John Farrier's Blog Posts

Spock Learns about Anger Management


(Video Link)


YouTube user OneMinuteGalactica mashes up classic hygiene films with scenes from science fiction, such as Luke Skywalker's and Leia's first date. In this mashup, Spock is trying to overcome his problem with anger. As he will discover, only a fool fights in a burning house.

via blastr

The 10 Dumbest Tech Predictions

When David Sarnoff tried to find investors to develop commercial radio in 1921, this was the response from one group of financiers:

The wireless music box has no imaginable commercial value. Who would pay for a message sent to no one in particular?


Sarnoff pressed on anyway and eventually founded NBC and RCA. You can read nine other failed, pessimistic predictions about technology at the link.

Link via TigerHawk | Photo by Flickr user slgckgc used under Creative Commons license

Homeless Man Has Amazing Radio Voice


(Video Link)


Ted Williams, a homeless man in Columbus, Ohio, has become an Internet sensation. He has an outstanding voice -- like that of a professional radio announcer. Today, redditors led the charge to get Mr. Williams back on his feet, and he's already been scheduled for local radio appearances. You can read the details at Urlesque.

Performer's Website (under construction) via Urlesque

Could Fire Truck Ladders Be Replaced with Escalators?



Orville Douglas Denison thinks that telescoping ladders used by firefighters are too slow for firefighters to use effectively. So he designed a system that would lift up firefighters on something like a conveyor belt or an escalator:

In a rescue, firemen could extend Denison’s hydraulic ladder to windows as high as 113 feet. But rather than clamber up the ladder, the firefighter would hop on, and the rungs would roll up at 200 feet per minute—more than twice the average climbing speed of a firefighter weighed down by 130 pounds of gear. The firefighter would ride to a window, load unconscious victims into a rescue bag, hook the bag to the ladder, and shift it into reverse to bring the person to safety. Denison says it can now take up to 15 minutes, and sometimes several men, to carry one victim down a ladder from 10 stories. He estimates that his ladder could lower four people to the ground in less than four minutes.


http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2010-12/invention-month-easy-way | Image: Kevin Hand

The Battery That's Been Operating Continuously for the Past 60 Years

It keeps going...and going...and going. Karpen's Pile, a battery built in Romania, has been providing power since the 1950s:

The prototype has been assembled in 1950 and consists of two series-connected electric piles moving a small galvanometric motor. The motor moves a blade that is connected to a switch. With every half rotation, the blade opens the circuit and closes it at the the start of the second half. The blade's rotation time had been calculated so that the piles have time to recharge and that they can rebuild their polarity during the time that the circuit is open.

The purpose of the motor and the blades was to show that the piles actually generate electricity, but they're not needed anymore, since current technology allows us to measure all the parameters and outline all of them in a more proper way.


The science behind it (assuming that it's not an elaborate hoax) challenges conventional physics:

According to some who studied Karpen's theoretical work, the pile he invented defies the second principle of thermodynamics (referring to the transformation of thermal energy into mechanical work), and this makes it a second-degree perpetual motion machine. Others say it doesn't, being merely a generalization to the law, and an application of zero point energy.

If Karpen was right, and the principle is 100% correct, it would revolutionize all of the physics theories from the bottom up, with hard to imagine consequences. Though I guess this isn't going to happen very soon, the museum still needs proper private funding to acquire the necessary security equipment required by the police to exhibit the device.


Link via Gizmodo | Photo: National Technical Museum of Romania

Which Novels of 2010 Can Stop a Bullet?


(Video Link)


A book may be able to save your life. Specifically, it may be capable of stopping a bullet. Which novel of 2010 is the most protective? Is it Jonathan Franzen's Freedom? Or Joshua Cohen's Witz? Or will it be something on the high-tech Kindle? The people at Electric Literature decided to find out. Alas, they didn't address a more important question, which I leave to you: which book of 2010 is most deserving of being shot?

Official Website via Joe Carter

New Food Movement: People Who Hunt and Eat Invasive Species

You may have heard of locavores -- people who prefer to eat food grown or raised locally -- or freegans -- people who dine on wasted food. Now there's a new food movement that advocates curbing the growth of invasive species by eating them. Invasivors prey upon species that are taking over the established habitats of other animals. Jackson Landers is an adherent of this movement:

As the Locavore Hunter, based in Virginia, he teaches urbanites how to hunt and butcher deer. He has branched out from the locavore life to invasives, and lionfish are one target. But as he has pushed the envelope of the invasivore approach, he has hunted and eaten feral pigs, two species of iguana, armadillos, starlings, pigeons and resident Canada geese. He says that all of these activities will be chronicled in a book, “Eating Aliens,” and perhaps a television show as well.

