atlas's New Writeups

Getting skunk spray off your pet (idea)

2003-07-10T04:33:02Z

Getting the skunk smell out of furry pets is easy, in fact all you need is dish soap, yes ordinary liquid dish soap. Simply wash the furry little critter wish a healthy dose of dish shop, lather and rinse. The skunk smell will be all the way gone, or at the very least very faint. The reason it works is pretty simple as well, skunk smell is transmitted through the oily substance that it sprays; the dish soap breaks down the oil and gets rid of the smell.

However if you happen to have a really furry pet or a very stubborn skunk you can rinse the still slightly smelly creature in a few gallons of white vinegar. After that rinse there will be absolutely no trace of smell. Plus, it's a whole lot easier than the whole baking soda thing and it actually works unlike the tomato juice theory.

As for the dish soap I prefer a biodegradable kind called Planet but if that's not around I have used Dawn and even the cheapest stuff I could find. All of them worked, but…

Knapp Castle (place)

2003-04-12T04:21:19Z

Knapp Castle is the ruined former mountain estate of Union Carbide executive George Owen Knapp. Knapp was one of the first citizens to open up the mountains behind Santa Barbara, California for motor vehicle use. George Owen Knapp was born in 1855 in Hatfield, Massachusetts. Knapp graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute of New York in 1876 with a degree in engineering. After Graduation he went to work at Peoples Gas, Light, and Coke in Chicago, eventually becoming president before moving on to the Union Carbide board of directors. During his 25 years at Union Carbide, Knapp became very wealthy, and after retiring he moved to Santa Barbara.

When Knapp reached Santa Barbara, it was still a small town surrounded by the vast Santa Ynez Mountains, and connected with the Santa Ynez Valley by a few small horse trails. Knapp was one of the few people that weren't satisfied by this, and in 1916 spent about five million dollars to help build a road along the…

March 20, 2003 (idea)

2003-03-21T05:47:37Z

I saw a man die today, I heard his scream for a split second as he was knocked down and under metered 16 mm film, without sound, like it mattered... He was dead and I stood there alive, I stood there and tried to dial 911 on my cellphone, I watched as a person called the ambulance from inside a house. It was sickening, his blood ran onto the street and made a glistening puddle on the pavement.

The ambulance came wailing and I watched the medics try and revive him, I listened as they became quiet and solem, he was dead, dead at the scene and I wondered if this man had a family or a wife at least, somebody who he was coming home to, but now these people wouldn't see his face anymore, he is no longer amongst the living, his soul and his last seconds caught on film.

Just before then I had come out of class after hitting it off with the cute punk girl, we had never really said a word but all of a sudden, we were partners in a project and it was like she was reading my thoughts and knew…

Dolphin Glide (thing)

2003-03-10T19:14:26Z

"Imagine gliding through water with the resistance of air. Imagine you are a dolphin."

Dolphin Glide is the latest project from legendary surfer George Greenough. Dolphin Glide is a surf film like no other. It's surfing but from the perspective of a dolphin, you are in the water behind the wave, seeing it boil and flow past you to the beat of a killer sound track. The film was done entirely in 35 mm and shot near Byron Bay Australia. Dolphin Glide is unlike any other film I have ever seen; the imagery is incredible. I must have blinked twice during the whole screening; it was that amazing. The whole film consists of shots from behind the wave, underneath the wave and in a few shots, through the wave. You're presented with images of roiling surf, air bubbles busting out from the face as the heavy surf crashes overhead. Waves rhythmically break on screen, lit from within by emeraldic, flaming shafts of light, the next waves rolls in from the perspective…

Syllogic (thing)

2003-02-13T19:51:12Z

Syllogic is a remarkable Open 40 Sailboat designed by Van de Stadt Yacht Design. She focuses on the OSTAR (Observer Single Handed Trans Atlantic Race), She was designed to be a very fast and stable boat while sailing upwind. The OSTAR is all upwind, making it different from the other races that allow Open class boats. Syllogic breaks the mould and catches the eye because of her revolutionary cant mast, rotating keel and RoboSail a computer controlled set of winches and controls that can sail the boat without and interaction; in theory at least.

Cant Mast

Syllogic features a canting mast instead of a canting keel. Upwind a keel canted to windward for more stability isn't the best option as the keel produces less leverage and since it's closer to the surface it creates more resistance.

Aerodynamically a mast canted 25 degrees to windward has plenty of advantages. The sail becomes more efficient because of a larger projected area. The boat is also lifted out…

Whaleboat (thing)

2003-01-28T01:25:24Z

A whaleboat was a boat that was used by early whalers to harpoon and capture the precious beasts. But whaleboats aren't just for whaling; after just a short while any tender type boat on merchant ships started to be called whaleboats. Henry Dana calls the boats he had to row, whaleboats in Two years Before The Mast and so did Joshua Slocum in his book Spray.

So, just what is a whaleboat? Simple, a whaleboat is a medium sized skiff that is powered by two or more sets of oars. They had rudders to steer and were powered by men and oars. They were wooden up until the 1960's when fiberglass became the norm, well that's if you could find one anymore. They sorta disappeared after the outboard revolution in the 1930's. Design wise a whaleboat is a sturdy craft that was usually pretty wide and could displace quite a bit when loaded but not become unsafe. The rails were pretty low, making it easier to row and pull things up over the…