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OK, so I have 4 HDs that need to be destroyed. (Unfortunately, I don't
have a SCSI controller capable of operating them, so I can't erase them
that way.)
In the past, what I've done is drill through the platters with a power
tool. (Yes, stupid I know, but the Director of IT thinks this is... a
perfectly acceptable way to destroy the data.) Fortunately, with the IDE
drives found in desktops, the drill cuts through them like a hot knife
through butter. Unfortunately, these SCSI server-class drives appear to
be made of Kryptonite or something, because the drill simply dances
around the place, barely scratching the metal.
Oh dear.
Well, maybe if I take the lid off... ah. Star-drive screws, just
*slightly* smaller than the smallest screwdriver we possess. Damn.
Enter stage right: My dad. If you want to destroy something, he's your man.
He grabs a pair of fat, chunky screwdrivers, and manages to wedge one
between the lid and the body, and proceeds to lever the lid off. Screws
pop out and fly across the room at supersonic velocities. These drives
are made of some serious metal, but somehow my dad bends the lid until
it looks like a crumpled sheet of cardboard. He tries to bash in the
platters, but they're really sturdy. So I drill through them instead.
Well, that was the Maxtor drive. The other three are IBM. He picks up
the first one and tries to lever off the lid. As he's levering it up, I
hear a loud crack. Turning the drive over, there's a melodious jingling
sound. We shake the drive a little, and shards of silvered glass tumble
out. We shake it some more, and dragually big chunks of platter tumble
out. When we finally get the lid off, the platters have *shattered*
clean through. (Obviously my dad was levering against the platters
themselves.)
We proceed to destroy the other two drives in the same way. Damn, I'm
glad we both had glasses on! When those things snap, they blast glass
dust and glass shards everywhere with considerable violence. The final
disk, my dad snapped it, and we turned it over the bin. What came out
was more or less sand. I guess you had to be there... it was really
quite funny. Well, *we* both laughed our arses off! ;-)
Mmm, shattered glass. This might take a while to clear up...
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Invisible <voi### [at] dev null> wrote:
> OK, so I have 4 HDs that need to be destroyed. (Unfortunately, I don't
> have a SCSI controller capable of operating them, so I can't erase them
> that way.)
>
> Enter stage right: My dad. If you want to destroy something, he's your man.
>
Can't you give them to your mother? ;)
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Stephen wrote:
>
> Can't you give them to your mother? ;)
>
No, he'll wind up screwed to the harddrive...
--
~Mike
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Mike Raiford <"m[raiford]!at"@gmail.com> wrote:
> Stephen wrote:
>
> >
> > Can't you give them to your mother? ;)
> >
>
> No, he'll wind up screwed to the harddrive...
>
> --
> ~Mike
ROTFL
Stephen
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Invisible wrote:
> OK, so I have 4 HDs that need to be destroyed. (Unfortunately, I don't
> have a SCSI controller capable of operating them, so I can't erase them
> that way.)
>
> In the past, what I've done is drill through the platters with a power
> tool. (Yes, stupid I know, but the Director of IT thinks this is... a
> perfectly acceptable way to destroy the data.) Fortunately, with the IDE
> drives found in desktops, the drill cuts through them like a hot knife
> through butter. Unfortunately, these SCSI server-class drives appear to
> be made of Kryptonite or something, because the drill simply dances
> around the place, barely scratching the metal.
>
> Oh dear.
>
> Well, maybe if I take the lid off... ah. Star-drive screws, just
> *slightly* smaller than the smallest screwdriver we possess. Damn.
Google "thermite recipe"
Regards,
John
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John VanSickle <evi### [at] hotmailcom> wrote:
> Invisible wrote:
> > OK, so I have 4 HDs that need to be destroyed. (Unfortunately, I don't
> > have a SCSI controller capable of operating them, so I can't erase them
> > that way.)
> >
> > In the past, what I've done is drill through the platters with a power
> > tool. (Yes, stupid I know, but the Director of IT thinks this is... a
> > perfectly acceptable way to destroy the data.) Fortunately, with the IDE
> > drives found in desktops, the drill cuts through them like a hot knife
> > through butter. Unfortunately, these SCSI server-class drives appear to
> > be made of Kryptonite or something, because the drill simply dances
> > around the place, barely scratching the metal.
> >
> > Oh dear.
> >
> > Well, maybe if I take the lid off... ah. Star-drive screws, just
> > *slightly* smaller than the smallest screwdriver we possess. Damn.
>
> Google "thermite recipe"
*Mwhahahahaha!*
Yeah, I guess that should do the job.
Make sure you don't exercise this in the server room though :P
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>> Google "thermite recipe"
Better: Google "thermite videos". :-P
> *Mwhahahahaha!*
>
> Yeah, I guess that should do the job.
