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June 14, 2007: Rob Cockerham at Cockeyed.com has constructed a
13,000 watts solar concentrator called "The Light Sharpener!"
Awesome!
June 26, 2006: I'm mothballing the Solar Death Ray.
It's been a great year and a half: over a million
visitors and more than 5000 e-mailed suggestions.
I have other projects and responsibilities now and I
don't have the time to devote to destroying stuff and
updating the site on a regular basis.
I hope you (the public) have enjoyed the site as much
as I've enjoyed you enjoying it. I plan to keep the
site on-line for several more months at least, but
there will be no more updates. Thank you all for
stopping by this little internet curiosity, I hope
you had a laugh or two!
May 14, 2006: The second half of the two-part episode:
Solar Death Ray/Gravity Death Log vs. Fruit has been
posted! Also, the website has become infested with ants.
I'm not sure what to do about it....
March 16, 2006: Hey there internet, it's been a while...
Check it, the first half of a two-part episode:
Solar Death Ray/Gravity Death Log vs. Fruit!
February 11, 2006: No updates yet. Work has been very time
consuming, and the weather hasn't been good. Soon....
December 20, 2005: Solar Death Ray officially sponsors Child's Play!
December 14, 2005: Can the Gravity Death Log make root beer floats
at breakneck speed? No, but you should check out our attempt!
December 3, 2005: The Gravity Death Log takes care of dirty dishes!
November 19, 2005: Update! No Solar Death Ray action,
but check out Gravity Death Log!
October 31, 2005: Happy Halloween!
October 12, 2005: Fall/winter is the rainy time of year in Seattle.
There hasn't been a good day for the death ray in a while, which is
why I haven't updated. If clear skies don't develop soon, I'll execute
and post one of a few "projects" I've been saving for a rainy day.
September 21, 2005: Check out the new target, a honey-filled bear!
September 16, 2005: No updates yet, but I have some good stuff
waiting for a sunny day...
August 20, 2005: Ahoy! The Solar Death Ray razed a pirate ship!
August 17, 2005: Finally, I've destroyed something new: a bra!
August 7, 2005: Nothing new destroyed, but Neck-Beard and
Girlfriend Quest have been updated.
July 30, 2005: I hate to disappoint, but I still haven't death
rayed anything new. This is because I'm defending my doctorial
dissertation in a week. Defending a dissertation is essentially
placing four years of work on a single presentation. Because my
doctorial research isn't in death ray technology, I've had to
dedicate all my time to preparing my defense (I plan to use a
moat in conjunction with burning oil). This situation has also
prevented me from preparing a 100' range death ray for the
Myth Busters contest, which was a very hard thing to not do.
But updates are coming!
Also, check out the latest issue of Make. It's a cool magazine,
and the "Made on Earth" section features the Solar Death Ray!
July 14, 2005: Obviously I haven't updated the site is a while.
Just like you, I want more hot-hot-death-ray-action, but I'm
currently in the midst of a month of serious work. I've got
some good stuff lined up, so as soon as I get a free moment
I'll use it constructively... uh, I mean destructively.
June 30, 2005: A reader clued me in to this Myth Busters contest
to build a solar death ray. There are two categories of death ray:
one that burns stuff at a range of 5 feet and one that burns at
100 feet. The Mark II SDR burns at 56 inches, just 4 inches short
of the first category! I'm seriously considering making a play for
the 100 foot-class, but it will take some time and cash.
If I go for it, I'll let you guys know.
June 29, 2005: The August issue of FHM has Jenny McCarthy
on the cover! Oh, and it also mentions the Solar Death Ray!
June 21, 2005: Andy and I burned an Xbox-box
(the box an Xbox was packaged in). Good times...
June 17, 2005: Doritos have been destroyed.
Why must I annihilate everything I love?
June 11, 2005: A PC sound card has been ruined. It might
have called for help if I hadn't unplugged the speakers.
June 5, 2005: Tragically, the Solar Death Ray accidentally
destroyed a fake baby. For details, check out the Gallery.
June 2, 2005: The Solar Death Ray has killed Darth Vader!
May 26, 2005: A Gundam has been added to the Gallery.
May 24, 2005: Finally, the Solar Death Ray has destroyed
something new! Check out the shoe!
It's much more exciting than it sounds!
May 21, 2005: Still no sunlight in Seattle. I've been playing
Doorts to alleviate my frustration with the weather.
May 15, 2005: The weather in Seattle has been cloudy and/or rainy.
More things will be destroyed as soon as conditions are favorable.
In the meantime, I've redesigned the Gallery.
May 7, 2005: A computer mouse has been destroyed!
