When: November 21st, 2013, doors at 630pm, talks at 7pm!
Where: LIVE, 102 S First St, Ann Arbor
Moola: $5
Tickets: At the door or http://nna2november.eventbrite.com
November will show us how robotics is an engineer’s team sport, how anyone at all can be a video game developer (no experience required!), and how communism just did a really bang-up job showing its usefulness. Just spectacular. The line-up:
Ken & Kaleb Fox – FIRST Robotics: Team Sport for Engineers
FIRST FRC (backronym meaning For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is an international robotics competition involving over 2,800 high school teams and 71,000 students. It was started in 1989 by Dean Kamen “to transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders.” Each year teams have 6 weeks to imagine, design and build a robot able to play that year’s game. The games have never repeated, but they are always played 3 vs 3 on an enclosed field about the size of a basketball court. The robots weigh 150 pounds
and draw 120 amps. These aren’t roombas! This talk will give an insider’s view into a build and competition season.
About Ken & Kaleb Fox:
Kaleb is a student at Skyline High School and a member of Eagle Imperium Team 3322 http://www.skylinerobotics.org/. Ken is a software engineer at Atomic Object in Ann Arbor and a FIRST Robotics mentor. They’ve been with the team for 2 years. When not working on robots, their passions include cooking, anime, reading and board gaming. Well Kaleb anyways–Ken’s pretty much obsessed with robots.
Jennifer Marsman – You don’t have to be a computer nerd: How any nerd can build a cool game to publish in an app store
I discovered a very cool tool called Construct 2 (made by a company called Scirra) which allows you to easily create compelling games. You simply add backgrounds and sprites on a page, and use an “event sheet” of simple if-then statements to define your game logic. The game can then be exported as an iOS, Android, Windows Store, or Windows Phone app. There are also templates/tutorials to get you started creating a shooter game, physics puzzle, driving game, and platform game (like Super Mario Brothers). I’ll demo how easy and fun this is! All nerds will leave knowing the fundamentals to build a wicked cool game.
About Jennifer Marsman:
Jennifer Marsman is a Principal Developer Evangelist in Microsoft’s Developer and Platform Evangelism group, where she educates developers on Microsoft’s new technologies. Jennifer is a frequent speaker at software development conferences across the United States. In 2009, Jennifer was chosen as “Techie whose innovation will have the biggest impact” by X-OLOGY for her work with GiveCamps, a weekend-long event where developers code for charity. Prior to this role, Jennifer was a software developer in Microsoft’s Natural Interactive Services division, where she earned two patents for her work in search and data mining algorithms. Jennifer holds a BSE in Computer Engineering and MSE in Computer Science and Engineering from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor. Her graduate work specialized in artificial intelligence and computational theory. Jennifer blogs at http://blogs.msdn.com/jennifer and tweets at http://twitter.com/jennifermarsman.
Marcus Dillon – Communism’s Greatest Hits
The communist utopia experiments of the 20th century did not go as well as planned. Often the failures were horrific. The rest of the time they were horrific and pure comedy gold. In this presentation, we’ll be covering 10 of the funniest and most ludicrous goofs, fuckups, and fails by communist dictatorships from all over the world. Fun is mandatory. All surplus popcorn will be confiscated. Insufficient applause at the end will be regarded as anti-revolutionary.
About Marcus Dillon:
Marcus is an Ann Arbor native and has undergraduate degrees in US and Chinese history. He writes jokes on the internet pseudonymously. The Canadian border police have made it clear that he is no longer welcome in that country. He is totally unqualified to speak on any topic at any event, but hey, he works for free.
It’s spooky time, and we hope you are just as excited about it as we are. We’ve got a great lineup of magic, cadavers, body snatching, and a halloween-themed kazoo orchestra that you will be participating in. As if that wasn’t enough, we are having a FULL ON NERF WAR at the end of the evening, so bring your guns and a lot of extra ammo and get ready to drink, learn, have shivers down your spine, and war. Our presenters for the evening:
George Tait – Creating the Impossible
An interactive talk about traveling the world, creating the illusion of mind reading, and his background as a magician for the past 26 years growing up on a stage.
