Theo Gray's Periodic Table of Elements Cards

For all of you not in the know Theo Gray is an element collector and author of several amazing works that I adore. He takes beautiful photos of the objects and he has published them in one of his earliest works 'The Elements'. After the success of this book he has since put out other books, a jigsaw puzzle, calenders and this deck of cards. 

Like all of his work they are a combination of great visuals, great design and a smattering of great and accurate information. 

Of course Theo didn't just design these as flip cards, but as decoration and playing around with. So this morning I found myself moving some furniture and constructing a periodic table with these cards. It left a  this science nerd very happy.

     

That Adam Savage Video is Online

This is the video of the talk from Adam Savage outlining his rules for success. Yes they are aimed at Makers, but I think the same rules work across the board.

Ten Rules for Success According to Adam Savage

From Boing Boing

Adam Savage of Mythbusters fame as well as a figurehead for all Makers, gave a closing talk to a Boing Boing event on the weekend where he offered his ten rules for success. Although they may not be new to most of us, and others may argue the validity of this advice, they speak volumes to the type of success that I would like to achieve.

1. Get good at something.
Really good. Get good at as many things as you can. Being good at one thing makes it easier to get good at other things.

2. Getting good at stuff takes practice.
Lots and lots of practice.

3. Get OBSESSED.
Everyone at the top of their field is obsessed with what they're doing.

4. Doing something well and thoroughly is its OWN reward.

5. Show and Tell.
If you do something well and you're happy with it, for FSM's sake, tell EVERYONE.

6. If you want something, ASK.
If something piques your interest, tell someone. If you want to learn something, ask someone, like your BOSS. As an employer, I can tell you, people who want to learn new skills are people I want to keep employed.

7. Have GOALS.
Make up goals. Set goals. Regularly assess where you are and where you want to be in terms of them. This is a kind of prayer that works, and works well. Allow for the fact that things will NEVER turn out like you think they will, and you must be prepared to end up miles from where you intended.

8. Be nice. To EVERYONE.
Life is way too short to be an asshole. If you are an asshole, apologize.

9. FAIL.
You will fail. It's one of our jobs in life. Keep failing. When you fail, admit it. When you don't, don't get cocky. 'Cause you're just about to fail again.

10. WORK YOUR ASS OFF.
Work like your life depends on it...

I will print these up and put a copy above my desk.

Book Review: 'Of Dice and Men: The Story of Dungeons & Dragons and The People Who Play It' by David M. Ewalt

Thanks to Netgalley and Scribner for an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

David Ewalt is a D&D fan. And like a significant portion of D&D fans he played a lot as a youth, gave it up as a young adult and has recently come back to the game. Combine these facts with a career as an award-winning journalist and it's not surprising that the product is a warm look at the culture of D&D combined with an accurate and unbiased look back at it's history and development.

Growing up I think I missed out on the initial D&D craze by 5 years, and by a continent. I'm curious and I have been looking at playing D&D when I have more time. Possibly when the new edition comes out. So I guess I am part of the ideal 'D&D virgin yet curious' audience.

I feel like I should contrast this book with another I read last year, Mark Barrowcliffe's 'The Elfish Gene'. This book was more of a personal memoir, with the attitude being that the author wasted his youth playing D&D and is a bitter about it. It did not portray the game in a positive light at all. Although there was a few chuckles and some connections with growing up a geek, it left a bitter taste in my mouth and did not inform me on why I should consider playing the game.

David Ewalt's book is less memoir, more journalism, with an enthusiastic pro-D&D message that is not fanatical. The most interesting parts were looking at the development of the game, the personalities of the developers and the dismal history of the companies formed around it. This information seems balanced and based upon a lot of interviews and documentation.

So, if you're like me, curious about D&D and would like a balanced view on it's history and how it is played this book is highly recommended.

Book Review: 'Brainiac' by Ken Jennings

Ken Jennings stamped himself onto my psyche with 'Maphead', a book about geography and geo geeks, which I read last year. I adored this book for many reasons and I connected with Ken's sentiments about learning, obsession and being a nerd. I've now gone back to a previous book of his, 'Brainiac' which deals with the history and obsession of trivia and the events that made Ken a household name in the U.S.

For those of you not from the U.S. or who like 'Jeopardy!', Ken shot to fame by being a carry over champion on the game show a record 74 times. But that is not like being a champion on 'Wheel of Fortune', this is 'Jeapordy!', an intense and highly difficult quiz show where you answer with a question.

