Attack of the Mad Scientists, Part 1

November 20, 2009

By Lonesome Polecat

As someone who designs boardgames, I feel lucky that I get to see all the different stages a game goes through before it's published. First there's making a prototype, typing up rules, playtesting, etc. But my favorite part is watching the artwork develop. I'm no artist myself, so aside from making some suggestions along the way I leave the artwork to the professionals at Fiery Dragon.

My latest game creation is on the very Nerdabout-worthy topic of mad scientists, so I thought I'd share some of this early artwork, to be followed up with pics of the finished product when it comes out in a month or two.

First up is the board, which no boardgame should be without. This first pic is of my own homemade prototype which I used while developing and playtesting the game.

Solution to the Perl Puzzler: by Aram

October 20, 2009

w00t!!1! Major congratulations to aram, who deciphered our very first code puzzler!

cksum file1 file_n | perl -ane 'warn if $F[0] != ($x ||= $F[0])'

Aram explained the convoluted code above as follows:

> Just a guess, it looks like it does a comparison of 2 files. 
> The chksum file file2 calculates and outputs the checksum which is 
> piped into a perl program.
> perl -a auto splits the output from checksum and puts it into array $F, 
> so F$[0] is the first element.
> the perl -n loops through all the piped input.
> $F[0] is the checksum of one file.
> $F[0] != ($x ||= $F[0]
> is true if $f[0] is not equal to $x or $F[0]. 
> it seems $x is set to $F[0] if not equal

Awesome, Aaram. Comparing the checksum of two files is exactly what this little one-liner is meant to do.

Hey Aram -- DM us on Twitter and let us know how we can get in touch with you! We'd like to send you a Nerdabout laptop sticker.

Brewfest is to Blame

September 22, 2009

By Joanna Burgess

There is no new Nerdabout post today for one simple reason: it's Brewfest in the world of World of Warcraft.

Brewfest, the festival of wanton debauchery, happens once a year. What can you do? Get yourself good and drunk and catch a wolpertinger--a "fictional animal said to inhabit the alpine forest of Bavaria, Germany" but for the next 2 weeks can be found hopping in the beer gardens outside Iron Forge and Orgimmar--or shoot pink Elekks with the Elekk Dispersion Ray.

You can ride a ram at high speeds, careening over crevices and through cities. There's achievements galore to conquer, gear and mounts to be gotten, demons to wrestle with. I'm missing out on some of the fun because I haven't reached that magical level 80. But there's always Hallow's End to look forward to, when by gods, I will be level 80 on my main Night Elf Druid Wetherwax, with the help of my new guild, Dropped Stitches, populated by the excellent and funny peeps of my Ravelry knitting group, World of Warcrafters.

Top 10 Nerdy Blow Offs

September 10, 2009

By Joanna Burgess

photo: Francis Storr

A good PvPer knows you have to be two steps ahead of the masses. The same holds true for social situations. "Sorry I can't. It's patch day and I have to re-spec my druid." has been a favorite, mid-week defense of mine. As I believe it prudent to be prepared at all times, for all uncomfortable moments, be it at the bar or library, I called on the good people of Twitter and Facebook to help me round out my Top 10 Nerdy Blow Offs list and as usual our geeky fans did not disappoint.

BlizzCon 2009: Hunter's Mark Hat

September 08, 2009

Fellow Ravelry Warcrafter Arwen Lietz otherwise known as Nimcraft in the world of gaming and crafting, was lucky enough to score tickets to BlizzCon 2009 and kind enough to write about her adventures for us.

How does one wire coat hanger, a piece of foam, and a baseball cap transmute into two collector's item posters? Well, if you're a nerdcrafter at Blizzcon, these things can happen.

One-Line Perl Puzzler

August 31, 2009

cksum file1 file_n | perl -ane 'warn if $F[0] != ($x ||= $F[0])'

Machinima

April 13, 2009

By Joanna

Machinima is awesome. I feel cool just saying the word. But what--as a friend of mine recently asked me over chat--the hell is machinima? I wrote back with a knowing nod of my head: machinima uses 3-D rendering engines to produce computer animation. I was met with silence. She was at work and needed entertainment so I sent her the link to "Code Monkey."