May 3, 2005: It seems that meteorologists just guess.
Today was beautiful, and I was able to add two new targets
to the gallery: a baseball hat and an N64 game cartridge.
May 2, 2005: The five-day forecast for weather in Seattle:
all rain, all the time. I'll burn more stuff as soon as I can.
May 1, 2005: I've been out of town for the last week.
Updates are coming soon!
April 23, 2005: Matt won the Tee-shirt design contest!
To buy Solar Death Ray stuff, go here!
April 22, 2005: The tee-shirt design contest is over, and a winner will
be announced soon. In the meantime, why not grow a Neck-Beard?
April 15, 2005: Two new targets added to the gallery:
a Twinkie® and a Pop-Tart®. Enjoy the tasty obliteration!
April 9, 2005: I've been out of town for the past week.
I almost burned something yesterday, but the clouds rolled
in just in time to stop me. But you don't want excuses,
you want more destruction. I've got some good stuff lined up,
and the sun has to come out soon....
April 1, 2005: The weather in Seattle hasn't been great for solar
powered destruction lately, but I do have something
new in the gallery: a Doughnut!
Also, starting RIGHT NOW, there is a tee-shirt design contest for
SolarDeathRay.com!! Do you have what it takes to be the champ?
March 31, 2005:Solar Death Ray is the "Website of the Week,"
according to the Philadelphia City Paper!
March 28, 2005: Apparently G4 (formerly TechTV) is going to mention
the Solar Death Ray on Thursday's (3/31/05) edition of "Attack of the
Show" (formerly The Screen Savers). Check local listings!
March 25, 2005: The target gallery has been updated...
with popcorn! Also, just in time for Easter,there are now
marshmallow peeps and a chocolate bunny!
One last comment about the traffic surge over the last few days:
I think the whole thing was set in motion by Andy!
March 24, 2005: Slashdot hit yesterday, and unleashed a flood of
traffic to the site. Good times! Also, four new targets were
melted; I'll update the target gallery over the weekend.
March 23, 2005: SLASHDOT!!! More on this later....
March 22, 2005: Holy crap! 120,000 page views today March 20,
2005: I've added link graphics so anyone interested can add a link to
SolarDeathRay.com!
March 17, 2005: I haven't added anything new to the target gallery in a
while, partially because I've been obsessed with a new game called
"Girlfriend Quest."
March 3, 2005: I've added three new items to the gallery, including a
robot dog and the board game Clue. The third item, a copy of Tetris
on a 5.25" floppy disk, may be provoke strong emotions in some
readers- viewer discretion is advised.
February 23, 2005: Three new items added to the target gallery-
a rubber ducky, a Lite-Bright®, and a Hootie and the Blowfish tape.
The wheel in the sky keeps on turning, and the Solar Death Ray
keeps on burning....
February 18, 2005: Two more targets added to the gallery -
a cell phone and some junk mail. Good times....
February 17, 2005: A slightly late Valentines Day special has been
added to Page 3 of the target gallery - a rose. Two more targets will
be posted in the next few days.
February 4, 2005: Four new items in the gallery: golf ball, VHS tape,
digital watch, and my pants. Honestly, my pants are on fire!
Oh, and the gallery now spans THREE pages!
January 30, 2005: A page detailing the destruction of crayons has
been added to the gallery. A photo showing the first Solar Death Ray
beside the Mark II death ray has been added to the "Why?" page.
January 26, 2005: I've added four new targets to the gallery:
sunglasses, an Oreo cookie, army men, and a record. The gallery now
spans two pages, so go check it out. Seriously, check it out right now.
Go!
January 25, 2005: While the Northeast coast of the United States was
buried by snow, the clouds above Seattle opened up and allowed for
the destruction of SEVEN NEW TARGETS! The first two of these
targets, the Ace of Spades and an AOL CD, have been added to the
gallery. The rest of the new targets will find their way to the gallery
over the course of the week.
January 11, 2005: A new target has been added to the Gallery! Check
out the candle-melting action! Also, I upgraded the target holder on the
Solar Death Ray over the weekend. Minor changes to the website
continue. I think this site is still in the "pupa" stages of development.
As you will recall from the movie "Gremlins," the pupa stage is when
something encases itself in a disgusting shell, only to burst forth on a
demonic rampage and spawn a kitschy sequel.
January 6, 2005: I've gotten over a dozen new things to burn, I just
need the sun to come out. Given that it's winter in Seattle, it might be a
while. I should have built a rain-powered death ray or a death ray
powered by granola.
January 4, 2005: This site comes online for the first time!
No doubt the gallery will grow fast, so check back often!
This is an area of b
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