Review: Uncaged Monkeys


Last night I sat among a sell-out crowd of around 2,000 people who had each paid £25 (approx US$40) to see a group of people talk about science. Welcome to the world of Uncaged Monkeys.

This was formally a live touring version of the BBC Radio 4 (and podcast) show Infinite Monkey Cage in which comedian Robin Ince and astrophysics professor/TV superstar Brian Cox present an “irreverent look at the world according to science.” But it also paid a great debt to another Ince project, 9 Lessons & Carols for Godless People (aka Nerdstock), a celebration of science and rational though held just before Christmas 2009.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HiiUCJwZHew

Uncaged Monkeys is currently on a UK tour, so I should warn those attending the remaining dates that this report contains what could technically count as spoilers, though I’m admittedly uncertain as to the exact spoiler etiquette for events that took place 13.2 billion years ago.

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The Greatest Dungeon Master Who Ever Lived [Video]

The movie is called Zero Charisma, and it might one day become the dorkiest indie move to grace geekdom… if the team that wants to produce can raise enough money to start the project.

Scott Weidemeier spends his time in exactly three ways: working a menial job at a local donut shop, caring for his abusive grandmother, and running The Greatest Dungeons & Dragons Game of All Time. Though overbearing and short-tempered, Scott is a hero to his fellow players—that is, until neo-nerd hipster Miles Butler joins the game, fueling Scott’s rampant insecurity and alienating him from his own players. Can Scott overcome his contempt for the mainstreaming of nerdery, or will this clash of the subcultures come to a head? . . . Though the topics of gaming and nerd culture are close to our hearts, our real passion for this story lies in the main character. Over the last year, we have taken great care to write someone who is neither your typical leading man, nor the archetypal nerd who exists only for laughs.

[Via Io9]

Nevada bill would take hands-free to a new level


Google has hired a lobbyist to promote proposed laws that would allow cars without drivers to operate in Nevada.

The company has already developed vehicles using the technology and tested them extensively in California. The new laws would make Nevada the first state where such vehicles are formally allowed on public roads. (The company believes its California tests were legal as they allowed the human driver to override any errors.)

The Google system involves a combination of the cars using Google’s own maps and traffic data to figure out routes and drive within the prevailing speed limit, and a suite of sensors, cameras and radar devices to keep track of the position and movements of surrounding objects.

This isn’t the only such project in the works. A European research project tested in Sweden involves electronically controlled vehicles syncing with one another to form an automated convoy on major roads, with the front vehicle controlling movement and speed.

Google hasn’t said publicly why it has targeted Nevada for the first state to allow the cars. My guess is it’s a combination of the state being known for relatively relaxed attitudes to many issues, and there’s plenty of desert road where it may be easier to try scaling the number of driverless vehicles rather than in busy metropolitan areas.

As well as the bill to allow the vehicles, lobbyist David Goldwater is also working on a bill that would exempt the cars from rules banning texting by drivers. Both bills are expected to go to a vote next month.

(Picture via ted.com talk by Sebastian Thrun, who helped build the Google vehicle.)