Place Your Vote/Wackiest Development Yet

Does the "power/charger" cord (that we can't see the end of) come with a US receptacle adapter...?

[^{Better yet: where did the "brain-child" find INVESTORS for this...!?}]

A1) No idea.

A2) No idea.

Apparently, it plugs in on the front, then wraps around and plugs back into the back.

Makes a nice loop, don't you think?

"Ah" ... (er...)... well, I was laughing when I 1st saw it ... but even then, I saw a "loop", which went from back-of-the-thingy ("dock?") to the top of the phone.

The OTHER cable, going "out-the-top-left" of the image, is the one I didn't pay enuf attention to... (obviously, upon second glance, it is the phone's own charger cable... unique-to whatever country the "sucker" lives in).

I am trying understand why you would want to go backwards 25 years in technology?

Undefined: <...you...>.

WTH is that?

Never mind catching the road runner, this old coyote wants answers, and what is the ACME product code for that?

Remember: Any sign that says $85 and states you save $15, you save $85 by not buying the thing at all, maybe even $100.

Advertisement;

For the person who keeps losing/misplacing their phone. The all new Phone Center.

Millennial: "Wow, what a great Idea, I can't believe no one ever thought of this before,... I gotta get one of these..."

How about a Radio Toaster?

"Ugh" ~ can't help but wonder; at what sort of PARTY are ideas like this hatched?

[^{Which came 1st: an image of bagels popping-out of a radio, or an antenna growing out of a toaster...?}]

The scary part is, I googled "radio toaster", and, with all the places selling them, HOW have I missed seeing one til now...!?!

Cool, that way I can burn PBS, while listening to my bread.

Your comment totally busted me up -- now all the other people around me in our open office probably think I've finally gone off the deep end . You got a GA from me for that one. Thanks!

Why thanks! BTW - our little "free" $2000 rat terrier/chihuahua is going so remarkably well.

twister board.... $30.00 at the Walmart...

...but really there are so many stupid gimmicks it's hard to pick just one....

This is hilarious, handerpants....

Y'almost "batted ^₁₀₀₀" on that post; short of the twister board, I hadn't spotted any of those wounderful "Secret Santa" gifts... (^{yes: "wound..."})

Sad to report that the crib dribbler is a novelty .. box only

That twister board, I believe that had won backing on a new ideas show,... or kick starter or something... but initially sold like crazy.

Was it premiered on "Shark Tank"?

I think so...

..."U.S. dog owners spent $62 million in 2011 on plastic surgery treatments. "...

..." Neuticles claims that more than 500,000 pets have had them implanted since they were put on the market in 1995."...

You can't argue with success!!

http://www.cbsnews.com/news/implants-and-facelifts-for-your-pet-inside-the-pet-plastic-surgery-industry/

"Heavens to Murgatroyd!" I could've gone to my deathbed NEVER knowing how cruel I was to 6 different (male) cats...(!) <"^{Re: customer testimonials}"...

"Feelings assuaged", they were all neutered as (8-wk-old) kittens......

(...^{wonder if they EVER have had any real 'emotional trauma', thru the years}...)

We had a Great Dane that we got from a shelter, and he was already around 2 years old and un-neutered when we picked him up.

After he had the operation (and after the recovery time in the 'cone of shame') there was a period of a month or two where he would start licking himself, and immediately stop and look around. I have no idea what he was thinking, but from the way he would scan the room, I'd hazard a guess that he thought they had fallen loose and rolled under the couch or something.

Hilarious and sad at the same time.

I think that instead, I would vote for those fake testicles that guys hang off the tow hitch of their pickup trucks. Recently saw one where instead of paying for the realistic looking kind, the guy took a couple of large steel hex nuts and hung them there on a loop of wire. Not hard to get the idea...

Now TNC, you take those neuticles out of your mouth and put them back in Samson right now, or I am calling your father at work! What a cork holster deal that is. Sorry to use you for the "butt" of my tasteless joke, but I just can't help myself today.

My lab has to be 70% and over 100 °F. A/C on the fritz. I am feeling as though I am in Swedish sauna, but all the nice blonde females are absent.

When we had our late beloved Toby neutered, I asked my vet if she'd give him implants, not realizing that there ARE such implants. She said no. NEXT time I'm not taking No for an answer!

yes, but what do you get when that thing hatches? A volcano?

