Oddity Central

Oddity Central

Sci-Fi Speed Dating – Because Geeks Need Love Too

Posted: 18 Jan 2013 05:22 AM PST

It’s hard out there for a geek, especially when it comes to finding a date, but thanks to events like Sci-Fi Speed Dating, comic-book and video game enthusiasts actually have a chance of finding a special someone who shares their interests.

Sci-Fi Speed Dating is an event that takes place at Comic Cons around the USA, giving geeks the chance to meet like-minded members of the opposite sex, and hopefully lay the foundation for a real relationship. Ryan Glitch, the man who came up with the idea for Sci-Fi Speed dating, actually met his girlfriend at one of these events and is now on a mission to help fellow geeks find their Princess Leia, Catwoman, or whatever other fictional character they might fancy. He travels the country attending Comic Con events looking for single male and female attendants willing to give his speed dating session a try. His idea was so popular that Sci-Fi Speed Dating actually got its on series on TLC, called “Geek Love”.

Photo: Nerdsburgh.com 

In order to avoid stalking issues, no one gives their real names at Sci-Fi Speed Dating events. Instead, everyone is assigned a number, and at the end of dozens of rounds, they put the numbers they liked down on paper and hope their number shows up on the other person’s list. Glitch, who calls himself the “Geek Dr. of Love”, says some of the people who met at one of these things have gotten engaged, but as with other events of this sort, it doesn’t always work out. He makes sure to give everyone a comforting speech at the end, about how it’s ok if they didn’t get the phone numbers they wanted. A geek speed dating event is pretty straightforward – participants have three minutes to find out as much as possible about each other, before guys switch seats, in order to make sure everyone has a chance to know each other. Only, while at most speed dating events people ask questions related to their personal interests and professions, at Sci-Fi Speed Dating, people want to know about each others’ favorite anime characters, their preferred video game genre, and stuff like that. These geeks are really serious about their passions, so if you want to stand a chance at one of these things, you’d better have some geeky knowledge.

Photo: Everyday Economist

In an interview with Neredsbourgh’s Erin Wolf, back in June of 2012,  Ryan “Geek Dr. of Love” Glitch said 8 couples who met at Sci-Fi Speed Dating were currently engaged, and 37 other were dating seriously. “And those are just the people that check in with us on Facebook. I’m sure there’s more but not everybody is on Facebook,” he added. Apparently, his dating idea has become really popular, and they’re actually had to turn down thousands of people at some Comic Con events. It turns out geeks need love, too.

 

Source: Sci-Fi Speed Dating via Laughing Squid

Sci-Fi Speed Dating – Because Geeks Need Love Too was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

The Amazing Rice Grain Artworks of Chen Forng-Shean

Posted: 18 Jan 2013 02:55 AM PST

Taiwanese artist Chen Forng-Shean uses little things like grains of rice and sand to create awe-inspiring miniature artworks. The self-taught artist spends up to several months in front of a magnifying glass, working on a single piece.

Chen Forng-Shean has gained international recognition for his amazing talent of making incredible works of art out of the simplest and tiniest things, but the 58-year-old Taiwanese wasn’t always a miniature artist. Although he had an interest in the arts from a very young age and developed an interest in drawing and calligraphy, after his military service Chen got a job at the Central Engraving and Printing Plant, a division of Central Bank of China. It wasn’t a dream job, but it introduced him to various engraving tools he would later use in his artistic career. Each day after work, for 10 years, Chen Forng-Shean ran into his art studio, located on the second floor of his house, where he would work on his miniatures. Since miniature making was a disappearing art, he had no masters to consult with and learn from, so he had to not only develop his own tools and techniques, but also his very own style. It was a painstaking and time-consuming practice, but Chen slowly started to create amazing works of art, and the world began to notice.

Photo: Chen Forng-Shean

“The seemed tiny objects actually hide the universe without boundaries. Each project takes me on an adventure of wonders; the wisdoms hidden within are beyond my grasping. The moment the project is done, the satisfaction is so rewarding that it can't be replaced by money", the Taiwanese master says about his art. In order to create such detailed artworks on tiny canvases like a rice grain or a sesame seed, an artist needs more than aesthetic sense. He requires great patience, a high-level of concentration and physical endurance. Chen often needs to hold his breath for more than a minute and at the same time coordinate his muscles in order to keep his hand from trembling and ruining the delicate artwork. For years he has learned to control his breathing, and practices QiGong to enhance the endurance of his hands and the steadiness of his body.

Photo: Chen Forng-Shean

Over the years, Chen Forng-Shean has experimented with different mediums, from various seeds to grains of sand, and even thin noodles, but I found his rice grain carvings most impressive of all. The level of detail is simply mind-blowing, considering the scale of the artworks. The miniature master can take over a month to complete a single work of art on a rice grain just 0.5 cm long and 0.3 cm wide.

Photo: Chen Forng-Shean

Photo: Chen Forng-Shean

Photo: Chen Forng-Shean

 

Source: Minature.org.tw

The Amazing Rice Grain Artworks of Chen Forng-Shean was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

Indian Student Invents Electrifying Alarm Clock that Shocks You Out of Bed

Posted: 18 Jan 2013 01:16 AM PST

Tired of waking up very late and missing his university lectures, Indian student Sankalp Sinha decided to do something about his problem – he invented a special alarm clock that “rewards” the owner with an electric shock if he tries to press the snooze button.

19-year-old Sankalp Sinha came up with the idea for his shocking alarm clock a couple of years ago, when he was having trouble getting up in the morning to attend university classes. He had developed a habit of hitting the snooze button and going back to sleep, so he started thinking about a solution that would force him out of bed. A student of automobile engineering at Sharda University in Uttar Pradesh, India, Sinha came up with an idea for an alarm clock that administers a small electric shock via the very popular snooze button. "The shock it administers is harmless but is enough to energize you", the young inventor says, adding that users will be able to adjust how strong the electric shock they get is. He added that the power of his Good Morning Sing N Shock clock will be a fraction of the 50,000 volts delivered by the standard Taser gun. Pretty weak, but you want the thing to wake you up, not put you to sleep, right?

The electric current is administered when the sleepy user presses the aluminum-coated snooze button, and Sankalp assures us not even the deepest sleeper will be able to ignore his creation. ’I think it will help a lot of people who have the same problem as I do,’ says the inventor, who is currently in negotiations with several manufacturers about getting his Good Morning Sing N Shock alarm clock into mass production. If it ever hits retailer shelves, it will probably sell for about $100.

I like Sankalp Sinha’s idea of a shocking wake up call, but if I had to choose, I’d go for the annoying Ramos, an alarm clock that doesn’t have a snooze button and can only be turned off by punching in an elaborate code that requires enough brain power to ensure you stay up.

Source: Sankalp Sinha

Indian Student Invents Electrifying Alarm Clock that Shocks You Out of Bed was originally posted at OddityCentral.com

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