My New Site!

The new site is up and running!

I know I’m sounding like a broken record, but the new RSS Feed is:

http://feeds.feedburner.com/AQuantumOfKnowledge

If you are reading this in Google Reader or some other RSS feed reader, you won’t get anymore updates from this feed, you’ll have to update to the new one.

Thanks for reading over the past year and I hope you enjoy the new site!

 

 

 

 

THIS BLOG IS MOVING!!!

Well, that’s it everybody. While WordPress.com has been good to me, I’ve decided to move to a self-hosted site.

This will be the FINAL post for this site. If you wish to keep receiving updates (or want to become a brand-spankin’ new subscriber!)…

Update your RSS Feed!!!

 

The new feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/AQuantumOfKnowledge

If you are an email subscriber, you can go to the new website and enter in your email. Of course the new site is:

http://www.aquantumofknowledge.com

A heartfelt thanks to everyone who has been reading over the past year! Hopefully you will all follow me to my new home.

Happy Reading!

(Note: All previous posts will get linked to the new site, so if you have linked to my site previously there should be no need to update anything.)

Follow Me on Google+!

I’m not sure on the grammatical rules associated with an exclamation point following a ‘plus’ sign, but that is a topic perhaps for The Oatmeal.

I’ve just joined Google+!!! I’m enjoying it so far, though I still have to explore a lot that it has to offer.

YOU should add me to one of your Circles, ’cause as you can see on my Google+ counter on the right hand side, I’m currently showing a big fat goose-egg :(

(Note: If you are still on the old website, you won’t see this counter. Just one of the few perks of updating your subscriptions to my new website!)

So check me out. I’ll be posting news stories and stuff that I find interesting. For the full experience, remember to follow me on Twitter as well!

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REMINDER: This blog is moving! The new location is http://www.aquantumofknowledge.com/ 

The new RSS Feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/AQuantumOfKnowledge

Remember to update your subscriptions! This site will no longer be supported after September 30, 2011. 

Thanks! 

Ryan

Star Trek: 45 Years of Awesome!

It was 45 years ago today that we were first introduced to Star Trek (not counting “The Cage”; superfans know what I’m talking about).

The cultural and even scientific implications of Star Trek are incalculable. The first interracial kiss on television was shown on an episode of The Original Series between Captain Kirk and Lt. Uhura. Current devices like the tablet computer and catchphrases like “Beam me up, Scotty” all permeate our lives today. (Although, Kirk never actually said “Beam me up, Scotty”, but I digress.)

The Original Series, as well as the later incarnations, have been sources of inspriation and wonder for scientists, engineers, inventors, writers and countless others.

The Space Shuttle “Enterprise” was named after the Starship “Enterprise”

I’m certain that my minor obsession with Star Trek led to my 6 (almost 7) years of studying physics at the University of Western Ontario. Science has always been a passion of mine, and my life is now better for it, and I owe part of that to Star Trek.

Personally, my favourite series was The Next Generation, and I think I am in good company. TNG benefited from seeing what worked for The Original Series, and giving it a good modernization.

I also quite enjoyed Deep Space Nine. Opinions are quite divided on this series, but I felt the main story arc was a fresh detraction from tradional Trek that it was well worth watching.

Recently, I had a rousing game of “Star Trek: Scene It?” with some fellow nerd friends. When my team did not answer the final questions correctly (did you know that Lt. Reginald Barclay was on an episode of The A-Team?) we moved on to a discussion of what each of our favourite episodes were.

For me, the episode that sticks out the most is The Next Generation episode “Cause and Effect”. The plot involves the crew of the Enterprise-D getting caught in a time loop and attempting to send messages to their “past selves” in order to break out of loop. The intensity of the episode is kept pretty high as the time loop always ended with the destruction of the Enterprise. (The episode also has a nice little cameo by Kelsey Grammar!)

So, what is YOUR favourite Trek episode? Any series, any season, lemme know!

Now, I think I will go celebrate the rest of this day by watching a few of my favourite episodes and enjoying a nice cup of tea.

Earl Grey.

Hot.

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REMINDER: This blog is moving! The new location is http://www.aquantumofknowledge.com/ 

Remember to update your subscriptions! This site will go dead on September 30, 2011. 

Thanks! 

Ryan

So Close, Yet So Far Away…

Anyone else anxiously awaiting “A Memory of Light”, the final book of the “Wheel of Time” series?

Brandon Sanderson (who took over the series when Robert Jordan passed) has a progress bar on his website.

Which, while I very much appreciate seeing the progress, only builds my anticipation. It’s like online parcel tracking…

The book is supposed to be done in March 2012. I guess I’ll just have to tough it out :(

______________________________________________________________________

REMINDER: This blog is moving! The new location is http://www.aquantumofknowledge.com/ 

Remember to update your subscriptions! This site will go dead on September 30, 2011. 

