Blackberry REACT November 2009 Newsletter

Quick Clicks

911 call

Language is not safe for the workplace. We get occasional horror stories of callous 911 operators hanging up on people in urgent need of help, so here’s a call with an obstreperous caller who may be drunk and with a calm, competent operator pressing ahead with the necessary questions to get the caller the needed help.

LED pocket watch

Someone found an old Elgin pocket watch and put electronics innards in it with 133 LEDs that he hand-soldered in. Now the watch displays the time by lighted LEDs at the hour and minute marks, and another LED that ticks along at each second.

The part I like best is that you set the time by pulling out the crown and rotating it to move the “hands.” (Loud background music alert.)

Homemade Nuclear Reactor

If putting LEDs in your pocket watch isn’t challenging enough, here’s a high school kid who built a fusion reactor in his parents’ garage. It took a couple of years, though.

How ballpoint pens are made

I read Adam Smith’s “An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations” years ago, and one of his points was that collaboration among workers leads to greater productivity. His example was making straight pins with those little heads on them.

Here’s the example of making ballpoint pens, from the cheap plastic disposable pens to those which take refills, and the author includes an overview of the ink, too.

Hooking capacitors up backwards

This guy hooks up 10V capacitors to 15V with the bias reversed, then films the resulting explosion at 300 frames per second. Not too exciting till two and a half minutes in and the fire starts.

How to read articles about health and healthcare

With all that scary stories about swine flu virus, it’s important to keep a clear head and to know what the facts are. Here’s a good article to clue you in on paranoid hysteria in the guise of news.

Crystal radio in a jam jar

Here are instructions on how to build a crystal receiver in a jam jar. It’s called spooky because it’s Hallowe’en related, and they claim to hear spirits. Actually, they’re receiving lightning crashes, RF interference, and the like. Hitting the receiver with a laser triggers some sounds that can be imagined to be ghostly voices. It’s a good beginner’s project with opportunity for the builder to be more active with the radio than passive listening.

Thanks to Louise for pointing this out.

Events

Christmas dinner on Saturday, December 5. Check your email inbox for more information from Phil Henderson.

Updates

None

Programs

December meeting: elect officers for next year.