doublexgeeks

Forgoing history Friday today to bring you costume updates!

Ok, I didn’t take nearly enough (read: any) pictures of the construction, but it was fairly straight forward.

NOTE: I got my camera working again so this has been updated as of 11am

The fur was REALLY thick, and I had to sew with the foot up! I also couldn’t get it pinned very well either, so that was interesting all around. However furry fabric is forgiving when it comes to messing up, and the fur hides everything pretty good.

Let us start with the bag part of the costume. If you recall the fabric was about 11 inches wide, and about 3 feet (ish) long. All I did was fold it over a third, and sew the sides shut, making sure to go over the edge a few times for a tight seam. Now this does lead to a twist where it closes, but the fur hides it perfectly.

The boots were simple, stitching the sides closed leaving the top and bottom open. In order to be able to put them on easily, I left the top a bit wider, but I made it too wide.

So to keep it up I needed to add elastic. However, the prospect of trying to sew a pocket at the top of the cover was not pleasant given how hard the stuff is to work with. So to avoid that I cut out small strips of generic fabric I had left over that was easy to hold, about one inch by less than half an inch. I sewn six of these around the top of the boot cover on the inside, and threaded the elastic through that. Worked perfectly!

I’m borrowing my boyfriend’s practise sword (it’s wooden), but needed a sheath to protect/hold it. I created one from the same fur, sewing a tube with a closed end, simple!

Another piece is my arm/shoulder protector. It’s folded over and sewn shut at the top, and chains sewn to it in a crossing pattern.

Before sewing it closed I attached elastics to the underside to keep it on my arm.

I used the same type of chain to attach my bag and sword. The ends of the chain are attached to the bag, stitched at the corners. The top of the sword sheath is also stitched to the same chain so that it sits at my shoulder level.

If you look close at the sword picture you’ll notice a tied piece of string. On its own the sheath would just hang lose, but by tying it to the chain at the right height it keeps it in place. I also use a piece of string to tie the chain together where it crosses on my side.

Finally, I made a belt with two lengths of fabric to hang from it:

As it turns out this fabric is sensitive to heat. Oops. You can’t really tell, and most of it is covered by the velcro anyway. I attach to the other side on my front, and it’s covered by the front panel.

And now we come to a very bad picture of me wearing this. My camera is OLD, and not steady at all. Attempts at mirror shots failed, so I had a box on top of my sewing basket, on top of a cooler, on top of a chair and rested the camera on that. Set timer, attempt to position self, and try not to look like an idiot. Hopefully I’ll have better pics from friends!

Happy Halloween!!

Well Halloween is only a day away, not much time left to prepare! I’ve already covered costumed, but how about those of us hosting Halloween parties? How can you decorate without looking like a kids craft time? Here are some ideas!

First, don’t rule out dollar store decorations. In moderation they are great to add ambience, just don’t go overboard. For example I have a large skeleton on my hallway wall, and a black and orange spider web on another.

Take down your curtains and hang black and orange lengths of streamers. Do the same in other doorways or arches where they won’t get in the way.

Here’s a tip that especially suited to geeks! Take that old PC that’s been gathering dust and set it up with a command prompt. If you have access to lab equipment set that up as well, and add some Christmas lights for back lighting. Instant Mad Scientist Laboratory!

Take some old clothes and stuff them full of paper or bags and set them up somewhere. If you have a full head mask stuff that as well, and either put it on top of the body, or in the lap. I’d recommend lap as it’s less likely to fall off or be a pain.

Decorations should not get in the way of your guests, but should be interesting and give the Halloween vibe. Don’t worry too much about things being corny, that too can be fun!

Next step is food and drink. Obviously candy is a must! However there a few things you can do to keep with the theme:

Cake: Find a mix that is white, and add red food coloring so that it’s blood red. Go nuts with the icing. If you’re using normal food coloring, make sure you take out equal parts water as coloring you add.

