Photo via Visit Philly

As a reader of Geekadelphia, you no doubt have vast quantities of knowledge on obscure topics stored away in your brain. Why not put that to good use at the 8th Annual Quizzo Bowl?

The event has a Caribbean theme this year, which may well include tropical-themed questions on geography, movies & entertainment, and sports. There will also be a live-music round, so get pumped up by listening to come Caribbean tunes and get Quizzo-ing!

Quizzo Bowl is usually hosted by Johnny Goodtimes, but a posting on the event’s website indicates that Quizzo Bowl VIII will now be hosted by Johnny Greattimes. That may be confusing, but it’s kinda like how Gandalf the Grey falls with the Balrog into the deep subterranean lake under Moria and becomes Gandalf the White. This of course can only mean positive things for the event.

What would your Caribbean-themed team name be? Leave it in the comments!

Quizzo Bowl VIII
February 18th at 7:30pm
johnnygoodtimes.com/2012/02/everything-you-need-to-know-about-quizzo-bowl-viii

World Cafe Live
3025 Walnut Street (19104)
(215) 222-1400
www.worldcafelive.com

View Geekadelphia – Benjamin Frankin in a larger map

Today we celebrate Benjamin Franklin, who was born on on this day, January 17th, in 1706.

He has no doubt left his mark on Philadelphia, so to commemorate we have put together a map of local things in Philadelphia that he was directly connected with and things that named in his honor.

Franklin, according to Wikipedia, was a “leading author, printer, political theorist, politician, postmaster, scientist, musician, inventor, satirist, civic activist, statesman, and diplomat.”

We can also argue that Franklin, who had a hand in all sorts of brainiac activities, was in fact the original Geekadelphian. So today, we honor him with this Google Map.

Yellow marks are for places and things Franklin himself was involved with.
Blue marks are places and things named in his honor.

Enjoy!

The Internet Society (ISOC) is hosting a conference on Maintaining Trust: The Future of Internet Security and Privacy on October 5, right here in Philadelphia.

The ISOC, who brought us World IPv6 Day, is a non-profit group that provides leadership in Internet related standards, education and policy. They work to further discussion and action to help protect the future of the internet.

Whether you like it or not, information about you is everywhere on the Internet. Any time you sign up for a website or buy something online, you trust that site to keep your information safe and secure from security breaches. Even non-online transactions like heath records that are stored within the internal networks of companies can be vulnerable to outside attack.

The conference will address some of these risks, and key topics of the day include Data Security, System Security, Customer Data Management, and Protecting Information in the Cloud.

So while this post isn’t about comic books or celebrity interviews like we normal cover, the event is a great opportunity to learn about Internet security and connect with leaders in the field of information risk-management.

Maintaining Trust: The Future of Internet Security and Privacy
Hosted by The Internet Society (ISOC)
October 5, 2011

Sheraton Philadelphia
201 N. 17th Street, Philadelphia, PA 19103

TwizShow, an iOS app developed right here in Philly by Clickable Bliss, tests your knowledge of how well you know the people you follow on Twitter.

After logging in to your Twitter account, the game asks you 20 random questions like “Who has the most followers?”, “Who has the most tweets?”, and “Who tweeted this?”

Points are awarded based on number of correct answers and how quickly you get them. You even have three 50/50 tokens to use during the game to help you narrow down your choices.

The game fuses the multiple choice gameplay of “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” with the stylings and soundtrack of retro game shows like “Press Your Luck” or “Card Sharks”. Big Money No Whammies. (more…)

The Dude Hates Cancer is a local Philly event that lets you bowl, fight cancer, and quote your favorite bowling movie.

Started in 2006, this annual event was created by local resident Tim Maxwell in support of his parents, who were both diagnosed with leukemia.

So spare me your gutter mouth, grab your balls, and let’s go bowling! Teams of 6-10 will compete against each other with three hours of bowling, free shoe rental, free t-shirts for all participants, and free admission into Jackie Treehorn’s After-Party. The winning team will have their car set on fire and get into a fight in the parking lot with some nihilists. Make sure to register now, as there are only 39 teams and the time slots will fill up soon!

