Press Don Glasses to Watch Ben Franklin’s Introduction, in 3D!

It’s hard to believe that in such a short time, Cameron’s 3D masterpiece is already starting to lose its luster. What’s also hard to grasp is that our Founding Fathers are starting to look better than any blue-skinned alien ever could. Later this Summer, Historic Philadelphia will be unveiling Liberty 360.

Liberty 360, is the absolute first 360-degree, 3D panoramic experience ever developed. We had the chance to preview the technology first-hand at Niles Creative Group in NYC a few weeks ago. Although, we viewed just a few short demos on a flat surface, we were absolutely stunned. Niles Creative is the same hand that brought us the The Comcast Experience in the Comcast Center, which touts a resolution greater than IMAX and stands as the largest 4mm LED screen in the world.

3D Glasses & Exhibit Prototype

They’ve once again combined highly-advanced technology and captivating creative direction to bring us an incredible, historic, storytelling experience. This 3D technology is so advanced, that we were able to don the 3D glasses and literally walk around objects and actors that seemingly came out from the wall.

The real implementation of Liberty 360 will actually take guests into a cylinder-shaped room where they’ll be able to see and be surrounded by the 12-minute masterpiece.

A Peak Inside the Model Exhibit

The screen is a full 360-degree floating cylinder, 50 feet in diameter, and 8 feet in height. It boasts an impressive 16 million pixels (6 million more than The Comcast Experience).

Liberty 360 will be housed at the remodeled Historic Philadelphia Center at 6th and Chestnut, directly across from Independence Hall and the Liberty Bell. The Historic Philadelphia Center will be open daily, 360 days a year, 9am-7pm, with extended hours until 9pm on certain days. Tickets for Liberty 360 and all other Historic Philadelphia attractions will be available.

This is an exhibit that clearly needs to be experienced first hand. After-all, it’s in 3D and immerse. You can’t exactly photograph that. Go check it out when it gets here.

The web is a social place. Many of us fondly remember the days where we sprung up from the primordial oozes of Usenet, later to set foot on solid ground, treating email more like a real-time communication tool instead of free postal mail. A portion of us connected and produced content for AOL Hometown pages, Geocities (RIP) and a multitude of old-school blog rings.

In recent years, we’ve worked through the dark ages of unmentioned emo kid sites and MySpace, and now have Facebook and Twitter as our lifestreams. In recognition of social media and in celebration of community, Mashable, the Social Media Blog has rallied meetups in every major city worldwide.

Just in case you hadn’t heard, Philly happens to be one of those top cities. Jed Singer is organizing tonight’s Social Media Day in Philly. You might be able to catch a few of us from the local blogosphere make an appearance tonight at Field House in Center City.

The amount of sponsors and different groups representing themselves at this particular event is off the hook. The banner on Social Media Day Philly’s site is looking like a Nascar stock car at this point. We’ll be joining our friends at Visit Philly and the Mann Center who have awesome giveaways and prizes for the raffle and a Twitter-themed quizzo.

How do you feel about some tote bags containing With Love, Philadelphia XOXO swag or perhaps some tickets to see MGMT or Keane? They’ll be providing those, respectively. And once again our lovely friend Britt Miller will have some of her art raffled away.

So come on out, join us, look for me as I’m likely to be asking @YelpPhilly if she’d be interested in starting a support group for those hopelessly addicted to writing reviews and shooting photos.

When:
Tonight, Wednesday, June 30, 2010 @ 7:00 PM

Where:
Field House, 1150 Filbert St., 19107

RSVP here: http://www.meetup.com/Mashable/7535/

And in case you’re feeling antisocial this evening, Mashable will be livestreaming not only the Philly event, but a good sampling of all the big parties. Of course, Philly is one of them.

The title of this post says it all.

The Academy of Natural Sciences will be screening Megashark vs. Giant Octopus on Thursday, July 22nd, in conjunction with their Creatures of the Abyss exhibit.

Rather than just sit you down for a viewing of this awesomely bad movie, scientists from the Academy, Paul Calloman and Jason Poole, will be in the audience, providing running “commentary on the film’s scientific veracity and many cinematic qualities” a la Mystery Science Theater.

