Technobabble

Geekster’s paradise Who says geeks aren’t hip? Who says tech nerds can’t hop? Those who don’t know about CS Gangsta Rap, obviously (CS stands for Computer Science for our Luddite readers). Hip-hoppers like Dr. Octagon have been pleasing rap-appreciating geeks with witty lyrics that forsake Tec-9s and hos for some time.

Now we have one of our own rocking the ones and twos—MC Plus+. Formerly known as Sir Code-a-Lot and known by his parents as Armand Navabi, Iranian-born MC Plus+ has two albums out, and all 28 of his songs can be streamed or downloaded for free on his Web site, www.mcplusplus.com. Oh, and like any Geekster rapper worth his spit, MC Plus+ has a rival by the name of Monzy. Read about this rivalry in the world of nerdcore at Wired Magazine: wired.com/news/culture/0,1284,67970,00. html?tw=wn_ tophead_3 .

Wood You Give Them a Ride? This is pure genius: Life-sized, plywood cut-outs of a few of the pioneers of technology, abandoned in various locations across the United States, will try to “hitchhike” to locations meaningful to their histories across the country. With delivery instructions taped to their backsides and wired with homemade GPS devices modified from $50 disposable cell phones, these 2D godfathers of transistors and semiconductors will be traceable via Google Maps at the Artists Using Science and Technology Web site (don’t miss the hilarious photos and Weblogs of their journeys): www.ylem.org.

That Bridge Kicks Ass All right, I almost peed my pants a couple of times this last fortnight over the tech news, but this one almost left me the wettest. According to Reuters, the Hungarian Economy Ministry enacted an Internet campaign to enable Web users to choose the name of a new bridge being built over the Danube River in Budapest. Some contenders at present are a famous Hungarian humorist and the founder of Hungary, but the frontrunner … wait for it: Chuck Norris. Bob Marley is in the running as well, but if the bridge is named after the ass-kicking Texas Ranger, I know where I am spending my next vacation.

Ice-cold beer I love beer, but this quasi-tech story left me short of thirsty (which is rare). A brewery in Greenland is making beer using water from melted polar ice caps. Yes, there are still fundamentalist Republicans refuting the vast number of scientists who are attributing flooding cities and record temperatures to global warming, but if there is going to be anything good to come of our continued destruction of Mother Earth, it might as well be beer. Look out for the brew from the first ever Inuit microbrewery using the 2,000-year-old pollution-free water.

A Skinhead’s Web site Don’t tell me you don’t have your own Web site. Even the Dalai Lama has a Web site now (which is really no surprise as the Dalai loves technology): www.tibetonline.tv.