December 2008
If robots battled dinosaurs, who would win? This is a topic that has never been fully addressed by the IEEE, so the Unknown Editor gave it some consideration. Here is a talk he gave at a December 2008 IEEE chapter meeting:
Download Robots versus Dinosaurs
Enough with the technical talk! Let's look at two Christmas gifts you could buy but maybe shouldn't, then examine some new Christmas songs, which are really the highlight of this page.
Amish fireplace
It's that time of year again when we have to suffer through ads for the Heat Surge fireplace. Buy two of them, plug them in, and see what 3000 watts does to your power bill if you like, and maybe test out the wiring enough to burn down your house. You'll save a ton of money if you let the other nine rooms in your house ice over while the roll-away Amish miracle fireplace follows you to only the room that your in.
What's fishy about an Amish electric space heater? Amish don't use electricity. Here's an image of a real Amish space heater. Hey, now we get it, this is a special sect, the Chinese Amish...
Mustang cologne
For those of you where what you drive is a big piece of who you are, now you can smell like your car. Mustang cologne has been big hit in stores such as Sears, K-Mart, and WalMart. That's right, Mustang Boy, you're now a target demographic for WalMart, because all you can think about is your car, you tend to buy stuff you don't need that borrows the nameplate (like misguided Harley riders). Not that long ago, being a "car guy" meant dirty fingernails, pinups in the rolling toolbox and drinking warm beer. Now it means you shop at WalMart and you're a metrosexual. Mustang cologne says you're a cross between trailer trash and David Beckham.
Christmas with Si Cranstoun!
With few exceptions, most Christmas songs are overplayed so we are sick of them, or they just outright suck. But now there are seven new Christmas songs on Youtube, sung by Si Cranstoun who with his brother make up the Ska group The Dualers. They often perform on sidewalks of London:
But now they have a more polished sound, which can be found on Youtube. Unfortunately, you can't buy their CDs or DVD in the United States, so be sure to pick one up next time you are in the UK! You wish you have moves like Si, but maybe it's not possible to be a microwave engineer and a cool cat at the same time.
Ska is pronounced like the last syllable of Alaska, that disgraceful state that we might soon give back to the Russians so we don't have to deal with it. Ska is a cousin to Reggae, and dates back to the 1950s.
Miss Santa Claus
Jack Frost
b
Wintertime
Check out the Unknown Editor's amazing archives when you are looking for a way to screw off for a couple of hours or more!