Nerd Nite Philly

Posts Tagged ‘technology’

Nerd Nite #97: Post-Apocalyptic Life, Tech Addiction, Baby Yoda

The first Nerd Nite of 2020 (which just so happens to be our tenth anniversary year) is TONIGHT!

Here’s what you can expect:

Jason Tabrys, “Let’s Brightside the Post Apocalypse!”

In this satirical talk, pop culture critic Jason Tabrys tries to find the silver lining in what film, TV, and fiction has told us about our dystopian future.

Bio: Jason Tabrys is a pop culture bon vivant whose work can be found across the far reaches of the Internet.

Charmaine Esinger, “Treatment of Tech Addiction”

Tech addiction can fall under the umbrella of video game, screen-time, internet, digital and social media addiction. In this talk, psychoeducation will be provided on how tech addiction mirrors other addictive cycles and co-occurs with mental health conditions. We will focus on identification of tech addiction, recent research findings, as well as common treatment modalities for enabling healthy and sustainable digital media use.

Bio: Charmaine Ensinger, LMFT, is a Clinical Supervisor and CBT Mental Health Therapist. She works at Wedge Recovery Center – Frankford Enhanced Outpatient Mental Health Facility which works with the low-income North Philadelphia community.

Chris Cummins & Jason Tabrys, “Pop Culture Cuteness Battle”

Join Chris and Jason as they pit Baby Yoda, BB-8, Baby Groot, Babu Frick, and Baby Sonic the Hedgehog against each other for an interactive battle royale to determine pop culture’s cutest creature. Think of it as Sophie’s Choice with puppets!

Wednesday, January 8th. 7:30pm. $5. Frankford Hall, 1210 Frankford Avenue. (There is an ATM on site and a Wells Fargo up the street).

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Tags: Baby Yoda, Philadelphia, Philly, pop culture, Post-Apocalypse, Tech Addiction, technology |

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Nerd Nite No. 28, August 7, 2013

Hey Nerds! August – so much good in August! 1) the Nerd Nite Global Fest up in Brooklyn from August 16-18 featuring our own Rocky Parker talking about serpent scents and sex and Trevor McElroy talking about Dolley Madison and beer brewing in Revolutionary times. We are so excited to have two Philly reps! 2) Heck yeah!! We’ve been nominated for a Philly Geek Award in the category of Event of the Year! Thanks so much to everyone that wrote in to nominate us. The awards ceremony is on August 17th, and we’ll be there. 3) The August Philly Nerd Nite is Wednesday the 7th, and we have a great show planned. Details:

Wednesday, August 7, 2013 doors at 7:00, show at 7:30 sharp Frankford Hall at Frankford and Girard $5 cover gets you a night of nerdy fun, plus food and drink specials

The lectures at hand:

“The Industrial Uses of Fungus” by Samuel Bledsoe

When people hear “Mushroom research” their automatic response is either drugs or the black mold that grows in the shower. However, people have been using it to help make things for centuries, such as food and beer. I’ll be focusing on 6 species – Aspergillus niger and oryzae, Trichoderma Reesei and harzianum, Rhizopus stolonifer, and Pencillium chrysogenum. They are used for bio-control, bio-chemistry, medicine, and food, and play an important part in our daily lives.

“The Psychology of a Cosplayer” by Jo Pincushion

You’ve seen them at comic shows, Star Trek conventions and pretty much everywhere else nerds gather: cosplayers. But what inspires men and women of all ages and backgrounds to dress up like their favorite pop culture characters? In this speech, Jo Pincushion — a cosplayer herself — explores the mindset of those who enjoy transforming their appearance into that of their comic book and celluloid heroes. Bio: Jo Pincushion is a Philadelphia area writer/performer who regularly contributes to Geekadelphia, The Real Stan Lee, Things Women Want, Quirk Books and Rock on Philly. She is also the host of the Pincushion Podcast, and will be teaching night courses on Tim Burton and horror films at Main Line School Night in the fall. For more information on all of her endeavors, visit http://www.jopincushion.com

