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Q&A: John Hodgman on Perfecting the Illusion of Expertise more similar news »
John Hodgman is an expert. At everything. (OK, maybe not sports.) But where he really excels is in creating the illusion of expertise — and not letting pesky facts intrude on that authority. From his first book, a compendium of faux trivia aptly titled The Areas of My Expertise, to his fiction-spewing shtick on The Daily Show to his role as the bloviating PC in those Mac ads, Hodgman handles the most obscure subjects with an aura of invincible confidence. The fact that it's fake? All the funnier. Hodgman talks to Wired about his latest book, More Information Than You Require (out in October), and his new area of bona fide expertise: being semi-famous.
Wired: Is your character on The Daily Show the same person narrating your books? Or, for that matter, the PC in your Mac ads?
Hodgman: I should clarify at this point: I'm not that John Hodgman. There's a guy who goes on The Daily Show claiming to be me. And there's a guy who goes on the Mac ads claiming to be me.
Wired: You should sue!
Hodgman: No, I would say that the Resident Expert on The Daily Show is all me, or at least a heightened aspect of myself. Aside from finding humor in the deadpan descriptions of things precisely as they are, I just veer off into the fantastic and the absurd.
Wired: And that has made you slightly famous.
Hodgman: Well, I always had this desire to celebrate and somehow be a part of things that I thought were really great. When I wrote about Battlestar Galactica for The New York...
Wired.com
Mon Oct 13, 2008 more from this source»»
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Oct. 13, 1884: Greenwich Resolves Subprime Longitude Crisis more similar news »
1884: Geographers and astronomers adopt Greenwich as the Prime Meridian, the international standard for zero degrees longitude.
The late 19th century was an era of standardization. With the Second Industrial Revolution stimulating world trade, the Treaty of the Meter established the International System of weights and measures in 1875. With railroads linking together entire continents, nations were replacing hundreds (or even thousands) of diverging local times with a system of hour-wide time zones. (The United States adopted its zones in 1883.)
Amid all this, navigation at sea -- and the charting of stars in the heavens --
often remained a matter of local, national or even religious preference. Maps might be based on longitude east or west of Jerusalem, Saint Petersburg, Rome, Pisa, Copenhagen (think Tycho Brahe, Oslo, Paris, Greenwich (just east of central London), El Hierro (in the Canary Islands), Philadelphia (former U.S. capital) and Washington, D.C. These divergent reference meridians -- representing a mixture of astronomical, theological and maritime power -- ranged over 112 degrees of longitude.
You could do the math, but that meant you did the math. These were the days before computers and even the bulkiest of mechanical calculators. Got abacus?
Many state boundaries in the U.S. West were determined by the Washington Meridian, which then ran through the Old Naval Observatory in the Foggy Bottom neighborhood. But an 1850 law established its use "for...
Wired.com
Mon Oct 13, 2008 more from this source»»
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Obama v. McCain: The Wired Scorecard more similar news »
What do Barack Obama and John McCain say, and what have they done, about policies that matter to Wired? Here are descriptions and analysis on five issues: Broadband, H1B Issues, Investment in Green Tech, Net Neutrality, Spectrum. They may or may not come up in Wednesday’s third and final debate. But that doesn’t mean you have to be uninformed or apathetic.
Wired.com
Mon Oct 13, 2008 more from this source»»
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Microscope-On-a-Chip Is One Step Closer to the Tricorder more similar news »
: Photo: Dave Bullock/Wired.com
LOS ANGELES, California – In the very near future, drawing blood may be obsolete. Instead, implants will be able to image your blood and monitor it constantly.
This is because scientists at Caltech have squeezed a microscope onto a computer chip not much larger than a dime. And that’s just the demo unit.
Shrinking a standard microscope to this size is practically impossible due to the layers of optics involved, but Caltech professor Changhuei Yang decided to skip the optics altogether and put microscopic samples almost directly onto a photo sensor chip — just like the one found in your cheap point-and-shoot.
