The popular deck building game, Ascension is no stranger at Forevergeek. So when we fond out that a certain Alan Gerding planned an Ascension Wedding Proposal to his girlfriend Crystol Shelton, we were absolutely delighted.

Alan contacted Justin Gary’s crew asking for help. He wanted to do an elaborate wedding proposal during one of their gaming sessions. It appears that Ascension was the all time game of choice between the couple. For those unfamiliar with the game, we’ve done three features here:

Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer
Ascension: Return of the Fallen
An Interview with Justin Gary, Creator of Ascension

Watch the proposal below. Alan caught everything on his Flip camera. The video is hilarious because Crystol was too stunned to even notice the ring.

Alan wanted to surprise his girlfriend by having a special card constructed which he was to shuffle into the deck. The guys from Gary Games were glad to oblige and they developed a card, illustrated by Eric Sabee himself, a staple artist throughout the Ascension series. He was able to capture Alan and Crystol’s faces into the card.

Ring of Gerd was the card they developed under Alan’s careful guidance. It’s crafted in the style of the Lifebound faction (makes sense) with their faces captured in Sabee fashion.

The flavor text is romantic-geeky: “Crystol, life is but a game. As long as we have one another, we shall never lose.” Ring of Gerd gives infinite LOVE and can never be discarded or banished.

Gary Games also created a promotional card for actual play called Ring of Life which will be made available this February at Game Day Locations.

As a card, Ring of Life is especially useful if you build your deck around Lifebound cards. Not only does it give you one extra white for casting, it also becomes useful for drawing more cards when used in tandem with the new Unite ability in Storm of Souls. If you go Lifebound, you’ll be able to draw through your deck much faster while gaining Victory Points / whites when you draw cards like Lionheart and Starchild. The ring converts all heroes into Lifebound heroes allowing you to expand your casting pool and gaining points. You’ll definitely steamroll through you deck.

Once again, congratulations to Alan and Crystol!

There are measures you can take to prevent your stuff being stolen when on the road. The most known advice is to use non-expensive looking bags to keep for example your camera gear or laptop. I for one always carry a messenger bag which makes it almost impossible to be stolen by a passerby while I have it on me.

The following illustration pokes fun at securing your valuable possessions and concealing that you carry expensive stuff around.

What makes this illustration so fun is that most of us deep down like to show off our possessions, it doesn’t mean we are superficial. No one would actually use these tips which even though they are so ridiculous some of them are quite ingenious.

The illustration also “insults” everyone who owns IKEA furniture and a DELL laptop which is a large portion of the people.

Have you ever taken measures to conceal that you carry expensive gadgets with you?

I’m sure everyone who needs internet to do their job or even those who don’t spend at least an hour or two a day mindless clicking through all sites like mentioned above and more. This comic aptly named “Jus’ Checkin’” is something we can all identify with.

Jus’ Checkin’ by Luke Pearson.

I do this everyday, only now I partially get paid for doing it as it is research needed to write online articles. Every web geek worth their cred is doing this daily to keep up their knowledge of the latest cool geek news. It’s like playing the lottery being one of the first to discover something new that just has been posted. But that requires a lot of screen time and at the end of the day just like the comic I’m ready to chuck my computer out of the window.

It’s not all bad though, reading Wikipedia is like going to the library to read, you leave with more knowledge then with which you came in.

Back to the comic itself, it is very nice done, the drawing, the concept, it’s print quality. I love coming across jewels like these, it makes all the time browsing websites worth it.

My wife and I had our first child a month ago, and I’ve been on the constant search for cool things to do with my baby. See for dads – at least for me – the baby portion of life really isn’t very eventful. After all, I’m not the baby factory, and so I’m not going to be the food source. Instead, I occasionally hang out with him on the couch, change a diaper or 12, but otherwise, it’s just not very exciting. I can’t take him to his first ballgame or anything, and it’s not like we can go check out Avatar with a stroller, so instead, I come up with way to entertain myself. Like these outfits above.

ThinkGeek is a great place for all things geeky, and these Star Trek Onesies are the hot ticket. For those of you without kids, these are the outfits a baby wears 24/7. They provide easy access for diapers, and they’re easier to clean than a pair of pants and a shirt. Plus they look cute. So throw in the fact that these are Star Trek models, and you’ve got a great looking kid on your hands. Now I wouldn’t put my child in a red shirt – that’s bad karma – but the other three are perfect. At $15.99 each they’re a touch pricey for baby clothes, but if you’ve got a convention you’re planning to attend, this should be your next purchase.