Yarnz in the Key of Wow: In-Game Interview with Kyriemist of Draenor

March 31, 2009

By Joanna Burgess

In the course of the past year, I've been combining my love of knitting with my new-found obsession of World of Warcraft. I've been tracking down fellow knitters who enjoy spending hours at a whack questing to our hearts content--and knitting during the long flights or when being corpse camped. I decided to branch out do in-game interviews using Fraps, which I'd never used before. To my way of thinking, if I'm going to write about crafting and WoW, what better way to do so then from the inside?

Lonesome Polecat's Guide to Getting a Boardgame Published

March 23, 2009

By David Cuatt

Ever thought of designing and publishing a boardgame? Maybe it seemed too hard, or like something only other people with special talents or connections could do. Not so. This ten step guide is a summary of what I did to get my first boardgame published, and I'm now on my third with Fiery Dragon.

Intro to Physical Computing; or, Fake Your Own Wii Remote

March 20, 2009

Ever been to a Wii party where they were short a remote—and you're the one who got stuck? Social nightmare! Then you feel totally left out watching everyone else have the best time with Mario Kart. And not sharing. Next thing you know they won't play Truth or Dare with you either. But through the magic of physical computing and the help of all-around nice guy (and ITP Associate Arts Professor) Tom Igoe, you can learn to hack your own Wii remote. It's what you'd call practical application of a physical computing lesson—or what the old timers call a win-win. Plus, they spend bug bucks to learn this at NYU don'tcha know. So grab your microcontroller and press the play button below—now you'll never be left empty-handed again.

Here are the tools you'll need:

Microcontroller board
USB cable
software
LED
sensor

And here's where to pick them up (and the code!):

Processing.org
SparkFun

Arduino
Pcomp Code

What Makes Your Town So Great?

March 02, 2009

Do West Coast nerds do it better? Are the real nerds down south? What about the unsung ones of the Midwest? Tell us here why your geek scene is the coolest, and you might become a rep for the city.

—The eds.

Boston Nerds Sound Off!

Heather Classen recently wrote us about the geek scene in Boston, and we agreed that the world needed to hear more. So voila! Please welcome our Boston Correspondent Heather Classen.

What's going on in your city? Write us here and be featured on our site.

Hearing about NerdAbout via a Facebook link, I saw that Nerdabout covers Austin TX, Portland OR, and NYC ... no Boston. what up? Boston is the central nerd hatchery as far as I'm concerned... the nerd "Hub", if you will. You can't close your eyes and toss your iPhone without hitting another adventurous knowledge loving brainiac... and here's how I know.

Looking to meet new people during the summer of 2007 I started wading into the Meetup waters, going to lunches, walks, and whatnot. Met great people and had a nice time, but the existing meetup groups weren't doing the sorts of events I wanted to. There was a Michael Palin book signing in Harvard Square that I wanted to go to and I couldn't get any of my regular crew to come along. So I took a chance, opened up Nerd Fun Boston, and posted it. No one came. It was just me and my red meetup sign. But, figuring there weren't many people signed up in my group by the time I ran my first event I gave it another shot. Harvard's Center for Astrophysics (CfA) has an open house night each month, lecture, telescopes, so I posted it. And they came. There's been no turning back.

As I write this there's 1429 members in my group.

My premise for Nerd Fun was to gather life-long learners together. I ran a bunch of events, and then with the help of superstar assistant organizers (i.e. T.J.) the group gathered steam, and people. Each event we attended recruited more and more members. We even started recruiting people who run the events that we attend. NerdFun Boston is a fantastic group of people from all walks of life. Younger people, older people, single, married, straight, gay, local, visiting, foreign, history geeks, science geeks, astronomy geeks, art geeks, geek geeks, everyone. It's fantastic.