The microscope-on-a-chip uses standard, off-the-shelf hardware sensors with a clever modification — pixels on the sensor are forced to only look through microscopic holes, which allows the chip to image very tiny things. The standard hardware makes future mass production cheap and easy and Yang’s lab is already working to create a small batch of iPod-size prototypes. He hopes to have working units in doctor's hands in a year or two, with full production in five5 years.
In addition to the handheld devices, Yang envisions blood- monitoring implants that provide instant health warnings and diagnoses. Click through the gallery to learn exactly how this ingenious invention works.
Left:
A working sample of the microscope-on-a-chip placed next to a dime shows how small it actually is. The part that does most of the work is the...
Wired.com
Mon Oct 13, 2008 more from this source»»
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The Prisoner's Sonic Shadow Looms Large more similar news »
Four decades after its short run concluded in controversy, Patrick McGoohan's brilliant sci-fi miniseries The Prisoner remains one of television's most influential shows. But its speculative tentacles reach deeper, inspiring user-generated music videos as well
as songs from artists as varied as The Rolling Stones and Wagon Christ.
Wired.com
Sun Oct 12, 2008 more from this source»»
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Power Ascender: Ballsy Tool Yanks People, Equipment up Walls more similar news »
What it is: Atlas Power Ascender
What it's used for: Rapidly pulling people and their gear up the side of a building or canyon
The prototype of the Power Ascender was not easy to use. The battery-powered, waist-mounted climbing assistant yanked people up a dangling rope at a blistering 10 feet per second — almost 7 mph — fast enough to snap their limbs back. So Atlas, a company run by four mechanical engineers outside Boston, set the maximum speed to a more reasonable 5 feet per second and added a variable- speed trigger like on a power drill. Now customers — such as US military personnel — simply clip the 25-pound device onto a climbing harness, push any nonbraided rope through the top, and let it fly. Inside the gizmo, a network of grippers scurries up the line and ensures that it threads cleanly out the side. The Ascender's 10-kilowatt output can lift up to 350 pounds, which is no easy task. "Having that much power that close to your crotch is a huge engineering challenge," says Atlas' Bryan Schmid, "and frankly a bit risky." Sounds pretty ballsy.
Wired.com
Sat Oct 11, 2008 more from this source»»
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VeriSign, ICANN Square Off Over DNS Root more similar news »
As the U.S. government starts the process of closing a major net vulnerability, two longtime net infrastructure rivals -- the non-profit ICANN and for-profit VeriSign -- are battling over who will compile and verify the net's most important document. Internet experts give the nod to ICANN and bring up VeriSign's greedy past.
Wired.com
Fri Oct 10, 2008 more from this source»»
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Real Ad Men Talk About Mad Men more similar news »
Every week on AMC TV's Mad Men, the men and women at Sterling Cooper create and design retro 1960s ad campaigns, all while obsessively chain-smoking, drinking and womanizing. Wired.com asks a real-world ad man about the show’s realism and relevance to the advertising industry today.
Wired.com
Fri Oct 10, 2008 more from this source»»
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Army Orders Pain Ray Trucks; New Report Shows 'Potential for Death' more similar news »
After years of testing, the Active Denial System -- the pain ray which drives off rioters with a microwave-like beam -- could finally have its day. The Army is buying five of the truck-mounted systems for $25 million. But the energy weapon may face new hurdles, before it's shipped off to the battlefield; a new report details how the supposedly non-lethal blaster could be turned into a flesh-frying killer.
Wired.com
Fri Oct 10, 2008 more from this source»»
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Tutorial: Using Adobe Photoshop Lightroom 2 more similar news »
Join Webmonkey as we offer a comprehensive introduction to Adobe Photoshop Lightroom, the powerful photo editing application for professionals and serious amateurs. Lightroom helps you make the most of your DSLR camera, giving you a "digital darkroom" for organizing, tweaking and exporting your RAW image files, producing stunning results along the way.
