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A Crazy Cambridge Contraption
lhdentra writes "A few friends and I got bored one weekend and decided to build a contraption. Remember the Honda advert? We think ours is better." This took dedication.
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a high bandwdith server first.
I wanna see the contraption, but the thingy-ma-doo went ka-blooey.
** "It's not my job to stand between the people talking to me, and the ones listening to me." -- Pego the Jerk
That it, describe something that sounds interesting. On the web site, make big the mistake of forgetting to add a nice little PNG or JPG of it so we can see what the big fuss is about. Instead, ask EVERYONE to download between 5 and 12 megs of movie file just to see what it looks like. Oh yes, and host it on a low bandwidth server. If that is not slashdotting-bait, I don't know what is!
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
Oh, wait, site's Slashdotted. Never mind!
Oh dear
What is it?
I've spontaneously combusted
Well, I am sorry
Oh it's quite all right, I've grown tired of living
Ah, very good then
For the best
Yes indeed
The best education consists in immunizing people against systematic attempts at education. - Paul Feyerabend
Apparently the real end of the contraption took a few days, a few internet posts, a bad internet connection and a slashdotted server.
It's a bloody university, they most definately do not pay by the megabyte.
1. Slashdotter creates site that requires each person to do a 12 meg download to find out what is on it, and submits it to Slashdot.
2. Timothy looks at it, decides it is cool. In the process of looking at it for review, he slashdots the site.
3. "Contraption" story is added to Slashdot. Thousands hit it within seconds, further banging away at some fragile server in the UK.
4. UK server-farms transformers start to smoke. One explodes.
5. Power spike would seem rather small, but it does make its away through an Atlantic cable where it hits an electric relay system near Cleveland, Ohio.
6. Cleveland's vintage "Enron meets East German War Surplus" relay blows out. Cleveland once again has a big blackout. Free TV's for all: loot early and loot often!
7. Ensuing crises causes calls for demands for the resignation of United States energy secretary.
8. Energy sec is good friend of President, so he can't fire him. But he has to do something, so he sacks the Surgeon General.
9. Without a surgeon general, health standards go down, including dental standards.
10. I get a nasty tooth-ache.
Thanks a lot, lhdentra!
Don't blame Durga. I voted for Centauri.
http://slashdot.org/articles/04/04/09/1929235.shtm l?tid=188&tid=97
From the site: The machine works as follows: 1. The alarm clock rings, and an arm attached to the winder knocks over a CD case. 2. The falling case tips up a ramp holding four batteries, which roll off into the waiting box. 3. The weight of the batteries causes the box to fall, activating a pulley system which turns the model figure. 4. The figure knocks over a row of CDs ending with a book falling off the ledge. 5. The book is attached to one end of a long piece of string through an eyelet, which raises the catch holding the green ball in place on the rails. 6. The green ball rolls down and knocks the blue ball off the door ledge. This ball is attached by string to the end of the ledge, and swings across. 7. As it falls, it knocks a wire lever which causes the yellow ball to roll down the coathanger ramp. 8. This knocks into a red ball which activates the VCR eject feature by means of another lever. 9. The ejected cassette knocks over some more cassettes and a book, the last of which causes half a snooker cue to fall. 10. The binder, propped up by the snooker cue, starts to fall but is hinged at the bottom to the stool on the desk. 11. There is a piece of string attached to the binder and wound round the thread of the stool, so that as the binder falls the stool turns. 12. The screw part of the stool tips up the chute containing the golf ball, which proceeds on down the spiral ramp. 13. The ball rolls under the dart cannon (see later) and is directed onto the leaning chair. 14. The impact of the golf ball causes the chair to fall, pulling the jar off the table. 15. The jar is attached by an arm to the Rubik's cube, solving it in two moves as it is pulled across the table and falls. 16. As the jar falls, it knocks the lid of a filing box which closes, pulling a book off the desk. 17. The book releases the trigger of the dart cannon, which consists of a small carriage on rails, supported by the other half of the snooker cue and sprung with elastic bands. 18. The dart hits the dartboard, knocking it over. 19. The falling dartboard causes another book, hidden behind the table, to fall. 20. As the book falls, it pulls on a lever which causes the lighter to ignite. 21. The flame burns through the string which holds up the bottom of the poster. 22. As the string breaks, a second cube suspended beneath the poster falls, opening out the paper for the finale.
The British can actually say words which comprise more than one syllable
Huh?
Wow. You've raised a perfectly valid point. It's amazing that no-one else in this thread has addressed this issue.
What's it like to be so smart and well informed?
The British can actually say words which comprise more than one syllable
You mean like advertisement?