This homemade robot can do it in 60 moves and less than 5 minutes on average. Wow. What a use for Lego MindStorms…

This is great, the kids throw a kegger and the police arrive. When they start testing for alcohol, there is none. It’s a root beer kegger! The authorities were not amused…

Earlier this month, MftC led the pack calling for Hillary Clinton to concede the nomination to Obama as it is no longer possible for her to win the nomination. What she can do, is help the Republicans find the chinks in Obama’s armor to attack in the general election and that is reason enough for her to concede, if she truly cares about getting the country back on the right track. It’s been my view for some time that Clinton’s naked ambition for the Whitehouse is driven by a personal agenda for power almost exclusively and that she’ll do anything required to win. That’s not to say Obama is pure of heart, but his motives appear to be a least a bit more altruistic and geared toward a better future than a personal power play.

Last week, Vermont Senator Patrick Leahy called for Clinton to concede. He’s right, now is the time Hillary for you to step aside if you care about change. You can have a leading and impactful role in the next Administration if only your ego will allow that. In fact, with your experience and education, you would make a fine Attorney General. Consider that as a way you could serve your country and utilize your knowledge, skills, and experience. But don’t drag the entire Democratic ticket into the mud in a fight that is unwinnable.

Concede, now. It’s the honorable and right thing to do. Check with John Edwards, that’s what he did and it showed great character. I want to believe you have it in you to do the right thing, but I’m not optimistic. Prove me wrong, please.

I promised not to make the Renewable Energy Journal a humor site when we posted our first renewable-related humor on wind power. But, we came across this project and it was simply too good to pass up for commentary. So, without further ado, here’s the striking new, renewable energy source: hamsters!

Custom energy hackers, The Other Power, have been releasing serious DIY energy projects for some time. These include wind turbines, steam generators, low-speed diesel generators, and camper mounted solar arrays. But, the most interesting project involves creating a custom low RPM

alternator designed to be driven by hamster power. They call the project, The Hamster-Powered Night Light.

It turns out to be not so simple to build a generator that relies on an animal driving a wheel 40-60 RPM with relatively low torque. But the folks at Other Power spend the time to walk you through the intimate details of the project including the new field of hamster psychology. Read the details of the project and enjoy!

Recently I had a discussion with a colleague about Barack Obama and the question arose: where did he come from? This colleague, a German national, indicated that Obama appeared out of nowhere from the international perspective. I replied that I believed he was launched as a result of the speech he delivered at the Democratic Convention where John Kerry was nominated and subsequently sunk in a swiftboat.

That got me thinking about the media’s role in the campaign and how a singular event often seems to lead to a tipping point, up or down, for any individual candidate. Thus, I decided to compile a list with videos of some memorable tipping points for politicians and celebrities.

1. Barack Obama – This is the speech that launched his Presidential campaign.
2. George H. W. Bush – While amassing high marks for his handling of the first Gulf War, he ignores the recession in the U.S. His inability to comprehend grocery store scanners demonstrated how distant he was from the common citizen and I believe ultimately led to his reelection loss.
3. Mike Dukakis – Sure, it’s a Bush campaign ad. But ultimately, the image of Dukakis looking like a doofus in that tank tipped his campaign to the loss column in my opinion.
4. Roger Clemens – Baseball legend has a very public fall while very obviously lying to Congress. Before this testimony, he may have had the benefit of the doubt after the testimony, the public thinks he’s as dirty as Barry Bonds.
5. Hilary Clinton – Claimed to land in Bosnia in 1996 under sniper fire. Oops, tape of her being greeted by children shows she’s lying through her teeth, the excuse? She mispoke. Was this the tipping point for Clinton to move from a tight primary process to a runaway loss?
6. Colin Powell – As Secretary of State, he presents the case for war in Iraq with completely false information. This speech was the tipping point for many citizens on opinion of the necessity to go to war, including me. Powell later claims, and somehow I do believe him, he was misled before the testimony.
7. Howard Dean – During the primary the media has a field day with the “Dean Scream” which painted him as a madman and unelectable. This was clearly the tipping point for the worse in Dean’s campaign for President.

Well, I’m sure there are other appropriate moments, but these are all that occurred to me in my sleeplessness in Europe. It certainly is interesting and perhaps disturbing, the power of the images and sounds that can define the rise or fall of any particular person in the media eye. What do you think? Any other gems that ought to be added to this collection?