Euphonia: a mechanical talking machine           

Here's a delicious potted history of the Euphonia, a mid-19th century gadget that could simulate human speech by pumping bellows-fed air over an artificial tongue set in a chamber of weird plates and valves. It had a severe woman's face and coils of hair in ringlets, and spoke in a "weird, ghostly monotone."

By pumping air with the bellows and manipulating a series of plates, chambers, and other apparatus, including an artificial tongue, the operator could make it speak any European language. It was even able to sing the anthem God Save the Queen. The Euphonia was invented in 1845 by Joseph Faber, a German immigrant. A little known fact is that this machine greatly influenced the invention of the telephone.

The best opening paragraph on Wikipedia

 

  The best opening paragraph on Wikipedia

 

Lieutenant-General Sir Adrian Paul Ghislain Carton de Wiart VC, KBE, CB, CMG, DSO (5 May 1880 – 5 June 1963), was a British Army officer of Belgian and Irish descent. He served in the Boer War, First World War, and Second World War, was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear, survived a plane crash, tunneled out of a POW camp, and bit off his own fingers when a doctor refused to amputate them. He later said, "Frankly I had enjoyed the war." - Wikipedia

Caturday

1914. "Kittens in costume as bride and groom, being married by third kitten in ecclesiastical garb." Holy catrimony! Photo by Harry W. Frees.

Container ship breaks in half, sinks, burns

                             

Here's a gallery of photos showing an enormous container ship breaking in two at the middle, and then the stern section sinking. The bow of the ship -- the Mitsui O.S.K. Lines's MOL Comfort -- was towed away, but burst into flames and broke free of its tow, off the coast of Gujarat, India.

On June 17, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines’ MOL Comfort began suffering from severe hogging and broke in two while underway from Singapore to Jeddah with a load of 7,041 TEUs. The crew escaped in life rafts and picked up by another merchant vessel... On June 27, the stern section began taking on water and sank with an estimated 1,700 containers and 1,500 metric tons of fuel oil. These photos sent to Captain were taken over a five minute period... On July 2, the MOL Comfort’s bow section broke free from its towing wire while in “adverse” sea conditions. Crews were able to reconnected and continue towing. Four days later, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines reported that on July 6, a fire broke towards the rear of the bow section of the MOL Comfort, and fire fighting efforts commenced.

The whole set is pretty amazing -- container ships are one of my prime fascinations, and to see these huge packetized lumps of consumer good being tossed around like children's blocks is terrifying.

Is this the iceberg that sank the Titanic?

Could this iceberg be the one that caused the Titanic disaster?

 

 

A photo set for an auction that starts on Thursday may contain one of modern history's most famous natural villains.

 

On the evening of April 14, 1912, on a rare calm, clear and moonless night in the North Atlantic, the Titanic's starboard side glanced off an iceberg at 11:40 p.m. The massive ship had been speeding (around 22 knots) dangerously close to an ice field and may have course-corrected away from it and accidentally manoeuvered directly into the path of the deadly berg in the photograph.

 

The vessel, the largest in the world at the time and famously on its maiden voyage from England to the United States, sank two-and-a-half hours later, taking the lives of 1502 people. When rescue ships arrived later that morning, they were stunned to find themselves surrounded by ice. According to the captain of the Carpathia, the ship that was first on the scene, more than 20 large bergs (some estimated at over25 metres tall) were observed.

In the century since the sinking, photos have surfaced of some of the suspected icebergs that Titanic may have collided with. What makes this photo different is that it was captured two days before the sinking — and actually matches up with another iceberg found in the disaster area.

The rare original 25 x 20cm photo of the "blueberg", photographed by Captain W. F. Wood of the S.S. Etonian on April 12, 1912, is being placed on the auction block by RR Auctions. The company expects the shot to go for between $US8000 and $US10,000.

According to the listing, there is reason to believe this iceberg might be the culprit, based on drawings by surviving members of Titanic's crew — as well as another photo taken from another angle from the German ship Prinz Adalbert on the morning of the sinking. Seaman Joseph Scarrott, who spied the berg once the ship had passed it, said it resembled in shape "the Rock of Gibraltar" with its highest point to the right.

