How to Beat a Speeding Ticket: A Guide for Motorists

[flatmaster]

Unlike a real hot dog cooker, a weenie roaster produces a nasty smell and warms up something you definitely wouldn't want to eat.

 

[Danger]

The thing that keeps roofing tar molten?

 

[flatmaster]

Nope. Does molten tar look like a hotdog?

Your on the right track though. This device would also be found on a construction site.

 

[Danger]

Does molten tar look like a hotdog?

Given my cooking skills, that's debatable. Anyhow, you didn't say that the object resembled a weenie, so I assumed that you meant something like a BBQ.

 

[flatmaster]

So here's what you've got so far...

Heats up something shaped like a weenie
Found on construction site.
Heats something up to soften it, but not melt it.

 

[collinsmark]

Industrial heat gun?


[Source: http://www.wagnerspraytech.com/portal/ht3500_en_spray,362095,358970.html]

"Ideal for removing multiple types of paint, remove flooring, rusted bolts, thawing frozen pipes and much more."​

 

[ImATrackMan]

Unlike a real hot dog cooker, a weenie roaster produces a nasty smell and warms up something you definitely wouldn't want to eat.

"waste material" (you KNOW what material) furnace?

 

[flatmaster]

Industrial heat gun?


[Source: http://www.wagnerspraytech.com/portal/ht3500_en_spray,362095,358970.html ]

"Ideal for removing multiple types of paint, remove flooring, rusted bolts, thawing frozen pipes and much more."​

Close enough. A weenie roaster is a PVC heater box. It's a long box heated with a burner or electric element to make the PVC easy to bend. Rollers allow you to rotate the pipe as its heated so its evenly cooked.

http://www.google.com/patents/US6257880

Collinsmark is up

 

[collinsmark]

Okay, I'll try to keep it simple.

The jargon term of the day is: break.

In this context,

• It is a verb (i.e. an action).
• It involves certain types of food, among other things.
• This action is not performed directly by humans (e.g., "let's break for lunch"), but rather the action can happen whether humans are around or not. In the case where it involves food, it's the food that does the breaking. Generally speaking, whatever does the breaking is whatever breaks. (It is possible for humans to indirectly influence breaking. I'm just saying that it's not humans themselves that do the breaking.)
• Sure, it can be said that an egg can "break" or a potato chip can "break", but that's not what I'm looking for. In the context I'm looking for its meaning is a little different, such that the breaking does not involve a blow, shock or strain.

 

[Office_Shredder]

Is it fruit in fruit ninja being slashed? Maybe there's a CPU mode in the game

 

[collinsmark]

Is it fruit in fruit ninja being slashed? Maybe there's a CPU mode in the game

No, it doesn't involve a video/computer game.

 

[collinsmark]

Hints of the Day

• Perhaps the profession of the most prevalent users of the term break, in context, are chefs and/or cooks. I'm guessing one might hear the term on occasion by watching cooking shows on television. (Do we have any PF members who regularly watch cooking shows? <sarcasm> )
• Not all foods can break; only certain types of foods can.
• The term is not limited to food or the kitchen. Perhaps the profession of the second most prevalent users of the term, in context, are scientists in the laboratory.

 

[flatmaster]

Your clue about the chefs made me think of the process of "cracking" chydorarbons. I think breaking is some sort of chemical change that can happen to food as a result of cooking.

More specifically, my guess is that to break a piece of food is to denature its proteins. This is done most often with heat such as when a runny egg albumen turns solid and white. Breaking can also be done chemically with something acidic like lime juice.

 

[collinsmark]

Your clue about the chefs made me think of the process of "cracking" chydorarbons. I think breaking is some sort of chemical change that can happen to food as a result of cooking.

More specifically, my guess is that to break a piece of food is to denature its proteins. This is done most often with heat such as when a runny egg albumen turns solid and white. Breaking can also be done chemically with something acidic like lime juice.

You are kind of close, but not close enough. Breaking is not a chemical reaction.

That said, I should elaborate. Foods which are capable of breaking (in this context):

• can break due to cooking/heating them, but not for the reasons or the way in which you mention.
• can break due to adding something acidic like lime/lemon juice, but not for the reasons or the way in which you mention.
• can break when spooned into a test tube and then placed in a centrifuge (this last one obviously involves neither cooking nor chemicals).

Which brings me to my next post, the "extra special bonus hint of the day."

 

[collinsmark]

Extra Special Bonus Hint of the Day

Breaking in this context is technically a physical reaction, not a chemical one*. That said, it's right on the border between physical and chemical, but decidedly leaning toward the physical.​

*(Chemicals and chemical reactions can indirectly cause breaking [in substances that are capable of breaking in the first place, of course]. But the breaking itself is technically a physical reaction. Breaking can also occur without any chemical reactions taking place at all.)

