Goofball Vehicle(s) of the Day - Bonus Edition

1924 Armstead Snow Motors and Bonus Russian ZIL Screw Drive Tundra Cruiser

Armstead Snow Motors from Seeking Michigan on Vimeo.

Jail House Modern and Sing-Sing Chic

If your bathroom needs that little bit of lockup luxury, the Neo Metro combi might be just the thing your looking for.  Or if you prefer the real deal, Bradley Plumbing makes basically the same item, but industrial strength. What makes a toilet industrial strength?  Well the seat of the Bradley toilet sink combo can withstand a weight of 5,000 pounds.  If you prefer a locker room vibe, Bradley also makes those multi head column showers and the always popular 5 person handwashing basin - same one we all used in elementary school, half round, foot operated.  if you need a reminder, this is what I am talking about --> More @ http://www.bradleycorp.com/index.jsp

Green Building Material of the Day - Compressed Straw SIP (Structural Insulated Panel)

As you may or may not know, people other than the Three Little Pigs have been building houses out of straw for years. Traditional wattle and daub has been used for at least 6,000 years, and of course thatched roofing is very common, and more recently (Late 1800's onwards) with the advent of the hay baler, straw has been used in the form of stacked bales as load bearing exterior walls. Due to lack of available timber, this building method was especially popular in Nebraska and other Midwest states. More recently however modern manufacturing techniques have allowed the development of straw panels made by heating and compressing straw (often without binders) into a thick dense material similar to partical board or MDF. It turns out that straw is a very flexible product that can be formed into many different products, ranging from Drywall and Particle Board substitutes to thick exterior load bearing walls with pre-formed electrical conduits. Not to be confused with hay, straw is the stalk of grain crops such as wheat and rice. Generally straw is either plowed under the soil or burned after the harvest. Straw is resistant to fungus, rot, fire and vermin. Unlike timber it can be regenerated in 6 months rather than decades. Compressed straw has been used for a long time in Britain and the houses have performed well over the years. For more Info See: Straw the Next Great Building Material (Building Green) Stramit International - Manufacturer

Pub Evacuated After Holy Hand Grenade of Antioch Scare

Pub evacuated after Monty Python prop mistaken for grenade Bomb disposal teams were called in and buildings evacuated after workmen mistook a Monty Python film prop for a hand grenade. More from telegraph.co.uk

Bruce Schneier's Solitaire - Secure Encrypted Communications Using a Deck of Cards

I just finished reading Neal Stephenson's Novel Cryptonomicon.  In the book, two characters in prison use a deck of cards to encrypt their written communications.  Well, it turns out that it's actually a real encryption technique invented by Cryptologist Bruce Schneier for the book, but it is also intended to provide serious security in actual field use, check it out, it's a pretty cool concept.  Here is the overview from Scneier's Website: http://www.schneier.com/solitaire.html

"In Neal Stephenson's novel Cryptonomicon, the character Enoch Root describes a cryptosystem code-named "Pontifex" to another character named Randy Waterhouse, and later reveals that the steps of the algorithm are intended to be carried out using a deck of playing cards. These two characters go on to exchange several encrypted messages using this system. The system is called "Solitaire" (in the novel, "Pontifex" is a code name intended to temporarily conceal the fact that it employs a deck of cards) and I designed it to allow field agents to communicate securely without having to rely on electronics or having to carry incriminating tools. An agent might be in a situation where he just does not have access to a computer, or may be prosecuted if he has tools for secret communication. But a deck of cards...what harm is that?

Solitaire gets its security from the inherent randomness in a shuffled deck of cards. By manipulating this deck, a communicant can create a string of "random" letters that he then combines with his message. Of course Solitaire can be simulated on a computer, but it is designed to be implemented by hand.

Solitaire may be low-tech, but its security is intended to be high-tech. I designed Solitaire to be secure even against the most well-funded military adversaries with the biggest computers and the smartest cryptanalysts. Of course, there is no guarantee that someone won't find a clever attack against Solitaire (watch this space for updates), but the algorithm is certainly better than any other pencil-and-paper cipher I've ever seen.

It's not fast, though. It can take an evening to encrypt or decrypt a reasonably long message. In David Kahn's book Kahn on Codes, he describes a real pencil-and-paper cipher used by a Soviet spy. Both the Soviet algorithm and Solitaire take about the same amount of time to encrypt a message: most of an evening"

Oddball Engine of the Day - The Napier Deltic Diesel

Designed and produced by the British company D. Napier and Sons in the years following WWII.  It was designed to replace the gasoline engines then used in PT Boats.  Compact & lightwieght, (1/5 of a contemporary diesel)  the Deltic was an ideal design for high speed marine use and had considerable success in that application.  Napier Deltics also saw some limited use as a locomotive engine.  Because of it's compact dimensions and subsequently low magnetic signature, it is still being used to power British minesweepers.

The Six Wheeled Tyrrell P34 Formula 1 Car

I remember seeing this car on "Wide World of Sports" as a kid, in fact to this day, when I see this car I swear I can hear Jackie Stewart's voice.   Designed by Derek Gardiner in 1975, the theory behind the six wheels is pretty simple, braking and aerodynamics.  The ten inch front tires punch through the air much easier than a single pair of larger tires, and four fronts should offer more grip for better braking and handling.  Indeed, the car scored a one two finish at the Swedish Grand Prix, and posted good results it's first season.  Unfortunately, because nobody else was using these unique tires, development suffered and Tyrrell was forced to use uncompetitive tires which limited the cars success's.  In historic racing against it's contemporaries however it has been vindicated, having achieved excellent results.  To me as a kid, such an exotic looking car festooned with the huge words ELF, could not have been cooler.  I suspect I am not alone as the f34 is one of the most popular vintage racing cars around, and always gets an enthusiastic response.

Fun extra, Jackie Stewart Testing the P34 back in the day, very cool footage, check out Jackie's hot 70's lady Linky Link Link