Gallery: 9 Awesomely Geeky Spots Where You Must Check In
01cern-building-31-geneva-switzerland
*Wired.com is presenting a collection of galleries intended to help people become better geeks, nine items at a time. This is the eighth in the [9 for 9 series](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/rawfile/wireds-9-for-9-galleries/).* \- - - [](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/rawfile/wireds-9-for-9-galleries/)The social web is great for bragging. Snagged front-row seats at [TED](http://www.ted.com/)? Tweet it. Hanging with [Girl Talk](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/special_multimedia/2008/pl_music_1609) in Miami? Instagram it. Midnight run to [Voodoo Doughnut](http://voodoodoughnut.com/index.php) with Robert Scoble? Be sure to check in, so everyone knows. There's no reason to pussyfoot around the appeal of these social tools: They let you broadcast your cachet to your followers, sending a quick sting of jealousy their way while simultaneously upping your status on the [Leaderboard of Radness](https://foursquare.com/wired/list/earn-geek-smugness-status-check-in-here). If you want to claim the crown of the ultimate Wired Geek, you need to check in at the nine places listed here. It doesn't matter which location-based service you use — Foursquare, Facebook, Twitter, Google+, Instagram ... hell, even [Path](https://path.com/). Just remember: Picture, or it didn't happen. __Above:__ CERN, Building 31, Geneva, Switzerland -------------------------------------- Specifically, a pair of offices near the elevator on the second floor. [This is where the web was invented](http://map.web.cern.ch/map/building?bno=31), and where Tim Berners-Lee built and ran the world's first web server. It's been more than 20 years since Sir Tim sat in front of his NeXT machine and typed the code that formed the basis of HTTP, the first browser and the first web server, but the offices are still there. Exact locations are a bit hazy, but TBL [recounted the web's origin story to David Galbraith](http://davidgalbraith.org/uncategorized/the-exact-location-where-the-web-was-invented/2343/) a few years ago. Let your sleuthing begin there. *Photo above: CERN*  *Photo: [Thomas Madsen-Mygdal](http://www.23hq.com/mygdal/photo/1652623)*
unknown02the-american-classic-arcade-museum-laconia-new-hampshire
The American Classic Arcade Museum, Laconia, New Hampshire ---------------------------------------------------------- With [more than 350 coin-op showpieces](http://www.aurcade.com/locations/view.aspx?id=1) on offer, the [American Classic Arcade Museum](http://www.classicarcademuseum.org/index.html) is the Holy Land for fans of vintage games. *Galaga*, *Asteroids*, *Q\*Bert*, *Robotron: 2084*, *Tempest*, *Tron* — are all available to be played. (There's pinball, too.) The museum is located at [Funspot](http://www.funspotnh.com/), a complex in Laconia, New Hampshire, that includes restaurants, hotels and a bowling alley, so you can make a weekend out of it. Check in by telling us your highest score on *Donkey Kong* — the museum was prominently featured in the 2007 documentary *[The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/news/2007/08/king_of_kong)*. *Photo: [Rob Boudon](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/robboudon/)/Flickr*
03large-hadron-collider-geneva-switzerland
Large Hadron Collider, Geneva, Switzerland ------------------------------------------ While you're in Switzerland sniffing out the birthplace of the web, you should also go check in at the [Large Hadron Collider](http://lhc.web.cern.ch/lhc/). The LHC is the biggest high-energy particle accelerator on earth. The main ring is 17 miles in circumference — hike it if you can, or at least [tour the exhibitions](http://outreach.web.cern.ch/outreach/expos_cern/) and [visit the gift shop](http://www.atlas.ch/store.html). When you check in, take a photo of yourself posing with the [Higgs boson](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/12/higgs-lhc-anticipated/). *Photo: CERN*
04tikaboo-peak-area-51-nevada
Tikaboo Peak, Area 51, Nevada ----------------------------- About 90 miles north of Las Vegas, you'll find Groom Lake air base, aka [Area 51](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Area_51). The infamous facility is the U.S. military's hub for top-secret test flights of all sorts — stealth aircraft, new missile projects and UAVs. You can't get anywhere close to the base without breaking the law, so your best observation spot is [Tikaboo Peak](http://www.summitpost.org/tikaboo-peak/150974), some 26 miles to the east. Getting up Tikaboo is a day-long chore involving desert backroads, unmarked turnoffs, rugged Jeep trails and a strenuous, two-hour hike up the mountain to the peak at 8,000 feet (there's lots of great advice on [Dreamlandresort.com](http://www.dreamlandresort.com/maps/tikaboo.html)). Bring a spotter's scope or a pair of powerful binoculars to study the base when you get to the top. If you can get a signal, check in from the peak. If not, a good alternative check-in spot is the [Black Mailbox](http://www.dreamlandresort.com/area51/mailbox.html). *Photo: Geckow/Wikimedia Commons*
05inside-a-google-self-driving-car
Inside a Google Self-driving Car -------------------------------- Google's autonomous cars are a marvel of robotics. They "see" where they're going by way of GPS, traditional cameras and a [LIDAR sensor](http://velodynelidar.com/lidar/hdlproducts/hdl64e.aspx) mounted on top. It's a rotating drum that generates a 3-D map of its surroundings using 64 constantly firing lasers (the maps themselves are pretty, as evidenced by their use in the Radiohead video for "[House of Cards](http://code.google.com/creative/radiohead/)"). The cars are programmed to obey all traffic laws, stopping at crosswalks for pedestrians and yielding the lane to cyclists. You'll need to check in from inside the car, preferably while it's rolling around town with you cold chillin', feet-up style, in the back seat. Scoring a ride in one will require some creativity, but here are two leads — Google operates a test fleet in California, and the cars are officially [street legal in Nevada](http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2011/jun/26/self-driving-robot-cars-ab out-hit-nevada-highways/). *Photo: [jurvetson](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/)/Flickr*