Next up is the NomNomNom bib for $7.99. True story: my kid actually says “nom” when he eats. I consider it his first words. Well, unless you count clicks and whistles. Anyways, this bib is also filed under “super cute” and is a must for any geek dad like myself. In fact, I’m going to order one right now.

1. Features matter

Given the choice between two similarly priced gadgets, one with more features and the other simply covered in crystals or other “precious” bling, you should definitely pick the feature-laden item.

Features trump bling any day. Even if you think you’re dealing with a girly geek, chances are high they are much more interested in what their new gadget can do than how much shiny stuff there is on the outside.

And definitely no Hello Kitty. Please.

Example: You might think those Swarovski crystals add a much needed wow factor, but your geek will simply be looking for the extra 2GB of memory, expansion port, megapixels, extra controllers…

2. Brand matters

If you know that your geek is after a specific brand, then it’s for a good reason. It doesn’t matter whether the reasoning (assuming you’re told it) matches your perceptions or not — it has been well researched, is there for a good reason, and is generally set in stone.

You might be tempted to buy a cheaper unit from a different manufacturer, but be aware that smiles on Christmas morning are highly unlikely if you do this.

Example: if your geek wants an Apple iPod Touch, don’t buy a Zune or something by Creative. And so on.

3. Speed matters

Don’t buy a slow gadget, either on purpose or out of naivety.

As mentioned in point two, a great deal of research will likely have gone into your geek’s choice of gear, and buying something that doesn’t do the task (quickly enough or at all) just won’t cut it.

4. Capacity matters

You’d expect this to follow point three.

If a geek has told you that the latest gadget needs 16GB of storage, it’s because that requirement has been painstakingly measured. Buying a gadget (even when all else is equal) with just 8GB of storage will leave your geek in a quandary.

Better buy the right capacity in the first place. Memory is cheaper than a broken relationship.

5. Platform matters

Please make sure that you know what computer platforms or games consoles your geek has before trying to buy software for it.

Software can be quite a personal choice as it is, but at least get the platform right.

Example: Buying a Mac user something that only runs on Windows will not go down well.

6. Power matters

Find out what most gadgets of a certain type run on, and stick to that.

For example, many geeks turn their noses up at digital cameras that don’t use lithium-ion rechargeable batteries because it’s the standard for decent cameras.

Many geeks will have invested in USB battery chargers for AA, AAA and other usually disposable batteries, but they tend not to go down so well.

7. What I want matters

The best way to know what to buy is to ask the geek, but with technology and gadgets it can be so easy to get the choice wrong because you didn’t get the product code quite right.

Why not ask your geek for their Amazon Wish List instead?

The geek may well have preferred vendors for really specialise geek stuff, but knows that nearly everyone has heard of Amazon and knows how to use it, so will oblige with a list for that purpose.

8. The Store matters

If you’re not using the Amazon store, you might want to give vouchers, but make sure they are for a store that actually sells decent geek stuff.

If you’re unsure, find out in advance. Examine old packaging lying about the house for clues.

If all else fails, money works well.

9. Snacks matter

(Photo: Terren in Virginia)

It’s not all about the gadgets. It’s about what geeks eat when they’re using them.

Sometimes, proper mealtimes fall by the wayside while a new piece of hardware or software is investigated, so find out what their favourite beverages and foodstuffs are, and buy them a large supply.

10. Duplicates matter

You can never have too many of certain items, but others are a pain to have in duplicate, so do check that your geek hasn’t already got the same, or very similar, item you’re thinking of buying.

11. Boredom matters

(Photo DaveFayram)

Some gadgets are the equivalent of socks, underwear and toiletries — useful but boring.

Items that fall into this category are USB memory sticks, cables, discs, hubs, and so on. Unless your geek has specifically asked for them, avoid them.

12. Deconstruction matters

(Photo makelessnoise)

Most geeks are sensitive enough not to disassemble their presents in front of you, but you need to understand that it’s not cool for you to be offended if one day you visit their house and find that present in bits all over the living room floor.

Maybe it went wrong, or maybe it’s being upgraded (even if it’s not supposed to be), or maybe your geek just got bored and decided to see how it works.

