It’s time for the ProfessorTreeFrog First-Ever Holiday Gift Guide!!!

1) This line of plush toys is seriously cute and seriously awesome. They’re called “Evolvems“, and are zip-inside-out plushies demonstrating major evolutionary milestones. They have the Coelacanth-to-Ichthyostega transition, as well as Dimetrodon-Cynognathus, Yinlong-Styracosaurus, and Pakicetus-Squalodon!!!

2) Also a line of plush toys, “Foodchain Friends” is for those with a more ecological than evolutionary bent. Like some sort of cute, twisted take on Matryoska dolls, each plushie fits neatly inside the mouth of the next-largest plushie in its set, forming an adorable semi-creepy food-chain. These are three different sets, set in a prairie, forest, and river on the fictitious planet of Daro:

3) Ever thought of giving your significant other Herpes for Christmas? How about giving your friends the oh-so-timely Swine Flu? Now you can with Petri Dish Plushies! Choose from a wide array of horrific diseases, or maybe invest in a few extra neurons?

4) For those of you not into plushies (you people suck), why not go with the super-preachy Global Warming Mug? Oh, you know you’d love to pour yourself a cup of coffee and annoy the heck out of the climate-change-denier at the next desk…

5) For all your closest teen vampires who have nothing better to do, there’s the Blood Caffeinated Energy Potion! This product is the “same color and consistency of real blood. It has many of the same nutrients of the rubicund liquid we love to consume (iron, protein, electrolytes, and caffeine) and has a delectable fruit punch flavor!!” It even comes in its own transfusion bag! Lame.

6) For those with a more historical bent, how about adopting a scientist from the Unemployed Philosophers’ Guild? They’ve got Darwin, Einstein, Curie, even Schrodinger’s Cat!

7) For your perennially tardy friends, why not get a Relativity Alarm Clock or Watch? The rotating face quickly turns 9:00 into 3:00 in just 30 seconds! Yes, it actually tells time, but in an innovative and quirky way!

[8] For you tech geeks with trust funds, the fabled Optimus Maximus Keyboard has finally come on the market. Every key is a tiny screen. EVERY KEY. That’s 113 screens on your keyboard, each able to dynamically change based on what you’re doing. Amazing. The fact that it costs sixteen hundred dollars? Not so amazing….

Eight seems like a good number, so this officially concludes the ProfessorTreeFrog First-Ever Holiday Gift Guide!!!

einfach großartig. des werde ich mir sowas von als poster ausdrucken

(via retro thing)

Nossa nem acreditei quando chegou meu livro aBda, tive um acesso de euforia do tipo,  nintendoooo Sixtyyy Fooouurrrr.

O livro é realmente muito bem feito, projeto gráfico bem resolvido,  acabamento megaboga, capa com laminação fosca e verniz localizado no título,  sem falar nas ilustrações da capa.

Quando visitei o hotsite e baixei os concept arts, gostei bastante, porém achei as imagens meio apagadas sabe,  mas o que vocês desconhecem é que no livro impresso,  pota ficou foda mesmo, a imagem é muito realista e sem falar dos detalhes.

Fiz este post para agradecer ao Eduardo Spohr, a família Jovem Nerd por lançarem esta preciosa, e também por apresentarem o job do Harald Stricker que eu não conhecia e o cara é fera no traço.

Peço desculpas  pelas fotos em baixa resolução,  pois não aguentei e tirei com o celular mesmo. Ai vai.

One thing Columbus lacks is talented street performers. I have seen a few at Easton over the years, but the Short North is full of acoustic guitars and bongo drums. No one has this kind of authentic showmanship anymore, and If I ever get the chance to witness what happened at 2:30 (unbelievable) in real life, I’ll literally shit my pants.

The gigant chicken is boba fett

The day before Thanksgiving tends to be a very busy day at a newspaper.

I spent much of the day preparing for two days of night updates on the Web site – including the rollover for tonight, which I did myself – editing video, prepping “more online” boxes, coding HTML and transferring files. It was pretty busy.

Plus, the newspaper went to press at 7:30 p.m. That meant that it seemed much, much later than it was when I left near 8 p.m. The trucks were already pulling up in the back to send the newspaper out to the delivery people. I usually don’t see that happening unless I leave at closer to 1 a.m. And since I have the day off, I mistook Wednesday for Friday and missed one of my favorite shows.

All this after I woke up early, went to Target to get some antibiotics because that crazy stomachache hasn’t gone away, and got my oil changed and tires rotated at the local Chevy dealership.

I’m a little tired.

In the midst of everything, yesterday was my one-year anniversary as online editor. There was no fanfare – though one of the photographers promised he would take me to a great taco place on the not-so-great side of town (and I’m totally looking forward to it). The day just kind of passed.

Today, though, I found a box of Nerds in my drawer. I’m not sure how long they’ve been there, or where they came from. For all I know, they could have come with the desk. I’m actually pretty sure they did.

I was tempted, even though it sounds gross, to eat them.

