Telemarketing…the hard sell
Saturday, July 26th, 2008

Last night I saw Daniel Kitson at the Comedy Festival. Didn’t know much about him, but did hear some good reviews.
So, along I went, not expecting too much.
As it turned out, I had a good laugh, which is always a good thing, since a good laugh is hard to come by nowadays!
Seriously though, whoever doesn’t laugh at one of his shows either:
Quick, sharp, witty, deep and at times melancholic, combined with his unique method of delivery made me laugh so hard I had tears in my eyes!
Go see him if you get the chance.
Articles:
Have you ever seen the film Pulp Fiction? Found it hard to follow the plot? Still clueless as to what the movie was about? Maybe this short clip might help clear things up…
Pulp Fiction in 30 seconds, re-enacted by bunnies. Angry Alien Productions.
…or maybe not.
Thinking of buying someone a Swiss Army knife for Christmas? Why not get them a Giant Swill Army Knife?
A friend pointed out that trying to use the pointer would be quite an interesting exercise. I told her, people would probably be more focused on the thing she was holding!
Hmmm…come to think of it, imagine trying to use any of those tools!
I think there’s a fine line between practicality and completeness. This knife has crossed that line, but if you are collector it would make a great addition to your collection I guess.
You can tell your grand kids one day, “Back in my day a knife was a knife and this is what I call a knife!”, as you whip out your Giant Swiss Army knife.
“But grandpa, I’ve got one and it has a kitchen sink as well!”
A traveling salesman was driving past a farm when he saw a pig with three wooden legs executing a magnificent series of back flips and cartwheels.
Intrigued, he drove up to the farmhouse, where he found an old farmer sitting in the yard watching the pig.
“That’s quite a pig you have there, sir” said the salesman.
“Sure is, son,” the farmer replied. ”Why, two years ago, my daughter was swimming in the lake and bumped her head and damned near drowned, but that pig swam out and dragged her back to shore.”
“Amazing!” the salesman exclaimed.
“And that’s not the only thing. Last fall I was cuttin’ wood up on the north forty when a tree fell on me. Pinned me to the ground, it did. That pig run up and wiggled underneath that tree and lifted it off of me. Saved my life.”
“Fantastic! the salesman said. But tell me, how come the pig has three wooden legs?”
The farmer stared at the newcomer in amazement. ”Mister, when you got an amazin’ pig like that, you don’t eat him all at once.”
Article: It’s Peter, Peter, the word eater
Following that humourous piece by the mystery author, a Dr. Tim Healey, F. R. C. R.; M. I. Nuc. E. decided to refute the calculated temperatures of Heaven and Hell with the following calculations.
A refutation of the proof that Heaven is hotter than Hell
Dr. Tim Healey, F. R. C. R.; M. I. Nuc. E.
In Applied Optics (1972, 11 A14) there appeared a calculation of the respective temperatures of Heaven and Hell. That of Heaven was computed by substituting the values given in Isaiah 30:26 [1] in the Stefan-Boltzman radiation law, so that (H/E)4 = 50, where E, the absolute temperature of the Earth, is 300ºK, whence the temperature of Heaven, H, is 798ºK or 525ºC. This is hard to find fault with.
The assessment of the temperature of Hell stands, I suggest, on less firm ground. As authority we use the data provided in Revelations 21:8 [2], so that the temperature of Hell seems to be 444.6ºC - the temperature at which liquid sulfur is in equilibrium with its vapour - a temperature indeed which is sufficiently reliable to be used in the secondary calibration of pyrometers.
Now this last reckoning fails to follow the argument through. 444.6ºC is the temperature at which liquid sulfur is in equilibrium with its vapour at normal atmospheric pressure. Have we any data as to the pressure likely to be found in Hell?
(more…)
As a kid I used to wonder what Heaven and Hell was like. No one could give me a very satisfying answer. I’m not sure if the following does any better, but it is amusing.
Heaven is hotter than Hell
The temperature of heaven can be rather accurately computed. Our authority is the Bible, Isaiah 30:26 reads,
Moreover, the light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold as the light of seven days.
Thus, heaven receives from the moon as much radiation as the earth does from the sun, and in addition seven times seven (forty nine) times as much as the earth does from the sun, or fifty times in all. The light we receive from the moon is one ten-thousandth of the light we receive from the sun, so we can ignore that. With these data we can compute the temperature of heaven: The radiation falling on heaven will heat it to the point where the heat lost by radiation is just equal to the heat received by radiation. In other words, heaven loses fifty times as much heat as the earth by radiation. Using the Stefan-Boltzmann fourth power law for radiation:
(H/E)4 = 50
where E is the absolute temperature of the earth, 300°K (273+27). This gives H the absolute temperature of heaven, as 798° absolute (525°C).
The exact temperature of hell cannot be computed but it must be less than 444.6°C, the temperature at which brimstone or sulfur changes from a liquid to a gas. Revelations 21:8:
“But the fearful and unbelieving… shall have their part in
the lake which burneth with fire and brimstone.”
A lake of molten brimstone [sulfur] means that its temperature must be at or below the boiling point, which is 444.6°C. (Above that point, it would be a vapor, not a lake.)
We have then, temperature of heaven, 525°C (977°F). (Temperature of hell, less than 445°F). Therefore heaven is hotter than hell.
– From “Applied Optics” vol. 11, A14, 1972
It is not known who wrote that piece of humour, but the preface to that particular Applied Physics volume read, “The following reached your Managing Editor via John Howard (from) H. William Koch (from) Alan Bromley (from) an unnamed environmental physicist of several decades back.” This places its origin as early as 1940.
I came across these images today and I had to post it.
Imagine the stories this little mouse could tell it’s grandpups!
These images makes the tale of the German quarry manager surfing on the back of a crocodile to escape a tsunami in the 1880’s a little more plausible.
What a classic!