Thanks! 

Ryan

“A Quantum of Knowledge” is Moving!

I know, I know. I’ve been talking about it forever. But, it is finally happening. “A Quantum of Knowledge” is getting a new home.

I’m moving from this WordPress.com site to a self-hosted site. The advantages will be numerous, the excitement palpable, and the blog will have a shiny new look!

The unfortunate thing is that subscribers will have to update their links/bookmarks

So the new address for the site is http://www.aquantumofknowledge.com/  (I know, VERY original)

The new RSS Feed is: http://feeds.feedburner.com/AQuantumOfKnowledge

If you are an email subscriber, please go to the new website and fill in your email there to update your subscription. It will be on the right hand side of the page and looks like this:

Until the end of September, I will cross-post everything from both sites, with a gentle reminder to everyone to update their subscriptions.

At the end of the month, this site will go dead and only the new site will be maintained.

Thank you to everyone for reading/subscribing! I hope you will all follow me to my new home!

Talk To Your Kids…About Star Wars

Thanks to all my dedicated readers who have stuck with me through this dry-spell of posts.

I’m going to start ramping back up to roughly a post per day. Where better to start than a Star Wars-related YouTube video?

I know its a comedy, but it’s an important issue. Jar Jar Binks is NOT cool!

Inspiring Words From an Inspiring Man

I’ll begin this post with the obligatory apology for the lack of posts recently.

The truth is I just got a promotion at work so I’m quite busy with new responsibilities. I’ve also gotten engaged! Hooray! (read more at my girlfriend’s fiancee’s blog here)

But the main reason I’m writing today is to share the sad news that one of Canada’s top politicians, Jack Layton, has passed away.

 

Jack Layton in 2008. Photo: Matt Jiggins

For my non-Canadian readers, Layton was the leader of the New Democratic Party of Canada, a left-leaning political party.

Layton was charismatic, funny, and very likable. Even those who did not agree with his politics could not argue with his enthusiasm.

Unfortunately, Layton passed away last night after a battle with cancer. He did, however, leave a final note to Canadians, written just 2 days ago, when it became clear that he may not be around much longer.

The full text is available here, but I wanted to share an excerpt with all of you.

Canada is a great country, one of the hopes of the world. We can be a better one – a country of greater equality, justice, and opportunity. We can build a prosperous economy and a society that shares its benefits more fairly. We can look after our seniors. We can offer better futures for our children. We can do our part to save the world’s environment. We can restore our good name in the world. We can do all of these things because we finally have a party system at the national level where there are real choices; where your vote matters; where working for change can actually bring about change…

My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.

All my very best,
Jack Layton

It is unfortunate that people need to die before such words garner much attention, but hopefully Layton’s fight for better lives for working Canadians will not have been in vain.

 

Happy Canada Day!!!

Wow. Soooooo busy lately! Don’t worry, I’m still alive. New posts coming soon.

But in the meantime, here is a great Canada Day song that I guarantee you will watch more than once!

My Adventures at the Calgary Comic Expo

Despite being a lifetime nerd, I have never been to a sci-fi or comic book convention!

I know, I know. The lack of nerd cred on my part is somewhat disheartening.

But don’t worry, because my Comic expo virginity has now been taken by the Calgary Comic Expo.

I had a really great time. I got to meet some great people, saw some live StarCraft action, and even got a chance to hear William Shatner speak and take some questions from the audience.

What blew me away most though were the costumes. The amount of work that must go into some of them was astounding. Here are a few samples:

Wolverine and...someone I recognize but can't remember the name.

The contact lenses show a nice level of dedication to the costume.

X-Men. And woman. X-People I suppose.

Bob from ReBoot. I was impressed at the number of ReBoot fans.

Classic

Dude behind him is checking out his ass, I think.

The hands look a little big to me.

Thundercats! Awesome!

Elektra, some dude, and Poison Ivy.

The one on the right is a different shade of green. Maybe she was sick?

Creepy. Creepy/Awesome.

William Shatner also gave a talk to a crowd of about 4000. He was made an honorary Calgarian by the Mayor of Calgary, and took some audience questions.

One such question went like this:

Girl: This question is from my Dad. What was it like being on ‘Star Trek’?

Shatner: Tell your dad that I was cleaning green paint off myself every night!

Crowd: *Applause*

He was actually a very funny guy and very entertaining.

I also found out that DC comics is rebooting all of its stories, so maybe I can start reading comic books and actually know whats going on!

All in all, a great time and lots of great people. I’ll be back again next year!