I didn’t, of course. I just put them back in the drawer, as seen below with the multiple Quiznos napkins.

I laughed. For some reason it made me incredibly thankful for all I have. It’s hard to appreciate the small stuff when life passes so quickly. Nerds made me feel thankful.

Cheesy, yes.

But a friend just texted me saying she’s pretty sure Nerds are like Twinkies and cockroaches (unpleasant thought) and that they’d like survive an apocalypse. She suggested I get my grub on.

Today’s topic: glasses.

There’s this trend at school where everyone wears 3D glasses stolen from the movies. You know those giant, black ones? Yeah, so they pop out the lenses, and pretend they’re “nerd” glasses. Seriously? Kids watch WAYYY TOO many movies these days. They think those glasses auto-magically make them smart.

Wait…if nerds are smart, then why pick on them? Because if you’re not a nerd, then you’re stupid or something? I don’t get it, people say nerds are stupid and pick on them and stuff, and then pretend to be nerds and think dressing up like a nerd will make them smart.

Thanks for the compliment.

Ryan

* Sad: Republicans have successfully convinced their followers that climate change isn’t real.

* Nate Silver: How Bad Could Obama Screw Up and Still Beat Sarah Palin?

* Ezra Klein on fixing the filibuster and SCOTUSblog on fixing the Court.

* Blueprints for nerds. Via Kottke.

* New Jersey in the news! This one seems a bit too much, even for Jersey.

* From Dan’s Facebook feed: Behind the scenes of Curb Your Enthusiasm: Jason teaches Larry how to be George.

* And, from Tim, Muppet Bohemian Rhapsody.

WARNER CHANNEL MARTES 24 NOVIEMBRE 20:30 HRS

SKY 205, CABLEVISIÓN 210

Robert Voets/CBS

Sheldon entra a una competencia de cambio de cartas, en donde escucha que Will Wheaton también participará y a quien le guarda demasiado rencor.

Mientras Wolowitz le pide a Penny que le presente a alguna de sus amigas.

The Perfect Nerder (R)

Ed Butkins (Jon Heder) and Eric Van Euytven (Christopher Mintz-Plasse) are two certified geniuses and members of Mensa, with an obsession for television crime drama (CSI, Law & Order, etc).

Together, they comb through hours of their favourite shows, piecing together the ingredients for a perfect murder. Their target? Arch-nerd-rival and current president of the local Mensa group, Eugene Sawchuk, (Quentin Tarantino), known for having an IQ 2 points higher than their own.

Over time, Sawchuk catches wind of the scheme and decides to try to eliminate his two rivals by giving them a ‘dose of their own medicine’.

Final scene features an over-the-top Tarantino-esque massacre involving all three nerds, several bags of toenails, semen and random DNA samples, anthrax-laced soda pop and a booby-trapped elevator.

Possible Dialogue:

Crime scene investigator: What… in God’s name… happened here?

schätze das ist ein black jack casino
(via geekologie)

Der/die eine oder andere von Euch wird The IT Crowd kennen und sich vielleicht auch an die Folge erinnern, als das Projekt, zu Wohltätigkeitszwecken die attraktiven jungen Kolleginnen aus den oberen Etagen hüllenlos für einen Kalender abzulichten, scheitert und statt dessen unbekleidete Nerds herhalten müssen.

Was  da noch lustig klingt, ist in London jetzt bitterer Ernst geworden.

Jeweils 12 männliche und weibliche ” leading new media entrepreneurs” zeigen, was sie so drauf haben, wenn sie( fast) nichts drauf haben (auf der Haut). Und wie in der TV-Serie geschieht das natürlich alles für einen guten Zweck.

Wer interessiert ist und wissen will, was er/sie sich für 11 Euro einhandelt, bekommt bei 69adgets einen (zaghaften) Video-Vorgeschmack – die Klasse des Nerdcore-Kalenders wird’s jedenfalls wohl kaum erreichen. [dieter]

[via 69adgets]

I thought this book was disjointed and repetitive.  Good thing I got it at the library.  Click here to read the Amazon reviews.

No exactamente una paleta, en su lugar la porrista de Heroes realizo un photoshoot para el fotografo Tyler Shields, famoso por hacer que los “famosos” muestren su lado salvaje, asi, la Hayden dejo salir a su zorra interna y bien malota fingio chupar una metralleta.. asi o mas desesperada por atencion!

click en las pics para agrandar

"Roissy in DC" author: James C. Weidmann

Jimmy-The-Jew:  ”Roissy in DC”

Now, let me just say this.  I have never felt the need to dedicate a post to Roissy because we all know (in his many pathetic, repeated blog posts dedicated to me) that is exactly what he wants.  He wants to be the “dark villain” and the “dangerous man”.  Sadly, most women can see upon reading a few words of his that he is not a dangerous nor scary man.  He’s a sad, lonely, 40’s-something guy…..stuck in a big city…..where he just can’t keep up with the competition  (please refer to what he looks like and what he WEARS as a man his age to see what I am referring to).