Punch: Drinks are drinks, but you can spice up the ice for sure! Take an unpowdered glove (VERY VERY important, you do not want powder!) and fill it with water and red food coloring. Tie off the end and put it in the freezer! Remove it for your punch bowl; you can decide if you want to take the glove off or not. I would just because it will look nicer. You can also get eyeball ice cubes and other Halloween themed things.

Cookies: Fingers! Short bread or sugar cookies work well for this. Make a finger sized cylinder, and use an almond for the finger nail or make an impression at the end. Put lines where the joints should be, and use the translucent red icing you can get in tubes for blood.

There’s tons of ideas, just use your imagination! This should be fun, not work. Let your inner child out and PLAY!

Privacy online, it’s somewhat of an oxymoron. What steps should you take to protect your identity?

I’m actually pretty free with my basic information online. I have personally posted my full name, phone number, mailing address, birthday, and other information in areas I know to be public. I’m in the process of starting up a web design company, so this information needs to be out there. I’m run the local geek group, and am a public figure because of that.

This means that people, whom I have no idea who they are, will come up and talk to me. They’ll add me to MSN. Have pictures of me, take pictures of me, and get their picture taken with me. Sometimes, yea, it’s creepy. Most of the time I roll with the punches, and enjoy meeting new people.

Am I safe? I believe I’m safer than most out there who protect their identity like an ace in the hole (I have no idea if I used that expression correctly), why? I know this information is on the net. I do regular searchers to see how someone might find me, and what information they can get on me. I don’t cling to the false belief that there’s any such thing as privacy in the internet.

There are lines however, and you should be careful not to cross them. I use a persona on most message boards, and not the same one on all of them. While there are often links between them, I can manage those links. Sometimes I even outright lie, especially if the persona has no bearing on my real life.

Because I am aware of this, I take precautions in my everyday life. Nothing too paranoid, but I am cautious. I keep my door locked, I don’t buzz up strangers, I don’t walk down dark alleys by myself, and other common sense things.

I never give someone the cold shoulder, at least not right away. I’ve put myself in the public’s eye, so I try to live up to that expectation. I try to be a geek role model! For the most part it’s been good, and the vast majority of people I’ve met have been great. That 1% of geeks who live up to the socially inept stereotype are a pain in the rear, but by following my guide to avoid stalkers, you can keep safe.

My advice? Don’t put anything on the internet that you wouldn’t put on the message board at the mall. That goes for pictures as well as information!

There’s such thing as too much of a good thing:

Seeing as I have a midterm at 7, I am going to share a bit of distraction I enjoy.

I play this online game called Nation States, where you are supreme ruler of a nation. Basically you get issues to vote on everyday (or twice a day if you so desire), and how you decide radically affects your nation.

So how are things in the Commonwealth of Gwenhyver? To start with I’ve been catigorized as a Scandinavian Liberal Paradise. Civil Rights are superb, economy is struggling, and political freedoms are excellent. What can I say? I’m a commie.

As for the nation itself, here’s my description:
The Commonwealth of Gwenhyver is a huge, socially progressive nation, remarkable for its devotion to social welfare. Its compassionate, intelligent population of 471 million enjoy extensive civil rights and enjoy a level of social equality free from the usual accompanying government corruption.

The military frequently holds bake sales to raise funds, a ban on unsolicited cold calling in all forms is in effect, children are brainwashed at a young age to accept “Love and peace!” as a way of life, and crime is on the rise as DNA sampling has been all but outlawed. Crime is totally unknown. Gwenhyver’s national animal is the kitten, which is also the nation’s favorite main course, and its currency is the poem.

The best part of this game is it only takes a few minutes out of each day to play, so it a fun distraction that doesn’t make you lose tons of time!

Ok, this is old news. Very old news. But, it’s such old news that maybe you haven’t heard of it!

I’m a huge fan of 8-bit video games. I haven’t posted them yet, but I actually do a fair bit of 8-bit cross stitch (it lends itself to canvas so well!) and other 8-bit related crafts. But this is far beyond anything I’ve attempted yet.

