"Back
from the wild"
26/08/2005 09:16
++ It has been a pretty long time since my last update. I've been off work and enjoying the ending of my summer. I got a new PS2 game, Gran Turismo 4, which is a really fun game, I've played it a lot and I am still pretty into it, there are so many cars and races that it takes a while to do it all. Then over the last three days I've been gone, Carlin and I went on a fun trip. We went camping in Tobermory, it was definitely a lot of fun, the Grotto was beautiful and I took a lot of pictures there. I'll post them on the photo section when I reorganize that since there are a lot of broken links. Carlin also bought a new iPod which is really sweet, now I'm considering buying one cause they are so neat.
"Deixou
a marca da fogueira que acendeu pra se livrar do frio que mata"
15/08/2005 00:10
++ I am finally done with work, and this leaves me with more time to do what we all love doing, nothing. I had more time to spend with Carlin, play some video games and all sorts of fun activities. I've started playing a new game, "Sid Meier's Pirates" which is a really cool game, however it gets boring pretty quickly... I don't know how much more I'll be intertained with that one.
"I
want to be a myth buster"
09/08/2005 08:19
++ Lately I have been pretty addicted to this show that I recently started to watch. It is the coolest show in the world, well of its genre at least. Myth Busters is a show on the discovery channel, and it is these two guys, Adam Savage and Jamie Hyneman, that test all sorts of urban myths that you and I always wonder if they are actually true. The other day they were going to test if its true that you could die talking on a phone or having a shower during a thunderstorm. Well unfortunately I had to go somewhere and I couldn't watch it, so after doing some research I found out the results of this test and a very nice MythBusters fan club website with loads of info about the show. Well I decided to post the results here for those who are dying of curiosity now...
+On the Phone in
a Thunderstorm
The Myth: Should you stay off the phone or out of the shower during a
thunderstorm?
The Experts:
Robert Malahowski (Pacific Gas and Electric) explains how much electricity
they can generate at the facility.
Stevan Thomas: (Electrician) says that he has heard of the myth, but hasn't
held the evidence of it in his hand. He also helps Adam solve the house's
electrical problems!
Memorable/Quotable
Moments:
Adam: (as Igor) What are your plans, my master?
Jamie: We're going to take over the world!
Adam: (rubbing his hands in maniacal glee) Oh, yes, yes!
The Action/Results:
First, Adam, Christine, and Jamie have to build a house with a phone and
a shower in it. So, they go to the Building Resource Center, to get some
recycled house parts. After they get their "shotgun shack" (as
Adam calls it) assembled, they cart it off to Pacific gas and Electric,
where they have a facility for testing such things. This place really
excites the guys because, as Adam says, "It's great to visit a place
that looks exactly the way you think it should!". They rig the lightning
generator to shoot 200,000 volts of electricity towards the house. Then
they set up Chip, a ballistics gel dummy, with the phone strapped to his
ear. Then it's time for the lightning! The first time the bolt discharges,
nothing happens. The electricity goes through the ground wire, just like
it is supposed to. So, Adam decides to "help it" a bit. He cuts
the ground wire, and they reset. This time, the electromagnetic pulse
of the charge is strong enough to throw the remote control camera out
of focus, and the bolt goes right through the phone line, and into Chip!
It actually shoots from the mouthpiece of the phone into his mouth, and
it sets off the gunpowder charge that Jamie taped to the phone receiver.
In fact, there was so much charge going through the poor dummy that it
fried the voltmeter. They tried it again with an older phone. Even though
the gunpowder charge didn't go off this time, the fuse in the meter got
fried again. This is enough evidence for Adam to say, "Phones and
lightning - bad, bad, bad!". This part of the myth is CONFIRMED.
In the shower, Chip is rigged to be grounded, just as a person would be
if he or she was standing on the drain. When the electricity discharges,
there are "arcs the size of boa constrictors" (Jamie's words)
dancing all around Chip! The meter is fried again, and the camera loses
focus again. The guys decide that this part of the myth is PLAUSIBLE.
"pipino"
03/08/2005 15:42
++ We are already in august, the summer is almost over, but the good thing is I stop working next week and I stop volunteering soon as well. Carlin and I will be going camping in the end of the month, we're going to Tobermory, which we were supposed to go together last year but didn't. It should be a lot of fun.