So you may be thinking "Why the hell would I want to read a book about this guy bragging about his conquest?". I can assure you that this is not what this book is about and Ken wouldn't do that type of thing anyway.

Ken does take us through his tale of 'Jeapordy!', but it is interspersed with his lifelong relationship with trivia and mainly the worldwide history of trivia. Like 'Maphead', Ken finds all different types of trivia nerds and connects with them and tells their stories also. We meet a U.S. town that goes trivia crazy once every year for 70 or so hours non-stop. We also meet a trivia writer fallen on hard times after a bad court case with the makers of the 'Trivial Pursuits' games.

What also makes Ken's books great is his voice. He is funny and self-deprecating, while being knowledgeable and insightful. He is everything I and every other geek aspires to be like.  I still can't believe he is a Mormon. He doesn't seem to have that glazed-over, I-married-my-cousin-at-the-age-of-nineteen-just-so-I-could-have-sex, we-all-float-down-here thing going on. And I totally agree with Ken when he says:
"It was nice to have someone on TV for a few months who was openly religious and yet wasn't (hopefully) the usual stereotypical mouth-breather or nut job."

You said it Ken. It is encouraging to find a religious voice that seems to be part of this reality and I can connect with.

And I want to quote Ken once more. Here a summary on geek:

"After all, we're currently living in a Bizarro society where teenagers are technology-obsessed, where the biggest sellers in every bookstores are fantasy novels about a boy wizard, and the blockbuster hit movies are all full of hobbits and elves or 1960s spandex superheroes. You don't have to go to a Star Trek convention to find geeks anymore. Today, almost everyone is an obsessive, well-informed aficionado of something. Pick your cult: there are food geeks and fashion geeks and Desperate Housewives geeks and David Mamet geeks and fantasy sports geeks. The list is endless. And since everyone today is some kind of trivia geek or other, there's not even a stigma anymore. Trivia is mainstream. "Nerd" is the new "cool.”"

Book Review: 'Quiet' by Susan Cain

I am introvert, hear me curl up and read a book!

This book is a great big "Fuck You!" to society and it's current worship of the outgoing, bubbly, fake, collaborating mindset. But the book isn't angry; it's a well-researched argument that delves into the last 100 years of psychological research to back up the arguments.

Susan questions how and why the outgoing gregarious type became the epitome of success in the last few decades. The rise of these values has given way to leaders who may have the loudest voice, but may not have the sharpest mind. The success of a person is defined in how well they can sell themselves and their work. These factors are no longer judged purely on their merit.

The book discusses the difficulties that an introvert faces in study, the workplace and in relationships while giving case-studies and examples throughout. Susan doesn't recommend that all us introverts curl up in a ball in the dark, she encourages us to push our boundaries; all the while questioning where these boundaries are set.





This book was affirming and even though I am proud of my personality, it gave me more confidence in who I am and that my behaviours are normal and should not be viewed negatively.

Book Review: 'Exploding the Phone: The Untold Story of the Teenagers and Outlaws who Hacked Ma Bell' by Phil Laspley

Read from May 24 to 26, 2013

 Alongside the age of space exploration in the 60s, 70s and 80s exploration of another type of space was underway. However it was not physical space, but a communication network, possibly the largest communication network at that time. The adventurers were random geeks, way before being a geek was considered cool, who had discovered properties of the phones around them and proceeded to experiment, poke, prod and hack.

At the time the US only had one telecommunications company, AT&T, who monopolised the market, dictating pricing and the level of service. The problem with AT&T is that the communication infrastructure was thrown together with little planning, and the system ran on a simple series of multiple frequency pulses. Added to that fact, the company was ignorant of any possibility of security issues and even published journals with technical details and frequency values for all their system. When a generation of intelligent yet bored teens come along, fun was to be had.

The history of this subculture is wonderfully bought to life by Lapsley. He has taken years of research, including interviews and original documents from both parties, the phreaks and AT&T. The emphasis is upon the characters that played a role in this history, each bought to the page with individuality and verve. The book abounds in  wonderful anecdotes that brings a little romanticism to the culture and time.
'Exploding the Phone' left me feeling a little jealous that I was born twenty years too late and in the wrong country. In the 21st century, are the systems that surround us in everyday life too far beyond the understanding and ability for an amateur to explore? 

This wonderful homage to a unique subset of geek is essential reading for anyone who professes to be a geek or who is interested in hacker or maker stories. 'Exploding the Phone' is a wonderful and romantic non-fiction read that deserves to be widely read.