Slideshare, a new web service

I just discovered Slideshare, it's like Youtube but for presentations. I like it because it will allow me to more easily share presentations I give. You post your powerpoint presentation and they become available worldwide.

The site is searchable by tags (topics) and by author.

In perusing it I discovered a series of talks on basic statistics here. While not useful for someone ignorant of statistics they serve as a useful review for those with some statistical background.

No, the site does not have the entertainment value of Youtube.

Trying out embedding Youtube video

I'm trying out embedding Youtube videos. Below is a fitting video for an engineering blog - a video of a crane collapse. A reminder of what can go wrong.



Here is a summary statement from OSHA (web link here) about the accident:

Miller Park, in Milwaukee, opened a year late after a crane collapsed during the construction killing three workers.... On July 14, 1999, three iron-workers, in a suspended personnel platform monitoring the hoisting of a roof section, died after falling approximately 300 feet to the ground when their platform was struck by the collapsing heavy-lift crane. The crane known as “Big Blue” was lifting a section of the stadium roof weighing over 450 tons. Several environmental factors contributed to the accident including the wind and soft soil. The wind speeds that day were 20-21 mph with gusts to 26-27 mph, and the boom on the crane was rated to 20 mph. Also, the crane sank about a foot into the soil when it initially lifted the roof section earlier that morning.

Know the environment you are designing for

An engineer I work with recounts a story from when he was a new engineer. “R” was asked to design a bracket to hold a thermocouple in a process tank. He quickly designed it out of sheet metal and submitted it for approval. His supervisor told him to redesign it using quarter inch steel plate and .375 diameter bolts to hold it to the tank.

He was puzzled and asked why a bracket holding an item weighing only a few ounces had to be so stout. His supervisor replied “Because someday a 250 pound pipefitter will use that bracket as a handhold and then a step to climb up on the tank.”

R’s supervisor understood that items need to be designed not only for their narrowly defined intended use but also for its conceivable unintended uses.

What are the environmental extremes that your item could see? What are unintended applications the end user could put your product to?

Some web sites for your consideration

I stumbled onto two interesting web sites this week. The first is of practical value, the other is purely for entertainment.

The firstweb site is transmaterial. It has information and web links on new materials. Are you looking for fiber reinforced flexible concrete, light emitting tiles, vacuum insulated insulating panels, "green" recycled laminate? This is the place. Some of the materials reviewed are commercially available others are in development. The emphasis is on materials for architectural or industrial design applications. The web site is an advertisement for a book the author sells which provides samples and information on some of the materials.

The other website is dangerously fun. It has videos and instructions for pranks and tricks. Some of the tricks are harmless amusement. For some others think twice before emulating them yourself. Some of their tricks are quite dangerous.