television

06
Mar
2016

Mythbusters Finale

I’m not usually one to get sappy or emotional over the ending of a TV series (ok, maybe The West Wing a long time ago) but the final episode of MythBusters was tonight and it’s truly the end of a great era. It started more “water cooler” conversations than can be counted. It’s put so many words and terms into public view. I mean, really, who would know what ballistics gel or ANFO is if not for seeing it on MythBusters.

It’s also given us catch phrases that stuck with us. Who could ever forget “Jamie wants big boom,” “Am I missing an eyebrow?” or “When in doubt, C4!” Of course, my favorites are still “I reject your reality and substitute my own,” “Failure is always an option,” and “Anything worth doing is worth overdoing!”As much fun as it it to see the guys (sometimes gratuitously) blow things up, there was a more important role played by MythBusters over the past 13 years. Adam and Jamie showed us that the scientific method can be fun and rewarding. They also showed that almost any problem can be worked out and resolved using science, engineering and patience.

In particular, they taught the younger generation (or two) that this might be something they want to do for a living. I guarantee that our country and many others around the world have MANY more scientists and engineers because of MythBusters and I’m sure there are so many more students at every level studying science, technology, engineering or math (aka STEM) right now because Adam and Jamie taught them it’s fun, exciting and cool.

Think about that… A TV show that was meant to entertain, educate and have fun with common myths and misperceptions, starring two guys that none of us had heard of 13 years ago, managed to play a real part in shaping the future of the science and engineering communities. Who would have thought that was possible? Well, OK, I know who thought that… every single one of us who ran into work or school on 24 Jan 2003 and said “OMG, you have to see this cool new show that was on Discovery Channel last night!!!”

Posted by Michael in Randomness
02
Dec
2007

Deadliest Catch Returns Soon

 I just happened to read that the Discovery Channel is is going ot start airing Season 4 of The Deadliest Catch in only a few months. I know I’ve talked about this show before in the blog so I won’t describe it again, but check out the Deadliest Catch Blog to learn more about what’s going on with the show. That’s where I found out it’s due to come back on in April.

Posted by Michael in Interesting Links
13
Jun
2007

Farewell Mr. Wizard

Mr. WizardYesterday the guy who got me interested in technology passed away. Mr. Wizard, whose real name was actually Don Herbert, created and starred in a show in the 1950’s called Watch Mr. Wizard. That show went off the air more than a decade before I was born.

If you grew up in the 1980’s, you more than likely grew up with your eyes glued to the only TV channel for kids, Nickelodeon. Most people loved Nickelodeon for You Can’t Do That on Television. However, I was way more excited when 1983 rolled around and Mr. Wizard returned to TV on Mr. Wizard’s World. Sure it was kind of campy and those kids were just a little too excited about helping out Mr. Wizard with his experiments, but at the the time, I would have given ANYTHING to be one of those kids!

Mr. Wizard had a way of making science make sense by using everyday household items with the random really cool items thrown in like a Jacob’s Ladder, a Van de Graaf generator or even a computer with a black and green screen that ran BASIC!

You can learn much more about the man who inspired so many kids at his website www.mrwizardstudios.com. You can even purchase DVD’s of his shows on the website. I’m tempted to order them all.

Posted by Michael in Life, Randomness, Technology
13
Jun
2007

Farewell Mr. Wizard

Mr. WizardYesterday the guy who got me interested in technology passed away. Mr. Wizard, whose real name was actually Don Herbert, created and starred in a show in the 1950’s called Watch Mr. Wizard. That show went off the air more than a decade before I was born.

If you grew up in the 1980’s, you more than likely grew up with your eyes glued to the only TV channel for kids, Nickelodeon. Most people loved Nickelodeon for You Can’t Do That on Television. However, I was way more excited when 1983 rolled around and Mr. Wizard returned to TV on Mr. Wizard’s World. Sure it was kind of campy and those kids were just a little too excited about helping out Mr. Wizard with his experiments, but at the the time, I would have given ANYTHING to be one of those kids!

Mr. Wizard had a way of making science make sense by using everyday household items with the random really cool items thrown in like a Jacob’s Ladder, a Van de Graaf generator or even a computer with a black and green screen that ran BASIC!

You can learn much more about the man who inspired so many kids at his website www.mrwizardstudios.com. You can even purchase DVD’s of his shows on the website. I’m tempted to order them all.

Posted by Michael in Life, Randomness, Technology
23
Aug
2005

CFH is back!!!

For those of you who enjoyed watching The Screen Savers and Call for Help on ZDTV/TechTV, I hvae GREAT news! For the past year or 2 Call for Help 2.0 has been on the Canadian version of G4TechTV. (This network is NOT owned by Comcast, the company that bought the American version of TechTV and turned it into G4 while firing most of the staff.)

The new Call for Help show is really a mix of Call for Help and the Screen Savers. It’s hosted by Leo Laporte still, but he also has 2 co-hosts, Amber MacArthur and Andy Walker.

While this show is available in Canada on G4TechTV Canada and in Australia on the HOW TO Channel, it was not available in the United States. That is changing! Beginning on 29 August, Call for Help can be seen on G4 at 1100 EDT weekdays!!!

I’m setting my DVR right now! Downloading the torrents of the show was becoming tiresome.

Posted by Michael in Randomness, Technology