John Farrier's Blog Posts

The Fibonacci Clock

Philippe Chrétien, a computer programmer and engineer, built this clock described on Instructables. The screen consists of five squares proportionate to the first five numbers in the Fibonnaci sequence. The hour is marked by the red square and the minutes with the green square. If the square is blue, that square illustrates both the hour and minute.

How do you tell the time? Chrétien explains the math:

To read the hour, simply add up the corresponding values of the red and blue squares. To read the minutes, do the same with the green and blue squares. The minutes are displayed in 5 minute increments (0 to 12) so you have to multiply your result by 5 to get the actual number.

-via Book of Joe


Living with Cattle as Pets

Elias Herrera has cattle. This is not too uncommon in the United States. But Herrera lives with his as pets. Buttons the cow and Bruce the bull (steer?) live in the house or at least visit it frequently. They certainly act like it's their home.

The cow and bull pull their weight. They help Herrera with his household projects, especially cooking. In this video, Bruce helps his human prepare cupcakes. Despite the mess that they make together, the end result is quite presentable.

Both cattle help with the consumption. Not so much the cleanup, though. Herrera should probably get another cow for that purpose.

-via Massimo


Alligators Ring Doorbell, Request Entrance

I used to live in Florida. I like to hike, but avoided doing so in Florida. It's just too dangerous because of the wildlife. Even the delights of tubing down the Ichetuknee River are hard to enjoy when one is constantly watching for water moccasins.

Florida Man is the apex predator in Florida, but alligators routinely challenge him for that title. Here are two in the town of Ave Maria, a Catholic community in the southern part of the state. I doubt that they rang the doorbell because they have cookies to sell.

-via Jonah Goldberg


The Restaurant Where You Can Dine Inside a Bank Vault

Dante Boccuzzi is among the most accomplished and sought-after chefs in the world. The Takeout reports that his restaurant in his native city of Cleveland occupies a building erected in 1924 as the Lincoln Heights Savings and Loan. Since it was built as a bank, its architecture includes the features that you would expect of one, including a vault.

If you're able to get a reservation for it, you and three other people can dine at the vault table. It was created at great trouble, as installing ventilation required jackhammering through a foot and a half of concrete. But don't shut the door anyway.

Photo: Dante Dining Group


Luxury Restaurant Offers Elephant Poop for Dessert

The South China Morning Post reports an elite restaurant in Shanghai is offering a 15-course meal inspired by the rainforests of the Yunnan province. It culminates in a dessert which consists of flowers resting on a bed of elephant poop.

The poop has been sanitized and thus passes national food safety standards. The entire meal is popular and is drawing many people who are willing to fork over the equivalent of $550 USD for the feast. Some online commentators are skeptical, though, including one who said that "This feels like a grand-scale humiliation and an obedience test for the wealthy."

-via Dave Barry | Photo: 163.com


There Is No Fourth Floor. There's Just a Second Third Floor.

In the book Malaysia by Heidi Munan, Yuk Yee Foo, and Jo-Ann Spilling, the authors explain that the word "four" sounds like the Chinese word si, which means "death." It is therefore unlucky and people avoid it. License plates that end with the numeral 4 are undesirable. In contrast, "eight" sounds like the word for "prosperity" and is thus considered auspicious.

-via Super Punch


Olympic Sprinter Destroys Competition in Parents' Race

Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce represented her homeland of Jamaica in the 2008, 2012, 2016, and 2020 Olympic Games, winning three gold medals, four silver, and one bronze. Her specialty is the 100 meter dash and her personal record for that distance is 10.60 seconds. She holds the Guinness World Record for the most number of Olympic medals in the 100 meter race for a woman.

She's also a mom, having given birth her son, Zyon, in 2017. When Zyon's school held a race for parents--specifically, 100 meters--she joined in. Sports Illustrated reports that she won handily this time, as she did during a similar race in 2023.

There's no mention of who took the silver medal in this particular race.

-via Kottke


Supercharged Dishwasher Made Only More Powerful

About a fortnight ago, we showed readers the innovative dishwasher developed by the STS 3D robotics firm and YouTuber Plumber John. That dishwasher cleaned dishes more brutally and effectively than any other dishwasher on Earth. It agitated the dishes with such intensity that only a few seconds is necessary to completely transform your dishes into a nearly unimaginable state.

