Recently in Geek Out Category

Thirty years ago the first spam email message (unsolicited commercial email) was sent to 393 researchers on the Arpanet network.  Nobody knew it was the first spam message and wouldn't call it that until 15 years later, but it was a harbinger of things to come.  Now there's formmail spam, comment spam, trackback spam, and every other form of spam imaginable.

This tattoo means "end head, begin body"
in HTML markup

Here's one of many nerd tattoos that you can find by Googling the terms nerd tattoo or geek tattoo.  Oh, and do not forget to Google nerdcore tattoo, because those nerdcore kids take the nerd hardcore and to a completely different level in my opinion.

My favorite of the bunch I looked at is one by the name of Mario Jedi, a mash-up of Donkey Kong's Mario and a Star Wars Jedi Knight into one outrageously crazy nerdy tattoo.  Sure, Mario looks cool now on your bicep while wearing a Jedi Knight outfit but how do you explain that wrinkled mess on your arm to your grandkids.  How are they going to feel about grandpa then!?

"Ooh, that's going to leave a mark!"

ThinkGeek has these sunglasses with an embedded 1.3 megapixel camera and remote control shutter built-in. The ultimate in "cool as shit" spy gear that would have made me "cuckoo for cocoa puffs" in sixth grade. It's no fair that kids that have $100 will get a chance to wear these in school, museums and other places where cameras just aren't allowed.  The sunglasses also allow you to enjoy your music via MP3 playback. Built-in earbuds allow you to play James Bond music as you take photos.

Creepy woman.

I just went to a website that features an incredibly lifelike and creepy CGI flash-animated woman that follows your mouse with her eyes, blinks, and smiles.  I guarantee you that everyone that sees her will exclaim "wow, that's pretty cool!"  The Brazilian design firm that created her did a fantastic job.

Check it out if you have some time.  What I really like about the animation is that it appears to be truly random.  She doesn't have that many facial movements, but they all seem to be very well randomized.  At this rate it seems we are very close to having virtual actors that appear lifelike, not like Buzz Lightyear.  Via BoingBoing.

The war for the next-generation video format war is over. Last week, Toshiba officially announced that it will no longer manufacture HD-DVD players, making Sony's Blu-ray technology the victor. I feel really bad for some of my friends that bought HD-DVD players in the last couple of months. I will now be waiting for Microsoft to release their Blu-ray add-on for the Xbox 360.

It seems that until now very few people seem concerned about disappearing bee populations. Well, Haagen-Dazs is warning that 40% of their flavors need fruits and vegetables that are pollinated by bees. This means that premium ice cream prices will go up and flavors may disappear altogether. Bottom line, if you like ice cream you should consider donating to bee population research. Contact the UC Davis Department of Entomology at (530) 752-0475 and ask how you can help financially.

Here's a video on how to open a standard padlock with a pair of scissors and a soda can. Take that MacGyver! I am very glad this kid didn't go to my high school. I wonder why some gyms and high schools still use these locks. Apparently, unless you have a shrouded shackle or hidden shackle padlock, your stuff is toast.

I have had a Palm Treo 650 for the last two years and it has served me well. I used it to check work email, keep contacts, check my calendar. Basically, I used it for all of the Outlook functions without having to turn on my computer, which isn't very practical just to check my availability for an appointment. The Treo was a big clunky device that had poor sound quality, low battery life, and a small screen with a weak backlight. It was so poor as a phone that I still carried a Motorla Razr as my phone.

About three days ago, I upgraded to the BlackBerry Pearl 8100 and the device is nothing short of amazing. It is small sleek, has a great high contrast color screen, good sound quality, amazing battery life, and even great native third-party apps, like a GoogleTalk and Gmail client. Best of all, the built-in camera is 1.3 megapixels and has great image quality. With all of these features built-in I am going to get rid of my Razr and carry just one device from now on.

After two years I saw the Treo as a necessary tool that I simply tolerated. After only a few days with the Pearl I can honestly say that I love it. I understand the strong emotional attachment that a lot of people have for their BlackBerries and understand the term CrackBerry intimately. I can't put this damn thing down!

Scientists now believe that birds have special molecules in their eyes that allows them to literally see the Earth's magnetic field within their normal field of vision. This becomes particularly helpful for the birds when migrating long distances. It is likely that the magnetic field looks like dark or light spots or lines within their normal vision.

Well, at a very small scale anyway. Scientists have found that when water in two beakers is exposed to a high voltage, a floating water bridge forms between the beakers. The water stream can be as wide as 3mm in diameter and as long as 25mm. It's interesting that while water is everywhere in nature, some of its unique properties are still a mystery. Via BoingBoing.

The first emoticon in an electronic message was sent by a Carnegie Mellon professor 25 years ago today.

MC Frontalot just made a sweet video of his new Nerdcore song, "It's Pitch Dark." That's right it's funky fresh Zork universe humor for all of those old enough to remember the Infocom games. What is a grue? Well, if you have to ask you probably won't understand this video.

Some guy is selling a fully articulated Master Chief costume on eBay for $5,300. With costumes that look this good, I am surprised that people haven't made live action fan films about the Halo universe. The guy selling the costume didn't make it, but I am sure whoever made this costume spent a lot of time on it. Alas, you have to be really serious about Halo to drop this kind of money on a freaking costume. But think about how cool, and lonely, you'll be on Halloween!