Saturday, August 12, 2006
Tree waters itself
Lucille Pope's red oak tree in San Antonio TX, has baffled tree experts, water specialists and nursery professionals.
The knotted, towering tree, more than 100 years old, has become the root of scrutiny in her East Side neighborhood. The tree has gurgled water from its trunk for the past three months.
Pope, 65, has sought answers from several specialists, calling experts from the Texas Forest Service, the Edwards Aquifer Authority and nurseries for an explanation.
After snapping pictures, doing taste tests and conducting preliminary studies, they're still working to give her a definitive answer.
Two-headed baby born in Indonesia
Syafitri, an Indonesian baby born with two heads, sleeps in a Jakarta hospital August 10, 2006. The four-day-old baby girl weighs 7 pounds and 450 grams.
The virtual piano
DID’s (Digital Information Development) portable virtual piano lets you turn any surface into a musical keyboard. It uses “a red semiconductor laser module and holographic optical element” to project “a 25-key 2-octave keyboard onto the surface in front of it.” Expect to shell out $130 for this gadget when it’s released in November.
Watch this entertaining clip.How to build a motor in 30 seconds
OK, “build” is not the best word. How about “make” an electric motor that will run in excess of 10,000 RPM in 30 seconds?
All you need is one drywall screw, one 1.5 V alkaline cell, six inches of plain copper wire, and one small neodymium disk magnet. You do not need any other tools or supplies.
Instructions (with pictures) Hey, even I could do this!
Technobabble and Social Engineering 101
Man creates fictional items and advertises them for sale
Set of 4 Aeylind GL3 cabrinators. These are good quality, third series cabrination units with reinforced lode housings. They are in excellent condition - There is some heat discolouration on the rear units, but otherwise they are flawless. A spare crosslink protector is included.
They are currently tuned asynchronously but can easily be recalibrated if needed.
Am looking for a quick sale in order to upgrade to 5th series, hence low price of £200 ono.
Please note that these are NOT the XC models with onboard hetrodynes. I will not split the set so please don't ask!
He details all of his correspondence regarding these carbinators, which are actually the undersides of videogame joysticks.
In conclusion he writes:
- People will believe anything, no matter how ridiculous, as long as you sound authoritative and put in some practical details.
- People in offices are so bored that they'll follow up any old crap they see advertised in a vain effort to inject some interest into their day.
- Most people are stupid, but not quite as stupid as me.
Read the whole story Very funny stuff
Friday, August 11, 2006
The asylum
During a visit to the mental asylum, a visitor asked the Director what the criterion was which defined whether or not a patient should be institutionalized. "Well," said the Director, "we fill up a bathtub, then we offer a teaspoon, a teacup and a bucket to the patient and ask him or her to empty the bathtub."
"Oh, I understand," said the visitor. "A normal person would use the bucket because it's bigger than the spoon or the teacup.
"No." said the Director, "A normal person would pull the plug out.
Do you want a room with or without a view?"
How to collect bull semen
Just in case you want to know this.
Successful semen collection with an AV (artificial vagina) depends on the bull being comfortable around people, and they need to be trained to use the AV. However, bulls are big and dangerous, and personnel safety should be emphasized constantly. Most bulls in artificial insemination centers have a nose ring installed as a valuable and humane means of physical control. Bulls undergoing semen collection should be haltered and one should never tie a bull up by their nose ring - if startled, then can rip it out which is not only quite traumatic but yields an animal that may be exceptionally difficult to control. During collection, the person handling the AV must remain aware of where their feet are relative to the bull. As the animal ejaculates, it is common for him to jump forward. To avoid foot injury, collectors should wear boots with steel toes.
The ‘false mounting’ part doesn’t sound fair to the bull.
The Wilhelm scream
The Wilhelm scream is a stock sound effect first used in 1951 for the movie Distant Drums. It has been featured in dozens of movies since. Alongside a certain recording of the cry of the Red-tailed Hawk, the "Universal telephone ring" [1] and "castle thunder," it is probably one of the most well-known cinematic sound clichés.
It’s also used in video games and television shows.
I had no idea this was so prevalent.
Here is a video that shows clips of just some of it’s uses. Once you hear it, you realize it’s the same sound effect.
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