Yvette's Inner Geek Blog

I’m just in the nick of time to blog about a woman I admire in technology or science for Ada Lovelace Day. Last year was the first Ada Lovelace Day, so now it’s just a matter of spreading the word and making it a Big Thing for years to come. Granted, it’s not quite as exciting as Talk Like a Pirate Day, but its purpose is as important as Blog Action Day. It’s meant to open up a dialogue and bring awareness to something meaningful.

Which I guess means I will refrain from posting a LOLcat.

The day is named after Ada Lovelace, a 19th century geek girl who oozed mathy intelligence. If she’d lived longer than 36, I’m certain that her name would be more prominent and we would already have jetpacks and such in 2010 because the future would have experienced a speedier onset. She was a friend of Charles Babbage, who designed (but did not build) an Analytical Engine—what is considered the first computer. Ada created extensive notes while translating a memoir related to the machine that effectively made her the first-ever computer programmer. So I agree with the people behind Ada Lovelace Day: she’s worth honoring in this way!

Right. So I’ve chosen Marie Sklodowska Curie as the woman I will honor in honor of ALD. I probably should pick someone who is still alive and deserves credit, but Marie Curie was the first to come to mind… mostly because I was thinking along the lines of a historical female heroine and I happened to do a report on her in second grade. I think she also contributed to my interest in being a scientist (without the dying from radiation exposure part).

(I was in the “gifted and talented” program at a public elementary school, which meant that I attended 1st-5th grade with roughly the same group of kids, and we did all sorts of projects and presentations that would contribute to our overall geekiness in later years. I think we could pick any important historical figure for the one project I’m thinking of. I researched and wrote a paper which I then read aloud to my class—from behind a backlit bedsheet that created a live shadow performance. My crowning achievement for the project was a construction paper rack of test tubes that I cut out and taped to the bedsheet so it would look like I was speaking from an actual chemistry lab. Uh, was I ever not a nerd?)

Another reason I’m choosing Marie Curie, aside from her well-known research into radioactivity—a word she and her husband coined, according to Wikipedia—is her contribution to what might now be considered an open source project or mindset.

In an unusual decision, Marie Skłodowska–Curie intentionally refrained from patenting the radium-isolation process, so that the scientific community could do research unhindered.

And also, this kickass little fact makes her even cooler.

Due to their levels of radioactivity, her papers from the 1890s are considered too dangerous to handle. Even her cookbook is highly radioactive.

That’s right, boys. Too dangerous to handle.

Despite the tragic reality that her studies in radioactivity led to an early death, I am thoroughly delighted by the juxstaposition of a domestic symbol next to Dangerous Science. That’s very “geek girl” to me.

Marie contributed in a big way to science and technology and is very deserving of a blog post mostly dedicated to her.. She achieved more than most can even dream of achieving in a half-life… har har!

Happy Pi Day! May your day be filled with delicious pies and other round edibles as you do math for fun and recite π to as many decimal places as you can. Stay tuned for a slightly refreshed geek test sometime today….

Nine minutes. That’s about how long it takes to reach orbit from the Kennedy Space Center in 2009.

I didn’t go online intending to watch the space shuttle Discovery launch at 11:59 pm E.T., but I noticed CNN.com’s link to live coverage at the right time and tuned in. (Can I say “tuned in” if it’s online? Whatever.)

It was cool, awe-inspiring, I-wish-I-were-there-inducing, and at moments… a little boring. I’m embarrassed to write that last part, but it’s true. I couldn’t tell you how many shuttles have launched in my lifetime, or how many different shuttles actually exist right now. The 25th anniversary of the first Discovery launch is on Sunday—but I only know that because I just heard it on the news.

It’s weird that shuttle launches aren’t a Big Deal anymore. People I’ve talked to who watched the first lunar landing—in what, 1969, I think?—fondly convey memories of amazement and awe, no matter what age they were at the time. And here I am, someone who mostly keeps abreast of the news and is somewhat interested in Space Things, finding out about a shuttle launch only ten minutes beforehand. Is my level of embarrassment valid? Or have we, as a society, tired of routine Space Things and only become interested when there’s an explosion, a scandal, or a selfish reason like news of a realistic chance to walk on the moon?

I may not have been alive to watch the Apollo 11 land on the moon, but I do remember a lot of excitement surrounding my first space shuttle memory. And I’m not talking about the excitement around the movie Apollo 13 when I was in high school.*

January 28, 1986, my combined first/second grade class hunkered around a little black and white television in our classroom with the lights off. Mrs. Schumann had prepped us with information about the upcoming space shuttle launch and probably told us about her experience watching the lunar landing. This launch was exciting because of NASA’s Teacher is Space project; a civilian teacher had been specially selected and trained to join the mission.

