Funnies

10 Short Videos #6209

10 Short Videos #6209

1. China spent $2 billion to catch this rocket
2. Fastest on Land vs Fastest in the Sky
3. WATERPROOF SHELLS #buckshot #shotgun
4. On Mars, Olympus Mons is so tall that its summit sits in air that's almost a vacuum.
5. Threading the needle! 🧵🚤 Depoe Bay channel does not play around.
6. What if your camera could fly? 👀 | Insta360 X5 & Antigravity A1
7. My Homemade Robot Arm Project
8. Control, Perspective, and Movement 🔥 DJI RS 5 + SDR Transmission
9. This video got over 17M views on IG. How many can we get here on YouTube? - transforming park bench
10. I'm Speeeed🔉⚡️ #cockerspaniel 

Biggest Lumber Producers

Biggest Lumber Producers

Home Prices Worldwide

Home Prices vs. Incomes

Polybius

Statue of Polybius, Alois Düll, 1899 (Vienna, outside the Parliament of Austria).

David Warren's post today prompted me to comment:

When society collapses, the collapse will likely take the internet with it and all that old printed matter, printed on paper, will become valuable again. It will become so valuable you might think that all the old booksellers and hoarders are working together to ensure the collapse of civilization, as they are the only ones who will profit from it. But that would be unfair, because everyone is working very hard on the collapse. I say that because everyone is sure the collapse is coming (probably not for ten years, and maybe not even for 100), everyone can see we are headed for the cliff, but it's not a sharp drop off, at least not right away. We've gone over the peak and now we are just past level and starting on a downhill slope, but there is no danger, at least in the immediate view, and we are cruising, going 60, top down, sun shining, things couldn't be better. But the collapse is coming, but nobody knows what to do to stop it. Wait, that's not right, everybody knows what to do, but nobody can get enough people together to actually do anything about it. A detailed view of the economic situation might be the place to start.

Turboglide Automobile Transmission

Why 2 Letters KILLED Chevrolet's MOST ADVANCED Transmission!
Muscle Car Masters

That's a nice story, but it doesn't satisfy my inner techno-geek. So we go looking for more.

Chevrolet Turboglide Transmission
Arpit Thakur

The diagram got me here, it shows up at the 12:12 mark and Arpit goes thru the diagram bit by tedious bit, and there's a more than a few bits. He's a little hard to understand, but he repeats himself and uses a pointer effectively. I dunno what the rest of the video is about.

Torque Converter – How Does It Work? (3D Animation)
CARinfo3d (En)

Nice, simplified explanation of how torque convertors work. I still wonder who came up with this idea, how they made the prototypes, and how they make them now. Probably won't be satisfied until I see the equations for fluid flow and that's probably pointless because I probably wouldn't understand them. Well, I probably could if I spent a couple months studying up. It would take me at least that long because I only get about an hour's worth of actual work done a day. Anyway, here's some Turboglide pictures.

Turboglide Simplified Schematic

Figure 41. Reverse Power Flow

Turboglide Cross Section

Key for Turboglide Cross Section:

