GraniteGeek

GraniteGeek http://www.area603.com/index.php?blogId=6 DavidBrooks 2009-08-18T09:11:51Z Geek Sports: Go, chess, LAN gaming, FIRST, Lego, skepticism http://www.area603.com/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=476&blogId=6 <a class="nodecoration" id="res_183" href="http://www.area603.com/resserver.php?blogId=6&resource=Go%20photo.jpg" type="image/jpeg"><img border="0" class="res_image_small" style="margin: 5px;" src="http://www.area603.com/resserver.php?blogId=6&resource=Go%20photo.jpg&mode=preview" /></a>Go: Fans of this ancient board game meet regularly in at least two public places in the state: Hanover and Nashua. Check <a href="http://www.usgo.org/cgi-bin/chapters.cgi?state=NH#listing">the state list from the American Go Association</a> for information, although some of it is out of date. There is no statewide Go group, but the <a href="http://www.massgo.org">Massachusetts Go Association</a> holds quarterly tournaments near Boston, open to all. Chess: <a href="http://www.nhchess.org/">New Hampshire Chess Association</a> schedules a number of events throughout the year. Several towns and cities have active chess clubs that welcome newcomers. <div align="left"><a type="image/jpeg" href="http://www.area603.com/resserver.php?blogId=6&resource=counterstrike.jpg" id="res_225" class="nodecoration"><img width="131" height="99" border="0" src="http://www.area603.com/resserver.php?blogId=6&resource=counterstrike.jpg&mode=medium" style="margin: 5px;" class="res_image_medium" /></a></div>LAN Gaming: <a href="http://www.holo-dek.com/">HoloDek</a>, a Hampton LAN gaming company, has a site at <a href="http://www.dwc.edu/">Daniel Webster College</a> in Nashua, with occasional cash-prize tournaments in both locations. Check the <a href="http://www.lpane.net/default.php">New England LAN Party Association</a> if you're looking for one-time LAN partiesLego: The <a href="http://www.nelug.org/">New England Lego Users Group</a> is a very active group based near Boston, with members from New Hampshire. Skepticism: Scoffing at foolishness is more fun than football! The <a href="http://www.theness.com/home.asp">New England Skeptical Society</a> is the closest skeptics' group I know of. It has a mothly meeting at a Boston restaurant, although it's heavily Connecticut-oriented and has little presence up here. FIRST Robotics: The high school <a href="http://www.usfirst.org/robotics/">robotics competition</a> is over for 2008. Regional finals at the Verizon Center in Manchester will take place next February, with national finals in Atlanta next April. Events 2008-01-01T08:09:28Z DavidBrooks More on this weekend's Slashdot party in Manchester http://www.area603.com/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=1462&blogId=6 <a href="http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/COLUMNISTS03/310170082/-1/columnists"></a><a href="http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/COLUMNISTS03/310170082/-1/columnists"></a><a type="image/jpeg" href="http://www.area603.com/resserver.php?blogId=6&resource=slashdot%20logo.jpg" id="res_460" class="nodecoration"><img border="0" src="http://www.area603.com/resserver.php?blogId=6&resource=slashdot%20logo.jpg&mode=preview" style="margin: 5px;" class="res_image_small" /></a><a href="http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071017/COLUMNISTS03/310170082/-1/columnists">My Telegraph column today</a> in the Telegraph is about the Slashdot 10th anniversary party set for Saturday in Manchester. CowboyNeal. Events 2007-10-17T08:29:41Z DavidBrooks TV's "Ghost Hunters" coming to UNH http://www.area603.com/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=1456&blogId=6 I spotted reference to this at <a href="http://www.area603.com/">Area603</a>, a communal-blogging site owned by the folks that own GraniteGeek, which has resurrected itself as a home of New Hampshire things odd: The hosts Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson of the Sci-Fi Network show "Ghost Hunters" are talking at UNH on Oct.24, and <a href="http://www.unh.edu/news/cj_nr/2007/oct/jr10spooky.cfm">interest is overwhelming, says UNH</a>. They use "digital thermometers" (oooh - digital ones) and