Wired.com
Fri Oct 10, 2008 more from this source»»
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Oct. 10, 1861: The Journey Begins for Nansen more similar news »
1861: Fridtjof Nansen is born. He will become a towering figure in Arctic exploration, the natural sciences and international diplomacy.
Nansen, born outside of Oslo, Norway, grew up hard and fit … and intellectually curious. He developed an early interest in science and studied zoology at the university before shipping aboard the Norwegian sealer Viking in 1882.
He made extensive observations of the Greenland fauna, especially bears and seals, and returned to serve for six years as zoological curator at the Bergen Museum — meanwhile earning his doctorate by defending the neuron theory as it pertains to the central nervous system. But Fridtjof Nansen also returned with a passion for the Far North and an unquenchable thirst for adventure.
Nansen returned to Greenland in 1888, skiing from east to west across the interior's massive ice fields. The trek yielded new scientific information about the frozen island, but it also served as a dress rehearsal for Nansen's attempt, in 1893, to reach the North Pole. Sailing into the Arctic Ocean aboard his purpose-built ship, Fram, Nansen realized it would be impossible to reach the pole in any way but by foot.
He left the Fram in the pack ice at 84 degrees 4 minutes north latitude and, accompanied by Hjalmar Johansen, struck out for the pole with skis, dogs, sledges and kayaks. On April 9, 1895, the two men reached 86 degrees 14 minutes north latitude before turning back. It was, at the time, the farthest north any explorer...
Wired.com
Fri Oct 10, 2008 more from this source»»
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Flash and Awe: A Better Stun Grenade Protects the Good Guys more similar news »
Say you're a SWAT cop about to rescue hostages, or a soldier trying to extract your buddies from a terrorist hideout. You can't just charge in with guns blazing, so you throw the bad guys off with a nice stun grenade: It creates a deafening bang and a mighty flash without lethal shrapnel. Sounds great, but the force of the explosion can still injure the very people you're trying to save. A couple of years ago, Sandia National Laboratories, which has been developing stun grenades for decades, found a solution to this problem — the fuel/air distraction device. Traditional "flash-bangs" work by igniting a mixture of aluminum and potassium perchlorate. Pull the pin and a few seconds later the cocktail explodes from inside its housing. But yank the pin on the new stunner and a gas starts combusting, which pushes out and ignites a cloud of powdered aluminum. The result is what you see on the test stand above: a blinding burst of light accompanied by a boom of up to 170 decibels — about as loud as a shotgun — but very little blast pressure. Sandia has licensed the device to Defense Technology (a subsidiary of arms maker BAE Systems), which hopes to bring it to market by year's end. There's never been a safer time to be held against your will.
For more, visit video.wired.com.
Wired.com
Fri Oct 10, 2008 more from this source»»
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Browse the Artifacts of Geek History in Jay Walker's Library more similar news »
The View From Above Looming over the library is an original Sputnik 1 satellite, one of several backups the Soviets built. At far left is a model of NASA's experimental X-29 jet, with forward-swept wings. "It's the first plane that a pilot can't fly—only computers can handle it," Walker says. On the top of the center shelves are "scholar's rocks," natural formations believed by the Chinese to spur contemplation. Behind the rocks is a 15-foot-long model of the Saturn V rocket.
Nothing quite prepares you for the culture shock of Jay Walker's library. You exit the austere parlor of his New England home and pass through a hallway into the bibliographic equivalent of a Disney ride. Stuffed with landmark tomes and eye-grabbing historical objects—on the walls, on tables, standing on the floor—the room occupies about 3,600 square feet on three mazelike levels. Is that a Sputnik? (Yes.) Hey, those books appear to be bound in rubies. (They are.) That edition of Chaucer ... is it a Kelmscott? (Natch.) Gee, that chandelier looks like the one in the James Bond flick Die Another Day. (Because it is.) No matter where you turn in this ziggurat, another treasure beckons you—a 1665 Bills of Mortality chronicle of London (you can track plague fatalities by week), the instruction manual for the Saturn V rocket (which launched the Apollo 11 capsule to the moon), a framed napkin from 1943 on which Franklin D. Roosevelt outlined his plan to win World War II. In no time,...
