Intellectual Property Law

Mini Mythbusters

I confess I enjoy watching the broadcast show "MythBusters," vicariously rigging all manner of apparatus winches, clamps, rotary arms, timing circuits and generally playing around within the arena of physics.
If you haven't seen the show, they start with some myth and the questions about the properties at play. (Example: Can a man stop a samurai sword by clapping it in his hands?) Then state the proposition they intend to test and the challenges. ( Can man clap hands together at sufficient speed to stop descending sword given speed man with sword can slice down? Test hand clap speed and strength, test sword swinging speed, do the math, and find an answer.

I ran my own "mini-mythbuster" on Sunday. The myth: hanging a large carpet vertically on a wall is a two person job.
Dimension 8 feet by 8.5 feet. Weight- bloody heavy! When rolled up, it was liftable to carry but not hoistable from a ladder to the desired height. It was empirically determined that one could not climb the ladder, flop it against the wall, hold with one arm against the wall and hammer with another. Second, it was flopping when unrolled.

What to do? The solution took 4 hours, using only the limited tools at hand (ladder, hammer, eight 3 inch nails, and four 8 foot lengths of stud wood, and a never-been used staple gun which triggered the hunter- gatherer instinct when I saw it was ON SALE at a drastically reduced at the Hardware Store).

What did I learn? Because of the limits (physical strength, available tools) most of the time I spent thinking about the problem. No, I did not use the Internet (do they have this stuff on YouTube under "pig-headed DIY") - honestly, I just thought by myself, trying to envision how to overcome the weight and flop problems. When the solution appeared, the execution did not take long. I see a future for me ---- in sticking to my day job :)

noon- the carpet and the intended wall

2:45- not much progress can be seen, but I have an idea

4pm: job done

photo credit: me and my iphone

Full post as published by Idea Lawyer Blog on October 21, 2008 (boomark / email).