Things that surprised me about the group:

1. history nerds.
I had no idea there were so many history nerds, I thought everyone would be all about semiconductors and bio-pharm in line with Boston's biggest industries. Our most prolific organizer, T.J. , started attending Boston By Foot Walking Tours and like the pied piper of nerds, T.J. collected a gaggle of history geeks, including the Boston by Foot tourguides themselves. But, I realized, it's inevitable in a city with Boston's past that curious people are going to want to spend time learning the history that's all around us here. Automatic.

2. transient nerds.
We're getting lots of members who are here in Boston/Cambridge temporarily, for school and work. It's perfect for them to attach onto a good group of active curious people and see and learn what there is to be seen here. Scientists and lawyers from Europe as visiting Harvard and MIT students, business travellers from Montreal in town for the weekend, students testing the grad school waters before they commit, again, I'm always surprised by who finds us.

3. my nerds are hooking up.
(Myself included.) Having this completely low pressure way of meeting other local brainiacs has really made dating easy. It's like being back in college without all the classwork and tuition. Many of us are working stiffs that, until now, hadn't had that "birds of a feather" feeling of community since our university days.

Our Events:
My favorite recurring event is the monthly Smithsonian Observatory Public Viewing Night, which involves an always interesting lecture followed by stargazing through the telescopes on their Cambridge rooftop. The CfA also has the occassional movie night (i.e. Destination Moon—see below.)

Photo by Aram Comjean

We attend talks and exhibits at the Harvard Museum of Natural History , the Museum of Science , the Museum of Fine Arts, the Institute of Contemporary Art, Northeastern University Marine Science Center, the Boston Public Library ,MIT Museum, Boston Duck Tours,  movies like Coolidge Corner's Science on Screen series, John Quincy Adams home,  cemetery tours, Paul Revere House, the Old South Meeting House and other Freedom Trail locales. The Longfellow House, Lexington and Concord's historical sites, Science in the News Seminar Series from Harvard's Medical School . yada yada yada. The list of events is endless. And our memberlist grows constantly as word gets out.

I'm thrilled at the direction this meetup group has taken, I had no idea that there would be so many really great, funny, intelligent, kind, good hearted, fun, adcventurous people out there looking to do the same sorts of nerd-tastic events that I like doing.

But, then again, this is Boston.

Join:
If you'd like to join, please connect with us at  meetup alliance to collect similar groups across the US, please join the fun.

—Heather Classen

Lego Sculptor Shares His Secrets

February 27, 2009

When Dustin Hoffman's character wonders what to do with his life in The Graduate, a family friend gives him this advice "One word: plastics." While that doesn't sound like a thrilling option, artist Nathan Sawaya has found a way to parlay plastics into an exciting career—as a Lego sculptor.

I visited Nathan's NYC studio, where he works surrounded by over one million Lego bricks, carefully organized by color and type (he does not work with any special or unusual bricks). Also on hand were a life-size sculpture of a man in a tuxedo and va-va-voom blonde in a (Lego) evening gown, commissioned by Neiman Marcus, and a Lego Stephen Colbert, commissioned by the comedian himself for the Colbert Report. (Watch video of Nathan explaining how he put Stephen Colbert together.)

Nathan usually starts with a a lot of sketching on what's known as brick paper and then begins to build from there. But this is no fly-by-night sculptor -- he's been honing his craft since childhood, when, as a young boy he built an entire Lego city in his parents' living room. So what kind of advice does this Lego guru have for kids interested in the biz? One word: practice.

Hey! What Are You a Nerd About?

February 26, 2009

Here at Nerdabout.com, we hear from a lot of folks who are nervous about revealing their inner, nerdier selves. After all, what will the neighbors think?

But fear no longer! This is the place to celebrate your geeky, nerdy inclinations ... whatever they may be. So far we've heard from sports nerds, Powerpoint nerds, Rubik's Cube nerds, and even 18th century pirate nerds. And we're sure there are many more out there just waiting to step forward.

If you want to declare your nerdiness to the world (and hook up with other followers), submit your deep dark geeky secret in the Comments here - we may choose you to be featured on Nerdabout.com and ScienceChannel.com.

Now let that geek flag fly proudly!

