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bngbuck
SFN Addict
USA
2437 Posts |
 Posted - 05/09/2008 : 22:27:00
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For those who didn't read today's SWIFT, Randi writes.....MARCHING INTO THE 17th CENTURY
Well, let's hear it for the community of Land 'O Lakes, Florida, a sterling example of how well state authorities can enforce the rules and regulations that ensure school kids are adequately protected. “Land ‘O Lakes” has 21,000 inhabitants, and is sometimes joshingly referred to as, “LOL,” which as we all know is also current short-speak for “Laughing Out Loud.” This parallel is easily explained.
Right in front of his classroom at Rushe Middle School, substitute teacher Jim Piculas – evidently carried away with an attack of the crazies – did a 30-second magic trick last week in which a toothpick disappeared, then reappeared. Damn! He was promptly fired. Yes, Rushe's principal requested that Piculas be dismissed. And the official charge from the school district that resulted in his discharge? Wizardry!
Said Jim:
I got a call in the middle of the day from the head of supervisors of substitute teachers. He said, “Jim, we have a huge issue, you can't take any more assignments. You need to come in right away,” he said.
When Piculas went in to see the supervisor, he learned that his little magic trick – ‘cause that's what it really was, you see, folks, this was a trick! – had gone much farther than he'd intended. The super told him he'd been accused of wizardry. Duh.
Now, my readers will know that I'm a professional magician by trade. I've been accused of all sorts of things, but no adult person has ever, ever, accused me of wizardry. I swear. Bad tricks, yes, but the dreaded charge of wizardry, never! Confronted by the local media in Land ‘O Lakes, this befuddled supervisor immediately launched into other problems with Mr. Piculas' performance as a substitute teacher, and Jim has his own opinion of that:
That... I think was embellished after the fact to try to cover what initially what they were saying to me.
Of course, the Internet and the media are chortling over this giant step backwards in education. One comment was that Piculas might apply to Hogwarts for a teaching position. There have been suggestions made – in jest, I trust! – about burning this heretic, and the state has been referred to as, “Flori-duh!” – which I tend to agree with…
Now, either version of this story – the one told by the wizard, or the one offered by the school superintendant – might be hyperbolized, but the fact remains: doing a simple conjuring trick seems to have caused consternation among authorities who we might think have better things to do with their authority and their time. I hesitate to even imagine what might happen to me if I were to show up in Land ‘O Lakes and do a card trick. Visions of a stake and a bonfire flit through my mind… |
Also, take a look at this.....| And here's something that really got my attention. I think I understand some of the basic physics behind it, but I'm asking my readers to offer me more… It's quite a puzzler, in many ways, but I just know I'll find answers in the vast talent-pool that reads SWIFT every week. Go to here and play the 1 minute/24 second video... |
It is a puzzler, all right!
[Moved to the General Skepticism folder - Dave W.]
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 05/09/2008 : 23:09:21 [Permalink]
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Originally posted by bngbuck
It is a puzzler, all right! |
Except the answer is right there in the comments, from over two days ago. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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bngbuck
SFN Addict
USA
2437 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2008 : 00:22:27 [Permalink]
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Dave.....
| Except the answer is right there in the comments, from over two days ago. |
You're obviously of the school that teaches that the the end is much more important than the means! You're the kind of guy that would read the Reverend Dodgson's mathematical puzzles and complain that there wasn't an answer book! Or Martin Gardner's logic brain-busters and look to the back of the book! I'm ashamed of you Dave! Tsk, tsk! Of all people! My faith is shattered! Oh, cruel, cruel world! Dave is one of them! |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2008 : 06:39:05 [Permalink]
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Actually, I've known the answer since I was 12 and built a kit that demonstrated more-or-less the same thing (but with only two pendulums). I puzzled over it back then.
I'm currently puzzled by Randi's cry for help when the answer was right there. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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bngbuck
SFN Addict
USA
2437 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2008 : 09:36:02 [Permalink]
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Dave.....
I read all the replies and have a vague grasp of what is going on. The physics of momentum is not my strongest area of understanding mechanics. Please spell it out in simpleton's terms in your inimitable way of making compicated things appear easy!
I'm serious, I want to fully understand what's happening here!
Thanks.
Bill |
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Dave W.
Info Junkie
USA
26022 Posts |
Posted - 05/10/2008 : 15:49:21 [Permalink]
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In simple terms, if you and a friend are on a rickety set of swings, it will be easier for you both to swing if you swing in phase. The metronomes are simply adjusting each other into such a low-energy state, because they can. The inertia of one shifts the base left (or right) which drags the pivot-point of another left (or right), affecting its ability to follow its own lowest-energy curved path, etc. Except that in the demo video, there are 20 such relationships going on all at once.
It isn't difficult to build a real-life demo of this system, either. Even easier is this system. |
- Dave W. (Private Msg, EMail)
Evidently, I rock!
Why not question something for a change?
Visit Dave's Psoriasis Info, too. |
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bngbuck
SFN Addict
USA
2437 Posts |
Posted - 05/11/2008 : 14:35:58 [Permalink]
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Dave.....
OK. Let's see if I have this right. With two metronomes, A and B...
1. A is swinging left while B is also swinging left but behind A.
2. The momentum of A, coupled with that of B, shifts the base left.
3. When A reaches end of arc, B is still swinging left.
4. But the return to the right of A cancels the remaining momentum of B, and the base stops moving to the left.
5. Then B reaches end of arc and the ongoing momentum of A moves the base to the right.
6. As B returns, it's momentum is added to the ongoing momentum of A and the base continues to the right until A reaches end of arc.
7. Then A returns to the left and is cancelled for a short time by the remaining swing of B to the right. The base stops moving.
8. When B reaches apex, the cycle repeats. However| The inertia of one shifts the base left (or right) which drags the pivot-point of another left (or right), affecting its ability to follow its own lowest-energy curved path, etc. |
Please expand your "....pivot point affecting it's ability to follow it's own lowest-energy curved path, etc." comment.
Your spatial visualization of the movment of pendulums is superior to mine. I need the words to fully comprehend what it is that happens to ultimately cause the pendulums to synchronize - and remain synchronized! |
| Edited by - bngbuck on 05/11/2008 14:55:46 |
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Randi on Florida's Wizard
