Wednesday, 3/16
Doors at 7:30, show at 8
Rickshaw Stop, 155 Fell St @Van Ness
$8
Ides of March got you down? Come, distract yourself from any lingering sense of foreboding (or other mid-month malaise) with beer and brainpower, as we assimilate this month’s presentations on the defense of videogames as art, the very long internet cable under the sea, and the wicked-cool technology behind the Morrison Planetarium. Be there and be square!
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The Coolest A/V Club in the Universe: Science Visualization at the California Academy of Sciences
Jon Britton
What happens when A/V geeks grow up? The Morrison Planetarium. Boasting the largest all-digital dome in the world, state-of-the-art projection and software, and the finest scientific minds—and best data—at its disposal, the California Academy of Sciences has some pretty awesome ways of educating the public. Get a behind-the-scenes look at the new Academy’s immersive theaters, digital exhibits, and production pipeline, as we take a whirlwind tour of the known universe.
Jon Britton is Senior Systems Engineer and Production Engineering Manager of Electronics Engineering and Science Visualization at the California Academy of Sciences, and still actively trying to figure out what, exactly, that means.
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20,000 Leagues Under the TCP: The Undersea Internet
Chris Woodfield
There’s a lot more to making the internet a global phenomenon than two tin cans and a very long string. For the past 150+ years, cable engineers have dealt with outsized egos, third-world politics, crooked fishermen, spies, sharks, earthquakes, and, oh yeah, the laws of physics in order to help you get your Dr. Who and anime torrents from one side of the ocean to the other. Learn why “dope” isn’t a drug, and why “slack” isn’t a religion. And find out why the law of leaky abstractions sometimes does, in fact, actually leak.
Chris Woodfield has been flinging bits around the globe since the late ’90s, from humble beginnings working the night shift at a long-forgotten ISP to his current gig as a senior network engineer with Yahoo!. A recent transplant from the East Coast, he’s still getting used to family calling at 6am Pacific time.
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Sorry, But Videogames Are Art
Alex Handy
If cinema is the seventh art, can videogames squeak in at number eight? Some members of the intelligentsia (we’re looking at you, Roger Ebert) think not, but by the end of this talk you’ll be convinced that they are Art with a capital “A.” Using examples of art games you’ve never heard of, and lots of pretty pictures and video, Alex Handy, director of the Museum of Art and Digital Entertainment, will be our docent as we walk through a Louvre-like exhibition of moving, funny, and remarkable videogames.
Alex Handy is an award-winning and internationally published technology journalist with a dozen years of experience covering videogames, software development, and Bay Area culture. His work has appeared in Wired, East Bay Express, Business Week, and Software Development Times, and his writings have been used in Harvard’s curriculum. When forced to choose, his favorite game is Super Metroid.
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DJ Alpha Bravo will be spinning circular musical media solely of the vinyl variety, tailored, as always, to the themes of the presentations—which means: get your requests in early. Alpha Bravo is VP of left-field pop label, Radio Khartoum, and was one of the forces behind legendary SF pop-club nights, Anisette and Schokolade.
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