12 members of the Engineering department at UCSC did this project back in 2005, and as you can see it looks amazing.

I really wish I could do this, and even have the perfect place here. However this takes a lot of time, and effort! It seems like it’d be expensive, but according to their site they used about 3800 post-its, which I figure cost about 80 dollars, maybe 100 as black post its are a bit more. Heck, even if it’s 120 bucks that still only 10 bucks a head!

And while they thought big, this is something that could work on a smaller scale too! Glass elevators, office windows, there are lots of possibilities!

You can check out their site HERE

Man I want to do this!!

If you’re like me, you have some jewellery that proclaims your geekiness. My favourite peice is the 1d20 necklace that I got from ThinkGeek.

(‘cept mine’s blue. The dice is actually removable too so I could color match!)

However, while that’s not too expensive, the same can’t be said for most tech jewellery. Here’s a project that you can do yourself! I’ll post more projects in the future as well, and hopefully have pictures.

Wire Jewellery
You can do a lot of things with wire shapes. Make sure you have a variety of sizes of needle nosed pliers for bending it. We’re going to focus on one project: binary dangle earrings.

First, pick a message you’d like to say in binary. You can use this translator to convert it to binary. Don’t make it too long though; each character will be a separate chain on the earring. I’m going with GEEK for this project.

GEEK in binary is 01000111 01000101 01000101 01001011, so we’re going to need a total of 18 “0”s and 14 “1”s for each earring.

The “0”s are fairly simple, take a piece of wire about an inch and a half long (make sure all the “0”s are the same size is the only thing, you can decide how big you want it) and bend it into the right shape. For the “1”s, take a peice that is 3/4ths the size of the “0” wire length. On each end make a hook slightly larger than the diameter of your wire, but don’t close it. Now you’re ready to assemble!

Let’s start with our G. Take a “0”, and hook a “1” on, close the loop. Easy so far! Now add another “0” on to the end of that and close the other loop. So far so good? Now we come to a problem, two 0s next to each other. For this take a small length of wire, about 5-6 times the diameter of the wire. Use that to loop around the “0”s. The easiest way is to make a C shape, then close it off. Do this with the next “0” as well, and add your next “1”. Now we come to two “1”s next to each other, but this is simple. Just close the two end loops together so that one is at a right angle to the other.

Here are what the pieces should look like:

Keep doing this until you have each letter created separately. Then string them onto a fish hook earring like the one below:

There you go!
A smaller variation of this would be to use two colors of beads, one being 1 and the other representing 0.

Take pictures if you try this!

Ok, I get it. It takes time and effort to get that great Halloween costume, and most of all you need to not get distracted. Easier said than done and mine is still in the living room (Though if you follow my twitter you’d know I do have progress made) not finished.

With less than a week to go before you need to have something together, here are some quick and easy Halloween costumes:

The Sock Monster
Wear your normal clothes, pin socks all over you. You’re the guy who steals the socks from the dryer. If you want to vamp it up a bit, throw on a generic monster mask.

Ceiling Fan
Have a sign that says “Go Ceilings!” You could also wear a jersey, use face paint, whatever.

Freudian Slip
Mostly for the fems, you wear a slip with Freud on it. You can also put sayings on it as well.

Quarterback
Make a cardboard cut out of a quarter, tape it to your back.

Cereal Killer
There’s two ways to do this. One: dress in black with a big knife (fake!) and tape cereal boxes to you. Or, if you have the cardboard dress AS a cereal box, with a knife.

Dr. House
Cardboard cutout of a house, and wear a stethoscope

Kangaroo
Tape a brown paper bag to your front.

CD Burner
I’m quite fond of this one. Tie a computer CD around your neck, and carry a lighter. If anyone asks who you are, hold the lighter up to the CD!

Cup Holder
Carry a cup.

Credit card Ad
Wear whatever, attach tags to everything saying how much they cost (ie Jeans: $60), then wear a sign that says “Not spending all my money and time on a costume: Priceless”

Pumpkin Pi(e)
Fitting with the geek theme. Cut out a pumpkin shape and write 3.1415926… on it and attach it to your shirt.

