The Collective We

About

The Collective We, rants and ravings from the side of reason.

My PGP Public Key

Public Photo Gallery

Twitter Feed

    Search

    Advanced Search

    Archives

    Friends

    Geeks

    Reading

    Feeds


    My New Laser Pointer - Ouch!

    Holy Fuck!  I did not understand what I was purchasing.  I mean, seriously, I thought I was getting a very nice, super bright green laser pointer that I could perform cool tricks with, and still use while giving a presentation.  I expected this pointer to be about the size of a Mini-MagLite, maybe slightly larger.

    Instead, received a large device, about the size of three “C” batteries placed in series, and wrapped in duct tape.  This <50mw green laser pointer is so bright, you cannot use it indoors.  At least not safely.  Anybody who may be around is going to get back-scatter off of whatever surface you decide to lase.  Yes, you can get safety glasses (and this particular laser came with a pair) but it is a little rediculous to ask an entire audience to wear the safety glasses during a presentation.  Not to mention, if the presentation is longer than 10 minutes my arm will get tired of using this hefty beast.

    All joking aside, I got exactly what I ordered from Wicked Lasers.  I did think I was getting a much smaller laser, and I had no idea of the power of <50mw.  I mean, I understood that the dime store laser-pointer keychains are usually <1mw, and a good expensive laser pointer can be around <10mw…  I think I just wasn’t prepared for what <50mw really equaled, in terms of brightness and blinding energy.

    I love this laser, it is well made and super great.  But I am not sure what I am going to be able to do with it.  I mean, aside from retinas <50mw won’t burn much, so I don’t have to worry about setting the world around me on fire.  I stood on my roof deck tonight and shined it on the side of my friend’s house, 738.2 meters away.  He said that there was a 7 foot diameter green dot on the side of his house…  738 meters away!!  Wait, just so you get the gravity of 738 meters, let me convert it something you might understand…  I mean we are in the USA right…

    403.6 Fathoms (for my sailing friends)
    7.80257e-14 Light Years
    14.76 Olympic Swimming Pools
    2.09248e+6 Points (for Andrew who only understands PostScript)
    433.71 Smoots (for anybody who has ever lived in Boston!)
    0.399 Nautical Miles (also from my sailing friends)
    1383.83 Mesopotamian nil_cubits (for Tom Collins, my wife, and social studies folk)

    Oh and for the rest of you…
    807.3 Yards
    0.46 Miles

    I have no idea what to do with this thing…  It might actually be less useful then it was in my dreams.

    UPDATE 06/09/2010:  If you want to try out blindness, at least throw some cash my way and use this link.
    http://www.wickedlasers.com/index.php?refer=61013

    Thanks.

    Posted on Tue, 01 Jun 2010 22:43:23 -0700 in
    Geek Personal Projects Reviews Products
    Permalink

    “Good Fences Make Good Neighbors”

    With the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989, it is amazing to me that all around the world we are still living with wall that are built to keep people separated.  In some cases we are building new walls, in many cases we are still living with the old walls.

    BBC Special Report

    Posted on Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:18:39 -0800 in
    Personal Politics
    Permalink

    Up to speed

    The last couple of weeks have been a little hectic… but what’s so strange about that, it being holiday time an all.  We headed home to Boston to be with my family for Christmas.  We were supposed to fly out on the 21st of December, but a fairly large snowstorm (large by Seattle-Tacoma standards) prevented that.  With our flights cancelled, and Alaska Air unable to get us out before the 28th, we were about to give up on the idea of going home for Christmas.  Then we got a call from my sister.  She was able to get us First Class ticket to Boston on United using her miles.  All we needed to do was purchase return tickets on Southwest and we were good to go! 

    It was a blast visiting folks, but just as exhausting as all travel is.  Back in T-Town in time to see the snow melting, do the dog swap thing with Mal and hunker down for some rainy winter days.  It has been great to be home.

    Posted on Fri, 02 Jan 2009 01:17:58 -0800 in
    Personal Tacoma
    (0) Trackbacks Permalink

    Sally Finds a Stray - I want one too!

    imageBrowsing through my feeds today and Dooce provided me with this wonderful link to a fantastic shirt.  I am sure this comes form a story, of which I know nothing, but I can think of several people that need this shirt.

    Lets not even get started on the G10 further down the page.

    Posted on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 23:51:33 -0800 in
    Geek Personal
    (0) Trackbacks Permalink

    Will you be my friend

    Are there hordes of virtual friends banging down your facebook door?  Check out Public School Intelligentsia.

    Posted on Tue, 16 Dec 2008 14:39:10 -0800 in
    Education Personal
    (0) Trackbacks Permalink

    Page 1 of 10 pages  1 2 3 >  Last »