The Oatmeal helping raise money for Tesla Museum

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > Comedy Gas Chamber > The Oatmeal helping raise money for Tesla Museum

ManiacClown: May 30, 2002; Gone, gone, O honky man,
And rise the M.C. Etrigan!

Famed money-raiser/webcomic The Oatmeal is following its previous Internet money stunt with something even more worthwhile than humiliating a complete douchebag. Apparently Nikola Tesla's old Wardenclyffe lab and the land it's on are up for sale. A charity wants to buy it all and turn it into a Tesla museum. Of course, like an '80s movie, somebody else wants to buy the object of the underdog's desires and ruin it so they can turn it into yet more lovely retail space that won't support anything because people don't have any loving money thanks to the lingering effects of the Econopocalypse of 2008.

However, according to The Oatmeal, the State of New York's matching up to $850,000 for all this, so if they can raise that the state will give them the other half of the $1.6M asking price for the land and buildings. I'd love to see this happen because while Edison has multiple sites dedicated to him, Tesla's kind of gotten the shaft. If I hit the lottery tonight (ha.) the first thing my rear end is doing— even before paying off my student loans— is giving these people a big pile of cash. The gift shop for the museum would end up being metal as gently caress.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 01:37

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# ? May 18, 2013 11:13

roflbox: Jul 23, 2012

oh man, i hope kevin costner is the guy raising the money.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 01:49

Xenomrph: Dec 9, 2005; AvP Online Encyclopedia

Well son of a bitch. If I wasn't unemployed right now and looking for a new job, I'd totally donate to this.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 01:58

Kyrosiris: May 24, 2006; You try to be happy when people are summoning you all over the place to "be their friend".

It doesn't look like there's going to be that much difficulty hitting the mark: It's already up to about $170,000 with another 45 days to go.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 02:09

ExplosiveBuck: Jan 8, 2008; I swear to God I will GORE TO DEATH the next idiot who calls me "dear".

Currently standing at $210,000, $25 of which is mine

# ? Aug 16, 2012 03:11

NewtGoongrich: Jan 21, 2012; I am a shit stain on the face of humanity, I have no compassion, only hatred, bile and lust.

PROUD SHIT STAIN

So will the museum say he is Serbian or Croatian? I've seen a literal fistfight over this issue.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 03:24

Oz: Sep 10, 2003; Minion Of Relin

Donated. We need more science museums, not lovely retail space.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 03:27

Nigmaetcetera: Nov 17, 2004; Sorry guys, I'm just a donut.

NewtGoongrich posted:

So will the museum say he is Serbian or Croatian? I've seen a literal fistfight over this issue.

American.

I mean, he died penniless while guys who were already rich got richer off his designs. What's more American than that?

# ? Aug 16, 2012 03:27

rotinaj: Sep 4, 2008

I'm gonna sit back and wait for a while.

This is GOING to make its money.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 03:30

Glambagss: Feb 13, 2004; you mount bag?

NewtGoongrich posted:

So will the museum say he is Serbian or Croatian? I've seen a literal fistfight over this issue.

Youve seen nerds

# ? Aug 16, 2012 03:30

Cardinal Ximenez: Oct 25, 2008; The 'X' is a voiceless velar fricative.

So... this converts to about 1000 or so dead kids?

Tesla is that loving awesome, that I'm going to assume this at least worth one anti-9/11's worth of utility from elementary school tour groups inspired by the sheer power of SCIENCE!!!

# ? Aug 16, 2012 03:42

Samsquamsch: Jun 6, 2011

I threw in

for a worthy cause. This is incredible. In the time it took me to cut my nails and shower, he raised another $10,000.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 03:51

ElMao: Aug 26, 2011; A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or posting mspaints and pictures of cats to an internet forum.

100$

# ? Aug 16, 2012 03:54

SexyLeper: Jul 29, 2008; OOOOOOOOHHHHH!!!!

25$ down, wish I could give more, I hope this inspires some kids

# ? Aug 16, 2012 04:08

isomerc: Jan 21, 2009; Chillin' the most.

It seems like Tesla has been the subject of a lot of things like this lately. Is there something I'm missing?

# ? Aug 16, 2012 04:12

Akbar: Nov 22, 2004; ASK ME ABOUT HOW SHORT TIMING ROUTES CAN SUBSTITUTE FOR A RUNNING GAME

IDIOT.

NewtGoongrich posted:

So will the museum say he is Serbian or Croatian? I've seen a literal fistfight over this issue.

