HycoSpeed, on June 16th, 2013
Beeman’s Gum was concocted in the late 19th century by a physician in Ohio named Dr. Edward L. Beeman. The gum had the two primary ingredients of pepsin powder and chicle, and was originally marketed as an aid to digestion. In 1898 it was purchased by the American Chicle company, which was later absorbed by Warner-Lambert. The gum continued in production as Beemans up until 1978, when it was discontinued due to slow sales. Now the rights to this gum are owned by Cadbury, and it is sporadically available as a nostalgia product.
Perhaps you are thinking to yourself that the packaging and name seem vaguely familiar, but you aren’t really sure why. Beemans became popular with aviators in the early days of flight, as the antacid qualities of the pepsin helped to calm airsickness stomach issues in flight. It also had the inherent advantage that any gum gives a flyer of helping to equalize pressure in the ears. Whatever the exact reasons, it soon became affiliated with flight, and was considered by many to be a good luck gum. This good luck angle figured into the film ‘The Rocketeer’, and the blockbuster ‘The Right Stuff’. “Hey Ridley, got any Beemans?”
The retro-throwback versions of the gum no longer contain any pepsin, but it is pretty tasty if you can get your hands on some! Now that you remember why Beemans seemed familiar too you, you might be saying to yourself, so what exactly does this have to do with this weekend?
Continue reading Got Any Beemans?
HycoSpeed, on June 16th, 2013
Welcome to the Extra Special* Father’s Day Edition of everybody’s favorite look at free stuff! This is the time of the week when you, our loyal commentariat, go out in the world of the wide web and take a look at the best of the best available on your favorite local online classifieds site. Last week we managed to garner some good comments, including a testimonial from the always lovely ZomBee Racer on the joys and happiness that can be found by bringing home a free motorhome!
The big win for the week goes to Maymar, who found a place to live down by the river, and as a bonus, a boat to go with it! Then instead of looking like a creeper who lives in a van, you can just be a salty sailor who lies by the water!
Continue reading Sometimes Free Stuff Isn’t Worth It
HycoSpeed, on June 15th, 2013
Today’s Q3 is a bit of a special one. This particular object, I do happen to own. I acquired it at an auction once upon a time, purely for its uniqueness. I have actually been holding on to the images of this one, but I think today is a good day to let you all take a look, and see if anyone knows the answer. Hit the jump to see the story and more images of this Quandary!
Continue reading Q³: Swap Meet
HycoSpeed, on June 15th, 2013
Tomorrow is that special summer day for manly men that have spawned progeny, Father’s Day. As such, some of the posts this weekend are going to follow a sort of theme revolving around that holiday. Starting off, let’s take a look at that most stereotypical of gifts—well, probably second behind the tie itself—the [...]
HycoSpeed, on June 14th, 2013
The lady of the present has a very small wrist, it seems.
Image via phrenicea.com.
HycoSpeed, on June 12th, 2013
So, does this count as a proper usage of the word irony?
Image via tumblr.com.
HycoSpeed, on June 9th, 2013
Not too long ago in our Toasters Reads feature we looked at a book, The Pilgrim Project, that told a fictionalized account of a secret NASA project to send one man on a one way mission to the Moon in a Mercury capsule, to be steadily resupplied then later rescued by the Apollo program. The basis for this book was supposedly an actual study presented by members of the Institute of Aerospace Sciences in 1962. Since the sounded at least semi-legitimate, I took to the interwebs to see if such a proposal was ever floated. I didn’t come across any real conclusive proof of that study, but it did find a good number of alternative mission, and lunar mission specifically, proposals using not Mercury, but the existing Gemini technology.
We are going to explore some of those proposals that never were over the next few weeks, but I wanted to start out with one test of Gemini that actually happened. In all NASA’s efforts in space, the typical height of orbital missions has been roughly 200 miles. Mercury and Gemini operated at 160-170 miles, the Shuttle typically orbited at 200, and the ISS was built at 230 miles. But the record for highest orbit lies with the Gemini 11 mission, commanded by Pete Conrad.
Continue reading Twin Peak
HycoSpeed, on June 9th, 2013
We all have heard, I am sure, the many versions of the story/joke about the fellow who sees an ad tacked up on a bulletin board for a ridiculously cheap Corvette/dream car, and thinking it is too good to be true, goes and buys it off a nice lady. As he completes the transaction, he asks her why she is selling it so cheap. The answer is that her husband ran off with a secretary and asked her to sell the car and send him the money, so that’s what she is going to do! Like the guy thought, entirely too good to be true, but still a fun story. Which is probably why is sticks around.
Well, thanks, to online classified ads, you now have the chance to share with us the cool stuff you find in the Free! section, that looks too good to be true, but in reality is just proof that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure! See what you can find out there in the wide worlds of the web, and share with us in the comments. Technology related, semi-related, just plain funny, see what you can find, and as always, bonus points if you go pick the item in question up!
Hit the jump to see the big winner from last week!
Continue reading Sometimes Free Stuff Isn’t Worth It
HycoSpeed, on June 8th, 2013
My work has become afflicted with that terror of terrors, a summer cold. It seems that even in delicious warm weather you can’t escape the horror of a virus. This particular one has taken on such a form as to garner the name, “The Double Dragon”, which likely won’t take too much imagination to decipher. Now the workplace has turned into a war zone, with a hand sanitizing army on one side, and a melancholy bunch who insists they aren’t getting sick–until it is too late, and they have already kept the germ stream alive for a few more days. Luckily, this doesn’t seem to be a frequent occurrence, but living in fear at work is no place to be.
A far, far better place to be is here at Atomic Toasters, critically examining strange bits of technology! So, for your viewing pleasure, let me present to you this week’s Quixotic Quantum Quandary. In the event that some of our loyal followers have excellent memories, I will tell you that this particular idea is something that I own, and it was acquired in a manner such that it would be quite at home here on Sunday mornings. If that doesn’t ring any bells, don’t let it get you hot and bothered, just give us your best guess in the comments! The person who gets the closest, without going over, wins a week of interwebs fame!
Continue reading Q³: Dragon Slayer
HycoSpeed, on June 8th, 2013
You guys might not know this about me, but as it turns out, trying to come up with a repeating weekly themed post can at times be difficult. I am actually mildly surprised that I have managed to keep coming up with things that are somewhat tech related and are also somewhat lost [...]
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