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Geek Trivia: Fighting fire with wireless

"Missile?"Not a quibble, but can a radio controlled toy boat REALLY be considered a close relative to a guided missile? From the photo (http://www.divus.cz/images/umelec/tes07.jpg) it's questionable the Telautomaton could even function in three dimensions -- I'd guess its first dive would be its last.

Tags: gfisher@..., wireless

Discussion threads 2007-08-08

Geek Trivia: Blogito, ergo sum

Those wild and wooly preblog days.Lynx was the only browser available through the shell account I used back in the early '90s, but even then an early form of blogging, sort of a cross between catalog and commentary, was becoming popular as a few people began using their internet start...

Tags: gfisher@...

Discussion threads 2007-06-13

Geek Trivia: Action-pact science fiction

Earlier AcknowledgementIn my copy of Arthur Clarke's 1966 anthology "Time Probe" (hardcover, published by Delacorte) Clarke begins his introduction to Heinlein's "Not Final!" thus: "In accordance with my half of the Clarke-Asimov Treaty, conclud

Tags: Arthur Clarke, Clarke, clarke heinlein asimov, feedback, gfisher@..., Isaac Asimov

Discussion threads 2006-11-01

Geek Trivia: A star in the (un)making

MnemonicEducated mothers can henceforth until the next planetary reshuffle serve Nachos. Olé!Quibblet -- "Moons of Pluto?""...Charon (Pluto's largest moon). (Pluto has two other moons, Hydra and Nix--both discovered in 2005.)" "Moon n: any natural satellite of a planet." By the accepted definition, Pluto has no moons.Good catchThat's a good...

Tags: career, charon, gfisher@..., hydra, moon, Moon, nix, planet, Pluto, satellite

Discussion threads 2006-09-27

(Photos: Greenphone taps Linux know-how)

No WiFiAs a developer I was disappointed to learn that the GreenPhone has no WiFi capabilities. With wireless access becoming all but ubiquitous in airports and offices, to say nothing of entire urban and some suburban areas, the ability to tap easily into the internet for economical VoIP service...

Tags: cellular, gfisher@..., greenphone, Linux, networking, photograph, service provider, telephone, voip, Wi-Fi, wifi

Discussion threads 2006-09-16

Photos: New Skype phones

Viva la Difference?These "...three (four?) new Wi-Fi phones..." seem to differ only in logo, except for one which adopted a slightly different button style. Will any of these support the SIP protocol, or are they all locked to Skype's DRM-like proprietary format?

Tags: PhotoS, telephone, New Skype, wifi, skype, sip, gfisher@..., networking, photograph

Discussion threads 2006-07-27

Cell phone signals excite brain, study finds

Effect on IQ?". . . people with conditions . . . linked with brain cell excitability, could potentially be affected." Like thinking, perhaps? Does cell phone radiation affect the user's IQ? I've been in theatres and in stores where it seemed every idiot had a cell phone, but...

Tags: Cellular phones, cell phone, telephone

Discussion threads 2006-06-29

IT's The Future!

IT's The Future!blog rootLarge-Scale Collective IQDoug Engelbart saw it before most, and still sees beyond the horizon. Check out his talk about the concept of IQ Augmmentation here, then talk about it.Welcome!Welcome to Full Spectrum!We'll be adding content over the next few days, but if you've serendipitated yourself here...

Tags: gfisher@..., 3D, Sharp Corp., display, information technology

Discussion threads 2005-05-20

Images: Desert pinup ogled by Google Earth

That's Pretty Desperate . . ."Maxim magazine teamed with the city of Las Vegas to build the giant poster . . ." That's the best they could come up with?Especiallysince it's gone now.Google doesn't even show the thing anymore, but a nice open stretch of desert. why even bother...

Tags: Desert, tax, waste, despair, Google Earth, IT IS, gfisher@..., networking, Google Inc.

Discussion threads 2006-04-14

Geek Trivia: Planetary (m)alignment

Geek Trivia: Planetary malignmentarticle rootA thousand pardons, your imminence . . .Another enjoyable Geek Trivia fix, but in your closing paragraph should not "Therefore, it's imminently plausible . . ." be eminently plausible?gosh...I had no idea that Geek Trivia Quibbles had anything to do with grammar.oh yes they do!I say,...

Tags: Neptune, trans-Neptunian, grammar, gfisher@..., career, plausibility, trans-Neptunian object, Geek Trivia

Discussion threads 2006-02-08

Geek Trivia: Energetic pursuits

Watt's Going On?Re the Geek Trivia Quibble, I'd have to throw in my lot with reader Ward. NASA's ALRH is defined as a "15 watt heater," (http://tinyurl.com/aeqb5) and a watt is uncontroversially defined as a "unit of power," 34 grams of p-238 being utilized as the source of that...

Tags: alrh, apollo, career, gfisher@..., Idaho National Engineering, la triviata, power, quibble, reactor, Shippingport Atomic Power Station, watt

Discussion threads 2005-08-03

Geek Trivia: Built to (b)last

Good Column>> ". . . the government claimed the Schmidt-McDonald dwelling as imminent domain for the U.S. war effort in 1942."Surely you meant _eminent_ domain; despite that another good column. Thanks!An intended pun?from www.m-w.com:ready to take place; especially :hanging threateningly over one's head Maybe a subtle pun by the...

Tags: atomic, career, corrections, domain, Eminent Domain, gfisher@..., government, kudos, Schmidt-McDonald Ranch House

Discussion threads 2005-07-13

Additional Resources

Geek Trivia: (Doctor) Who's who in Hollywood

What famous Hollywood director turned down the job of designing the original Daleks from Dr. Who? If ever there was an excuse to redecorate your cubicle like a gloriously out-of-date British police box, this week has it: On Nov. 23, 1963, the first episode of Britain's premiere...

Tags: Daleks, Jay Garmon, Geek Trivia Newsletter, Villain, TechRepublic Inc., Dr., Science Fiction, Director, Professional Development, Recruitment & Selection, Career, Human Resources, Workforce Management

Technical articles 2006-11-21

Geek Trivia: The math behind the myth

Which mathematician mistakenly solved an "impossible" problem as a homework assignment, inspiring a modern urban myth? In the long and storied history of uber-level mathematics, perhaps the holiest of Holy Grails was a proof for Fermat's Last Theorem, which holds that there are no positive integers x,...

Tags: Fermat, Jay Garmon, Andrew Wiles, Last Theorem, Geek Trivia Newsletter, TechRepublic Inc., Proof, Mathematician

Technical articles 2006-02-21

Geek Trivia: Picking up the torch

What tragic event led to London's hosting of the 1908 Olympic Games? Every now and again, the old Trivia Geek feels the need to toy with his secret formula for trivial excellence. So this week, instead of looking back on an obscure anniversary celebrated on this date,...

Tags: Olympic Games, Olympic, Games, Jay Garmon, game, Geek Trivia Newsletter, London, Government, Personal Technology

Technical articles 2005-07-26

Geek Trivia: Space-opera singer

What are the lyrics to the faux-aria musical piece "Battlestar Operatica"? Both critics and science-fiction fans revere the new Battlestar Galactica television series broadcast by the Sci Fi Channel. Perhaps Teevee.org's Nathan Alderman described the series best as a "refreshing balance of theology, politics, characterization, and...

Tags: Jay Garmon, navy, BSG, admiral, Geek Trivia Newsletter, TechRepublic Inc., Lyric, Toaster, Title Theme, Pluto, Blogging, TVs, Tv & Home Theater, Internet, Personal Technology, Home Entertainment

Technical articles 2006-10-17