…to outcomes that are nothing more than laughable. To those who are not engineering literate, take a look at the image below (click to make bigger), and notice the excerpt from the plans on the right-hand side. If you see that callout for a detail that says 2/A6.10, there is what is called a leader line pointing to the circled area for which the detail applies to. So, the contractor took the plans, and formed stairs to fit where the leader line is and for the detail bubble. I have a feeling that the true humor behind this is lost on those who have never dealt with engineering plans, but trust me, this is a very ludicrous mistake!

…but I actually like the ingenuity of the person who came up with the lighting arrangment shown below. A fellow co-worker and I were discussing lighting on a local project and I learned quite a bit about fluorescent lighting and the different methods of diffusing the light. The cheap option (like my kitchen) is to use the plastic screen to diffuse the light throughout a room. The much preferred (and more expensive) option is to use aluminum diffusers set at slight angles to reflect the light in all directions. Now, this isn’t diffused at all, but I would think with at least 14 lights, what’s the point of a diffuser?

As always, click on the picture to make it bigger!

…I must be the biggest genius on the planet! It was past time for my annual vision checkup, so I decided to go in and see how bad things have changed. I knew they weren’t good since I’ve been having trouble seeing the tube! The assistant had me take my glasses off and then put the chart to the largest setting and seemed to be amazed when I couldn’t tell her exactly letter it was much less the direction. The doctor came in and was commenting on it and before he asked too many personal questions, he said, “you must be really smart.” Well that took me by surprise, and I could only tell the truth and say “well, of course!” He want to mention an article written by the National University of Singapore and how their findings stated that near-sightedness is linked to intelligence. Intelligent people are twice as likely to be near-sighted. Well, naturally I fall in that category! I then asked if it was because intelligent people read more and therefore ruined their eyes for seeing far away, but the research showed that that really didn’t have an effect.

So, in conclusion, if you didn’t know me, now you know I am a genius!

…but really, I’m not. Ever since we got DSL, we drop net connectivity once in awhile. It’s a short bit of time, nothing major, but enough to make us lose our wireless connection throughout the house. So, once a week or so while I’m downstairs trying to ignore the horrible TV programming the wife watches, I’ll hop on the internet and the network autoconfig finds about six other families that it can connect to (and does for a short amount of time). First off, how can there be six families around me with a signal strength enough to get to our den (which is like a wireless network damper)? And why it autoconnects everytime when I’ve selected NOT TO, I have no clue. So, if the neighbors are like me and have software to track “intruders” on your network, they’ll probably see me pop up now and then. If neighbors are reading this….it’s purely by accident, I promise.

Anyway, this cartoon today from xkcd made me think of it…

…but found that there were some limiting issues. Another car I had been intrested in was the Honda FCX Clarity which is a purely hydrogen based car. Main limitation…only available in Southern California due to that is the only location of fueling stations right now. I have no clue how long it will take to make hydrogen refueling stations around the nation a standard.

The other one is something the brother-in-law brought up. The Th!nk car (from Norway) is another option, but like most hybrid vehicles, the problem is the price being too high for what it is. The Th!nk will start at $25,000 for the two seater version. Compare that to the Smart car which starts at $14,000 for the same size. It will take a long time to recover that in gas cost. The other problem I have heard of with battery cars is the expensive cost of battery replacement. One thing I have to give the Th!nk car is this, I love the look of one of their investors…take a gander at Mr. William E. “Willber” James…how could you not trust that face?

All to be played by ear I guess. I have two years to think on it anyway!

Just published this week on the internet was the Steampunk Workshop’s Victorian style modification of a PC. Check out all the brass and wood and try to not get scared when the guy takes a bandsaw after a brand new widescreen LCD monitor!

Steampunk Workshop

For the past few months, I’ve been toying with the idea of getting a new vehicle strictly for commuting to work to conserve on gas. After buying the ‘97 Nissan Pathfinder last year, I quickly realized my timing on that front was very poor. Over a year ago, I saw a Smart car drive down the road and I instantly fell in love with it. It’s like me in most respects…it’s full of gadgets, cheap and unique. The downside (at least per the wife), is that it is a deathtrap with all the SUVs on the road. I have to disagree based on the structural framing built around it, yet it is still a valid concern. For more money, I could go the plain-jane normal route and get the Honda Civic Hybrid which costs more, gets less gas mileage but is from a more established company. So anyway, I’m just curious to get everyone’s opinion (all three people who read the blog!)

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The Daily Mail, a web paper located in the United Kingdom, has reported that children are now less likely to have an injury from falling out of a tree, and the reason…more kids are playing video games than playing outside!

Seven years ago the chances were about equal. But as the lives of “the Xbox generation” have become dominated by sedentary activities, the likelihood of them having an outdoor accident has plummeted.

In 2006/07 - the latest year for which data is available - 1,067 children under 15 needed medical assistance for tree falls. In 1999/00 the figure was 1,823.

I don’t ever want to hear someone telling me I’m wasting my time by playing Lord of the Rings Online or the PlayStation. It’s just my form of self-preservation. I mean goodness, I could walk outside and sprain my ankle going down the driveway. It’s much safer sitting on my rear playing games…

So it appears that Delta Airlines will start revamping the seating on their plans in 2010 to a new design increases comfort, promotes privacy and yet still gives more space than conventional airlines. It really is interesting to see how a few small changes can really make a difference in the total experience. I don’t fly that often, but I can tell you that if I did, this would be a must to keep me from getting seated next to the guy who should be in two seats because of his size.

The Cozy Suite via OhGizmo!

My brother-in-law and his colleague brought this to my attention earlier this week. On April 15, 2008, the world’s oldest and longest (1.2 kilometers=0.75 miles=3,937 ft) wooden bridge in Mandalay collapsed after a lot of people walked on it for a Burmese New Year Festival. Here is some of the article from the Mizzima news article…

“The bridge collapsed because a lot of people were walking on it and besides, the bridge was very old. It broke in the middle. It is yet to be repaired,” a resident of Mandalay told Mizzima.

The bridge, the longest and oldest, built with pure teak wood without the use of any metal, is one of the best tourist attractions in Mandalay.

Since the bridge has not yet been repaired, it has become more difficult to cross the lake because it requires people to go around the lake to reach the other side, the local said.

The U Pein Bridge was built in the 18th century when the Innwa king transferred his palace to Amarapura and presented all his teak to the city mayor’s secretary U Pein. U Pein then built the bridge with the teak and it came to be known as the ‘U Pein Bridge’.

The U Pein Bridge, which is wonderfully built only with wood, was built with 1060 teak slats.

Look at the picture below, I have concerns about it already based on the pile to the bottom left of the picture.

Beautiful picture of the bridge at sunset. Click on the picture for a larger version.