LHC: Why you won’t die today

Yes folks, now that the LHC has already fired 2 beams of protons, one clock-wise, and one counter clock-wise, you can be pretty sure that today won’t be the day you die. But it wasn’t supposed to happen anyways. Do you know why? Because no particle collisions have occured as of yet, and none will until October 21, 2008. But don’t worry, as we said recently, there’s absolutely no reason to be afraid.

This means that we’ll have to endure the endless paranoid rambling of wanna-be scientists for two more months, and that I’ll have to keep on moderating the 100’s of “We’re all gonna die” comments that we’re getting on some of our LHC-related posts. Bummer.



Why every geek needs a calling card

By Mark O’Neill
Contributing Writer, [GAS]

I just love it when I stumble across a fantastic new blog, and last night was no exception.   Yesterday’s new find was “The Art of Manliness” and the article that especially caught my attention was “The Gentleman’s Guide to the Calling Card”.   I highly recommend you read it.  Even though it’s aimed towards a male audience, it’s equally relevant towards females I would say.

A calling card was used in the 19th and early 20th century to introduce oneself at the front door of a house when you arrived to meet the resident.  I’m sure if you’ve watched television period dramas, you’ve seen the butler stand at the door with the silver dish and the visitor placing their card on the dish.   Well the calling card eventually became extinct as with all other things, but now in the modern technology-driven 21st century, it seems to be making a curious comeback.

Imagine you’re at a tech conference.  You’re networking and talking shop.   You want to exchange contact details with the others or you want to make sure that the guy you’re talking to remembers your blog URL.   Or you want to get your Twitter ID out to as many people as possible.   Maybe you want people to remember your Facebook profile URL?  Then the best way to do that is to make calling cards with the details professionally printed on them and then hand them out.

As “The Art Of Manliness” blog post points out, a business card is too stiff, formal and offputting to a lot of people.   Whereas a calling card can be designed to be informal, fun and curious.   You can make it reflect your personality, cut out bland things such as your mailing address and phone numbers and instead focus on techie things such as your blog, IM address, social networking details and email.   Focus on things that lets the recipient get to know you as a person.

Plus calling cards are great for dates.   Nervous about asking someone out?   Give them a calling card and let them check out your Facebook profile first!

Do you have a calling card?   If so, what details do you have on it?

The Gentleman’s Guide To The Calling Card – The Art of Manliness

Origin of Crop Circles Unveiled

We all know that crop circles come from aliens right? Some people seem to think that the mysterious patterns are created by smart-ass humans… but come on, this can’t be true! Don’t believe us? Here’s the proof:

Ok, jokes aside, this small segment was actually filmed as part of an ad for the Belgian State Bond. We have absolutely no idea what’s the relation between crop circles, aliens and that state bond thing, but hey, this is pretty cool nonetheless.

[Via Neatorama]

CERN scientists spammed with death threats over LHC activation

As the LHC’s activation date approaches (only two days left now, folks!), scientists working on the super-collider have started receiving large amounts of pleas, some which include death threats, asking to stop the potential apocalypse-bringing machine.

According to an article published on the Telegraph, CERN, the organization behind the project, has been bombarded with calls, faxes and e-mails from concerned, wanna-be scientists assuming that the LHC will end the universe as we know it. Yes, folks, they believe the universe, which is billions of years old, can be destroyed by an insignificant, man-made machine. Don’t you find this just a bit ridiculous? Reactions like the ones the LHC tries to replicate have been happening on a galactic-level for far longer than what our mind can conceive, so I don’t think there’s really a reason why anyone should worry.

Oh, and if you want to try and imagine the kind of attention CERN is receiving right now, you should see some of the search-engine traffic we’re getting on the only article we’ve ever published that mentions some of the potential risks of the LHC. Thousands of people every week search for “CERN risks” and similar keywords. Our guess is that as the month passes, we’ll see this trend become exponential… while the universe, planet Earth included, continues to safely prosper.

Edit: Oh, and for those of you who’d like to watch when the Large Haldron Collider goes live on Wednesday, CERN has put up a live webcast section on their site. You too can now be part of the party when the world goes BOOM! Pretty cool eh?

October Release of Esquire Features E-Ink Cover

A while ago, we wrote about how magazine covers would eventually go high-tech, and specifically, how Esquire would soon revolutionize the world of offline publications by featuring an animated E-Ink cover on one of their upcoming issue. Well folks, a video showing the magazine’s cover has just been released, and I must say, I’m quite disappointed by the result. Ok, I know that this is the first e-cover ever, but still, I was expecting something a little flashier. Video after the jump.

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