Make a very fast motor…

You have one drywall screw, one 1.5 V alkaline cell, six inches of plain copper wire, one small neodymium disk magnet, and no other tools or supplies. You have 30 seconds to make an electric motor running in excess of ten thousand RPM. Can you do it? Surprisingly enough, you can.

Before I give you the URL for this exotic and exciting device – please note – it works.  The screw could fly out of control (wear safety goggles) and, assuming you can hold the battery on while it spins at 10,000 rpm, you could end up with very burned fingers (wear gloves) – as the website says – don’t leave your common sense at home on this one.

Charon accepts absolutely no responsibility whatsoever and on that basis only – here is the URL  Amaze your friends (ensuring that they are suitably protected, consistent with current legislation) – but don’t blind them with the science.

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Punctuation really matters…..

I am grateful to Liadnan, posting on Geeklawyer’s forum site, for picking up a fascinating case where a comma out of place in a contract, triggered the strict construction approach and cost a great deal of money.

This will be of particular interest to contract lawyers – hence my interest. Have a look at Liadnan’s original post. Liadnan also provides a link to the original press report. Fascinating stuff – here is the report again.

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Licensed larceny…from the Law West of Ealing Broadway

Bystander JP remarks on his blog, the Law West of Ealing Broadway “I can confidently assert that almost every pint of draught beer sold is short measure, by between five and ten percent, and that this is deliberate policy to increase profits.”

I will be watching like a hawk at my local for the next few days. I seem to recall, however, at The Swan, that they knock the head off and edge the measure to the top – so, I doubt that I shall be able to view any licensed larceny there. Interesting article – worth a read if you are a beer drinker. Bystander also notes that are very few prosecutions for short measure in pubs. Read the comments section on Bystander’s post – most amusing. This topic fired his viewers up – excellent!

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A quick trip to see Judge ‘Custody’ Cooper?…

I made a brief visit to Diary of a Criminal Solicitor today as work tailed off just before 5.00 Most interesting post.. I shall give you a flavour of it…

“I had the joy of going to Colchester Magistrates Court and watched this infamous District Judge in action. District Judge Cooper has a reputation for remanding people in custody where he either thinks that they are a bail risk despite the fact they are already on bail, or, that they need to consider their not guilty plea by being put in the Court cells for a few hours.”

The Diarist continues, by suggesting that a visit to Judge Cooper’s court may be entertaining…I quote.. “District Judge Cooper is very entertaining to watch and if you are ever free on a Thursday morning he is well worth watching at Colchester Magistrates Court. The general public would probably applaud the comments he makes about defendants and approve of his methods.”

I quite like the idea that District Judges should be entertaining. The only problem with visiting courts to view proceedings – unlike cricket – you can’t sit there with a decent drink in your hand.

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