JED Talks: Ideas Not Worth Spreading

From time to time here on Geeks are Sexy, we post a video from a TED, which stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design, a conference celebrating just those things. The speakers at TED are all experts in their fields, and often showcase breakthrough technology with the hope that further discussion of these topics and concepts will lead to the betterment of our lives and the state of the world. My personal favorite is from Mike Rowe, who celebrates “dirty jobs”, on his television show of that name, and has an interesting story about being an apprentice sheep herder. So, I was surprised when I first saw “JED Talks” mentioned on Facebook talking about remote controls controlled by flatulence. The website for JED Talks proclaimed that they were looking to promote “ideas not worth spreading”. Curious whether this was just a passing joke, or an actual speaker series, I dug a little bit deeper, and got in contact with the founder of JED to get his explanation of his program; here are his answers to our my questions.

Is this a collaborative effort, or is there a “founder” behind JED talks.

My name is Matthew Stillman. I conceived of the idea of JED Talks and the concept behind it. I’ve been involved with the Upright Citizens Brigade (UCB) here in NYC since they arrived in the city in 1996. I’ve never aspired to be a professional comedian but I have always loved taking classes and performing there. I’ve performed at the other improv spaces in New York but UCB is my improv home. I used to run program development at Food Network where I developed Iron Chef and Good Eats and more recently I co-produced my first film – a feature length documentary called The End of Poverty?. It premiered at the Cannes Film Festival, was in festivals around the world, came out in theaters across the country earlier in the year and out on dvd a few weeks ago.

I called on three other friends: Jeremy Bent, Mike Young and Nick DeNinno, who were also excited about the project to get involved – and they have been. The second part of the answer is that JED Talks is its own universe. We will shortly be introducing the “founder” of JED Talks – Jed Concepcion, a fast talking VC sort of a guy who bombed at TED and started JED because TED doesn’t “get it”. We hope to expand the universe around that character if the JED show goes over well.

I love the tongue in cheek aspect, was this inspired by attending an actual TED event, or just from the videos they post online?

I’ve never been to a TED event but I am a huge fan of them and have learned from them. I know a number of people who have attended and spoke and started to get a picture of what the TED universe was like. The videos and the self-important tone inspired my loving satire.

How do you hope that this event is received?

I hope that the show sells out. I hope that #ideasnotworthspreading spreads as a hashtag on twitter. I hope that eventually JED Talks becomes as notable, successful, and important a public satire space as The Daily Show, The Colbert Report, The Onion or @BPGlobalPR. I would love for this first JED Talks to allow many more to happen in other parts of the country.

The First JED Talks Event

The first JED Talks event took place at the Jewish Community Center in manhattan (NYC) on Saturday October 16th. Here was the line up of speakers for the event (Youtube videos not yet available):

Will Hines – The Stepfathers at UCB Theater
Erik Tanouye – UCB Theater star and co-writer of viral video hit “BP Spills Coffee”
Kurt Braunohler – NYC indie comedy legend
Dan Allen – Comedy Central’s Premium Blend, Sacapuntas Show
CeCe Lederer, writer at The Colbert Report
Ali Farahnakian, founder of The Peoples Improv Theater
Bob Powers – Bob Powers Online

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Worst Pizza of All Time

Just when you thought that that sorry Japanese excuse for a Pizza was the worst pizza of all time, these guys come along to prove us wrong. Behold:

Ronald McDonald, Wendy, A&W bear, Taco Bell Dog and Colonel Sanders have a wild orgy covered in tomato sauce on some dough under cheese. This pizza is their baby.

[Via Buzzfeed]



Batman’s Mansion Spotted on Google Maps

Right after spotting Batman’s secret military lair on Google Maps, here’s Batman’s mansion, for your viewing pleasure.

[Via Google Maps | Via [H]]

Father of Fractals Passes Away

When a man dies and his obituaries mention the discovery of geometric shapes with a Hausdorff dimension that exceeds its topological dimension, you might think he’s just another hardcore mathematician.

