Marines demonstrate a straightforward fix to a Microsoft’s X-Box gaming system exhibiting the Red Ring of Death error light display.
Marines Fix Red Ring Of Death – Watch more Game Trailers
Archive for the ‘Games & Toys’ Category
Harshest Review Ever
Monday, October 25th, 2010Couch Cushion Architecture
Thursday, June 3rd, 2010A brilliant synergy between the weighted foundation and the light tensile structure, this project impressed us with its attenuation of structure and bright interior spaces. The courtyard and formal entry are also well thought-out and provide a clear means of way-finding. Grade A+
More here.
In Newton We Trust
Sunday, August 9th, 2009Via The Inquisitr.
Update 27 Aug 2009:
Gosh darn it, this is a flat out fake, per Snopes, who apparently debunked it a few days after I posted this. It was done in segments as part of a Microsoft commercial. I had hoped that even if it was done as part of a carefully engineered stunt, it was still a real stunt, but no.
Also, to commenter venomlash: I didn’t remotely think I could have possibly been the first person to have thought of the phrase “In Newton We Trust,” but I admit this video seemed to be the definitive demonstration. I also note this entry is the top Google hit for the phrase, and that I cannot find any reference to a film by that title. Link, please?
First Person Shooter Disease
Sunday, July 12th, 2009Just when I think my life is hard, I discover that it could be ever so much harder.
[link]
[via a weepy John Scalzi.
Safety Advisory: Magnet Mash
Friday, February 20th, 2009If you’re any kind of geek, or were ever any kind of kid, you probably played with magnets and nails, seeing how a relatively strong magnet would pick up a whole string of nails.
You are so out of date, so unhip, so twentieth century.
Here’s a couple of real magnets picking up just one nail between the two of them:
[click to embiggen.]
Yes, that pinkish thing sticking out from between those two shiny things? That would be the nail, with its fingertip, literally squished off the end of the guy’s finger when the two magnets flew together from twenty inches apart.
Them thar’s real mag-en-ets, folks, yessireebob.
The link has many more pictures of medical interest, and thus may not suitable for the squeamish.
Damn, and I thought I was cool, with my little negligently-sawed finger tip. Got nothing on this dude. And saw versus magnets?
Negligent magneting. Wowsers.
Hmm — the source site, MagnetNerd, has some great stuff. I like the Dancing Nails.
Ah. “Care and feeding of neodymium magnets“; interesting and useful.
[update]
Ocean Organ
Sunday, July 6th, 2008The steps going down to the sea in Zadar, Croatia play music.
Wave action pushes air through organ pipes built into the steps; the pipes are tuned so that wherever you stand, the pipes within your hearing sound good together.
Listen to the Sea Organ Music.
Via Userfriendly‘s Link of the Day.
BTW, today’s cartoon is pretty good, too:
Brussel Sprout
Tuesday, October 30th, 2007“When Hollywood hates America,” writes Robert Bidinotto, “it tries to annihilate every symbol of America. The latest to face execution is G.I. Joe. “
So now, in a projected animated film for kids, G.I. Joe will no longer be a patriotic American soldier-hero. Instead, he has been replaced by a nationality-neutered creature called “Action Man.” And the name “G.I. Joe” will become a mere acronym for “Global Integrated Joint Operating Entity, an international co-ed [of course] force of operatives [a collective, not an individual, of course] who use hi-tech equipment [not guns, of course] to battle Cobra, an evil organization headed by a double-crossing Scottish arms dealer.”
He then points to Vin Suprynowicz’s article on the man who gave his face to G.I. Joe: Marine SGT Mitchel Paige, awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions on Guadalcanal, basically holding off 2,000 Japanese warriors single-handedly, after every one of his 33 men were wounded or killed, by moving from one machinegun to another to give the impression that the position was fully manned. (Read the whole thing. My summary does not nearly do SGT Paige, or Suprynowicz, anything like justice.)
SGT Paige did not ask for royalties on G.I. Joe’s face. All he asked was that G.I. Joe always be an United States Marine.
Not a Brussels Sprout.
Not a Sports Fan. But:
Tuesday, July 17th, 2007Via Wonderduck:
This past weekend, the Philadelphia Phillies became the first professional sports team in any league anywhere to lose 10,000 games.
Happy Blow Your Eyes and Ears Out Day!
Tuesday, July 3rd, 2007I once had a membership in the Pyrotechnics Guild International, and attended their 1976 Bicentennial convention. I saw things there that I’d never seen before, but that are now completely routine. It was the first show I ever attended that featured electrical ignition, now considered standard for professional shows.
I’m still a sucker for the roadside stand stuff, the so-called “Class C”. On New Years Day and Independence Day, my neighborhood sounds like a war zone, and I love it.
It’s the sound of freedom, and you nannies who want to make it illegal can piss off.
Here’s an outstanding photo from the 2005 PGI convention:
Hey, Kids! Betcha Can’t Beat This!
Monday, June 4th, 2007Summer fun: watch this video, and see how much of it you can duplicate.
Can you come up with with other cool stuff in your own chain reaction machine?
(psst, don’t tell Mom; she’d just worry, and you wouldn’t want to worry your Mom, would you?)