other equipment and separate cold drafts from "unexplained phenomenon" - of course, unexplained means "anything cool I can think of has to be taken seriously". Reality is exciting enough not to have to lard it up with wishful thinking, say I. Events 2007-10-15T19:29:54Z DavidBrooks NH high-tech Product of the Year http://www.area603.com/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=1455&blogId=6 <a type="image/jpeg" href="http://www.area603.com/resserver.php?blogId=6&resource=nhhtc%20logo.jpg" id="res_256" class="nodecoration"><img border="0" src="http://www.area603.com/resserver.php?blogId=6&resource=nhhtc%20logo.jpg&mode=preview" style="margin: 5px;" class="res_image_small" /></a>The New Hampshire High-Tech Council<a href="http://www.nhhtc.org/news_detail.cfm?id=130"> has announced the semi-finalist</a>s for its product of the year competition. The winner, which gets a high-profile display at the Manchester airport (<a href="http://www.nanocomptech.com/">Nanocomp</a> won last year for its nanoparticle-assisted materials), will be announced Nov. 13. The semi-finalists are: <a href="http://www.activeshock.com/">Active Shock</a> for its "Active Shock Combat Seat"<a href="http://www.ellacoya.com/">Ellacoya Networks</a> for its "e100 Platform" <a href="http://www.globalrelieftech.com/">Global Relief Technologies</a> for its "Rapid Data Management System" <a href="http://www.hypertherm.com/">Hypertherm</a> for its "Powermax 30" <a href="http://www.ingemicorp.com/">Ingemi Corp.</a> for its "iHearSafe Noise Canceling Headphones" <a href="http://www.kollsman.com/">Kollsman</a> for its "Quad-Eye" <a href="http://www.saint-gobain.com/us/">Saint-Gobain</a> Crystals, for its "Sapphire Transparent Armor" <a href="http://www.simbex.com/">Simbex</a> for its "Head Impact Telemetry System" <a href="http://www.ultravisionsecurity.com/">UltraVision Security Systems</a> for its "UltraSensor" Events 2007-10-15T08:32:52Z DavidBrooks No New Hampshire winners at the Ig Nobles http://www.area603.com/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=1429&blogId=6 <a href="http://www.improbable.com">The official site</a> isn't responding this morning - too many people checking the winner's list, no doubt. <a href="http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21141288">Here's</a> a news story about it. The biggest audience reaction came when a sword swallower demonstrated his craft ... ewwwwwww. "Sword Swallowing and its Side Effects" was published in the British Medical Journal and found - who'd'a thunk it? - that throat abrasions, perforated esophagi and punctured blood vessels were common injuries. Events 2007-10-05T07:38:42Z DavidBrooks Ig Nobel awards tonight! http://www.area603.com/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=1425&blogId=6 <img class="res_image" style="margin: 5px;" alt="Ig Nobel bok" src="http://www.area603.com/resserver.php?blogId=6&resource=book-cover-ig-dutton.gif" />There are some advantages to living close-ish to Boston. <a href="http://improbable.com/">Here's their site</a>, with a link to the live streaming Webcast, in case you can't motor down to Harvard in time. This will be the - I think - 13th one I have attended; if you see me in the audience, wave at your monitor.<a href="http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070926/COLUMNISTS03/309260076">This</a>, by the way, is the column I wrote last week lamenting my inability to connect with New Hampshire's only (highly peripheral) winners of Igs. Events 2007-10-04T07:15:06Z DavidBrooks Who can resist a science lecture titled "The Helpful Worm"? http://www.area603.com/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=891&blogId=6 <a class="nodecoration" id="res_317" href="http://www.area603.com/resserver.php?blogId=6&resource=c.%20elegans%20worm.jpg" type="image/jpeg"><img border="0" class="res_image_medium" style="margin: 5px; width: 194px; height: 258px;" src="http://www.area603.com/resserver.php?blogId=6&resource=c.