1. Needle Bearing and Races

2. Converter Cover Hub Bushing

3. First Turbine Hub Bushing (Serviced)

4. Caged Needle Bearings

5. Converter Cover (Serviced as an Assembly with Item 7)

6. Third Turbine Assembly

7. Stator Assembly

8. Transmission Case

9. Second Turbine Assembly

10. First Turbine Assembly

11. Stator Rear Thrust Pod

12. Needle Bearing and Race

13. Converter Pump (Serviced as an Assembly with Item 4)

14. Front Pump Oil Seal

15. Front Pump Assembly

16. Frant Pump Cover (Stator Support)

17. Reverse Piston

18. Reverse Piston Spring

19. Thruster Washer (Selective)

20. Neutral Clutch Hub

21. Neutral Clutch Piston

22. Neutral Clutch Piston Return Spring (16)

23. Neutral Clutch Drive Plates (3) and Driven Plates (3)

24. Neutral Clutch Piston Return Spring Reluiner

25. Neutral Clutch Rear Drive Plate

26. Front Ring Gear Hub

27. Front Ring Gear

28. Front Planet Carrier Assembly

29. Front Sun Gear Front Bushings (Serviced)

30. Forward Clutch Freewheel Sprag Race

31. Forward Clutch Freewheel Sprag (Outer Sprag)

32. Rear Ring Gear Freewheel Sprag (Inner Sprog)

33. Front Sun Gear

34. Forward Piston

35. Forward and Brake Piston Support

36. Forward and Brake Piston Return Spring

37. Forward ond Brake Piston Return

Spring Seat 38. Brake Piston

39. Rear Ring Gear Assembly

40. Broke Drive Plates (3) and Reactor Plates (2 Inner and 2 Outer)

41. Rear Planet Carrier Assembly (includes Output Shaft)

42. Transmission Case Bushing (Serviced)

43. Rear Oil Pump Gear Spocer

44. Rear Oil Pump Assembly 45. Rear Oil Pump Drive Pin

46. Vent Assembly

47. Oil Deflector

48. Transmission Extension

49. Oil Seal Assembly

50. Speedometer Driven Gear

51. Speedometer Drive Gear

52. Rear Oil Pump Bushing (Serviced)

53. Needle Thrust Bearing Assembly

54. Valve Body Assembly

55. Needle Bearing Assembly

56. Oil Pressure Tube (2)

57. Retainer Ring

58. Forward Clutch Drive Plates (4) and Reaction Plates (4)

59. Forward Clutch Pressure Plate

60. Retainer Ring

61. Needle Bearing Assembly

62. Needle Bearing Assembly and Race

63. Front Planet Carrier Thrust Washer

64. Reverse Clutch Reaction Insert

65. Reverse Rear Pressure Plate

66. Reverse Drive Plates (3) and Reaction Plates (2)

67. Reverse Front Pressure Plate (Selective)

68. Oil Pan

69. Oil Seal Rings

70. Stator Support Shaft (Part of Stator Support)

71. Second Turbine Shaft (Part of Front Ring Gear Hub)

72. Third Turbine Shaft (Part of Neutral Clutch Hub)

73. First Turbine Shaft (Port of First Turbine Assembly)

Google was able to extract the next from a jpg of the original, poorly printed version.

Money

Not even Pink Floyd performed this intro live
sina-drums

Cool tune. I especially like the intro.

Funnies

10 Short Videos #6208

10 Short Videos #6208

1. I love my Lectrojog❤️
2. The science experiment that meditates 🧘🧪
3. July 19, 2026 - Inflight landing gear repair
4. The Puffin is basically a fish
5. Inside RoboParty's humanoid durability testing
6. How thrash gets picked up in the Netherlands 🤯🤯
7. Red-tailed hawks are not always serious 😂🦅
8. How To Get A Free Ride 🤙🏻🔥 - surfing big ship wake
9. Barn Owl Lands on My Straw Hat 😲
10. 역대급 반전이네 ㄷㄷ - That's a massive plot twist. - drawing with charcoal

Wei Hsueh-Kang

Wei Hsueh-Kang

Normally I wouldn't post this, but I think the length and detail of this story is what triggered me. Somebody is going to make a movie about this guy, if they haven't already. I mean he fits the profile of the villain in every action movie ever made.

Wei Hsueh-Kang: United Wa State Army’s U.S.-Sanctioned Chinese Warlord in Myanmar - Khandakar Tahmid Rejwan

Executive Summary:

• Wei Hsueh-Kang—an ethnic Han Chinese warlord and commander in the United Wa State Army (UWSA)—informally controls the quasi-sovereign Southern Wa State in Myanmar and has transformed it into a major hub for synthetic drugs.
• He acts as the financial mastermind for the UWSA by using vast narcotics profits to fund armed operations, laundering these illicit earnings through large business conglomerates, infrastructure projects, and illegal jade mining. 
• Despite facing a $2 million U.S. bounty and strict international sanctions, he remains an elusive and influential figure. He evades capture through his fortified military protection, strategic bribery, and deep political connections with Chinese intelligence. 

Cultural Disconnect

Initial D

I'm reading Idoru by William Gibson (a great story) and on page 260 I come across this passage. Laney and Yamazaki are in a van that Arleigh is driving:

"I guess it must be capable of it," Laney said, as something under her seat began to clang, loudly and insistently. "But I don't think that means it'll necessarily happen. What the hell is that?"

"I'm exceeding the speed limit," she said. "Every vehicle in Japan is legally required to be equipped with one of these devices. You speed, it dings."

Laney turned to Yamazaki. "Is that true?"

"Of course," Yamazaki said, over the steady clanging.

"And people don't just disconnect them?"

"No,” Yamazaki said, looking puzzled. "Why would they?"

10 Short Videos #6207

10 Short Videos #6207

1. LIFT THE TOP CHALLENGE
2. Only One English Word Has This Property
3. Scientists Cure Cancer By Injecting Frog Bacteria
4. SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket part predicted to crash into the moon
5. Cut a Circle in Three
6. Watch them say I forced my horse into this 🐴
7. CHICKS' FEEDING INSTINCT
8. They Destroyed a Miniature Los Angeles in ONE Take 🌊
9. The Strange Limit of Frictionless Motion
10. The Legendary U.S. Navy MK46 "Mod 5" Torpedo

Funnies

Factoring

I came up with a way to factor numbers without dividing. I use a table and by chaining through the table I can factor any number. Problem is - for big numbers I need a really big table. The amount of memory the table would require would be equal to 100 times the number you want to factor, and that only works up to the quadrillions. But then I got to thinking that much of table is going to be repetitive, and you might be able to just record the differences from the base table and so generate any portion of the table you need. Going to run some experiments, see how they work out.