>
> Make sure you don't exercise this in the server room though :P
Google "sledgehammar" and "nut". ;-)
If I were to go down this route, obviously I'd purchase some
professionally prepaired thermite. But it seems kind of an expensive way
just to get rid of some old SCSI HDs...
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Invisible <voi### [at] devnull> wrote:
> If I were to go down this route, obviously I'd purchase some
> professionally prepaired thermite. But it seems kind of an expensive way
> just to get rid of some old SCSI HDs...
It seems kind of a FUN way, too...
How about inviting your colleagues (especially the cute young female ones ;))
for a SCSI BBQ? :P
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>> If I were to go down this route, obviously I'd purchase some
>> professionally prepaired thermite. But it seems kind of an expensive way
>> just to get rid of some old SCSI HDs...
>
> It seems kind of a FUN way, too...
>
> How about inviting your colleagues (especially the cute young female ones ;))
> for a SCSI BBQ? :P
That's gotta be some *bad* case of indigestion afterwards.
(Mmm, shattered glass. Yummy.)
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On Mon, 08 Jun 2009 08:18:01 -0400, clipka wrote:
>> Google "thermite recipe"
>
> *Mwhahahahaha!*
>
> Yeah, I guess that should do the job.
>
> Make sure you don't exercise this in the server room though :P
Or on a block of ice, particularly in an enclosed space.
Jim
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Invisible wrote:
> If I were to go down this route, obviously I'd purchase some
> professionally prepaired thermite. But it seems kind of an expensive way
> just to get rid of some old SCSI HDs...
I don't think they can ship the ingredients in a mixed state. Too much
potential for a high-intensity fire.
--
~Mike
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Jim Henderson wrote:
> Or on a block of ice, particularly in an enclosed space.
You must have seen Mythbusters... :)
--
~Mike
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On Mon, 08 Jun 2009 13:18:22 -0500, Mike Raiford wrote:
> Jim Henderson wrote:
>
>> Or on a block of ice, particularly in an enclosed space.
>
> You must have seen Mythbusters... :)
Every week it's on.....we even got to see them live here in Salt Lake
City - that was fun. :-)
Jim
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Mike Raiford wrote:
> Invisible wrote:
>
>> If I were to go down this route, obviously I'd purchase some
>> professionally prepaired thermite. But it seems kind of an expensive
>> way just to get rid of some old SCSI HDs...
>
> I don't think they can ship the ingredients in a mixed state. Too much
> potential for a high-intensity fire.
I was under the impression that thermite is quite hard to ignite.
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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>> Or on a block of ice, particularly in an enclosed space.
>
> You must have seen Mythbusters... :)
No - but I've seen Brainiac...
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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On Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:31:19 +0100, Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>>> Or on a block of ice, particularly in an enclosed space.
>>
>> You must have seen Mythbusters... :)
>
> No - but I've seen Brainiac...
Mythbusters does air over there, but I forget on which channel. You'd
probably like it - partly for the funthings they do, and partly because
you could deconstruct what they're doing and see the flaws in their
methods.
Jim
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On Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:30:57 +0100, Orchid XP v8 wrote:
> Mike Raiford wrote:
>> Invisible wrote:
>>
>>> If I were to go down this route, obviously I'd purchase some
>>> professionally prepaired thermite. But it seems kind of an expensive
>>> way just to get rid of some old SCSI HDs...
>>
>> I don't think they can ship the ingredients in a mixed state. Too much
>> potential for a high-intensity fire.
>
> I was under the impression that thermite is quite hard to ignite.
Not particularly, no. From Wikipedia:
"Ignition of a thermite reaction normally requires only a simple child's
sparkler or easily obtainable magnesium ribbon, but may require
persistent efforts, as ignition can be unreliable and unpredictable."
That said, if you have a good fuse or a blowtorch, it can be ignited
quite simply, at least from the demonstrations I've seen on Mythbusters.
Jim
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>>> You must have seen Mythbusters... :)
>> No - but I've seen Brainiac...
>
> Mythbusters does air over there, but I forget on which channel. You'd
> probably like it - partly for the funthings they do, and partly because
> you could deconstruct what they're doing and see the flaws in their
> methods.
Oh, I do watch it from time to time. A lot of the stuff they do isn't
that interesting. I did see them testing whether you can use explosives
to paint a room (no, oddly enough), whether shooting the window of an
airplane causes it to explode (also no), whether that guy in the Darwin
Awards could have got shot in the groin by using a bullet as a car fuse
(yet again, no), and whether a coin dropped from the top of the Empire
State Building would puncture human flesh (surprisingly, no).
