“Beep boop.”

Geek Out

I am a robot. GONY doesn’t usually deal in kiddie stuff, but I’ll make an exception for Robot Village, the city’s one-stop animatronic shop at 252 West 81st St. Throughout October, the Village is running after-school and weekend workshops for kids eight years old and above. On Saturdays, the Robot Village staff does battle robots, and Sundays are for “Robot Guts: Magnetism, Electricity, and Motors.” If you don’t have kids, maybe you’ve got a niece or nephew who you can “generously” offer to bring to the workshop. Call Robot Village at (212) 799-ROBO for details and reservations.

Geek In

No, seriously, air-traffic-controlling is fun. I know you’ve heard enough, but let me just disgorge myself of this ATC kick once and for all. Air Traffic Chaos for the DS is fun, but this niche genre has some classics from decades past, as well. I remember being awed by the speech synthesis in Microprose’s mid-’80s C64 game Kennedy Approach, which lives on at an amazingly elaborate fansite. The site hosts a modern Windows remake of the game, along with the original C64 and Amiga ROMs for play on emulators. There’s also TRACON and TRACON II, which have their roots in software used to train actual ATCs. I’ve never played these, but many aspiring propellorheads swear by them. Google for “TRACON game” and you’ll uncover a slew of different versions and download options. Have fun in those unfriendly skies.