Friday fun: It’s a trap! August 23, 2013
Posted by mareserinitatis in family, Friday Fun, humor.Tags: admiral ackbar, friday fun, traps
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I actually had planned another post for today, but I’m too short on time to write it out. Hopefully next week…
In the meantime, Mike, the older son, and I were having one of those philosophical discussions one has when one’s brain cells are fried because it’s the end of the week and you’re all suffering from the dreaded summer cold. The comment that excited this discussion was a Far Side comic (which I can’t find). The comic shows a couple guys walking through a jungle, and one of them has been caught in a death trap. Meanwhile, one of his fellow jungle-goers is telling another that this is why he tends to walk near the back.
If they’d had Admiral Ackbar with them, he would have pointed out that the first guy was caught in a trap.
This led into a long discussion about what the safest position in a hiking party is, particularly if one is going through an isolated jungle. From the movies, we know that the first guy always trips the net or falls into the pit or what have you. The guy in the middle always ends up succumbing to the rocks on the cliff or bridge that have been weakened by the first guy. The last guy always gets picked off by the natives.
As far as we can tell, this seems to hold unless you’re the protagonist in a non-George R. R. Martin book/show/movie. And, of course, the doubters are all hosed regardless of position.
So what do you think: what is the safest position in a jungle-venturing party? If you have a reason why, I’d love to hear it.
Friday Fun: What is your favorite wavelength? August 2, 2013
Posted by mareserinitatis in electromagnetics, Friday Fun, physics.Tags: colors, friday fun, light, physics, spectrum, waves
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I want to know everyone’s favorite color…by their wavelength. If you need help, here you go:
My personal favorite is right around 400 nm. And it’s entirely for aesthetic reasons.
So what is yours and why?
(Yeah, I know…everyone is going to pick some non-optical frequency. And yes, you have to stick to photons. Maybe we can do sonic waves another week…)
Friday Fun: Minion Posters July 26, 2013
Posted by mareserinitatis in Friday Fun.Tags: friday fun, minion
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I need to print these out and hang them up in my office. (Apologies to my Facebook friends, who have already seen these…depending on whether or not FB lets you see all my posts.)
Friday Fun: How dogs keep cool & cool things with control theory June 22, 2012
Posted by mareserinitatis in engineering, Friday Fun, pets.Tags: engineering, friday fun, Gigadog
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A friend posted the following video on facebook. I think I may use this with my class this fall, so they can get a good handle on the cool things you can do with control theory:
This is based on the following video created with computer animation. (I find it amusing that for so many years, we’ve been trying to master creating animation that looks real, and now Intel tried to make something real that mimicked an animation.)
Once you’ve finished watching those, you’ll want to check out the latest cartoon featuring Gigadog. (I think all Newf owners understand this one…)
Friday Fun: It reminds of having a conversation with a toddler May 18, 2012
Posted by mareserinitatis in Friday Fun.Tags: bots, friday fun
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Friday fun: Falling in love with physics May 11, 2012
Posted by mareserinitatis in physics.Tags: friday fun, love, music
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I know this may sound strange, but I get a little giddy every time I hear a song that uses physics (or the lack thereof) to describe how people feel when falling in love. In fact, I’ve started making a collection of such songs. I’m going to put a couple of my favorites below, but if you have any others you’d like to suggest, please do so!
So why do you suppose physics is such a good way to describe it? I guess that, personally, I’m not poetic enough to appreciate the similarities. However, if you fall in love with someone who likes physics, there are multitudes of bad pickup lines that can be generated which will make that person laugh. So…if you have any bad physics-related pick-up lines, I’d love to hear those, too.
Friday fun: Encabulator madness February 17, 2012
Posted by mareserinitatis in Friday Fun, humor.Tags: friday fun, turboencabulator
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If you ever need practice speaking jargon, I’d suggest studying one or the other of the two following videos.
I also blog at Engineer Blogs, home away from home to some of the best engineering blogs.