The TV screen was small, and the picture was somewhat grainy, but I watched with interest as the space shuttle Challenger lifted off and the news anchor narrated with terminology I did not understand. And then a lot of puffy, trailing clouds appeared on the little screen, and after a few moments I heard my teacher gasp; my fellow classmates and I knew something was wrong but we didn’t know what. I don’t remember exactly how long Mrs. Schumann left the TV on after the explosion, but I remember her standing up abruptly to turn it off and that she was visibly shaken.

That evening’s ABC news broadcast, which of course I found on youtube, summed up my shared educational experience like this:

“Brought in for the new age’s first formal classroom lessons from outer space, our children were suddenly taught instead the old lessons: of mortality; of the real risk which gives any victories their meaning.”

Since first grade, I’ve seen a fair amount of news coverage and replays of successful shuttle launches, as well as the other explosion in recent memory—the Columbia. But I haven’t watched any of them live since 1986. My experience tonight was much different, watching streaming internet coverage in color all by myself in my living room late at night. Everything went according to plan—no explosions, not puffy trailing clouds. But there was still terminology I didn’t understand, and it freaking knocked my socks off to realize that a space shuttle could enter into orbit in under ten minutes. It takes me longer than that to get to the freeway from my house!

But you know what? Routine, boring shuttle launches are cool. Slightly boring, but therefore successful. They are victories for a growing-at-pace space age. And I hope I have an opportunity to see a shuttle launch in person someday.

*I definitely saw Apollo 13 in the theater. It was pretty cool, but I was more impressed by Contact a couple years later. The second time I saw Contact, my date wanted to make out in the theater… which really annoyed me because he hadn’t even seen the movie yet! So what’s geekier: going on a date to see a sci fi drama with the intention to make out the whole time, or going on a date to see a science fiction drama and not wanting to make out? (And yes, we liked each other, so making out in general was not the issue.)

My little sister defended her PhD in neuroscience on Thursday, August 13. She passed without conditions!

I am tremendously proud of her, despite the fact that I am now the only non-doctor of sciencey things in my immediate family. Monique blew through the University of Colorado Health Sciences PhD program in only 5 years. Yes, she’s one smart cookie, but she worked very hard to make it happen.

I flew into Denver Wednesday afternoon and met up with my family in time to see Monique practice her presentation, then helped her set up the conference room on Thursday before her official presentation at 2pm. “It’s only going to be my committee, people from my lab, my family, and maybe a couple friends,” she said.

Uh, yeah.

Monique grossly underestimated the turnout for her presentation. About 50 people ended up packing into the small conference room and I think a couple even turned away because even the standing room only area was filled.

“You counted how many people were there?” Monique asked when I reported the results to her.

“Duh,” I said. “But I did it during the part of your presentation that I had no chance of understanding, even a second time.” That seemed to make her feel better.

Still, before other people started trickling in, I gave Monique the gift I’d planned on giving her for over a year: a silver necklace with a pendant in the shape of a seratonin molecule. Lucky for me, she was already wearing the perfect shirt for it and her other necklace wasn’t even showing, so she wore it during her presentation.  And lots her nerdy science friends ooohed and aaaahed over it afterward. You can see it in the first photo above.

Regardless of the seratonin boost, Monique nailed her thesis presentation on “Translational Regulation of Amyloid Precursor Protein in Alzheimer’s Disease.” Damn impressive. I even understood a little, like the part in her PowerPoint where she incorporated a little cartoon image of Grim from The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy next to an Alzheimer’s-stricken brain to convey brain cell death.

She was nervous, but it didn’t show as much as she thought it would. After her presentation, and after thunderous applause and some cookies, the crowd dispersed and Monique disappeared back into the conference room for a closed-door meeting with the committee that decides whether or not she’s done enough experiments and accumulated enough knowledge to deserve her PhD.

It was this actual defense that Monique was most nervous about. I waited with my parents in the lounge next door for an unspecified amount of time.

We waited. It seemed like forever. There wasn’t much light reading available, but the view was nice despite being a little cloudy.

After an hour and about 15 minutes, Monique emerged very stressed.

“Break number one,” she said. We tried to ask how it was going.

“I’m really tired don’t talk to me,” she said, and took a bathroom break.

She then hung out with us for a few minutes, not really saying much except that her committee was grilling her and it was HARD. Before we knew it, they were calling her back in.

And then, maybe 20 minutes after that, the door opened. My parents and I peeked around the corner, not quite sure what to expect… and someone said “She passed!” We went in to give her big hugs, and before we knew it, her advisor uncorked some bubbly and we were celebrating her successful defense!

