:: gia’s blog ::

Last night, I did a quick Christmas list on Twitter made up of a few really cool things I’ve found over the past month or so. I decided to post them up here so it’s easier for people to find them.

1. Brown Dog Gadget Kits
These are supercute, relatively simple (some soldering) DIY electronics kits.

2. Solar Print Fabric
Perfect for a child or a crafty type, solar print fabric from (the unrelated!) Cox & Cox.

3. Han Solo In Carbonite Silicone tray
How long have you wanted to make ice cubes, jelly or chocolate in the shape of Han Solo in Carbonite? Yea, of course, forever. Now you can.

4. Vintage Lightbulbs
I love Rockett St. George. At least once a week I go to their website to drool and dream about the day my house isn’t in a constant state of disarray. These lightbulbs are gorgeous, so is everything else there.

5. Lilypad Arduino Beginner’s Kit
The ladynerd in your life will LOVE this. Next year she can make you an email counting t-shirt for Christmas. Win win.

6. iNecklace and Heart Spark
The other night I wore my iNecklace to Brian’s talk at the RI. Everyone was going just a little bit crazy for it. Unfortunately, it seems the iNecklace is sold out (again). As of the 4th of December, they have 23 in stock! Get one quick! As of the 5th of December, they have 7 in stock! Unfortunately, it seems the iNecklace is sold out (again). Instead, have a look at the Heart Spark. I am currently waiting for mine to arrive. And I can’t tell you how excited I am about it….

7. SparkFun Arduino Beginner’s Kit
You’ve been hearing loads about Arduinos. It’s about time you jump in feet first.

8. Sugru
Stocking filler!! This stuff is soooo useful that you *need* to have some on hand at all times. That is all.

9. Lumiphone
A kit to make your own theramin-like Lumiphone, from UK-based Technology Will Save Us. They’re not wrong. (More Technology Will Save Us gear via Rough Trade East.)

10. Atari Wall Stickers
You know you want to…

Some other ideas that I didn’t put on Twitter:

*Fund a Kickstarter Tech Project In Someone’s Name- there are loads and loads of tech projects you can help out. For less-nerdy-more-booky, see: Unbound

* Someone asked me about kids’ electronics kits. My older son had a Hot Wires kit a few years back. My toddler currently loves playing with Squishy Circuits.

* Handmade books are excellent gifts. A few years ago I made my sister a handmade notebook which was part-blank pages and part-zombie survival guide. Here is an Instructables on making your own notebook.

* Combining a few of these together: a while back I funded my lovely friend Suw through Kickstarter for her handmade book project Argleton. You can now buy Argleton for your Kindle.

Finally, just a note. I turned off comments on my blog a while back because I was getting inundated with Brian-related stuff. Sorry. If you want to say ‘hi’ or comment on this list, I’m on Twitter. If you have anything you want to say to or about Brian, he’s on Twitter.

My Ada Lovelace Day post is going to take a slightly different course than perhaps originally intended. I signed the Ada Lovelace Day Pledge- started by Suw Charman- ages ago. It says:

“I will publish a blog post on Tuesday 24th March about a woman in technology whom I admire but only if 1,000 other people will do the same.”

Now, I could have written about tons of women in tech that I admire: game designer Jane McGonigal, musician Laurie Anderson, cosmonaut Valentina Tereshkova, physicist Cinzia Da Via (she designs and builds 3D silicon detectors for CERN for Christ’s sake!) or even Suw Charman herself.

There are loads of women out there doing interesting, excellent, remarkable things in science and technology… and, yes, they are often overlooked in favour of the achievements of men in a similar field.

The guide on the Ada Lovelace Day site says, “It’s up to you how you interpret the phrase “in technology”. We’re not just interested in hardcore ninja programmers, but any woman who creates, invents, or uses any technology in an innovative way. Feel free to interpret it as widely as you like.” Therefore, I want to write about the women who I believe are the REAL unsung heroes in technology: the women “behind” the successful men- their wives/partners. They, I believe, are the most overlooked women of all.
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I was looking for a photo of me on Flickr and stumbled across these pics of Brian and me at SciFoo.
Brian
Me
Brian
Me

Oh. How I love Sarah Silverman.

(there’s swearing in this so don’t turn up loud at work)

The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.