"Yeah" ... the standard to which SO many {wannabe-inventors} aspire(!)

According to Wiki, "...Dahl sold 1.5 million Pet Rocks for $4 each, and became a millionaire."

And this article in the NY Times , whilest confirming the death of the "inventor", affirms the *unique* endurance of "Pet Rock" in the American lexicon, capable of "denoting ({_EITHER} depending on whether it is uttered with contempt or admiration) a useless entity or a meteoric success."

Sold as "mineral water", and yet containing less minerals than water out the tap at £0.65GBP per tonne (rhetorical question - NNTR)?

Quite.

You are paying too much for tap water. Here is it high at $5/1000 gallons.

(Quite)²

Yeah I think that's way off.... it's about $.00106 per gallon here in FL....so that's about .00006625 per 8oz glass....or .0001325 for a pint....or a 15k% markup...

"A fool and his money are easily parted." - Anon

My Dad used to say that... a lot. Maybe Charlie Stewart invented that saying.

The only real reasons for the high cost are the packaging and the advertisement. They are a major reason for many products on the market.

.

I think you have been mislead. The International Bottle Water Association notes advertising expenditure for the entire bottled water industry was just $24 million in 2014. Somewhere over 10 billion gallons were sold that year. Assuming an average wholesale price around a dollar, that would make the cost of advertising around 1/4 of 1%.

Packaging? Not so much. Those would have to be very overpriced plastic bottles.

.

How about transportation and employees? Those would be my guess for likely highest costs. Here come the local bottled water robots to save the day!

Goobermint; in all it's myriad intarnations.

Items named by description followed by the word "Buddy"

Good or bad I just can't help but smirk.. how can I take the item seriously?

Take Bed Buddy for example. What if you subtitute two g's for the d's?

Bed Buggy? Really? No thanks.

...... ... "speaking-of-which" . . .

Did somebody plant a bunch of THESE around the site, here...(?)

[ Haven't seen the "bouncing ⇑ buddy" lately...]

["Edit"]...technically, I shoulda-clicked-on "Reply" to 26, above...<wink>

Technically that would be a bug bugger ... More so than a buddy.. ⊕

alright, alright, let's not molest the bugs.

?? ... is he confined to bed, for some illness of which I was unaware?

... (( referring to our bouncing buddy, "vermin", of course...))

[[ you DID notice the "↑", yes...?]]

With all the editin' winkin' and pointin' I slipped..

So Yeah? Where is the bouncing buddy?

? ? ... (((...1st-off..._{"re-reading", I see that I had {mis}read as "Bed Bug", up above}))

S-E-C-O-N-D-L-Y : (*you* REALLY got me wondering):

____________________ OK ____________________

............ "New Thread Starting Here" ............

Who will be the first to answer :

1) What has become of our bouncing buddy...? or,

2) WHO "ticked-'im-off" for the final time {once-too-often}...or,

3) Into WHAT new avatar has he "evolved"...?

Most of the stuff advertised on TV after 11 PM, by loud, fast talking sales people.

TV after 11 PM....all the way around... so before 11 PM too.

Now, now, some of the ads on LAFF channel (you know you want to) are pretty good.

There is also, the never old Night Court episodes to sift through. I never get tired of Dan Fielding hitting on Christine Sullivan.

I INVENTED THE PILLOW!!!! AND I WANT TO SELL IT TO YOU FOR JUST $90...

YES IT'S JUST A BAG OF SHREDDED FOAM, BUT IT TOOK ME 2 YEARS TO FIGURE IT OUT!!!!!

What is next? Sheets and pillow cases?

The labs are working on "target-specific_molecule-absorbing" foam-fibers... and the "ad-guys" are tweaking their favorite bean-taco recipes (for the "crew").

It's going to be one unbelievable "Better-than-Beano!" campaign:

"Don't lose any more friends at the office", and, "Get two; one for you, and one for that special someone in your life" ...

Oh Creiky! Why not just roll the farts out of the beans?

Mom tried that once, and the rolling pin scattered semi-cooked pinto beans all over the kitchen. The mice were quite grateful.

For heaven's sake, just bring to boil and decant three times prior to applying the pressure cooker lid. Then add the tomato sauce and the pork, or what have you, such as chicken feet, or 'possum back-strap. Country boys can survive.