To get extra special bonus credit, name the type of substance to which these foods -- and their non-food counterparts -- belong.

To get normal credit, name at least two examples of this type of food (or non-food), or one really good one**. (Remember, you are looking for a type of food [or even a non-food type of substance] that can "break.")

**(Particularly if it's a really good, yummy, tasty one.)

 

[drizzle]

We need another hint!

 

[Argentum Vulpes]

The only time I've ever herd this term used in a kitchen in line with clues is when making a Hollandaise sauce.

If too much heat is used the eggs will start to cook and separate (break) from the emulsified butter.

*edit*

I guess after thinking on it for a bit this could also happen in any type of sauce that uses an emulsification of a fat. So another sauce that comes to mind is an Alfaro sauce. and that is all I have for tonight because it is wayyyyy past my bed time, dam you internet. :)

 

[collinsmark]

Argentum Vulpes wins the round, including the extra special bonus points for mentioning a derivative of the word "emulsion."

Have you ever wondered what soap does? Yes, of course it helps clean things, but why soap? Why not some other substance? If you want to clean something, why not just rub walrus poo all over the surface? What is it in particular about soap that makes it more effective? Answer: Soap is an emulsifier.

There's an old saying that some say, "oil and water don't mix." Or do they? Well they sort can mix quite well if they are in an emulsion.

When you add soap to oil, the soap forms microscopic bubbles which encapsulate the oil. The soap, forming microscopic shells around the microscopic droplets of oil, is "soluble," so to speak, in water. Thus all of that can get rinsed away, something that wouldn't have happened without the soap. But "soap" isn't the only game in town. You wouldn't want to eat soap of course, but there are alternatives.

Many emulsifiers are edible and tasty.

But before I go into specific examples, emulsions have something in common. Think of "suds" and "bubbles" that go with soap. The size of the "bubbles" can vary from sub-microscopic up to the obviously macroscopic. All emulsions have that this sort of thing in common: some sort of bubbly thing going on that requires an emulsifier of some sort.

Here are some food examples of emulsions:

• Mayonnaise (this is my favorite emulsion. More on this later.)
• Mayonnaise based things such as
  • Tartar sauce (yummy)
  • Ranch dressing (So good. Don't get me started.)
  • Thousand island dressing (Wonderful on a Ruben sandwich)
  • etc.
• Hollandaise (also grand. Eggs Benedict anyone?)
• Yellow mustard (Not the best emulsion example, but still awesome.)
• Most salad dressings (most, but not all. If you shake your salad dressing and it immediately separates, it's probably not an emulsion. But if you shake your salad dressing, and it stays mixed for at least a little while, it just might be an emulsion. Creamy dressings like ranch, blue cheese, are emulsions.)
• Milk (Yes, milk. Milk is a very stable emulsion [hard to break] of fats in water. But technically it is an emulsion.)
• Cream (also stable. Easier to break than milk, but still comparatively stable.)
• Whipped cream (cream is an emulsion already, so why not add a little bit of air into the emulsion too.)
• Butter (also comparatively stable.)
• Peanut butter (this is a bad example, but is technically an emulsion none-the-less).
• And as I've discovered the hard way, imitation, pasteurized, processed cheese-food spread substitute.

When the components (oil and water, or fat and water, or whatever) of an emulsion separate, the emulsion is said to "break." That means it is no longer homogenous on the macroscopic scale any more. Chefs need to be careful not to "break" their emulsions by ensuring they use the right proportions, combining ingredients the right order and using the right process.

Peanut butter isn't that great of an example of an emulsion, since once it breaks (the oil separates from the rest) it is easy to rectify just by stirring it back up, making it right again. Other food emulsions are far less forgiving. Let's work our way toward mayonnaise.

There are several foods which act as emulsifiers. Egg yoke is a good example. Egg yolk contains lecithin which is an emulsifier.

That brings us to mayonnaise.

Mayonnaise is made of

• Almost all vegetable oil: lots and lots of vegetable oil.
• A little bit of egg yolk.
• A little bit of water.
• A smaller bit of acid such as vinegar or lemon juice, just to get the PH optimal.
• Maybe some salt/seasoning for flavor, maybe.
• That's about it.

Note that all (or most) of the above are liquid. If you were to take all the ingredients, even in their correct proportions, and throw them all in a blender at once, you would not end up with mayonnaise. Rather you would end up with a watery, oily, liquid mess.

Instead, it is necessary to pour the oil into the rest very slowly -- one drop at a time in the beginning -- while vigorously whisking.

