Sunday assortment
So many things float through my head that it’s hard somethimes to remember what passed through. Among the things (that I can remember) where I’ve said, I should write about that are:
The Donna Reed Memorial Coffee Percolator
A while ago a client gave me a coffee percolator right from the 50s—a lovely old GE unit with a chrome finish the likes of which I haven’t seen in, well, decades. It’s so deep and mirror smooth that makes everything else in the place look dull and cheesy. Which, truth be told, most everything is.
It has a nice long spout, it’s a little shorter and bigger around than my contemporary unit and it’s weighs more when empty than my new one does full, probably because it’s cast instead of stamped sheet metal. The only problem has been that it had no cord. Althought they’re supposed to be universal, the one from my new pot didn’t quite fit and I’ve just never gotten around to the appliance repair store for a new one.
The topic came up last weekend at a party. Don’t you know one of my home group members showed up at the Friday night meeting with a cord for me? And it fits! So I tried it out last night.
Mmmmm. Good coffee! Really fucking good coffee. Thank heavens I drink decaf, because I drank nearly the whole pot before bedtime. Although I take pretty good care of things, I’m afraid of spoiling the finish, so I think I’ll keep using the Melitta one for every day and get out the GE just on weekends or occasions.
Maybe that won’t last thought because damn, what a cup.
Word to the paranoid
Hot on the tail of this report from the CBC (as in Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, not my friend I’ve nicknamed Cute Blonde Chick, abbreviated CBC in these pages) about a mysterious radio signal blocking garage door openers in Ottawa, comes this report from The Register that tinfoil hats actually amplify signals in government frequency bands.
There’s a link to the original research, conducted at MIT of all places (follow the link for pictures), and the article suggests a line of reseach by wondering if a tinfoil propeller beanie might scatter the signals more effectively than a plain hat, or if the results may be skewed because researchers used aluminum foil, rather than the classic tin foil.
Now, the priciple of the tinfoil hat is that it functions as a Faraday cage to keep signals out. The execution is flawed, however, because it’s neither grounded nor a complete enclosure, so I’m not surprised they just bounce around inside.
Then there’s the article in the Toronto Star about people with electrical sensitivity, who have an allergic-like reaction to radio and electrical frequencies. One of the cures? Wear special protective clothing to help block signals. A personal Farady cage. So why not live in one?
I can testify to the efficacy of good, old-fashioned aluminum siding as a whole-house Faraday cage, having lived in one. Couldn’t get cellular, TV or FM worth a damn inside. But that begs the question, if aluminum siding is so effective at blocking radio frequency, why is it that the tinfoil hat set seem to be concentrated in trailer parks?
November 14th, 2005 at 1:59 pm EST
mysterious radio signal
At Fylingdales in North Yorkshire (where there is a massive Ballistic Missile Early Warning System listening station), visitors are often unable to get into their cars because the keyless locks have frozen shut. There are also serious health concerns for people living there who have electromagnetic sensitivities. There’s more information here. Admittedly it’s on a CND website, so may be a bit one-sided, butI don’t think there’s anything paranoid about it.
November 17th, 2005 at 7:24 am EST
Good coffee… what a neat thing
I don’t know about the trailer park phenom. I think they are using more plastic in the mobile homes now. That also effects the depreciation of the trailer. Erm. Yeah.