But when a man dies and his life’s work encompasses cauliflower, the stock market, and paisley shirts, you know there’s something special.

That man was Benoit Mandelbrot, a French-American mathematician who died late last week at the age of 85. He discovered (or at the least defined) fractals. Though a wildly complex subject, a fractal is effectively a shape that can be split into small pieces, each of which is (to a greater or lesser degree) similar in shape to the whole thing. One statistician gave the example of a romanesco cauliflower, with each piece being cauliflower-shaped.

Fractals appear in many areas of nature, most notably in snowflakes, but also in some coastlines. Other natural examples include the way rivers break down into tributaries, which matches the way lightning bolts fork. In effect, many seemingly random natural shapes in fact follow a mathematical pattern.

Mandelbrot’s work largely involved working on ways to model fractals in mathematics, which in turn made it possible to generate fractals. This led to the Mandelbrot set which, if you are a mathematician is (cue Wikipedia) “the set of complex values of c for which the orbit of 0 under iteration of the complex quadratic polynomialzn+1 = zn2 + c remains bounded” and if you are a non-mathematician is a set of numbers that can be plotted into a pretty pattern which, when zoomed in looks like the image above.

Most importantly, of course, fractals can be used to generate patterns in video games: none more explicitly than in the 1984 game Rescue on Fractalus! where players had to navigate a space fighter around an ever-varying mountain range.

There’s even an argument that fractals appear in human behavior, most notably in stock market charts. Mandelbrot argued that although it was not possible to use fractals to predict when market prices would rapidly change direction, it was predictable that in the big picture they would — and that it in turn it was foolish to make investment decisions on the assumption that markets would always behave in a stable manner. He likened traditional stock market strategy to sailing in seas where the weather was calm 95% of the time and thus deciding it not worthwhile preparing for a typhoon.

10 Obscure, DIY Geeky Costumes for Halloween

Halloween is big business, and it’s no better typified than the huge, seasonal stores that poke up in strip malls and shopping centers across the country during the Autumn. Costumes are now a multi-billion dollar business, and getting that perfect Indiana Jones costume is as simple as walking in to the Scare-o-Rama, selecting your plastic bag complete with hat, whip, and relic, and dropping at least 80 bucks.

But where’s the fun in that? Not to mention the individuality. Geeks should know better. As the purveyors of costuming and re-enactment, it’s up to us to set the bar.

So if you’re stumped, here’s some suggestions for more obscure Halloween costumes. Some of them come from mainstream geekery, but they’re peripheral characters. Because, to me anyway, the best costumes are both well-executed and unusual.

10) Edgar Allan Poe. This is as simple as a trip to the thrift store for a black suit, a bit of black hair spray, some eye liner to put circles under your eyes, and a thin little mustache (that same eye liner will do wonders). If you’re feeling really sassy, go ahead and put a stuffed raven on your shoulder… you know, to make it more obvious. And don’t forget the cravat.

9) The aliens from Earth Girls Are Easy. A cult-classic of the 90s, this costume requires a little in the way of work to get just right. But it worked for Jeff Goldblum, Damon Wayans, and Jim Carrey, it should work for you. You’ll need some spandex, and some fluffy bits (poofs, fur, feathers, whatnot, easily obtained at your local craft store). You’ll also need fabric paint and face paint, in matching colors (depending on your alien of choice). I suppose you could do a less clinging version using a tracksuit or sweat pants/shirt combo, but it’s totally up to you. Top it off with a matching helmet.

8) The Hunter, Duck, and Dog from Duck Hunt – Really, you need the hunter look. Which, like most of these costumes, only requires some thrifty shopping (or going to the Wal-Mart hunting section). Find a stuffed dog and a stuffed duck to accent everything. But what works best is if you carry a vintage gun from the Nintendo system, too, which I’ve also seen many times at second hand stores. It’s the little touches that make all the difference in the world.

