Vaccines = Common Sense

Photo: WikiCommons

Just before our youngest was scheduled to receive his four month immunizations, our pediatrician blogged about whooping cough. Whooping cough is an illness I had heard of but didn’t know of anyone who had actually had it. So I did a little digging into those “famous” diseases that most young mothers have heard about but never seen. Polio, for instance, was pretty common in the 1950′s. My mother has seen the effects of polio and remembers getting vaccinated against it. Another one of these famous diseases is small pox. Most of the people in my parents’ generation have a scar from their small pox shot. Routine vaccinations for this disease ended in 1980, and in 2007, the World Health Organization (WHO) celebrated the 30th anniversary of the eradication of small pox.

[Read the rest of this post at our companion site GeekMom.com]

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Some Harry Potter Magic Comes to NYC This November

  • By Z Email Author
  • October 19, 2010  | 
  • 9:00 am  | 
  • Categories: Places

New York, New York – it’s a hell of a town!

Or maybe that’s Springfield. I forget sometimes. No matter. The important thing is that Gotham’s wizarding community has a big things planned for November.

It begins mid-month when NYC plays host to this year’s Quidditch World Cup. Come witness Muggle Quidditch at its finest on November 13th and 14th at Dewitt Clinton Park. With weekend-long games taking place on four Astroturf pitches and an estimated 50 High School, college and community teams in attendance, it’s sure to be the International Quidditch Association’s finest showing to date.

The 15th, of course, sees the big New York premiere of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1, with the full film release on the 19th. This should keep all the wizards and witches occupied until the 21st, the date of the NYC Wizard Rock Festival.

Started in 2008, the original NYC WrockFest featured 10 bands and sold out to an audience of over 300. For its second showing the event has garnered 15 Wizard Rock acts (including Ministry of Magic, The Whomping Willows, The Remus Lupins and Snidget) and will be hosted at the renowned Music Hall of Williamsburg – a venue with twice that capacity.

Tickets for the NYC Wizard Rock Festival are currently available through Ticketmaster and at the Mercury Lounge and Music Hall of Williamsburg box offices for a mere $20, and day-of-show tickets will set you back $25 at the door. So hem up those house robs, warm up your wand and make plans to be there as the Big Apple becomes a little more magical!

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President Obama Hosts a White House Science Fair, and GeekDad Is There

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There is something very reassuring about seeing the president of the United States work to address something that you see as a significant problem. I can now state from personal experience that it is even more reassuring to observe that work in person.

I had the great privilege to be a member of the press pool at yesterday’s inaugural White House Science Fair. With camera in hand, I watched and listened as President Obama spoke personally with the American student winners of various major national and international science and engineering competitions. I then stood in the audience for his speech about the science fair and about his administration’s Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) initiative.

It could easily have been sped through like so many events with so many politicians are. But it was clear from the moment Mr. Obama entered the science fair exhibit room that he wasn’t there as a politician but as a leader who — whatever you may think of his policies in general — is deeply committed to ensuring that the future sees a United States that can compete with the rest of the world in science and engineering. He spoke with each student and team for a while, and he had a real conversation with each: he listened, tried things out, examined the visual pieces of each project, and asked intelligent questions about the process and practical applications of each. He even managed to — to a degree, anyway — put the students at ease, which is not an easy task with young people standing in the White House State Dining Room talking with the president while a jumbled line of photographers and videographers vies with one-another for a good shot. One student was even able to find the nerve to ask the president for a fist bump, a request which Mr. Obama, amused if a bit surprised, obliged.

The president said a few words in the exhibit room before moving to the East Room for his scheduled, scripted speech. He spoke of the students there and others like them as the bright future of the country, and said he expected to see some of them visit the White House many years from now as Nobel Prize winners. I watched the faces of the students watching him as he said this, and I have to say that, while Mr. Obama is of course a politician and I can’t know for certain that he meant everything he said, I can tell you that the students soaked it in. If indeed any of them does return to the White House in years to come with a Nobel medal around his or her neck, a little something will be owed to this occasion, when Mr. Obama gave them a kind of support and confidence not easily found elsewhere.

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GeekDad Guest Post by Wrestler, Author, Action Figure Subject and Daily Show “Senior Asskicker” Mick Foley

Mick Foley. Author photo provided by Hachette Book Group

We’re certainly no stranger to people in tights here on GeekDad, but they’re usually of the superhero variety. We’re doing something a little different this time, a guest post by a guy who wears tights on a regular basis, but set them aside for long enough to pick up the pen. Guest contributor Mick Foley is no stranger to anyone familiar with pro wrestling. Under his own name or as Mankind, Cactus Jack or Dude Love, Foley is a wrestling superstar who counts three World Wrestling Federation championships among his long list of accomplishments. That’s all well and good, but how does wrestling relate to GeekDad? I was surprised to learn that Foley is quite plugged in to the geek community. He hosted the “Extreme Warriors” series of Robot Wars, provided a guest voice on several episodes of Nickelodeon’s animated Avatar: The Last Airbender and has appeared at the Chicago Comic Con. Unlike most of us, Foley has also been immortalized in plastic as an action figure. Multiple times. Previous books written by Foley include the timely Mick Foley’s Halloween Hijinx
as well as two NYT Bestseller autobiographies. After several Daily Show appearances in 2010, he’s been given the title of “Senior Asskicker.”

