Aug 25 2006 Wenger introduces the super ultimate Swiss Army Knife
Wenger has created this huge Swiss Army knife which includes every tool the company makes. They're calling it the “Giant Knife Version 1.0" and it debuted with all 85 features and can perform hundreds of functions. Although if you're in a sticky situation it'll take about 3 hours just to find the tool you're looking for. You'll be looking for a wrench and all of a sudden out pops a bicycle chain rivet setter.
Aug 24 2006 USB BBQ
This crazy sunuvabitch hooked up 30 USB ports spread over 5 PCI cards to make a miniature BBQ powered by his computer. Which is cool and all, but I'm more interested in that meat he's grilling up. Packaged raw meat? Asia is like the world of tomorrow today!
Aug 23 2006 Artist creates invisible sphere
215 Points of View is an artist's attempts to build an invisible sphere, with 215 monitors placed directly opposite 215 cameras, allowing the viewer to peer directly through an eight hundred pound mass of steel, glass and electronics. It's a noble idea, but the photos and video show that it's a horrible failure. Not only is the sphere still very much visible, but you can't even tell what the screens are supposed to be showing. Calling this an invisible sphere is like calling a shopping cart an automobile.
Aug 23 2006 Office-supply ninja stars
Here's a neat guide on how to create a tiny office-supply ninja star using nothing but some X-acto blades and tape. It's pretty much exactly what you think it is. Although I took some creative liberties and attached a butcher knife to the one I made. It's not nearly as portable, but its inceased killing power more than makes up for it.
Aug 23 2006 Ash Cloud from Mount Ubinas, Peru
Those crazy cats at NASA got this sweet photo of an erupting volcano in Peru. At least I think it's sweet. It'd be a lot easier to tell if there was flying magma and people running for their lives.
Aug 22 2006 Avdeco Plasma TV stand explodes
This is a warning about the Avdeco line of plasma and TV stands.
Last fall I purchased an Avedeco HR420 TV stand for my bedroom. This stand runs about $1000, so it is definately not cheap. One of the reasons I chose this stand was that the top shelf had a "stated" capacity of 250lbs. Since I was putting my Panasonic 50PX500U Plasma on it, I wanted to make sure it was solid. Since the Panny was only 114lbs, I figured I had plenty of support for it.
All was fine for many months, and then, just last month, I happened to be sitting in the next room, when I heard a tremendous crash. I thought that a plane had hit my house, and I ran into my bedroom to see what happened.
The top shelf of the Avdeco stand EXPLODED sending shards of glass to every corner of my bedroom. Fortunately for me, I wasn't sleeping at the time, or I would have been hit by flying glass.
Amazingly, my plasma tv, fell straight down, and was resting precariously on the next two shelves. I quickly called my wife in to help me lift it off and to the ground. It is really a miracle that the plasma didn't fall over on its face.
And that, my friends, is why my TV stand of choice is a giant pile of bricks. It's sturdy and classy.
Aug 22 2006 How to make magnetic water
Dan Serena has a cool video on his site showing water reacting to a powerful magnet. He attained the magnetic water by taking a cup of water, mixing in lime juice and spinach leaves, and letting it sit in a fridge over night. The Vitamin C from the lime juice extracts the iron from the spinach leaf so that the water is laced with enough to make it magnetic. I can't actually tell if the video is real, but it's convincing enough that I'm throwing it up for you to judge. Recreating the experiment would be simple enough, but I'm not some rich fat cat that can go around wasting limes and spinach. That stuff doesn't grow on trees you know.
