Archive for the ‘Geeking’ Category

So I checked the mail today and found a package from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratories. This is not a usual thing for me.

I opened it to find that I had received a small chunk of aerogel as a result of filling out a survey on NASA's new Stardust-NExT website, a new site about our exploration of comets. Answer some questions about the site's usefulness and you might get a prize! I filled it out and forgot about it. Until today.

Aerogel is the lightest solid on earth. That's not hyperbole, it's listed with Guinness. Invented in 1931 to win a bet, it's what you get when you replace the liquid in a gel with a gas, and it's also incredibly strong, extremely resistant to heat, and 1,000 times less dense than glass. NASA uses it to insulate spacecraft (39 times more insulation than fiberglass) and they'll be using it on the Stardust spacecraft to capture comet particles. It's been used for the Mars Pathfinder and other rover missions, and it has a variety of earthbound applications such as skylight insulation, drug delivery, heavy metal absorption from water, and tennis racquets. Also, it's freaking amazing stuff to play with.

It's like it's not there. It's clear and weighs effectively nothing, like solid smoke. On a dark background it glows faintly blue due to the way its honeycomb structure scatters visible light. The edges just fade away to nothingness, it's like looking at a hologram. The accompanying letter explained all the reasons I shouldn't touch it — it would absorb the moisture from my hand, leaving an imprint that can't be removed, any point pressure can scratch or chip it, etc. — but a small chunk had already come off in shipping so I gave that a feel. It's dry to the touch, like brittle old Styrofoam, and it crumbles very easily. You can see the crack mine has through the middle. But it can also handle very high surface loads, bearing 4,000 times its own weight (just don't poke it).

The trickiest thing about aerogel? Photographing it with a digital camera. Try as I might I simply could not get my camera to focus on it, or on anything else if it was in the frame. Something about the way it reflects light confuses the hell out of my poor camera; I had to focus on something the same distance away and then face the aerogel with my finger on the button. So keep in mind that the real stuff looks approximately 20-25% cooler than it does here, you just can't see it.

Now to figure out what to do with it so it won't get messed up. How do you display solid smoke?

Oh, and when NASA asks you to fill out a survey, do it.

OK, not only is QMx offering preorders of their teased Firefly keychain — solid metal, pewter finish — for just $9.95, but if you order one before March 31 you'll get a chance to win a chrome one.

The Firefly Replica Keychain was created using the TV series' special effects files and carefully scaling them down to just over two inches. The keychain is cast in solid metal with a pewter finish and contains an incredible amount of detail – leaving no doubt that when you travel, you do it in Firefly style.

This is the first item QMx has prioduced with their new Firefly license (as opposed to their Serenity license) and it's seriously cool and very affordable.  You're gonna order one anyway, you know it. Might as well get in on a chance for an even shinier one.

DriveThruRPG.com has announced an amazing charity drive: Gamers Helping Haiti. Donate $20 to Haitian relief and get a coupon code for free copies of over 100 different RPG book downloads, including Margaret Weis' award-winning "Serenity."

DriveThruRPG announced a major incentive to the roleplaying gamer community today to incite donations to aid in rescue and recovery in Haiti and the Dominican Republic. Called the "Gamers Helping Haiti Bundle," the product includes over a hundred products totaling over $1000.00 in retail value. For a simple donation of $20 – all of which goes to Doctors Without Borders to support their post-earthquake Haiti relief efforts – RPG fans can have this once-in-a-lifetime collection of gaming products.

Click here for more details. This is an incredible deal, and a great way to help out.

As reported last week, based on Jane Espenson's tweet about it, some of the writers from Firefly have been working on original short stories set in the Firefly universe. The writers include Jane, Jose Molina, Ben Edlund, and Brett Matthews, according to various reports.

Jane's story will be a short one, around 2,000 words. In an interview while promoting her new series Caprica, she said, "Oh, I just came up with a very clever little short story that involves Kaylee and Wash, two characters that we haven't seen together that much."

Jose Molina had mentioned his several times on his own Twitter feed: 'Working on my Firefly short story. Assuming Jane has finished and Edlund will write his 6 hours before it’s due."

While Titan Books is still not quite ready to announce it formerly despite Jane's leak ("to be fair, we did not ask her not to!"), they have verified to me that original stories will form part of "Still Flyin: A Celebration of Joss Whedon's Acclaimed TV Series," the third Firefly Companion book coming this spring.

"Still Flyin'" will include 'unseen photos, costume designs, behind the scenes secrets and much more," and if "much more" means new stories by these guys I want it even more now. Titan's previous Firefly Companions (reviews here and here) have been amazing collections of photos and articles with stuff I had never seen before, and it looks like this one will be even cooler.

