The word of the day is whiffletree.

A whiffletree is an early form of a mechanical Digital to Analog converter. It’s also a mechanism to distribute force evenly through a series of mechanical linkages.

Here’s why it’s awesome:

And here’s a bit more information about it:

Kinda makes me want to go digging through the company store room looking for an old Selectric so we can hack it a bit. OH! We could use it for systems alerting!  A complete waste of time, perhaps, but at least they wouldn’t hit the landfill.

I hear that phrase pretty regularly. I’ll pose a question — the topic isn’t really important here — but after posing the question, somebody will say, “You can’t do it. That’s impossible!”

In the mean time, I’ve already accomplished the impossible and delivered it to the customer. “But it’s not possible. No matter what you do, it won’t work.”

I’m sure everybody can come up with their own examples of first-hand or observed experiences like that.

That’s why I find this video and the concept to be most intellectually stimulating. The concept is Directly Downwind Faster Than The Wind.

The question goes something like this: Is it possible to construct a vehicle that is capable of traveling faster than the wind, but to be powered directly by only the wind?

At first, one would probably think, “Impossible! If the wind is the only power source, then obviously nothing can travel faster than the wind.”

Here’s the video to prove that not only is it possible, but it’s also possible to travel two to three times faster than the wind is blowing:

For that reason, I shall never again say to anyone, “That’s impossible!” without first pondering the concept, doing the research, and examining the facts.

—
Update: Here’s a page from MAKE that goes into greater detail about the project as well. As an aside, I think the name Black Pearl would be a more appropriate name for a ship that runs faster than the wind.

From one of the Pirates of the Caribbean movies — At World’s End, I think.

Hoist the Colors

Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho,
thieves and beggars,
never shall we die.

The king and his men
stole the queen from her bed
and bound her in her Bones.
The seas be ours
and by the powers
where we will well roam.

Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,
never say we die.

Some men have died
and some are alive
and others sail on the sea
– with the keys to the cage…
and the Devil to pay
we lay to Fiddler’s Green!

The bell has been raised
from it’s watery grave…
Do you hear it’s sepulchral tone?
We are a call to all,
pay head the squall
and turn your sail toward home!

Yo, ho, haul together,
hoist the colors high.
Heave ho, thieves and beggars,
never say we die.

Arr! And it shall be me new theme song!

Some years ago, when Burning Man was just a youthful idea, I thought it would be an interesting way to kill a week. Create some interesting art, spend a few days in the desert, meet some interesting people. Neat idea. Kind of a creative, temporary dystopia.

I’ve never been.

The reason I’ve never been is primarily because, from what I’m told, these days, Burning Man consists mostly of middle-aged men flaunting their sunburnt penises.

So, no Burning Man for me.

What, then, is the creative desert-dweller to do?

How about a Wasteland Weekend? Granted, it’s only three days, but it’s three days of Mad Max reenactment in the SoCal desert. Presumably, this one is everything that Mad Max / Road Warrior were on the silver screen… though probably lacking the rape, corpses on grilles, and heads on pikes.

This one, though, is marketed as an adults-only event. No kiddies allowed.

What’s the difference? We know there will probably be some degree of nudity and some amount of naughtiness at this one, which differs from Burning Man, where it’s often promoted as a family-friendly event, that turns out to be a bunch of old pervs pedaling through the playa on rusty old bicycles.

Yeah, Wasteland Weekend sounds much more entertaining. Official site is here.

To get something done, a committee should consist of no more than three persons, two of them absent.