turn any JPG into a Commodore-64-esque image <a href=\"http:\/\/c64.superdefault.com\/\">at C64yourself<\/a>:<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/c64.superdefault.com\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"7420\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/geekathon-is-alive-and-well\/download\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/download.png?fit=1280%2C800&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"1280,800\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"download\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/download.png?fit=500%2C313&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/download.png?fit=640%2C400&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/download.png?resize=500%2C312&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" title=\"download\" width=\"500\" height=\"312\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-7420\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/download.png?w=1280&amp;ssl=1 1280w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/download.png?resize=125%2C78&amp;ssl=1 125w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/download.png?resize=500%2C313&amp;ssl=1 500w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div style=\"clear:both\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<p>these two characters will never cease to get old. Wasn&#8217;t this like 10 years ago? Cloud vs Sephiroth, with Aeris&#8217;s cure ability thrown in for good measure:<\/p>\n<div class=\"jetpack-video-wrapper\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Final Fantasy Stop motion- Sephiroth the World&#039;s Enemy \u4e16\u754c\u6bc0\u6ec5\u8005\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/EPl_kpwyAyA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/div>\n<div style=\"clear:both\">&nbsp;<\/div>\n<p>regarding <em>this<\/em> diagram of geek culture, I disagree (or rather dis-associate) mostly with Geek Idols, and relate mostly with Geek Obsessions &#8211; what does that say about <em>my<\/em> personal geekathon?<br \/>\n<a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/diagram_of_geek_culture.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"7427\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/geekathon-is-alive-and-well\/diagram_of_geek_culture\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/diagram_of_geek_culture.jpg?fit=820%2C876&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"820,876\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;1&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"diagram_of_geek_culture\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/diagram_of_geek_culture.jpg?fit=500%2C534&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/diagram_of_geek_culture.jpg?fit=640%2C684&amp;ssl=1\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/diagram_of_geek_culture.jpg?resize=500%2C534&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" title=\"diagram_of_geek_culture\" width=\"500\" height=\"534\" class=\"aligncenter size-large wp-image-7427\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/diagram_of_geek_culture.jpg?w=820&amp;ssl=1 820w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/diagram_of_geek_culture.jpg?resize=125%2C134&amp;ssl=1 125w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/diagram_of_geek_culture.jpg?resize=500%2C534&amp;ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/diagram_of_geek_culture.jpg?resize=749%2C800&amp;ssl=1 749w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<div class='ctx-module-container ctx_default_placement ctx-clearfix'><\/div><span class=\"ctx-article-root\"><!-- --><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A user-made video using images from NASA&#8217;s Cassini space probe Saturn mission, set to the eerie tune of Nine Inch Nail&#8217;s &#8220;Ghosts&#8221;: &nbsp; So one of my personal philosophical dilemmas is sand. Not sand at the beach, but deserts. The thought of continental sand really bothers me, it&#8217;s something my mind can&#8217;t seem to resolve. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7414,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1229],"series":[],"class_list":["post-7410","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-geekathon","tag-geekathon"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2011\/06\/IBM_tumblr_lmwn951seF1qzozj1.jpg?fit=500%2C367&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6OfVu-1Vw","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7410","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7410"}],"version-history":[{"count":23,"href":"https:\/\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7410\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":15663,"href":"https:\/\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7410\/revisions\/15663"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7414"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7410"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7410"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7410"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nicknormal.com\/normalblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=7410"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}