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http://www.msnbc.com/news/417139.asp

This isn't the sort of item that WebSkulker normally publishes, but he was fascinated by this article with electron microscope photographs explaining what scientists know so far about how gecko lizards are able to grip onto surfaces so that they can walk on walls and ceilings.

"What makes a gecko’s grippers so sticky? It’s not superglue, and it’s not little suction cups. Rather, scientists say the lizard can scurry across walls and ceilings because its feet are built to take advantage of subtle intermolecular forces. They found that hundreds of millions of tiny pads on the feet can create a bond 10 times stronger than expected. The grippers could inspire a new breed of reusable, self-cleaning 'gecko tape.'"

http://www.payphone.com

http://www.payphone.com/201.htm

http://www.payphone.com/201manual.htm

Ms. Cat couldn't come up with a good item about phones today, so she was skulking around the web and tried www.payphone.com to see what would be there.  She doesn't get out of the house much and has never seen a payphone, so she was hoping to find pictures.  Sure enough, the payphone.com site sells private payphones, and they have the manuals online showing pictures of the insides and details on how to assemble and program the units.

The second link above describes their phone that is the typical kind you see every day.  The third link is the manual for this phone with instructions on how to use the dial pad to set the rate table and other options.  Unfortunately you need to take the cover off the phone and press a button inside before you can do this.

http://www.animfactory.com

http://www.gifworks.com

The Animation Factory has over 13,000 animated GIF pictures that jr. skulkers are free to use on their personal web site for accents, buttons, and separators.  Even if you don't have a web site, click on the link anyway because all those little animations are fun to look at.  Each animation has a link to the second site, GifWorks, which lets you edit animations and other GIF pictures online if you don't own an editing package for your computer.

Thanks to Jr. Skulker Randy Solton for suggesting GifWorks.

http://www.2x4group.com/playperiod.html

http://www.science.cookman.edu/ntnujava/sound/sound.html

Jr. Skulker Bob Gudgel recommends the freeware game Play Period that you can download from the first site.  WebSkulker found the second site with a Java applet that is the opposite of the game.

The point of both of these is Fourier's theorem from the 1800's that any complex repeating waveform may be expressed as the sum of a (possibly infinite) series of sine and cosine waves of various frequencies.  Download and install the Play Period game and it will present you with random waveforms on an oscilloscope display.  You then try to figure out the sine waves that make up that complex waveform.

The Java applet from the second site gives you a series of sliders that add sine and cosine waveforms to an oscilloscope display to let you see the complexity of the combinations, and if you press the Play button, it will play the waveform over your speakers.  Ms. Cat did not like these sounds, and refused to dictate any more, or even stay in the same room, until WebSkulker pressed the Stop button.

A priest was called away for an emergency. Not wanting to leave the confessional unattended, he called his rabbi friend from across the street and asked him to cover for him. The rabbi told him he wouldn't know what to say, but the priest told him to come on over and he'd stay with him for a little bit and show him what to do. The rabbi comes, and he and the priest are in the confessional. 

In a few minutes, a woman comes in and says, "Father, forgive me for I have sinned. 

The priest asks, "What did you do?" 

The woman says, "I committed adultery." 

Priest: "How many times?" 

Woman: "Three times." 

Priest: "Say two Hail Mary's, put five dollars in the box, and go and sin no more." 

A few minutes later, a man enters the confessional. He says, "Father, forgive me for I have sinned." 

Priest: "What did you do?" 

Man: "I committed adultery." 

Priest: "How many times?" 

Man: "Three times." 

Priest: "Say two Hail Mary's, put five dollars in the box, and go and sin no more." 

The rabbi tells the priest that he thinks he's got it so the Priest leaves. 

A few minutes later, another woman enters and says, "Father, forgive me for I have sinned." 

Rabbi: "What did you do?" 

Woman: "I committed adultery." 

Rabbi: "How many times?" 

Woman: "Once." 

Rabbi: "Go do it two more times. We have a special this week, three for five dollars."

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