06inside-an-nsa-wiretap-room
Inside an NSA Wiretap Room -------------------------- The U.S. government hasn't officially acknowledged whether the National Security Agency is [secretly siphoning the nation's electronic communications](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/threatlevel/2011/08/warrantless-wiretapping-argument/) without warrants, as the Electronic Frontier Foundation alleges. But according to former AT&T technician Mark Klein, AT&T [installed a secret spying room](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/science/discoveries/news/2006/04/70621) in an internet hub in San Francisco and was helping the government eavesdrop on communications. The FBI has also built a nationwide computer system called the [Digital Collection System](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/politics/security/news/2007/08/wiretap?currentPage=all), connected by fiber-optic cables, to collect and analyze wiretaps of all types, including ones used in ultrasecret terrorism investigations. As plain old citizens, we don't know the exact whereabouts of these tightly secured wiretap sites. But if you find one, be sure to enable your phone's location-sharing setting and post a [lat-long](http://www.findlatitudeandlongitude.com/) with your check-in. Consider it your duty to punk Uncle Sam the way he's been punking you for the last 10 years. *Photo: [jurvetson](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/jurvetson/)/Flickr*
07the-museum-of-jurassic-technology-los-angeles-california-2
The Museum of Jurassic Technology, Los Angeles ---------------------------------------------- You'll find lots of weird stuff on Venice Boulevard in Los Angeles, but nothing weirder than the [Museum of Jurassic Technology](http://www.mjt.org/). The institution's stated goal is to highlight the fringes and lesser-studied corners of natural history, science and anthropology. But below the academic gloss, it's really a big, subversive art installation. And a lovely one at that: Exhibits include a collection of [decomposing dice](http://www.mjt.org/exhibits/rickyjay/rjay2.html), a gallery of oil paintings eulogizing the dogs used in the Soviet space program, a collection of letters mailed to the [Mount Wilson Observatory](http://www.mtwilson.edu/) written by mentally disturbed citizens, and a display of [tiny sculptures](http://www.mjt.org/exhibits/hagop/hagop2.html), each carved from a single human hair. Talk about Instagram candy (just keep your flash turned off, as per the museum's rules). *Photo of painting: [saschapohflepp](https://secure.flickr.com/photos/saschapohflepp/)/Flickr*
08the-very-large-array-near-socorro-new-mexico
The Very Large Array, near Socorro, New Mexico ---------------------------------------------- Just off U.S. Route 60 in the New Mexico desert, you'll find [one of the most ambitious astronomy instruments on the planet](http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&ll=34.077403,-107.620869&spn=0.137207,0.179729&sll=34.077403,-107.620869&sspn=0.137207,0.179729&vpsrc=0&t=h&z=13), the aptly named Very Large Array. The massive radio telescope listens to radio waves emitted by stars, and is used to study a variety of phenomena like pulsars, gas clouds, cosmic dust and black holes. The giant antennas are shuttled around on a system of railroad tracks and can be aligned in various configurations measuring from 0.6 miles across up to 22.4 miles across. Once properly aligned, all 27 antennas act as one big scope. The [Very Large Array](http://www.vla.nrao.edu/) was built in the late 1970s and fully completed in 1980, so it exudes a sort of old-school charm. It's also an eerie experience to see those giant dish antennas stretching out in perfect lines for miles as you drive up. The VLA was featured in the 10th episode of Carl Sagan's classic *[Cosmos](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cosmos:_A_Personal_Voyage)* series, so bonus points if you pose for your check-in photo wearing a blue dress shirt tucked into a pair of khakis. *Photo: Image courtesy of NRAO/AUI*
09space
Space ----- It's the toughest check-in of all, but seriously, what's cooler than being the mayor of space? The current king of the heavens is Soichi Noguchi, aka [@astro\_soichi](http://twitter.com/#!/astro_Soichi), a Japanese astronaut who spent the first half of 2010 on the International Space Station and [posted scores of amazing photos](http://twitter.com/#!/Astro_Soichi/media/grid) on Twitter. Short of switching careers to become an actual astronaut, you could simply slip the surly bonds of Earth as a space tourist. Entrepreneurs are [leading the charge](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/2011/10/private-space-companies-gather-momentum/): Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic is [currently booking seats](http://www.virgingalactic.com/booking/) on its suborbital *SpaceShipTwo* spacecraft for $200,000 a pop, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' Blue Origin program is [getting off the ground](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/2011/11/blue-origin-short-hop-test/), and Elon Musk says his SpaceX program's [Falcon reusable rocket](http://stag-komodo.wired.com/autopia/2011/04/spacex-falcon-heavy/) is a year or two away from reality. Russia's Soyuz program is expected to resume space tourism trips in 2014. *Photo: NASA*