I was the creator of Facebook's second-largest Nikola Tesla fangroup before the template change, and I can very much agree that people are mad crazy about who gets to claim Tesla as their own. Especially since my profile graphic listed him as American

# ? Aug 16, 2012 04:24

Videodrome: Apr 5, 2003; All hail the new flesh!

isomerc posted:

It seems like Tesla has been the subject of a lot of things like this lately. Is there something I'm missing?

Love is all around you. Yeah
Love is knockin' outside your door.
Waitin' for you is this love made just for two
Keep an open heart and you'll find love again, I know.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 04:58

FreudianSlippers: Apr 12, 2010; Justified and Ancient.

NewtGoongrich posted:

So will the museum say he is Serbian or Croatian? I've seen a literal fistfight over this issue.

Yugoslavian

# ? Aug 16, 2012 05:01

czechshaun: Dec 13, 2004; en trance

Akbar posted:

I was the creator of Facebook's second-largest Nikola Tesla fangroup before the template change, and I can very much agree that people are mad crazy about who gets to claim Tesla as their own. Especially since my profile graphic listed him as American

That is quite the claim to fame you got yourself there. That being said this project sounds rad and I have no doubt they will smash that goal.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 05:15

BossRighteous: Dec 28, 2002; A picture might be worth a thousand words, but it's not worth $10.

It's really strange to me to set up an indie-go-go for a non-profit that can take it's own tax-free donations.

I encourage anyone interested in donating to donate directly to the source:
http://www.teslasciencecenter.org/donate/

That way your money isn't being siphoned by a for-profit company and further diluted by mailing coffee mugs.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 05:34

Brother Jonathan: Jun 23, 2008; Keep on Truckin'

While I wish him the best and hope that the museum project succeeds, I think that his worship of Nikola Tesla is silly.

Here's an article on The Oatmeal and Tesla worship: Nikola Tesla Wasn't God And Thomas Edison Wasn't The Devil.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 06:18

General Olloth: Oct 25, 2007; One Vision, One Purpose: The Technology of Peace!

Brother Jonathan posted:

While I wish him the best and hope that the museum project succeeds, I think that his worship of Nikola Tesla is silly.

Here's an article on The Oatmeal and Tesla worship: Nikola Tesla Wasn't God And Thomas Edison Wasn't The Devil.

Tesla invented a lot of things *but invented them for the wrong application and then tossed them out/had people tell him it didn't work*.

Pretty hilarious really how often he did that. He was just genius-crazy.

For example, he had his 17 patents that got used in the radio, and considered making a radio but decided that wasn't cool enough and went off the deep end trying to send power over the air instead.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 08:21

The Entire Universe: Jun 2, 2005; Fantastic.

General Olloth posted:

Tesla invented a lot of things *but invented them for the wrong application and then tossed them out/had people tell him it didn't work*.

Pretty hilarious really how often he did that. He was just genius-crazy.

For example, he had his 17 patents that got used in the radio, and considered making a radio but decided that wasn't cool enough and went off the deep end trying to send power over the air instead.

That's because Tesla wouldn't bother himself with something as pedestrian as the radio.

(I know it was exceedingly novel in his time but the guy was like a crazy Steve Jobs - he didn't want to make something for today's world so much as he wanted to herald the world of tomorrow. Hence wireless power transmission instead of boring ol' radio.)

# ? Aug 16, 2012 08:39

madey: Sep 17, 2007; I saved the Olympics singlehandedly

General Olloth posted:

For example, he had his 17 patents that got used in the radio, and considered making a radio but decided that wasn't cool enough and went off the deep end trying to send power over the air instead.

Is it known what principles he would have used to transmit the power and would it ever be feasible?

# ? Aug 16, 2012 08:41

Brother Jonathan: Jun 23, 2008; Keep on Truckin'

I know that he was a genius and that he greatly contributed to technology, but The Oatmeal blows it completely out of proportion. Tesla wasn't the sole inventor of radio or AC power, but The Oatmeal and other worshippers claim that he was.

Note that I use the word "worshippers" literally: Nikola Tesla - The Master Scientist from Planet Eros.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 09:03

Spaceman Future!: Feb 9, 2007; Custom titles are cheaper for the user

madey posted:

Is it known what principles he would have used to transmit the power and would it ever be feasible?

Going off grade school memory and not sure of the exact principals he was using, but essentially the idea was to put a charge into the atmosphere that could later be retrieved by antennas on the ground. Taking advantage of the natural ionization in our atmosphere, just feeding it a bit. (Someone, anyone who knows more please correct me here if I'm off base)

Whether that's feasible or safe, or what kind of effects it would have on us, the atmosphere, birds, planes whatever, no idea.

