'Xtreme' Equipment That You Have Borrowed? 216
djupedal asks: "What's the most extreme type of equipment you've used from the lab/office/university, etc. for your own projects, etc.? Have you ever taken a piece of unknown lint into work just to check it out under the nuclear microscope? Ever used the UV curing oven on the production line to make custom wheels for an R/C car? Ever used the 100,000 ton press in the lab to meld a dime into a nickel just to have a present for your gf/bf on Valentine's Day?"
"Ever drop by the house on the way home from work and use your company's nuclear density gauge to check for hardpan in the backyard?
Was that you I saw driving a 50 ton crane into the sub-division just to have a platform to install a 3 meter dish on the roof of the garage?
Ever hog a T-3 so you could loop-logon on to your own box....after networking thru a minimum of 25 repeaters near the equator...just to see how much delay there is when going around the planet?
To get you started -- we used to work the night shift at a ski area - and when we found spare time, we would fire up a few of the $200,000.00 Kässbohrer PistenBully's and run off into the trees and play hide & seek in the dark, when it was snowing heavy and your tracks would be covered quickly. All lights out and nothing but iPods online, we would play tag until we either got lost, stuck, bored or the sun came up.
What's your best example of trivial use of some very expensive gear that wasn't yours?"
Secretary (Score:5, Funny)
Cryogenics (Score:4, Funny)
I recently used liquid helium to freeze the memories of thousands of Slashdotters.
The answers are:
-yes
-maybe
-only if hamsters are involved
-no
Desk (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Desk (Score:5, Funny)
The Alan Parsons Project (Score:3, Funny)
How long did you work for Dr. Parsons? Did he complain when he caught you humping the "laser" ?
Starbuck? Is that you? (Score:4, Funny)
Starbuck? Is that you? I bet those Vipers are much nicer to fly than those Cylon Raiders which are filled with wet corned beef.
Re:Well.... (Score:1, Funny)
Careful! There was a story here a few years back about a guy who had no command of the English language.
Re:I hate Bush, mod me up! (Score:2, Funny)
"I once used the American people to push my and my friends' own financial objectives! LAWL!"
I took a pen once (Score:5, Funny)
I felt pretty bad about it, so I filled out the form to have my original pen replaced, and then I put the pen back in the box.
But then I thought about all the ink I used filling out that form. I thought to myself "did I really need to fill out all that stuff on the second page? They know me here.. but it's better to err on the side of caution".
So I wrote out an apology and attached it to the pen with a rubber band, then put it back.
Well, after a while I got to thinking.. they can recognize my handwriting, can't they? And then they'll put two and two together... how many people have filled out requests for new pens in the last week? I could really get in trouble.
So I snuck back into the closet.. except.. Jones was there. He was looking for staples, thank God, which are on the other side. I tried to act cool but I'm sure he knew *exactly* what was going on. Could he see my eyes darting toward the box of blue Bic pens? Just stare straight ahead. Thankfully, he just grabbed his staples and left.
I grabbed the pen and the note, ran back to my office, and wrote out my resignation explaining the whole thing. In Word this time.. by this point just *touching* a pen made me nervous.
Quite a crazy episode in my life, I tell you.. but sometimes you gotta go a little "wild" sometimes, eh?
Trivial use of expensive gear (Score:3, Funny)
Well, there's all those years I spent as an announcer at various AM and FM stations. :-)
Big Computers (Score:4, Funny)
The other day, I wanted to see how fast this cluster could encode The Matrix... it took 4 seconds... I was pleased.
We're upgrading to 256 IBM Blades soon so it should get fun then. I'm a big fan of blades... the Sun blades we use are tremendously fast and perfect for what we do. need more processing power? chuck in another 64 blades into that rack and there you go... Those blades are the same that are used in the MareNorstrum cluster in Spain... that would be the 5th most powerful supercomputer in the world (and is at par with the Earth Simulator, costing 10% as much heheh)... damn I can't wait to get those going...
For some reason, when I get home, not having all that power and an internet connection to match just feels wrong.
military grade laser (Score:3, Funny)
then the fire started.
Google. (Score:3, Funny)
They even give you an API.
Doh
What we really can learn here (Score:3, Funny)
Geeks really need to address the mental disability that hinders their ability to procreate.
Charisma! (Score:2, Funny)
I am a bartender (Score:3, Funny)
Re:military grade laser (Score:2, Funny)
Snot (Score:4, Funny)
Haven't had many opportunities other than that.
Unfortunately I didn't get to see my own spunk.
Re:Desk (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Big Computers (Score:3, Funny)
Re:I got you all beat. (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Cryogenics (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Staple (Score:1, Funny)