Love the text on this toy box:
-Game Attention
Do not play outdoors during thunderstorms
- Handsome appearance
modern techniques
radio control
- Flat out most
Let me passing through the fine time with you
On September 21 activist groups around the world temporarily took over single parking places on city streets and converted them in to small public parks complete with grass, trees and benches. Many of the groups accomplished this feat using only human powered vehicles (bikes) to carry in supplies. They pay the meter for one hour and get to work, then everyone is invited to enjoy a little green space until the meter runs out. Then they pack up and are on their way. 47 parks in 13 cities. Whether you consider this a “protest”, public performance art, or just a random act of kindness, this is totally awesome! Things like this make the world a better place to live.
This cat likes to drink from a running sink. Nothing too unusual there. But he has an unusual way of getting the water to his mouth. No cat I have known would do this. Very funny video, thought it is really too long, you can get the whole idea in the first minute.
Or: More Adventures in Home Repair
For the last several months we have been experiencing a terrible smell from our stove whenever we broiled food in the oven. An odd, not food like smell, more like burning insulation or plastic or something. It was barely noticeable when we just baked, but once the top elements got really hot for broiling, the odor got nasty. We opened windows and turned on fans, but it would linger in the whole house for hours. We cleaned the oven, we cleaned under the stove burners, no change. The other day we finally decided to tear into it and figure out what was going on.
We pulled the plug, moved it out from the wall and started taking out screws. Top element removed, connections looked fine, no charring or loose wires. Took off the door, removed back panels, found some greasy dirt, but nothing that looked like it was burning. After taking the stove top and head unit completely off we spotted a few mouse droppings in the bit of fiberglass insulation exposed under the edges of the pan which separates the stove from the oven. I started wondering if mice had moved in to the insulation, then met their hot demise. I found it interesting that the pan was held on with Torx screws which seemed to imply that it was not supposed to removed. I dug out my Torx driver, removed the screws, and cautiously lifted, afraid of what I might find. As it came up we saw a dark brown area on the otherwise light yellow insulation and knew we were on the right track. We slowly peeled back the insulation, afraid that any moment a horror movie worthy charred remains of a dead mouse would be revealed, but instead there were dark pea sized pellets? Whaa? those look like – no it couldn’t be – rabbit droppings??
While my mind churned for a moment trying to grasp what I was seeing, BRB suddenly spoke the answer – Cat Food! Yes, there were not rabbits nesting in the stove (whew, I hate it when that happens), but rather mice had stashed a winter’s worth of cat food pellets in a hollowed out area in the fiberglass insulation, and then the pellets had baked and burned when the top of the oven got hot enough. We proceeded to carefully perform a pelletectomy surgical procedure with gloves, scissors and vacuum cleaner. We managed to remove the food and the damaged insulation, but were left with a big hole in the insulation exposing the top of the oven compartment.
We left everything torn apart all over the kitchen and drove to the appliance store to find out how to get replacement fiberglass. The service man did not seem to even offer to sell us some, but agreed with our suggestion that it would be easy to scavenge a piece from a dead oven. We drove over to their appliance graveyard where things were piled up for recycling. Unfortunately they had just sent out a big group of ovens, but there was one stove top that had a few strips of insulation in it – just enough to fill the hole, and its bright white color made it look like surgical gauze, to complete the surgery metaphor.
After reassembling the whole mess, we seem to have solved the problem, and tested it / celebrated by baking some muffins. And now we know not to try to bake a cat food hot dish for the cat. Like revenge, cat food is a dish best served cold.
Here is a nice tribute to bananas I came across on YouTube. Some cool, fun images here. Enjoy!
Here is a wonderful banana sighting from Japan. Dole has started an ad campaign there featuring a Bananaman who sprouts CGI bananas from his head and hands and even shoots bananas from his nose to cheer up sad women in the park. Bananas consumption has apparently surged in Japan with the popularity of “The Morning Banana Diet” and Dole has decided to capitalize on the trend with these bizarre commercials. Hey maybe this guy should try to get a job at Dole? Enjoy the Banana filled goodness below.