Money raised from the event will so to support the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

Geeky sports fact: In bowling, there are 1024 possible pin combos after you throw your first ball.

The Dude Hates Cancer Bowling Tournament
Date: Saturday, August 27th, 2011
Time: 11:30am – 8:30pm

North Bowl Lounge N’ Lanes
909 North 2nd Street (19123)
www.northbowlphilly.com

The Belkin Conserve Insight is a cool gadget that helps you monitor your electricity usage in your home. “Insight” is the key word here, because in my test spin of the product I’ve been able to glean some interesting anecdotes about the way my precious electronics contribute to the electricity bill each month.

The premise of the product is simple. Take the Insight, plug it in to one of your electronics or appliances. Right away, you get instant feedback on wattage, cost, and CO2 production. Then, go ahead and use it like you would normally. After 45 minutes it comes up with an average across all three measures, and the longer you let it sit the more accurate the reading is.

I’ve often wondered how much my electronics cost me. Here’s a chart that highlights different electronics and states that I used them in, and their corresponding cost per month.

Here are more specific breakdowns about the things I was trying to test…

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This past weekend was the TooManyGames convention, held this year at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, PA.

If people didn’t get their fill of video games this weekend, then they clearly did not try hard enough.

We had the pleasure of hitting up the Expo on Friday evening when the event was kicking off, right when they were about to host a screening of “The Wizard.”

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The Robolancers Hard at Work

For a long time, science fiction has provided a plethora of famous robots. Cylons, R2D2, and Bender, just to a name a few that I got on this Sporcle quiz before I gave up. Sorry, C3PO.

But what about real-life robots? What’s going on in the world of today? Well, the Robolancers from Central High School hope to tell you all about that in 1st Annual Philly Robotics Expo at Drexel University. The event, taking place on Thursday, April 28th of Philly Tech Week, invites you to “have a blast playing with real robots and learning from the Philadelphia businesspeople, engineers and students who are transforming science fiction into science reality!”

Did you hear that? You get to play with real live robots. AND IT’S FREE. Why are you not already lined up outside of the Drexel Recreation Center? Proceeds from the event get put back into local robotic and engineering programs in Philadelphia, with the goal of one day building a Robo-Mayor Nutter, who uses social networks at high efficiency and legislates with an iron-alloy fist.

Philly Robotics Expo
April 28 2pm – 8pm
Drexel Recreation Center, 3301 Market Street
Free Admission

We know that Geekadelphia isn’t your go-to website for sports news. That’s probably the 700 Level, or at least, it should be. However, when you inject some robots into your sports, you know we’re going to be there for you.

Enter GRASP. The General Robotics, Automation, Sensing and Perception Laboratory at Penn is a $10 million research center that makes robots that do awesome stuff.

One of GRASP’s robot creations will be launching the first pitch as the Phillies take on the Brewers this Wednesday April 20th at 1:05pm. Rumor has it that the robot has been signed to a three-year contract and will be replacing Joe Blanton as the fifth member of the Phillies rotation.

The robot is an output of the ongoing research at GRASP, whose loftier goals with the technology involve creating machines to operate in common human situations where a lot of dexterity is required.

In addition, it’s “Science Day at the Ballpark”, where on the concourse they’re going to have demonstrations and science experiments. We don’t have specific details about the experiments, but I imagine that it will include:

• “Measuring the Rotational Inertia of a Gyrating Phanatic”

• “Calculating the Number of Bases You Need to Run to Burn Off a Tony Luke’s Cheesesteak”

• “Renewable Energy? Harnessing the Power of Cliff Lee’s Fastball”

Phillies Science Day at the Ballpark
Wednesday April 20 at 1:05pm
Citizens Bank Park

Here’s your fun Philadelphia fact for today:

“Many of the American maps published in the eighteenth century and the very early nineteenth give degrees of longitude measured from a Philadelphia meridian.” That’s right. The Prime Meridian, the main line of longitude, used to go through good ol’ Philadelphia, according to a 1942 edition of Geographical Review.

