Power Tool Drag Racers
Steven Nelson built some power tool drag racers for the upcoming competitions at Maker Faire May 3-4 and Ace International Speedway May 17-18.
:-)
The coldest winter I ever spent
Archive for the ‘General’ Category.
Steven Nelson built some power tool drag racers for the upcoming competitions at Maker Faire May 3-4 and Ace International Speedway May 17-18.
:-)
This HOWTO was written by Paul Kuliniewicz. Reproduced here under CC license.
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WTF?
According to homeopathy, a substance that causes the symptoms of a disease in healthy people will cure that disease in sick people, and diluting a substance makes it more potent. While traditional homeopathy creates medicine by diluting harmful subtances, we can apply the same principles to weaponize healthy substances. Since orange juice has lots of vitamin C, a homeopathic dilution of orange juice would induce a crippling vitamin C deficiency in anyone who drank it.
How does diluting something make it more powerful?
Because some guy in the eighteenth century decided it does.
How does diluting something make it have the opposite effect it normally does?
Because that same guy decided it does.
Neither of those makes any sense.
I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were in the pocket of Big Pharma, you soulless corporate shill.
I mean, at that level of dilution, it’s unlikely there’s even a single molecule of orange juice in the water.
So? There doesn’t have to be. The water remembers what was in it.
How does that work, exactly?
Dissolved silica from the container. Or aerosols that get mixed in during shaking. Or quantum entanglement. Or friction with a fancy-sounding name. Which one sounds the most sciency? Because it’s that one. I was just joking about those other ones. Though they’re also true. Even though they’re mutually contradictory.
Is there any scientific evidence any of those are actually the mechanism?
Sure! I totally know a guy who knows a guy who tried it, and it totally worked.
No, I mean is there any scientific evidence? You know, double-blind tests and controls and null hypotheses and everything.
Well, no, not with those kinds of tests. It’s well-known that double-blind tests don’t work for homeopathy.
Why is that?
Why, since well-controlled double-blind tests of homeopathy always fail to show any difference between homeopathic treatments and placebo! Since we know homeopathy is true (as you’ll recall, some guy in the eighteenth century decided it’s true), that proves double-blind tests don’t work. Besides, so-called “scientists” are also all in the pocket of Big Pharma, just because if homeopathy were true it would invalidate everything they “know” about chemistry and medicine.
Wait, aren’t there trace amounts of just about any water-soluble compound you can think of in tap water? Shouldn’t the water that comes out of my faucet cure every ailment known to man?
No, that’s stupid.
Why is that?
The water didn’t get shaken the right way.
So there’s a special way you’re supposed to shake the water now?
Apparently.
Are you just making all this up to defend the ridiculous idea that homeopathy actually works?
No.
How do I know you’re right?
You think selling bottled municipal tap water for $1 a bottle is a ripoff? Think of the margins on selling small amounts of water as medicine!
I clicked on a Google Ad for DoublingStocks.com. The ad and the site was very adamant about how terrific their service was. I googled around and found several sites with people that didn’t have good things to say about it. And then here was the clincher:
This Pennystocks.com page had lots of info about the company that showed them as being sketchy (like that their published phone number didn’t work and their published address isn’t a real building) and pointed me to this archive.org page about the company’s previous endeavor, pokerbobby.com.
A pretty compelling tidbit is that these grifters reused images from their previous job. Note the two pages below. :-(
Charlotte and I have been learning poi spinning recently. One thing we’ve been doing is watching videos on the intertubes. We came across this video that introduced us to Nick Woolsey. Nick is pretty amazing. His videos show his excellent teaching, a puckish grin and an earnest streak 2 miles long. Oh and also that he is a freaking amazing poi spinner.
Introductions done, here’s the video Charlotte found that introduced us to Nick. You can find more about this video on his site and find him at Playpoi.com. Nick’s Youtube page is worth watching.
high quality .mov version: beauty_of_ashes
At Yuri’s night 2008 at NASA Ames, they had a ride called ISS. They’d put you in this capsule and slingshot you up to the International Space Station. We were really lucky because since the Space Station is orbiting so fast, only a few riders each day can get to see it up-close. You can see the space station in the reflection of the glass. It was really pretty spectacular! Charlotte and I had a great time. If you ever get the chance, you should absolutely go!
The fine folks at the Space Coalition hung out in low earth orbit and took photos of us tourists all night.
Update 4-6-10: There’s going to be a Neumann Prep Reunion June 26th 2010. Look here for more info.
Update 9-23-09: If you’re looking to be reunited with fellow Neumannites, I recommend Facebook. Right now there’s 271 people in the Neumann Prep group :-). Also check the Neumann Prep Classmates.com group.
Neumann Prep Class reunion June 26, 2010!
Romi, Cheryll and Michelle from the class of 1990 are organizing a reunion for all classes. You should go! Join the Neumann Prep Reunion group on Facebook!
