Month: August 2005

The National Weather Service posting was so strongly worded some didn’t believe it was legit:

EXTREMELY DANGEROUS HURRICANE KATRINA CONTINUES TO APPROACH THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER DELTA

DEVASTATING DAMAGE EXPECTED

MOST OF THE AREA WILL BE UNINHABITABLE FOR WEEKS…PERHAPS LONGER. AT LEAST ONE HALF OF WELL CONSTRUCTED HOMES WILL HAVE ROOF AND WALL FAILURE. ALL GABLED ROOFS WILL FAIL… LEAVING THOSE HOMES SEVERELY DAMAGED OR DESTROYED. [Gables did you say? I have 3 of them. -ed]

THE MAJORITY OF INDUSTRIAL BUILDINGS WILL BECOME NON FUNCTIONAL. PARTIAL TO COMPLETE WALL AND ROOF FAILURE IS EXPECTED. ALL WOOD FRAMED LOW RISING APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL BE DESTROYED. CONCRETE BLOCK LOW RISE APARTMENTS WILL SUSTAIN MAJOR DAMAGE…INCLUDING SOME WALL AND ROOF FAILURE.

HIGH RISE OFFICE AND APARTMENT BUILDINGS WILL SWAY DANGEROUSLY…A FEW TO THE POINT OF TOTAL COLLAPSE. ALL WINDOWS WILL BLOW OUT.

AIRBORNE DEBRIS WILL BE WIDESPREAD…AND MAY INCLUDE HEAVY ITEMS SUCH AS HOUSEHOLD APPLIANCES AND EVEN LIGHT VEHICLES. SPORT UTILITY VEHICLES AND LIGHT TRUCKS WILL BE MOVED. THE BLOWN DEBRIS WILL CREATE ADDITIONAL DESTRUCTION. PERSONS…PETS…AND LIVESTOCK EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL FACE CERTAIN DEATH IF STRUCK.

POWER OUTAGES WILL LAST FOR WEEKS…AS MOST POWER POLES WILL BE DOWN AND TRANSFORMERS DESTROYED. WATER SHORTAGES WILL MAKE HUMAN SUFFERING INCREDIBLE BY MODERN STANDARDS.

THE VAST MAJORITY OF NATIVE TREES WILL BE SNAPPED OR UPROOTED. ONLY THE HEARTIEST WILL REMAIN STANDING…BUT BE TOTALLY DEFOLIATED. FEW CROPS WILL REMAIN. LIVESTOCK LEFT EXPOSED TO THE WINDS WILL BE KILLED.

And that does not include the part about the city being under 30 feet of water.

Thanks to various commenters who wanted to make sure I didn’t miss that! Thanks guys I needed that! ;-/

Originally posted by Paul from Wizbang

The Neistat Brothers teach us how to kill and resurrect a goldfish in this short video clip. Basically, Goldfish – life – water + mountain dew – mountain dew + water + battery = live goldfish.

This is an interesting clip, although cruel at first, it does end in a happy way.

Originally from My Digg news

This is something that has always bothered me about the English language. I never thought about looking it up until now. Now it all makes sense.

Originally from My Digg news

Here is a web site with some awesome optical illusions

With Google Talk‘s launch and Skype offering more features, the Guardian has written an internet phone Q&A.

Surely phone calls can’t be free?

Well, not entirely. Callers need to pay for a broadband internet connection. Beyond that, though, calls to other Skype or Google Talk users are free. Think of it like email: you can email as much as you like for nothing as long as you pay for the internet connection. VoIP is the same: you can chat as much as you like as long as you have broadband. And as with email it doesn’t matter where in the world the person you are contacting is based.

So what do I need to make calls over the internet?

You need a computer, a broadband connection and, if you don’t have speakers and a microphone, or want to avoid the feeling that you are talking to your computer, a specially adapted headset or telephone.

But what if the person I am calling is not on the system?

You can still call landlines or mobile phones, but you will pay for the calls as you do now.

Originally from Lifehacker