Foley’s third autobiography Countdown to Lockdown:A Hardcore Journal has just been released. I haven’t had a chance to finish the copy sent by his publisher, but what I’ve seen has been fascinating. I haven’t watched wrestling for years, but Foley’s account of the business is really an interesting read. What’s most impressive to me about Foley’s latest book, though, is that he’s donating 100 percent of his advance to two charities, RAINN and Childfund International. It’s a big gesture and something the man obviously cares deeply about. You can pick up a copy of on Amazon, but for a taste of Foley’s thoughts on parenting issues and why he’s become such an advocate for RAINN, he’s provided this exclusive guest post for GeekDad. It’s not our usual bent on things, but it’s an honest and serious account of those awkward parenting moments we all face and the importance of parental support…

Read Modern Love: The Talk by Mick Foley after the jump.

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White House Science Fair Recognizes U.S. Imagine Cup Finalists

U.S. Imagine Cup Finalists Christian Hood and Wilson To with Bill Nye at the White House Science Fair. Image courtesy of Microsoft.

During his opening remarks at the first annual White House Science Fair, President Obama said, “If you win the NCAA championship, you come to the White House. Well, if you’re a young person and you produce the best experiment or design, the best hardware or software, you ought to be recognized for that achievement, too.” Among those in attendance were some finalists from this year’s Imagine Cup and that statement is as true to them as it is for others presenting at the Science Fair.

Earlier this summer, I had the privilege of attending the Imagine Cup finals in Warsaw, Poland. If there were an Olympics for software design, the Imagine Cup is it. And while there, I saw some amazing software and technology developed by high school and college teams from all over the world, including a few teams from the United States.

Two of those teams were represented by individual members at the White House Science Fair and demonstrated their projects. BeastWare, a high school team from Advanced Technology Academy in Las Vegas showed off their Windows Phone 7 game, Droid Assault, which had won the Windows Phone 7 Rockstar Award. Another team, Mobilife, from the University of California, Davis, demonstrated their mobile application which assists in diagnosing vascular diseases in children.

Be sure to check out the entire post at the Imagine Cup blog as well as consider registering your own team to get involved for the 2011 Imagine Cup. You too may find yourself honored at next year’s White House Science Fair.

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Natural History—the Smithsonian on Your Bookshelf

Natural History I grew up reading Childcraft and I had a particular interest in the “Green Kingdom” and “About Animals” volumes, with page after page of pictures and stories about plants and animals. This month DK Publishing has released a beautiful tome that brings back that feeling of wonder and delight.

Natural History: The Ultimate Visual Guide to Everything on Earth is kind of like having the Smithsonian Natural History Museum on your bookshelf. There are over 5,000 gorgeous photographs of plants, animals, fungi, rocks and minerals, accompanied by brief descriptions of everything. There are many two-page spreads focusing on a particular item—for instance, the Fly Agaric mushroom (Amanita muscaria), with a red cap and white spots, gets its own spread which gives a lot more details about its growth stages and mentions that it’s the most famous fungus, appearing in children’s book illustrations all over the world. (They don’t mention that it’s the inspiration for Mario’s mushrooms but I wouldn’t be surprised.)

Cuban Crocodile

Detail pages for the Cuban Crocodile. Click for larger version. Image: DK Publishing


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President Improves His Geek Cred by Appearing on MythBusters

Image courtesy of Whitehouse.gov

GeekDad got the amazing opportunity to join the press at the White House this morning for President Obama’s remarks to the winners of the National Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) Competitions. While we’ll have a report (and pictures) soon from our own Matt Blum, one great announcement that came out of the event was that President Obama has taped a segment for an upcoming episode of MythBusters (Adam and Jaime were there at the event)!

Said President Obama from the White House, “I’m pleased to welcome Jamie Hyneman and Adam Savage, known as the MYTHBUSTERS.  I can announce today that I taped a special guest appearance for their show, although I didn’t get blow anything up… I was a little frustrated about that.”

The President will be featured in the December 8 MYTHBUSTERS episode, Archimedes Solar Ray, during which he challenges hosts Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman to revisit an ancient and somewhat controversial myth:  Did Greek scientist and polymath Archimedes set fire to an invading Roman fleet using only mirrors and the reflected rays of the sun?  Prepared to test this myth in a way they’ve never been able to before, will Adam and Jamie be able to pull it off, or will they have to report back to the President that they failed?

Adam and Jamie were present in November 2009 for the President’s “Educate to Innovate” event, which kicked off the Administration’s campaign for science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) awareness.  The December 8 MYTHBUSTERS episode is part of a sweeping, multi-platform initiative launched by Discovery Communications called “Be the Future,” which also includes such commitments as HEAD RUSH, a commercial-free science block for kids that launched in August on Science Channel, and several initiatives of Discovery Education, which will make this special episode of MYTHBUSTERS available to students and educators across the country through Discovery Education’s curriculum-based digital resources.