About George Tait:
Recently returning from Dubai, George Tait is has performed around the globe for the past 26 years as both a theatrical Mind Reader for audiences as small as 5 and as large as theater audiences of 10,000. He’s recently come back from both Master’s of Illusion Live and The Illusionists world tours. He’s served as a consultant on Derren Brown’s internationally known mind reading television show on Channel 4 and Syfy, Suinoma Las Vegas in Finland, and most recently for the first season of Andrew Maynes newest prank show amongst others debuting on the Discovery Channel in January 2013. In the last several years audiences have enjoyed his key note talk on Critical thinking that he has delivered to University audiences across the United States. When he’s not on the road he’s spending his free time with his cat Karina at his home in Royal Oak, MI.
Justin Fitins – A short history of cadavers and anatomical education
The dissected human body has been seen as one of the ultimate taboos, and the greatest tool for learning anatomy. Learn the history of cadavers from sketchy grave robbery to modern medical practices. Meet the seedy characters and scientific geniuses that have shaped the progress of modern medicine.
About Justin Fitins:
Justin Fitins is a student and freelance anatomist. His dissection specialty is removing the human brain. He currently is donating his skills to Washtenaw Community College’s anatomy program and pursuing research in anatomical preservation techniques. He has a passion for medical history and human biology.
Garrett Schumann – The Sinister Swarm of 200 Kazoos or Ghost Music for Dummies
UMS (that’s shorthand for University Musical Society) is presenting a good handful of “Uncommon Virtuosos” this season; these are artists who have done incredible work mastering unusual and interesting instruments. To celebrate these musical masterminds, UMS is recruiting members for our first ever UMS Kazoo Orchestra. Together, we will learn the mysteries of this “trumpet for the everyman,” meet new and interesting people, and make members of the community smile along the way. This Nerd Nite, we’re busting out our creepiest Halloween rep, it will be terrifying, and you will play along. No musical experience is necessary and kazoo is provided.
About Garrett Schumann:
Garrett Schumann is a doctoral student in Music Composition at the University of Michigan. In addition to his activities as a composer, Garrett is an active tweeter (@garrt) and writes on musical topics for Sequenza21.com, ChamberMusicianToday.com along with his own website, garrettschumann.com.
James Mann – A Matter of Grave Concern; Body Snatching by the U of M School of Medicine
When the University of Michigan, School of Medicine opened in 1850, a problem at once became apparent. The school could not obtain enough cadavers for the anatomy class legally. The solution was to obtain the needed number of cadavers illegally. The school used body snatching, or grave robbing, to fill the need. As a result of his research on the subject, James Mann has dug up some interesting facts, which he will share with you.
About James Mann:
James Mann is a local historian and storyteller, and the author of seven published books of local history. His titles include Wicked Washtenaw County and Wicked Ann Arbor. His next book, Wicked Ypsilanti, will be published by The History Press in May of 2014. He is also the host of lantern tours of Highland Cemetery the last two weekends of October.
When: October 24th, 2013, doors at 630pm, talks at 7pm!
Where: LIVE, 102 S First St, Ann Arbor
Moola: $5
Tickets: At the door or 
If you’ve ever wanted to watch someone brew hard cider live on stage while explaining the chemistry behind it, hear how videogames are going to save the world, or learn about the origins of writing, this is your month! Nerd Nite is back September 12th, and we can’t wait to learn a bunch of awesome crap and have a few beers with you! Oh, we almost forgot to mention… we’ll be ending this fantastic lineup with a full-on nerf war. That’s right; bring your own nerf gun and plenty of ammo and get ready to learn, drink, and engage in rubber-tipped combat! The pre-war lineup:
Ed Trager – Origins of Writing
Written language is such a ubiquitous part of our modern lives that we take it completely for granted. But it has not always been this way. There was a time when humans lived without writing. So how did we get here? How did we get to this place where the written word is everywhere? We have to go back in time to find out.
