bookofjoe

Steampunk Mechanical Elephant

From a website:
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Andrew Chase's Mechanical Elephant

This amazing mechanical design was made out of transmission parts, electrical conduits, plumbing pipes and 20-gauge cold rolled steel.

It is 36" x 36" x 18" and weighs about 85 pounds.

All the joints move and lock in place; turning a gear on the elephant's side winds a cable around a shaft which raises and lowers the trunk; the ears move back and forth and can fan out (to dissipate heat).

It took Andrew about three and a half months to build.

The elephant is going to be a part of Andrew's "timmy" book, where he joins the other characters which can be seen in the Trionic Morphatractable Engineer article.
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[via Milena]

World's most technical egg slicer

From the website:

5-in-1 Egg Slicer

Slice, dice, pierce, wedge and halve in a single motion

Simply place food on the yellow base cup, lower the first set of blades for halves or slices, then lower the second blade to cut into dices or wedges.

Our sturdy, versatile egg slicer with stainless-steel cutting wires also dices, wedges and halves strawberries, mushrooms and other soft foods.

Integrated egg piercer prevents cracked shells during boiling.

Non-slip feet provide added stability.


Features

• Sturdy plastic construction with razor-sharp stainless-steel cutting wires

• Hinged design for leverage and smooth, consistent slicing

• 5 functions: slice, dice, pierce, wedge and halve

• Concave cup keep your eggs stable while slicing

• Nonslip feet for added stability

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$14.99 (egg not included).

BehindTheMedspeak: WhoIsSick.org — 'Your site for current and local sickness information'

I first heard of this site in Miguel Helft's November 12, 2008 New York Times front page story about Google Flu Trends, where he wrote, "A Web site called whoissick.org... invites people to report what ails them and superimposes the results on a map. But the site has received relatively little traffic."

This should fix that.

World's most difficult 3-D puzzle

From the website:
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Bedlam Cube Game

Possibly the most addictive puzzle ever, the Bedlam Cube will befuddle your brain in ways you never imagined.

Consisting of 13 plastic polycubic pieces, the objective is to assemble them into a 4" x 4" x 4" cube.

Don't be fooled into thinking it's easy just because there are over 19,000 distinct solutions.

How will you match up?

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$15.98.

Chinese Kung-Fu Master Hai-tank Demonstrates the 'Iron Finger'

According to the video, he first performed this maneuver 50 years ago and "... is the only one in the world to do this."

[via ShanMonster]

Crime Scene Scarf

From websites:

Crime Scene Scarf

Duplicating the plastic ribbon that your local law enforcement uses to block off curious eyes, this soft, cozy scarf is made extra-long for stylish looping and layering.

95% acrylic with 5% spandex for stretch.

Just short of five feet long.

Hand wash.

$15.

What is it?

Answer here this time tomorrow.

Wrist Light — 'Lets you work hands-free'

Think outside the work space and be the hit of your club.

From the website:

Wrist Light

Wrist Light lets you work hands-free when you work and play in dark areas.

Just place the clear bracelet on your wrist, snap lock on and push the on/off switch to turn on the 4 LED lights within the bracelet.

Stop struggling with holding a flashlight under your chin when working on electrical, plumbing, computer or automotive projects.

Perfect for night life, raves and parties too.

Replaceable button cell batteries included.

3-1/4" diameter fits most wrists.

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2 for $19.