♥ Instructables has instructions for a miniature zombie survival kit that fits in an Altoid tin!

♥ Check out these awesome gifsets that compare episodes 1.1 and 4.8 to their comic book counterparts on the Tumblr blog Keep Calm and Carol On!

♥ Uproxx has a pretty badass infographic detailing the kills for this season as well as each character’s most and least useful moments.  (You may also want to check out their “Ten Open Questions After the Mid-Season Finale” to brush up on where we left off in December.)

♥ Artist Duke Dasterdly has some amazing alternate posters for previous seasons of “The Walking Dead”.  Buy Season 1, Season 2, and Season 3.

♥ The ultimate “Walking Dead” infographic comes from the National Post.  Created by Richard Johnson and Andrew Barr, it details the onscreen kills, a chronological list of the onscreen zombie deaths (complete with dispatcher and weapon used), the weapons used, and the leading zombie killer stats – all organized by season.

♥ Women Rock Science

An awesome tumblr blog all about women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math).  It promotes interest in STEM for young women and educates about the history of women in STEM, dating back to the 11th century.

♥ Sci-Universe

Mari-Liis blogs beautiful, fascinating posts about science and astronomy.  She is passionate in her love of science and the universe and shares that passion with her followers.  You can also follow her on Twitter @sci_universe

♥ Mental Floss

Quarterly magazine Mental Floss spreads its awesomeness to tumblr with the kind of fun and informative posts that echo the feel of the mag itself.

♥ We Are Star Stuff

Another gorgeous science and astronomy tumblr that will light up your dash.

♥ It’s Okay to Be Smart

Joe Hanson, the host of the PBS web series “It’s Okay to be Smart”, has an awesome tumblr.  He posts the latest IOTBS videos, as well as other cool science-related posts!

♥ Welcome to Night Vale

Frequently described as “The Prairie Home Companion” in the Twilight Zone, Welcome to Night Vale features Ceil Baldwin as the voice of local news radio announcer Cecil Palmer, the velvet voice of reason calmly detailing the incredible supernatural ongoings of the small desert town.  Two-headed quarterbacks, hooded figures, a mayoral battle between a five-headed dragon and a faceless old woman, and a child warrior fighting against an army of evil librarians are business as usual for Night Vale.  Welcome to Night Vale has become an underground phenomenon with a huge online fan community.  Presented as a regular local news radio program, the “Weather” features up and coming musical acts.  It’s one of the most creative, surprising, addictive programs I’ve encountered so far.  (It also has a kick-ass merch shop!)

Release Frequency: Bi-monthly, on the 1st and 15th

Perfect for: Supernatural/Sci-fi fans who appreciate the surreality of old-school anthology programs like “The Twilight Zone” and “The Outer Limits”

♥ The Smartest Man in the World

Comedian Greg Proops talks about baseball, history, films, literature, and politics on his weekly podcast recorded at gigs around the world.  Proops is hilarious and highly knowledgeable, relating funny stories full of little known trivia on all of these subjects.  He spends equal time on globally important subjects (designated as “the boring, preachy part”) as well, particularly feminism, racism, and the oppression of the poor.  He frequently reads poetry, pays tribute to great icons who’ve recently passed away, and encourages his audience to be informed.

Release Frequency: Weekly, Mondays

Perfect for: Listeners who are seeking a good balance of entertainment and education.

♥ The Two-Headed Nerd Comicast

A homegrown podcast from my adopted hometown of Omaha, Nebraska, the Two-Headed Nerd is a comics-centered podcast hosted by Joe and Matt.  It’s briskly paced and tightly edited, so listeners get thoughtful reviews of a wide variety of recently released comics.  These guys know their stuff, but they definitely make their reviews approachable for comic newbs.  They’re super interactive with their audience and actively look for audience feedback on a number of social platforms.

Release Frequency: Weekly, Sundays

Perfect for: Seasoned and new comic readers looking to expand their collections with help from experts

♥ The /Filmcast

/Film’s official film review podcast features critics Dave Chen and Devindra Hardawar reviewing recently released films with a guest reviewer.  The normal format for a /Filmcast episode is broken down into three parts – what they’ve been watching, film news, and the main review.  For more significant films, they will also do bonus episodes focusing solely on those films.  Chen and Hardawar are definitely film buffs, but do not restrict their praise to critical darlings.  They’re honest about their likes and dislikes and they aren’t afraid to disagree with each other or their guests.  Film nerds will appreciate the careful analysis and the clearly defined spoiler section.