About Ed:
At his day job, Ed is a bioinformatics software engineer at the Kellogg Eye Center, University of Michigan Health System. Outside of his day job, he pursues many different interests, and one of his interests is languages and scripts. Ed spent a couple of years in China and three years in Thailand, and he speaks Mandarin Chinese and Thai. He has worked on projects related to Unicode, software internationalization, and font technology on the Free Linux Desktop and on the web. He is the author of Key Curry (http://unifont.org/keycurry) and he is currently working on a Tai Tham font as part of Google’s Web Fonts initiative.
Jim Stanhope – Why Video Games Will Save the World
Video games, despite their popularity, are an often derided and misunderstood part of our society. Recently, there has been a large push to wrap our collective heads around the issue of gaming and its ever growing popularity. This talk will differ from others that you may have come across that claim one of the following:
1. That we must make use of the “gaming craze” to engage people in games designed to be both educational and immersive
2. That we need to “gamify” our world in order to keep the attention of this new generation of gamers.
Instead, if we promote a change in the way that people interface with the games that are already being played by tens of millions globally, then we may just save the world. However, it all starts with how each and every one of us view video games as an endeavor. We need ya out there, soldier.
About Jim:
Jim is a recent graduate of the University of Michigan’s School of Education. As an experienced gamer he has come to understand the importance of taking play seriously. In the near future he will be taking his show on the road to Los Angeles in an attempt to establish a foundation for educational curricula based on teamwork-oriented video games.
Kevin Davis – Boozecookery: Drunk Science for Fun and Profit
Kevin will explain the various processes of S. cerevisiae, not least of which producing Ethanol. Following that, a live demo of the homebrewing process, making a brown sugar hard cider ON STAGE. Discussion of homebrewing recipe sites, local homebrewing supply stores, various “schools” of brewing, and beer nerdship at large.
About Kevin:
IT Storage Geek by day, booze chemist by night, Kevin Davis has dabbled in the art of using saccharomyces cerevisiae’s combo of anaerobic respiration and self-defending byproduct production, namely our good friend Ethanol (YAY!) to produce tasty beverages such as beer, mead, hard cider, and some eclectic varieties of tipple.
When: September 12th, 2013, doors at 630pm, talks at 7pm!
Where: LIVE, 102 S First St, Ann Arbor
Moola: $5
Tickets: At the door or 
That’s right. It’s July, which means it’s the perfect time to learn something new and drink with nerds. You know, like all the months. This particular month, we’re learning about the National Poetry Slam scene, Fecal Transplants, and Knife Making! If you haven’t been before, Nerd Nite is a monthly social event where nerds of all disciplines give 18-21 minute funny and informative talks while the audience drinks along and asks questions. Our nerdy overlords for the evening:
Erik Daniel – Poetry Slam +10, Putting the Nerd in Spoken Word
Poetry slam is conventionally defined as the art of competitive performance poetry. Created in Chicago by a construction worker named Marc Smith(so what?), it brought performance poetry out of academia and into pop culture, finally reaching the level of established art form. Almost since its beginning in the late 1980s, nerd culture has been an integral part of the poetry slam community. Erik Daniel, Tournament Director for the National Poetry Slam and 20 year slam veteran, will talk about poetry, competition, and what nerds do with spoken word.
About Erik:
Erik Daniel is a father, husband, software engineer, and general purpose ninja. He used to write poetry. It was not good. Rather that continue writing bad poetry, he volunteered to help run the largest spoken word competition in the world, the National Poetry Slam. Now its tournament director, Erik has donated most of his vacation time to helping poets share their craft with audiences around the US and the world.
Cris Hoogerhyde – Fundamentals of Knife Making
Focus will be on outlining the process, principles, science and art of how hand made knives are made. This will include profiling, the role of edge geometry, the alchemy of heat treatment, and the way different finishes are accomplished.
About Cris:
Cris Hoogerhyde has been a knife nerd for 25 years. It began as collecting- but after failing to collect all the cool knives, He decided to make his own. In 2011, he set up shop as Oxblood knives, and now makes several styles of handmade knives from scratch. Other tidbits of relevance include a hobby of throwing knives and tomahawks, and after several years as a classic cocktail bartender, he now works in the mental health field to be able to devote more time to knife making. He would love to talk to you about knives and/or whiskey anytime.