Now the inventors are back with an improved design focused on the professional food service industry. Restaurants need to process dishes very quickly, so this dishwasher has a flame-powered dryer function, an auto-eject function capable of moving dishes out of the unit at high velocity, and heat-powered sanitation process.

My suggestion for the next step: the addition of a W54 warhead to ensure that no bacteria remain.

-via David Thompson


The Sicilian Sport of Cheese Rolling

In Novaria di Sicilia, a neighborhood of Messina, people play an unusual sport as part of the Carnival celebrations. It's called Lancio del Mairochino.

Traditional Sports explains that residents take a wheel of the local pecorino cheese and wrap it with a 3-meter long length of twine. Then they take turns hurling the cheese down the street, using the string as a sling. The goal is to reach the bottom of the hill with as few tosses as possible.

The sport dates back to the 1600s when cheesemakers practiced the sport as a way to test the hardness of a cheese and thus its readiness for consumption.

-via Massimo


First Colossal Squid Recorded on Camera

The colossal squid (Mesonychoteuthis hamilton), we are informed by the conservation organization Oceana, is the largest invertebrate on Earth. They can measure as long as 46 feet and weigh 1,100 pounds.

The colossal squid is elusive and a challenging encounter for humans, as it lives in very deep oceanic waters. It was only recently, Scientific American reports, that scientists were able to record video footage of one. A robot launched from the research vessel Falkor found a juvenile colossal squid near the South Sandwich Islands, which are in the far southern Atlantic Ocean. This particular squid is only a foot long.

-via Dave Barry


Steel Checks Issued by a Welding Company

Weird Universe tells us that in 1932, the Lincoln Electric Company (which is apparently still in business) conducted a national essay writing competition about arc welding. The winners received a total of $17,500 in prize money that was distributed on checks. Those checks didn't bounce--perhaps because they were made of steel.

The first prize went to two naval officers named Homer N. Wallin and Henry A. Schade who later achieved fame for their naval engineering work during World War II. Their check measured two feet long and was inscribed with a blowtorch. They endorsed on the back in the same fashion. The bank marked the check as cleared by shooting bullet holes through it.

Photo: Smithsonian Institution


There's A Golden Girls Murder Mystery Novel

The Golden Girls went off the air in 1992 after seven seasons. The last of our for favorite ladies departed for that great lanai in the sky just over two years ago. But the fanbase for the show remains profoundly strong, perhaps because each of the four women spoke from a core facet of the human experience.

There is now even a murder mystery novel set in The Golden Girls universe. Rachel Ekstrom Courage, a seasoned YA author, wrote Murder by Cheesecake. In it, Dorothy goes on a date with a man, who promptly ends up dead. She and her three friends must find the killer.

-via Chance the Librarian


How to Dye Easter Eggs in a Toilet

The influencer appropriately named Kate Will Try Anything is willing to try any sort of daring culinary experiment. Think of her as the Galileo Galilei of food research.

In this video, Kate shows us how to ensure that we have enough Easter eggs for this weekend. A toilet bowl has sufficient size for the batch that the kids will need. She adds boiled eggs, vinegar, dye, and baking soda. Then she scrubs the toilet clean so that it's ready for its regular use.

It may be a good idea to similarly clean the unit prior to dying your eggs, too.

-via Dave Barry


Just Look at This Radish Hat

Rebecca Gardner is a professional event planner, interior designer, and fashion mogul who operates at a high level. Her elite parties and luxurious accessories are highly esteemed by our social betters.

Gardner's shop includes unique items, such as hats that look like Easter baskets, a carrot that dangles on the end of a stick just in case you need that sort of thing, and candles that look like banana splits.

What rivted Messy Nessy Chic's attention is this adorable hat that looks like a radish. Elite milliner Maor Sabar made this ravishing chapeau. Wearing it this Easter will cost you a mere $898.


Family Builds Household Levee to Protect Home from Flood

Dyer County in western Tennessee experienced severe flooding recently. WREG 3 News reports that at least one hundred people in the town of Bogota alone have been evacuated as tributaries that feed into the Mississippi River have spilled their banks.

But not this family. Aerial video recorded by Randy Gerald Moore revealed an estate protected by its own levees that appear to be just high enough to keep out the floodwaters. The Weather Channel reports that the family has been working on this project for years. Their patient preparation has definitely paid off. I'll bet that the levees would also help during a zombie apocalypse.

-via Breaking911 | Photo: Randy Gerald Moore


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