GeekFest Montreal + Giveaway!

I’m not sure how many of you are aware that even though most of [GaS]’s contributors and readers come from the United States, this blog is actually being managed from Canada, more specifically from the region of Montreal, Quebec. So to help out the local geek community, I decided to officialy sponsor one of Montreal’s first big multi-disciplinary geek festival, GeekFestMTL.

Even though the festival’s organizational comitee is mostly French, GeekFestMTL is addressed to people who speak both of the province’s official languages: French and English.

If you speak French, you can check out the festival’s official site here, and for people living in the region of Montreal who do not speak la langue de molière, more details about the event can be read via this blog post (excerpt below.)

The festival will take place on March 6 (10AM to 6PM) and 7 (10AM to 7PM), 2010, at SUPINFO – École supérieure d’informatique, located at 752 Sherbrooke Street West in Montreal (easily accessible from McGill metro station) (Google Maps). All types of geeks are invited, but there is nothing stopping non-geeks from participating in the event!

Montreal is the perfect city for any geek festival. The city already hosts many of them, each one more interesting than the last. We are not trying to replace other festivals. We simply want to create a new type of enjoyable gathering.

How will we accomplish this? The idea of GeekFest is to create several smaller festivals/activities featuring different categories of geeks, all under the banner of one large festival: GeekFest!

Since this will be the first GeekFest, we will be focusing on the most common types of geeks: Apple Geeks, Computer Geeks, LAN/Gamer Geeks, Music Geeks, RPG/Board Game Geeks, SciFi Geeks.

Of course, the idea is to represent as many types of geeks as possible. We are thus working with various organizations, businesses and volunteers who will teach us more about geek varieties throughout the festival. Our long?term goal is obviously to increase the number each year!

We have planned plenty of activities to entertain all our visitors: a Geek Orchestra, a LAN Party, Video presentations, different kinds of Geek competitions and debates, Cosplay, a RPG area, an xBox lounge, a Retro-Gaming section, a CodeFest, a Geek Food competition, and so on.

Will you be there? Of course you will!

For those attending who wish to meet, I’ll be present (picture of me) at the festival on March 6th, from around 11AM to 3PM.

I also have 1 free ticket to the event to give away, so if you’re interested, please send me an email using the contact section of the blog’s top menu bar.


Symphony of Science: The Poetry of Reality

The Poetry of Reality is John Boswell’s fifth installment in the Symphony of Science series. The video features 12 scientists and science enthusiasts, including Michael Shermer, Jacob Bronowski, Carl Sagan, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Richard Dawkins, Jill Tarter, Lawrence Krauss, Richard Feynman, Brian Greene, Stephen Hawking, Carolyn Porco, and PZ Myers, promoting science through words of wisdom.

Geeks Are Sexy Featured on Discovery News Podcast

By Jimmy Rogers (@me)
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

A few weeks ago we received a message from the fantastic guys over at the Discovery News Friday Feedbag podcast.  It seems one of their loyal listeners passed along a story of ours and they liked it so much they asked us if we’d like to do a little interview … we jumped at the chance!

Yesterday I sat down (via telephone) with Will, James, and Jorge and we spent about 20 minutes talking about bacon.  Ok, so we did broach some other topics such as cancer, sea slugs, and ribosomes, but I think bacon really took the cake (or brownie?).  If you want any of that to make sense you better listen to the episode!

*Here’s the page for the episode*

It was a real thrill to chat with these guys on the show and I encourage you all to subscribe to their podcast, as they put out some really fun and interesting stuff every week!  Also, don’t be surprised if you hear GAS on there again sometime….

P.S. – That story about the quadruplet ribosomes will take me a little bit to write, but look for it in the next week or so!

Steampunk Octopi for the Home by Anthropologie

One of my favorite things about steampunk in general is the aesthetic and combining it into my own decor. But it’s not just about brass, knobs, and beakers. No, because steampunk takes from the Victorian period, it draws on some really stunning designs in fabric, wood, and architecture in general.

The Steampunk Home is a fantastic blog that gleans the Internet for steampunk-themed design, often on a budget. I am continually drooling over their posts, and yesterday I was absolutely floored. The Steampunk Home profiled some octopus fabric and an octopus couch, from Anthropologie. Jaw-dropping gorgeous, I say, even if the price is completely out of reach! A gal can dream, right?

And, as they mention, if you really dig octopi, there’s a whole blog dedicated to their loveliness: Everything Octopus.

Sure, you may balk at the price of these particular items, but I bet some smart makers out there could reproduce these designs for a fraction of the cost, too. I mean, that’s what steampunk is all about.

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Read an RPG Book in Public Week

So apparently next week is the thrice-yearly Read an RPG Book in Public Week, in which roleplaying enthusiasts are encouraged to take their favorite rule books out to the coffee shop or bus stop and read them in public.