*I am interested to see if Roissy “takes it like a man” or shrieks like a schoolgirl and demand it be removed.  ( I say this because Roissy has felt free to find and post photos of me, my family, my personal info, and anything else he can find to “call me out”).  I wonder if the “dishee” can also take it.*

Desperation drips from his false online persona like a broken rusty rain gutter that everyone gave up on fixing long ago……

If you are NOT familiar with blogger, “Roissy in DC“……I’d suggest you click and read a bit of his blog (you’re welcome, Roissy).

This is a man who claims to be a Master of Seduction, a Jesus-Like Savior of (wimpy) men, a Colossus of Gaming, and of course an all around “Ladies Man”.

He extols the virtues of dodging child support payments, physically intimidating your wives & girlfriends to “keep them in line”, and even encourages men to “raw-dog” it and have as much unprotected sex as you possibly can (gross….can you say STD’s and MORE babies in foster care???).

Unfortunately, the men he is preying upon don’t realize that he is NOT out to help them, NOT out “offer advice”, but out ONLY to reassure himself in his aging, middle-aged, desperation…..that ANYONE still wants to hear what he has to say.

You all know the expression “Well….if I’m going down….I’m taking everyone with me.”  THAT is exactly what Roissy’s “Game” advice to men is.  It’s like the crack under a recovering crack-heads nose…….the “miracle diet pill” to the lifetime Anorexic……and the walking, talking ENABLER of the further decline of modern men in today’s society.  He encourages men to go back to the “id”…..the caveman inside themselves…….and care about nothing but eating, sleeping, and fucking.

Every step that man has taken forward in the world, Roissy helps them to take a step back.  For every man who DOES have discipline and character (and self-control)……Roissy helps to enable 10 more NOT to be.

The chauvinism, arrogance, and cock-obsessed points aside……Roissy is a living breathing example of the stereotype that many men have been trying to not be a part of:  drooling, horny, pussy-obsessed, “cocks-on-wheels” with not a thought in their head except finding a warm-hole.  (Pardon the nasty expression, but that is the main thought process of men like these).

Anyway…..I received an email directly from a mysterious (and generous) Miss X.  This is evidently a woman who feels much the same way that I do and is tired of witnessing this sort of degradation in our society as whole.

*NOTE:  I will remove tidbits from the email that could/would give away the identity of “Miss X” and how she may be “familiar” with Roissy.  I will also mark my own comments with *asterisks* and Italics so there is no confusion.*

Dear Lady Raine,

I’ve been a longtime admirer of your contributions to the debate at Roissy’s. However, his recent smugness has exceeded even my tolerance, and I thought I might offer a little birthday present to you to offset the bile you’ve received from him:

I believe I know Roissy’s real name.

I know that you like investigation…. take a look at James (Jim) C. Wiedmann, employed by FINRA (a private finance regulatory body in D.C.). Also interviewed in the Mail and Globe article “When Players Turn Into Boyfriends.” See if this rings any bells:

The pickup artist’s message for wannabe players and boyfriends alike is essentially “don’t be a wuss,” says J. Wiedmann, a Washington-based white-collar-crime investigator. Mr. Wiedmann, who did not want his full name used, launched his “reality-based seduction” blog, “Roissy in DC: Where Pretty Lies Perish,” last year. Reviled and beloved, the blog is full of devilish relationship strategies.


“I’ve written about the importance of instilling dread in your girlfriend by turning off your phone twice a week, or calling her from a busy place where women are laughing in the background … despite her protestations to the contrary, a little bit of uncertainty goes a long way to keeping her aroused for you,” Mr. Wiedmann said in an interview.


Aside from the usual fawning and vitriolic responses to his posts, Mr. Wiedmann has been seeing more pleas for relationship advice in his inbox lately. “Most of my male readers ask for advice on how to win that ‘one girl’ over. They’re struggling to get out of the discount bin of the sexual market,” he says.

(http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/article714983.ece)

Roissy published a blog entry entitled “I Am In the Globe and Mail,” but has recently deleted it.
(http://roissy.wordpress.com/2008/12/19/i-am-in-the-globe-and-mail/).

He is 41. His birth day and month are the same as listed in this profile, but he lies about the year. This is what he looks like.
(http://www.puaconnect.com/roissy/)

If you’d like any further confirmation, try a Google search for “Roissy’s real name.”

He loves to brag about his exploits, but abuses women while hiding under a cloak of secrecy. And now he is making it a personal crusade to attack all the women on his blog who are still willing to stick around. Please be careful — some of the men at his site are very angry and seem a few minutes away from snapping.

From one woman to another,
Miss X

*I also received this in my comments section from another one of my readers*

You should send Roissy a nice thank you card:

Jim Wiedmann
1778 Lanier Pl NW #9C
Washington, DC 20009

 

*OH, JIM…….LOL…..what does one even say about this?  Other than the fact that a 41 year old “finance-nerd” who dresses like he’s a 21 year old emo-prep college-boy.  The fact that he constantly berates women and evidently LIES about his age even to his own readership is really rather funny.  I recall so many articles talking about how “young hot women just LOVE old, pasty gross men” and now I know why he’s so desperate to get other men to believe this kind of thing.

