Doug Cornelius .com

They got feet of snow in Washington, D.C. with no mountains to go snowboarding. Who needs a mountain?

With that much snow on the ground and limited plowing, all you need is a Subaru.

During an April storm in 1934, a wind gust of 231 miles per hour (372 kilometers per hour) threw itself across the summit of Mount Washington. That stood as a record for the all-time surface wind speed observed by man.

Until two weeks ago.

On January 22, 2010, the World Meteorological Organization released a report stating that a new world record wind speed was recorded on April 10, 1996 in Barrow Island, Australia during Typhoon Olivia. The new record stands at 253 mph.

Mount Washington can still call itself the home of the windiest place in the Northern Hemisphere.

It can still claim its title for the all-time surface wind speed observed by man. The 1996 speed was recorded by a machine.

Sources:

• Record blown away, but pride stays put By David Filipov for the Boston Globe
• The Story of the World Record Wind from the Mount Washington Observatory
• Mount Washington gust record gone with the wind By David Brooks for the Nashua Telegraph
• World: Maximum Surface Wind Gust (3-Second)
• Mount Washington’s World Record Wind Speed Toppled from the Mount Washington Observatory
• The New World Record Wind Speed: Initial Thoughts by Brian Clark for the Mt. Washington Blog
• World Meteorological Organization Press Release

Several GeekDad writers will host a panel at PAX East. The panel, titled “Bringing Up the Next Generation of Geeks,” will include Dave Banks, Natania Barron, Matt Blum, John Booth, Doug Cornelius (that’s me), Michael Harrison, and Corrina Lawson. We described the session as:

How young is too young for The Hobbit? What should my kids’ first LEGO set be? How can I control my disgust if my child tells me he likes Jar Jar and the Ewoks? When should I buy my kids their first non-six-sided dice? These questions and many more will be discussed by writers for Wired.com’s GeekDad blog and other geek parents. Come share your stories and advice for how to make sure our kids grow up to be geeks like us! Don’t have kids? Show up and find out what may be in store for you if you ever do!

What is PAX East?

“PAX East is a three-day game festival for tabletop, videogame, and PC gamers. We call it a festival because in addition to dedicated tournaments and freeplay areas we’ve got nerdcore concerts, panel discussions, and an exhibitor hall filled with booths displaying the latest from top game publishers and developers.”

It’s happening March 26th to 28th at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. The three-day pre-registration rate is $50. You should register soon, because they’re expecting a sellout)

Read More http://www.wired.com/geekdad/2010/02/pax-east-2010

A few weeks ago I started comparing LibraryThing, GoodReads and Shelfari to see which one was the best for tracking books online: Tracking Your Books and Library Online. Since I want to read more books this year, I thought it would be good to check out these sites.

I’ve been using LibraryThing for two years and I thought I would take a look at the other two to see if they have caught up. I published my results over at GeekDad: Catalog Your Books Online.

LibraryThing is still on top, but GoodReads offers an interesting alternative.

Here are some of my other GeekDad posts:

• 10 Things Parents Should Know About The Princess and the Frog
• Data Privacy Day is January 28
• A Visit to the Patee House Museum
• Go-Go Kidz Travelmate Lets You Go Go Through the Airport