On: Akin's Laws of Spacecraft Design (2003)

[jacquesm]

How does a glass cube drive a nail into the wall for hanging up a picture?

If used as a hammer it is just another hammer (and an ineffective one at that because it is going to slide off the nail and cause you injury or shatter and cause you injury).

[Nomentatus → jacquesm]

That's the point. Just a glance tells you that glass cubes are more elegant than hammers, but it turns out they aren't efficient or effective.

[jacquesm → Nomentatus]

They're just plain wrong. I think any solution should at least try to be an actual solution to the problem.

[Nomentatus → jacquesm]

It is an actual solution, you can get a nail in with a cube, it probably won't break 'till the fourth or fifth nail. (I have used glass bottles to drive nails.)

[tjalfi → Nomentatus]

Your comment reminded me of Alex Papadimoulis' blog entry "Pounding A Nail: Old Shoe or Glass Bottle?"[0].

[0] https://weblogs.asp.net/alex_papadimoulis/408925

[jacquesm → Nomentatus]

> (I have used glass bottles to drive nails.)

I hope that was just to prove a point and that you were wearing goggles and gloves. If not that's borderline Darwin award territory.

[InitialLastName → jacquesm]

Only with very specific results, and I'm not sure goggles and gloves would affect either.