The Zero Blaster. Makes cherry-scented smoke rings.
The Super Zero Fluid lists no ingredients, and it’s made in China, so I’m sure it’s fine.
Do not taunt happy fun ball!
Monthly Archives: May 2008
The Physics of Crossdressing
Oh, wait. It’s the other drag coefficient.
Sexy Physics
Career Paths
May Scientiae Carnival: Career paths, perspective, and changing self-image
[G]reat insights into the lives and careers of women in science
And The Beat Goes On
Cool musical step sequencers that use optical input.
BBC Seven! BBC Heaven!
BBC was in the lab yesterday, filming . . . something. I mostly stayed out of the way, except to utter, “I’m putting my secret stash in here!” within earshot of one of the crew, and then making sure everyone understood it was my secret stash of titanium bolts. (Titanium bolts will get you stoned to the bejeezus-belt)
I have no idea what program (excuse me, programme) was involved. Just rumors that they wanted shiny stuff to film. Last time they were in town was around Y2k, or maybe the millenium, when it seemed that everybody was filming in the lab, and we turned them down because we were running the Cesium fountain, and the room lights had to be off for that. No flash photography, and people in the first six rows will get wet.
Random Nonphysics Link
Splendid Elles: My Thoughts on Creationism (aka the artist post formerly known as Creationists are Pure Evil)
As the Blue Collar Scientist notes, it’s very well done, and though I understand the reasoning behind noting that it’s done by a fifteen year-old, I think that’s a bit of a distraction. I’m reminded of the quote by Samuel Johnson about seeing a dog walking on its hind legs: “The wonder of the matter is not whether it does it well, but that it does it at all.” This isn’t a good post for a fifteen year-old. It’s a good post, period.
Coherent Google?
Google’s logo in recognition of May 16, 1960 being the day the first laser was demonstrated. So that’s good. But geek pedantry gets in the way — you can only see a laser from the side if there’s something to scatter the light, so they are depicting a layout with a really poor air filtration system in operation and/or reinforcing a Hollywood myth about lasers.
(I really like Google. That I pick on them occasionally should not be misconstrued as anything mean-spirited. It’s more like constructive criticism: seeking geek perfection.)
Toys in the Office
As I had commented before, I have a USB missile launcher in the office. I first noticed them a few years ago but not only were they unavailable (it was around Christmas), they were unavailable only in England. A few months later they were back in stock, and I had to buy two to justify the excessive shipping cost. One for the office, and one for home.
My attempt to attach a USB webcam was thwarted, because both devices want a direct connection to the computer and I don’t have enough ports to do that and connect the things I need to actually function at my job. Such a sacrifice . . .
Voting Strategy
The other day I was talking with my brother, who lives in NYC, and we were comparing pope-visit stories (his attempts to get around the city were screwed up on consecutive days). I mentioned how we had gotten a road repaving out of the visit to DC, and how we seemed to get the for presidential funerals, too, and how this could color my voting strategy.
We’ve gotten a day off for presidential funerals, so in order to maximize this effect, I need to embiggen both the number and age of ex-presidents as much as possible. So I must always vote against the incumbent, or, when there is no incumbent, vote for the older candidate. McCain’s the clear choice under this paradigm.