7) Karen from Watcher in the Woods. I wrote last week about my paralyzing fear of this film, but the costume is brilliantly easy. A white blindfold, a white dress, a blonde wig. Technically, being a woman is probably best suited—but then again, it’s Halloween, so you can bend the rules however you like. Just wander around with your arms out, searching, and I guarantee you, people will start freaking out.

6) Henry Jones, Sr. Sure, Indiana gets all the credit. But Henry Sr. has everything figured out, in my humble opinion. And because most second hand stores have more grey and beige suits than you can throw a stick at, all this requires is a gray beard (or whitening your own with spray), an appropriate hat, a bowtie, and wire-rim glasses. Some people might guess you’re Sigmund Freud, but you can set ’em straight. Just make sure no one brings by any rats.

Fatty Bolger. Did you know that there was originally a fifth hobbit in the Fellowship? Well, he at last made it to Crickhollow. In my mind, and in spite of Tolkien’s rather lacking description of physical traits, Fatty has the most hobbity look. I mean, his nickname says it all. A vest, a pillow, and a curly wig, coupled with a ham hock or a basket of seedcakes and a flagon, and you’re set. Add some rosy cheeks with rouge and stick out that belly. Be proud!

4) Mon Mothma (Picture on top of the post). You know, Slave Leia gets all the love. But Mon Mothma is one classy, smart lady. Plus, her outfit is essentially lots of draping white cloth and some silver chains, making it one of the easiest costumes to pull off last-minute. Find a Julie Andrews-esque wig, and you are totally set. Lovely, elegant, and powerful. I’d say it’s win-win.

3) Roland from Stephen King’s Dark Tower books. Sure, cowboys are one of the standbys of Halloween costuming. But Roland takes that up a notch, mixes it with your worst nightmares, and spits it out again. Darker, grittier, and more magical, Roland Deschain is just about my favorite gunslinger of all time. Make him super shady—keep the colors darker all around—and maybe add a rose for emphasis. Thankee Sai.

2) Uncle Iroh from Avatar the Last Airbender. Why let the kids have all the fun with this one? Personally, I’d love to see a good Uncle costume, complete with big belly, flowing beard, and teapot. Kimonos are a dime a dozen at thrift stores, of you can make one if you are so inclined. Still, wandering around doing your best impression of the late, great Mako, spouting words of advice… yeah, sounds ideal to me.

1) A Mystic from The Dark Crystal. I’m taking a page out of my sunday school nativity play for this one. So, when I was in kindergarden, I got stuck with the part of… the cow. (My petite, blond sister got to be an angel) But my costume consisted of a long cardboard tube with a paper mache cow head on the top, and a lot of draping, black cloth. Use the same principle here, but make a paper mache head of a Mystic. Paper mache is ideal because it can stay lumpy (their skin was really bumby and irregular) . Paint it a pale tan color, cut up an old witch wig (grey or brown preferably) and glue it about. Then go with lots of brown fabric. Add a walking stick. Voila!

Tell us about your more obscure geeky costumes. Do you like to stick out in a crowd? Sound off in the comments!

[Roland Deschain Picture | Edgar Allan Poe | Indy and Henry | Mystic]

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HOW TO: Calculate 1 Year On Earth [Video]

I’m gonna ask you a quick question: How do you calculate that 1 year has passed on Earth? The answer may seem simple enough, but it is not. The problem is that our planet does not return to its starting point once it was gone all the way around the sun, so how do you know when a year starts and when it ends? Check out this interesting video to find out.

Skyline: Don’t Look Up! [Movie Trailer]

After a late night party, a group of friends are awoken in the dead of the night by an eerie light beaming through the window. Like moths to a flame, the light source is drawing people outside before they suddenly vanish into the air. They soon discover an otherwordly force is swallowing the entire human population off the face of the earth. Now our band of survivors must fight for their lives as the world unravels around them.

[Via TechEblog]

First Ten Minutes Of Fallout: New Vegas [Video]

In the following video, the folks from Gameblurb present the first few minutes of how the story of Fallout: New Vegas unfolds. This time, you’re not a vault dweller who escapes the underground, but a courier left for dead. Check it out: