globeandmail.com: Virgin birth awaited in England
Merry Christmas to all my Christian friends.
CHESTER, England — As Christmas approaches, a virgin mother is anxiously awaiting the arrival of her offspring. She’s Flora, the Komodo dragon.
In an evolutionary twist, Flora has managed to become pregnant all on her own without any male help. It would seem the timing is auspicious: The seven hatchlings are due this festive season.
A somber tactician who keeps emotional flares in check, you bravely refuse to back down when fighting for matters of honor.
Perhaps today is a good day to die!
My new 20 Questions game correctly guessed “anteater.” I told it that it was wrong and after another five questions it guessed “echidna.” What the heck is an echidna?
The answer is: a prickly australian version of an anteater. You must buy this game. It is uncanny.
Picture from the Australian National Botanic Gardens.
A little engineering humor for a Monday morning.
This one is also going to my civil engineer friend, a retired SeaBee, who once remarked (half with humor and half with bitterness), that the difference between civil engineers and aerospace engineers is that the latter make bombers and the former make targets.
Kathy
Pipe Specifications
All pipe is to be made of a long hole, surrounded by metal or plastic, centred around the hole.
All pipe is to be hollow throughout the entire length – do not use holes of different length than the pipe.
The ID (Inside Diameter) of all pipe must not exceed their OD (Outside Diameter) – otherwise the hole will be on the outside.
The pipe is supplied with nothing in the hole, so that water, steam or other substances can be put inside at a later date.
All pipe is to be supplied without rust; this can be more readily applied at the job site. NOTE: Some vendors are now able to supply pre-rusted pipes. If available in your area, this product is recommended, as it will save a great deal of time at the job site.
All pipe over 500ft (150m) in length should have the words “LONG PIPE” clearly painted on each side and end, so the contractor will know it’s a long pipe.
Pipe over 2 miles (3.2km) in length must also have the words “LONG PIPE” painted in the middle so the contractor will not have to walk the entire length of the pipe to determine whether it is a long or short pipe.
All pipe over 6ft (1.83m) in diameter must have the words “LARGE PIPE” painted on it, so the contractor won’t mistake it for a small pipe.
Flanges must be used on all pipe. Flanges must have holes from bolts, quite separate from the big holes in the middle.
When ordering 90 or 30 degree elbows, be sure to specify left-hand or right-hand, otherwise you will end up going the wrong way.
Be sure to specify to your vendor whether you want level, uphill or downhill pipe. If you use downhill pipe for going uphill, the water will flow the wrong way.
All couplings should have either right-hand or left-hand threads, but do not mix the threads, otherwise, as the coupling is being screwed on to one pipe, it is being unscrewed from the other.
All pipes shorter than 1/8in (3mm) are very uneconomical in use, requiring many joints. They are generally known as washers.
Joints in pipes for water must be water tight. those pipes for compressed air, however, need only be air tight.
Lengths of pipes may be welded or soldered together. this method is not recomended for concrete or earthenware pipes.
Other commodities are often confused with pipes. These include; Conduit, Tube, Tunnel, and Drain. Use only genuine pipes.
Donna Sue Rubin, the author of the famous Christmas in 2 North has a new book of poetry out. I Go From Bad to Verse is available as a downloadable ebook from Chipmunka Publishing.
Ranging in tone from humorous to dark, Donna’s poetry expresses with great honesty the experience of bipolar disorder and all its moods.
The paperback will be out shortly, but don’t wait!
The mating dance of the ‘techno-sexual’ | CNET News.com
Sounds intriguing. Do you think Altera Nios is sexy?
—– Original Message —–
From: Kathy
To: Leslie
Sent: Monday, November 20, 2006 7:56 AM
Subject: engineers in the kitchen
The authors of the recipe seem to think that the reason engineers don’t write recipe books that their recipes look funny. I think that if this is how engineers write recipes they definitely should stop, since (1) they think that brown sugar is unrefined, when it is not; (2) they leave open the addition of green peas instead of chopped peanuts; and (3) because they seem to think you can get chocolate chips through a cookie press.
And why anyone would substitute pure gluten for flour is strange. Using a cookie press for a soft dough is strange too, though technically no harm done there.
The eggshells are a problem, come to think of it… crunchy!
What do you think? Is it that the recipes are impossible for end users to work with, or is it because the engineer cookie makers have zero knowledge of the properties of the materials that they are recommending?
Kathy
Why Engineers Don’t Write Recipe Books
Chocolate Chip Cookies:
Ingredients:
- 532.35 cm3 gluten
- 4.9 cm3 NaHCO3
- 4.9 cm3 refined halite
- 236.6 cm3 partially hydrogenated tallow triglyceride
- 177.45 cm3 crystalline C12H22O11
- 177.45 cm3 unrefined C12H22O11
- 4.9 cm3 methyl ether of protocatechuic aldehyde
- Two calcium carbonate-encapsulated avian albumen-coated protein
- 473.2 cm3 theobroma cacao
- 236.6 cm3 de-encapsulated legume meats (sieve size #10)
To a 2-L jacketed round reactor vessel (reactor #1) with an overall heat transfer coefficient of about 100 Btu/F-ft2-hr, add ingredients one, two and three with constant agitation. In a second 2-L reactor vessel with a radial flow impeller operating at 100 rpm, add ingredients four, five, six, and seven until the mixture is homogenous. To reactor #2, add ingredient eight, followed by three equal volumes of the homogenous mixture in reactor #1. Additionally, add ingredient nine and ten slowly, with constant agitation. Care must be taken at this point in the raction to control any temperature rise that may be the result of an exothermic reaction. Using a screw extrude attached to a #4 nodulizer, place the mixture piece-meal on a 316SS sheet (300 x 600 mm). Heat in a 460K oven for a period of time that is in agreement with Frank & Johnston’s first order rate expression (see JACOS, 21, 55), or until golden brown. Once the reaction is complete, place the sheet on a 25C heat-transfer table, allowing the product to come to equilibrium.
# # #
From: Leslie
To: Kathy
Sent: Monday, November 20, 2006 10:17:35 AM
Subject: Re: engineers in the kitchen
The science is sound, but the implementation needs a little work. I think we must hire a chemical engineer to verify the stoichiometric equations of the chemicals involved. He/she must be cognizant of the the unrefined hydrocarbon issue and also be able to specify the amount and types of contaminants permissible in the guten. We must also hire a process control engineer to design a cookie press that will accommodate green peas. An industrial engineer can devise a time-line and a budget, and identify the critical paths in the manufacturing process.
Will this be mil-spec or COTS?
Leslie
Bad Behavior has blocked 834 access attempts in the last 7 days.
Bad Behavior
Member of American Mensa, Ltd.
Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster
Potential Threat To The Nation
Amazon.com Daily Deals