This Week's Roundup of Time Wasters

There's no denying that I get a kick out of spending a couple of hours a week digging up these time wasters. The big difference, though, is I'm getting paid; you're just, uh, wasting time.

• The balloon people who float into the sky seem to have it down to a science. Watch two movies of what they do here and here. (Be patient, they're slow loading.)

  
  Ballooning into the sky

• The University of Colorado's Physics Education Department created some really cool simulations on their Technology page. These full-fledged, working models are a hoot to try. Fill a vat with salt, play around with the water levels, and try, as they say, to "achieve a dynamic equilibrium with solid precipitate." Or mess around with sound by adjusting the harmonic content, volume, and frequency of sound and waves. Don't be alarmed -- the site uses Java and you'll see some dialogs explaining the temporary downloads.

  
  Play with a vat of salt water.

  
  Louder. No, softer.

• Air Jelly: The video says it all. (Details). [Thanks, Paul.]

• In case you are having trouble figuring out how you're going to pay for gas, not to worry: The Feds came up a new, handy-dandy Gas Coupon.

  



• Violators will experience our services for free. But you really don't want to. . . Hired Assassin Agency. [Thanks, Paul.]
• It drives me nuts when I see incorrect use of English -- grammar, typos, and other gems -- on menus and signs. You know what I mean -- a menu that uses quotes for emphasis (our chili is "super hot"), misspellings (Pastries, Cakes, and Deserts), or apostrophes used incorrectly (violator's will be fined). The Typo Eradication Advancement League is out to put a stop to it. They carry whiteout, chalk, tape, and magic markers and are on a cross country mission too fix egregious error's. (Just testing...)

  

  
  TEAL graciously makes corrections.

  
  

  Comments (1)

  How can I join TEAL? They need me!

  Gesualdo

  May 13, 2008

  12:17 PM PT