1959 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint

1959 Alfa Romeo Giulietta Sprint

I think Alfas have always been my favorite cars, at least after I realized that the twelve cylinder Ferrari I lusted over was out of reach. I mean, I should have able to buy an Alfa, but people grow and change and it never happened.

Right now I could buy one, but I don't really have any time to spend on it. I'm busy blogging and anytime I need to go anywhere, I want a modern car suitable for the rugby scrum that is modern traffic. Don't worry, some people have the time:

The cars of the California Mille

The cars of the California Mille

Vehicle eligibility

The California Mille is open to any car that could have participated in the original Mille Miglia. We are seeking a variety of makes and types. Foreign and domestic manufacturers are welcome, but all cars must have been made prior to January 1, 1958. 

The event is limited to approximately 65-70 cars based on the availability of hotel reservations. To maintain the spirit of the Mille Miglia, we carefully choose cars that fit our requirements and specifications from each year’s group of applicants.

The California Mille is an annual historic and classic car tour inspired by the Mille Miglia, a former Italian open-road endurance race covering roughly 1000 miles from Brescia-to-Rome-to-Brescia and ran twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957.

Entry fee is $17 grand. Yeah, no thanks, I'm good.

10 Short Videos #6206

10 Short Videos #6206

1. What’s the only country in all four hemispheres??
2. My Boss Fired Me - Use an analog watch as a mouse jiggler
3. Do you want one? - Pettichat seems to be a real thing
4. The Hockney–Falco Thesis - Camera Lucida
5. Rudolph Hass got $4000 for inventing the avocado
6. The Most Valuable Lesson From Farm Life 🌾
7. 1-inch too long? - Hydraulic cylinder mod
8. T51R Mod can’t Compete with POWERSTROKE
9. The Submarine Disaster That Makes No Sense
10. POP THE BALLOONS CHALLENGE - Chemistry in action

Funnies

Holman Projector

They Laughed At His "Impossible" Tube — Then It Killed Every German Bomber Over The Convoys !
Darkest Docs and war docs

I don't know how much trouble German airplanes caused Allied cargo ships, the I suspect the main threat was from the German submarines. However, it would nice to have something if you had a German airplane bearing down on you. I wonder that pilots would even be able to see something as small as a gernade, but evidently the thing did least stave off a few attacks.

Funnies

10 Short Videos #6205

10 Short Videos #6205

1. Rooster doesn’t do the wake up call
2. The forbidden equestrian bunny hop 🐴
3. Smart Measuring Tape
4. Gravity is the universe's greatest illusion
5. Twelve Barrel 10,000 RPM Soviet Naval Beast
6. Cutting through one of the hardest rocks on Earth.
7. Can a Forklift Thread a Nut? Watch This. 🤯
8. “Shokeepani”- 2003 27.5’ Breen Gentleman’s Racer fires up with 500 hp.
9. The Potter Wasp is a MENACE
10. Smooth skills

SS Lagos Palm

Lagos Palm - Robert G. Lloyd

The is the 1961 version of the Lagos Palm. It was the second ship of that name working for the Palm Line:

The Palm Line was a UK-owned shipping line that was engaged in the West African trade from 1949, primarily servicing the ports along 5,000 miles of coastline from Morocco in the north to Angola in the far south. It ceased trading in 1986.

Navigating the Niger Delta required certain accommodations:

It is notable that all Palm Line ships, with the exception of Kano Palm and Katsina Palm, built before 1970, had to be less than 500 feet long in order to navigate the creeks of Nigeria. Draught is another important feature. The coast of West Africa is extremely flat, and the slow-moving rivers and tidal currents have combined to build up long sand bars a mile or two off the coast. To enter most of the rivers, ships must pass over these bars; 27 feet being the maximum draught to serve all ports. Even so, to enter many rivers, - for example the Escravos River which leads to Sapele - ships cannot carry more than 4,000 tons since the maximum draught to successfully make it over the Escravos Bar is limited to 17 feet (5.2 m), so vessels would often cross over the bar at the entrance to the adjacent Forcados River, then take the connecting creek to the Escravos River. 