You would think that JUST the fact that he’s a middle-aged, pasty-white finance-Jew posing as a playboy would be reason enough for people to disregard his opinions and advice (like most people already do)…..but there are and always will be looking for their “own personal jesus” to tell them it’s okay to hate women, hate life, hate responsibility, hate morals, hate “hard work”, and hate ANYONE AND EVERYONE that you can possibly think of to blame for being  what they have become.

This falls into my “Why People Are Assholes” post.  Roissy may not be a big-name who is going to influence anyone who actually matters……but he’s certainly known enough to be influencing men who otherwise may have turned to look at THEMSELVES (yes I know introspection is a crazy concept for guys like him) for their failures/shortcomings in life.

It’s a dangerous world we live in when there is a “miracle pill”, a quick fix, and a (insert random group) to blame for everything a person DOESN’T do to be responsible for their own lives.

Our good friend Jimmy-The-Jew, here is just one of them.*

Yes, Gentlemen....THIS is the man you are asking for advice on picking up ladies.....(Note: The....errr..."artwork" done to this pic wasn't done by me. This is the way the photo was when I saved it, lol)

*Yes, Ladies I know…..it’s hard to control yourself in the presence of such an Adonis, but please try to remain calm for the sake of our female dignity.*

Update:  Much like I expected….some of Roissy’s shrieking henchman came here telling me I have “stepped over the line”.  For a bit on the “history”….this is the first time I have published a “post about Roissy” on my blog.  Roissy has published at least 6 or more posts specifically about me.  Containing personal photos of me AND MY son….which is “unsavory” in the first place.  But he then continued over the past 6 months to try to slander me, give out personal info (like mentioning the town I live in as often as he can) and worst of all posts porno videos and says that it is ME in the video (and isn’t.)  He has publicly posted lies on his blog accusing me of prostitution AND pornography and attached my photos to the (complete lies) he is telling.

I never really bothered posting about it here on my blog, because anyone who knows me in real life knows those things aren’t true and are ridiculous…..but that doesn’t change the fact that Roissy likes to go and play in people’s lives and slander innocent people for his own amusement and to up his blog stats without remorse and without even having  a good motive to do it.  Just because it gets him attention.

Well I think it’s high time someone finally fixed his little red wagon, and I’m certainly the woman for the job

*Update:  November 25*

Here is another address that is identical except for a different Apartment number…..ooops guess it WAS a residential address….silly old me with my tiny female brain…..

Wiedmann, James C

Age:40-44

1778 Lanier Pl NW, Apt 8B

Washington, DC 20009-2190

*This is dedicated RIGHT to Roissy for the post back in June where he posted my son’s name, age, and photo without my permission (and involving kids is the lowest you can go anyhow):*

Address History

• 2 in Washington, DC
• 1 in Chevy Chase, MD
• 1 in Somerville, NJ
• 1 in Ventnor City, NJ
• 1 in Atlantic City, NJ

Aliases

• James Wiedmann
• Jim Wiedmann
• James Charles Weidman

Relatives

• L Wiedmann
• Catherine R Wiedmann
• Lisa A Wiedmann

*Ouuuuuuuuuuuch, Jimmy*

So, many people in the anime world who live in the New England area have heard of it but few take advantage of it. Cheaper than Anime Boston, with much MUCH shorter lines, AAC is definitely worth the trip and the money.

Cosplayers came out en masse to enjoy the party, showing off old costumes or debuting new ones before larger cons like Otakon, Portcon and Anime Boston, others just milling around with cat ears and taking pictures. Either way, it was a fun time for all and a time to meet many new people!

I lost the game (by the way, you just lost the game) and got Rick Rolled more times than I can count, just in the two days I was there. Registration was a breeze and I was out and about in minutes. The panels I did go to were well done and the lines for VA autographs, which at Anime Boston you could spend HOURS in, went really fast. If I was in line for more than 10 minutes it was because some otaku couldn’t help but ooze fangirl for a little too long.

There were some organizational problems with the Con hosted operations, such as the Dating Game (18+ Yaoi, Yuri and Regular) and the Anime Idol and Masquerade. The Yaoi/Yuri Dating Game started late because of technical and setup issues and was horribly handled. Every time the contestants attempted to answer a question they were often interrupted by the hosts for several minutes, requiring repetition of the question. Mind you, the interruptions were funny, but it made the Dating Game run past schedule and made it difficult for the contestants. Not to mention the Bachelor and Bachelorette were not informed they were asking individuals questions of the SAME gender, causing some minor discomfort.

Suggestion for next year, AAC? LATER DEALER’S ROOM HOURS! So a certain Otaku who was waiting until the end of the day to stock up on ramune before she left doesn’t get there to discover she was too late and has to wait until next year.

p.s. Yaoi fanservice for the win!