I graduated Neumann Prep, Wayne NJ in 1987. The school closed down in 1990 or so. My classmate George had a terrible time getting a transcript from the diocese after the closure!
I went back to the school in May 2005. Here’s some photos of the place
The farm across the street from the school is apparently for sale. I’m sure the condos will be nice.
From this intersection, turn left and then the school is on your right. In front of you is a W.R. Grace Superfund site (local copy) that held radioactive thorium and uranium infused sand from mining. Directly to the left and behind is the farm. Behind and to the right is some ancient chemical dump (nobody knew much about it. It was said to be a Superfund site but I can’t find reference of it). Trav and I wrote an investigative article in the Wildcat’s Roar. Yup, high school, farm, nuclear waste dump and chemical dump all within 500 feet of one another!
They didn’t take much effort in changing the sign. Under that placard it still says “Neumann Prep”.
A panorama of the front of Neumann Prep. You’ll do best to right-click to download and view this very large image.
A panorama of the front lot. You’ll do best to right-click to download and view this very large image.
The front yard.
Looking in through the entrance on the right, near the chapel. Though I passed by here a thousand times, the thing I think about when looking at this is that the Junior Prom took place in the gym and a table was set up at that door you can see to take tickets. … … Hey, what happened to to the trophy case near the principles office?
The entrance to the left, the “Main” entrance. When I look here, I think about a lot… the library to the left (and the day a kid was walking out while I was walking in, he said with a laugh, “Hey, the space shuttle blew up.” I walked in to see the diverging con-trails on TV), the steps (where we ran up and down one day for Ms. Rawding’s physics class to figure out how many horsepower we could generate (about 1/3)), the door almost out-of-sight to the right where Latin class was (I didn’t take it) and yearbook met (where I was told that a previous class had sneakily scribed the word “FUCK” across the book with border-markings), the lockers around the corner (where the combination to my lock each year always had at least one “38”, weird!) and Father Lombardo’s theology class in the classroom through the wall to the right, and Mr… (ugh, I don’t recall his name! He had a bushy beard) music appreciation class… and… and… and…
Just outside the cafeteria. There were a few picnic tables here. That is where the super-cool kids ate lunch. I ate out there a few times but it was usually too cold, bright or… well, too super-cool for me. I like what they’ve done with the place with the bricks, shrubs, walkway and greenhouse.
As most people probably aren’t aware, tomorrow (April 3rd) is Cheese
Weasel Day! Happy Cheese Weasel Day to you!
In honor of this momentous holiday, here is the Cheese Weasel FAQ:
Q: What the heck is Cheese Weasel Day?
Every year, on April 3rd, the Cheese Weasel travels the world,
spreading good cheer and leaving a bit of cheese under the keyboards
of all good little boys and girls in the high tech industry.
Q: What kind of cheese does the Cheese Weasel leave?
Kraft Singles were once the cheese of choice, although as time went by,
the type of cheese became less important than the spreading of
dairy goodness and the types and shapes of cheese given by the Cheese Weasel
became varied. This was considered to be a Good Thing, especially considering
how often most people look under their keyboards.
Q: You made this up didn’t you?
Nope, I didn’t make this up.
C.W. Day is a holiday that evolved on the Internet, probably sometime
in the last eight to ten years. The first I heard of it was in 1992,
and it’s being celebrated quietly by dozens, dare I say hundreds of
software and technical folks around the country as you read this.
Hallmark doesn’t make a card, and the American Dairy Association is
as yet unaware of it, so it’s probably the least commercial holiday
going. Hey, we wanted to add some culture to our lives, right? What
could be more cultured than cheese? There’s even a Cheese Weasel Song!
The Cheese Weasel Day Song
(Sung to the tune of…..hm well there isn’t one that I know of.
C.W. Day predates MP3)
Who Brings the Cheese on April 3rd?
It’s the Cheese Weasel!
He’s not a silly bunny or a reindeer or a bird
He’s the Cheese Weasel!
He’s got a funny little tail and funny buck teeth
and he doesn’t bring fish and he doesn’t bring beef
so you’d better be good if you want to get some cheese
from the Cheese Weasel!!!!!
For the last 2 months or so I’ve been taking poi spinning classes with Jon Dickinson of Fire Arts Academy and Fire Arts Collective. All I’ve got to say is that he’s really good… a very good teacher in a good physical space with good students and… well, if you’re going to learn to spin poi, I highly recommend him.
Here’s his recent flier. If you missed these sessions, never fear, the cycle will repeat at some point!
Fire Arts Academy is offering sessions of Poi & Staff classes in Oakland. FAA is now taking registration for poi & staff classes in Oakland starting Tuesday March 11th. Private classes in San Francisco and weekend workshops are available, please contact us or check our website. Continue reading ‘I Spin Poi’ »