“My Life, My Digital Memory, In Over 11,000 Tweets” by Thomas Dixon

Just over one year ago, the Nerd Nite audience bore witness to my talk, “Traumatic Brain Injury? Technologically Beyond It!”, in which I shared both how I had developed episodic memory loss in light of having been hit by a car while I was on a run AND my extensive use of technology to replace my episodic memory function. Essentially, I have used my iPhone’s calendar as a prospective memory aid and my private Twitter feed as a retrospective memory aid, tweeting my life’s events as I see fit. These strategies provide so much information about one’s own life, particularly as there are now ~11.5k tweets over the span of two years, seven months, and eleven days (or 954 days, but who’s counting?), that it felt fitting to dig into the details of my “digital memory” to present what’s in it. Also, the question arises: Will we all make the switch to digital memory someday?

Bio: He’s back! Thomas Dixon returns to Nerd Nite with this talk, just over a year since his last NN appearance. He has since kept himself occupied with his Masters of Education program in educational psychology at Temple University (and it’s over half-way done now! He can see the light!), resuming his New Year’s Eve trips by being in Amsterdam for NYE 2013, and joining an archaeological survey team in Belize for the excavation of Mayan ruins for two weeks this past month. While all of that is exciting, it’s for returning to Nerd Nite that this nerd is excited!

And! Featuring Chiptunes by Storm Blooper aka Chris De Pew

Posted in Uncategorized |

Tags: cosplay, fungus, geekadelphia, memory, psychology, technology, weird science |

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Nerd Nite No. 18, September 19, 2012

Hey guys!

Oktoberfest is here! We at Nerd Nite are amped up to celebrate it with you in as nerdy a way as possible.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012
doors at 7:00, show at 7:30
Frankford Hall at Frankford & Girard
$5 cover

On tap:

“Becoming German: Redefining “Pennsylvania Dutch” in the 19th Century” by Zachary Langley

The so called “Pennsylvania Dutch”, a German ethnic group, began arriving in Pennsylvania in the 17thcentury. Over the course of nearly 200 years, they created a unique folk culture in the colony, and then state, of Pennsylvania. Sharing a common langauge, agricultural background, and often from similar regions of the German states, this group became a uniquely American culture, that is until the arrival of so called “New German” in the middle of the 1800’s. The noticable differences between these groups would spark a curiosity for many Pennsylvania Dutch to understand their place in a new German ethnic diaspora. The result was what has been termed the “Germanization” movement focused largely in the city of Philadelphia among urban Pennsylvania Dutch during the late 19th century. This presentation will explore the history of these two immigration movements, their differences and commonalities, and the attempts by the Pennsylvania Dutch to redefine their culture by rediscovering their European roots.Bio: Zach Langley is a Ph. D. candidate in American Studies at Penn State Harrisburg, focusing on Folk Life and American History. He is a emerging expert on Pennsylvania Dutch culture and Pennsylvania History. His pending dissertation is focused on the effects of the rise of industrialized culture and modern class structures during the Victorian Era on Pennsylvania Dutch identity. He is also the Director of Education for The Colonial Pennsylvania Plantation in Media, Pennsylvania.

“How Dolley Madison Helped Bring German Beer to America… Connecting historic beer technology with other facets of American food history.” by Trevor McElroy

Pennsylvania has the country’s oldest brewery and ice cream company, but have you ever wondered how people were able to enjoy ice cream or a cold lager before refrigerators? Or did you know cider, olive oil, and wine were produced using pretty similar methods throughout colonial America? This talk will discuss the connections between historic American beer, cider, and food technologies and how you can see the remains now.

Bio: Trevor McElroy is a Philly tour guide and “free lance historian”. He gives all types of tours in and around Philly, and has been a guide at Bartram’s Garden for a several years. He is also an Association of Phila. Tour Guides (APT) certified guide and board member.