Release Frequency: Weekly (for the most part, although they do take periodic breaks), Mondays

Perfect for: Film nerds who see a large number of movies in the theater

♥ How Did This Get Made?

Paul Scheer, June Diane Raphael, and Jason Mantzoukas collaborate with a guest to tear apart bad movies until there’s nothing left.  The main group has a great dynamic that makes for hilarious listening, even if you haven’t seen the movie.  They frequently do live episodes and their past guests include Weird Al Yankovic, Damon Lindelof, Adam Scott, and fellow star of “The League” Nick Kroll.

Release Frequency: Bi-weekly (Mini episodes are released on off weeks), Tuesdays

Perfect for: “MST3K” fans and those who love watching “so bad, it’s good” flicks

♥ Go Bayside!

“Saved by the Bell” super fan April Richardson is working her way through the show’s entire series run (but no “Good Morning, Miss Bliss” or “College Years”), including the two made-for-TV movies!  Each week, she sits down with a friend to analyze an episode and celebrate a treasured piece of her adolescence.  Richardson’s enthusiasm for the show is perfectly balanced for her willingness to affectionately poke fun at its more ridiculous qualities and she brings in guests with a wide variety of connection to the show – fellow fans, newcomers, and even people who appeared as extras on the show!  The whole show is available on Netflix and she announces the next featured episode to allow listeners to watch along.

Release Frequency: Weekly, Tuesdays

Perfect for: 90s kids who grew up watching the show first run on Saturday mornings or who caught the onslaught of weekly reruns on multiple channels

♥ StarTalk Radio

Astrophysicst Neil deGrasse Tyson presents astronomy and science in an attainable way for the most casual of science enthusiasts.  He frequently cohosts with comedians Chuck Nice and Leighann Lord and covers everything from the cosmos to robotics to virology to the science of sex, complete with expert interviews.  Dr. Tyson never talks down to his audience, but he also makes the science easy to understand.

Release Frequency: Weekly, Sundays

Perfect for: Astronomy (and science) enthusiasts of all levels

♥ The Naked Scientists

Scientists and researchers from Cambridge University bring science to the general public through BBC radio.  Each episode includes expert interviews, science news, and live lectures.  In addition to the regular Naked Scientist podcasts, the line up includes Naked Neuroscience, Naked Genetics, and Naked Astronomy.  The separate podcasts allow listeners to focus on the science genre of their choice, but they are all wonderfully informative.

Release Frequency: Weekly, Sundays

Perfect for: Science enthusiasts of all levels

♥ In Our Time

Hosted by Melvyn Bragg, this BBC-produced podcast covers a multitude of topics – history, philosophy, religion, art, and science.  Bragg discusses a weekly subject with three expert guests.  In Our Time is one of the most popular podcasts in the world, and for good reason.  It’s awesomely educational and interesting and it motivates listeners to find out more on their own.  I can’t recommend this podcast enough!

Release Frequency:  Weekly, Thursdays

Perfect for: Anyone who loves to learn

All of these podcasts are available for download on iTunes and many of them can be directly downloaded or streamed from their home websites.

♥ Mod Cloth has a whole section for Out of Print Clothing, an amazing small company that uses the covers of classic and controversial literature to create clothing and accessories.  I own the Wrinkle in Time shirt, and it’s one of my favorites – both because I love the book and because the shirt is super comfortable.  Promote reading and Banned Books Week by wearing your favorite book on your sleeve … literally!

♥ Linguistics professor and children’s author Donna Jo Napoli gave a TED talk about why it’s important for children to read challenged books that deal with controversial topics:

♥ Grant Snider, an amazing cartoonist, drew one of my favorite responses to book censorship:

Drawn by Grant Snider [Click through for source]

♥ ShirtPunch has an amazing shirt available for the next 15 hours – a map of the Nerd Brain.  (It looks pretty accurate to me!)

♥ There are some seriously awesome YouTube shows that everyone should be watching.  This month, I’m featuring my favorite science channels, so if you have even a passing interest in the scientific world, check out these out:

It’s Okay to Be Smart – Hosted by Joe Hanson, this web show is produced by PBS and covers science in a way that makes it applicable to the real world and easy to understand.  You can also follow Hanson on Tumblr and Twitter for more cool sciencey stuff!

♥ Fox has released the trailer for the new edition of “Cosmos”, hosted by Neil DeGrasse-Tyson.  Let the squees of excitement commence!

♥ TCM has great month-long programs for classic movie lovers throughout the year, but this September is especially good.  Turner Classic Movies is featuring “Sundays with Hitch” and “Friday Night Spotlight: Future Shock” – both must see programs for film lovers.

