In another day it will be Memorial Day weekend, a holiday hailed in America, at least, as the official beginning of Summer. Yeah, suck it, astronomy, the pool is open!
Well, we’re geeks here, and we know that summer is really for having a lot more time for our hobbies, which usually don’t involve going outside. This week’s Power Grid is all about what this summer has in store for the geek, and nothing on the list will result in getting a tan. It’s dominated by the twin claimers of gamers, Blizzard and Wizards; but summer movies, events, and television make notable appearances. If you’d like us to be more specific, then just check out the list here.
We chose four separate metrics for the list. Two of them, Web Buzz and Blog Buzz, simply give an idea of how anticipated each item is. The third, Wikipedia pageviews, measures recent interest by gauging how many times an entry’s Wikipedia page has been viewed in the past month, using the excellent http://stats.grok.se.  The fourth, Degree of Solitude, is a scale representing how social each activity is.
- 1 – The lowest rating. Here there will be thousands of other people, maybe more than anyone counted on, maybe kind of overwhelming.
- 2 – This activity requires other geeks, and class participation is not optional. (“I will not talk about Batman for an hour without pausing for breath. I will not talk about Batman for an hour without pausing for breath.”)
- 3 – The middle ground. There will be other people around, but interaction is neither required, nor expected. At least you’re out of the house?
- 4 – Online multiplayer. It’s… sort of like interacting with a real person?
- 5 – The highest rating. While you might have other people around, there’s no reason to. This activity is a solo one.
Enjoy your weekend, and the rest of the summer!
Jamie Block contributed to the making of the list.
