Monthly Archives: October 2013

by | October 11, 2013 · 10:03 am

New York Comic Con: Day 1

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Day 1 of New York Comic Con is over and this year is already shaping up to be one crazy year. Preview day has been one of my favorites for the last few years because it gives you a chance to cover the entire floor show with fewer people and really get a good feel for what’s out there before the craziness that is Friday and Saturday. With the addition of Thursday Only passes this year, preview day was a bit more challenging due to the increased number of people. Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they did these passes because that’s how I got in (maybe next year I won’t procrastinate about buying a four day pass), but it did increase the difficulty in moving around.

The view from my spot in row seven. And there were several more rows after me.

The view from my spot in row seven. There were several more rows after me.

Despite the increased population, I managed to cover the entire convention, moving at a brisk pace. Its great to see both old and new faces. I’m certain that Harvey Yee’s Rare Comics has been at every convention I’ve ever been to. Rooster Teeth and Cyanide and Happiness are both here and already had noticeable lines forming at their booths. All the major comic publishers had sizable booths which of course were already becoming traffic nightmares. I’m very excited to see that an increase in the quality of the small press this year. I’ve already picked up two different small press comics. One is a science fiction piece and the other is set in feudal Korea. Two very different books, but both appearing to be of quality.

Artists Alley looks really good this year with many big name artists (I already bought an Humberto Ramos print) as well as some really good looking, though less well known artists. I’ve already got a mental list going of prints I want to get. I’m thinking this year might be a Star Wars year.

Ramos is one of my all time favorite artists.

Ramos is one of my all time favorite artists.

Looking ahead to Day 2, I’m planning to get started with some autographs and then the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund’s panel on the secret origin of censorship in comics. Day 2 will also be much more social as most of my friends will be showing up, so I’m anticipating some additional crazy thing to happen.

Stay tuned for more NYCC coverage and for those of you here with us, don’t forget to let us know how your con is going.

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by | October 9, 2013 · 10:24 pm

Winning Science October 9, 2013

While we here at Therefore I Geek are focused on NYCC (I still have to finish laundry…) the science community is focused on their highest awards, the Nobel Prize. Named for inventor Alfred Nobel and originally funded with the majority of his estate, the awards are given to those to confer the “greatest benefit on mankind”.  Most people are familiar with the Peace Prize, however prizes are also awarded in Physics, Chemistry, Physiology or Medicine, Literature, and Economics. Today we’ll look at the winners in Physics, Chemistry and Medicine.

This year’s physicists are probably some of the most well known physicists in the world, and certainly the best known of this year’s Nobel laureates.  François Englert and Peter Higgs are well known for the Higgs Boson.  The Higgs Boson is frequently known as the “god particle” because it may be the key to explaining why particles, such as electrons, have mass. These particles provide the mechanism by which Einstein’s Theory of Relativity equates mass to energy.

http://xkcd.com/812/

This is what happens when you look for the Higgs Boson.

An amusing side note, the Nobel Committee was unable to get in contact with Peter Higgs and there is a distinct possibility that he doesn’t even know he has won the prize.

In Chemistry, the Nobel Prize goes to Arieh Warshel, Martin Karplus, and Michael Levitt who pioneered computer modeling of chemical reactions. This eventually allowed for solving complex chemical equations without having to consult dozens of books for information. These programs were first used to model how enzymes break down toxins in the body.

www.macworld.com

So much power!

The programs were first written in the 1960’s when the most powerful computers in the world were less powerful than my iPhone.

James E. Rothman, Randy W. Schekman, Thomas C. Südhof have been awarded the Nobel Prize in Medicine. These men are responsible for determining the mechanism that cells use to get the right stuff to the right place at the right time.  Each of the winners was responsible for figuring out a piece of the mystery.

www.tescfoundation.org

It’s the cellular version of “what can brown do for you”

It’s like a global logistics network, but contained completely within a cell.

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by | October 8, 2013 · 9:16 am

Editorial | My First Geek Convention

I’m smack in the middle of midterm week, which means super late nights and super early mornings.  Fortunately, this eighth level of hell (which Dante knew not of) will be interrupted by my very first geek convention!

I’ve been dreaming of my first convention since I was in middle school.  My ultimate dream adventure was (and still is) RingCon in Germany.  However, I was willing to settle for any gathering of geeks.  (RingCon is next week, by the way.  I am sooo jealous of any of our readers who is going!)

I’ve also been extremely interested in cosplay—of course, when I first looked at it, it was just called “dressing up.”

Now, for the first time, my dream is about to come true.  I’m actually headed to New York Comic Con!!  I’ve done my research, bought my day passes for Saturday and Sunday, and listened to many, many of Andrew’s crazy stories (he hasn’t even shared the half of them with y’all so far).