Intel has patented a magic wand. I have not dug around to see if they are actually selling it, but when they do, your smartphone will be so yesterday.

jhammond

Looking at the patent info, it appears to be the Microsoft/X-box entry into the 'potion sensitive controller' field, similar to the Playstation Move.

They probably ceased development when the Knect started showing real promice of motion sensing without a controller at all.

X-box is, as you correctly noted, a Microsoft development. The patent is with Intel. ....but that is just a nit at which to pick.

I want to know more about this wand being 'potion sensitive'. I didn't see anything in the patent about potions. It does go with the majic wand theme however.

Any additional insight into which potions to which this wand might have sensitivity would be interesting.

Well the potion props will have RFID/NFC chips installed in the 'stopper,' so the wand can detect which potion it is tapping by reading the strongest signal when the accelerometers register the tap. Obviously it will ignore any signal below 95% maximum strength, so it won't register a potion when it is the table being tapped.

Or it could have been a typo and I ended up losing the 'S' in 'position-sensitive.'

OR it could a be photon (not potion) sensitive....

OR it could be something else....

Maybe it is a flattulator?

Or perhaps you created a hybrid of 'position' and 'motion'...'potion'.

potion or motion sensitive? I don't care, we do not believe in magic within my realm (my work shed). Anyone entering the secure premises, waving a magic wand, will be escorted from said premises at the muzzle of a shotgun.

"I predict"... the next 007 movie will have Bond's newest arch nemesis even wackier than Elliot Carver... he will definitely not be white (Joe Q Public has been offended way too many times already with such politically-incorrect casting)... and, he will HAVE one of these "gizmos", making it the hottest selling product of all time, and the greatest DISTRACTION of all time...(!) The outcome of our next presidential election will be determined by which candidate can convince the most people that he will put one in every pocket (or purse)...

I'd have to say the fidget,...

it's unbelievable, that we fidget with stuff like the fidget all the times... but never saw the consumer value as a toy.

Just like how the Slinky was invented.

Maybe the fidget is a good cheap source and a holder for those bearings until they are needed on another project....hmmm...let me see.

I was at Farm Progress Days last week

and the local Technical college was there and was giving away these as well as other things as promotional items....

I picked got one and its quite satisfying...

Have you guys seen anyone in the wild actually using a fidget spinner in it's proposed usefulness case scenario? The only time I've seen someone using it it's just a toy. Have you seen anyone using one strictly for, "Yep, I'm trying to focus and having this with me is helping" type thing?

I'm still trying to figure out how using a 'distraction' is supposed to improve 'focus.'

It's one thing if I'm driving with the radio on, singing along to the songs. Driving isn't that much of a mental challenge, and remembering song lyrics keeps me occupied enough that I'm not thinking of projects while driving and visualizing how they work instead of keeping an eye on the traffic around me. But a fidget spinner in the car would not help, it's operation is too simple and mechanical, I'd soon forget it is there, until I need to use the wipers and try to move the stick while the spinner is in my hand, dropping it and end up with it wedging itself under the brake lever.

Now EVERYONE around me is going to have their insurance rates jump up.

You are the master of unintended consequence scenarios (all mental, and all never come to pass, thankfully). Me on the other hand, not so much. All I have to do is glance away, and there's that cement truck.

I got one from a show I went to recently, one thing I did not expect was the gyroscopic effect. I always loved playing with those.

So you've never saw anyone that has certain quirks.. biting their nails, playing with a pen or pencil, drumming their fingers... ok, we get it, your a bunch of superior aliens. Lol...

I never said I don't fidget at my desk, but it's not about improving my focus, it's more about my level of focus being low at the time, and the fidgeting is a symptom, not a cure or mediation.

First off, I didn't mean to insult,.. as much as my personality says otherwise...

I agree with you about the focus and fidgeting being a symptom of a disorder.

Its like listening to a radio as you work... if someone is playing the radio as I'm working I would get so in depth, I don't even hear it... unless its grunge or rap.

Listen to grunge is like listening to a German Giving you directions and put to music...

Yes, Grunge will actually gets me angry.

What is grunge music? Is is music? I am one of those that believes rap music is a misnomer. It reminds of of some sort of tribal repeated chant, with a lot of loud thumping. If I want loud thumping I can go into my shop and beat on a 4" slab of steel with my hammer.