Edit: One thing though, it seems like it would be incredibly dangerous from the standpoint that any excess of charge in the atmosphere will naturally try to ground itself out. Those would be some pretty horrifying lightning storms.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 09:21

Dolphin: Dec 5, 2008

Brother Jonathan posted:

I know that he was a genius and that he greatly contributed to technology, but The Oatmeal blows it completely out of proportion. Tesla wasn't the sole inventor of radio or AC power, but The Oatmeal and other worshippers claim that he was.

Note that I use the word "worshippers" literally: Nikola Tesla - The Master Scientist from Planet Eros.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gOR91oentQ
That's because Tesla was the electric Jesus.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 09:34

Roland Jones: Aug 18, 2011; i wasnt scared at all

Brother Jonathan posted:

While I wish him the best and hope that the museum project succeeds, I think that his worship of Nikola Tesla is silly.

Here's an article on The Oatmeal and Tesla worship: Nikola Tesla Wasn't God And Thomas Edison Wasn't The Devil.

While the Tesla worship does go overboard, I hope you are aware that your second article actually gets more wrong than The Oatmeal did, and unironically claims that Edison, the guy who electrocuted elephants to make Tesla look bad, among other things, wasn't that bad a guy. It's a pretty terrible article, really.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 10:24

CannedMacabre: Jul 6, 2007; In space, no one
can hear you fart.

Yeah, the Tesla groupies go a bit wild sometimes, but nobody can deny that Edison was a thief and a bully.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 11:20

Miguel Angel Face: Apr 1, 2012; True hero of the master race.
Bow before my wisdom.

Spaceman Future! posted:

Going off grade school memory and not sure of the exact principals he was using, but essentially the idea was to put a charge into the atmosphere that could later be retrieved by antennas on the ground. Taking advantage of the natural ionization in our atmosphere, just feeding it a bit. (Someone, anyone who knows more please correct me here if I'm off base)

Whether that's feasible or safe, or what kind of effects it would have on us, the atmosphere, birds, planes whatever, no idea.

Edit: One thing though, it seems like it would be incredibly dangerous from the standpoint that any excess of charge in the atmosphere will naturally try to ground itself out. Those would be some pretty horrifying lightning storms.

Tesla was obsessed with resonance. He discovered that the cavity between the earth and the ionosphere resonated at approximately 8Hz (now known as the Schumann resonance - think of it as a spherical waveguide with wavelength equal to the earth's circumferance) and he attempted to create giant standing waves by transmitting low frequency signals into the earth.

The basic idea was that tuned receivers could then couple into the resonance and extract energy from the standing wave.

Unfortunately the idea doesn't work in practice. The losses are simply too great.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 11:42

cat doter: Jul 27, 2006; Teenage Mutant Ninja Cripple

I like Tesla because a wicked movie based on wacky improbable science had him in it and he was played by David Bowie. And that's cool.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 12:10

Nastyman: Jul 11, 2007; Men call it 'The Weed'
Gods 'The Herb of the Field'
'Seaweed of Chills' in hell
'Bong-Food' the giants,
'Fair-Trees' the elves,
'The Dank' is it called by the Wanes.

Miguel Angel Face posted:

Tesla was obsessed with resonance. He discovered that the cavity between the earth and the ionosphere resonated at approximately 8Hz (now known as the Schumann resonance - think of it as a spherical waveguide with wavelength equal to the earth's circumferance) and he attempted to create giant standing waves by transmitting low frequency signals into the earth.

The basic idea was that tuned receivers could then couple into the resonance and extract energy from the standing wave.

Unfortunately the idea doesn't work in practice. The losses are simply too great.

I don't know if these are literal water waves and I don't care, from now on whenever I think of Tesla I'm picturing him like Mickey Mouse up on the cliffs in The Sorcerer's Apprentice.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 13:00

juliuspringle: Jul 7, 2007; I think the prison rape of teenagers is hilarious. I'm basically a human shaped lump of shit, please remind me of this at every opportunity.

I got interested in Tesla in high school because of Command and Conquer Red Alert 2. At one point I had an idea for a comic where Tesla was a superhero and Edison was his nemesis/supervillian.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 13:17

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# ? May 18, 2013 11:13

Guavanaut: Nov 27, 2009

NewtGoongrich posted:

So will the museum say he is Serbian or Croatian? I've seen a literal fistfight over this issue.

He was born in the Austrian Empire. If he was born a few years later, it would have been the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

It's a science museum, and stupid tribalist/nationalist pissing matches should take a back seat to whatever cool science they're going to put there.

# ? Aug 16, 2012 13:19

The Something Awful Forums > Archives > Comedy Gas Chamber > The Oatmeal helping raise money for Tesla Museum