This is another kind of memory. Nowadays, my life is something diferent when I use just one screen. Two of them is so much useful! So .. perfect!

# X -configure :2
# X -config /home/youruser/xorg.conf.new

Restart the computer and life is become something new, something happy

Para quienes aún no conocen el excéntrico mundo de The Big Bang Theory, una de las series más populares del momento en el cable (Warner Channel), Sheldon es como el rey de los nerds. Sabe mucho (quizás demasiado) de física, pero no tiene habilidades sociales. Por eso, que el asesor científico de la serie, David Saltzberg, diga que conoce a gente más extrema que él, es la primera prueba de que este programa -aunque más parezca una caricatura- tiene mucho de realidad.

Jim Parsons interpreta a Sheldon Cooper

Saltzberg, físico de la UCLA, se encarga de que la verdad de la ciencia esté en pantalla. Y sus aportes incluyen desde cómo se comportan los físicos, hasta las fórmulas que llenan las pizarras blancas que están en el departamento que comparten los cuatro amigos de la serie. Y son todas reales y sobre materias impensadas en tv, como la materia oscura o la teoría de cuerdas.

-¿Cómo llegó a convertirse en asesor científico de “The Big Bang Theory”?
Aun cuando vivo en Los Angeles, he pasado muchos años sin tener ninguna conexión con el mundo del espectáculo, sólo física y astronomía. Un día de 2006 recibí una llamada de un amigo de un amigo de los productores que estaban haciendo el piloto de la serie. Los guionistas me pidieron que revisara el guión. Ellos están completamente inmersos en los mundos de los personajes de la serie: desde los comics a las películas de ciencia ficción. Ellos también se entienden bien con la ciencia, pero querían que la parte científica de la vida de sus personajes fuera tan auténtica como todo lo demás. La vida real de los físicos es que son completamente quisquillosos cuando se trata de la ciencia en la TV y en las películas. Así que los guionistas me pidieron que sugiriera cualquier cambio que debiera ser hecho para hacer más auténtico al público lo que ellos ya saben y es que ellos aman la física y la astronomía.

Mientras, el diseñador del set visitó nuestros laboratorios en mi universidad, UCLA, y además departamentos de algunos de nuestros estudiantes. Esto se convirtió en una tradición: antes de cada temporada los guionistas y productores vienen a UCLA a ver nuestros laboratorios y conocer a nuestros estudiantes. Una vez también vinieron los actores. Esto se hizo de la típica manera en que la industria encuentra a los científicos, pero más recientemente la Academia Nacional de Ciencias ha tratado de hacer algunas conexiones de manera más fácil a través de su página http://www.scienceandentertainmentexchange.org/ , es un trabajo magnífico.

-¿Por qué usted, un físico, se involucró en una serie como esta?
Una buena parte de mi trabajo en la UCLA es mostrarle al público lo que estamos haciendo. En estos días en que la cobertura de ciencia se ha reducido en los medios, es aún más difícil para el público conocer las noticias de ciencia. Pero ‘The Big Bang Theory’ tiene más de 13 millones de espectadores en Estados Unidos, y muchos más cuando incluyes a gente de otros países. Esa es una audiencia mucho más grande de la que los científicos suelen tener. Conozco a mucha gente que ve televisión en sus computadores y sospecho que muchos van a Google o a Wikipedia, para buscar lo que oyeron en la serie y tratan de aprender un poco más acerca de eso; desde la materia oscura hasta los polos magnéticos.

Por otro lado, supe que unos pocos años después del estreno de Indiana Jones, aumentó el número de estudiantes de arqueología. Será interesante ver si esta serie tiene un efecto parecido en el número de físicos y anstrónomos.

La otra razón por la que me involucré es porque cada persona en la producción, es increíble. Me encanta pasar el tiempo con gente tan creativa, talentosa, inteligente y dedicada y eso hace adictivo merodear en torno a la serie cuando se está haciendo. Cada uno en el set es extremadamente amistoso conmigo. Además, es entretenido quebrar la rutina de físico por unas horas a la semana.

-Los personajes de la serie son muy nerds y divertidos también. ¿Usted cree que los científicos son como ellos?
Reconozco esos caracteres, frecuentemente en mí y muchos de nosotros conoce a gente aún más extrema que Sheldon. Leyendo las publicaciones de los fans en internet, parece que hay un montón de gente que encuentra a estos personajes muy atractivos. Pero hay físicos de la vida real que son bien parecidos, usan moto y son cool. Pero los fans de la serie prefieren a estos personajes. Un departamento real de astronomía y física tiene muchas más mujeres que las que puedes ver en la serie. Pero supongo que eso es porque esta historia particular sucede en torno a estos cuatro tipos y Penny (su vecina), antes que mostrar un estudio antropológico de los departamentos de física y astronomía.

