on ebay?

May 5, 2005 2:20 PM

WHOOO....How Stuff works tackles a biggie....its all about lightsabers! "The big advantage of using a lightsaber, of course, is that you can both cut and toast the bagel in one stroke." via /.
posted by ShawnString (29 comments total)

Most useful lightsaber site on the Interweb. Helped me choose which model was right for me.
posted by Joey Michaels at 2:37 PM on May 5, 2005

And a nice bit of viralish marketing on the part of Lucas and co.
posted by piskycritter at 2:57 PM on May 5, 2005

As if they needed any more marketing after we saw Yoda with the can of Pepsi.
posted by mek at 3:01 PM on May 5, 2005

Has anyone had much success cutting open a tauntaun using anything but a light saber?
posted by Cranberry at 3:06 PM on May 5, 2005

Really, if you are going to be slicing open a tauntaun, any large bladed item will do. I recommend a typical cane field knife for size and general sharpness.
posted by Joey Michaels at 3:12 PM on May 5, 2005

Cranberry, I used garden shears once, and they worked like a charm.
posted by Gamblor at 3:13 PM on May 5, 2005

Ok, actually it was on a waitress, and it left a godawful mess. Long story short, stick with the light saber.
posted by Gamblor at 3:16 PM on May 5, 2005

These guys, all the celeb reviews... sounds like grasping at hype straws to me. Still, I liked this article.
posted by sninky-chan at 3:20 PM on May 5, 2005

Hey, the timing is great for this, what with the new movie coming out soon and everything......
posted by fenriq at 3:24 PM on May 5, 2005

My favorite is peppermint, because when you bite into it, it gives off sparks!
posted by gigawhat? at 3:29 PM on May 5, 2005

My favorite lightsaber color is blue. Pepsi blue.
posted by grouse at 3:35 PM on May 5, 2005

Does anyone know where I can find the short MTV moive where a kid gets a lightsaber for Christmas, cuts grandma in half and hilarity ensues. Tried to find that a couple weeks ago and had no luck. TIA.
posted by piskycritter at 3:41 PM on May 5, 2005

you can both cut and toast the bagel in one stroke

sounds like a familiar scene in the hitchhiker's guide to the galaxy. (trillian showing arthur the kitchen knife - you can toast the bread as you slice it)
posted by snack at 3:53 PM on May 5, 2005

There are so many fascinating real things to learn about. Why waste time on fake things, especially when the construction details have no basis in real physics?
posted by orthogonality at 3:57 PM on May 5, 2005

Fake things often become real. And a basis in real physics depends on your understanding of physics at any given point in time. Luminous aether, anyone?
posted by bashos_frog at 4:02 PM on May 5, 2005

piskycritter: try here [mpg].
posted by monju_bosatsu at 4:05 PM on May 5, 2005

speaking of real things, very real tony blair was actually on the cover of the sun today, sporting a brown robe and swinging a lightsaber. clearly they are valuable and useful tools, not that far removed from our day to day. (or is it mr. blair who's lost touch...)
posted by venus in furs at 4:35 PM on May 5, 2005

HFS monju - I just spent the last 5 minutes IMing that to everyone in the office. Classic.
posted by scarabic at 5:25 PM on May 5, 2005

orthogonality, I find your lack of faith disturbing.
posted by PlusDistance at 6:30 PM on May 5, 2005

how wide is the kerf?
posted by exlotuseater at 8:42 PM on May 5, 2005

Your day must be very boring with no imagination, orthogonality.
posted by bigtimes at 8:53 PM on May 5, 2005

The PR groups have determined that it is now time to whip us all into a frensy about star wars again, and we're all leaping onto that bandwagon and getting ready to empty our pockets for mr. lucas. The hype is everywhere now - wired has lucas on the cover, the tv ads are starting .... The crazy thing about this light saber posting (which I did read and which was cute) is I doubt that the folks who did it got paid to do it (except for the ads on their site). But I hate the fact that our collective love for star wars is manipulated in such a scheduled conscious and manipulative way.
posted by sirvesa at 8:58 PM on May 5, 2005

Also good info on Wikipedia.
posted by rolypolyman at 9:21 PM on May 5, 2005

Yeah, but it feels so good being used
posted by Hicksu at 10:44 PM on May 5, 2005

Lightsabers do not truly exist, therefore there are no rules about building Lightsabers.
posted by tellurian at 10:58 PM on May 5, 2005

Heh - that's teh funni.

The risk of personal injury is much higher with a double-bladed lightsaber, and their practical applications around the home are limited. Therefore, it is probably best to save your money and stick with the single-blade version.

Er - yup :-)


Shame about the lame picture on page 2 - the lightsaber shadow is coloured; surely the lightsaber is a lightsource, and hence (a) doesn't cast a shadow, and (b) will cause changes to the shadows of other objects... doh!

Oh, and does the guy doing the hedge cutting (page 5) look rather like James Hetfield (of Metallica) in his post mop-chop era??
posted by Chunder at 1:47 AM on May 6, 2005

Marshall Brain, the creator of HowStuffWorks, is an old frat buddy of mine. He's as nerdy as the next engineer; so he indulged himself a bit. Cut the guy a break.
posted by Doohickie at 4:33 AM on May 6, 2005

Didn't Marshall Brain also write a book about how the darn kids are into the sex too much, and if young men would just buy suits their problems would be solved, and if men would assert their dominance over women, the world would be a better place?

Yep, looks like he did.
posted by UKnowForKids at 10:42 AM on May 6, 2005

Heh.... that's a side of Marshall I didn't know about.
posted by Doohickie at 2:09 PM on May 9, 2005