%20elegans%20worm.jpg&mode=medium" /></a> Not me, certainly. So I am going to try very hard to get to Manchester onWednesday, April 11, for a free nontime "brown bag" lecture by Sarah Kenick, assistant professor of chemistry at <a href="www.unhm.unh.edu">UNH Manchester</a>. The discussion is about a microscopic worm, C.elegans, used to investigate such areas as Alzheimer's disease, cancer, genomic stability, neurodegenerative disorders, and more. It's free and open to all, in the third floor auditorium at UNH Manchester, 400 Commercial St. Kenick teaches general chemistry, organic chemistry, organic chemistry laboratory, general biochemistry and general biochemistry laboratory at UNH Manchester. She was recently awarded a UNH Faculty Summer Fellowship to continue her investigation into the role of mobile genetic elements in the evolution of the C.elegans genome, using a bioinformatic approach. (You can tell the popularity of this nematode by the number of photos that exist online. I swiped the above picture from <a href="http://madsense5.eng.uci.edu/students/Nahui/nahui.htm">here</a>.) Events 2007-04-03T07:55:16Z DavidBrooks Those of you who are, literally, granite geeks... http://www.area603.com/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=884&blogId=6 ...will know that the main minerals comprising granite are quartz, feldspar, and mica. For the rest of us mere rockhounds, there's the <a href="http://www.bostonmineralclub.org/docs/2007MineralMadnessFlyer.pdf">Boston Mineral Club's Mineral Madness</a> event this Saturday, March 31, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Harvard Museum of Natural History.<a class="nodecoration" id="res_316" href="http://www.area603.com/resserver.php?blogId=6&resource=gypsum.jpg" type="image/jpeg"><img width="155" height="100" border="0" class="res_image_small" style="margin: 5px;" src="http://www.area603.com/resserver.php?blogId=6&resource=gypsum.jpg&mode=preview" /></a>Minderal Madness is billed as a family festival for kids of all ages who are interested in rocks and minerals, especially those found in New England. Club members will be on hand to help you identify any mystery minerals you may have lying around. (You could even, perhaps, bring some already identified specimens, just to see if you can stump them.) Best of all, parking is free, all day at the 52 Oxford Street Garage (at the corner of Everett Street & Oxford Street). Admission to the museum is $9 for adults, $7 for seniors and students, $6 for kids ages 3 to 18, and free for those under 3. For more information, call (617) 495-3045. Harvard Museum of Natural History 26 Oxford Street Cambridge, Mass. <a href="http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu">http://www.hmnh.harvard.edu</a> Events 2007-03-29T14:26:10Z SaraPratt Geologists galore gather in Durham http://www.area603.com/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=799&blogId=6 OK, guess what organization would hold a meeting and offer these field trips: "a hike along the Suncook River to view the new avulsion cut during the May floods of 2006, a trip to the coastline of New Hampshire to view past glacial geologic and coastal processes, and reviews of igneous and metamorphic rocks of coastal New Hampshire (sorry, already full)." That's right, it's the Geological Society of America, which is holding its <a href="http://www.unh.edu/esci/negsa2007.html">northeastern sectional meeting at UNH</a> for the first time this month (March 11-14). Those geeks who look down their noses at rock hounds should note that technical sessions include "Teleconnecting Paleobasins Using Stratigraphic and Paleontological Approaches for High Resolution Intra- and Inter-basin Correlations " and "Mesozoic Extension, Exhumation, Sedimentation and Magmatism in the Northern Appalachians II." Not even nanotech conferences get any more polysyllabic than that. Events 2007-03-01T07:38:27Z DavidBrooks Valentine's Day at the planetarium - rescheduled by snow http://www.area603.com/index.php?op=ViewArticle&articleId=754&blogId=6 The Valentine’s Day event scheduled for Wednesday at the Christa McAuliffe Planetarium will now take place tonight (Thursday) - but the theater will turn back the stars to Wednesday's sky, so you can pretend you've gone through a time machine and the storm never happened. Check <a href="http://www.starhop.com/home.htm">here</a> for details. Events 2007-02-15T09:28:05Z DavidBrooks