-Me parece que el conocimiento científico que se usa en la serie es muy elevado, no creo que todos puedan entender su trabajo por completo. Aún así es uno de los aspectos más atractivos de la serie, ¿tiene una idea de por qué funciona tan bien?
Creo que el público de televisión ávido de conocimientos que el crédito que habitualmente se le da. En mi vida he conocido a muchos no científicos interesados en saber qué está pasando en este mundo de la física moderna y la astronomía y eso es extensible a otras áreas. Frecuentemente los personajes de la serie están hablando sobre conceptos de física que son accesibles para cualquiera que haya tenido un curso introductorio en el colegio. Por ejemplo, una de mis escenas favoritas es cuando Sheldon y Leonard van empujando una caja escalas arriba mientras van discutiendo la física de un plano inclinado. En esta temporada además hay cosas divertidas, como cuando Sheldon le enseña física a Penny. Yo sospecho que buena parte del público entiende lo que están diciendo. En otros momentos la charla científica es deliberadamente un poco impenetrable. Por ejemplo, cuando Sheldon está trabajando en la teoría de las cuerdas que usa algunos de los conceptos más abstractos de la matemática, la física y la astronomía actual. Aun así, lo que él dice es real y creo que el público lo sabe. Mi experiencia es que la gente quiere conocer lo nuevo en ciencia. Algunos espectadores buscan eso en las noticias o en algunos especiales de la televisión pública. The Big Bang Theory es otra alternativa y es una que atrae a espectadores jóvenes. En caso de que sus lectores estén interesados, yo posteo cada semana mis explicaciones sobre el capítulo después que salió al aire. http://thebigblogtheory.wordpress.com.

¿Qué es la cosa más complicada que ha puesto en la serie?
Podría ser ésta: en un momento Penny le pregunta a Sheldon por qué el no sacó su licencia de conducir a los 16 como todos los demás. Él le responde que estaba ocupado “en examinar las amplitudes perturbadoras en N=4 teorías súper simétricas que llevan a un re-examen de las propiedades ultravioleta de la súper gravedad N=8 usando una teoría Twistor moderna”. Uno de los físicos teóricos que está trabajando en eso lo muestra en un video clip durante un seminario muy serio que está dando en Caltech. Casi siempre hay bromas internas que están en las pizarras. Por ejemplo, poca gente ha notado que cuando Howard estaba trabajando su baño espacial, las pizarras tenían la ecuación de Bernoulli, que describe cómo se comportan los fluidos como los de una taza de water. Para el episodio de la máquina del tiempo, en las pizarras había ecuaciones que algunos teóricos defendieron para describir el viaje en el tiempo.

-Los experimentos que se ven en pantalla son reales? ¿Son muy caros? ¿peligrosos?
Los lasers que Leonard y Leslie han usado son reales. Eso fue en el ajedrez con obstáculos láser. En todo caso, no tienen un poder tan grande como aparecen en el guión. Por ejemplo, el agua caliente o los objetos calientes. No queremos hacer un agujero en la mano de un actor. Los experimentos que ellos discuten en los cuales está trabajando Leonard, como la materia oscura o los supersólidos, son trabajos reales. Cuando hacen referencia al trabajo de otros, como los “investigadores italianos” ellos se refieren a unos bien conocidos en la actualidad.
-¿Ha hecho el mismo trabajo para otras series o películas?
Big Bang Theory es la única serie en la que he colaborado. A veces contesto las preguntas de otras series por email y telèfono. Y también hice una broma en la película “Ángeles y demonios”.

Descrição: camiseta preta e vermelha, fio 30, 100% algodão, manga com costura reforçada, silk com o nome Nerd na cor branca. Disponível em modelo baby look. Tamanhos PP, P, M, G e GG.

Preço: R$ 22,00.

The 2009 Red Sox were pretty good. They weren’t great, but they did make the playoffs only to flame out in ALDS versus the Los Angeles Angels (which, incidentally, translates to The Angels Angels, right?) Since 2004 and 2007, the blow of such events has been greatly lessened for me. Sure, I was not pleased with their performance and the eventual crowning of the hated Yankees as champs, but by no means was I heartbroken/crushed/unable to eat or sleep for days as it was before the Sox return to glory. The Sox didn’t win, but hey, you can’t win every year (and I still can’t imagine what 2003 me would think if he knew that 2009 me would be writing that calmly, lucidly and soberly.)