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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>>> I don't think they can ship the ingredients in a mixed state. Too much
>>> potential for a high-intensity fire.
>> I was under the impression that thermite is quite hard to ignite.
>
> Not particularly, no. From Wikipedia:
>
> "Ignition of a thermite reaction normally requires only a simple child's
> sparkler or easily obtainable magnesium ribbon, but may require
> persistent efforts, as ignition can be unreliable and unpredictable."
>
> That said, if you have a good fuse or a blowtorch, it can be ignited
> quite simply, at least from the demonstrations I've seen on Mythbusters.
Not too much danger of a parcel in the mail accidentally getting
blowtorched, I would think...
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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On Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:55:38 +0100, Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>>>> I don't think they can ship the ingredients in a mixed state. Too
>>>> much potential for a high-intensity fire.
>>> I was under the impression that thermite is quite hard to ignite.
>>
>> Not particularly, no. From Wikipedia:
>>
>> "Ignition of a thermite reaction normally requires only a simple
>> child's sparkler or easily obtainable magnesium ribbon, but may require
>> persistent efforts, as ignition can be unreliable and unpredictable."
>>
>> That said, if you have a good fuse or a blowtorch, it can be ignited
>> quite simply, at least from the demonstrations I've seen on
>> Mythbusters.
>
> Not too much danger of a parcel in the mail accidentally getting
> blowtorched, I would think...
Perhaps, but transporting dangerous materials through the mail is
prohibited in most locales. It's generally shipped by special courier.
Some of the examples given, though, of things which can ignite it are
sparks (sparklers are apparently a popular way of igniting the stuff), or
anything where you've got metal that's burning (an angle grinder, I
imagine, throwing sparks could do it).
Jim
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On Mon, 08 Jun 2009 21:55:05 +0100, Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>>>> You must have seen Mythbusters... :)
>>> No - but I've seen Brainiac...
>>
>> Mythbusters does air over there, but I forget on which channel. You'd
>> probably like it - partly for the funthings they do, and partly because
>> you could deconstruct what they're doing and see the flaws in their
>> methods.
>
> Oh, I do watch it from time to time. A lot of the stuff they do isn't
> that interesting. I did see them testing whether you can use explosives
> to paint a room (no, oddly enough), whether shooting the window of an
> airplane causes it to explode (also no), whether that guy in the Darwin
> Awards could have got shot in the groin by using a bullet as a car fuse
> (yet again, no), and whether a coin dropped from the top of the Empire
> State Building would puncture human flesh (surprisingly, no).
You need to see the one where they used explosives to remove concrete
slag from a cement truck. In fact pretty much any of the episodes where
they cause a big explosion is worth a watch. :-)
The thermite episode (recently) was very interesting - replicated a video
on Youtube where someone ignited thermite on a block of ice. Thermite
isn't an explosive compound, but that combination did cause an explosion.
Jim
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>> Not too much danger of a parcel in the mail accidentally getting
>> blowtorched, I would think...
>
> Perhaps, but transporting dangerous materials through the mail is
> prohibited in most locales. It's generally shipped by special courier.
That I can believe, yes.
--
http://blog.orphi.me.uk/
http://www.zazzle.com/MathematicalOrchid*
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On Mon, 08 Jun 2009 22:18:21 +0100, Orchid XP v8 wrote:
>>> Not too much danger of a parcel in the mail accidentally getting
>>> blowtorched, I would think...
>>
>> Perhaps, but transporting dangerous materials through the mail is
>> prohibited in most locales. It's generally shipped by special courier.
>
> That I can believe, yes.
There was a recent story in a paper(?) in California about a guy who was
under suspicion because the company shipping a bunch of explosive
materials to his home was concerned about the quantity of explosives
being sent to a residence. The guy was arrested, but he was actually a
licensed pyrotechnican - but there were also problems with drugs
(allegedly).
I heard about it because he's the son-in-law of a coworker of mine.
Jim
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Jim Henderson wrote:
> licensed pyrotechnican
I always wanted to take a job as a fireworks QC manager. "Hmmm. Nice, but
needs more green..."
--
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
There's no CD like OCD, there's no CD I knoooow!
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Jim Henderson wrote:
> Mythbusters does air over there,
It's also all over youtube.
--
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
There's no CD like OCD, there's no CD I knoooow!
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Jim Henderson wrote:
> You need to see the one where they used explosives to remove concrete
> slag from a cement truck.
Even the one where they overpressurize a water heater was fun.
--
Darren New, San Diego CA, USA (PST)
There's no CD like OCD, there's no CD I knoooow!
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On Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:04:14 -0700, Darren New wrote:
> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> You need to see the one where they used explosives to remove concrete
>> slag from a cement truck.