"Still Flyin: A Celebration of Joss Whedon's Acclaimed TV Series" is scheduled to hit shelves April 27 and you can preorder it from Amazon for $13.46.

TFAW.com now has QMX's Dr. Horrible maquette available for preorder for 20% off the retail price.

Cast in professional-grade resin and painted by hand, Dr. Horrible is pictured in his moment of triumph, holding his Freeze Ray aloft in one hand and shaking his fist at the world. As with all QMx animated maquettes, Dr. Horrible comes with many screen-accurate details, such as his goggles, the medical symbol on his smock and, of course, the aforementioned deanimation gun. He stands over six inches tall–nine, if you include his weapon. Freeze Ray. Tell your friends.

Dr. Horrible comes in an edition of 1,000 statues and is the first in a series of limited-edition maquettes based on the characters of Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog.

You need this on your desk to terrorize your coworkers and remind them that you have friends (or, rather, allies) in high, evil places.

Retail is $69.95, but if you preorder you get it for $55.96. You'd be criminally insane not to.

It started out as  a simple little poll…

AfterElton posted a poll looking for Man of the Decade, and with an impressive lineup the race between Neil Patrick Harris (How I Met Your Mother, Dr. Horrible) and John Barrowman (Dr. Who, Torchwood) was within 20 votes of each other.

Then Twitter got involved.

First NPH posted a low-key appeal. Then Barrowman, new to Twitter but enthusiastic, responded. And then the battle was on, as the titans of Twitter began marshalling their forces to support their allies.

UK host Jonathan Ross supported Barrowman. Nathan Fillion and Felicia Day threw in between NPH. Comedian Chris Hardwick and actress Alyssa Milano also rallied to NPH's side which should have been it, but author and Twitter Lord Neil Gaiman cast his lot for Barrowman ("Captain Jack asked first.").

Follow #biggaybattle to see the soldiers fighting to rally other big name Twitterati as they battle for Man of the Decade! And go vote yourself. For whichever one; I'd be happy if either man won. Or if they tied, and had to fight it out with some sort of oil.

Shuttle sky

Originally uploaded by CABridges

One of the best things about living on the east coast of Florida: watching a shuttle launch on the TV at Appleby's and then stepping outside in time to watch it sail across the sky.

Just found this again, browsing through pictures. This is Discovery's STS-119 flight, launched on March 15, 2009.

I'm really going to miss living near the world's only operating spaceport once the shuttle series winds down, and I hope a suitable replacement comes along. And not just for my dinner entertainment.

Not content with making the biggest, most detailed Serenity model to date, QMx is also working on the smallest. Just promo-ed at FireflyShipworks.com, the yet-to-be-released Firefly Keychain.

Cast is solid metal, the keychain has real heft to it. We used the studio CG effects files, shrunk down to a ridiculous extent, to capture the design, but obviously had to make many tweaks along the way. But our designers love a challenge, and we just couldn’t resist the idea of a Serenity that fits in your pocket and that you can carry around with you, where ever you go.

No word yet on when this will hit your pocket, but I'm ready to buy one now. Check out the post for more pics.

And by "here" I mean at "QMx."

Since they announced they had the Dr. Horrible license we've been waiting to see what evil product would emerge, and the first one is the Doctor himself.

Cast in professional-grade resin and painted by hand, Dr. Horrible is pictured in his moment of triumph, holding his Freeze Ray aloft in one hand and shaking his fist at the world. As with all QMx animated maquettes, Dr. Horrible comes with many screen-accurate details, such as his goggles, the medical symbol on his smock and, of course, the aforementioned deanimation gun. He stands over six inches tall – nine, if you include his weapon. Freeze Ray. Tell your friends.

Only 1,000 will be made, the first of the Dr. Horrible maquette series. $69.95, shipping in February 2010.

BenBella's SmartPop series is working on a book of essays about Joss Whedon's Dollhouse, and they want your help. Also, your brainjuice, preferably in essay form.

We love Dollhouse. And we know from Buffy and Firefly that Joss Whedon fans are across-the-board smart, insightful, and involved.

So we’ve teamed up with Jane Espenson, Dollhouse writer and Mutant Enemy veteran, to put out an essay anthology on Dollhouse composed entirely of fan-written essays. Everyone, novice to seasoned writer, is eligible to enter; the only requirement is that you are fan of Dollhouse!

Write a great essay on Dollhouse, send it to us, and your essay could be published in a Smart Pop book edited by Jane.

They'll be using 18 fan-written essays, but one grand prize winner will get $1000!  Three first prize winners will get $250 and the remaining fourteen will get $100.  Not bad for doing what you[re already doing for free at Whedonesque.

Deadline is February 1, 2010. Check the SmartPop site for details and rules.