The sun came out, Monique was all smiles, and everyone I talked to said wonderful things about her. As a scientist, as a person, and as a friend. All things I’ve heard before, and all things that I know I will hear again.

She’s currently editing and preparing her actual thesis to be printed and bound—a requirement that will result in her thesis being forever on file in the school’s library and accessible for future generations who want to wade through a couple hundred pages of sciency jibba jabber. I think that’s really cool.

And it’s extra cool to think about her research being used by others in the future to help develop pharmaceuticals for the treatment of Alzheimer’s Disease.

I give her an A+ for contribution to society in general.

Okay, so she’s still officially matriculating until the end of December, when she will receive her actual diploma and her thesis has a dewey decimal number attached to it, but she’s completed all of the other requirements. She’s not taking a break at this point, and is actually going to start her Next New Adventure this fall. As always, she’s accomplished one thing and is looking forward to move on to a new challenge.

My little sister, Dr. Monique. Even though I view her as more successful in life than me, I like to think that I’ve always been there to encourage her along the way.

a pretty weed in the yard

Originally uploaded by innergeek

This week has been all about nature, so why stop now? I now know the name(s) of the artichoke-like plant that’s growing near my maple tree, so here’s another front yard mystery plant identification challenge:

It’s a low-lying and semi-sprawling plant with fern-like leaves that flowers little 5-petal light purple blossoms in the spring. I live in a mountain/desert climate (Utah Valley) at about 4500 feet above sea level.

The previous homeowners planted tulips in the narrow section of yard that’s sandwiched by the road and the sidewalk, and these are also growing there. I honestly don’t know if these purple ferny plants are weeds or were planted on purpose. There are real weeds poking up throughout that whole patch of lawn. I’d really like to transplant the tulips and either xeriscape/rockscape that area or just maintain plain grass—which in theory will be easier to take care of than the current Cluster of Random Plant Growth.

(Ben and I have tried to make our thumbs more green, but they only turn into a sickly, yellowish color on the best of days.)

Happy Square Root Day! Even Scientific American is talking about it! This holiday comes only 9 times a century (and 9 is my favorite number), so please do something to celebrate.

For example, choose to eat square foods—preferably made from some sort of root. You could cut a potato into a cube, then cut it into 15 slices and fry them up. Eat the slices in groups of 3, 3, and 9. If you don’t have any square and/or root foods available, just try to eat or drink in groups of 3 and 9.

Or watch the trailer for the upcoming Tim Burton Movie, 9, and send it to 3 friends with the instructions that they should each send it to 3 friends. (But that’s it, okay? It’s a mathematical celebration, not a chain meme.)

It’s also a great day to learn shortcuts for typing the square root symbol (√)!

Mac OSX: option + v

Windows: alt + 0251

Number code: √

Character code: 221A

If you choose to celebrate Square Root Day, please leave a comment to share what you did!

In related news, I would like to publicly apologize for disappointing my friend John on Febrary 13. I neglected to blog about 1234567890 Day. Perhaps this little factoid will help with my redemption: I cherish the memory of my mixed 4th/5th grade class pausing to celebrate sequential numbers at 1:23:45pm on 6/7/89.

March of ’09 is pretty special because it’s the only month in each century wherein one may celebrate both Square Root Day and Pi Day (3/14). It’s also my dad’s birthday!

Dad is a scientist and fairly geeky in his own right, so I happily explained to him over the phone what a special day it was to have a birthday. He told me to have fun with whatever fumes I was huffing. Happy Birthday, you crotchety ol’ smartass! Love you!

As if I needed ANOTHER reason to learn how to crochet, I came across this creative DIY project: the Pie-ret, presumably pronounced “pie-ray.” It’s 44 flavors of fiber genius!

Product image yoinked from Monster Crochet

As soon as I learn how to crochet, I’m going to buy this little pattern ($10 to have the Monster Crochet creator email me a PDF) and make wearable pie berets for every day of the week. And then maybe grab some recipes from pieofthemonthclub.org and bake a pie every day of the week! I’ve been pie-ning for a purpose in life like this…. (Um, I just made myself groan from my own pun. That can’t be good. And yet, I’m still not going to edit it out. You’re welcome!)

Speaking of pie, don’t forget that Pi Day is coming up on March 14. I’m going to start planning a party on Friday, which is approximately 3.14 weeks before Pi Day. Hmm… I hope I have enough time to learn how to crochet so that I can greet people at the door with a beret that looks like this:

Photo yoinked from Monster Crochet

One of our cats has been having some frustrating health problems in the last year or so. DISCLAIMER: this is a story with an insanely icky middle but a happy ending. By “insanely icky,” I mean that you should not read this while eating or if you have a weak stomach.