Before the screening at 7pm, guests are invited to wander the museum after-hours at 5pm, and enjoy hors d’oeuvre and drinks at a bar. This is an adults only event.

To register online, visit the event’s Eventbrite page. It’s $40 for the general public. Remember, this comes with food, drinks, and a chance to explore the museum after-hours. See you there!

Celebrate, dear gamers. This week’s Xbox Live ‘Deals of the Week’ include a bevy of critically acclaimed games. Major Nelson dished out all the titles and their respective prices.

• Defense Grid [400 Points]

• PB Winterbottom [400 Points]

• Rocket Riot [400 Points]

• Darwinia+ [800 Points]

• Chime [240 Points]

• Poker Smash [400 Points]

Whaaaat! PB Winterbottom for 400 Points and Darwinia+ for 800? Sold!

Download away!

Critic’s Choice XBLA Deals [ Major Nelson ]

All Points Bulletin the new PC game from EA seems like an MMORPG version of Grand Theft Auto; and if it even comes close to delivering on what we see in the trailer, this looks to be a pretty epic game. The game hits stores tomorrow, June 29^th and we have 2 copies of this great PC title to give away. THIS GAME IS RATED M.

For those unfamiliar with the title, this is what the website has to say about it.

San Paro is a living, breathing, online city, its streets the playground for Criminals and Enforcers. Their mission is to gain fame and fortune, and gain them fast. Criminals take to a life of crime, feeding on the city, its people and its businesses. Other players, the Enforcers, feed on the Criminals.

APB’s world is an online sandbox. Players will achieve celebrity or notoriety for their skills and style. Alliances will be formed, rivalries will be bitter. Every player will be unique. Thanks to cutting-edge technology, players can personalize their looks, clothing, vehicles and music. Earn money, clothing, guns, and cars as you play. Become a top-ranking player or Clan in leagues that track Kills, Arrests, Mission Success rates, and many other competitive stats.

APB is entirely online and multiplayer. However, it’s a unique game unlike other MMOs out there. The game runs on fast, high-quality dedicated servers allowing you to enter cities and engage in a new style of game where your actions bring you into opposition with other players dynamically: there’s no waiting in lobbies. You can encounter thousands of other players over a short period of time. Our dynamic matchmaking allows solo and group play in missions, against – or with – real people, never an AI.

For a chance to win this great game all you have to do is comment with – if you were to start a street gang what would you call it and why? Deadline for entries is Friday, July 2nd.

The 2 most epic answers will get a copy of the game courtesy of EA Games and Geekadelphia. Good Luck and check out the trailer below.

Warning: Some NSFW language; so turn those speakers down!

“In the distant future, ten soldiers battle for control of the least desirable piece of real estate in the known universe… a box canyon in the middle of nowhere. Red vs. Blue chronicles the misadventures of two hapless armies as they wage a war that few understand and no one wants to fight.”

Ah, Red vs. Blue. The online machinima sensation that took the Internet by storm when it debuted in 2003. The series started off simple enough, just a couple of Halo fans creating six silly videos. Since the days of its inception, Red vs. Blue has gone on to span over five seasons, hundreds of episodes, and millions of downloads. The hilarious and irreverent videos have found themselves included with Halo releases (Halo 3 Legendary Edition, anyone?) and made a significant impact in world of machinima.

Seasons 1 through 5 comes out on DVD tomorrow, and the folks behind Red vs. Blue (Rooster Teeth) have taken the time to refilm and remaster the original four seasons for the release, with hours of special bonus material not available on the web.

New Video was kind enough to send over a copy of the box set to this adoring fan. Review and some screenshots after the jump!

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The Ensemble in Arden Theatre Company’s production of Sunday in the Park with George. Photo by Mark Garvin

“White — A blank page, or canvas — his favorite. So many … possibilities.”

