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Maxed Out: A Great Time to be a Technology Geek
October 31, 2012 |Estimated reading time: 5 minutes
The world is a wonderful place. There are so many cool electronic gadgets that can amuse and delight. For example, in a recent column, I mentioned the Mega Stomp Audio Reality Costume offered by the folks at ThinkGeek.
Of course I ordered one. Who could resist?
Basically, this is a sound effects unit you clip to your belt. The clever part is that it includes an accelerometer than can detect when you are walking, so every time your foot hits the ground you hear the corresponding effect.
Click here to see a video on YouTube. You know you want one too!
You can select from all sorts of effects, including Steampunk Robot, Gigantic Monster, Pegleg Pirate, Gunslinger, Medieval Knight, and 8-Bit Game Character. But my favorite is the one that sounds like you are walking through puddles of water – this really is super-realistic and sounds just like the real thing.
Can you imagine on Halloween saying to the kids, "Watch out for that water!" Then, when they look at the dry ground with their eyebrows raised, you walk briskly past them making "splish splash" sounds.
Suffice it to say that I am having oodles of fun with this little rascal. And that's just here in the office.
A Frothy BrewWell, strange things are afoot, and no mistake. Do you remember my waffling on about forming a club called the Worshipful Ancient Order of Froth Blowers (WAOFB)? I got this idea when I read about the Ancient Order of Froth Blowers – a bunch of folks who used to get together to quaff a few beers back in the 1920s and early 1930s. At its height, the club had more than 700,000 members around the world. Sad to relate, however, the original organization folded in 1931 with the passing of its founders.
This sounds like my sort of club, but I didn’t want anyone to confuse my group with the original – that's why I added "Worshipful" to the beginning of my club's name.
But once you've formed a club, you find that there are all sorts of things that need to be done, such as creating a logo, writing a catchy club song, designing the official clue undergarments, and so on and so forth.
Of course, since I am the Supreme Commander-in-Chief, Froth Blowers Worldwide, I will be able to delegate much of this work to my minions. We'll call them "sub-committees" in the press release. All I need are some minions to join. I'm still waiting.
Having said all this, there are some tasks of such importance that you simply cannot delegate them. One such chore is selecting the official club headgear. I put a lot of thought into this and – after much soul searching and (it has to be admitted) more than a few beers – I opted for the Propeller Beanie because I felt this struck the appropriate tone for the club. Quite apart from anything else, it will make things a lot easier when it comes to spotting other club members in a crowded bar.
Figure 1. A propeller beanie.
I can hear what you are thinking, which (if we take out the rude words) boils down to the fact that you don’t think I will be able to persuade anyone to wear such a hat in public. Well, first of all, I will have you know that I have my own propeller beanie sitting on the shelf here in my office awaiting the first meeting of my local chapter of the WAOFB. I just need to recruit some members other than myself.
Meanwhile, I recently received an e-mail from Jon Fuge in the UK. Jon and his friends have formed their own chapter, and Jon sent me a picture of them "enjoying a pint of the clear frothy stuff."
Figure 2. A new chapter of the Worshipful Ancient Order of Froth Blowers meets in the UK. From left to right: Jon Fuge, Ceri Brown, Rob Lindley, and – last but definitely most – Dan "Dark Matter" Kasht.
This picture was taken in The Star Inn, a beautiful 17th century coaching inn that's located in the charming country town of Wotton-under-Edge, Gloucestershire, tucked away under the Southern edge of the Cotswolds. According to Jon, the Star Inn is known far and wide for its magnificent selection of cask ales and its tremendous atmosphere.
Although it's hard to tell in this picture, this fine bunch of men have gone above and beyond the call of duty, because they've actually motorized the propellers on their beanies (which explains the blurred effect in these pictures). I tell you, it brings a tear to my eye to know that I have made such a mark upon the world.
Brain AmplificationI can’t recall if I ever mentioned it, but one of my hobby projects when I was a young lad was to build a brain wave amplifier. This was a do-it-yourself type project in the hobbyist magazine Practical Electronics. I think I was about 16 years old at the time. It never worked, but that's not too surprising because (a) I didn’t have any test equipment; (b) I wouldn’t have known what to do with any test equipment if I had any; and (c) I really didn’t have a clue what I was doing. On the bright side, this project was key to getting my foot in the door at university, but that's story for another day.
The reason I'm waffling on about this here is that I just saw a wonderful picture of Steve Carell wearing a mega-cool brain amplification-type hat thingy.
Figure 3. Steve Carell modeling a brain amplifier of some sort.
Oooooh! I so want one of these little beauties. I'm going to be speaking at a couple of technical conferences next year, and sporting a hat like this could not fail to make the audience take me seriously!
Until next time – have a good one!
Clive (Max) Maxfield is founder/consultant at Maxfield High-Tech Consulting. He is the author and co-author of a number of books, including Bebop to the Boolean Boogie (An Unconventional Guide to Electronics) and How Computers Do Math featuring the pedagogical and phantasmagorical virtual DIY Calculator. To contact Max, click here.