Chad Weider

No, not that kind of [fun](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inhalant) – I’m talking about fun with endothermic reactions!

You see – Dust-Off isn’t really compressed air (pressurized Nitrogen is pretty boring) but is in fact liquid [difluoroethane](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Difluoroethane). So what happens when you release a liquid with a boiling point well below that of room temperature (-24.9 °C)?

Lets find out:

You get a reaction that will absorb an awful lot of energy from it’s surroundings (you can freeze stuff).

Getting more to the point- around here, in the summer, I come across a fair bunch of house spiders and, while I don’t mind them outdoors, can’t have them wandering around indoors. The problem is that they can be pretty tough to catch (especially the small ones) and mashing them makes a mess (especially the big ones). However, with the help of the aforementioned fluorocarbon, dealing with insects is a breeze.

All you need to do is give the can a good shake, tilt sideways and aim and fire. If you do things correctly the nozzle (moistened by shaking) will produce a directed spray of very fine difluoroethane droplets that, due to the their large surface area, vaporize rapidly – making the immediate surroundings very cool.

Bonus: on a humid day, your very likely to see frost form from the spray!

With [C4\[1\]](http://rentzsch.com/c4/1preNotes) starting tomorrow (which I, sadly, won’t be at). It seems apropos that I put out my graphical rendering of Rentzsch’s Obj-C sign from C4[0]. There you are!

(more…)

As I mentioned [before](/2007/06/13/unicycle-madness/) I’m now a unicyclist of sorts and, as I should post about soon, I also have a fetish for unique, swanky tshirts- the combination of which brought me to, over the past month or so, immerse myself in the world of professional printing. The result of which I present to you now:

I’m calling it my Crankflip Tee, and it’s been my first hands-on experience with custom tees – how exciting!

Getting more to the point, now that I’ve completed the design I’m getting ready to get it professionally screen printed in a week or two. Since I’ve already had a few inquiries on the shirts from inside and outside the [unicyclist community](http://www.unicyclist.com/) I’ve set up a page for ordering them [here](http://tees.oofn.net).

Over the next few weeks I hope to get much wiser to the ways of low-volume, custom printing. If the experience proves itself to be worthwhile you can expect to see a few more designs to make their way onto quality, sweatshop-free cotton in the not too distant future.

» Continue on to [tees.oofn.net](http://tees.oofn.net)

By way of [Laughing Squid](http://laughingsquid.com/create-your-own-simpsons-avatar/) I found a groovy Simpson’s avator [creator](http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/main.html) (part of the Simpson’s movie promo site). Who knew that an appropriately themed [paper doll](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paper_doll) could be so fun!

Looks like I’m all ready for my [guest appearance](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_guest_stars_on_The_Simpsons). Now to work on that getting famous part…

This is a posting about me and my taste for “interesting” soft drinks. In addition to the usual suspects (like [Jones sodas](http://www.jonessoda.com/) and [Bawls](http://www.bawls.com/)) I also have a fondness for the fly-by-night varieties from major producers as well.

In the past I’ve hoarded [dnL](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DnL) and on the off-occasion I eat at a Taco Bell I’m sure to get [Baja-Blast](http://www.dewbajablast.com/home.php) from the fountain. Most recently I stumbled on Lipton’s [Apple Flavored Green Tea](http://www.liptonbrisk.com/products/green.asp) at [WWDC](http://developer.apple.com/wwdc/) last month.

It tastes a lot like I would guess sour apple Jolly Ranchers in liquid form would taste like (and fructose levels commensurate with that). MMmm, give it a try – it’s some good stuff.

Yesterday while I was in Berkeley (headed to unicycle basketball, natch) I stopped by [Rasputin Music](http://www.rasputinmusic.com/).

Rasputin music is an awesome chain of music stores in the Bay Area. They’re a little freaky (named after the dead siberian witch doctor…) but they carry a bunch of my music which, in the US, is pretty impressive. They have a great selection of Dance/Trance/Electronica – which in my book gets them mad props.

Anyways, out there in downtown Berkeley I was able to get a hold of [the Orb’s](http://www.theorb.com/) [Adventures Beyond the Ultraworld](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Orb%27s_Adventures_Beyond_The_Ultraworld), one of the first and most important ambient albums from the 90’s. And it wasn’t any watered-down American version either, it was the original UK 110min two-disc release – so exciting!