Under a Gibbous Moon

A IBM 350 hard disk from 1956.

I can’t find a weight on it, but it looks at least as much as a fridge. The twenty-nine inch platters spun at a blistering 1,200 rpm and it held a whole 5 MB. Makes the 5.25 floppies look efficient.

Hat Tip: BoingBoing

In yet another case of a scientist with too much time on his hands, and engineering professor rolled them bones some 144,000 times. He found that will roll a one approximately thirty percent of the time (instead of sixteen percent for true randomness.)

I think anyone who’s playing a roleplaying game for any length of time has discovered this little quirk. That’s why thieves with short swords always die horrible deaths and Star Wars D6 system was able to roll up a wookie who couldn’t break a stormtroopers neck.

Geek System has put up the a great story about a guy (no name given) who has built a tiny, yet functional, cannon that is no bigger than matchbook. Load it with gun powder, drop in a ball bearing, tamp it down, light and get away.

This tiny piece of artillery is the most awesome thing I have seen in a while and will change cubicle warfare as we know it.

Other than what you had for dinner last night.

Hat Tip: Information is Beautiful

First, a bit of a disclaimer, if you use a straight razor I would not recommend trying this. If you use cartridge razors then you’re good to go.

Now, if you’re like me, you really really really hate having to pay some really outrageous prices for razor blades. Sure you can buy the cheap ones but they tend to be like trying to shave with medium grit sandpaper. So you go out and buy the expensive kind and keep using them till it feels like you’re trying to shave with medium grit sandpaper.

Well, no longer! A few weeks ago, I found this article detailing a dead simple method for getting some extra mileage out of your razor blades. The method seemed sound, just run the blade backward over your arm to straighten the edge of the blade.

So, to test it out, instead of getting rid of my almost month old blade as planned, I started “sharpening” it on my forearm every day. I can happily report that it does work. It took a worn out razor and, while not making it like new, returned it to an acceptable state.