Tiny Truck

I came across this truck today.  It is small but shaped exactly like a regular truck.

Average Rate of Googeling, 1gs/hour

I recently found out that Google has been recording my web search history since june 21 2010. While this initially annoyed me because I remember "opting out" sometime years ago when they made a plug for it - the nicely done calendar to show the # of searches you did impressed me enough to not remove all my web history.

It turns out I have made over 12,724 Google searches since june 21, 2010 which averages out to a rate of 1.097 Google searches per hour. Note that the data were not skewed by the times I mined Google with various programs, and it didn't account for any searches done when I wasn't logged in. Also, my rate of Googling has appeared fairly constant over the years so the introduction of Google instant did not seem to skew the results.
What is your rate of Google-ing?

1. Go here and find out your "total Google searches" and then go way back until you see when they first started to collect the data (if you Google enough this day will be obvious).
2. Go here and calculate exactly how long it has been since they started tracking you.
3. Finally insert the two measures into ... a Google search! like this. Note that km is a units placeholder for "Google searches" which confuses the calculator.

Leave your results in the comments - Can you beat me?

(we are going to go with the honor system here)

Urinalism Today, October 2011: Urinal Theology

In my groundbreaking March 2011 report Additional Studies on The Recent Evolution of The American Urinal I brought up the issue of how the americanas urinalas aqualess came about I chose not to discuss it there.  However in the months since than I have received large amounts of hate mail from devout Urinalists. Due to this the Rutgers branch of The Lansey Brothers' Blog Investigative Team decided to look into this properly.

We must start with the americanas urinalas, this has been the most prolific in the US for many years.  Urinalists believe that the urinal was a gift to mankind from an all powerful being.  While we have observed a number of mutations of this species they have remained basically the same. However, a number of years ago a completely new species first appeared.  It has not been documented in this journal up till this point.  Let me introduce you to the the americanas urinalas autoflushium or as it is sometimes know americanas urinalas terminaterus.

It is incredibly similar to a normal americanas urinalas however it has evolved a sophisticated eye that allows it a more streamlined, handle-less form.

A close up of the eye.  It is clearly very advanced.  There is some debate how this species came about.  It is such a leap.  Atheists hold that this is clearly an example of the majesty of survival of the fittest Darwinian evolution.  However, Urinalists believe that this is a clear example of intelligent design.  While others stand firm in their belief that it is clearly the work of aliens.  We would rather not incur more hate mail, so we will not debate the validity of the different theories.

We must however look at the close cousin of urinalas autoflushum the americanas standardium prematurus flushium.

The fine sample of newspaperus floorum in the lower right hand corner of this image must also be noted.  It is common fauna found in the dens of all subspecies of americanas standardium.  The exact relationship between these species has not been fully explored however it is believed that the newspaperus floorum somehow increases the length of feedings for the americanas standardium.

Additionally, new analysis has confirmed that the common sink is a member of the porcelainas americanas family.  This came with the discovery of the parallel evolution of the sink with the urinal.  I present to you the sinkas wavius pointlesslium.

Garden fresh vegetables

On a MA back-road I stumbled upon a collection of delicious vegetables. The instructions described the cost as "$1 or so" but I didn't have much change ... so I left a clif bar and a note.

Do you think they would be angry?

To clarify, the note says:

"Thank you for the vegetables ... have little cash ... please accept this clif bar worth $1 or so"

Pie Chart Fail

I recently received an email encouraging me to check out the results from the CUNY Doctoral Student Council's "Student Technology Survey" [pdf]. On page two is the helpful pie chart:

This has to be, by far, the worst possible color scheme ever to grace a pie chart. I haven't the foggiest idea which pie corresponds to which academic cluster. Did these people look at the beast they created or did they just click "Next, Next, Next" on whatever Excel threw at them and paste it into the document?

Some of their other graphs also have pretty poor color combos, but nowhere near as bad as this one.

Minimum Qualifications: Immortality!

For a while now I have been on the job hunt.  I stalk my prey through the tall servers of internetland, and when I see a good specimen I take the shot.  On Sunday I had a good hunt, I almost took my bag limit.  However, I came across a strange beast.

I am not going to tell you in what country I found this, because I would still like to hunt in that country and maybe even live there.  However, It is quite clear to me that they are looking for a middle aged person with a Bachelors or Masters hunting license, or an immortal with an associates hunting license.

There, I fixed it! Part III

The back entrance to my new apartment has a single light switch at the top of a very long staircase.

Above is a photo of the staircase with the light on. Below is what the staircase looks like from the same point when the light is off. 

This arrangement would typically have a 3-way electric switch so you don't need to walk up or down the stairs in the dark.

I built a mechanical 3-way switch which allows you to turn the light on and off from the bottom of the stairs by pulling on some wires. I eventually plan to replace the cereal-box cardboard gears with something sturdier and make an actual switch at the bottom end.

There, I fixed It! Part 2

Yoni's post is not ready yet, so I am stepping in a day early to make sure you get your fix.

The antenna on my car is supposed to retract into the back of my car when the radio is not on, but it doesn't.  As a result the antenna got a little bent, it was not a big deal.  However, one day while parking near a friends house I drove under a low hanging tree and really bent the antenna.  I knew that I had to act fast or loose the antenna entirely. 

Duct tape to the rescue!!!

Duct tape and wooden shish kebob skewers.

There, I fixed it.  Now the antenna is strong straight and I get better radio reception than I used to.

There, I fixed it!

It's time for another theme week! (Most weeks start on Thursdays, right?) This time, it's "There, I fixed it."

We have a second-hand air conditioner in our guest bedroom. Unfortunately, this summer the "Master Control" knob broke:

The thermostat knob still works, and you can use a needle-nosed pliers to turn the "Master Control" peg which lies under the plastic panel, but it's annoying (and will probably eventually break the peg). So, I set the AC "Master Control" (which sounds like a term over-used in bad sci-fi movies) to medium cool (it's a small room) and devised a new on/off switch:

The extension cord runs from the hard-to-reach outlet behind the dresser. To turn the AC on, you simply plug it into the extension cord; to turn it off, just unplug!

There, I fixed it!