—Your pals at Nerdabout

Nerdabout Interview Nerd Nite

February 17, 2009

By Joanna Burgess

One of my favorite pastimes is to learn odd, perhaps useless-at-at-the-moment-but helpful-at-some-point-in-the-future facts. That's just one of the many reasons I'm drawn to Nerd Nite, held the 2nd Friday of every month at Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn. Matt Wasowski, the venerable host of this monthly event met me at Croton Reservoir Tavern, a cavernous mid-town bar, to catch me up on the ins and outs of Nerd Nite, among other things. The footage is a wee bit dark but Matt shines through loud and clear.

Yarnz in the Key of WoW

February 04, 2009

By Joanna Burgess

Gaming and crafting go hand in hand. Both require creativity and cunning. Both require dedication. Both require the ability to curse with abandon, take a bruised ego and happily come back for more. 

Each month WoW enthusiast Jenna, aka Indiedyer, offers up her latest WoW inspired colors on Ravelry for all knitters to feast their eyes upon. I've been a fan for quite some time and was happy when Jenna shared a bit about her work and how she got this idea rolling. She even reveals a quest that would make the most geared up druid quake.  

Global Game Jam

January 30, 2009

By John Son

While the media pummels us this coming weekend with all things Super Bowl XLIII, there will be an even more intense competition going on in college campuses throughout the world. The first annual Global Game Jam challenges over 1,750 game developers from New York City to Ankara (Turkey) to Rio de Janeiro to Vilnius (Lithuania) to create the most innovative video games their brilliant minds can come up with--IN 48 HOURS. Working in small teams, the Global Game Jam kicks off at 5pm Friday, January 30, 2009, and ends 5pm Sunday, February 1, 2009. Following a keynote address on YouTube, the first jam kicks off in New Zealand. All participants will be constrained by the same rules and limitations, with each time zone having one distinct constraint to keep a level playing field. The last jam starts in Hawaii. If you're not one of the lucky developers participating, you'll be able to catch the madness live on ustream.tv. The above screen shot is from the game Buddha Quest developed by the Boston team. Meanwhile, get your game pads and joysticks ready!

Knitting in Azeroth Without Getting Ganked

January 28, 2009

My main: Eyre, Night Elf druid

Last week I took a brief survey on my Ravlery WOW board. (That's World of Warcraft for those of you who are crazy enough NOT to play). My WOW obsession has led me to dream about knitting in game. I'm not alone. Survey topic: Knitting in Azeroth Without Getting Ganked. Here's what my comrades had to say:

Best Places to Get Your Yarnz

January 15, 2009

By Joanna Burgess

Knitting is more than a pastime for me, it's a slight obsession. It ranks right on up there with playing WOW with Eyre, my Night Elf Druid. One of my favorite places to hang out (especially when I should be working) is Ravelry, a fabulous network of knitters and crocheters, from causal to extreme. I belong to a bunch of boards on there including Subway Knitters. Not long ago I took an informal survey to to find out favorite yarn shops in NYC. Many thanks to all who shared their 2 cents. I apologize if I've missed anyone.

Here are the results in no particular order.

Make A Muppet and solve a Rubik's Cube at FAO Schwarz

December 10, 2008

By Heather Quinlan

You will never find serenity in a trip to FAO Schwarz, but you will find the floor piano made famous by the movie Big, wall-to-wall princess dolls, and Lego Ron Weasley.

And if you can survive the crowds without going mad (the economy is alive and well here), you'll be rewarded with a visit to the Muppet Whatnot Workshop, where you can build a Whatnot, those muppets who act as extras in Sesame Street and The Muppet Show. I met Whatnot Supervisor James and his pal the Mad Scientist, who were nice enough to show how to make your own Whatnot. Have a look!

After that I went upstairs and met Hector, the Rubik's Cube expert. With microphone and trusty cube, he took command the floor as shoppers of all ages looked on in awe. He solved one challenge in less than a minute. Like so much of life, the secret lies in algorithms.

Hope your shopping is going well. Happy Holidays from Nerdabout!