Career News 24/7: Geekosystem Newsletter - 50 Years Ago Today, John Glenn Became the First American in Space

Monday, February 20, 2012

Geekosystem Newsletter - 50 Years Ago Today, John Glenn Became the First American in Space

	50 Years Ago Today, John Glenn Became the First American in Space In the early afternoon of February 20, 1962, John Glenn climbed inside the cramped confines of Frienship 7. The spacecraft sat atop a modified Atlas missile, originally designed to ferry nuclear weapons towards targets toward the Soviet Union. However, in what might be the greatest triumph of the military-industrial complex, the rocket blasted off and made Glenn the first American in space, putting this country on the path to becoming a leader in space sciences. Read More »
	Goats Form Accents Based on the Hip Goats They Hang Around Conventional scientific wisdom has held that most mammals make vocalizations based on one thing, and one thing only: Genetics. Unless the creature uses its voice to communicate or navigate -- as is the case with bats, whales, and good ol' Homo sapiens -- a mammal will sound the same no matter where it comes from. A U.K. sheep will be the same as a Utah sheep, and so on. However, a new study looking at (adorable) pygmy goat kids suggests that this might not be the case, and that the voices of mammals are far more flexible then we thought. Read More »
	Hook Your Full Auto DIY Airsoft Gun to a DIY Flamethrower-Style Backpack, or Fire it By Hand The idea of a cheap, DIY, fully automatic airsoft gun is pretty enthralling on its own, but what if I told you there was not only a $5 burst fire model you can fire by hand, but also a backpack mounted, flamethrower-style variant? Amateur pellet-gun armament just got real. Nighthawkinlight, mastermind behind the original soda bottle airsoft firearm now presents us with two modifications that can make it even cooler, in two distinct ways. A DIY airsoft gun upgrade tree, if you will. Read More »
	Own a 1984 Steve Jobs Lithograph by Norman Seeff Photographer Norman Seeff recounts the session wherein he took some now-famous photographs of Steve Jobs, calling the evocative shot an "electromagnetic rendition of what was going on," citing Steve Jobs having a "slight Mona Lisa quality to that knowing smile" because he is envisioning "how what he has on his lap is going to impact the future." You can now own a lithograph of the iconic image of Steve Jobs having what Seeff feels was a Mona Lisa moment, available for purchase almost 30 years after it was taken. Read More »
	Turn an Innocent Bicycle Into a Death Machine With a Bicycle-Mounted Chainsaw Taking the classic paper route to a whole new level, this innocent bicycle has been fitted with a chainsaw, amusingly attached so if the wheels are turning, the chainsaw is spinning. One might assume this is simply a funny project, but the depth of how-to videos sitting over on YouTube is somewhat astonishing. If only the titular paperboy in Paperboy rode one of these, that skateboarder never would've had a chance. Read More »
	The Milky Way and Aurora Rise Over South Dakota [Video] Just a quick reminder from filmmaker Randy Halverson: The universe is a beautiful, wonderful place. Or at the very least, South Dakota looks pretty great in a long-exposure time lapse video. Read More »
	Geekolinks: 2/19 Ever wonder what they're listening to at Mojang? (Last.fm) Facebook retailers are bailing (Bloomberg) So who wants to be an iOS developer? (TNW) Everything OS X Mountain Lion aims to kill (Giz) The worst ship in Navy history (Cracked) Take Edison's job interview quiz (Mental Floss) Point Roberts, the American city in Canada (The Atlantic) (a fork in the road at a fork in the road, via Bits and Pieces) Read More »
	$425 Will Get You an Hour Long Air Tour of Cincinnati, Membership to the Mile High Club Careful readers will recall a couple that made waves for, ah, "doing the deed" while skydiving. If, like them, you're interested in joining the so-called Mile High Club but aren't interested in freefalls, then Cincinnati's Flamingo Air is probably more up your alley. For $425, couples can choose their flightplan, are given some romantic treats, and get an anything-goes hour of privacy in the back of a single-engine airplane. Be still, my heart. Read More »
	Swedish Man Survived Being Trapped in Car For Months, Hibernated "Like a Bear" There's a pretty incredible story floating around the Internet today about a 45 year-old Swedish man who was rescued from his car after apparently being trapped inside without food for months. Some snowmobilers came across the vehicle buried in snow on a forest path, not far from the northern city of Umea. His rescuers were surprised to find someone inside, wrapped in a sleeping bag, and even more surprised when the man managed to gasp out that he'd been in the car since December 19th. Read More »