Electron Love
ohm-my, I find you so irresistible,
I just don’t know watt to do,
Currently I ampere in your power.
You act so coil,
to induce me into your field,
its beyond my capacity to avoid.
please integrate me into your circuit,
I won’t be a load.
don’t leave me feeling like a dip.
Without you I could just diode
I know I am biased,
but you look so farad to me.
I just want to volt you all night,
and cuddle you in my armature.
You complete my circuit.
I’m not interested in your transistor,
don’t even want to meter,
I only have polarize for you.
How can I cell you on the idea,
the potential is there.
I need to switch you over.
Please don’t tune me out.
I can’t stand your impedance,
you know we were meant tube.
How can I bridge the gap?
How can I amplify my signal?
Help me rectify the situation.
There is nothing to sine,
just a wave will do.
A pun poem by ObserveTheBanana. Inspired by Breakfast Blues, by Trout Fishing in America.
My son B drew this funny little cartoon depicting the elderly iPod Nano telling the new youngin’ Touch how it was back in the day . . .
This was on the envelope containing my amazing new robot bookmarks which I will have to scan and share another day.
Pi day (March 14 or 3/14) rapidly approaches once again. Last year we celebrated with . . . a pie. This year we are going to be in Minneapolis for my son B to play in a state piano competition, so I was not sure how we would recognize the day short of buying some pie. But now, salvation! Make: TV is having a Make: Day at the Science Museum of Minnesota. We are SO there. As a subscriber to Make magazine, and the Make philosophy I often lament that all of the Maker Faire events take place in far off Texas or California, so I am very pleased to be able to attend a Make event right here in my home state of Minnesota, and even on a day when I will be driving to the Twin Cities anyway.
Celebrate the ingenuity and inventiveness in our community. Make: television, Geek Squad® and the Science Museum of Minnesota join forces to create a new event giving local engineers, artists, tinkerers and inventors the opportunity to showcase their DIY creations to museum visitors.
This family-friendly event features arts, electronics, musical performances, green technology, crafting and more!
Happy Pi Day!
Another joke from the mind of B:
What do you call a role playing game that moves around and changes a lot?
.
.
.
.
ADHD&D !
The students at Ohio Northern University put together an ice cream serving system with two Kuka robots and an Allen Bradley Micrologic 1500 PLC. While this kind of educational automation project may be common in university robot labs across the country, being a big fan of both ice cream and robots I thought I would give a nod to these students’ excellent work. They report that it took 26 students and 5 weeks to fabricate the system including writing all of the code and machining custom effectors. It takes 2 minutes to serve a cup of ice cream complete with spoon and toppings of choice. The students did not want to speed up this cycle time so the user could enjoy “an experience watching the system” and not just get fast ice cream. A nice touch is the way the robot arm moves a little, then lowers the cup under the soft serve machine to produce a nicely shaped point on the top of the ice cream serving. Watch it in action below.
. . . or better parenting through Unix. My son B really got a kick out of this xkcd comic:
So now I have learned to put the concept to good use:
Me: Time to brush your teeth and get ready for bed
B: No, I’m reading
Me: SUDO, brush your teeth.
B: Okay! (jumps up and runs upstairs.)
Works great for now, at least until the novelty wears off in a few days.
Every year the University of Minnesota Morris (UMM) holds a student film festival (video making contest) they call the UMMys. The entrants vary widely in quality and subject matter and tend to include a lot of teen angst and zombies. Several years ago one entrant stood head and (large metallic) shoulders above the rest. It was called “Rumspringa! The Musical” and was about an amish girl going on her traditional rumspringa to the city and falling in love with a recently unemployed phone answering robot. All songs are written (except the Electric Slide) and performed by the students and it is clever, funny and totally worth watching, cheesy robot costume and all. Sadly the entire 30 minute production appears to no longer be available on YouTube, but two of the best (IMHO) musical numbers from it are still available for your viewing pleasure.
Your robot overlords command you to click the play buttons below…
Every film needs an internet trailer…..
“Large 1970s banana-shaped resin floor lamp by Louis Durot, with one light.”