Anyway, this is not to say that I don’t want the Sox to succeed. Of course I do, that is why I’m a fan. I love my Red Sox no less than I did in 2004 and I still can’t stand to listen (yes, I tend to listen to the Sox) them lose any game. So, with the Yankees not getting any weaker and the Rays likely to bounce back, what can the Red Sox do to keep pace in 2010? Let’s see …

The roster (as of 11/23/2009) – starters in italics when there is an appropriate starter

• C: Victor Martinez; Jason Varitek
• 1B: Kevin Youkilis*/Mike Lowell*; Casey Kotchman
• 2B: Dustin Pedroia
• 3B: Kevin Youkilis*/Mike Lowell*
• SS: Jed Lowrie
• RF: J.D. Drew; Jeremy Hermida
• CF: Jacoby Ellsbury; Brian Anderson
• LF: Jeremy Hermida
• DH: David Ortiz
• SP: Josh Beckett, Jon Lester, Clay Buchholz, Daisuke Matsuzaka, Tim Wakefield
• CL: Jonathan Papelbon
• SU: Daniel Bard, Hideki Okajima
• MR: Ramon Ramirez, Dustin Richardson, Manny Delcarmen
• LOOGY: (none)
• MU: (none)

* According to some things I’ve read, Youkilis might play third and Lowell might move to first, which could make sense in terms of defense. I’ll list them at both of the hot corners.

So, what is needed? A shortstop, a left fielder, a starter and some relievers. Sounds about right, and mostly in that order. What to do?

Shortstop: Am I the only one who thinks signing a 34-year-old after a fluke year is a bad idea? That idea’s name is Marco Scutaro. Now, trading for either Stephen Drew or Brandon Phillips is a good idea. Drew will cost more and Phillips costs more money, but either at short would be just fine. Additionally, I’d sign Khalil Greene to a minor league deal.

Leftfield: Everyone seems to think this should be a question of Jason Bay or Matt Holliday. Don’t get me wrong, they’re both fine players, but I just feel a lot of enthusiasm towards signing either to the big, long term deals they will want. Sure, if you can get either for 3 years, do it, but thats not happening. So, if the Sox don’t sign either? Well, how about a platoon of Marlon Byrd/Rick Ankiel and Jeremy Hermida? I’d also be tempted to sign Rocco Baldelli or Austin Kearns to minor league deals if possible. Or lets think waaay outside the box: Miguel Tejada in left? Maybe Conor Jackson?

Starters: The Sox have 5 guys who should be good to serviceable (when averaged over all 5). If you look at the top three, the rotation should be quite good, and if Daisuke can get his act back together, they should have a decent top 4. However, as last year showed, you can never, ever, ever have too much pitching. So the Sox really need to go out and sign some reclamation projects to shore up the rotation. Ben Sheets? Rich Harden? Eric Bedard? Justin Duchscherer? Kelvim Escobar? Brett Myers? Chien-ming Wang? There are a lot of options. This all being said, 2010 is a year of decision for the Sox – can they compete for a championship, so should they wait until it all comes off the books (well, Beckett, Lowell and Papi) in 2011? If they think they can win, they should go all in for any of the aces that could be dealt: Roy Halladay, Josh Johnson, Roy Oswalt, someone like that. It will be pricy, but that would definitely shore things up.

Relievers: OK, way too many to go through for potential relief help through free agency or trades, but … how about kicking the tires on guys like Joaquin Benoit, Kiko Calero, JJ Putz, Takashi Saito (again), Ron Mahay (as a LOOGY) or Chan Ho Park. Potential nontenders worth examining might be Jeremy Accardo, Taylor Bucholz, Matt Lindstrom or Seth McClung.

Wild card ideas: What if the Sox bring in a big 1B and just cut/trade Lowell or Papi – maybe acquire Lance Berkman for a bevy of prospects to the rebuilding Astros? Or what about signing Garrett Atkins as a free agent if he is nontendered? Or even get Tejada to play 1B?

My ideal 2010 Red Sox roster

Batting

1. Jacoby Ellsbury CF
2. Brandon Phillips SS
3. Dustin Pedroia 2B
4. Kevin Youkilis 3B
5. Victor Martinez C
6. Miguel Tejada 1B
7. J.D. Drew RF
8. David Ortiz/Mike Lowell DH
9. Hermida/Ankiel LF

Starters

1. Josh Beckett
2. Jon Lester
3. Clay Buccholz
4. Daisuke Matsuzaka
5. Justin Duchscherer

Relievers

• CL: Jonathan Papelbon
• SU: Daniel Bard, Hideki Okajima
• MR: Ramon Ramirez, Kiko Calero, Ron Mahay
• MU: Tim Wakefield

Bench

1. Jason Varitek C
2. Casey Kotchman 1B
3. Khalil Greene SS

Enjoy!

Desde que eu comprei o meu primeiro set para RPG (que ainda guardo até hoje), fiquei fascinado pelos dados. Não o dado comum, aquele cubo com 6 faces que todo mundo conhece (o D6, para os iniciados), mas os tetraedros, octaedros, decaedros, dodecaedros e icosaedros  (respectivamente: D4, D8, D10, D12, D20). Se você nunca os viu – 0 que eu acho difícil – aí vai:

Bom, desde que aposentei os meus livros de D&D, não tive mais oportunidades de utilizar essas pequenas maravilhas. Meu novo hobby – algo que demanda bem menos tempo do que uma aventura típica – quase não usa dados e, para o que se propõe, eu apoio completamente (o que não quer dizer que eu não sinta falta de rolar um To Hit ou Critical Damage de vez em quando…). Mas esse não é o ponto desse post.

