Geekery

Geek God – Gene Roddenberry

Posted on 21. Dec, 2009 by Jake.

In the geek realm, your choice of viewing material is a highly contentious issue. There are Star Wars Geeks and Lord of the Rings Geeks, Babylon 5 obsessives and even a few lowly Buffy freaks. But, like them or loathe them, no army of geek fans has as many legions or is as obsessive as the common trekkie – a devotee of the television and film franchise Star Trek. Whether you think this is a good or bad thing depends largely on whether or not you are ‘one of them’. While lacking the, um, star power of George Lucas, Star Trek inventor Gene Roddenberry is pretty much worshipped by most of Star Trek’s greatest devotees. And I would imagine that being worshipped by some of the world’s saddest people (and before you get violent remember, some of my best friends are trekkies) is better than not being worshipped at all.

Even as a non-trekkie I have to admit that the universe Roddenberry created in Star Trek is extremely complex and well-realised. And, while Star Wars has a plot that revolves around bland themes of good vs evil, Star Trek, as fans would tell you, offers complex commentary that has tackled important issues including war and peace, authoritarianism, imperialism, class warfare, economics, racism, religion, human rights, sexism and the role of technology. Roddenberry said that the only way you could comment on controversial issues in 1960s in America was through allegory. “[By creating] a new world with new rules, I could make statements about sex, religion, Vietnam, politics, and intercontinental missiles. Indeed, we did make them on Star Trek“.

Star Trek was far from an instant success – the original show was constantly threatened with cancellation, and was kept on air only by the dedicated letter-writing of a few fanatical fans before getting cancelled in its third season. But the franchise, already a huge hit among its followers, started to grow. And grow. No other series is responsible for as many spin-offs. Since the original sixties series, Star Trek went on to become an animated series in the seventies, then the Next Generation in the 80s and 90s, before spawning Deep Space Nice, Voyager and Enterprise. There have been 11 feature films – the latest, 2009’s unimaginatively titled Star Trek, was hugely successful and renewed interest in the franchise – and a 12th is on the way. There have also been too many books, games and comics to mention. And, although Star Trek has been doing just fine since Roddenberry’s death in 1991, Roddenberry is missed, and is still a god to his fans, who affectionately call him the ‘Great Bird of the Galaxy’.

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Ten Great Geek Things for your Home

Posted on 09. Oct, 2009 by Jake.

What does your regular, average, common-or-garden (..heh) geek do when ready to stay close to home and nest? Why, redecorate, of cours Nest a bit. Make the place reflect him and his interests more.  And this is the Top Ten list of how…

For starters, get that cover to Spiderman blown up and framed, and make a triptych out of the Hubble Space Telescope images.  Get some normal things like a new TV and a new bed, too, but hunt for some more interesting and unique things to add.  Don’t make the mistake of building a shrine to Star Wars or turn your new home into a museum, but do add some cool stuff.

1. Everyone needs a comfortable chair for reading, napping, and saving the universe.  How about Captain Kirk’s Chair?  So far I’ve found it for about R18 000, excluding shipping and all that good stuff.  I suspect the difficult economy and the wives of Star Trek fans may have forced a few people to sell theirs used.

2. If you have one empty room, why not make it into an ’80s arcade? Imagine an upright game systems that has a pile of vintage arcade games on it: Arcade Legends 2.  A bit expensive at over R19 000, but a lot of games and it will only take up one corner. So, hey.

3. What if HR Giger designed not only aliens, but furniture?  Well, he did!  HR Giger furniture looks way cool, but seems to be largely unavailable now and way too expensive.  A Giger bathroom would be unique, but I don’t know if I’d have the guts to use it.  Found another European seller with more options, prices high, too, but not outrageous.

4. A Straight Up Chess Set.  Hang it on the wall and play a game, or leave puzzles for friends to solve.  This Monster Set would probably be my preference, over the Wizard Set.

5.  Wall sculpture/trophy heads.  I like the trophy room at the end of Predator 2 where you seen an Alien head in the background.  Well, found one artist doing an alien head trophy.  You could also make your own dragon/alien trophy.

6. I’d love to have a nice orrery, one of those mechanical devices that shows how the planets in the solar system move.  There is a guy who builds and sells orreries, and if I can figure out where to display it, I may well order one.  They’re handmade though, and not cheap I suspect…still, a cool thing to have around the house.

7. Coffin furniture, art, etc., especially bookcases and display cases.  Imagine having an obscure one in a library to hold horror/sci-fi books.