 

"The fact that the particular iceberg in the Etonian image offered here is known to have been photographed at a position arguably two to three days' iceberg travel time to Titanic's foundering position, and that it substantially matches both the sketches drawn by Titanic's crewmen and the photo taken after the ship went down, allows noted Titanic experts to establish this photograph as capturing the iceberg everyone has been talking about for the past century," the listing says.

 

Spaced out UFO fan deep froze 'alien'

A CHINESE man has posted photographs of him posing next to an 'alien' which he claims to have trapped after it crash landed. 

 

         

The pictures of Mr Li standing next to the rather crude looking extra-terrestrial have sparked a frenzy of speculation social networking sites across China.

Mr Li claims he saw a formation of UFOs buzzing across the night sky along the Yellow River in Binzhou Shangdong province.

Suddenly, one of the crafts plummeted to earth and soon afterwards Mr Li discovered the charred remains of the visitor from outta space in a rabbit trap, he claims.

Mr Li insists he took the bizarre looking creature back to be stored in a freezer at his home after the crash-landing in March, the Daily Mail reports.

However, the outlandish claims were quickly brought back to earth.

Police issued a statement saying the rather unconvincing figure at the bottom of a chest freezer was, in fact, not another life form but high quality rubber.

'The alien purported electrocuted and discovered by a man in Binzhou is a high quality imitation,' the Jinan Police posted on their Sina microblog. 'The body is made up of high quality rubber.'

Undeterred by the police attempts to pour scorn on the possibility the alien is real, Chinese bloggers are busy trying to connect the Shandong alien to a purported UFO siting in Hubei province.

 

Man tries to sell Mercedes on eBay using 'more to love' wife as model and son in the boot

IT'S the most extraordinary ad for what is a very ordinary car.

 

 

 

 

 

A British man, with an obvious sense of humour, has posted his Mercedes E320 Cdi on eBay         using pictures of his full-figured wife draped over the bonnet to help the sale.

And to demonstrate the boot space, he's posted photos of people in it, including the wife.

The tongue in cheek ad, from eBay user camibanks, which starts: "If you are looking for an immaculate, well maintained example of a Mercedes e320 CDI ... you have come to the wrong place ..." is obviously working, though.

Since the ad was posted on June 11, it's attracted 47 bids (at time of writing) and the price has soared to Pound152,000 ($A251,000).

The ad goes on: "If however, you are low on self esteem, with a strapped budget, but shooting for the stars, welcome to my auction. May I present to you, one of the finest feats in Germanic engineering politely modelled by my 'more to love' missus.

"As you can see from the photos this car has seen things ... things it cannot forget. I have owned this car for 3 years, and up to then it had been lovingly cared for and maintained. Since owning the vehicle, it has been thrashed, raced, rallied, and the interior has been smashed up in a domestic, not to mention the time my wife booted the wing because I suggested she eat a salad or two."

It continues ...

"The good bits. Boot is big enough for 2 small or 1 big person (see pictures).

"This car is well admired and often stopped by members of her majesty's police, who give out FREE advice concerning your drinking habits and whether or not your tyres need replaced.

"The stereo system is suited to playing Russian Techno, Polish house, Bulgarian dubsteb, Romanian hard house, and Turkish trance at full volume, while not detracting from the over glamour of the avian fecal mattered roof and rusty panels. Seriously now gentlemen. Ladies flock to this car."

An original ad for the car was taken down by eBay for "not complying with a few of their rules".

In that first ad, the seller had even offered his wife and son as part of the deal, The Sun reports.

"SERIOUS BIDS ONLY. NO TIME WASTERS! The chubber in the photos can be negotiated, the kid in the boot goes with the car, this is non negotiable, he came with the car he stays with it."

But camibanks is adamant he needs to get rid of it. His listing ends with the plaintive: "Please no false bids. WE actually want to sell the car."

Read the full ad for the Mercedes on eBay