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Linky Apparently there was a giant explosion at the port in Beirut, Lebanon.  Preliminary reports are that a shipment of Sodium Nitrate confiscated off a ship some time ago exploded.  It flattened the port and the shockwave could be felt as far away as 180 miles.  So far, 25 are confirmed dead...

This is a place to put random knowledge you just heard about...whether it's relatively new knowledge to the world, or you've just been living under a rock for an unspecified amount of time. I'll start.  TIL... There is a "non-specific currency" symbol known as the "scarab". Sauce.   ¤

Since I obviously needed another expensive hobby, I have taken up high-speed photography (or slow motion photography, if you prefer).  I just received my Kickstarted Chronos 1.4 camera today and played with it a little.  This thing can do 1,057 frames per second (fps) at 1280x1024 resolution up...

I thought a thread like this existed, but I can't find it (and search is annoying when you can only do one every 45 seconds).  This is similar to @P-E's Beer Club thread, and to keep mine and @thejulie_PE's conversation about whiskey out of the Job Rants thread.  Just a place to talk about...

My company is currently hiring a variety of different types of engineers across the country.  We employ electrical, mechanical, civil, and structural engineers to inspect and analyze structures, appliances, components and systems for failure modes.  A PE is required since you may be called on to...

Are all our Alaskan spammers safe and sound after the earthquake? http://news.yahoo.com/local-tsunami-warning-issued-quake-hits-off-alaskas-213927220.html;_ylt=AwrBEiEUoKhTgzUAfuHQtDMD

http://geoguessr.com/ Don't say I didn't warn you...

http://news.yahoo.com/1-2-graduates-jobless-underemployed-140300522.html Seriously, what can you do with a creative writing degree other than be a writer? Even he admits that he doesn't know what he is looking for because his degree is utterly useless. The real reason that 1 in 2 college...

I recently came across a large, stainless-steel smoker. It's really nice, with a computer-controlled pellet feeding system for long smokes, and a huge chamber capable of holding 100 lbs of pork (supposedly). The catch is that it had experienced a big creosote/carbon flash fire. The bottom of the...

So in my line of work, I have run into 5 pieces of clad cookware (with a slab of aluminum captured in between different combinations of copper and stainless steel cladding layers on the base of the cooking vessel) that have separated and caused burns or fires. The cookware manufacturer's...

Washington Post Article As asinine as it is to tie up the court system with minor school discipline issues, that's not the part I found most infuriating about this article. I am admittedly over-generalizing here, but single parenting (and sometimes being proud of that fact) is a cancer on the...

I am now a Certified Fire and Explosion Investigator (CFEI). I'm pissed at how long it took them to grade the exam. I took it on November 1, and the National Association of Fire Investigators don't have the complicated equating algorithm that the NCEES does. Oh well...I now have more alphabet...

How come I have never thought of this? How DO planes fly upside down?

Today was my 1000th consecutive day of doing some sort of workout. I exercise biked most of those days, but also did P90X all the way through, did various other workout videos, lifted weights on my own program, used an elliptical machine once (in a hotel that didn't have a bike), and "only...

The NCEES held their annual meeting last week in Denver. One of the motions passed at the meeting was computer based testing. This means that the FE and PE exam will be given like the GRE or LEED exam where you sign up for a time at a local testing center, complete the exam on a computer, and...

Mexican teen killed by US Border Patrol. I hope they mean 40 caliber, not 40 mm. A comparison can be seen below (40 mm is on top, .40 is 2nd from the bottom).

Amazon copy of The Declaration of Independence and the Constitution now includes a disclaimer. They might as well put something in there about the documents bearing no relation and imposing no real restrictions on the size, scope, or power of the Federal Government while they're at it.

This is the thread that I will use to update the Pinned Results Date spreadsheet at the top of this forum. Please follow the directions to make the data entry go as smoothly as possible. Once the California results are in, I will update the spreadsheet, and the OCT2010 examinees can start...

Here's a more detailed explanation of my new job (talked about in the 10k thread). My main duty involves "Failure Cause Analysis" on various types of machines, appliances, etc. Basically, say your dishwasher breaks and floods your kitchen. You file a claim with your insurance company, and they...

Lawrence Livermore is about to test their Laser Fusion Reactor. This is interesting to say the least, but it says that they are at least 20 years from making the technology commercially viable. And that's assuming that the test works.