8. A robot.  And I’m not talking a vacuum cleaner here.  A humanoid robot that does cool stuff, or a giant Cylon.  OK, the second one isn’t a real robot, just a statue.  Or an animatronic gargoyle.  Or maybe a robot chimp head.

9.  Lawn sculpture.  I don’t have lawn.  I have rocks and trees.  .

10. Unique lighting.  I already have these little supernova night lights that are cool that I love.  Something like this Star Laser seems like the ticket, although I suspect there’s better and more interesting high-end stuff out there. Anyway, the Star Laser seems to look like this.

11.  Yeah, my list goes to 11 now.  A smart and sexy geeky/nerdy girl to share the place with.  I’m thinking about settling down…

Honorable mention: aquarium.  These can be fixed up with all sorts of strange creatures and exotic decorations.  Need to do some serious research about this first before trying it.

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The Top Ten Weirdest Keyboards Ever

Posted on 21. Sep, 2009 by Jake.

Keyboards. We use them everyday, and if you’re me, you bang ‘em so hard you rub the letters off. Investigating alternativtives, I came across these – keyboard variants that seem to come straight out of a Star Trek episode. Here’s my Top 10 list of the weirdest keyboards ever.
10. Roll-up keyboard
This keyboard has the same measurements as a standard 102-key keyboard, but there’s a big difference. You can roll this one up and put it in your pocket. Nice. Oh, and if you spill your coffee, no worries, just lather, rinse, repeat.

9. The wrist keyboard
This one might be useful if you’re in the need to type stuff while doing practical work in tough climates, like Macguyver  – but if you would wear this keyboard at the office, you might be considered a bit geeky.

8. Maltron 3D Ergonomic Keyboard
Things are starting to get a bit more weird, eh? Getting used to this keyboard isn’t something you’ll do in 10 minutes or so – it will take a while for sure. But if you have medical problems with your hands, this might be a good choice since it’s a very ergonomic keyboard. Or you might consider calling your doctor to fix your wrists instead.

7. The SafeType keyboard
Just take a look at this one. Do you understand how to use it? The idea is that your hands and arms shall be in a more relaxed position while working with the SafeType compared to a traditional keyboard. While doing research for this article I ran across this review of the safetype:

“However, if you have a low tolerance for frustration (and learning to type in a new manner can be frustrating) then your best bet is to stay flat and stick with a keyboard that’s a little more “common” Erm…yeah.
6. Virtual Laser Keyboard
This is more cool than weird though. This laser gadget projects a virtual keyboard on a table or other suitable material, and then interpret your finger movement and pass them on to your PDA or whatever you have it connected to. Cool.

5. The frogpad
The frogpad is a tiny, tiny keyboard – or it would be more suitable to call it a keypad actually. The manufacturer say that you can get up to 40 words per minute if you practice between 6 to 10 hours with it. Any idea why they are calling it a frogpad?

4. The Twiddler 2
What do you say about the Twiddler 2? It looks to be quite painful to use, or what do you think? According to the testimonials at their site, it will take you ‘a weekend’ to learn typing 30 words per minute, so the frogpad wins that round. The Twiddler actually reminds me of those guitar classes I took when I was young…

3. The Orbitouch
This one could be a leftover from Area 51, or a prop from the set of any science fiction movie. Wonder how it works? Here’s what the manufacturer say: “The orbiTouch creates a keystroke when you slide the two domes into one of their eight respective positions. You type the different characters by sliding the domes to create letters and numbers. The orbiTouch also has an integrated mouse, so moving the domes gives you full mouse and keyboard capability!”

The target group for this keyboard is of course people who have limited or no motion in their fingers or hands, and that’s a very good thing – but anyway,.. weird.

2. The Datahand
This product is aimed at people who get pain in their hands from typing with a traditional keyboard – and that’s a good thing. It’s still looks like a very strange keyboard. Everytime I see this one I think of the movie Predator with Arnold Schwarzenegger, don’t know why. I love this one – the keyboard, not the movie.

1. The Tidy Tippist
Isn’t this one lovely? The keyboard is hidden inside a decorative, washable tablecloth. The electronic is woven into a fabric, which finds itself between layers of water resistant felt as sandwich material. The soft felt surface makes it a pleasure for fingers to tip – a cosy keyboard. Awesome, hehe.

Honorable mention
Here’s my favorite keyboard of all times – the rubber keyboard (chiclet keyboard) of the ZX Spectrum. I still have one at home…love it.

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