Anna Seekatz – Fecal Matters: The Ins and Outs of Fecal Transplants
For Nerd Nite, I will be talking about the importance of maintaining “healthy” gut bacteria and how fecal transplantation aids in repopulating this bacterial community. Although disgusting in general, fecal transplantation has actually saved the lives of many patients suffering from recurrent antibiotic-associated diarrhea, a growing problem in the health sector. I hope that by the end of this short talk, you will at least be familiar with why these “good” bacteria are important, and appreciate the miracle of fecal transplants.
About Anna:
Since reading about Ebola in The Hot Zone as a child, I’ve been interested in infectious diseases. This interest morphed into a BS in biology at Western Washington University, followed by a PhD in microbiology at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. As a graduate student, my studies concentrated on changes in the gut microbiota (the “good” bacteria that live on and in us) after infection with Shigella, a bacteria that causes diarrhea. Now, as a postdoc in Dr. Vincent Young’s lab at the University of Michigan, I study Clostridium difficile infection, an antibiotic-associated pathogen of the GI tract, and its relationship with gut microbes. In the future, I hope to continue my research on these complex bacterial communities and their impact in human health and disease.
When: July 18th, 2013, doors at 630pm, talks at 7pm!
Where: LIVE, 102 S First St, Ann Arbor
Moola: $5
Tickets: At the door or 
Why: Because why wouldn’t you want to have a few drinks and learn something new with a bunch of other awesome nerds?!
See you nerds July 18th!
It’s June, and that means another Nerd Nite!! If you haven’t been before, Nerd Nite is a monthly social event where nerds of all disciplines give 18-21 minute funny and informative talks while the audience drinks along and asks questions. The supernerds of the evening:
Charlie Taylor – Action Potential: The Basic Information Unit of the Brain
I collaborate a bit with “Backyard Brains,” a small garage-style company in Ann Arbor founded by Greg Gage and Tim Marzulo that manufactures ultra-cheap but very useable instruments for recording action potentials and displaying them on an oscilloscope (iPhone) and loudspeaker. Their main customers are teachers.
About Charlie:
BA, Univ. Texas 1975; PhD, Univ. Calif. Berkeley 1980
25 years drug discovery biology with Parke-Davis Ann Arbor & Pfizer
Retired since 2007, with consulting & teaching Neuroscience to undergrads (part-time lecturer) at U of M Ann Arbor
John Seamans – Superman Ain’t Got Nothing on us: Medical Imaging in 2013
What can modern medical imaging do for you? More than Supermans’s x-ray vision … it can detect vulnerable plaque in coronary arteries, map brain activity while lying/dreaming/googling, image metastatic cancer, show what’s going on during coitus, and visualize early signs of Alzheimer’s disease.
About John:
Biomedical engineer and MacGyver-wannabe; harmonica player, gardener, kite-boarder in training. I’ve spent the last 10 years working on the design of medical imaging systems, finding ways to make better pictures of the bad things that sometimes go on inside the body; my current focus is cardiovascular imaging. Also, I like turtles.
Kristen Smith – Humanity is a Plague upon the Face of the Earth
Srsly, guise: Humanity is a Plague upon the Face of the Earth. Guise. Srsly.
About Kristen:
My passions include developing software, making art, growing plants, eating food — in particular fruits, vegetables, and carbs, — SCIENCE, and learning. If I could choose one super power it would be invisibility.
When: June 20th, 2013, doors at 630pm, talks at 7pm!
Where: LIVE, 102 S First St, Ann Arbor
Moola: $5
Tickets: At the door or 
Why: Because why wouldn’t you want to have a few drinks and learn something new with a bunch of other awesome nerds?!
See you nerds June 20th!
Ken & Kaleb Fox – FIRST Robotics: Team Sport for Engineers
Marcus Dillon – Communism’s Greatest Hits
