- Excessive heat is rarely a problem in England. It is not a
nation renowned for its über-hot temperatures, so the idea of melting car
parts, eggs frying on sidewalks and furniture in store windows being set on
fire doesn’t really jive with life in London. So why are those three things
(allegedly) happening in the United Kingdom’s capital city? The culprit appears
to be a futuristic-looking
skyscraper under construction in the city. The so-called Walkie Talkie building
has an unusual curved shape that reflects a concentrated beam of sunlight onto
the streets below and after seeing the supposed impact of that light, inquiring
minds began researching just how hot the building makes the area it shines on. Temperatures
have reportedly reached an astonishing 158 degrees Fahrenheit and one man was
able to fry an egg on the sidewalk Tuesday using just the heat reflected
from the building. Those who have investigated have reported difficulty
standing in the affected area for even 10 minutes. The owner of a luxury Jaguar
XJ claimed that the light from the tower melted the panels on his car in just
one hour. Similar reports of vehicle damage have been made in recent weeks and the owners of a
barbershop on the street below said the building had set their carpet ablaze. Architects
and building experts have expressed shock at the fallout from the building and
noted that the light shone by the building will change locations over the
course of the year and in the winter, the localized hotspot will have moved
substantially. Land Securities and Canary Wharf, the building’s developers,
admitted that the issue could remain for most of September and it was
"evaluating longer-term solutions to ensure the issue cannot recur in
future." Those whose cars and businesses have been damaged will surely
feel completely better hearing that detailed plan………
- Gamer dorks, rejoice. The much-anticipated Xbox One is now in “full production” following a last minute
CPU tweak, Microsoft confirmed. Xbox chief marketing officer Yusuf Mehdi
addressed the issue at the Citi Global Technology Conference, saying the newest
version of Microsoft’s popular gaming system is in its production stage. There
was a slight hiccup as Microsoft made the decision to upgrade the console's CPU
from 1.6 GHz to 1.75 GHz. Xbox One chief product officer Marc Whitten announced
last month that the company had increased the console's GPU clock speed by 6.6 percent and Microsoft has yet to announce
a specific release date for the system. So far, the only semi-specific date the
company has been willing to attach to the product is November. Many European
nations won't see the Xbox One until 2014, so there is plenty of time for
Microsoft to get it right. The best hint fans have at this point about when the
console will drop is an upcoming PepsiCo
promotional campaign suggesting that the new Xbox will hit the market some time
in “late November.” Xbox Live director of programming Larry Hryb has
been fighting allegations that the console
has been rushed and insisted at the Gamescom convention that every unit running
was doing so using the same hardware that would feature in the version of the
product that would hit the market. It appears he may have been fibbing a bit
about that claim, but it’s difficult to imagine that users will complain about
a faster processor once they finally get their hands on the new Xbox One………
- A very believable double-back by Notre Dame coach Brian Kelly should have everyone convinced that he
really does believe that his school’s soon-to-end series against Michigan is "a
great and historic rivalry." Kelly initially caused a stir by saying, "I
really haven't seen it as one of those historic, traditional Notre Dame
rivalries," later calling it a "big regional game." This season
is the final game in the rivalry – for now – as Notre Dame begins closer ties
with the former ACC, including a schedule that will see it play five conference
teams each year in football without actually being a member of the ACC. That
leaves less room for other rivals and considering that Irish have played Navy
(86 games), Southern California (84), Purdue (84), Michigan State (76) and
Pittsburgh (68) far more often than the 40 times they've faced the Wolverines,
Notre Dame made the decision to ax the Michigan game. The two schools have
faced off regularly since 1887, when Michigan students traveling to South Bend
in 1887 to teach Notre Dame students how to play the game. The series has taken
short breaks over the years, including from 1909-13, 1923-1942 and 1945-1978. Notre
Dame athletic director Jack Swarbrick handed Michigan athletic director Dave
Brandon a letter on the field before last season's game, canceling scheduled
games in 2015-2017. Names such as Michigan coach Fielding Yost and Notre Dame's
Knute Rockne have been part of the rivalry and there have been allegations of
cheating, dirty play and other chicanery over the years. When Notre Dame axed
the 2015-17 games, Michigan coach Brady Hoke told a crowd that Notre Dame was
"chickening out of the series." Kelly hasn’t spoken to Hoke since
those remarks, but insisted he doesn't believe Hoke meant any disrespect.
