Get an ACME Klein bottle!

ylle writes "I had to laugh when I found this webpage. If I only had found this before Christmas I know what I would have wished for. It's an amazing bargain; "You can convert your Acme Klein Bottle into an astonishing amount of energy, over 1023 ergs! Enough to power a small city for years. To get you started, we'll supply the necessary equation for free." " I was looking for a zero volume vessel just the other day. Ah well, its just wierd: enjoy it.

Comments

Topologically-consistent website

[Morgaine]

I see that they've structured their website to be topologically consistent with the capacity of their Klein bottles: my browser has just returned "Document contains no data".

Reminds me of something when I was a kid

[jsm]

A fellow named Klein once confided
His bottle was not quite one-sided.
But add a dimension
To Felix' invention,
Have mathematicians delighted.

Re:Slashdot Effect...

[pen]

And a few more links...

What's a Klein Bottle?
Specs for nice Klein Bottles

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ACME = Cliff Stoll

[Codger]

If you look at the FAQ you'll notice that the man behind ACME is none other than Cliff Stoll! Last I saw him he was on MSNBC's ill-fated internet show as the resident wild-haired net skeptic. Nice to see he's doing something cool like this.

Check out the 'jigsaw puzzles' for a good guffaw, too.

it's Clifford Stoll selling these Klein bottles!

[Lumpish Scholar]

[If you don't know who Clifford Stoll is, run do not walk to your favorite bookstore, perhaps F atbrain or Amazon.com, and get a copy of The Cuckoo's Egg : Tracking a Spy Through the Maze of Computer Espionage. --PSRC]

http://www.kleinbottle.com/acme_faq.htm

Who's behind Acme Klein Bottle?

Just me, Cliff Stoll. Nobody else.

Are you the same guy that ...

Yep, same guy.

Do you make these Klein Bottles yourself?

Not any longer. I tend to overwork the welds and have burnt myself too often. Worse, I take a long time to make a Klein Bottle. To keep prices reasonable, professional glassblowers make these to my specs.

ACME Name

[SEWilco]

Thus, from the definition of being perfect, people sometimes choose that as a company name. The Road Runner cartoons have now trained a generation of Americans to avoid making that choice.

The fact that it places the company near the top of an alphabetical list may influence the decision...

How to wrap one?

[SEWilco]

I got my teenager an ACME Klein bottle to replace his bulky schoolbag. But when I wrapped it to hide it, the wrapping vanished and I couldn't find the bottle. Maybe I tied the bow in the wrong shape.

Electric cars - how much would they cost?

[dattaway]

Current home electrical systems and power plants would be overwhelmed if everyone ran out and got an electric car today.

OK, I'm bored. Let's do some simple math.

Let's consider the power involved and how much is generated by a typical 150 horsepower engine. That would be 150 horsepower(746watts/1` horsepower) = 112 kilowatts, or about 1017 amps at 110 volts.

Driving down the highway would take, say, 30 horsepower. An hours worth of driving a day would be 30 horsepower(746watts/1 horsepower) = 22280 watts, or a ten hour charge at 110 volts would be (22280 watts/110 volts)/(10 hours) = 20.3 amps. How much would that cost for 30 days of driving at 8 cents per kilowat hour? (22280 watts/0.08 cents per kilowatt hour)(30 days)= $53.47. Ok, not bad. Don't forget industrial electrical rates are far lower at $0.02 cents per kilowatt hour and less!

Cold fussy ions

[Signal 11]

Aw, hell.. I can generate more energy by simply feeding my brother chili. The wind power could move turbines.. *cough*

More seriously... the day somebody comes up with zero energy extraction is likely the same day the oil companies buy it out and don't let anyone else come near it for 50 years. No, I was serious about that - do you honestly think electric cars would NOT be around right now if Reagan (under the pressures of oil lobbying) hadn't pulled the plug (pardon the pun) on electric cars?

Re:Cold fussy ions

[MattXVI]

"pulled the plug" - hehe.

I've heard Reagan blamed for a lot of hilarious things before, but this one should win an award. What on earth did he have to do with the lack of electric cars? Maybe he tried to cut some DOE research funds. I would applaud such a decision. There's no reason for me to pay for the car-maker's research.

The reason we aren't driving electric cars is because gas is cheaper than bottled water, and because they had (and have) pitiful acceleration. Also, it takes me a minute to fill my tank with gas, but hours to recharge batteries. Perhaps Reagan had the good sense to trust the market for them to open up on it's own accord.

So, to answer your question, no, we would not be driving electric cars if Reagan hadn't succeeded in his evil conspiracy with the oil lobbyists. Do you have any evidence that would prove otherwise? As an aside, what makes you think Reagan would be more influenced by oil companies than by the electric companies and battery makers that would have benefitted? And what evidence to you have that he even talked to any lobbyists for eight years?

Slashdot Effect...

[pen]

While the admins scramble to see what the hell just happened, and then curse those damn Linux hippies, you can access the site here:

http://www.google.com/sea rch?q=cache:www.kleinbottle.com/

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