See previous “5 Signs President Obama is a Geek”

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Watch Hollerado’s 8-Bit Revolution in “Americanarama”

In the internet age (the one in which we live) there are a lot of ways to become successful. There are many outlets for creativity specifically when it comes to the arts. In the internet age, we have found that the music video is alive and well on sites like YouTube & Vimeo. These sites are this generations MTV & VH1. This is where bands premiere videos, this is where art and music mix. This is where Canadian pop rock group Hollerado rips a page from the Ok Go playbook with their video for their single “Americanarama.” Take a watch, take a listen.

Sure, their single for “Americanarana” is a catchy little tune, but it’s not the song that’s going to be the hit. Already up to nearly 500k views, the re-revolutionist live 8-bit video is the real hit for the band. A concept created by director and self proclaimed mad scientist Greg Jardin, the video was shot in one take and can only be considered a live 8-bit video. In a sense.

It’s 3:27 of D.I.Y. craziness that will make you want to watch several times just to see if you can tell how they did it. That’s exactly what I did, going one step further to get some input from the band and premiere the behind the scenes video – exclusively – right here on GeekDad! Stay tuned below the interview for the exclusive behind the scenes video (which was simultaneously posted here and YouTube – within a couple hours.)
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Greek Goddesses and Roman Gods: The GeekDad Interview With Rick Riordan

Rick Riordan is a very busy man. Last week saw the release of The Lost Hero, the first book in his new series, The Heroes of Olympus, and he’s currently on a 12 city tour to promote the book and meet his readers. Then there’s the upcoming release of the graphic novel version of his book, The Lightning Thief. Finally, he’s just shipped off the second book in the Kane Chronicles to his editor, in anticipation of a spring 2011 release. Yet, he still found time to sit down this past weekend to talk about children’s fantasy, mythology and The Lost Hero.

(Keep reading to learn how you can win an autographed copy of The Lost Hero.)

GeekDad: As a former teacher, do you intentionally try to impart education in your writing or at least leave the breadcrumbs that lead to deeper reading?

Rick Riordan: First of all, I always want kids to feel like they’re having a good time reading the story, but while I’m doing that I’m hoping that they’ll get into the mythology too. My goal as a classroom teacher was to make it so fun for the kids in my class that they didn’t realize that they were learning — and that’s still my goal as a writer. I want them to finish a book and want to pick up the next one. It’s subversive learning, it’s trying to make it fun.

GD: You have two sons. Do you use your kids as sounding boards or write with them in mind?

RR: The Percy Jackson books began for my older son, Haley, when he was 7. I started telling him stories because he’s ADHD and dyslexic, like Percy Jackson. So, I used them to keep him interested in reading and he’s the one who told me I should write them down. They became novels based on his feedback. Patrick, my younger son, got into the act when he got old enough to read and they’re still my front-line editors, my wife and my 2 sons. I wouldn’t dream of sending a book off to my editor until they’ve had a chance to look at it first. We sit down together and we read it aloud – that’s what we did with The Lost Hero . My kids they don’t mince words. If it’s slow, they will let me know. If there’s a joke I thought was hilarious and they don’t laugh, I know I have to change it.

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GeekMom Hack: 10 Last-Minute Halloween Costumes from a Paper Bag

Is it the eleventh hour and you still have no costume for the kiddos? No worries! Those brown bags from the grocery store come in handy for all kinds of things, but this time of year they’re the go-to material for last-minute Halloween costumes. You can have any of these costumes ready to wear in less than 24 hours, but some will take no more than an hour or two.

First, you’ll need to know how to create a paper bag vest. With the opening of the bag facing you, cut up the middle of the bag and over the fold at the bag’s bottom. Cut a 6-8” hole in the bottom of the bag for the neck. Cut 4-6” holes in each side for the armholes. Carefully turn the vest inside out so that the store logo is on the inside, and you’re ready for transformation. If you plan to paint the bag, you’ll want to do that the day before you plan to decorate it.

Here are ten quick and easy paper bag costumes to get you started:

1. Fisherman: Trim the vest so that the front edges are rounded (see photo). Glue on an assortment of old fishing gear, like lures, bobbers, and flies.

  • Wear with: Jeans, a flannel shirt, and a funky hat.
  • Accessorize: Carry a fishing pole.

    2. Cowboy: Fringe the bottom of the vest and glue on “pockets” cut from a second paper bag.

    • Wear with: Jeans, a flannel shirt, a bandana, and a straw hat.
    • Accessorize: Tie on a rope.

      3. Robot: Paint the paper bag vest silver and add a control panel with miscellaneous parts from the toolbox like washers and springs or old computer components.

      • Wear with: Grey sweats and a grey sweatshirt.
      • Accessorize: Make a robot head out of a small square box that fits over your child’s head.

        [Read Kris Bordessa's article, with seven more amazing costumes from paper bags, at GeekMom!]

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