I’ve been beaten to the punchline. I’d half-written this post early last week and just now stumbled across an entry by Mathew Helmke (of planet ubuntu) chomping on the same bit. It seems we both share a man crush (along with another blogger) on a certain Wil Wheaton (wiki), better known as our favourite character (/s) from the Star Trek: The Next Generation universe, Wesley Crusher. I’ve followed his blog of daily musings fairly closely for maybe a year and also read his novel Just a Geek which chronicles his tranformation from angsty teen on the TNG set, to a struggling, ego-bruised actor and finally a reborn writer, blogger and internet personality. I’d describe it as a coming of age, dealing with the circumstances of life, and realizing potential story wrapped into a comical little package of 200 some pages. I cannot express deeply enough that the emotion he conveys through an internal narrative are as raw, real and clever as they come. Not only are you served a unique, insider peek at the Trek universe through the eyes of teenage Wil, but the interpersonal tug-of-war faced by our author hits way close to home in so many ways Life is hard (especially when devote trekkies loathe you) and Wil spits it straight. If you’re a UW student, I know for a fact this book looms somewhere in the library system.
Not convinced just yet? Wil has just released a new book titled Memories of the Future Volume Onewhere he teleports the reader through the budding episodes of the first TNG season as it cheezily goes where no Sci-fi western had gone before. I haven’t read a word of it (yet) but I already know it’s very cheeky and brutally honest (in a loving way) to each episode covered. How could I possibly know such a thing? Well, it happens that Mr. Wheaton knows how to use the intertubes better than the average bloke. He puts out a weekly podcast aptly called Memories of the Futurecast and reads a good chunk of each chapter with additional commentary. They’re maybe 20 minutesish long each and funny as hell so go check a few of em out or put em on your ipod and listen to them in transit. Nine chapters have already been covered so you’re way behind on your homework. I’m pretty sure he also offers his book as a free pdf. What a guy, eh? So kind of you to let us read a whole book on a computer screen. I kid. Only kind of though. I want to say most of my geek friends aren’t trekkies in the least but I’d beg to say these stories have appeal beyond those of us who recite live long and prosper on the daily. Check out his stuff and thank me later.
I loves my TED talks. How can a technologist NOT get off on a conference full of brilliant, successful, idea driven folks delivering their visions of the future? I’ve watched the new presentations religiously for probably the past year and made an effort to see any past talks on interesting topics. Though the talks are always good in varying degrees (not always a home run), one thing has always bothered me about the videos: the adrenaline pumping, heart thumping intro! Just this week the intro audio has thankfully been revised so the viewer isn’t helplessly forced to the edge of their seat. Go ahead and compare for yourself. Here’s the old, earth shattering intro. And the elegant revised version.
It seems reddit has similar praise for the editing.
Also as a side note, if you happen to be a TED fan and want more presentation goodness by a slightly lesser known but equally ambitious crowd, head over to see a few Terry Talks put on by the University of British Columbia. I’m a big fan of this concept of giving students a chance to shine in the internet limelight.
A recent favorite TED presentation by Bonnie Bassler.
edit: I feel silly having plugged TED yesterday. A fine example of a subpar presentation is featured today. Concepts with useless or impractical applications still manage to slip through the cracks now and again.
