General

Nintendo Games Urinal – It Works!

July 30, 2023 by noemi

Are you addicted to video games? As you lie in bed drifting off to sleep, do you see images or scenes of the latest video game that you have been playing? Do you try to figure out strategies that will work when you wake up and get to play again? (If you even stop playing to sleep, that is.)

If you’re that much into games (and probably even if you aren’t), you’ll be amused to see this fully functional urinal that was built from Nintendo games. It is real, and it works.

To be honest, I could have done without the colored liquid, but I guess they had to show that to prove that the contraption works.

Envious now? Don’t fret – you can make a urinal like this for yourself. All you need is tons of Nintendo games. Avid and long-time gamers will have no issues, but if you don’t have those old games, I am sure that you can find someone willing to give or sell them to you. Here’s a list of things you need:

40 Super Nintendo games
Saw drill and drill bits
Polyurethane spray and liquid
Clear waterproof sealant
3/4 inch inlet spud
2 inch drain spud
1 sheet of Hardibacker
3 tubes of clear plumbing glue
Urinal flush valve
P trap
Sand paper
SNES screwdriver security bit

Phew! I zoned out after the drill and drill bit, but this should not be much of challenge for you DIY-ers out there. For the rest of the instructions, visit Price Charting. ((Source: Price Charting))

In the meantime, good luck finding 40 Super Nintendo games!

Robot Ruby Holds New Record for Solving Rubik’s Cube

July 29, 2023 by noemi

The “contest” to solve Rubik’s Cube the fastest is a perpetual one. Both humans and machines are continually coming up with strategies and techniques to solve this puzzle in the least number of moves and shortest period of time. Recently, we were wow-ed by teenager Feliks Zemdegs when he set a new world record for solving a 3x3x3 cube in a mere 6.24 seconds. No one can say that this feat may not be broken in the future, but for now, it is something that we can only marvel at.

Now that’s the humans’ record. In case you didn’t know, robots are also at it – solving Rubik’s Cube, that is. Of course, it can be argued that at the end of the day, the accolades still fall on human heads as they are the ones that make these robots.

A group of students who were on the Mechatronic Engineering/Computer Science degree program at the Swinburne University of Technology had a brilliant final project last year. It was brilliant then, and it is brilliant now – never mind that the press just got wind of their creation.

Named Ruby, the robot solves the Cube by scanning the faces in order to recognize its status before setting to solve the puzzle. Ruby has made it to the charts – she is the fastest Rubik’s Cube-solving robot at 10.69 seconds. Impressive, but I have to give Zemdegs this one.

This is a quick rundown on how Ruby does her thing, straight from one of the students who created her: ((Source: dakiller))

The basic rundown of operation is that there are 2 systems, the PC software and the embedded microcontroller hooked together via a USB serial link. The camera connected to the PC scans in the cube and detects the colours and determines the cube in the computer, then runs through a tree search algorithm (our own implementation of Kociemba’s Algorithm) that finds a list of moves that will solve the cube. That is then fed to the microcontroller which has some big DC servo controlled motors and solenoids that manipulate the robot grippers, to the physical solving of the cube.

And here are some behind the scenes videos from the guys themselves.

QR Code Tombstones Now Available Commercially

July 29, 2023 by noemi

QR codes have been around for a while, and people have been using them for a wide variety of purposes, but it seems that they are now making it in the commercial sector. Believe it or not, QR codes have been used to store information on tombstones!

It used to be, though, that one might have to search long and hard for people who would make the highly specialized tombstones. If you live in Seattle, or surrounding areas, then you can prepare for your own high tech memorial by getting in touch with the company Quiring Monuments.

This company has been in the business of death and remembrance for three generations, and they are keeping up with the times – actually getting ahead of others in their sector. They are now offering burial markers that have embedded QR codes containing images and info about the deceased.

You probably have seen these QR codes in magazines and ads – squarish black and white images that somehow resemble bar codes but are quite different. QR codes can be read by any device with a reader installed. For example, if you have a reader on your phone, you simple have to scan the QR code and the information will be displayed on your screen. This info can include photos and text.

So yes, Quiring Monuments is at the forefront of things, and while the technology might not be welcomed by some who want to keep to the old traditions, I am pretty sure there are more than enough technophiles who will welcome this technology with arms wide open.

What do you think of using QR codes for your tombstone?

Via NPR

Most Amazing (and Freakiest) Underwater Photos You’ll See This Week

July 29, 2023 by noemi

I’ve recently taken an interest in diving – just as an observer. Perhaps I’ll try a fun dive in the near future as well. Diving is not all that unknown to me, my dad being an avid diver when I was younger. However, the thought of being deep underwater, unable to swim, darkness enveloping you…enough already!

Then there are awesome videos and photos of cute creatures like Nemo and the likes of him. Corals. That’s more than enough to get even the king of wusses try diving at least once!

For Alex Mustard, a British diver, he does need more motivation. In fact, he recently did something that every other diver might just dream about. Mustard dove between two tectonic plates. I know what you’re thinking – is he nuts? What if those tectonic plates had decided to move just when he was in between them? (I know that is unlikely and probably even a scientifically unsound idea, but I can’t help but think it!)

It seems that his risk was well worth it, though, as can be seen in the amazing photos that he took. ((Source: The Daily Mail))

Beautiful, no doubt, but all I could say when I first saw the photo was “Yikes” – and not a very emphatic yikes at that. More like a frightened little puppy whining…

This one’s a little tamer, but no less beautiful. And for some dramatic effect…

The dive was done in between the North American and Eurasian plates near Iceland. Mustard and his team of divers (you didn’t think he dove alone, did you?) went 80 feet down into the crevice but also went as deep as 200 feet. Yikes.

Hemoglobin in 3D

July 28, 2023 by noemi

Were you always caught up in your biology classes way back when? I remember loving my high school biology class from the get go, only to be thoroughly turned off when the time came for dissecting a frog. I found out – the hard way – that I was not cut out to do anything remotely related to touching/cutting up squishy living things.

Then again, that experience has not totally turned me off molecules and other things that can be rendered on a computer – like this hemoglobin rendition in 3D. Hemoglobin is that “thing” that transports oxygen in our blood. I can’t stand blood, but I can dig hemoglobin. 😉

So these guys from Steffen VFX, a 3D animation studio based in Brooklyn, decided to play around with human hemoglobin – its structure at least – and came up with a 3D model. They worked on this project in tandem with McFarlane Toys.

Now if you think about it, hemoglobin is so minuscule that we can’t see it with the naked eye. That’s where these guys had to do some hard work. From this structure: ((Source: Wikipedia))

They came up with this model which the average person can see and touch: ((Source: Steffen VFX))

Here’s a closer look at the 3D model.

The entire process is detailed in the Steffen VFX blog, if you are interested in the nitty gritty. You will also see photos of the making of the model. The details are a little too intense for me, but the finished product is somewhat of a delight to see, even though it somehow reminds me of fish eggs! 😉 The next time I think about blood and oxygen, I am sure my imagination will pull these images up.

Doctor Who? Doctor Who! Timeline/Infographic

July 28, 2023 by noemi

So many things to watch, but so little time! I will have to admit that I am one of the few who has not watched Doctor Who although I have read tons about it. Who can’t help but read/know about Doctor Who when he is everywhere online?

If you are into the series or if you are waiting for the chance to sit down and watch it (like yours truly), then here is a very useful infographic that can help you figure out some things. This timeline is created by Nathan the Nerd ((Nathan the Nerd)).

Click for a larger image. I don’t need to tell you that there are spoilers up there, do I?