Há coisa de um mês e pouco atrás, estive na Ludus e, ainda que não fosse esse o tipo de jogo que eu fui lá para jogar, conheci o Liar’s Dice e fiquei novamente interessado em comprar alguns dados para montá-lo em casa.  Se você já jogou Dudo, Perudo, Cachito – ou viu Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man’s Chest, já conhece esse jogo. Caso contrário, basta saber que é um jogo de blefe que usa D6 como base (vai procurar lá na Wikipedia que tem a regra toda – deixa de ser preguiçoso!).

Eu cheguei a procurar por algumas lojas no Centro (Gibiteria, Banca do Osni… lugares onde eu costumava comprar), mas não achei exatamente o que eu queria: cerca de 10 conjuntos de 5 dados de cores diferentes (i.e.: 5 amarelos, 5 vermelhos, 5 azuis, etc.). Lojas de brinquedos comuns não costumam ter esse tipo de variedade logo, pensei eu, o jeito vai ser encomendar pela Internet.

Na verdade, até pela Internet o negócio não é fácil (já experimentou procurar por “Dados” no Google?). Nos sites nacionais como Moonshadows ou até mesmo Americanas.com, a variedade é pequena, a procedência e qualidade desconhecidas e, de um modo geral, caros.

Por isso, o jeito é comprar lá fora – mesmo com o frete, sai bem mais barato e eles vendem unidades dos mais diversos tipos. Por exemplo:

Mas o que realmente me tirou do sério foram os dados metalizados e os élficos. Não sei porque quero mas, subitamente, viraram ítens de primeira necessidade:

Metalizados - A glória!

Ou ainda:

E também:

Dados élficos - fala sério!

Acabei comprando na Chessex, que tem uns dados muuuuito maneiros. Se você se interessar, pode comprar lá dados por unidade, de tamanhos diferentes, dados redondos (!), zocchiedros (vulgo D100), dados de cassino, dados viciados ou por atacado (sacos com 1 libra de dados, aproximadamente 450g).

Ligando para lá ou mandando e-mail dá para encomendar dados comemorativos (que forma melhor para celebrar o seu aniversário de casamento?) ou ainda comprar lotes de 200, ou até 1000 num só pacote. Vai que você quer  fazer uma mesa de centro com sua imagem favorita?

Serviço:

• Chessex - Comprei os transparentes e da série Frosted e Vortex, além de um dado de 30mm (vs. 16mm do normal). O site não é dos mais bem produzidos (leia-se: confuso e pouco amigável), mas os dados são excelentes. Vale baixar o catálogo deles em PDF, já que tem coisas lá que não estão no site.
• Crystal Castle – Sede dos dados de cristal, pedras semi-preciosas e dos Dwarven Dice, os dados metálicos.
• Q-workshop – Site do fabricante polonês de dados. Criadores dos dados élficos, assim como vários outros super-detalhados. Recomendo enfaticamente a visita.
• Dice & Games – Site inglês. Faz dados customizados, dos mais diversos tipos e tamanhos, e vende de tudo, incluindo dados metalizados e de cristal.
• Gamestation – Site gigante com uma enorme variedade de dados. Sério, muitos dados. Muitos mesmo. Boa sorte tentando encontrar algo lá.
• Valiant Games – Um pouco mais fraco, site bem confuso, mas com uma grande seleção.
• Dice Pool – Super site de dados. Muitos com boas fotos (e, importante – porém esquecido por muitos – alguma coisa para dar a escala do tamanho), vende os dados da Chessex, Crystal Castle, por atacado e outras coisas como miniaturas e sabão (!?). Só não entrega fora dos EUA…
• Advancing Hordes – Antigo site canadense que eu usava para namorar os dados. Infelizmente fechou, mas tem uma série de links interessantes.

Gestern noch über den SPIEGEL geschimpft hat er heute mein Herz wiedergewonnen:

Hier gibt es den ultimativen Test: Bin ich ein Nerd?

Besonders schön die Frage: “Gehst du regelmäßig zum Friseur” in Kombination mit Antwortmöglichkeit A.

Mein Ergebnis: 14 von 20 Punkten.

Du bist der online-anhängige Jedermann. Facebook, StudiVZ und Twitter bespielst du mit dem iPhone Windows Phone, im Urlaub musst du regelmäßig Mails und Facebook checken, denn du gehörst zur digitalen Boheme.

Ein richtiger Nerd bist du dabei aber nicht. Deine Jeans ist eng, dein T-Shirt ist ironisch, und die Sonnenbrille und die Musik auf deinem iPod Windows Phone sind von erlesenem Geschmack. Die Jahresend-Charts der “Intro” kannst du treffsicher vorhersagen, und in deinem Blog weist du auf abgedrehte japanische Filme hin, auf die du in amerikanischen Blogs hingewiesen wurdest. Immer im Netz, schon – aber Technik und Computer sind dir vor allem Accessoires.

Passt.