"He's never been one to show
disrespect to anybody or anything. It's really, for me, about two programs that
share a border, that it makes sense to play. I get that," Kelly said.
"It's just there's so many complexities with our schedule and our
agreement with the ACC that it's difficult and frustrating. I can see the
frustration that would be there." With Michigan off the schedule, Notre
Dame will battle Texas in 2015-16 and 2019-20. All of this should make
Saturday’s game a bit more intense as the Wolverines and Irish look to get
their final shots in………
- The most pretentious man in indie rock may no longer be in
indie rock. Bon Iver frontman Justin Vernon said he is
unsure about the future of the band because he doesn't "really write songs
anymore.” His revelation came the same week as he released a new album with his
side project Volcano Choir. While
promoting the release, he explained how his approach to songwriting has
altered since the release of the last Bon Iver album in 2011. "I don't
really write songs anymore. The last Bon Iver record was a very 'sitting down
with a guitar and writing' kind of record," Vernon said. "I really
have to be in a specific headspace to even begin to illuminate an idea that
would create another Bon Iver record, and I'm just not there." It sounds
hipster-ish, self-important and arrogant and it is, which makes perfect sense
for Vernon. He’s a man who slams award shows and then mugs for the cameras like
every other self-important recording artist when he wins an award, with that
supposed importance fed by the support and adulation of hipsters the whole
world ‘round. "I'm really honored that Bon Iver gives me a platform to do
whatever I want, but there's only so much time you can spend digging through
yourself before you become insular,” Vernon added. “I'm not in a hurry to go
back to that temperature. All of the music I've been making shifting away from
Bon Iver feels really good ... so if I ever do go back to Bon Iver it will be
all the better for it.” With his time away from the band, Vernon will
reportedly feature alongside Vampire Weekend and Kurt Vile on a Grateful Dead
covers album The National are working on. At least he doesn’t have to write
songs for that one……..
- Way to be, University of Massachusetts-Amherst chefs. Chefs at
any college or university have high aims, namely cranking out the calorie-laden
food that helps students gain the “freshman 15” and supplying the food that
fills the breakfast plates of hung-over folks who need to drop plenty of
pancakes and bacon into their alcohol-filled systems. UMass-Amherst chefs have
even higher aims, namely becoming the latest band of idiots to chase a
ridiculous and pointless milestone in the Guinness Book of World Records. To
set that Guinness World Record,
the chefs created a 15,291-pound fresh
fruit salad at the school’s annual Labor Day barbecue. They began
assembling the fruit at 4 p.m. as part of the Welcome UMass-Amherst Barbecue and had everything tossed into a giant
bowl by 4:45 p.m. There was an official weighing ceremony and a Guinness
representative to certify the weight before the dish was offered to the
people attending the event. Only 8,000 pounds of the salad were passed out at
the barbecue and the rest will be used soon to promote healthy eating. The
previous record was McGill University
in Montreal, Canada, which set the record at 11,197 pounds. “Students
now are enjoying a variety of fruit cups and smoothies. Also, we will be
enjoying them throughout the dining commons,” said Garett Disstefano, director
of residential dining at UMass-Amherst. “We are going to utilize the fruit in
some of our baked goods. As well as also make jam, or something like that.” The
school’s dining staff has previously cooked the world's largest New England
seafood stew, weighing in at more than 6600 pounds, and the record for the
world's largest stir fry at 4,010 pounds. In this quest, the dining staff
worked with engineering professor Scott Civjan to create the 4-foot high,
15-foot diameter reinforced swimming pool that contained the fruit salad, which
was weighed using a truck scale……….
No comments:
Post a Comment