So as I head into this weekend, on the few moments that I’m able to look up from my computer screen, I’m excited about quite a few things:

I’m actually really pumped for the trip up to comic con.  For the past few years, I’ve driven to every place I’ve visited (often between 12-19 hours each way) and it is always exhausting.  By the time I get to the fun part, I’m too tired to enjoy it.  Instead, this time I am taking the train, so I will have time to relax and enjoy myself.

And somehow, this episode of Big Bang Theory is all I can think about…

I’m really stoked to hopefully meet (a few) of the entertainment guests.  Felicia Day, Kevin Smith, Patrick Stewart (<3 him so much!!), Seth Green, Judy Greer (please, please, please, let this one happen…  I will be so excited), Kevin Grevioux (We’re both Minnesota Vikings fans—and I love that we have multiple things in common.  Geeks should be well rounded, in my opinion), and Hulk Hogan!!  [Ok, I was JUST kidding about the last one.]  I was really looking forward to seeing James Cosmo, from Game of Thrones as well, as I do love Commander Mormont, but he unfortunately cancelled his appearance.

The comic guests who will be present are fantastic!!  David Finch, Max Brooks and OF COURSE Stan Lee will all be signing autographs.  Of course, I will be lucky to get to see one of these guys up close and personal, but a girl can dream!  Andrew has told me that Max Brooks is an especially cool dude, so it would be nice to get a chance to talk to him.  I also wouldn’t be upset if I got to meet David Lloyd, from V for Vendetta.

I’m a big fan of Gillykins’ cosplay. I know she’ll be at Con, and I would love to meet her.

I will be skipping the Ya-ya Han “celebrity cosplayer” autograph session. Honestly, if I didn’t already love cosplaying so very much before I first saw Heroes of Cosplay, the show would have really turned me off!  Geeks are often mocked and looked down on by outsiders because of what they look like or what they love—there is no need to do the same to each other /endrant.

Avatar Press has a panel on Saturday at 12:30 p.m. to talk about the news and big new projects.  Panelists are Caanan White, Kieron Gillen, Simon Spurrier, William Christensen, and Max Brooks.  This one is definitely on my hot list!

On Sunday I’m really looking forward to getting some discount geek gear as well.  Thank goodness I have a “Convention Guide” of my very own to show me where the best stuff is!

So yeah, I’m giddy and excited and almost dizzy with excitement for Comic Con in just a few days.  I know there is no way that I will be able to see all the things I want to see, but it’s awesome to at least try to plan for them!  Are you going to Comic Con?  If not, is there a panel or person you would like to see if you did?  Let us know in the comments!

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by | October 4, 2013 · 5:03 pm

Around the Web October 4, 2013

According to the London School of Economics and Political Science, online piracy isn’t having the negative effects that the entertainment industry would like us to believe. The movie industry, who has been harassing us with anti-piracy ads before movies for years now, seems to be the worst culprit. They actually had record profits of $35 billion in 2012. The music industry, who has been crying about how piracy is killing record sales, was able to make up those losses in other ways. Guess this info makes Metallica look like bigger morons than they already are. Maybe next time they won’t go whining to Congress that someone downloaded their album.

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The other surprising fact was how wide spread piracy actually is. 45% of Americans admit to it and 70% of those under age 30 do.

While super spy Nick Fury has no trouble keeping secrets, it seems that Sam Jackson isn’t quite as good. Mr. Jackson accidentally (or not, wink wink nudge nudge ) leaked that Scarlet Witch will be played by Elizabeth Olsen in The Avengers: Age of Ultron . Olsen, younger sister of the infamous Olsen twins, recently made a name for herself in Martha Marcy May Marlene. No word yet as to who will be playing her twin brother Quicksilver.

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Since I didn’t know this Olsen even existed until this announcement, I’m going to do my best to keep an open mind and just hope that she’s a better actress than her sisters.

In very fitting fashion, Twitter announced its IPO with a tweet. Yesterday, Twitter filed the paperwork for their IPO and opened the doors to allow a peek in at their finances. Unfortunately for Twitter, what people are seeing isn’t as good as they might have hoped and certainly not as good as other social media outlets like Facebook. There are serious questions about the growth of Twitter’s user base, which has slowed notably in the recent quarter in addition to questions regarding Twitter’s ability to capitalize on advertising.

vegibit.com

Let’s be honest, this is really fitting.

While I think social media is quite useful–hence the fact I’m writing a blog–I just can’t see these companies being able to maintain the kinds of profits that stockholders demand. If anyone doubts that social media outlets can fail, I would counsel them not to forget Myspace.

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