Thursday, September 24, Nerd Nite Denver is back from vacation and gearing up for autumn with talks about archeology, beer, and Christmas lights.

You may remember a few months back we asked you to help fund Mary Shirley’s archeological expedition in South Africa. Well Mary is back and can’t wait to tell you how it went. Then Nerd Nite alumnus Chris Crocco talks about our favorite snack and yours: beer! And finally, it may be September but Davin Young insists it’s never too early to prep your Christmas lights.

And an exciting update on last month’s partnership with Collectors Care, a non-profit that brings toys to children in need. Thanks to you generous nerds, we were able to donate $500 to their local programs! Thank you so much!

Grab your tickets ASAP!

• When: Thursday, Sept 24 – doors at 6:30pm, show at 7:00pm
• Where: The Oriental Theater
• Tickets: $5 online, $8 at the door – 18+

Old Dead Shit: A South African Adventure

by Mary Shirley

Have you ever thought to yourself, “Wow, I’d really love to spend some time on an archeological dig somewhere in the world. But who am I kidding? I don’t know anything about that stuff.” Well, Mary had the same thought, but she didn’t let it stop her. This summer she volunteered two months in South Africa at Pinnacle Point, one of the longest running, most well known, and best funded archeological sites in the world. When she left, she didn’t know anything. Now that she’s back, she wants to share what she learned with you.

Those two months were partially funded through a GoFundMe campaign promoted by Nerd Nite Denver. Thanks for the adventure!

Speaker creds:  Mary graduated from the University of Hawaii with her BA in Theatre in 2007. One day in 2014 she appeared in the office of Dr. Jamie Hodgkins, zooarchaeologist at Colorado University Denver where she somehow convinced the kind professor that she was worth mentoring. Dr. Hodgkins allowed her to sit in on her graduate classes for a year, and then recommended her to participate on this dig. Mary continues to sit in on these classes while applying for Graduate school starting in the fall of 2016. She works as a bartender around Denver, and is lucky enough to have both a hot boyfriend and adorable cat, alongside amazing friends and family. She turns 30 on October 2nd and is happier in her life now than she has ever been.

Beer 101

by Chris Crocco

In recent years craft beer and brewing have seen an explosion in popularity. As we all know from living in Colorado, we make the best beer money can buy. But what is it that makes beer so awesome? In this talk, we will explore this question and find out everything from just what yeast is doing in our brew to why hops are so…hoppy. So grab a pint and get ready to learn about the science behind our favorite beverage.

Speaker creds:  When he’s not nerding out making the interwebs, Chris Crocco writes the local beer blog liquid-bread.com. He has been a member of the American Homebrewers Association for the past six years and is enrolled in the Cicerone Beer Certification program.

The Underworld of Holiday Lights

by Davin Young
The trend is growing, every year more and more people are using computers to run their Christmas light show. Even synchronizing them with songs and automation as seen on ABC The Great Light Fight. When starting out this process can be very confusing but Davin is here to make the whole thing much simpler. Most off-the-shelf systems cost hundreds of dollars and require 40 or more hours of programming to synchronize one song. That’s nuts. Davin will show you the easiest, cheapest, and quickest way to get one of these systems up and running with minimal headaches — because who needs more of those during the holiday season?!

Speaker creds: Davin Young is a Security Specialist for the Department of Homeland Security who moved to Colorado in 1991. He’s both an avid lacrosse player and high school Lacrosse coach. Any hobby he’s ever had (such as programming Christmas lights) quickly becomes an addiction. Other current addictions include Arcade Cabinet restoration and Saltwater Coral Propagation.

Take a moment to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates and fun facts, and be the first to know event details by signing up for our email list (in the bar to the right).

Want to be a Nerd Nite speaker? Do you know someone who should be? Let us know!

Couldn’t make it to June’s Nerd Nite? Don’t worry! The Girls of Geek 12 have you covered! Check out their review here! Thanks geeks!

Prepare to NERD! Get your tickets for Nerd Nite now!

• When: Tuesday, June 24, 2014 – doors at 7pm, show at 8pm (come early to mingle and drink with us)
• Where: The Oriental Theater
• $5 online, $7 at the door – 18+
• Tickets available on Eventbrite or from The Oriental Theater
• Ticket alternative: Tweet or Facebook us a nerdy poem and score two FREE tickets to the June 24th event!

When Doctor Who himself explains the wonders of the universe, ye nerds should listen. To help improve those listening — and speaking — skills, we’re going to learn all about cued speech. And to top it all off, let’s all Tweet at our toasters. For science. Be there and be square!

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*The Wild and Wonderful Universe

by Sorin

Description: You don’t need a Tardis to be able to look through space and time. Come along for an exploration of some of the wonders of our universe and our never-ending quest for knowledge, as presented by an in-costume and in-character 4th Doctor Who! We’ll look back some 13 billion years to the formation of the first galaxies, then leap forward to talk about some of the greatest minds of the last 500 years that took our view of the universe from our lowly earth centered cocoon to the unimaginably vast cosmos we know today. No complicated mathematics or physics – all you need is a sense of wonder.

Speaker Bio: Sorin a software product director for Pearson by day, and an amateur astronomer by night. He is a current board member of the Denver Astronomical Society, and a former board member of the Seattle Astronomical Society. You can find him on Twitter @SoggyAstro or read him at http://soggyastronomer.com

*Cued Speech: Improving Your Communication Skillz, One Consonant at a Time

by Aaron Rose

Description: Phonemes, speech articulation, language acquisition, the inner voice construct. Still unclear? Don’t worry, Aaron Rose will delight you with all the ways that Noam Chomsky was right…or kind of right. It took a brilliant physicist to figure out how to effectively convey spoken language in a consonant-vowel construct that uses “cues,” or handshapes, in conjunction with verbal speech. The concept is so ridiculously simple that it fits on a wallet-sized card that you can carry around to remind yourself of a hand shape or a hand placement. Nerd Nite attendees will go home knowing how to cue (almost…)  

*Your toaster needs a Facebook page: How our increasingly connected culture is changing the Internet

by Chris Crocco

Description: Web connected devices have become integral in day-to-day life across the globe. As we use devices for everything from video conferencing to checking the status of our toothbrush from our smartphones, the Internet as it exists today has been pushed to adapt. This talk looks to explore the challenges that come from the transition to a web based culture, and how the Internet is changing to allow everyone on the planet to tweet at their toaster. Speaker Bio:

Speaker bio: Chris Crocco is a member of the network operations team for ViaSat, which provides satellite based networking. He currently supports the company’s residential and mobile satellite Internet service running off of the highest capacity satellite ever launched, meaning he literally makes the internet everyday. Chris is a graduate of the University of Wyoming, and has received multiple professional certifications in being a networking nerd.

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Don’t miss these amazing presentations (and the accompanying drinks). Tickets are $5 online and $7 at the door. So grab your tix now!

Before you go, be sure to take a minute to like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter for up-to-the-minute updates and fun facts, and be the first to know event details by signing up for our email list (in the bar to the right).

See you soon!