Category: Uncategorized

Starbucks in Paris

Starbucks announces plans to open it’s first cafe in Paris and the locals are suspicious.

“It’s an absurd idea,” said Jean-Paul Bedel, a regular at the cafe. “The whole point about cafes in France is that you can sit over a coffee as long as you like, read the papers … taking away a coffee in a Styrofoam cup is anathema, unthinkable. It’s the kind of thing you’d only think of doing at a railway station.”

Any bets as to how long it lasts before being set on fire?

The Zero Files

The Null Device links to an article on the FBI’s “Zero Files”, which is the destination for all the rants, crank letters and conspiracy manifestos sent to the agency.

I had a visit yesterday from two gentlemen who said they were from the SECRET SERVICE! They were looking for the HAMBURGLAR who said the PRESIDENT might choke on a CHEESEBURGER on AIR FORCE ONE! No wonder they can’t balance a TRILLION DOLLAR BUDGET in DC, they have to check out all the MCDONALDS in AMERICA for the DEADLY CHEESEBURGER that might KILL the PRESIDENT! This is not a JOKE!

— From the Zero Files, 8/15/1995– — —

Accidental Orion

Last week I took a tour of the Nevada Test Site and while I’ll get to a full description of that shortly, this thread in sci.space.tech was too good to not mention.

A 1957 atomic test called Pascal-B set off a small nuclear explosion in a 500 foot shaft that was covered by a metal lid. A quick thumbnail estimate of the shockwave effect on the metal lid gave a resulting velocity of six times the earth’s escape velocity and thus the legend of the “manhole cover in space” is born. One of the project scientists comments on the whole thing.