Friday, June 5, 2009

The Seven Deadly Sins of Geekdom

Geeks Rule! Absolute Geeks Rule Absolutely.

Geek, as defined by Merriam-Webster's dictionary: "a carnival performer often billed as a wild man whose act usually includes biting the head off a live chicken or snake." So, after you know what's in a name, here are some arbitrarily chosen 7 deadly sins of nerds, geeks and aspiring "mad scientists". You may hear about other "sins", too, from your girlfriend, or family.

1. Losing your head, or rather replacing it with something more... usable

2. Thinking that the answer to the Universe is anything but 42. Also, inventing (and living inside) a world with far more interesting laws, problems and answers









3. Actually wanting the Earth to get swallowed by a neat little black hole (in the wake of LHC testing). Or at least craving to witness this event, if only for a microsecond.







4. Sex? What sex? "As you approach UofC (University of Chicago), the amount of sex approaches zero"





5. Obsessing over someone else's fantasy... "The Difficult Aspects of Assassination in the Crossover "Star Wars - Hello Kitty" Universe."

Though "obsessing" is so vital to being a "nerd", that it can not be counted as sin. OK, here is worse, then: submitting a new LOLcat to "icanhascheezburger", but forgetting to feed your own pet.




6. Collecting the darnedest things... abacuses? or abacii?








....vintage military equipment from heavy bombers (Navigation and Bombing Systems







7. The Crisis of Self











When Geeks Go Crazy

When a wonderful smart person becomes too obsessed and too involved with one little segment of skill or knowledge, they pass into a geek territory - and if they don't know when to stop, then they quietly (and usually harmlessly) go nuts. They implode, becoming a geek "neutron star" with entirely different set of rules inside. So, here are some of the signs to see, if your friendly cubicle geek is close to tipping over...

- starts rearranging his working space to resemble Photoshop palettes, and then proceeds to zigzag around, creating a digital masterpiece.

and the Anti-Gamer setup

Monday, June 1, 2009

World's Worst Intersections & Traffic Jams

They should pay you to enter these interchanges

There is a difference between "going mental" and making mental calculations how to get out of this traffic mess... at least we hope there is.

The complexity of modern interchanges can be daunting. Here is an exaggerated vision of what the future may look like

And this is present day in Japan (does that make your heart beat faster?)








But here are a few more that definitely ask to be included into the
"Most Complex Junctions" Hall of Fame:

- Shanghai, China
(see that little circle on the side: this is a trap for amateur drivers, in which they swirl around forever)



- Taganskaya Square, Moscow
(shaped like a huge dumb loaf of bread... and just as unpalatable)







- Tokyo, Japan
(this one's actually quite elegant)







Golden Glades interchange in N. Miami Beach, FL.








Looking like some strands of yarn: Rt. 440 in New Jersey