Yesterday, for example, I was attempting to form a flat raised dome on some steel 24 gauge sheet. I was using an unorthodox method to say the least. I had a hefty bolt with a head of about 1-1/8" diameter (hexagonal pattern), and a large flat washer the bolt head just fit inside. I taped the washer on the back side of the sheet, with some alignment marks to help center the work (this was a bad idea).

The bolt was centered up with my press rod (6 ton press only), and aligned with corresponding marks on the front side of the sheet.

Needless to say, the work was a bit misaligned, and it tore one side of the domed part.

Next time (if I go back to this), I will grind the edges of the hex pattern on the bolt head to round them, and also grind a round shoulder on the bolt head leading edge.

I will tape the bolt head to the press rod, or otherwise affix, using a centering fixture, then align the washer with the bolt head (not the work wild guess if marked front and back the same), and affix to platens on the press frame. I will also grind off the markings on the top of the bolt head, so it is merely flat and featureless. I suspect this will eliminate tears of the work as it is pressed into shape. Would heating the work stock help also by improving ductility?

What is grunge music?

Good question... for me to describe it is mainly the worst kind of grunge is people yelling at you in German at the top of their lungs while simultaneously the other band members are trying to learn to play their instruments at full volume.

When I had a fabrication shop, the shop floor played the radio, they like country, I'm not a fan of it, but I also don't mind it. Shop noise was an issue,... they had ear protection, but at times the volume got too loud, but the guys were pretty accommodating... and when they noticed, they would turn it down.

I hired a welder, great welder, but he was really into grunge , after a few weeks, he was complaining, because no one played his music... so they developed a schedule. Fine with me. but this guy, thought the only way grunge should be played, is full volume. pissed everyone off. I told him to lower the volume... that only lasted a short time

I had a project that required his welding expertise. and went on the shop floor to discuss it with him. His radio was blairing on full blast, and I decided to talk to him in a low manner,... he kept on saying 'What. I can't hear you", "Talk louder". The others in my shop realize what I was doing,... and some were hoping I'd fire this little s#it.

I walked up to the radio, and shut it off. The shop without the radio playing got deafly quite. and said :I am not longer going to compete with the radio." If people are going to ignore the volume, no more radio." To the relief of everyone.

A few weeks later, I fired the little thief for just that reason . And shortly after, they asked if they can play the radio again, which was fine by me.

Yesterday, for example, I was attempting .... and it tore one side of the domed part.

I have found that doing it the second time around is always faster... so what I do is, I skip doing it the first time, and go straight to the second time. I hope this helps.

Heck, I think I will skip the second, and third, since I already did, with equal insanity, same results, and will now proceed to attempt #4 doing it the "right" way.

"... Would heating the work stock help also by improving ductility? ..."

.

Just to be clear, I am assuming you are not talking about galvanized. I assume you are talking about mild steel. Heating mild steel up to a uniform bright red glow and then cooling it slowly by burying it deeply in vermiculite or perlite or ashes will anneal the piece. This will make it less hard and more ductile.

This could be done initially and may need to be done if the piece becomes work hardened and more work is still required to obtain the final shape.

.

Heating the piece and working it while hot is another option. Keeping a piece of thin steel hot and not quenching it with the tools can be a little challenging.

Thanks for the advice, will attempt the vermiculite trick.

Grunge is what you get when overcaffinated yuppies try to play Punk Rock in a redwood forest.

! �� ... I never would have put two and two together, so as to come up with that specific a definition ... but: "How True!"

[ Actually, I never was into such music, and never would have known the definition of "grunge" music, had I not read Jonathan Bernis's most recent book ... in which, in the 3rd-to-last page, he speaks of the 25th anniversary edition of Nirvana's Nevermind album, and adds Cobain's sad death-at-27 to that ever-growing list:

Janis Joplin, Jimi Hendrix, Jim Morrison, (Elvis), Marilyn Monroe, Philip Seymour Hoffman, John Belushi, Chris Farley, Whitney Houston, Michael Jackson, Amy Winehouse and add-those-you-know-of...] In citing Nirvana as the original grunge band, Wiki enlightened me further:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grunge

[[ durn-burned iPhone will not permit me to insert the link properly here...]]

Since you linked the Wikipedia entry I used for reference, you know exactly why I chose the words I did.

(For those too lazy to follow the link, Grunge is an offshoot of Punk that has its roots in Seattle, WA. Pacific Northwest -> Redwoods. Seattle -> Starbucks -> More coffee shops than there are residents.)

