June 7, 2006

There were 4 posts published on June 7, 2006 (this is page 1 of 1).

Copperhead

One of the nice things about having my office right next to Lake Johnson Park is the ability to take a nice hike during a conference call. Today I checked in with Kelly during lunch. No sooner had I turned to go back to the office that I saw a two-foot-long stick moving across the path.

Closer inspection revealed it to be a northern copperhead snake. They are generally nocturnal from what I understand but this one seemed to enjoy the sun. I spent a little time respectfully admiring the friendly little guy before I continued on.

I’ve also discovered a family of turtles in the water near the walkway. They seem to always be there when I walk by.

It sure is nice having some woods nearby!

Wilson Murder Suspect Is Modern-Day Houdini

A murder suspect escaped his shackles earlier this week while being transported to a doctor’s appointment in Wilson. Then once he was in custody he did it again:

Eddie Ellis, 23, refused to tell investigators how he escaped from a prison transport van on Tuesday afternoon, but told them he could do it again if they locked him up in shackles in a room by himself.

Four minutes later, he was knocking on the room’s door for authorities to let him out, Maj. John Farmer of the Wilson County Sheriff’s Office said Wednesday.

So how the heck is this guy getting loose? Is it really as simple as he makes it to look? What the heck are they using for restraints in Wilson, anyway? Who put Barney Fife in charge?

They better check the jailhouse doors, too. The locks they got in the cereal boxes might not be up to the job.

GPS Logger

I’ve been looking into interesting uses for GPS lately. A recent discussion on the Make Magazine Blog highlighted GPS loggers: devices which record location info for later download.

Today the Make blog featured another GPS logger: the Wintec WBT-200 which costs below a hundred bucks. I’ve crowed here before about a cheap USB GPS, but that still needed a PC to work. This GPS logger is self-contained: the only time a PC is needed is when the data is ready for download.

You could take this with you when you wanted to mark a trail but couldn’t take a PC with you. You could attach one to a weather balloon to track its movements. Or an elephant. Or a passing freight train. Or a business competitor. Or a spy. Or a cheating spouse. There are plenty of uses!

When cool technology drops below a certain price, it becomes available for all sorts of interesting uses. How would you use it?

Focused Train Horn

The other day when Yet Another Freight Train went rumbling by the house, blaring its horn, I realized a good new use of Woody Norris‘s HyperSonic Sound invention. As you may know, the HyperSonic Sound (HSS) devices focus sound like a beam of light. You may recall that such a device was used recently to repel pirates attacking a cruise ship.

Why not make a train’s horn hypersonic? A train’s path is pretty predictable, you know, straight ahead and all that. There’s no real reason for anyone on either side of a train to know where its going. What if the sound of the horn was beamed straight down the track – where the train is going – instead of everywhere else? A focused horn would maintain or enhance rail safety and cut down on the horn noise to the point that neighboring homes and businesses would be disturbed far less often by a passing train.

Man, am I a freakin’ genius or what?