The Kottke 500

This Flickr set is a fantastic way to waste 10 mins!
(It helps if you're a Star Wars fan)

This one's probably one of my favourites.


Also along the Star Wars theme was this very important picture:

(Important because it extends the storyline of this saga!

Now that I've dispensed with the frivolities, on to more important things.

I picked up a safety pin off the floor this morning and I was hesitant to discard it - this annoyed me because on one hand, I get more safety pins every time my suits come back from the dry cleaners. And on the other hand, I feel bad discarding a perfectly good safety pin.

What's more, have you ever thought about what it takes to make a safety pin?

Think about it this way. Say you're on a deserted island that happens to be rich in natural resources. How would you go about making a safety pin? (Forget for one minute that the need for a safety pin is somewhat moot if you're on a deserted island.)

You'd need iron ore, a smelting pot, a seriously hot fire, some kind of hammering object, a stone to sharpen the piercing tip, etc etc.

All that for a safety pin.

Now try increasing the complexity to a pencil.

'Once in the pencil factory—$4,000,000 in machinery and building, all capital accumulated by thrifty and saving parents of mine—each slat is given eight grooves by a complex machine, after which another machine lays leads in every other slat, applies glue, and places another slat atop—a lead sandwich, so to speak. Seven brothers and I are mechanically carved from this “wood-clinched” sandwich."

Wow. Think about it this way. If the world suddenly stopped producing pencils. And all the pencil making factories fell into a pile of rubble. And you really, REALLY needed ONE pencil.

It'd effectively cost you $4m/8 or about half a mil for one batch of eight pencils. My entire house isn't worth that one pencil.

Insane thought isn't it?

On a related note,Christien Meindertsma managed to trace 185 products made from contributed parts originating from one single pig.

"Amongst some of the more unexpected results were: Ammunition, medicine, photo paper, heart valves, brakes, chewing gum, porcelain, cosmetics, cigarettes, conditioner and even bio diesel."

When I stop to think about how technology has affected so many aspects of our lives, it really dwarves what I think I know about the world.

Oh, by the way, pretty much all the topics in this particular blog post were inspired directly or indirectly by recent readings of kottke.org.

Also, happy 500th blog post to Joecities! Hope you've enjoyed the ride!