Over thousands of years, the building science of timber framing developed independently in both Northern Europe and China. But one big difference between the regions is that China, by virtue of its size and geological traits, is prone to devastating earthquakes. Ancient Chinese builders thus needed a way to create wooden structures that could not be shaken apart, and that were not so stiff that its support members would shatter.
They designed and engineered the solution at least as early as roughly 500 B.C. The builders created a series of brackets known as dougong.
When interlocked together, these could transfer the incredibly heavy weight of a temple roof to the supporting columns, and they contained so many redundancies that they could not be shaken apart.
They also, by spreading their tolerances over multiple joints, contained a measure of flexibility that prevented them from cracking and splitting.
Check out the ingenious way that they fit together in the computer animation below:
The craziest part of that system is that the columns are not sunken into the foundation nor moored, but are freestanding, and yet they stayed in place during the shake test.
The video below, which is of a modern-day architect demonstrating dougong with a scale model, is a bit slower but really gives you a good look at the components and how they fit together:
It’s crazy to see how wobbly it all looks, but how it all gets locked into place by the immense weight of the roof; and that wobbliness of course affords the flexibility required for the structure to withstand an earthquake without shattering.
Also, this architect must look at people playing Jenga and think "Idiots."
The WASR-10 gets a lot of undeserved hate. Why is the hate undeserved? Because of stuff like this.
Ak Operators Union, Local 47-74 put over 10,000 rounds through the rifle:
The number of malfunctions can be counted on one hand.
The issues were with a certain brand of ammunition.
Ak Operators Union said the rifle is holding up just fine.
No broken parts reported in the video.
The rifle in the video was used as a hand-out rifle for people taking an AK class. As he says in the video, he saw Arsenal and other expensive rifles go down, and the shooters finished the class with the WASR-10.
Now for the video.
I bought my WASR-10 somewhere around 2007 and I paid $375 + tax. After Sandy Hook, prices went through the roof. However, prices have been steadily inching down over the past few years.
The guy in the video says he sees the WASR-10 as a starter rifle. I respectfully disagree with that comment.
10,000 rounds with only a handful of malfunctions and no breakages, means the WASR-10 is not a starter rifle. While it may have some magazine wobble, might have a canted front sight, the WASR-10 has proven itself to be a reliable product.
Maybe we confuse quality with reliability? Just because something fits nicely and has quality standards does not mean it will be reliable. For example, NASA has some of the best engineers in the world, and they have had their fair share of failures.
Why should someone spend $1,000 on an AK-47, when a $500 AK is just as reliable?
As much as I want another AK and look for something besides the WASR, I keep going back to the WASR. With people such as AK Operators Union saying they have 10,000 rounds through a rifle and can count the number of malfunctions on one hand, why should I buy anything else?
Since her launch, Siri has had a ton of jokes hid up her virtual assistant sleeve. Today a new one is being passed around the web: Tell Siri “I see a little silhouetto of a man.” Go ahead, I’ll wait here while you do.
It’s a fun trick to show your friends, especially Queen fans, over drinks this afternoon or at the water cooler tomorrow morning.
If you like that one, here are a few other witticisms (what they’re officially called) worth trying:
Advertisement
Can you rap?
Can you beatbox?
What’s zero divided by zero?
Advertisement
What does the fox say?
Read me a haiku.
Do you have your own favorite thing to ask Siri? Share your favorite witticisms in the comments.
intellitech quotes an article from Discover’s Neuroskeptic blog:
A number of so-called scientific journals have accepted a Star Wars-themed spoof paper…an absurd mess of factual errors, plagiarism and movie quotes. I know because I wrote it… I created a spoof manuscript about "midi-chlorians" — the fictional entities which live inside cells and give Jedi their powers in Star Wars…and submitted it to nine journals under the names of Dr. Lucas McGeorge and Dr. Annette Kin… The American Journal of Medical and Biological Research accepted the paper, but asked for a $360 fee, which I didn’t pay. Amazingly, three other journals not only accepted but actually published the spoof. At one point the paper simply transcribes dialogue from Star Wars: Episode III – Revenge of the Sith. ("Did you ever hear of the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise? I thought not. It is not a story the Jedi would tell you….") And the author also cut-and-pasted big chunks of the Wikipedia page for mitochondrion (after globally replacing mitochondr* with midichlor*), then admitted in the paper’s "Methodology" section that "The majority of the text in the current paper was Rogeted from Wikipedia" — with a direct link back to that Wikipedia page. One sentence even mentions "JARJAR syndrome."
Three more journals did reject the paper — but at least one more unquestioningly asked the author to revise and resubmit it. The author calls it "a reminder that at some ‘peer reviewed’ journals, there really is no meaningful peer review at all" — adding that one journal has even invited Dr. Lucas McGeorge to join their editorial board.
Dilbert: Once we have all of the vendors’ bids, we will pick the best one. Man: Oh, great, so you’re saying we should be exactly like serial killers? Dilbert: Uh… what? Man: Serial killers also choose their victims. Can’t you see the warning flags here? You’re basically promoting murder. Dilbert: That is literally the most ridiculous and unhelpful analogy of all time. I doubt you could come up with a worse analogy, no matter how hard you tried. Man: Hitler said something like that before invading Poland. Boss: Good point.
The first trailer for Thor: Ragnarok is one of those trailers you never, ever forget. So, the cast and crew had a lot to live up to at Comic-Con, but the new trailer take care of at all. It’s a two-and-a-half-minute ball of action, awesomeness, humor, and insanity that may be the most purely fun Marvel movie trailer we’ve ever seen, all courtesy of director Taika Waititi.
