In Woodbridge, Virginia, a woman wandered into her yard and found an eastern copperhead slithering through her flower bed. That’s not so unusual where she lives, as the region is home to a plethora of ophidians, from harmless corn snakes to venomous rattlers. But this one was different: It had two heads.
Read the rest over on Wired
Posted in Critters
The Enola Gay dropping the bomb on Hiroshima, August 6, 1945.
On this day in 1945, at 8:16 a.m. Japanese time, an American B-29 bomber, the Enola Gay, drops the world’s first atom bomb, over the city of Hiroshima. Approximately 80,000 people are killed as a direct result of the blast, and another 35,000 are injured. At least another 60,000 would be dead by the end of the year from the effects of the fallout
Posted in On This Day
It was with minimal expectations that, on August 3, 1977, Tandy Corporation teamed up with Radio Shack to release the TRS-80, one of the first personal computers available to consumer markets. While Don French — a buyer for the Tandy Radio Shack consumer electronic chain — had convinced some Tandy executives of the need to release a personal computer, most felt it was unlikely to gross substantial profits. This bulky item with complex operating procedures would never sell, they thought, more than 1,000 units in its first month… As it turned out, the TRS-80 surpassed even the most cautious sales estimates by tenfold within its first month on the market; the burgeoning prospects of a new era in personal electronics and computing could no longer be denied. It had no hard drive and four kilobytes of memory, according to the article. Radio Shack’s $600 PC was preceded by the MITS Altair, as well as PCs from both Apple and IBM, but “the TRS-80 was one of the first products that came fully assembled and ready to use, bridging the gap in accessibility between hobbyists — who took interest in the actual building of the computer — and the average American consumer, who wanted to know what this new, cutting-edge technology had in store for them.”
Posted in Gadgets
The Zombie 222, a 1968 Ford Mustang fastback that’s been converted to all electric. 1,000 horse power, 1,800 pound feet of torque, 0 to 60 in 1.79 seconds. They don’t call it a Hot Rod; they don’t call it a Rat Rod; they call it a Lightning Rod.
Posted in Because I Can, Gadgets, Planes Trains and Automobiles
They’re the Corvettes that time forgot. And 30 years ago, they were the ultimate prize in one of the most outlandish sweepstakes ever. A rare armada of 36 Chevrolet Corvettes has once again seen the light of day. The incredible fleet, which originally cost cable music network VH1 $610,000 in 1989 for a sweepstakes, has sat nearly abandoned in a New York City storage lot for about 25 years.
Read the rest of the story over on DYT: here
Posted in Planes Trains and Automobiles