This past weekend I headed over to the Arden Theater to see their production of Sunday in the Park with George. The musical, created by Stephen Sondheim in the 80s, is about famed artist Georges Seurat and his painting Sunday Afternoon on the Island of La Grande Jatte. The musical examines the artist and the people who inspired the painting, and then fast forwards 100 years to Georges’ great-grandson, a struggling artist in his own right.

The original Broadway production was nominated for 10 Tony awards, winning in two technical categories: Best Scenic Design and Best Lighting Design. But it’s that scenic/lighting design that is part of what makes Sunday in the Park with George such a wonderfully unique production that demands to be seen, and appeals to us Geeks.

More after the jump…

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When I saw the trailer for Despicable Me, Universal’s new 3-D CGI feature, I was really taken by the concept; it was very different compared to most kids features these days, delivering a slight focus on the darker side of things. If you’re not familiar with the plot, or haven’t seen the trailer yet Despicable Me focuses on Gru the #2 villain who wishes to steal the moon with his army of genetically altered Corn Pops (yes, really!) all while trying to outsmart his arch-nemesis the #1 villain Vector. Sounds like a winner to me so far.

Where this comes into family territory is he just so happens upon 3 orphans who want Gru for a father; why? I don’t know, I guess we will have to see the film to find out. Now Gru must somehow balance his super-villain duties with his attempt to be a father, all while battling his arch-nemesis at the same time.

Want to see Despicable Me? Well if you don’t want to wait for it to hit theaters on Friday, July, 9th; we here at Geekadelphia have 30 passes for 2 to an advance sneak peak of the film at the Rave Motion Pictures UPenn Theater Wednesday, June 30th at 7:30 pm.

Want a pass to see it? Simply comment with what your first act as a super villain would be by Friday, and we will get those passes to you in time for the show! In the mean time, check out the trailer below!

Writers of Geekadelphia and their families are not eligible for prizes.Limit one entry per person. No cameras, camera phones, or other recording devices permitted in screening. Seating is on a first come, first serve basis. Theatre capacity is limited and passes won do not guarantee seating.(So show up early!) Theater is not responsible for overbooking. Ticket holder and guest must enter theater together.

John de Lancie is a familiar face to most Star Trek fans, having played Q, one of the franchise’s most legendary guest characters across three different Star Trek series.

He recently made an appearance at Wizard World Philly 2010, along with several other Star Trek actors, one of which was his son, Keegan de Lancie. Keegan played the son of Q on Star Trek: Voyager, and took the stage with his father during a Q&A session on Saturday of the convention.

What many fans may not realize is that Keegan made a radical departure from his days of wearing a Starfleet uniform and pestering Voyager’s crew. After attending college at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, and going to Jordan on a Fulbright Scholarship to study Iraqi refugees, he ended up working for the International Organization for Migration (IOM), a United Nations agency.

Geekadelphia had a chance to talk with Keegan for a few minutes on Sunday of the convention. A transcript is below, after the jump!

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Photo by Darko Boehringer

It turns out  that seasoned keyboardist Jordan Rudess — famous for his sonic contributions to Dream Theater and Liquid Tension Experiment – is into tech as much as you and I are. Come to think of it, his devotion is at an even higher level with now two apps under his belt for mobile devices like the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad. Rudess took the time to chat with us recently about his adventures into the app world through Keyboard Wizdom and Morph Wiz as well as his ideas on the evolution of music and technology integration.

GEEK: What are your goals with taking the Keyboard Wizdom tutorials to mobile devices?

Jordan Rudess: I’ve been very involved with the whole app world, the iPhone and iPod Touch technology, and have been doing a lot of things in that area. And this company that I have been doing videos with, Mac Pro Video, a very forward thinking online educational company. They’ve always been doing cutting edge stuff and it was actually them who came to me and said, ‘Hey, we want to put your course on an iPhone app.’ And I said, ‘Wow, that’s awesome!’

I thought that was a pretty cool idea. You just take the whole course, make it fit and people can carry it around in their pocket. I’m excited about that whole idea. All of that instruction could be in somebody’s pocket; that’s pretty cool!

It’s good timing for me too, because I’m working on some more instrumental apps for the iPad and iPhone.