You might shudder at the thought of doing anything but the norm with your gadgets, but it’s merely second nature and child’s play to your geek.

So there you go. Twelve tips for buying decent presents for the geek in your life.

I can’t guarantee you’ll buy a perfect present because every geek is different, but at least you have a better chance now.

Geeks, help me out here. What tips would you give to non-geek friends and relatives in their quest to buy you decent presents?

Comet’s “Tech Census” has found something ‘amazing’ — women are comfortable with gadgets as well as men.

I know the stereotype is that guys know everything about consumer electronics, technology, the Internet and gadgets, while girls apparently just sit around cluelessly tapping away on their mobile phone as if it were no different to a remote control, but seriously… this ‘revelation’ is really nothing new.

I’ve always thought there are just as many girls as guys who are into technology. The tech industry may still be male-dominated, but I see plenty of females using the latest technology perfectly happily.

There are also plenty of people of both sexes who don’t have a clue when it comes to technology. Even there, the stereotype that the older generation has little clue doesn’t ring true.

Presumably the survey was from a cross-section of British society, and so takes in all levels of geekery.

Geek girls have been around for a long time, and they’ll probably whip your butt, too.

Photo by Googlisti

The first pair were obviously conceived by Mac fans.

Whereas the second pair come from Windows fans.

No matter. No need for a tiresome debate on Macs versus PCs.

All I can say is that this would surely work for triplets, quadruplets, and more. Just buy more “Paste” T-shirts and you’re done!

Via

1. Mens Steampunk Cufflinks Watch Movement with Gears Details

2. Industrial Steampunk Watch Cufflinks

3. Blue 20-Sided Dice d20

4. LEVEL red circuit board cufflinks

5. Red dice cufflinks

6. Green Single Tab Clear Vintage Typewriter Key Cufflinks

7. Circuit Board Cufflinks

8. Vintage Silver Dice Cufflinks

9. Vintage Telephone Keys Cufflinks

10. Robot Cufflinks

11. R2D2 Cufflinks

12. Pi Cufflinks

13. Pac-Man Cufflinks

14. Test Card Cufflinks

15. Guitar Hero Cufflinks

16. LEGO Wheels Cufflinks

17. Statistics Cufflinks

18. Spirograph Cufflinks

19. Computer Geek Cufflinks

20. Apple Cufflinks

21. Half Can Oscillator Cufflinks

22. DOS Circuit Board Cufflinks

23. SCRABBLE Tile Cufflinks

Book Worship celebrates “graphically interesting” books from the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, covering quite a lot of subjects including physics, sci-fi, maths, philosophy and fiction.

If you like the distinctively retro look you only seem to get on old reference books, this is the site to browse. The author says that he’s read most of the books displayed here, which were often “lucky finds” in tucked away bookstores.

What’s Geek The Library all about?

It’s a movement that was made possible by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. The idea is very simple and yet brilliant at the same time: focus on what individuals are passionate about AND then highlight how libraries can support these passions.

We all know how people tend to look down on libraries. They’re boring places. They’re not cool. But if you think about it, libraries are the physical manifestations of cool things such as the Internet!

In spite of my natural tendencies to “not like” Bill Gates, I cannot help but admire him for pushing this initiative. With this kind of movement, people just might pay more attention to libraries and see their significance. Oh, and I love how they turn “geek” into a verb: Geek the library! What do you geek?

Yeah, tell me, what do you geek? I geek the library!

Written by John Graham-Cumming, The Geek Atlas showcases the most significant places on earth. Significant in what way? Well, this travel book’s full title is The Geek Atlas: 128 Places Where Science and Technology Come Alive.

The title pretty much sums up this great piece of work. It features locations in the world wherein discoveries in science, math, and technology were made. Lest someone say that these discoveries are mere things of the past, the book also features places where more recent discoveries occurred and locations where significant studies are currently happening as well.

To give you a bit of a teaser, how would you like to visit these places?

-Bletchley Park in the UK, where the Enigma code was broken
-The Alan Turing Memorial in Manchester, England
-The Horn Antenna in New Jersey, where the Big Bang theory was confirmed
-The National Cryptologic Museum in Fort Meade, Maryland
-The Trinity Test Site in New Mexico, where the first atomic bomb was exploded
-The Joint Genome Institute in Walnut Creek, California

I don’t know about you, but I AM SOLD. Get a copy at Amazon for less than $20.