Wired.com
Fri Oct 10, 2008 more from this source»»
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10 Hottest New Bike Gadgets for Gearheads more similar news »
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
Cyclists are often overlooked in the gadget-lust category because their gear usually doesn't involve a screen, but no one craves the newest gizmo more than a biker with money to burn. The litany of bike models, the sophisticated engineering and the personal stat analysis also attract avid data addicts who appreciate product legacy and innovation.
Here at Wired.com, we have more than a few resident pedal pundits who love to accessorize. Click through the gallery to see the latest bike gadgets and apparel that got even our empty wallets salivating.
Left: Quarq Bicycle's new Power Meters allow you to measure pretty much any stat imaginable from your bike rides. The Quarq CinQo is compatible with your Garmin Edge 705, their own Quarq Qranium or the new iAreo, giving access to power, heart rate, speed, distance, torque and altitude.
The Qranium computer runs on Linux and comes with 512 MB of memory. Quarq says they are lightweight, waterproof and come with a user-changeable battery. The system runs about $1,200, plus the price of your crank of choice.
: Photo: Jim Merithew/Wired.com
The Pinhead prototype Bubble Lock is seen here with one wheel lock, a seat-post lock and a headset lock. Pinhead's disc-locking system allows you to carry around one key for all your bike parts and avoid elaborate lock jobs. Just turn the key on your wheels, seat and the bubble-shaped U-lock, and you're set. This convenience will set you back $75, with the...
Wired.com
Fri Oct 10, 2008 more from this source»»
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How to Convert Vinyl LPs to MP3s more similar news »
Got stacks of Stax soul? A trove of treasures from Treasure Isle? It's remarkably easy to convert those old vinyl sides to play on your iPod. All you need is a turntable, a good audio cable and some free software and you'll be reliving vinyl's glory days in crystal-clear (and wear-free) digital sound. Got extra tips? Log in and contribute.
Wired.com
Thu Oct 09, 2008 more from this source»»
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Rick Astley's MTV Award Hacked, With Pleasure more similar news »
After word dropped that Rickrolling phenomenon Rick Astley had been included in MTV Europe's laughable Best Act Ever category some resourceful individuals wasted little time in scripting stratagems designed to stuff the virtual ballot box. The most ambitious of these individuals goes by the handle Vote4Rick. The maneuver garnered a nod on the Los Angeles Times, and it wasn't long until Vote4Rick, requesting anonymity, reached out to Listening Post.
Wired.com
Thu Oct 09, 2008 more from this source»»
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IBM Q3 Profit a Positive Sign for Tech Sector more similar news »
For the second time this year IBM offered an early peek at its quarterly results, showing in a surprise announcement that it was still plenty prosperous in the third quarter despite the worsening economic climate. The company's results, released more than a week ahead of schedule, will likely help stop a steep slide in IBM's stock price and could lift other big technology stocks in Thursday trading. IBM is a component of the Dow Jones industrial average.
Wired.com
Thu Oct 09, 2008 more from this source»»
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Photos: Is This the MacBook 'Brick'? more similar news »
A handful of "leaked spy shots" come by way of Chinese forum site Elesson and purportedly show the new MacBook Brick, carved – as the rumors go – from a single block of aluminum. Whether this has anything to do with the 'Brick' rumors we don't know, but these shots are certainly good. I can't spot any obvious photoshopping, so I'll put my head on the block here and call them as real.
Wired.com
Thu Oct 09, 2008 more from this source»»
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