Mr. Landers, who grew up in a vegetarian household, taught himself to hunt. He believes that eating invasives can have a real effect. “When human beings decide that something tastes good, we can take them down pretty quickly,” he said. Our taste for passenger pigeon wiped that species out, he said. What if we developed a similar taste for starlings?


Link via Glenn Reynolds | Jackson Landers' Blog | Photo by Flickr user jon hanson used under Creative Commons license

Functional LEGO Snow Crawler


(Video Link)


LEGO artist Peer Kreuger made the Stilzkin Indrik, a remarkably strong and agile vehicle that can pull heavy loads over snow. Could any reader translate the Russian text for us?

Link and Flickr Video via Jalopnik

Hands-Free Sandwich Holder



I swear, it's real! On the rare occasions when Alex allows lunch breaks here at Neatorama HQ, we have to wear these contraptions. And even if you're not under that kind of pressure, it's always useful to have food shoved in your mouth when you're otherwise using your hands.

via Geekosystem

Luke Skywalker as a Peanuts Character



Tom Torrey, who previously made a TIE Fighter that looks like Charlie Brown's head, has sculpted another piece in the same theme. This one depicts Luke Skywalker after arriving at Dagobah. Snoopy is lucky that he doesn't taste very good.

Link via Comics Alliance

Kitteh Puts on Bunny Mask


(Video Link)


Mimi, a cat, is getting ready for the Year of the Rabbit. While most cats would struggle against human-mandated costumes, she wants to put on her bunny hat!

via Urlesque

Fiddler on the Roof/You Got Served Mashup


(Video Link)


Tevye may work as a dairyman, but he was born to dance. YouTube user ACDPresents, a film student, made this carefully-timed video for an editing class. It mashes up video from 1971 musical Fiddler on the Roof and audio from the 2004 movie You Got Served.

via Legal Insurrection

Previously: Bottle Dancers

Amphibious Car on Sale on eBay



Rick Dobbertin, a custom car builder, made this amphibious vehicle. The HydroCar is now up for auction on eBay. Tom Joslin of Jalopnik describes the car and explains why Dobbertin may have chosen to sell it:

The vehicle actually changes shape, lowering and extending pontoons when you switch it from land mode to water mode. The tunnel hulled HydroCar is propelled by a 572 Cubic inch Big Block Chevy that produces 762 horsepower.

While the HydroCar is clearly well built, after nine years and 18,800 hours, the custom vehicle is still not quite done. Several videos included in the auction show that while the HydroCar is improving as a result of testing, Dobbertin has been unable to get the boat to plane. Without being on plane the boat can't come anywhere close to the estimate of the HydroCar's 60 MPH water capability.


Link | Official Website | eBay Listing | Photo by eBay seller rick072800

Previously: The 10 Best Post-Apocalyptic Survival Vehicles

Lost Springs, Wyoming. Population: 1



Lost Springs, Wyoming, lost 75% of its population between the 2000 and 2010 census. It now has, according to the federal government, only one resident. Dan Kaplan wrote about his visit:

There were a few buildings, including the post office/general store, a municipal building, and a small town park.

When we are about to leave, we see a woman drive into town. We find out that it is the postmaster. She doesn't live in the town. A few minutes later, two other people show up. We find out that they are in the town because it is a convenient place for one to give the other a kitten. They don't live there either. So there are five people in this town with a census population of '1' and none of them live there!

The postmaster was able to tell us a little bit about the town. It turns out that the population is actually three. The mayor runs a catering business. One of the other residents is on the town council, but the other is not.


Link via J-Walk Blog | Photo by Flickr user Larry Page used under Creative Commons license

Totoro Toilet Paper Cozy



Blogger Acornbud knitted a toilet paper roll cozy shaped like the titular character in the anime movie My Neighbor Totoro. At the link, you can view detailed instructions on how to make your own.

Link via Geek Crafts

Previously:
Totoro Cat Bus
Totoro Bento Box

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