Octupus Paul is getting famous. A few days ago there was the iPhone application, now he’s answering questions on facebook. Give it a try at Ask Octupus Paul on facebook.

Paul predicted the winners of each of the seven 2010 FIFA World Cup matches that the German team played, against Australia, Serbia, Ghana, England, Argentina, Spain, and Uruguay. His prediction that Argentina would lose prompted Argentine chef Nicolas Bedorrou to post an octopus recipe on Facebook. Paul’s keeper, Oliver Walenciak, responded by saying “There are always people who want to eat our octopus but he is not shy and we are here to protect him as well. He will survive.”

Octopus Paul correctly predicted the outcome of the semi-final, by choosing the food in the box marked with the Spanish flag. German supporters drew hope from his incorrect choice for the Germany versus Spain match in the UEFA Euro 2008 but were disappointed. The prediction led to death threats as German fans called for Paul to be cooked and eaten. In response, Spanish prime minister Jose Zapatero jokingly offered to send Paul official state protection, and the Industry Minister Miguel Sebastian called for Paul to be given safe haven in Spain. Octopus Paul maintained a 100% accurate record during the tournament by correctly predicting Spain’s victory over the Netherlands in the final as well as Germany’s win over Uruguay in the third-place playoff, and subsequently went into retirement.

Source:Wikipedia

Coffee spill at BP headquarters

For the home automation over IP project I needed a fast and easy method for creating printed circuit boards (PCB). After some research the “toner transfer method” seemed a solution to give a try.

Not being sure about the quality of the final result I designed the PCB with wide paths. This way a lack of precision shouldn’t be a big problem.

What you we need:

• a PCB design (obvious)
• a blank board (without photosensitive layer)
• magazine paper
• a laser printer
• an iron, preferably without steaming capabilities
• personal protection against chemicals (gloves, safety glasses and eventually a lab coat)
• glass or plastic bowl (never use a metallic bowl as etchant container!)
• etchant: HCl, H₂0₂ and H₂0
• thinner (acetone)

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A cajón is a very easy to build percussion instrument. Although making a cajón isn’t difficult I tried to make a how-to with detailed building plans and pictures.

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