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Road Trip 2008: Geek Gestalt explores the South

CNET News.com's Daniel Terdiman visits geek-oriented sites from Houston to Orlando, with a helping of Kentucky and Tennessee in between.

Headshot of Daniel Terdiman
Headshot of Daniel Terdiman
Daniel Terdiman Former Senior Writer / News
Daniel Terdiman is a senior writer at CNET News covering Twitter, Net culture, and everything in between.
Daniel Terdiman
4 min read

News.com special report:

Road trip 2008

CNET News.com reporter Daniel Terdiman is hitting the highway, a car full of gadgets in tow, for the third summer in a row. On this year's trip, he'll weave through the South, stopping at sites including the Johnson Space Center in Houston and the Kennedy Space Center near Orlando, Fla. Follow along as he swings through Kentucky to visit the National Corvette Museum and a UPS global distribution center that's a veritable maze of conveyor belts. He'll visit New Orleans to gauge how the city is faring post-Katrina. And what would a visit to the South be without a day at Graceland? Stay tuned; maybe he'll even don an Elvis costume (again).

Featured photo galleries

Road Trip 2008 spans the South
Here's a collection of shots--both original and contributed--of bridges CNET News reporter Daniel Terdiman passed by during his recent 4,600-mile trek.

Training at Fort Benning
At Fort Benning in Columbus, Ga., the U.S. Army is increasingly utilizing new technologies to help soldiers prepare.

Post-Katrina New Orleans
The city's poorest areas are still struggling to get back on their feet with few offering a helping hand.

This is Houston
For anyone interested in space, NASA's Johnson Space Center is one of the world's most important installations.

To see all Road Trip 2008 photo galleries, visit the column to the right.

News Stories and Blogs

Related Features

Road Trip 2007: Science and tech in the Southwest

Relive last summer's journey through the American Southwest, in which Daniel went backstage at Cirque du Soleil, behind the scenes at the Hoover Dam, and much, much more.
Road trip 2007

Road Trip 2006: Traversing the Pacific Northwest

Daniel traversed the Pacific Northwest with a car full of travel-friendly gadgets in the road trip that started it all. Catch up on all the adventures.
Road trip 2006

Living with Technology: High-tech road trip

special feature

With summer upon us, CNET.com rounds up the latest sites and gadgets for staying connected while out and about.
June 29, 2007

The Web 2.0 road trip

It's no longer necessary to wait 'til you get home to share vacation details with friends. You can do so at just about every step along the way.
June 29, 2007

Where's Daniel Now? Click and drag to navigate.

Latest video report

Photos

Supercomputing at Oak Ridge
Visiting one of the largest supercomputer collections--in the Tennessee forest. (7/08/08)

Training at Fort Benning
The Army is increasingly utilizing new technologies to help soldiers prepare. (7/07/08)

Blue Angels up close
Watching the high-performance team do a practice demonstration. (7/04/08)

Engineering New Orleans
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is putting lots of money and effort into new hurricane protection systems. (7/03/08)

New Orleans post-Katrina
City's poorest areas struggle to get back on their feet with few offering a helping hand. (7/02/08)

Creating custom Gibson guitars
A rare look inside the factory that crafts unique guitars for rockers--and Microsofties. (6/30/08)

This is Houston
Johnson Space Center is one of the world's most important space installations. (6/27/08)

Where vinyl records are born
United Record Pressing still makes a meaningful amount of vinyl LPs. (6/26/08)

The science of bourbon
Daniel stops along the famed Bourbon Trail for a tour of the Maker's Mark distillery. (6/25/08)

A century of tanks
Years of military hardware at the General George Patton Museum. (6/24/08)

The spirit of Kentucky
All around this state there are world-class sites to see. (6/24/08)

Laptop repair by UPS?
UPS has spurred an ecosystem, even contracting with PC makers to fix computers.(6/23/08)

How UPS Next Day delivers
A late-night excursion explores UPS' mammoth Worldport facility in Louisville.(6/23/08)

Where bats are born
Louisville Slugger is the largest provider of baseball bats to Major League Baseball.(6/20/08)

Detour to Geek Squad City
At the company's giant facility near Louisville, it's all PC fixes, all the time.(6/19/08)

Visiting the Corvette factory
Every one of the iconic cars has been built here since 1981.(6/18/08)

Soft landing at Rocket Park
U.S. Space and Rocket Center features an amazing collection inside Rocket Park.(6/17/08)

Getting trained at Space Camp
Camp offers kids the chance at up to a week's worth of astronaut training. (6/17/08)

Backstage at Space Center
Daniel tours Kennedy Space Center, one of the world's storied space sites. (6/16/08)

KSC tour, Act 2
Daniel continues his in-depth look at Florida's Kennedy Space Center. (6/16/08)

Discovery touches down
The latest shuttle mission ends after 5.7 million miles of flight. (6/14/08)

Clearing flights for takeoff
Adacel develops software aimed at the air traffic control industry. (6/13/08)

Seeing how the military trains
At a Lockheed Martin facility, Daniel tries his hand at military simulation trainers. (6/13/08)

Hydroponic gardens at Epcot
Squash shaped like a Disney icon? Epcot's greenhouses have these and more. (6/12/08)

Touring Disney World
Daniel visits some of the best that Disney's Florida resort has to offer. (6/12/08)

The artistry of 'La Nouba'
Going behind the scenes of the Cirque du Soleil show at Disney World. (6/10/08)

Road Trip 2008 gadgets
See what gear Daniel will tote along on his journey through the South. (5/30/08)

Ride along on Road Trip 2008

Credits

Author: Daniel Terdiman
Editors: Leslie Katz, Jim Kerstetter
Design: Susan Dove