Here are some maps of the Niger Delta. I'm not real happy with any of them:

• the space shot doesn't have a scale, 
• the one labeled estuaries doesn't name any of the rivers,
• the admiralty chart is too zoomed in, so much so that I don't know what I am looking at,
• the last one is pretty good, it has a scale anyway, it has a bunch of names but leaves out the names of the big rivers.

Oh well, they're free, I should be happy with what I've got. It's not like I'm going on a voyage to Nigeria any time soon.

View of the Niger Delta from space (north/land at top).

Map showing Escravos and Qua Iboe Estuaries

ADMIRALTY Chart - 3321 Entrances to Escravos and Forcados Rivers

The Niger Delta with the Forcados (middle left)

Just for completeness, here's a link to Google Maps map of the Niger Delta.

1923 Ford vs 2023 Tesla

1923 Ford vs 2023 Tesla
SuperfastMatt

100 years seems like a perfect time to compare the old and new, even if I am three years late. I'm slowly getting adjusted to the idea of an electric car, but I'm still gonna wait until they come up with a better battery, one that doesn't weigh a thousand pounds and catch fire when it's unhappy.

Star Trek Bridge Model

Hands-On with Star Trek's USS Enterprise Bridge Model!
Adam Savage’s Tested

I love Adam Savage for his enthusiasm and his energy. He probably makes more stuff in a day than I make in a year. This 'playset' is just glorious. It sounds like Factory Entertainment is planning on building these for sale, how many they are going to make is yet to be determined. I suspect the price is going to be something like a car, maybe ten grand, maybe twenty-five. Who knows? With the way inflation is going it might be a hundred. Whatever, this thing is beyond cool.

Bad People

 Stolen from The Scratching Post

California

There's something most people don't understand about what's happening in California, something I didn't understand until a month or two ago. I wrote this in a previous blog post, but it was an epiphany for me that bears retelling. 

The high speed choo-choo was never intended to run. There was never any intent to actually build the trains, build the bridges or lay the tracks. It was all a grift from the start, a grift to the tune of tens of billions of dollars.

Think about the size of that con for a second. Bernie Madoff pocketed around a billion when all was said and done. Yes, investors lost more than that, but Bernie himself only got a 10-figure payout. The high speed choo choo is an order of magnitude larger and no one is risking jail.

When that project was started, I knew in my bones you could never do it. I've built houses and remodeled houses in California. It is almost impossible to get anything of consequence done. A house is one thing, but a railroad running for more than a 100 miles? No chance. 

Still, until some Internet wag said it, I hadn't put two and two together, It was all a fraud from the start.

The homeless are the same thing. I said before that the encampments in our cities are just feed lots for the non-profits. Read San Fran-sicko. Seriously. Until you read that, you don't have a sense of the depth of the corruption.

The water situation in California is similar, but I don't think it's a grift. I think it's just simple ideological blockheadedness.

Okay, typical government corruption. But then he brings up Muslim Rape Gangs and I'm not going to even think about that because If I do I'll start foaming at the mouth and my carefully cultivated façade of an educated gentleman will crumble and I will be cast out into the darkness.

Funnies

10 Short Videos #6204

10 Short Videos #6204

1. The Whisper of the Field | The Most Precisely Tested Number in Physics
2. The Thing That Doesn't Spin Can Make a Bar Rotate | Electron Spin
3. The death of the dictionary
4. Coins → Masonic Orb: The Ultimate DIY Transformation
5. Omg😭🤣 - mini-goat
6. Getting off Noah’s Ark
7. China produced a #MiniExcavator for less than the cost of raw materials in the States...
8. Nature's Power Is Absolutely Terrifying - iceberg collapses
9. Trolling final boss 💀⁣- BBC
10. Redneck Pro Tip (metal sliver)

Return of Powerglide

Why GM's CHEAPEST 2-Speed Was SECRETLY The Most INSANE Transmission Ever!
Muscle Car Masters

I've read many articles in car magazines disparaging GM's two-speed automatic transmission, the Powerglide, and here it has been reincarnated as the preferred transmission for drag racing. Who'd a thunk it?

10 Short Videos #6203

10 Short Videos #6203

1. The past is a foreign language.
2. They Came Back Up. That's What Nobody Talks About. - Derinkuyu underground city in Turkey
3. When Your Brain Hears Exactly What It Wants To: #rainierbeer
4. Just Have a Look 😳 - Hand carved puzzle box
5. Happiness protein
6. An Ancient Egyptian spelling test! 
7. This Autonomous Micro Drone Just Killed a Moth in Mid-Air — And Mosquitoes Are Next
8. Building Nuclear Plants is Hard – Unless You're CHINA
9. Placing 2,000 drones before a show
10. We Can Now Vaccinate Against Our Own C*ncer?

Funnies