“The Great Schlep aims to have Jewish grandchildren visit their grandparents in Florida, educate them about Obama, and therefore swing the crucial Florida vote in his favour. Don’t have grandparents in Florida? Not Jewish? No problem! You can still become a schleper and make change happen in 2008, simply by talking to your relatives about Obama.”

More here

There have been many times over the years when I’ve been extremely proud of my lovely husband. His appearance on Newsnight the other night is right at the bloody top of the list. Delight with me in the massive smackdown he gives to Sir David King who, believe it or not, is the President of the British Association of the Advancement of Science. Seriously.

“On this day, of all days.”

There have been many times over the years when I’ve been extremely proud of my lovely husband. His appearance on Newsnight the other night is right at the bloody top of the list. Delight with me in the massive smackdown he gives to Sir David King who, believe it or not, is the President of the British Association of the Advancement of Science. Seriously.

“On this day, of all days.”

The director of Horizon, Paul Olding, has put up more behind-the-scenes clips from the new one on Time.

Why should we want to understand Time?

How the minus sign protects the past from the future.

On Life in the Universe.

Loads more here.

The director of Horizon, Paul Olding, has put up more behind-the-scenes clips from the new one on Time.

Why should we want to understand Time?

How the minus sign protects the past from the future.

On Life in the Universe.

Loads more here.

During the Republican primaries I was thinking “You know, if McCain wins the nomination and ends up winning the election, it’ll be OK. He’s not completely batshit insane, certainly compared to the Bush White House. So if it happens, I’ll be OK with it.” I was always going to vote Democrat, of course, but wasn’t massively worried about McCain.

I have now completely changed my mind. With this whole Sarah Palin thing, McCain has shown that he is clearly chaotic and dangerous. He should not be in charge of a country which has so very much at stake. America has a chance to step out of the darkness, a chance to wake-up, a chance to join this wonderful world we live in. This will NOT happen with McCain in the White House. If he puts so very little thought into who he chooses as his running mate – the person who could end up being the Vice President of the country for 4 whole years- what amount of contemplation will go into, say, starting another bloody war?
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Some more videos from behind-the-scenes on Brian’s new Horizon on Time are up on YouTube.

The documentary explores the idea of Time – what we think it is, what it isn’t and asks ‘does it exist at all?’ He talks to all kinds of people from the Director of the US Naval Observatory which keeps the Master Clock, to cosmologist Max Tegmark (who acts out what it would look like if he were to fall into a black hole), to theoretical physicist Neil Turok who talks about how Time may *not* have had a beginning. He explores Einstein’s theory of Time as well as newer theories of ‘granulated’ Time…

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On the 23rd of August at UCLA Royce Hall, Brian is taking part in the orchestral symphony by Mike Einziger:

“Simply stated, end vacuum is a jagged collection of orchestral music Michael Einziger has been writing for the past year. A horrendously turbulent, and at times serene, aural interpretation of complex patterns and geometric shapes that assemble themselves firmly into my consciousness. A 40 minute-long insomnia induced orchestral anxiety-attack.”

On the 23rd of August at UCLA Royce Hall, Brian is taking part in the orchestral symphony by Mike Einziger:

“Simply stated, end vacuum is a jagged collection of orchestral music Michael Einziger has been writing for the past year. A horrendously turbulent, and at times serene, aural interpretation of complex patterns and geometric shapes that assemble themselves firmly into my consciousness. A 40 minute-long insomnia induced orchestral anxiety-attack.”

Wow! I only just read that Phil Plait is the new President of the James Randi Educational Foundation!!! Yayayayay! That is sooo massively cool. I know Phil, you know, he’s like my friend and everything. I know the President of JREF. I totally do.

Brian and I are off to SciFoo this coming weekend. I’m so excited.

We were invited last year, as well. In the end, Brian went on his own and I stayed in London cos I was working on the Daywatch theatrical release and the Sunshine and 28 Weeks Later DVD releases and, well, I was kinda on the verge of a breakdown. I was super bummed that I didn’t make it and expected it was going to be my only ever chance (SciFoo is invite-only). Imagine my delight when we both were asked back again this year!
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X-Files: I Want To Believe producers Chris Carter and Frank Spotnitz did a signing at Forbidden Planet in London on the 31st of July. Fans from all over Europe came to meet them. Here’s a little taster of what it was like…

Here are some interviews I did at the X-Files Sneak Peek at the LA Film Festival.