Can't Stop Geeking

I’ve always loved Star Trek and Star Wars equally, and I have friends who ask me how is that possible. Well, when I’m in a mood to stretch my imagination and logic and reasoning, I watch Star Trek.  When I’m looking for a fun fantasy filled retreat, I watch Star Wars. And as time has progressed, technology has started to take on aesthetic characteristics of Star Trek. I admint without shame that I have a flip phone attached to my hip and when a call comes in, I flip that bad boy open like I’m on Alpa 177.

Now, it seems, that not all Star Trek tech is feasible with the current technology.  According to a story on MSNBC, traveling at warp speed will kill you because of the bombardment of hydrogen atoms colliding with our body at the speed of light.  This scientist went on to say that light speed travel may be possible, but we will need different technology to do it.  So don’t make any plans to visit Alpha Centauri anytime soon.

photo and story from inhabitat.com

There’s an Austrian architecture firm that has a design for terraced hillside homes. The benefits appear to be many. Built into the hill itself, the houses will require less energy to cool or heat, the roofs provide a mini-lawn, and provides more living accomodations without sacrificing more space with an apartment building. I was in Germany back in 1999 and had seen this concept done with terraced farming. I thought it was a brilliant idea and to see it taken one step further into the realm of housing, it makes me wish I had thought of it.

One day when I was a kid, I was playing in my room with some building blocks, making towers for my baby brother to see and letting him knock them down.  Because I had carpet on my floor, and I was making the tower real tall, I placed some books on the floor to provide a flat surface on which to build.  My dad walked into the room to check in on us and asked what we were doing.  I explained my building enterprises to which my dad replied, “You know you did a smart thing laying the books down, because books are the foundation for your life and all that you achieve.” Without cracking a smile, I said, “I just used them cause they were flat.” He left.

I tell you this story because apparently someone took our conversation and made it into an art piece.  There is a book building in the Modern Art Center in Lisboa.  The books are not glued together or anything like that.  These books could be removed, read and replaced.  Don’t believe?  Take a look at the books.

Fox news took a page from Conan O’Brien (you don’t think they’re courting him too much, do you?). They took celebrity photos and mashed them with politicians, with some comic results. The one that got me the most was the James Bond image. While this one doesn’t use a politician, they took several actors who have played the title role and created the ultimae 007. Now, the fun part comes in figuring out who they used. There have been so many, I don’t think they were able to use a feature from every actor.

This is for all the car fans and eco-friendly fans.  Porsche has just unveiled a hybrid vehicle.  So not only can you feel the wind whipping at your hair as you tear down the interstate, you’ll be doing a favor for the evironment as you do so.  I hope these things don’t cost an S&P company to get one.

Are you a fan of the new layout?  Do you have to spend 5-10 minutes just trying to figure out where to visit your profile?  Do you find getting to your apps and games easier?  I myself don’t think the changes are necessary.  I could go into FB, check to see if there were any major friend updates from my last visit, and get on with my life.  I have many friends who also hate the changes, so what’s your opinion?

“Now why didn’t I think of that?”

There’s a company in Florida that has come up with a new eliptical exercise machine. What makes this unique, though, is the fact that working out on this machine will actually generate electrical power. So, you burn some calories on the machine and simultaneously generate electricity to run the machine. Talk about turning your fat into fortune! This story comes from inhabitat.com.

This came from inhabitat.com. There’s an artist by the name of Luke Jerram who is working on a project which is best described as a walk-in wind chime. Tubes of various lengths surround a small chamber and each tube has strings in it that will resonate when the wind blows into it. So, change the wind, change the tune. you will literally never hear the same thing twice. Cool!

Virgin Atlantic owner Richard Branson is upping the ante of deep sea exploration with a new submarine from Hawkes Ocean Tech. His goal is twofold: have a submersible that can plunge to depth’s of 35,000 feet below sea level and transport tourists at a weekly rate of $25,000 a week. Now, this is obviously meant to cater to the uber-rich, but the idea of exploring seas not charted yet is really cool. To give you an idea of scale, the deepest we’ve been able to get is almost 12,500 feet which is the depth of the Titanic wreck; Mt. Everest is 29,000 feet and the tallest mountain in the world. The deepest part of the ocean is the Marianna trench, 35,000 feet below sea level. If this work’s I wonder what we find.

I’m a fan of optical illusions. The right combination of color, shape and texture, and your eyes tell you something is happening that really isn’t. I got this from foxnews.com. It’s from one of their slideshows of various optical illusions. This is just plain cool.

If you want to see more of these and other mind-bending things, go to unrealitymag.com.