6870 – I remember the responsometer malfunction of '97.

Power was off at work until about 2pm… when the server woke back up, it emailed me, asking for permission to stay awake, so I told it to go ahead. Big Kahuna, Rogers and I went in and unpacked all of the other hardware. I got the office up and running in about an hour and a half… one of the benefits of being in a hurricane environment is knowing how to pack and unpack in a blink. The building was *hot*.. sealed up for three days without A/C makes the third floor like an attic, but the place got cranking with cool about the time I left. Too late for me, I was a walking river by that time. (Two floors of machines, telephone and other hardware had to be put back together. I’m leaving it to the office-folks to put pictures and such back. No water damage, but the wind really played havoc with the branches everywhere we went.

Today will be a more straight-forward day.

Disco-Hitler. It’s him. He’s the supervillain I’ve been wondering about. (more musical villains here) It’s been around for ages, but every time I rediscover it, it kills me.

Ivan looks like he’s keeping a Southerly course, sneaking up the West Coast of Florida. Still too early to fret, but at least the weekend isn’t wrecked.

The World of Warcraft demo is looking neato! Here’s a peek at Whimsy’s Night Elf… note the plunging neckline, and freakishly large hands. good size for wallpaper… I like the little flowers on the Guardian Tree’s feet and organic feel of the whole place. I’m envious, because she’s a druid and can shapeshift into a bear! However, I think I’d have more fun playing the giant tree.

Clickie to biggie.

A 3D chocolate printer in the works. That’s a really cool idea… a *lot* of potential there. Made out of lego. superb thought.

Episode 11 of Making Fiends is here!

America’s Army is pretty cool. It’s a fun bit of military recruitment, disguised as a FPS. Graphics are nice.. I wonder how many folks have been convinced to join up as a result? I’m doing the medic training… it’s interesting and educational.

KILLDOZER II: ELECTRIC BOOGALOO

once again, Clickie to biggie.

The closest thing to a mech I’ve ever seen. Look at the size of the thing!!! That’s not forced perspective… it’s just fricking enormous. (spun into from here)

Those little things at the base? A big ol’ earthmover, and 2 ant-sized people. Maybe it’s my little-kid fascination with giant machines, or perhaps it’s the giant bucket wheel “buzz-saw”… but Wowie. What sort of noise?

I thought those platforms that moved the space shuttle were big.

I bet the same mad scientist that’s flinging hurricanes at me uses these as party-fun time doomsday device.

The Large Bucket Wheel Excavator

Stands over 310 feet tall (higher than the Statue of Liberty)
Is over 700 feet long (2 ½ football fields)
Weighs over 100 million pounds
Cost $100 million, took 5 years to design & manufacture and 5 years to assemble on site
Requires 5 people to operate (including CAT D6R bulldozer operator)
The Bucket Wheel is over 70 feet in diameter with 20 buckets each of which can hold over 20 cubic yards of material. A 6-foot man can stand up inside one of the buckets.
The “Belt Caddy” is separately operated and has a retractable boom which connects it to the Bucket Wheel Excavator
It moves on 12 crawlers (each is 12’ wide, 8’ high and 45’ long) – 8 in front and 4 in back
It can remove over 100,000 cubic yards of overburden each day

Lego version with demonstrators.