Well, now we know what it takes to get me to write a new blog post: The gentlest threat of legal action I've ever received! I mean, compare and contrast the start of the Firepower debacle, or these guys, with this genteel and civilised missive. From: Andy McCutcheon Andy.McCutcheon@niagara.com.au Date: Tue, 19 Jan 2016 02:19:26 [...]
A reader writes: For various reasons, we still use wired landline phones at our house. I have an old 80's phone (first generation touch-tone) that belonged to my grandmother that I would like to continue to use. The only thing really wrong with it is the ringer. It has an actual bell and clapper ringer. [...]
I should write things here. I used to write things here all the time. I stopped to write a book, and haven't written that yet either. Sorry about that. Apropos of what I am currently doing: Potatoes! Because I am a human and am sane, I like mashed potatoes. I didn't make mash very often, [...]
Sorry about not writing anything for ten thousand years. I started writing a book. I'm not very good at it. Apropos of nothing, the other day it occurred to me, as I am sure it has occurred to many other people, that there's a parallel concept to the Big Lie. A Big Lie is a [...]
I'm glad there's no PC version of Grand Theft Auto V, because I don't have a console, so this removes the temptation to play the darn thing. If previous GTA games are anything to go by, GTA V will have numerous punishingly hard missions that are almost impossible to finish the first time, aircraft that [...]
A reader writes: I enjoyed reading your MWO posts, even though I never tried it myself. I came across this article regarding its current state and the ongoing community ragefest: Mechwarrior Online Forum Ragesplosion/ I'd love to hear your take on the situation. Jin I haven't written about MWO for ages, but I've still been [...]
I've written often about scams, of one kind or another. I find them fascinating. I've tied myself in knots classifying this one, though. To my mind most examples of it are clearly over the "scam" line, and I think almost everybody would agree that at least some examples of it definitely are, but... Look. Here's [...]
A reader writes: I was watching an awesome Honda ad featuring the ghost of Ayrton Senna and his 1989 car... ...and I noticed people arguing in the comments on Jalopnik about Doppler effect, which I think you can hear in the video as the "car" goes past the camera. Per your previous writing about "common [...]
There are people on eBay selling "liquid metal bullion". They don't like to tell you exactly what metal this alleged "bullion" is, except they always swear it doesn't have any mercury in it. They generally say it's solid at room temperature, but will melt from the heat of your hands. Those of us with a [...]
A reader writes: Hi, Dan! Though I didn't follow all of the details, I did enjoy your writing about electrocution and car batteries. Do you know the odds of getting electrocuted if one is standing in a wet shower with wet skin using a cordless (battery-powered) sander? I don't know what kind of power I'll [...]
A reader writes: OK so this looks really cool: Alabama-Based CMR Demos Programmable Magnets That Changes Polarity And Strength On A Whim As long as they don't violate the laws of physics that is. What do you think, scam or not? Peter I don't see any reason to think that Correlated Magnetics are doing anything [...]
As a dedicated, to the point of self-destructive obsession, follower of the DealExtreme New Arrivals feed, I read a lot of very strangely translated product descriptions. For a while there, for instance, they were regularly adding new "Gypsophila" laser pointers. There are about twenty of those listed now. That one was pretty easy one to [...]
This is a fan. I am delighted to say it is every bit as demented as I had hoped it would be when I slapped down $US3.40 at DealExtreme to buy it. (There's a green one as well, but that costs three dollars and sixty cents. What am I, made out of money?) It is [...]
Here's yet another Reddit-comment transplant, this time from this thread about scary animals in the USA, in the opinion of... ...Australians. I opined: 1: The house centipede. Perfectly harmless, but practically a prototypical creepy-crawly, and very common. 2: The toe biter. Apart from the egg-carrying creepiness, toe-biters have that name for a reason, and their [...]
Here's another post that was about to be a comment on a Reddit thread that no bugger'd read because the thread is five whole hours old. The thread is about this picture of some Chinese doctors (disrespectfully translated versions here and here) bowing in respect to the body of a terribly young organ donor. She [...]