Isis is now about 9 years old and has been with us since she was between 6 and 12 months old. She was a gaunt and dirty stray when we took her off the mean apartment complex streets. We soon discovered that she had worms… and was pregnant. But we took good care of her, eventually found good homes for her 5 kittens, and she became our little darling.

Our lives were content as a two-cat family. Isis is a tiny cat who at her fattest weighed 7.5 pounds—a contrast to Loki’s bumbling 20-pound average. Except for an occasional can of cat food or licking leftover milk out of a cereal bowl, both cats have eaten standard dry cat food their whole lives. We tried some “light” food for Loki at one point, but that didn’t seem to do much good for his weight (or mood) and we always ended up back at budget-friendly Purina Cat Chow in the blue bag.

When Phoebe joined the family in the summer 2007, Isis made it known that she was not happy with our little addition. She started shedding more and eating less. We figured she needed more time to adjust. In November that year, we discovered a lump on her belly. I flipped my shit a little worrying that it was cancer, but it turned out to just be a hernia. We opted for surgery, which went fine, and the scar healed nicely.

But she basically stopped eating.

She started hanging around the kitchen—crying every time we opened the fridge and gladly eating a scrap of chicken or licking out a bowl of human food—so we knew she was hungry. She went back to the vet in January 2008 for her annual shots, and he told us that older cats will sometimes start to become picky eaters for no apparent reason.

We tried some different dry food brands and types—sensitive stomach, senior cat, indoor formula, etc.—and she turned her nose up at it all. Though we were reluctant to give her canned food, mostly because of its much higher price point, we eventually gave in because she was just so skinny. Even worse than the gaunt state she had been in as a pregnant stray with worms.

She wolfed down any canned food we gave her. “Great!” we thought, until she started puking it up. This is where the story gets gross. I’ve never smelled anything more disgusting than Read more…

Given that this is typically the kind of email I receive,

HI I WANT TO BE THE GREAT GEEK OF WORLD ,WILL YOU HELP ME OUT ?

–
ASHISH KUMAR RANJAN
IT,NIT PATNA

I really appreciate the people who take the time to email me with praise, constructive criticism, their personal geek stories and geek test suggestions, and serious questions about a range of topics. I recently received an email with questions regarding the making of one’s own Christmas lights and don’t really know what resources to suggest. If there’s anyone out there who can help out Celia, please leave a comment. I’d appreciate it!

Yvette,

Your web site is delightful; a bright beacon of geeky goodwill.

I just spent way too much time cruising Craig’s List looking for a local electronics shop and/or resources.  What I found instead was some surprisingly mean-spirited bickering (reminiscent of some of the troglodyte emails you posted on your web site – your responses were hilarious, by the way).  I feel the need to embrace more of my inner geekiness through playing with LEDs (I’m not, however, ready to enlist in the Navy to study electronics, as suggested by several helpful individuals on Craig’s List).  I want to learn how to safely make my own christmas lights, basically.  Can you suggest any links or other resources?  I’ve got “Electronics for Dummies” but I’m not ready to build a robot, just make some cool bling for my living room.  I couldn’t find a links page on your web site (was I imagining that there used to be one a few months ago?)

Thank you for offering such playful, welcoming energy to the countless geeks out there who may not realize how desperately they need it (myself included)!

Celia

I consulted my husband on this matter while he was busy playing with wires and electricity and power tools upstairs. He said there’s a booklet series he’s seen at Radio Shack called “Electronics Handbook” that looked as though they were written on graph paper and featured small circuits that might be useful if you’re looking for timing circuits or driving LEDs. So that might be a place to start.

If you want to purchase LEDs in bulk, there are lots of websites out there like Mouser Electronics where you can find those. However, if you just want to create strands of LEDs like the ones that you can find at the store… it will be much cheaper and easier to purchase them at the store.

Hope that helps, and if any other readers have comments I hope you’ll post them here for Celia to see. Thanks!

My mom came out to visit a few weeks ago, and we were standing in the sun when Ben suddenly exclaimed, “Holy crap, you have the same eyes!” I knew it already, but it was fun to hear him say it (hope it didn’t weird him out too much, though). Ben took a photo:

The sun was really bright, hence the faces. Well, mine anyway.

I like having multi-colored eyes. There’s a dark green band on the outer edge of the iris and a starburst of golden brown around my pupils. In between is a medium green that battles with the brown starburst for real estate on a daily basis.

My mom’s father had similar green/brown eyes, though he was colorblind and insisted that he had blue eyes (and blond hair, though it was really gray). Interestingly, none of my Mom’s eight sisters have our hazel eyes —the oldest two have blue eyes and the other five inherited my grandmother’s brown eyes. What are the odds?

If I weren’t already an unemployed writer, I think I’d be a geneticist.