The trailer makes it clear that Thor and Loki will team up to defeat Hela and Ragnarok. Plus, we’ve got the wolf Fenris, Hulk talking, sassy Jeff Goldblum, and Thor and Loki shooting people with laser guns. And, perhaps the biggest of all, we’ve got confirmation that Hulk fights the fire giant Surtur, and that is something I’m very much looking forward to seeing! Check out the trailer for yourself here.
The official series trailer for Star Trek: Discovery is out, and the stakes are bigger than ever… maybe? Actually, it’s a little hard to tell what’s going on.
Discovery takes place during the conflict between Starfleet and Klingons, who are rising up to assert their place in the galaxy. During the San Diego Comic-Con panel, we were told that Klingons on the show will be speaking in Klingon with English subtitles—however, in the trailer, we only see them speaking English. It’s unclear whether that was done solely for the trailer, or if it the Klingons will actually speak both languages.
We also got a better look at Jason Isaacs’ captain, who Isaacs described during the panel as “probably more fucked up” than your average Starfleet officer. I’m not sure what his motives are, except it looks like he’s trying to avoid a war. But then there’s another guy who looks like he wants to fight. Michelle Yeoh is there looking startled. You’ve got some weird plant things, and then some space drifting. And then, of course, there was that reveal during the panel that our protagonist is actually Spock’s adoptive sister.
The first Lego Movie had the surprise of its material to work with. Lego Batman had, well, Batman. What can the Lego Ninjago movie do to keep things fresh? we wondered. According to this shockingly great new trailer the answer is: A lot of things, because the movie looks downright insane.
As someone not entirely familiar with the world of Ninjago—not only has it been a line of Lego sets for the past few years, it’s actually had its own successful animated TV series too—I wasn’t entirely sure going into the new movie in terms of what to expect other than Ninjas. The first trailer delivered on that (with a whole heap of daddy drama issues to boot), but this one serves as a reminder that this is still a Lego movie, too, which means jokes flying at a mile a minute and some truly bonkers spectacle.
Spectacle like, say, a live-action cat stampeding through a Lego city. The cat’s pretty great, as is the revelation of how main character Lloyd’s mom met his father, the evil warlord Garmadon. But honestly, the weirdest and best part of this whole trailer comes near the end, when Lloyd seemingly has one of his arms wrenched off, and it’s surprisingly graphic for a Lego movie?
Like, there’s a big hole where his arm used to be! And yet it’s still funny! Well done, Lego Ninjago Movie.
Sometimes you end up in a position, for instance, Press Secretary at the White House, that you’re not exactly cut out for. Everyone has to quit a job at some point. Whether you’ve found a new gig or just get the feeling (perhaps from watching news reports) that your seconds away from being fired when it’s time to walk away, there’s a right and a wrong way to do it.
Write a Nice Letter
Even if this was the worst job you’ve ever had and you’d love to burn the place down, your resignation letter should be polite and professional. One thing I’ve learned over the years is that the world is really a super small place. Presuming you’re working in a professional capacity at your job, then your professional world is probably even smaller. Don’t burn any bridges.
You’d be shocked at how a bad boss or a bad job can pop back up down the line. Ten years from now you might want to get a job at another company where the boss is good friends, or neighbors, or old college classmates with your bad boss from the decade before. Or maybe 10 years from now your boss will have moved on and you’ll want to come back to the company in some capacity. Bosses are temporary, but your employee file is forever. Don’t screw over future you by leaving a nasty note in there to be found.
Advertisement
Instead, keep your resignation letter to just a few sentences. Try and have a sentence or two of positive comments about your time at the company, and then note the day you would like to be your last. Something like this:
Mr. Smith,
I’ve really enjoyed my time working at Acme Inc., particularly the past few years in the whoopee cushion department. Unfortunately, the time has come for me to accept a position elsewhere. My last day will be August 31st. Over the next month I would be happy to help find and train my replacement.
All the best,
Sally
This isn’t the time to talk about how you were wronged or to point out bad decisions that were made over the years. Keep it short, sweet, and to the point. You’re leaving, all that bad stuff doesn’t matter anymore.
Give Two Weeks
Don’t ruin your years of hard work at your job by catching your boss off guard with a resignation letter. No matter how bad the job is, you should always offer to work for an additional two weeks after you pass in your resignation letter. In some cases, your boss might tell you to go ahead and go as soon as you pass in the letter, in others, you sticking around can help give the company time to find a replacement and/or come up with a plan to handle your job responsibilities until they do.
Advertisement
If you have a particularly involved job and like your employer, you may want to consider giving a month’s notice or more or to discuss an appropriate end date with your boss. Or your contract might actually stipulate an amount of notice you have to give. The goal here is to give the company a chance to make plans for what they’re going to do without you rather than to leave them unexpectedly hanging.
Be Ready to Go
Before you hand in your resignation letter, be ready for today to be your last. Sometimes employers take resignation letters well and want to keep you around for as long as possible (or want to offer you more cash than that fancy other company did). Other times, an employer might feel betrayed by your resignation or concerned that you will use your remaining time at the company to gather knowledge you’ll take to your new gig, and they might ask you to leave immediately.
Don’t clear off your desk before you head into your boss’s office, but do back up any emails and files you want that your boss might lock you out of once he hears you’re leaving. If you use a company computer, make sure you’ve removed any personal photos or files, and that you’ve deleted those chat messages you and your coworker had about how awful your boss is. That way if he does ask you to leave, you’re ready.