Cool, nerdy bike handle grips by Aaron Ross. Notice the W/hip, Spin and Hop. No mention if CAPSLOCK is disabled or not.

Get them for $8 each from Treefort Bikes.

Apparently it’s those gym-going fitness freaks that are the most self-centered.

The survey of over two-thousand British men and women already in relationships found that there was a strong correlation between geeks and their openness to pleasing a partner in bed. Four in five techies said that sex should be more about “the partner”, compared to 41% of fitness bods.

When asked by www.PS3PriceCompare.co.uk “Do you regularly use sex toys with your partner?” the respondents that worked in the tech sector – in jobs within IT such as computer analysts, web design and development – were most likely to.

Mind you, it seems general office workers and sports and fitness workers are having more sex than techies.

Mike Elsmore, who designed the survey, commented, “The response by the participants that made me giggle the most was that those of us more into gadgets and new technology were more likely to use sex toys with our partners, something that with hindsight may have been obvious before the box was ticked!”

She’s being sponsored by Memset, the aim being that her involvement will encourage more women to get into the IT industry.

“I could honestly not hope to find a better role model than Sophie; she has brains, beauty and talent, and hatters the outdated preconception that technologists are all sandal-wearing blokes with no social skills!” said Memset’s MD, Kate Craig-Wood.

The Miss Universe GB competition is organised by Vibe Models and takes place in London on the 3rd May 2009. Forty women from England, Scotland and Wales will compete for the coveted title. Proceeds from the competition go to The Joshua Foundation.

Sophie has set up a donation page. Brits can vote for Sophie by phoning 0901 656 1555 followed by 25 or texting Sophie Johnson to 84205. Deadline is this Friday, 1st May, so be quick!

Found these while surfing around eBay today. I wear cufflinks about once a year, if that (and I already have a nice blue marble-effect pair) but if I wanted to wear something that, literally, symbolizes email and Twitter, I could do worse than this pair of @ links.

They’re stainless steel, too, which means more money to spend on computer gear – none of this sterling silver nonsense here.

The auction’s only on until tomorrow (there’ll probably be another one popping up soon after) so here’s the link for now.

What follows is a list of geek tees every nerd should have, a list of perfect geek gifts for your valentine’s nerd!

(All the names of the T-shirts are clickable and start the lightbox gallery. You can browse every T-shirt in the gallery.)

Internet LULZ

• I’m tweeting this. The new hype, I’m so blogging this is for traditionalists, today you have to tweet that! Preferably with Twitpic too! (via Think Geek)
• ROFLCOPTER When text speak meets ASCII art meets internet LULZ. (via Think Geek)
• I am logged in, therefore I am, internet psychology. The “Cogito, ergo sum” of the 21st century. (via zazzle)
• University of STFU. Often you want to tell your less scientific and geeky friends to RTFM, but those who just don’t learn when to ask questions or those who always are being loud, dumb and entertaining they need a more direct language and might have to attend the University of Shut The F**k Up!. (via Think Geek)
• OMG 1337 Eye Chart. Test your eyes with this 133t eye chart. (via zazzle)

Science Tees

• Caffeine Molecule. What is geekier than the scientific display of the ultimate survival molecule? Caffeine scientifically represented on a T-shirt. That’s an addiction I proudly display! (via Think Geek)
• Classic science shirt. (via PalmerCash)
• Robot evolution. Darwinism optimized to the 21st century. Also worn by Sheldon Cooper Phd in The Big Bang. (via zazzle)
• The Mystery of e! I guess this one only applies to math nerds, so no real explanation needed. Understand it or don’t. (via Think Geek)
• Stop following me!, evolution with attitude t-shirt. Find your own way in life, n00bs! (via zazzle)

IT T-Shirts

• There’s no place like 127.0.0.1. For the system administrator there’s no place like home. (via Think Geek)
• System administrators our a special kind of species with lots of attitude… and lots of power. Imagine how they can annoy you when they decide to throttle your bandwith at work or worse even restrict your internet access. Therefore they also like to show off their superiority with shirts like this Bow before me model. (via Think Geek)
• Pwned by an admin. Go away or I’ll replace you with a very small shell shell script t-shirt. The sysadmin might not have been to the University of STFU, but will pwn you with his h4x0r skillz! (via Think Geek)

