How to build a bomb

October 14, 2002 11:47 AM

How to build a bomb isn't all there is to the Internet as press would have you think. Anyway it's harder than just getting some plans, as this guy found out. So why not build a bomb shelter instead? Or build your own train, hovercraft, speedboat, car or plane - can't fly - don't worry build a flight simulator! Toast your success with DIY firewater cooked with your solar furnace. Enjoy your CB radio, listen to MP3s or toy with your sextant. And with all the kinky clothes and loads of pervy toys to make who has time to build bombs? I can see the bumper stickers now "Make leg spreaders, not war!"
posted by DrDoberman (13 comments total)

for some reason you post is eating most of the front page for me.
posted by jsonic at 11:54 AM on October 14, 2002

I wondered if the huge gaping space on the front page was some sort of comment on the vapidity and pointlessness of modern existence....
posted by skylar at 11:56 AM on October 14, 2002

Typical Guardian oh-aren't-we-clever nonsense, except for this line:

"Hmm?" says the press officer, a little defensively. She is clearly wondering in what way the Guardian is about to blame McDonald's for Hiroshima.
posted by agaffin at 11:57 AM on October 14, 2002

Me three. What's a 'clear=all' bit of html do?
posted by robself at 11:57 AM on October 14, 2002

Yeah, I see that too, didn't look like that in the preview, and it looks fine if you colapse the sideblog. Very strange - is it possible to edit it... b*gger!
posted by DrDoberman at 11:59 AM on October 14, 2002

I have a vague recollection of buying hovercraft plans off the net once, when I was twelve or so. The sextant plans intrigue me — very impressive, if he was really able to get decent accuracy.

clear=all means that the tag in question (in this case, the <br>) can't have anything to either the left or the right of it. clear=left and clear=right are also valid. It's used to line things up in a table-like way when using a column-like layout.

cf. MetaTalk.
posted by IshmaelGraves at 12:11 PM on October 14, 2002

There are some other interesting sites on nuclear weapons design out there that seem a bit more practical
posted by TedW at 3:02 PM on October 14, 2002

Heck, why not build a monorail, a scanning tunneling electron microscope (one of several), or a pulse-jet (maybe for your cruise missile — it's historical! everybody's doing it!)?
posted by hattifattener at 3:55 PM on October 14, 2002

I have to take exception to your characterization of Drea Leed's excellent page on Elizabethan costuming as "kinky clothes". Her site is well respected and used by lots of serious reenactors.

(A more appropriate "kinky" corset link would have been something like this page)
posted by kate_fairfax at 6:11 PM on October 14, 2002

OK, so a Leg Spreader "is a simple little device that has a stack of uses"....
And here I can't think of one....
posted by Eekacat at 7:26 PM on October 14, 2002

Elizabethan Bumroll? Is that a pastry or a musical flourish?
posted by octobersurprise at 8:00 PM on October 14, 2002

OK, so a Leg Spreader "is a simple little device that has a stack of uses"....
And here I can't think of one....

Errr.. spreading legs would be one I guess Eekacat
posted by DrDoberman at 2:24 AM on October 15, 2002

Well, when a lady in Elizabethan costume asks you if her bum looks fat in this dress, the correct answer is actually "Yes"
posted by kate_fairfax at 9:35 AM on October 15, 2002