>
> Even the one where they overpressurize a water heater was fun.
Oh yes, that one was quite good.
I especially like the ones where they get an unexpected result. Like
with Thermite & Ice.
Jim
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On Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:03:20 -0700, Darren New wrote:
> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> Mythbusters does air over there,
>
> It's also all over youtube.
Yeah, but they don't have complete episodes, do they?
Jim
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On Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:02:57 -0700, Darren New wrote:
> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> licensed pyrotechnican
>
>
> I always wanted to take a job as a fireworks QC manager. "Hmmm. Nice,
> but needs more green..."
LOL, that would be fun if it worked that way. :-)
Jim
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> Mythbusters does air over there, but I forget on which channel.
I usually catch it on one of the Discovery channels.
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>> Even the one where they overpressurize a water heater was fun.
>
> Oh yes, that one was quite good.
>
> I especially like the ones where they get an unexpected result. Like
> with Thermite & Ice.
Has anybody tried to replicate the poptart flamethrower yet?
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On Tue, 09 Jun 2009 09:24:32 +0100, Invisible wrote:
>>> Even the one where they overpressurize a water heater was fun.
>>
>> Oh yes, that one was quite good.
>>
>> I especially like the ones where they get an unexpected result. Like
>> with Thermite & Ice.
>
> Has anybody tried to replicate the poptart flamethrower yet?
I haven't heard of that one, sounds interesting, though....
Jim
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>> Has anybody tried to replicate the poptart flamethrower yet?
>
> I haven't heard of that one, sounds interesting, though....
Some guy discovered that if your toaster malfunctions and fails to eject
the poptart, the toaster becomes a flame thrower. They then posted
low-resolution MPEG videos on the Internet. It was briefly a big phenominon.
A bit like those stupid dancing baby GIFs...
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On Tue, 09 Jun 2009 16:49:04 +0100, Invisible wrote:
>>> Has anybody tried to replicate the poptart flamethrower yet?
>>
>> I haven't heard of that one, sounds interesting, though....
>
> Some guy discovered that if your toaster malfunctions and fails to eject
> the poptart, the toaster becomes a flame thrower. They then posted
> low-resolution MPEG videos on the Internet. It was briefly a big
> phenominon.
I would think some sort of accellerant would have to be used to get that
kind of effect. Getting a toaster to ignite is pretty hard as it is, and
without an open flame, I can't see the pop tart catching fire. But it
would be interesting to see them try to do it.
> A bit like those stupid dancing baby GIFs...
<barf>
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Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:03:20 -0700, Darren New wrote:
>
>> Jim Henderson wrote:
>>> Mythbusters does air over there,
>>
>> It's also all over youtube.
>
> Yeah, but they don't have complete episodes, do they?
Yes, there are complete episodes, but cut into separate videos due to
youtube limits.
Note these are unofficial and prone to legal takedown :)
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On Tue, 09 Jun 2009 13:01:15 -0300, Nicolas Alvarez wrote:
> Jim Henderson wrote:
>> On Mon, 08 Jun 2009 16:03:20 -0700, Darren New wrote:
>>
>>> Jim Henderson wrote:
>>>> Mythbusters does air over there,
>>>
>>> It's also all over youtube.
>>
>> Yeah, but they don't have complete episodes, do they?
>
> Yes, there are complete episodes, but cut into separate videos due to
> youtube limits.
>
> Note these are unofficial and prone to legal takedown :)
Very likely. Discovery does make video available on their website,
though, and that may include full episodes.
Jim
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>> Some guy discovered that if your toaster malfunctions and fails to eject
>> the poptart, the toaster becomes a flame thrower. They then posted
>> low-resolution MPEG videos on the Internet. It was briefly a big
>> phenominon.
>
> I would think some sort of accellerant would have to be used to get that
> kind of effect.
http://www.pmichaud.com/toast/
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On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:06:11 +0100, Invisible wrote:
>> I would think some sort of accellerant would have to be used to get
>> that kind of effect.
>
> http://www.pmichaud.com/toast/
Ah, Dave Barry was the origin. That explains a lot (he's a humour
columnist in Florida). :-)
Jim
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On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 11:58:54 -0400, Jim Henderson wrote:
> On Wed, 10 Jun 2009 09:06:11 +0100, Invisible wrote:
>
>>> I would think some sort of accellerant would have to be used to get
>>> that kind of effect.
>>
>> http://www.pmichaud.com/toast/
>
> Ah, Dave Barry was the origin. That explains a lot (he's a humour
> columnist in Florida). :-)
And apparently he demonstrated it on David Letterman, videos apparently
on YouTube (I haven't searched for it)
Jim
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