Part of the reason had to do with the fact that Philadelphia was once the nation’s capital, but another had to do with David Rittenhouse. That name’s probably familiar to you (Rittenhouse Square, David Rittenhouse Labs on Penn’s campus), and according to my less meticulous research on Wikipedia, Rittenhouse “was a renowned American astronomer, inventor, clockmaker, mathematician, surveyor, scientific instrument craftsman and public official.” He had an observatory in Philadelphia somewhere around 7th and Arch Street, and set up a meridian mark pointing due north from it to assist in observing the passing of Venus.

Following his lead, many maps made between 1749 and 1816 featured Philly as the Prime Meridian, but alas, it didn’t last forever.

In 1850, Congress passed an act that said Washington, D.C. would be adopted for all astronomical purposes and Greenwich in the United Kingdom would be used for nautical purposes. Further, in 1884, a bunch of people got together for an International Meridian Conference (the 19th century equivalent of Comic-Con) and decided all glory would go to Greenwich, who was awarded the title of Prime Meridian.

So while we may not be the Prime Meridian anymore, -75° W will always be home for us Philadelphians.

[Source] [Picture Credit]

Matt Crespi is a native Philly boy, and according to the Food Network, one of America’s Worst Cooks. The show brings together the worst of the worst across the nation to a boot camp with Food Network personalities Chef Anne Burrell and Chef Robert Irvine to hopefully infuse the contestants with some cooking skills. Matt was clearly the nerdy one of the bunch, but was eliminated in week three of the eight week competition. We talked with him about his experiences, his geekiness, and his love of Philadelphia burgers.

What made you try out to be on Worst Cooks?

News of the Philadelphia audition had made its way around the Philly food blogs, and quite a few of my friends suggested–nay, insisted–I try out. I never thought I’d be chosen, and if the audition wasn’t a mere six blocks away from my apartment, I might not have even bothered. I honestly went in just hoping to get a good story from the tryout. Then they offered me a spot on the show, and as Amelia Earhart said, “When a great adventure is offered, you don’t refuse it.”

What’s the worst thing you’ve ever cooked?

The worst thing I ever cooked was pan seared salmon. Now, keep in mind that “pan seared salmon” is just the name of the dish, and it should in no way be confused for a description of the result. I didn’t use the right pan; I didn’t preheat anything; I didn’t use any oil; I kept tinkering with the burner intensity (as if that would help); and I did things with a spatula which, in retrospect, should have had me worried that the Food Police were going to kick down my door and read me Miranda.

My brother told me I made sushi-grade fish taste like cat food, but I think he’s just being nice because he’s my brother.

Conversely, what’s the best thing you’ve cooked since finishing the show?

Chocolate chocolate chip cookies. Even though I never attempted it at Boot Camp, I’ve actually developed a real knack for baking since my return. Baking, more so than almost any other kitchen activity, depends on precision, so it’s a natural fit for me. Since this is Geekadelphia, I don’t mind telling you that I even had a little Excel model I could use to convert pie recipes given in ingredient weights into volumetric instructions. But don’t tell any of the “cooler” blogs I did that; they’ll make fun of me.

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The map you see above is of our beloved city of Philly. However, the red and blue dots tell an interesting story.

Eric Fischer did a geotagging study where he took photo information and applied a simple formula to deduce whether they were locals (blue) or tourists (red), and mapped that information for 50 cities.

It’s interesting to see where the tourists are in the city.

Center City is of course the main hot spot for both locals and tourists, but the usual suspects come up as very heavy tourist spots. Places like Independence Mall, City Hall, and Eastern State Penitentiary, and the Ben Franklin Parkway are very bright red. What is interesting is the nice mix of both tourists and locals at places like Rittenhouse Square.

On the south side of City Hall, you have South Street, the Italian Market, and Pat’s & Geno’s as havens for tourists.

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