Over at 1stdibs.com they are selling a giant banana lamp from the 1970’s. At close to 7ft tall this is one serious banana to have in your house. I want it. They won’t even show the price without registering and logging in first, and there is shipping from France.
[1stdibs via BoingBoing]
This guy has redirected the water output from a jetski through nozzles on a jetpack. This is an amazingly awesome idea that I am surprised no one else had come up with yet (or had they?). I think you could do the same thing on land using a firehose or some other high pressure water source. This video makes it look like SO MUCH FUN, a jet pack that doesn’t run out in 30 seconds. Who cares if you can only go 25 feet high or so.
[ Reddit via Crunchgear]
I guess I could come up with some clever joke about swishy homosexual squirrels starting wildfires, but I think the headline speaks for itself. Actually I was at first picturing a squirrel with fur ablaze in flame running though the tall grass leaving a trail of fire, but alas it is not quite so interesting with it merely dropping to the ground after being electrocuted by touching two power lines. But the good news is, it seems to have boosted the educational level of the local kids:
I know, wildfires aren’t funny – so stop chuckling ok?
The story:
JONES, Okla. — A squirrel caught fire, sparking a blaze Wednesday morning that resulted in the evacuation of an elementary school in Jones, fire officials said.
Investigators said the squirrel touched two power lines at the same time and fell to the ground near Britton and Hiawassee roads.
That fire burned 5 acres in the Jones area, forcing the evacuation of the elementary school. Those students were taken to Jones High School.
As of May 2008, Owners of the Nintendo Wii game console can now download free game demos to their Nintendo DS game system at home just like the Download Service available at some stores. The service is available as part of the new free Nintendo Channel on the Wii. You can purchase the Nintendo Channel (for free) through the Wii Shop Channel. The Nintendo Channel features Wii game videos and trailers. To find the DS Download service you will need to agree to allow “Data-Sharing” service that sends data on what games you play to Nintendo (Under Nintendo Channel settings, Data-Sharing Settings). Then go to “Find Titles for You” and the bottom choice will be “DS Download Service”. If the option is grayed out as unavailable, then you have not agreed to the data sharing. Once in the DS Download Service you will see a list of available demos, some of which appear to be permanent, some of which seem to be available only temporarily. I have noticed the “Distribution Ends:” date they give is not always accurate and the list does not update until at least a day after that date. After you download a game you can keep it on your DS until it is powered off. If you want to save a demo to play the next day, just close the DS to suspend it without turning it off (and consider plugging it in since the battery will slowly drain in this suspended state).
Since I have been unable to find a list on the web of what demos are available, I will post the new list on this blog as they change (which is usually a day or two after the “ends” date).
Enjoy!
Today’s YouTube banana sighting – Dr. Bunson Honeydew is tickled pink to announce his solution to “the banana problem”. And here I didn’t even realize there was a “banana problem.”
Goodbye forever to dull bananas!
A little over week ago I was finally lucky to win myself a Bag of Crap from Woot. Well, it finally arrived and with much fanfare and to-do the great unveiling commenced.
The box. Pretty big, that’s a good sign, but kind of light . . .
Air pillows, some little boxes, oh oh what’s inside? what’s inside?
First item a mysterious box of “4 sets”, but sets of what?
Ahhh, 4 iGo car chargers. Potentially useful for my iPod or cell, but they don’t come with any tips for devices. A quick search on Amazon reveals the tips are not so cheap at around $10-$15 each. If I get lucky I can sell 3 of them to buy 2 tips.
Second item, some weird little soda can charm thingy. Why? ‘Cause it’s crap! (Crap with a straw! -though I do wonder why such a thing is even manufactured in the first place)
Next item, three nice little camera cases, not too crappy.
Last item, now what’s this? A Palm computer? This may have potential . . .
but it is a Palm Zire – bottom of the line Palm in 2002. Works fine as it ever did, but has a crappy monochrome unlit LCD display. Resale value on eBay appears to be under $10. Oh well, I will try to download some game apps for it, or use it as a remote control.
As it was written:
“shalt thou not get the crap you want, want the crap you get.”
The anticipation was fun, and we enjoyed making up lots of B O C phrases all week….