“Water in America: What we can do to save our freshwater and what Great Lakes Brewing Co does to help.” by Mark Weinmann

Bio: Mark Weinman is the regional sales manager for Great Lakes Brewery. People appreciate him for his love of beer and soccer but resent him for graduating from St. Joes. He lives in Philly with his wife and daughter, and he knows a lot about water and isn’t afraid to admit it.

With accordion music in between speakers!
Don Bitterlich began playing the accordion at age seven and has hooked ever since. During his college years Don balanced his love of accordion and playing on Temple University’s soccer and football teams. He went on to play professionally for the Seattle Seahawks before returning to the Philadelphia region, performing accordion sets as often as he can.

Posted in Uncategorized |

Tags: accordionists, beer, beer brewing, German history, history, oktoberfest, refrigeration, technology, water |

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Nerd Nite No. 16, July 11, 2012

Dearest Nerds,

Please do join us for the next Nerd Nite:

Wednesday, July 11, 2012
doors at 7:00, show at 7:30
Frankford Hall at Frankford & Girard
$5 cover

“BEER MYTHS DEBUNKED!” by Suzanne Woods of Allagash Brewing Co. and Mark Weinman of Great Lakes Brewing Co.
Let’s debunk some beer myths. Why are triples lighter than dubbels? Why the fancy schmancy chalice for the aforementioned beers? Who put sugar in my beer? Why the skunk? I’m bloated and it’s all beer’s fault! Dark beer = strong beer. Suzanne will debunk some age-old myths and hopes to help people to become better beer lovers, tasters and activists. Mark will share his brewery’s story – What makes Great Lakes so, well . . . GREAT. He will execute a tutored tasting of the Wright Pils and Dortmunder Gold which Frankford Hall runs regularly.

Bios: Suzanne Woods has been slinging and singing about beer in Philly since 2001. She founded In Pursuit of Ale, a lady-centric beer clubs in June of 2005. She judged the World Beer Awards in 2007 and won the 2009 Memphis Taproom “Mystery Beer weekend challenge” by identifying 27 out of 30 beers. In other words, she drinks A LOT. She spends her days cruising I-95 as the Mid-Atlantic market manager for Allagash Brewing Co. Mark Weinman is the regional sales manager for Great Lakes Brewery. People appreciate him for his love of beer and soccer but resent him for graduating from St. Joes. He knows a lot about water and isn’t afraid to admit it.

“What is Float Glass?” by Jill Betters
Listen people, the stuff in your doors and windows just didn’t appear out of thin air. Come on down for a brief introduction to the materials and manufacturing processes of float glass, the sexiest building product out there today. There’s enough material to fill at least three hours, so bring tomatoes for the 20 minute mark.

Bio: Jill Betters spent five years working in the glass industry not using her Chemistry degree. She knows entirely too much about the insulating properties of spacer systems and fenestration heat transfer. Most of her nerding is now done via articles in Scientific American and beer “research”. Jill lives in Fishtown and spends a lot of her free time wreaking havoc in the neighborhood association.

“Traumatic Brain Injury? Technologically Beyond It!” by Thomas Dixon
Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) has been labeled the “signature injury” of the Iraq war because of the concussive forces at hand in explosions, which soldiers are surviving through in greater numbers due to improvements in body armor. Apparently, being hit by a car can lead to a similar presentation of symptoms, as had happened in my case. I ended up with an episodic memory deficit (i.e. difficulty with being able to keep track of my life’s events), while all other areas of functioning remained intact. In this talk, I aim to show how certain strategies, in light of currently available technology, have allowed me to both compensate for and go far beyond what is possible in organic episodic memory function.

Bio: One of Philly’s nerdy native sons, Thomas Dixon kept himself busy during college with mood disorder research in child and adolescent psychiatry at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and teaching ESL to immigrants. After coming back from teaching middle school students in S. Korea, and while preparing to enter medical school, his life changed drastically on a run on 11/22/10…

AND:
Music by Beta Test, a small ensemble playing contemporary classical music, video game/geek soundtracks, and rock music.

Posted in Uncategorized |

Tags: beer, beer brewing, brain injury, brains, glass, materials science, neuroscience, self-optimization, technology |

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