Hijinks Inc.

Category: Random

  • Schrödinger’s cat

    So apparently TV writers share their random trivia between networks, because last night on both The Big Bang Theory on CBS, and Bones on Fox, they mentioned Schrödinger’s cat.

    For those of you who don’t know the back story behind the theory, here’s a quick rundown from Wikipedia:

    A cat, along with a flask containing a poison, is placed in a sealed box shielded against environmentally induced quantum decoherence. The flask is shattered, releasing the poison, if a Geiger counter detects radiation. Quantum mechanics seems to suggest that after a while the cat is simultaneously alive and dead, in a quantum superposition of coexisting alive and dead states. Yet when we look in the box we expect to see the cat either alive or dead, not in a mixture of alive and dead.

    Anyhow, I know that’s incredibly random, but I felt the need to share.

  • 75 Skills Every Man Should Master

    Today’s young men are overly feminized, indecisive, binge drinking good-for-nothings who need a backbone and a brain. Or so my grandpa might say. For those of us who endeavor to rise above that description and desire to achieve real manhood, Tom Chiarella has a few things we can work on to get there. My favorite?

    29. Understand quantum physics well enough that he can accept that a quarter might, at some point, pass straight through the table when dropped.

    Sometimes the laws of physics aren’t laws at all. Read The Quantum World: Quantum Physics for Everyone, by Kenneth W. Ford.

    Followed closely by:

    30. Feign interest. Good place to start: quantum physics.

    It’s Esquire, so you know going in there will be questionable content in the general area. You’ve been warned.

    The 75 Skills Every Man Should Master


  • To protest, or not to protest…

    …that is the question.

    So I was running late to work last week, on a day that I really couldn’t be late, and of course, that was the day I got a speeding ticket. Now, I haven’t been ticketed for a long, long time so I qualify for STOP class. But the ticket was for only $69. STOP class is $75, and will cost me a Saturday, of which I don’t have many available.

    I’ve never actually gone to court for one of these, but does it work? Will I actually have a chance to get out of my ticket if I go? I had a friend tell me that alot of times the cops don’t go, and if they aren’t there, you can’t get charged. Which makes sense when you think about it. What about those speed traps, a month later, do those cops go sit in court all day long and wait to see if anyone shows up?

    I’ve also heard this interesting theory. I was told that if you send in your payment for the ticket, plus an extra $5 or so, they end up sending you a check back for the overpayment. If you were to then throw away the overpayment check, the ticket doesn’t go onto your record as a citation, but rather as an incomplete transaction. What?

    That can’t really work can it? Well, we’re about to find out ladies and gentlemen because I am writing and sending a $75 check to those lovely people down on that county court. Keep your fingers crossed.

    What do you think I should do? Let me hear about it in the comments.

  • Travian

    So I was talking to an buddy on Facebook’s new chat client the other day. We were reminiscing about our days being single and playing World of Warcraft way to much, and he told me about his current MMO habit. A browser based MMO/RTS set at the height of the Roman empire called Travian.

    Travian boasts over eighty-nine thousand active members over their 6 different servers, which an average of fifteen hundred online per server at any given time. Gameplay revolves around collect four different resources (Wood, clay, iron, and wheat) to build and upgrade you village and surrounding land. To say that the gameplay is slow would be an understatement, but for those who like to micromanage and don’t mind leaving another tab open while they work, Travian is a great way to waste time that could be spent working.

    Check it out at www.travian.us.

  • UFO Central: What We All Expected Has Finally Arrived.

    That’s right, our benevolent alien overlords have arrived (or maybe the Autobots. We can only hope). And we were worrying about the upcoming presidential election. Pshaw.

    Drudge has a headline right now that reads: “Mystery Lights Over Florida, Arizona; Residents Spooked.”

    Along with this picture.

    Strange Lights

    Taken from this video.

    Residents in Florida and Arizona reported seeing a strange pattern of lights last night (Monday, April 21, 2008), and a few got some fuzzy video for us to peruse.

    What does it all mean? Probably nothing. We’re probably going to get a very vague statement from the government Sector 7 stating that they were running test maneuvers of some kind and the whole thing will fade away. Still, flashbacks to Independence Day anyone?

    More photos and videos after the jump.

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