Bag Of Carrots Big Old Cat Bozo, Original Clown Brrrr Outside Cold Big Ornery Cephlapod Break Open Crustaceans Ball Of Cotton Broken Old Computer Bad Old Crabs Bring On Clowns Bagel Or Cereal Butter Or Creamcheese Bowl Of Cereal Bumpy Old Carpet Big Old Camera Bag Of Cookies Box Of Cabbage ….
It’s a Woot thing. What is Woot? Woot.com is a different kind of online shopping site. Every day they have just one thing for sale. It remains for sale until they sell out, or the until the day ends. The next day they have one different thing for sale. They have great deals, and wacky descriptions of the items, usually making sure to point out not only what a great deal it is, but also honestly pointing any weaknesses or shortcomings in the product. Every once and a while things get interesting when they have a Woot Off! On these special hallowed days they have offer many things, still one at a time until a preset quantity sells, before moving on to the next item. An item might be available for hours, or for only minutes. It inspires compulsive refreshing to catch new deals throughout the day (as their song goes, “giving me an F5 complex, refreshing just to see what comes next!”). There are even third party web sites dedicated to tracking Woot Offs and notifying you when new items appear (mywoot.net is my favorite). The highlight of the Woot Off is the “Bag of Crap” (referred to as BOC, bandolier of carrots, etc) which is a random item grab bag. For some reason this is the most popular of items and instantly causes their servers to overload as it appears. This is despite their adamant assertions that you really don’t want one (see below). It is a true miracle of modern marketing genius. Having shopped on Woot for several years now, and purchased several items during Woot Offs or otherwise, I have just for the first time today managed to secure my very own Bag of Crap! It may be a dime store trinket, it may be a valuable electronic item left over from a previous day, I just have to wait and see. I will announce its contents when it arrives. – See what I got: I Got Crap!
And it was written…..
If we allow you to give us your money, we shall grant you some sort of bag and some quantity of crap. We promise nothing more. And if you know what’s good for you, you’ll be grateful for that.
THE HOLY CRAP COMMANDMENTS v2.0:
I. Thou shalt expect nothing beyond one bag of some kind and your chosen quantity of crappy items (which should be THREE).
II. Thou shalt not whine and complain when some people’s crap turns out to be nicer than yours.
III. Thou shalt take a moment to consider whether you might be better off just not buying this crap.
IV. Thou shalt not order just one crap and blame it on anything but your own inattention.
V. To paraphrase Stephen Stills, shalt thou not get the crap you want, want the crap you get.
Another Roomba fan
Link icanhascheeseburger
Wouldn’t the world be a better place with more chickens keeping the peace? I love the end where I can just hear that chicken saying, “Now don’t make me come back here again!” as he walks away.
Here is a fun little diversion to waste some of your time. Check out Akinator, the Web Genius. It is an online “guess what you are thinking of” game like those little electronic 20Q games. This one guesses characters, real or otherwise – anything from celebrities to cartoon characters. It works surprisingly well, starting with broad questions, then throwing in some odd details, then – hey wait a minute is it getting close? then Wow! He got it! These must use an interesting algorythm that seems to be more advanced than a straight decision tree. The questions do not start the same every time, and it will frequently surprise you with the correct answer after seemingly not asking anything very specific to your answer. This one in particular is interesting in that it has more options than just yes or no. You can also answer ‘probably”, “probably not” or “I don’t know”.
Go check it out!
Over at London Bananas they have a collected a surprisingly large collection of photos of banana peels spotted laying around the London cityscape.
“I see them everywhere. They’re languishing on doorsteps, hanging out in the middle of the road, dangling off street signs, peeking out of piles of garbage, reclining in the middle of the sidewalk, riding the bus for free. A great number of them are bright yellow as if they’re fresh and have just been dropped, although they appear in all states of decay.”
Two original (I believe) jokes from the mind of my son B
–
Sometimes when my old hound dog talks in his sleep he doesn’t tell the truth,
but I figure what the heck, let sleeping dogs lie!
–
My friend is sooo confused!
How confused is he?
When I got sick he sent me a bowl of rose soup . . .
. . .
and a bouquet of chickens!