Design



• I know HTML. We all know the routine: you start a blog on blogspot. Discover that you can uglify the colors of the standard blogspot templates and because you are unemployed suddenly you decide to start your home design studio! You think this tee is for you, but wrong, it’s all in the small print! (via zazzle)
• *Personal Favorite!* The awesome Hel-F**king-Vetica shirt for typography nerds is made by noone less than design guru and head of the design director of the NYT Online Khoi Vinh and is an absolute must have!(at Wire & Twine)
• *Personal Favorite!* Keming, the result of improper kerning by David Friedman. (from zazzle)
• #FFFFFF. Somehow the display of this T-Shirt seems incorrect to me. Find the error? (via zazzle)

Monkeyness



• *Personal Favorite!* Zombies ate my brain. A great design by Dave from Blogography. I don’t know if this T-shirt is till available because Dave launches every year a special design for his blogiversary, but it’s definitely worth it. What can a geek want more? Zombies AND a monkey!
  Check out A little Geeky to see another example of Dave’s awesome art. (at Artificial Duck & Co.)
• Timmy The Monkey. Monkeys rule the world! Suffice it to say that to a geek, coder, designer or tech-head, a monkey is one’s muse. The creative force behind all killer code, l33t h4ck5, usable designs, and all around cool stuff. If you don’t have a monkey of your own, try out the Timmy the Monkey t-shirt. (via Think Geek)
• Your Chimpnazeeness May Vary, but we are honest and admit it. 98%! (via Think Geek)

Gamerz t-shirts



• *Personal Favorite!* 1-Up Mushroom t-shirt. Who doesn’t remember the days of Super Mario Bros on their Nintendo console? Revive the nostalgiac spirit with this t-shirt. (via zazzle)
• The ultimate t-shirt for gamer chicks: I pwn n00bs!. In pink! (via zazzle)
• If you can’t have any cubicle wars because… you don’t work in a cubicle d’uh, you can still show everyone how nerdy you are with this flash gun t-shirt. Also from Sheldon Cooper fame. (via PalmerCash)
• More Nintendo nostalgia with this excellent Nintendo Controller t-shirt. (via Urban Outfitters

Various Shirts



• A mashup of robots and King Kong, Robot-Kong shirt definitely deserves a spot in your wardrobe and is a perfect geek valentine gift. (via Anonymous Venice)
• Is there a better way to be green than with this recycling t-shirt? (via CafePress)
• Exploded iPhone shirt, an almost instant classic when released. Displayed in pink to fend of the feminists! (via CafePress)
• *Personal Favorite!* If you thought you wanted the previous -tshirt, wait a second and check out this awesome iPhone as designed by Leonardo t-shirt. The iPhone steampunked… on a t-shirt.. (via iSteamphone).
• It isn’t all iPhone though, apparently the Google Android platform seems to be popular too and how better to show off your preferred mobile platform than by wearing this Android hoodie? (via zazzle)
• Last but not least, what would any list be without at least one Star Wars shirt? Although there are many, Yoda is everyone’s favorite and therefore you absolutely need this Yoda t-shirt for your collection. (via zazzle)

I am aware of that this list isn’t complete at all, but now you should now what t-shirts most geeks love. I have left the binary classic There are only 10 kind of people… out on person because I can think of at least 10 people who don’t understand it but have that shirt. Suck it!

Also watch out for our upcoming Valentine Gifts for Your Geek special next week.

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I’ve just been speaking with friends last weekend and they’re saying that their homes are in dire need of a thermal leak inspector. With winter upon us we all need to keep heat in the home for as long as we possibly can. Thermal leaks equates to rising heat costs and, of course, cash leaks. If you want to survive this season, you gotta fix the leaks!

- Easily spot hidden energy leaks in your home
- Shine the light on the wall and set the reference temperature.
- Move the light around your house. When the termp changes by 1, 5 or 10 degrees F (user adjustable), the light will change to red or blue to indicate a hot or cold spot
- Energy Star states that plugging the leaks and drafts in your home can save up to 20% off your heating and cooling energy costs
- Comes with bonus booklet showing easy ways to seal and insulate your home

You just point the detector at a wall to set a reference temperature, and then aim it at any trouble spots in your home to determine exactly where the problems are. When the measured temperature changes by 1, 5 or 10 degrees F (switchable to Celsius) the projected light will either change to red or blue to clearly indicate where there’s a hot or cold spot.

Once you get those leaks in line and plugged, you’re set!

Buy one online at around $40 right here.

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