The point, according to the website, is to get roleplaying “out of the basement” and into the public eye – to give gamers an opportunity to answer questions about their hobby to those who stop to ask them what they’re reading. (As this is intended to be a positive thing, the website also suggests that readers steer clear of scarier titles like Kobolds Ate My Baby or, you know, reading Demon: The Fallen while in church.)

If any of you decide to try this experiment, let us know the results… I’d be interested to know if people really do get stopped just because they’re reading a monster manual in Starbucks.  Of course, maybe there should just be a “roleplay in public” week.  I once saw someone running a DnD campaign out of a Books-a-Million coffee shop, and they got more than a few odd looks.

[Image Source: heathbar (CC)]

Hot Pepper Science: Capsaicin and Pain Relief

capsaicinDuring the last month I’ve been on the hunt for good pain relief with this hand issue (see my last post if you’re just tuning in). After a very frustrating few weeks going back and forth between ibuprofen and naproxen sodium (Aleve, in brand name) I started to get really frustrated. The only part of me that hurt were my hands, and these medications weren’t really doing much to help. Why take a pill that doesn’t work and targets everything?

While perusing the local pain relief at the store about a week ago I came across a product I’d been interested in for a while: Capzasin, a topical analgesic derived from capsaicin, the chemical that makes peppers hot. I’d read a lot about this chemical and its purported medical applications, but was a little leery about shelling out $10 for a small tube of anything. However, since I’d tried just about everything, I was willing to risk it, especially in the name of science. I mean, I’m a geek. The idea of hot peppers actually helping alleviate pain sort of feels like something out of a fantasy novel, or a poultice an alchemist might make in a D&D game. I’m totally about that.

Well, to my surprise (and relief) the product really worked. It hasn’t gotten rid of the pain entirely, but it certainly mitigates the real “high end” of carpal tunnel pain, making going about my daily activities a whole lot easier. It also has a warming sensation that’s very welcome. The only weird side-effect is that if I apply it too late in the evening, after I put my braces on my wrists at night, I can end up with a burning sensation (mine is very minor, but in some instances people with sensitive skin experience much more severe burning—definitely something to start small with if you suspect you might be prone to its effects). This is somewhat expected, as the label doesn’t recommend wrapping the area, but I have to keep my wrists straight at night. It’s tolerable and only happens sometimes. Also, it can linger on the fingers. So if you’re applying it with bare hands, it’s probably a good idea to skip the contact lenses for a while. I learned that one the hard way. Serious ouch.

According to Wikipedia, there are a myriad of medical applications for capsaicin and chili peppers in general, and currently it’s being tested for everything from weight loss to cardiovascular diseases. Whether or not it’s a wonder drug is still up for debate, but it’s definitely exciting and geeky. Looks like pain relief is just one of the many ways chili peppers can make our lives better… not to mention being a culinary goldmine!

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Planning for your pet’s care when you’re gone — way gone

By Sterling “Chip” Camden
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

In recent years, the web has draped its sticky silk over most of our lives.  There’s a web site now for just about every social interaction, business transaction, coming attraction, and useless distraction in which people may engage.  Yet startups still keep finding opportunities that have not been covered.

Sharon Moss identified one such need, and launched aftertherapturepetcare.com to fill it.  Many Christians believe in a literal interpretation of Paul’s first letter to the Thessalonians, 4:16-17, which states that when Jesus returns, those believers who are still living will be caught up into the clouds to meet him in the air.  This passage doesn’t mention the beloved notion that all dogs go to heaven — much less cats, and forget about snakes.  So Christians who love their pets should plan ahead for their care during the seven years of tribulation that follow next in their pieced-together eschatology.  They should go register their pets at After the Rapture Pet Care, so arrangements can be made for them.

Sharon Moss is a believer in the rapture herself.  So who will take care of all these pets?  Why, volunteer unbelievers, of course.  Yes, they are volunteers.  They will not be paid, nor does the site collect any fees.  This is not a scam.  These people are serious.  Yes, they can be serious.

If you’re an unbeliever like me, you can register to be a pet caretaker in the unlikely event of a Rapture.  There’s no cost, and if you don’t believe in the rapture then there’s no risk either, other than sharing your information online.  You trusted Google Buzz, didn’t you?  Plus, it scores some points with your Christian friends, and shows them that atheists and agnostics aren’t all a bunch of cruel, hateful people with no values.  You have to wonder about what these Christians are thinking, though:  “It’s so nice of him to volunteer to care for little Miss Daisy, it’s really too bad he’s going to burn in hell forever.”

I can tell you, though, if a Rapture does occur I don’t think living up to my pet-sitting obligations would be high on my to-do list.

Speaking of which, I notice that phrase a lot on the site: “If the Rapture happens.”  That doesn’t sound very believer-like to me.  You’re supposed to say “When the Rapture happens,” not “If”.  Better watch out, Sharon, one little slip like that could cause the Great Pumpkin to pass you by!

Hat tip to Marian for the link.