As an alternative to Grunge I see two new "musical" opportunities or three:

1. "Zee" - chimpanzees sitting around in a clearing, beating on logs with leg bones of various herbivores, screaming at the top of their lungs while copulating and defecating. This would be a very near approximation to Grunge.
2. "Sludge" - offer the dregs of society a chance to musically redeem themselves. One year reduction off "life" sentence if the jingle they produce actually has melody, and a beat. Release to parole if the tune makes it to the top ten.
3. "Crud" - Mostly the guttural sounds produced by those with excessive phlegm production, generally done with Aufs Deutsch lyrics, but with a decidedly Nordic sound, not necessarily a melody.

A fourth alternative refreshing sound: "Degreaser" - Washes away all memories of ever hearing any of the above.

"chimpanzees sitting around in a clearing, beating on logs with leg bones of various herbivores, screaming at the top of their lungs while copulating and defecating."

Wasn't that Yoko Ono's latest album?

If it was the theme music to "2001 A Space Odyssey" .... maybe

who ever started this thread on music,.... should be shot.

Where are the censors?...

We un's don't tawk liek thet, in these here parts.

Gotta love Mel Brooks, though, he had a way of slicing through all the Bullshine.

... "Crud" - Mostly the guttural sounds produced by those with excessive phlegm production...

I occasionally resemble that remark...(()) My voice has, on more than one occasion, been likened to the guy with whom my voice most easily carries along.

[^{tho' it got put to use for some years, "rounding-out-the-bass-section"...}]

For me, it's Country and Techno that are more a detriment than a benefit.

Country music tends to make me feel depressed and homesick, although part of that might be the prevalence of country music on Army bases, where I spend the wost four years of my life.

Techno ... it's hard to accurately describe WHY I hate it, the best I can come ip with is: It has no 'soul,' it does not 'move' me, it doesn't 'feel' like music.

Oh, I also find Gangsta Rap distracting, if only for the frequent calls for my death in the lyrics. Maybe if they stopped demanding that everyone "kill Whitey"then white people might be able to listen to it and not feel threatened.

Finally German music can be beautiful and uplifting, from the rousing melodies of Vagner to the dulcet tones of German rock band Nena (99 Luftballoons).

Yes, Wagner is good (pronounced "Vagner".)

Hey if you play country music backward, mom goes to prison, and does not get run over, and it stops raining, and you get a new pickup when it gets un-runover by a damned old train. Not only that, but the Cowboy rides away, instead of hanging around as long as you will let him.

If you play rap backward, whitey kills you, you get off drugs, and have money pouring in, but you are dead.

If you play Techo backward, you get the cramps, and a headache.

If you play Wagner backward, then all the Luftwaffe starts buzzing around again, and we just can't have that.

I always like this meme

Finally German music can be beautiful and uplifting, from the rousing melodies of Vagner to the dulcet tones of German rock band Nena (99 Luftballoons).

Those where the masters and they weren't yelling at you. yes I liked Nena (99 Luftballoons) too. But the German and American versions.

Heck, This may not be German music, but close enough. I grew up that as a preteenager after church we'd Polka around the kitchen table listening to Polka Variety Shows on TV. And as a adolescent, we hated polka's but it was not only hilarious doing it, it was fun.

Gus Polinski: "You tell em' Phoenix"

Yeah, but that one writer and one producer was Freddie Mercury! The man was a literal wizard of music. All the women wanted him, all the men wanted to be him! Or was it the other way around? Or both ways at once? He never really elaborated. Anyway, the only thing that kept him from being a living legend to this day was his death in 1991.

a legend none the less...

The Band queen was also known as the most educated band around. (I have to give 'Boston' credit to this also....)

Mercury; Undergraduate degree in Graphic Design & Art

Brian May; He studied Mathematics and Physics at Imperial College London, graduating with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics in 1974 with honors. In 2007, May was awarded a PhD in astrophysics from Imperial College London for work started in 1971 and completed in 2007

Roger Taylor; BSc in Biology

John Deacon; Beauchamp Grammar School, Chelsea College, London, First Class honours degree in electronics

Generally death has a negative effect on careers, yes.

For artists who paint, they work increases in value after they expire...

While this is undoubtedly true, no one can argue that their career is not over.

Show me, or name one artist that has carried on painting after death, and I will show you Lazarus.