Pee on the Toilet Seat!!!

I f**king hate when there is pee on the toilet seat.  Like is it that hard to put the toilet seat up, or maybe it is too gross.  This happens all the time at public restrooms for us guys.  Just when I am about to go number 2, every stale in the place has pee on the seat.  How do I clean it off?  Is wiping it up with toilet paper enough to clean it? I don’t know.  But the reason I am blogging about this unsanitary topic is because this is the idea I submitted to quirky.  My idea was an item that attaches to the toilet seat that always kept it up to prevent males from peeing on the seat.  I know girls like the seat down, so this may be just a product for restrooms and all male households unless it could also be attached in way to always lower the seat for the females, conquer the best of both worlds.  I believe the product would be simple to make; all it is a spring or hydraulic system that always raises the toilet seat when someone is not sitting on it, meaning if a person is sitting on the toilet seat, the weight of the person would hold it down.  Simple idea that would save me the problem of cleaning up other people’s pee. 

Eagles Stadium Bleeds Green

Not like we all haven’t heard it before, but Green is in.  By adding solar panels and wind turbines along with a co-generation plant that will burn natural gas and bio diesel, the Eagles will be producing more than enough power to host a sellout crowd.  The NFL hopes many other teams will follow suit.  Living only 15 minutes, I think the project is really exciting and I can’t wait to see the stadium once construction starts.  As we know Green technology is growing at a rapid rate.  Hopefully, we will start to see more buildings and skyscrapers start to apply these types of technologies and not just stadiums, which I believe is the fastest way for this world to start going Green, which is by far a much better color than Black and Yellow.

Water Jet Pack

The only question I had after reading this article was: Why didn’t I think about this for my crash and burn project in Engr 407? A jet pack that is propelled by water, who wouldn’t want one of these? Your jet ski won’t look so hot next to some guy flying above the waves in with this pack.  So why wouldn’t you want this jet pack? Each one cost about $100,000, which I am guessing takes most the people off the market for this product.  However, if Bently is still making money with their custom made cars, I am sure there is also a market for these jet packs.  Like most new items on the market, the initial price is high like the iPod. In time, (and I pray I am right on this one) the price should go down as the company discovers new ways to manufacture the item at a lower cost or they get more competition forcing them to drive down the cost (I believe they are the only people on the market selling this product).  Another thing that comes from this product is new uses that could be developed once the product’s price is driven down or the product is improved.  Overall, I would just love to have an at water paintball battle with one of these things.  I better start saving now.  

See the Video here:

http://www.popsci.com/technology/article/2011-01/just-time-spring-break-water-powered-jetpack-finally-goes-sale

 

As Seen on My Crappy TV

It is one O’clock in the morning on a Saturday and since you decided to be hassle the waitress who was wearing practically nothing at the Phyrst, you are stuck at home on the couch drinking a cool Natty while the rest of your friends are still enjoying their last few car bombs.  Therefore, you decide to start looking for something good on TV.  Channel after channel and the best thing you can find is this women playing with this shaking weight, and you can’t help to wonder what idiot would buy such a thing. 

 

We have all seen these TV ads before but have you ever really wondered who is selling these items.  They remind much like our Engr 407 projects except on a much bigger sale.  It is my opinion that the people making these products know that their product is complete garbage, but they also know that 1/3^rd of Americans are idiots and believe practically anything they see on TV or at least they convince them self to believe it; I mean a weight where you can sit on the couch and continue to watch more pointless ads sounds pretty convincing to buy.  My question to you is do you really think the manufactures of these products really think their idea is going to last.  The last thing these manufactures want to do is rely on word of mouth, which is why they are on TV 24/7 trying to sell as many products as they can before the real reviews come out and talk about how the test data that was presented on the show was complete garbage.  My rule of thumb is if the product is still around 1 year after the initial TV ads then I may consider looking into buying it.  Until then, I suggest you try another channel or better yet try to get back into the Phryst (they kick so many people out a night, I highly doubt they will remember you).

First Post/GE WattStation

Hi Engineering 407 class,

This will be my first blog ever so don’t expect too much; I hopefully will get better at these as the year goes on.  I figure I take a little time introducing myself in this first blog.  My name is Joe Massimo from Ridley, PA.  If you do not know where that is, it is basically right next to the Philadelphia Airport and is the location for one of Boeings plants, which only normally interest engineering students.  I am a fifth year senior in Mechanical Engineering and will be hopefully graduating in May.  The reason I am a fifth year senior is because I spent 2 fall semesters on co-ops with GE.  I have over a year experience working with GE in 3 different locations: electrical distribution in Cherry Hill, NJ, Optimization and controls in Exton, PA, and GE Wind in Greenville, SC (which I also work part time for now).  I will also be starting full time in GE Water’s CLP program starting in September. 

Moving on to my first topic of discussion and sticking with GE, is their relatively new idea that should make electric cars more plausible.  One of the largest problems with electric cars is the fact that people worry about them running out of energy since they are only really capable of going a small distance.  GE has come up with an idea to both fix and capitalize on this problem.  The WattStation^TM is a device that GE hopes will one day be used much like today’s Gas Stations combined with a parking meter.   

Currently, the WattStation can cut down on charging time from 12-14 hours to 4-8 hours meaning know people are capable of charging their car while they are at work.  The product is very neat and utilizes new technologies; for example, it is capable for the WattStations to communicate to your mobile to device to tell you where an open station is located.  Technologies like the WattStation are key in making people feel more comfortable in buying electric cars.  I hope that the WattStation and similar devices start being put in place all over urban areas. 

Here is a link to one of GE’s articles on the WattStation: http://www.ge.com/innovation/electric_vehicles/index.html