More after the break! (more…)

So our Restore the Gulf fundraiser is tomorrow at Tattooed Mom on South St. You should come. We’re dishing out drink specials, deals on nibbles, and the opportunity to help three great guys make a real difference.

Geekadelphia will have a donations box set up at the door, and we’ll be accepting items for Restore the Gulf’s ‘Urgent Needs’ page. From duct tape to dry erase boards, energy efficient light bulbs to childrens’ books, they need a lot of stuff. By donating money or items, you have the opportunity to win a number of awesome prize packages from wonderful institutions. Check it out!

Three Academy of Natural Sciences Prize Packs:
Admission to the Academy, awesome swag from the gift shop.

Three Eastern State Penitentiary Prize Packs:
Admission to Eastern State Penn, misc. swag.

National Constitution Center Tickets
Includes admission to the Ancient Rome & America exhibit

VIP Tickets to the Mann Center:
Two Pairs of Orchestra Box Tickets to Planet Earth Live! (7/29)
Two Pairs of Orchestra Box Tickets to Rufus Wainwright! (8/4)

Quirk Books Prize Packs
Copies of Pride & Prejudice & Zombies, Sense & Sensibility & Sea Monsters, Dawn of the Dreadfuls, and Android Karenina! Plus totes bags, cocktail recipe books, balloons, and more!

Morris Arboretum Prize Pack
Tickets to the lovely gardens, and a History of the Arboretum book.

Gift Certificate to Brave New Worlds
A $100 gift card to Brave New Worlds, good for comics, action figures, and caressing Brian’s beard.

8static Prize Pack
Tickets to an upcoming 8static show, t-shirt, and a copy of Philly Chip: Volume 1.

Entering the raffle is easy. Just donate a dollar or two (preferably three of four), or bring in something from Restore the Gulf’s Urgent Needs page. If you bring in an item from Restore the Gulf’s Urgent Needs page, you’ll receive a Tattooed Mom discount poker chip, good for 50 cents off any drink… forever.

I’d like to sincerely thank Ryan at the Mann Center, Carolyn at the Academy of Natural Sciences, Ellen from Eastern State, Alex from the NCC, the crew at Brave New Worlds, Melissa & Tiffany at Quirk Books, Don at 8static, Marie at the Arboretum, and Rob from Tattooed Mom for making this all possible.

Tomorrow. June 23rd, 7pm to 10pm.

Come help make a difference.

Restore The Gulf [ restoringthegulf.blogspot.com ]

GOOD MORNING, GEEKADELPHIANS! How I’ve missed you, and I’m sure you’ve missed your science updates. Since we’re all fond of a good experiment around here, let’s try Geek Weekly on a Monday and see if anything explodes!

• Interesting read from New Scientist: Once upon a time, asteroids caused Antarctica to freeze.

• What the what?! I came across a scientific abstract discussing how cows are … magnetic?

• A personal favorite, and I swear it’s not because the seal is adorable: Sea animals sweep for mines when robots go rogue.

• How awesome is this? “Modeled after the U.S. Department of Energy sponsored Solar Decathlon, the European Solar Decathlon is a competition for seventeen teams from different academic institutions to create the most efficient, sustainable, and environmentally friendly solar-powered house.”

• Dun, dun, dun: 6th great extinction announced.

• Italian scientists possibly being charged with manslaughter for not predicting earthquake? Exsqueeze me? Baking Powder?

• A little depressing, but sure– why not! Relationship failure algorithms. Not to Liz Lemon on your Monday, but somewhere along the line I’ve developed my own set of variables, and I’m certain these folks meant ‘he takes me for granted’ instead of  ‘sentimental equilibrium’…

• Concept car that acts like a plant. Why haven’t we thought if this sooner?

• My bets are still on Titan, but apparently not all water has life.

• Cool read on ”DNA being the backbone for new logic motherboards” (Thanks to reader @flyingjaco for the tip!)

She Blinded Me With Science is a weekly column for Geekadelphia.com, brought to you by The Letter B. To submit a science tip, email bianca@geekadelphia.com