“Sundays with Hitch” are full day marathons of Alfred Hitchcock films, including his older movies and obscure French propaganda features he directed early in his career.  It’s an excellent opportunity to catch up on his filmography and add a few more notches to your movie belt.

“Friday Night Spotlight: Future Shock” is tailor made for sci-fi fans – a 16-film history of how authors and filmmakers have pictured the future.  TCM will be showing dystopic futuristic films ranging from Metropolis (1927) to Minority Report (2002) every Friday in September, airing at 8:00 PM (Eastern) through the early morning.

♥ September 8th marks the conjunction of Venus with two other celestial bodies – the Moon and Saturn.  The Moon will pass within a half a degree of Venus, while the two planets will pass within 3 degrees of each other.  Both events will take place low in the western sky and will be visible for two hours after sunset.

♥ This month’s movies will be Insidious 2 (Release date: Friday, September 13th) and, plucked from the depths of Netflix, 1986′s Dead End Drive In!

♥ You’re going to need a bigger mug (because there’s a shark at the bottom)!

♥ Brackets Daily has a badass Shark Week Bracket. Find your favorite and check out its odds!

♥ By now, you’ve heard of the SyFy disaster flick/insta-B movie classic Sharknado.  What you probably haven’t seen, however, is Iain Heath’s amazeballs LEGO version. Behold!

For those who aren’t in the know, check out the Sharknado trailer.  In case you’re wondering how bad it is, it stars Tara Reid. ‘Nuff said.

By Geektastics fav Meghan Murphy (illustrator of Kawaii Not)

♥ Wired has an excellent article about the significant discoveries made by Curiosity in her first year of service.

♥ Want the short version? Mars Science Laboratory has released “Twelve Months in Two Minutes; Curiosity’s First Year on Mars” to celebrate the rover’s first anniversary.

♥ Florence Tan talks about Sample Analysis at Mars (SAM) and helps Curiosity celebrate her birthday right:

I like to be organized, particularly when going on a trip.  Here are some of my favorite travel items to make my trip painless:

♥ An all-purpose bag

I’ve tried a lot of bags, but I finally broke down and bought ThinkGeek’s Bag of Holding, which I’d been eyeing for awhile.  It’s the perfect bag to use as a carry on – it’s unisex, roomy, and has a laptop-specific pocket that can accommodate a laptop (up to 17″).

♥ A Grid-It

You’re probably thinking, “What the hell is a Grid-It?”  It’s essentially a board with elastic straps layered over each other to create an organization system that allows you to keep all of your small items in one place.  It’s great for charging cords and other small tech accessories.

♥ Gear Ties

Fun Fact: Gear Ties are made here in Colorado!  They’re super tough twist ties specifically made for securing cables and they come in several different sizes – added security against charging cables getting tangled in luggage!

♥ Functional valet case

I’ve had a tough time finding a large valet case to fit toiletries for longer trips, but I finally discovered the Eagle Creek Pack-It organizer during a Container Store travel sale.  I also bought a basic plastic cosmetic tote for extras.

♥ Jewelry roll

I collect earrings and I like to switch them out with every outfit, so a good jewelry organizer is a must for me.  I have a small velvet roll that my mom gave me for shorter trips, but for major trips, I bust out the big guns.

I also put individual earring pairs into small ziploc jewelry bags to keep them together.

♥ Ben Kokes handmade his fiancee’s super inventive LED engagement ring!

The finished product! (Click through for a step-by-step process of how Ben created the ring.)

♥ As a huge zombie fan, I absolutely loved these zombie-themed engagement pictures!

♥ Offbeat Bride is the ultimate creative wedding porn website, so it’s obviously the perfect place for Alex and Scott show off their amazing Hitchhiker’s Guide programs!

♥ Laura and Kate combined their interests to create a “Science-Meets-Literature” wedding!

♥ The Little Cherry Cake Company proves that cakes can be beautiful and creepy with this awesome Predator and Alien wedding cake!

♥ Gamer girl Lauren decided to create the ultimate tribute to her favorite game – a Portal-themed bedroom!  She documented the process on her blog, so go check it out from the beginning!

Lauren’s finished product!

♥ If I ever have a two-story home, I am definitely doing this:

[I found this on tumblr, but was unable to find the source. If anyone knows who this beautiful staircase belongs to, please let me know so I may credit them!]

♥ Kris is such a LEGO fan that we almost have to make this key holder!

Source: Felix Grauer

♥ A Tetris stained glass window?  Yes, please!

[If you know the original source of this amazing window, please let me know!]