If all else fails, go in whatever and when someone asks what you are do the following:
- Look horribly offended, mutter something about hours of work wasted
- Say with a large grin “Isn’t it obvious?”
- “Yes.” That will confuse them the most.

It’s Friday, which means it’s history time again. In honor of Halloween (in particular costumes) we’re going to look at the history of masks.

Masks have generally had a dual purpose: to hide ones identity, and to represent another person or thing. In another context they could also be used for protection, but that isn’t the type of mask we’re interested in here.

The first reference to a mask comes from a 20,000 BC cave painting in Southern France. The painted image depicts someone wearing deer skin and antlers, which was common in primitive societies even today. Hunting was a huge role, and even without religion these creatures were held with awe.

Masks were primarily religious objects up until the time of the Ancient Greeks, used to portray the gods and spirits the people were trying to find favour with.

It wasn’t until the time of ancient Greece that masks were used in theatre. Also, about the same time the Japanese were also uses masks in noh plays to represent emotions. This is where our modern costumes are drawn from.

Masks today are much more sophisticated than masks in these times. In some cases you’d be hard pressed to tell where the masks stops and the person begins now! But when you find yourself fiddling over that last detail on your costume, remember the ancients. So long as you are representing the character you want to portray, your mask has done its job.

Feng Shui. If you’re anything like me you roll your eyes at this, and wonder about the mental stability of those who wear by it. However, after moving into my latest apartment, and I’m HOPING it will be the last move in a while (seriously, I’ve moved 7 times in 3 years), I wanted to make it more home like and less dorm like.

The basic principle behind Feng Shui is that the arrangement of objects in your life can help you achieve your life goals. Ok, stick with me, seriously. The fact is that how your home is arranged CAN affect you! You walk in the door of your place, and are greeted with a dirty mop; OR; you walk in the door and are greeted by a peaceful water fountain. Which do you think will put you more at ease? It’s also a proven fact that colors affect moods, and this knowledge is used in schools, hospitals, prisons and restaurants to help guide a person’s mood. So why shouldn’t you?

Let’s start with some basics that can apply to your whole house, not just your geek area.
Install an indoor water piece
The theory is that Chi is attracted to water, but the sound of water is peaceful either way. It’s also nice to look at and makes an area feel cleaner.

Hide cleaning supplies
These things embody dirt, so having them visible will make the area seem dirty.

Clear the Clutter
Now this is one any geek can use! It seems like every time I try to clear my life out I end up with more crap out. But learning to throw things out is an important skill and one that should be exercised on a regular basis. You really don’t need 52 broken floppy drives.

Open a window for 20 minutes a day
Again, this is supposed to allow fresh Chi in, but it is also sound advice. Air gets stale, especially in the colder months. However try to do this at least a few times a week to keep your place from feeling stuffy. Computers for whatever reason cause the air to go stale faster in my experience (I think it’s the heat), so if you’re running a lot of computers in a small area make sure you have air circulation.

Treat files and equipment with respect
It may seem like you reliving frustrations by yelling at your Xbox, but it’s not doing your Chi any good. It’s also not great for your mental state and is an unhealthy outlet. Take a few deep breaths, and focus on what is really making you angry, and how to solve it.

