Zan

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• Commented on Trompe l'oeil back-garden sink-hole
  Here is a side view: http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2766/4117569026_cec9ccf03e_o.jpg...
• Commented on Toy truck craps out domino runs
  This isn't anything new. I had a Domino Rally set from Pressman Toys in the early 90s that included their "pathmaker" which was a slightly more compact version of this. I don't think they make them any more, but it...
• Commented on Apple Tablet delayed, analysts cast haruspex over chinese shipping manifests
  This is where I lost all confidence in the analysis: "As a point of perspective, iSuppli has reported the bill of materials on the iPhone 3GS is $179," the report said. "Backing out the phone functionality, we believe the bill...
• Commented on Space Mountain queue gets short-play video-games
  I'm not sure what you mean by a museum. Perhaps you are referring to the post-show exit path, where exiting riders would pass by a series of dioramas. 15 years ago, those dioramas would've been the RCA-sponsored exhibit called "Home...
• Commented on Inebriated woman falls in front of oncoming train
  @jessemoya: It's North Station a little before 11pm, so the crowd is most likely the last stragglers leaving the Celtics game....
• Commented on Inebriated woman falls in front of oncoming train
  toolbag has it right: the scary thing here is the third rail. If she stayed between the rails, the whole train would likely just pass over her without causing her any harm. However, looking at the video, it looks like...
• Commented on Real calculators modeled after desktop calculators
  I want to see a physical version of the Windows 7 calculator. Seriously, that thing rocks!...
• Commented on Solar sails to take flight
  The Planetary Society has tried twice before to launch a solar sail, in 2001 and 2005, but both attempts were thwarted when the Russian ICBMs used as launch vehicles failed to reach orbit. NASA, working with the Planetary Society, then...
• Commented on Try the beef in "Wikipedia flavor"
  This story came a day too late for me. I was just in Framingham yesterday for the Cake Wrecks tour event....
• Commented on The Perfect Turkey Doesn't Really Exist
  Wow, I guess I'm the fifth person here (including Maggie) who remembers reading that specific Zillions article as a kid. I guess it really made an impression. I especially remember the discussion of gluing the sesame seeds on the hamburger...
• Commented on Homebrew backyard railroad recreates Disneyland
  Interesting that he's been working on it for ten years, but the castle has the post-2006 paint job with blue and pink stones (technically it was painted in 2005 for the 50th anniversary but there were other golden decorations on...
• Commented on DARPA challenge -- find 10 red balloons, win $40,000
  @Ted8305 There will be DARPA reps attending each balloon. The rules don't cover popping, but it does say that if a balloon cannot be deployed then there will be only 9 balloons needed to win and if a balloon must...
• Commented on Arnold Schwarzenegger's coded F-bomb in veto
  Mojave, for the exact same reason that you've never won the lottery. Assuming a lottery uses numbers 1-50, there would have to be more than 10,000,000,000 lottery drawings worldwide for the odds of it having happened to be 50%. You...
• Commented on Arnold Schwarzenegger's coded F-bomb in veto
  Initial letter frequencies do differ quite a bit from overall letter frequencies. From a 1975 initial letter frequency list I found in an old crypto textbook, the odds are .042, .014, .047, .002, .008, .071, and .014 respectively. Assuming two...
• Commented on Spurning the "false god of coffee"
  I'm convinced that the "cobwebs" that so many people feel need to be blown out with coffee in the morning is actually just withdrawl -- that's why caffeine is so effective at clearing them up. Switch to decaf (and cut...
• Commented on Boy missing after experimental balloon crash lands
  I hate to quote fox news, but from http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,567320,00.html: During a live interview on CNN, Falcon Heene said he heard his family calling his name as he hid in the rafters of their garage. At the time, there was a...
• Commented on "Happy Splasher" could face charges for driving through puddle to drench kids
  The courts (both of the legal and public opinion variety) have upheld time and time again that there are certain actions which minors are unable to consent to have performed on them. How should the kids be able to consent...
• Commented on When Country Bear Jamboree was serious business
  Cory, I presume you mean Disneyland's Country Bear Playhouse, which was evicted by Winnie the Pooh just days before 9/11/01. WDW never had a Playhouse (which is what the name of the Disneyland version of the attraction was changed to...
• Commented on Moon bombing is bad, for it will make the aliens very angry indeed.
  The only problem with your statement is that there was no environmental modification that took place. We didn't actually bomb the moon -- there was no bomb involved at all, just two pieces of metal. The moon is being pelted...
• Commented on Tiny nuclear battery
  Saying that nuclear batteries are "relatively common" in powering pacemakers is misleading: no nuclear pacemakers have been made since the mid 1980s, and as of 2005 only a handful were still in operation. Assuming that these are miniaturized RTGs (Radioisotope...
• Commented on It's Time To Play...Is! It! Sinful!?
  cjp: Only if you've never watched 70s era game shows....
• Commented on It's Time To Play...Is! It! Sinful!?
  Another helpful link might be this 8/21/2007 Boing Boing post which featured the exact same chart in JPEG form....
• Commented on Disney Family Museum's sucky no-photos policy
  I want to point out a couple of things: First, Disney parks have been cracking down on photography in their parks, first by banning tripods and later by banning any zoom lenses longer than 6" (thereby banning most pro zoom...
• Commented on Stretch limo gets stuck
  Wow, I know that street well. If that's where I think it is, my parents always used to use that street to get around the horrible Highland/Franklin intersection back in the day. However, as Escalades and other huge SUVs became...
• Commented on Apple iPod Announcement: Sept 9th
  Here are my predictions: Shuffle: One of three things here -- either the line is eliminated, the design goes back to a device with built-in controls, or Apple goes the other direction and integrates the iPod directly into the headphones....
• Commented on London bus with 16 CCTV cameras inside
  The 1990s called, they want their BLINK tag back....
• Commented on Why so many plane crashes in 2009?
  I still blame Steven Johnson...
• Commented on How many minutes do people in your city have to work to buy a Big Mac?
  Next time you go grocery shopping ask yourself what you could buy with $250 in foodstamps to feed a family of three for a month without buying junk. My guess is you're going to be buying a lot of rice,...
• Commented on How many minutes do people in your city have to work to buy a Big Mac?
  My mom is very poor so when she has to choose between five boxes of hamburger helper for $5 or two skinless chicken breasts for $5 which one do you think she'll pick? I think the answer is to not...
• Commented on Plantronics brings chrome, pleather to upscale BT headsets
  The case has an extra battery to recharge the headset....