365

It’s Electrifying!

November 4, 2015 — 23 Comments

power supply board

F/5.6, 1/60, ISO 200.

Day 308 / 365

Experiencing problems with his computer, an incognizant user called technical support for assistance …

Technician: Good morning. How may I help you?

Customer: There’s smoke coming from my computer’s power supply.

Technician: Sounds like you need a new power supply.

Customer: No, I don’t! I just need to change the startup files.

Technician: Sir, what you described is a faulty power supply. It needs to be replaced.

Customer: No way! Someone told me that I just have to change the system startup files to fix the problem! All I need is for you to tell me the right command.

For the next several minutes, despite the technician’s efforts to explain the problem and its solution, the customer adamantly insisted that he was right. So, in frustration, the technician responded …

Technician: I’m sorry. Normally we don’t tell our customers this, but there is an undocumented DOS command that will fix the problem.

Customer: Aha! I knew it!

Technician: Add the line ‘LOAD NOSMOKE.COM’ at the end of the CONFIG.SYS file and everything should work fine. Let me know how it goes.

A few minutes later, the technician received a call back from the customer …

Customer: It didn’t work. The power supply is still smoking.

Technician: What version of DOS are you using?

Customer: MS-DOS 6.22.

Technician: Well, that’s your problem. That version of DOS doesn’t include NOSMOKE. You’ll need to contact Microsoft and ask them for a patch. Let me know how it all works out.

An hour passed and the technician received another call from the customer …

Customer: I need a new power supply.

Technician: Really? How did you reach that conclusion?

Customer: Well, I called Microsoft and told the technician what you said, and he started asking me questions about the make of the power supply.

Technician: I see. What did he tell you?

Customer: He said my power supply isn’t compatible with NOSMOKE!

Interesting Fact: 1910 An inductive discharge ignition system invented by Charles F. Kettering and his company (Delco) goes into production for Cadillac. This is a mechanically-switched version of a flyback boost converter with an autotransformer (the ignition coil). Variations of this ignition system are in all non-diesel internal combustion engines. 1926 “Electrical Condensors” by Coursey[1] mentions high frequency welding[2] and furnaces.[1] 1936 Car radios used electromechanical vibrators to transform the 6 V battery supply to a suitable B+ voltage for the vacuum tubes.[3] 1959 Transistor oscillation and rectifying converter power supply system U.S. Patent 3,040,271 is filed.[4] 1970 High-Efficiency Power Supply produced from about 1970 to 1995.[5][6][7][8] 1972 HP-35, Hewlett-Packard’s first pocket calculator, is introduced with transistor switching power supply for light-emitting diodes, clocks, timing, ROM, and registers.[9] 1977 Apple II is designed with a switching mode power supply. “Rod Holt was brought in as product engineer and there were several flaws in Apple II that were never publicized. One thing Holt has to his credit is that he created the switching power supply that allowed us to do a very lightweight computer“.[10] 1980 The HP8662A 10 kHz – 1.28 GHz synthesized signal generator went with a switched power supply. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switched-mode_power_supply#History )

Is This Spooning Or Forking?

November 2, 2015 — 22 Comments

utensils

F/ 5.6, 1/60, ISO 160.

Day 306 / 365

What did the plate say to the spoon and fork?

“Dinner’s on me!”

Interesting Fact: The word fork comes from the Latin furca, meaning “pitchfork“. Some of the earliest known uses of forks with food occurred in Ancient Egypt, where large forks were used as cooking utensils.[1] Bone forks had been found in the burial site of the Bronze Age Qijia culture (2400–1900 BC) as well as later Chinese dynasties’ tombs.[2] The Ancient Greeks used the fork as a serving utensil.[3] The Greek name for fork is still used in some European languages, for instance in the Venetian, Greek, and Albanian languages. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fork )

Eat Drink And Be Merry!!

November 1, 2015 — 23 Comments

diner

F/16.0, 71.0, ISO 64.

Day 305 / 365

A man entered a diner restaurant and sat at the only open table. As he sat down, he knocked the spoon off the table with his elbow. A nearby waiter reached into his shirt pocket, pulled out a clean spoon and set it on the table. The diner was impressed. “Do all the waiters carry spoons in their pockets?”

