It’s a fresh new year, and we’ve got fresh fun facts. Resolve to exercise your brain with our January lineup!
January 9th, 2025 doors 6pm, show 7pm at River Arts District Brewing Co.
Pre-sale tickets $10, door $15 (cash preferred, Venmo etc. available). Get your pre-sale tickets here: https://events.humanitix.com/nerd-nite-asheville-january-2025
Meet your presenters for January’s Nerd Nite:
Colonel Panic
Pushing the Limits of Creativity with Rapid Prototyping
The exponential growth and complexity of technology has been a defining force in our modern societal landscape. The increasing accessibility and lessening cost of small electronic devices and microcontrollers has made tech development and prototyping accessible for the hobbyist! No longer do we creators rely on a university, corporation, or defense agency to fund our endeavors. In this way, the creation of new tech is becoming democratized. Join me as we learn about how ANYONE can develop IoT (Internet of Things) devices and robotics technology in their free time with minimal code knowledge and how this bolsters the burgeoning tech landscape with fresh ideas and creations.
Colonel Panic is a hacker, musician, malware researcher, and a robotics and iot developer working as a lead threat researcher in the cybersecurity industry. His interests are transhumanism, futurism, biohacking, ai, tech, malware, philosophy, physics, sci-fi mythology, music, art, and the ineffable spirit of the hacker mindset.
Russell Pirkle
Investigating Common Word Crimes
Is talking good important to you? In this presentation Russell will explore some common grammar and language pet peeves, how they came about, and other things we say which are equally “wrong” but don’t bother us for some reason. From literally to aks to fewer vs. less, Russell will explore all the greatest hits of grammar school teachers.
Russell is an English second language teacher and speech language pathologist currently teaching at AB Tech Community College and completing SLP clinical rotations. Russell also hosts a podcast about music and language called Getting Down & Wordy and just generally spends a lot of time obsessing over words. IG/tiktok: @gettingdownandwordy podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/getting-down-wordy/id1581316249
Tavi
The Kingdom of Hawaii
In 1959, Hawaii officially became the 50th American State. But before Western contact, Hawaii was a thriving society with its own culture, governance, and traditions. Its history transitioned from warring tribes to an independent kingdom, followed by American occupation, designation as a U.S. territory, and eventually statehood. Despite its significance, this history is often overlooked or ignored. Tavi will share Hawaii’s incredible history, along with some live cultural demonstrations you won’t want to miss!
Raised in Western North Carolina, Tavi didn’t learn of his Māori Heritage until he was 17. This discovery led him to the decision to move to Hawaii to go to school and learn of his culture. In 2015, Tavi started training, dancing and performing at the Polynesian Cultural Center. His extensive training included multiple Pacific Cultures ans the Siva Afi (Samoan Fire Dance.) While performing at the PCC at night, Tavi attended Brigham Young University – Hawaii where he received a Degree in Mathematics and a minor in Pacific Island Studies. He now lives in Asheville, NC and continues to perform and train all over this area of thr country. Tavi is now a Math & Science Teacher at Odyssey School located right here in Asheville. On top of a first year of teaching, he runs a small 3D Printing Business, and just had a newborn in September. IG: @tavi.does.stuff
With your host, Von
This month’s Star Trek mini-feature: New Year, Strange New Worlds
The very first episode of Star Trek was a pilot called The Cage, which featured a different crew from the crew you know from the original series. Instead of Captain Kirk, there was Captain Pike and his first officer, the original “Number One”, Una Chin-Riley. While the world wasn’t ready for that story in the 1960s, we’re now getting to know Pike and Number One–along with a younger Uhura and Spock, and a motley crew of other talented oddballs–through Strange New Worlds. This month, Von will give you an introduction to SNW, a show that is currently airing, and which is currently the best place to start on a Star Trek journey for the first time.
Von (they/them) is a local performer known for their radioactive style, political commentary, and inability to shut up about Star Trek. A lifelong nerd of both science and theater, they were an avid lover of Nerd Nite in Los Angeles before moving to Asheville and starting the local Nerd Nite Chapter.
Von claims this show for the Romulan Empire. (IG: @nerdniteAVL)