Online Home of Derek Meister
Do you know any college women interested in scicence, technology and public policy?
The Geek Squad Academy and the Women’s High Tech Coalition are teaming up to offer 2 female college students a Congressional summer internship to work on science and technology-related public policy on Capital Hill.
The deadline to apply is May 6th, so if you know anyone interested, send them a link to the Geek Squad News article today!
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There seems to be some debate going on over Apple’s iPhone more recent commercials. Some critics, such as Macworld’s David Chartier believe that Apple should go back to advertising the core iPhone features, while Dan Moren believes that apps are what generate the most iPhone buzz.
Personally, I agree with Dan Moren. While the iPhone is a great piece of hardware with a slick interface, I’ve found that the user experience is most served with the rich supply of apps available. The tag line of “There’s an app for that” is simple, but also effective because it’s true.
Sure, the competition are putting in place their own app stores, but I think that the rich world of iPhone apps will always be the biggest draw to the platform for consumers.
I took two days off from work this week to spend a little bit of time recharging my geek batteries. Sometimes it’s easy to forget the wonder you can have around technology when you deal with fixing tech issues every day. Fortunately, Ohio has some great geek destinations within driving distance!
My first stop was at the Center of Science and Industry (COSI), a science museum in Columbus, Ohio. This was the first time I’ve been to COSI since they moved from their cramped little building in the downtown area to the larger area on the other side of the river years ago.
There’s a lot of really great displays of science and technology there, and I really found plenty to interact with over the few hours I spent there. I really liked the “Progress” display and it’s view of life in 1962 from a street level.
You can check out my photos from COSI here.
The next day was spent at the National Museum of the United States Air Force, located at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio. The last time I had visited there was with my parents in the 1980s. Since then, they’ve expanded the museum itself with two other hangers, and are even looking to add a fourth down the line.
The museum catalogs the history of the Air Force from the very beginning of flight all the way to through present day, and it’s pretty awe-inspiring to walk around all those aircraft from every historical period. The hangers are absolutely enormous, with plenty of space for B-52s and other monster planes and helicopters.
You can check out my photos from the Air Force museum here.
There was a lot of walking for me over those two days, and I had a lot to take in thanks to having access to Wikipedia via an iPhone app that allowed me to look up further details into the science or history I was looking at.
I didn’t really end up spending much for the trip, and it really did help to recharge the geek inside, so I’m absolutely glad I took the time!
I decided to take an extra two days off next week to go on a small geek vacation involving a drive down to Dayton, Ohio. There, I plan on visiting the National Museum of the US Air Force to feed the aviation geek in me and take in the hangers full of history they have on display. I’ll also probably visit the Wright Memorial while I’m in the area.
It’ll be nice to take the short trip to get just far enough away from work, yet not too far as to cost much more than a few tanks of gas. I’m sure I’ll have plenty of photos to add to the Road Trip gallery, as well.
New entry posted on the Geek Squad blog:
Since the first Presidential election in 1789, we’ve seen 220 years of progress in how our appointed leaders talk to us. Our nation’s highest office has seen the advent of radio, television and the World Wide Web. In honor of President’s Day, we’ve put together a timeline of our favorite communication milestones, and the Presidents who’ve ushered them in.