The waiter replied, “Yes. Ever since we had that efficiency expert out; he determined that 17.8% of our diners knock the spoon off the table. By carrying clean spoons with us, we save trips to the kitchen.”

The diner ate his meal. As he was paying the waiter, he commented, “Forgive the intrusion, but do you know that you have a string hanging from your fly?”

The waiter replied, “Yes, we all do. Seems that the same efficiency expert determined that we spend too much time washing our hands after using the men’s room. So, the other end of that string is tied to my penis. When I need to go, I simply pull the string to pull out my penis, go, and return to work. Having never touched myself, there is no need to wash my hands. Saves a lot of time.”

Wait a minute,” said the diner, “how do you get your penis back in your pants?”

“Well, I don’t know about the other guys, but I use the spoon.”

Interesting Fact: The first diner was created in 1872, by a man named Walter Scott. He decided to sell food out of a horse-pulled wagon to employees of the Providence Journal, in Providence, Rhode Island. Scott’s diner can be considered the first diner with “walk up” windows that were located on each side of the wagon. Commercial production of lunch wagons began in Worcester, Massachusetts, in 1887, by Thomas Buckley. Buckley was very successful and became known for his “White House Cafe” wagons. Charles Palmer received the first patent (1893) for the diner, which he billed as a “Night-Lunch Wagon.” He built his “fancy night cafes” and “night lunch wagons” in the Worcester area until 1901. ( https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diner )



Happy Halloween!! Don’t Look Under The Bed!!

October 31, 2015 — 2 Comments

halloween

F/4.5, 1/60, ISO 64.

Day 304 / 365

What’s it like to be kissed by a vampire?

It’s a pain in the neck.

Interesting Fact: The wearing of costumes at Halloween may come from the belief that supernatural beings, or the souls of the dead, roamed the earth at this time. The practice may have originated in a Celtic festival, held on 31 October–1 November, to mark the beginning of winter. It was called Samhain in Ireland, Scotland and the Isle of Man, and Calan Gaeaf in Wales, Cornwall and Brittany. The festival is believed to have pre-Christian roots. After the Christianization of Ireland in the 5th century, some of these customs may have been retained in the Christian observance of All Hallows’ Eve in that region—which continued to be called Samhain/Calan Gaeaf—blending the traditions of their ancestors with Christian ones.[2][3] It was seen as a liminal time, when the spirits or fairies (the Aos Sí), and the souls of the dead, could more easily come into our world.[4] It was believed that the Aos Sí needed to be propitiated to ensure that the people and their livestock survived the winter. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halloween_costume )

On Halloween Parents Sent Their Kids Out Looking Like Me

October 30, 2015 — 6 Comments

Jack-o-lantern

F/6.3, 10.0, ISO 64.

Day 303 / 365

What did a Jack-o-lantern say to the pumpkin?

Cut it out!

Interesting Fact: It is believed that the custom of making jack-o’-lanterns at Halloween, from turnips or pumpkins, began in Ireland.[5][6][7] In the 19th century, “turnips or mangel wurzels, hollowed out to act as lanterns and often carved with grotesque faces”, were used at Halloween in parts of Ireland and the Scottish Highlands.[8] In these Celtic-speaking regions, Halloween was also the festival of Samhain and was seen as a time when supernatural beings (the Aos Sí) and the souls of the dead roamed the earth. The belief that the souls of the dead roamed the earth at Halloween was found in other places, as well. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack-o%27-lantern#Origin )

How Much Wood Could A Woodchuck Chuck, If A Woodchuck Could Chuck Wood?

October 29, 2015 — 34 Comments

Groundhog

F/6.3, 1/60, ISO 640.

Groundhog (Woodchuck)

Day 302 / 365

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?

He would chuck, he would, as much as he could, and chuck as much wood as a woodchuck would if a woodchuck could chuck wood.