Colors
If you live in an apartment like I do, painting isn’t an option. This doesn’t mean you’re doomed to a beige existence! You can add color with fabrics, wall hangings, posters, and furniture. Just remember to keep the cutter down, less is more!
Red
Passion, excitement, and anger. Use this color in areas where you want more energy. We’re using (or planning on using) this in the living room where our gaming systems are. Not sure how that will help with anger towards video games, but it will liven up an otherwise dull space.
Yellow
Boosts moral and increase cheerfulness. You’ll probably remember your old school cafeteria being yellow! It’s suggested for kitchens and studies.
Blue
Reflection and relaxation. It’s ideal for the bathroom, especially if you’re the type that likes to relax in the tub. Use accents such as light blue towels, or on the shower curtain.
Orange
Combining the passion of red with the cheer of yellow, orange is great for creativity and sharing. It’s a good color for living rooms or dining areas where the family gathers.
Green
As you probably could have guessed green is supposed to encourage growth. Good for exercise rooms or libraries, but how many of us have those things? I think it’s great in areas that get lots of sun as well.
Purple
Purple has often been the color of royalty, and is a great confidence booster. Ever wonder why yoga mats tend to be purple? That’s right, it’s ideal for encouraging meditation, yoga and spas. You might want to use this instead of blue in a bathroom if you want something brighter.
Pink
A subdued version of red, pink is the color of love and nurturing. It’s ideal for the bedroom, but I don’t think you’ll have too many takers.
Brown
Earthy, allows you to stay rooted. Avoid using in rooms where you need to get stuff done or have big ideas!
Gray
Gray is great for making the transitions from one room to another, such as between the living room and office areas. Use black and white photos or posters to help.
Black
I love using black, and combined with red it makes a very strong impression. It promotes exploration, which is great for most geeks! Try going with dark stained wood for your furniture.
White
Focus and creativity. Technically great for an art room, but I doubt it’d stay white for long.

So where should you put your computer according to Feng Shui?
1) You need to be able to see out doors from your computer. I have mine next to the window (on the same wall)
2) You should be able to see the entrance to the room without moving your body. (I’m guilty of this one, my back is pretty much to the door)
3) Desk lamp should be on the opposite side as your dominate hand. (Pass! It’s on my left, and it makes sense, I’d block it with my arm otherwise)
4) Don’t have your computer next to the door (Pass)
5) Don’t have the computer in the bedroom (Fail, but it does say if you separate your electronics with a thick fabric screen from your bed your fine. Can’t see that happening.)

That’s all for now! Expect more tips in the future :)

How do you think Feng Shui affects your geek life?

I have a confession to make. I, Jennifer of Newfoundland, am a geek. There, now that we’ve got that out of way lets continue on.

Geeks have a bit of a bad rep, especially the hardcore ones. Some of them are even true! I have friends who, when gaming, wouldn’t hear a fire alarm go off. But the underlying qualities that cause someone to become a geek are often sought after.

The prime binding characteristic of all geeks is passion. Geeks are all passionate about something! So many people in this day and age just muddle along, not getting overly worked up about anything. This is not the case with geeks! They will get in long, and often loud, arguments about things many people see as pointless. Like who’s a better captain, Kirk or Picard (psst, it’s Picard). If you can get a geek to apply this passion to another project, you have an amazing source of energy. A great example of this is the Penny Arcade (a gaming web comic) children’s charity “Child’s Play”. They collect donations and toys to send to children who are in hospital over Christmas, last year collecting over $1.3 million.

They know everything about something. Granted that something may be how a warp drive engine works, but that isn’t as useless as it sounds. There’s a lot of real physics that goes into the theories about how those things might work, and someone who can explain it must have a good understanding of physics and math. Geeks are fountains of knowledge, and even if it’s just filling that extra spot at trivia that knowledge should be put to use. Maybe they’ll even fix your computer.

Geeks have geek friends! Very few geeks have only geeky aspect, so our geek friends aren’t just trekkies. Just because that geek can’t fix your computer, doesn’t mean his buddies can’t. Or any other specific bit of knowledge you need.

They just think differently. You see a board with 4 holes in it; a geek sees a table missing its legs. Having someone with such a different perspective can be invaluable for tough problems.

Have I convinced you so much that you want to become one yourself? It’s easy! Here are some simple ways to become a geek:

- Get an obscure hobby and learn everything there is possibly to know about anything to do with it.
- Get into a geek line of work; Computer Science is a good place to start.
- Make sure you tell everyone around you about things that you find fascinating!

Also, I just had to add this… random gadget I came across. It’s a shower gel dispenser.