Make you own homemade mayonnaise.

Once you have mayonnaise, you can use it to make other things such as tarter sauce or salad dressing. But when adding more ingredients to the mayonnaise, be sure to add them slowly while stirring, otherwise you can break it.

Besides soap, paint is a fine example of a non-food emulsion. When wet, the paint is water soluble making clean-up much easier. The only reason this is possible is because when "wet" the paint is much more than just wet. It's an emulsion. As part of the process of drying, the emulsion breaks leaving only the "real" paint that dries, is not water soluble, and is very difficult or impossible to clean up with only a wet sponge by that time.

Okay, Argentum Vulpes. You're up.

 

[collinsmark]

Argentum Vulpes? Hello?

 

[collinsmark]

Well, we seem to have temporarily lost Argentum Vulpes. (Hurry back!)

In the mean time, let's go with a new, simple, quick round. This is meant to be a relatively easy one. If you don't know it off the top of your head, it shouldn't take much more than a few minutes of research. As usual, the first person who identifies the jargon term, gets to pick a new term.

Jargon term of the day: what is a via?

In this context:

• It is a noun.
• It's usually a tangible object. I say "usually," since there does exist circumstances where a via can be intangible. But in practice this almost never happens, and is more the exception than the rule. So I'll say a via is usually a tangible object. That's my story and I'm sticking with it.
• It is a technical term. It wouldn't have existed 100* [sic] years ago.
• A via is a very common term in the art to which it relates.

*(Edit: I take that back. It wouldn't have existed more than 111 years ago.)

Again, this round isn't meant to be tough. I picked the word via since its definition (in context) didn't come up directly in the first page of google hits (as of the time of this post). But with a little digging, it shouldn't be hard to figure out.

 

[collinsmark]

Nobody?

Hint of the Day

Vias involve insulators and conductors.​

 

[QuarkCharmer]

I think that you are referring to the "via", as in, the little electrical pathway that separates different layers of an integrated circuit?

 

[collinsmark]

I think that you are referring to the "via", as in, the little electrical pathway that separates different layers of an integrated circuit?

Bingo! (Well, it usually refers to a printed circuit board [PCB], but can apply to an integrated circuit too, so good enough.)

QuarkCharmer wins the round.

Via's are "holes" in an electronic printed circuit board, usually filled (at least partially) with a conductor (e.g. solder) to connect different layers of the board. Vias can be made to go only between certain layers of a multi-layer board (more expensive, more complicated), or they can go through the entire board (cheaper, less complicated, but take up more overall board space).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Via_%28electronics%29

Vias can also be within an integrated circuit (a.k.a computer "chip").

I mentioned that vias were "usually" tangible. When designing and laying out a circuit board, any through hole is still called a via, even if it is not electrically connected to anything. A "hole" is not tangible. But usually vias are at least partially filled with conducting material (solder) if not completely filled, which makes them tangible.

Okay QuarkCharmer, you're up.

 

[Argentum Vulpes]

I've been ridiculously busy for the last several weeks, as it looks like QuarkCharmer is AFK, I'll try to start this back up.

The word is:

Pickle

Hint:

It has nothing to do with any of this

 

[QuarkCharmer]

I've been ridiculously busy for the last several weeks, as it looks like QuarkCharmer is AFK, I'll try to start this back up.

The word is:

Pickle

Hint:

It has nothing to do with any of this

Pickle as in "the tricky/complicated situation" ?

For instance, "You're in quite the pickle!" ?

/Yeah sorry about being AFK

 

[Argentum Vulpes]

Pickle as in "the tricky/complicated situation" ?

For instance, "You're in quite the pickle!" ?

/Yeah sorry about being AFK

Nope, and this fits into my next clue:

If you forget/lose your pickle you will be in quite a pickle.

 

[drizzle]

I admit it, my mind is totally messed up with this game.. I miss PF chess :/

 

[flatmaster]

Is a pickle some sort of portable storage like a USB flash drive?

 

[Argentum Vulpes]

nope, I'll give the next hint tomorrow.

 

[Argentum Vulpes]

Hint for today.

There is a mini version of a pickle that can clip to your belt loop.

 

[Argentum Vulpes]

Ok still got people stumped, the next hint is a twofer:

A pickle can be very simple to a fancy computer system, and it can operate one to many in the same box.

 

[flatmaster]

Is a pickle a key fob?

 

[Argentum Vulpes]

Not quite.

Although you might need a key fob to operate some more advanced pickles. The most common device that is run by a pickle, that I see, has a "CM" logo on the side, although in other applications "CM" is not often found.

 

[edward]

The woman in the video has a pickle.

 

[lisab]

A remote control?