Interesting Fact: Groundhogs hibernate meaning they spend their winters sleeping.  They hibernate from October to late March. Groundhogs prepare for hibernation by putting on weight.  Then they live off the fat until they come out of hibernation. ( http://www.kidsplayandcreate.com/fun-groundhog-facts-and-groundhog-day-facts-for-kids/ )

 

 

Things Are Getting Spooky

October 28, 2015 — 10 Comments

spooky candle

F/ 4.5, 30.0, ISO 64.

Day 301 / 365

What is the only time a man thinks about a candlelight dinner?
When the power goes off.
Interesting Fact: The earliest surviving candles originated in China around 200 BC, and were made from whale fat. European candles of antiquity were made from various forms of natural fat, tallow, and wax. In Ancient Rome, candles were made of tallow due to the prohibitive cost of beeswax.[5] It is possible that they also existed in Ancient Greece, but imprecise terminology makes it difficult to determine. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Candle#History )

I Wear My Sunglasses At Night

October 27, 2015 — 18 Comments

sunglasses

F/ 5.3, 46.0, ISO 64.

Day 300 / 365

Two men who are out walking their dogs meet on a street corner.
One says to the other, “Boy it sure is hot today. I’d really like to go into the bar and get a beer, but the sign on the front door says, ‘No Pets Allowed,’ and I can’t leave Fido alone on the street.”
The other man replies, “No problem, just stand by the door and watch me, and you’ll be having that beer real soon!”
The second man reaches into his pocket and puts on a pair of dark sunglasses, and then walks into the bar. The bartender looks up and says, “Hey buddy, you can’t bring that dog in here!”
The man says, “But I’m blind, and this is my seeing-eye dog!”
The bartender says, “Oh, OK then.” The man drinks his beer and leaves.
The first man then puts on dark sunglasses and goes into the bar. The bartender looks up and says, “Hey buddy, you can’t bring that dog in here!”
The man says, “But I’m blind, and this is my seeing-eye dog!”
The bartender says, “Oh really? I’ve never heard of a Chihuahua seeing-eye dog!!”
The man, thinking quickly, blurts out, “Oh, man! You mean they gave me a Chihuahua?!?”

Interesting Fact: In prehistoric and historic time, Inuit peoples wore flattened walrus ivory “glasses,” looking through narrow slits to block harmful reflected rays of the sun. It is said that the Roman emperor Nero liked to watch gladiator fights with emeralds. These, however, appear to have worked rather like mirrors. Sunglasses made from flat panes of smoky quartz, which offered no corrective powers but did protect the eyes from glare were used in China in the 12th century or possibly earlier. Ancient documents describe the use of such crystal sunglasses by judges in ancient Chinese courts to conceal their facial expressions while questioning witnesses. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunglasses#History )

 

 

Rock Out!

October 26, 2015 — 14 Comments

guitar

F/3.5, 118.0, ISO 64.

Day 299 / 365

How do you know someone’s a really good guitarist?

He’ll tell you!

Interesting Fact: Before the development of the electric guitar and the use of synthetic materials, a guitar was defined as being an instrument having “a long, fretted neck, flat wooden soundboard, ribs, and a flat back, most often with incurved sides”.[1] The term is used to refer to a number of chordophones that were developed and used across Europe, beginning in the 12th century and, later, in the Americas.[2] A 3,300-year-old stone carving of a Hittite bard playing a stringed instrument is the oldest iconographic representation of a chordophone and clay plaques from Babylonia show people playing an instrument that has a strong resemblance to the guitar, indicating a possible Babylonian origin for the guitar. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guitar )

 

You Don’t Know Quack!

October 25, 2015 — 14 Comments

Ruddy Duck 1

F/ 13.0, 1/640, ISO 800.

Ruddy Duck

Day 298 / 365

A man and a duck are walking down the street together. Suddenly the man notices a low-flying airplane coming right for them. The man yells “DUCK!!!!” and the duck looks back at the man with an angry face and yells “MAN!!!!”

Interesting Fact: Ruddy Ducks are very aggressive toward each other and toward other species, especially during the breeding season. They are even known to chase rabbits feeding on the shore. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruddy_Duck/lifehistory )