American's build a death-ray, disguise it as a hotel | INFJ Forum

American's build a death-ray, disguise it as a hotel

Deathjam

Deathjam

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Aug 28, 2008
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Las Vegas death ray roasts hotel guests


Poolside guests at a newly-opened Las Vegas hotel have been enjoying the complex's quick-tan facility - a solar "death ray" with the power to burn flesh and melt plastic.

The architects responsible for the MGM Mirage Vdara underestimated the converging power of the building's concave facade, which concentrates a roasting beam onto the pool area.

Barbecued guest Bill Pintas recounted to ABC his midday experience of the ray, as he exited the pool and settled into his lounge chair. He said: "I'm sitting there in the chair and all of the sudden my hair and the top of my head are burning. I'm rubbing my head and it felt like a chemical burn. I couldn't imagine what it could be."

Pintas quickly found out that taking shelter under an umbrella offered no protection from the intense beam, which burned right through a plastic bag the grilled guest was using to carry newspapers.

"I was effectively being cooked," Pintas told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. "I started running as fast as I could without looking like a lunatic."

Wisely retreating to the bar, Pintas reported the effect to employees, who were "kind of giggling" and confirmed: "Yeah, we know. We call it the death ray."

A death ray probe by the Review-Journal revealed it targets an area around 10-15 feet across, which moves across the pool area as the Earth rotates, frying everything in its path for around 90 minutes before and after noon.

The Vdara's management is well aware of the threat to guests, which it attributes to a "solar convergence phenomenon". The architects had taken this into consideration, and "hired a consultant who decided to place a thin film over the window which reduces the sun's effects by 70 per cent".

MGM Mirage spokesman Gordon Absher admitted: "But even with that, when folks are out on the pool deck, on some days people will feel this reflection and the heat associated with it."

Absher explained that there's no easy fix for the problem, since the hot spot will shift according to the season, and so throwing up a few extra-thick umbrellas would mean their continual repositioning.

He said: "This is quite literally an astronomical challenge. We are dealing with a moving target."

Although the Vdara is mulling hi-tech solutions, it's immediate response to the death ray menace is to fall back on "larger, thicker umbrellas" and "maybe some large plants".
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Source: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/09/29/las_vegas_death_ray/

So whats your guess, viral marketing for a new bond film, incompetent architects, or biggest practical joke ever.
 
I'm starting to think every UK publication is a tabloid! The register has been going on and on about UFOs lately; and while I think there's something to UFOs in general, they're a bit TOO enthusiastic for me to take seriously. =P
 
~jet said:
I'm starting to think every UK publication is a tabloid! The register has been going on and on about UFOs lately; and while I think there's something to UFOs in general, they're a bit TOO enthusiastic for me to take seriously. =P
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Yeah our papers and internet journalism is pretty pathetic usually. Although the BBC is still the best for news overall.
 
Deathjam said:
could be worst, could be fox news, the reg is great, always cheers me up
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Oh definitely; there was word of a campaign on this side of the pond just this morning about a petition or movement to get public T.V.s to stop defaulting to FOX all the time. It's propaganda at its worst, I think (fox that is)
 
Deathjam said:
could be worst, could be fox news, the reg is great, always cheers me up
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Fox is the worst news station, ugh.
Don't even get me started.
 
~jet said:
Oh definitely; there was word of a campaign on this side of the pond just this morning about a petition or movement to get public T.V.s to stop defaulting to FOX all the time. It's propaganda at its worst, I think (fox that is)
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Does Fox news pretend to be unbiased then?
 
88chaz88 said:
Does Fox news pretend to be unbiased then?
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'fair and balanced' is their tag line; but they are anything but... pure multinational-corporationist misinformation and hate-mongering. Some days I can't help but think about how we're repeating certain unfortunate early-to-middle-of-the-last-century histories in this regard.
 
I've seen this story a few different places now, pretty sure it's true and not a stunt of some kind. Seems like it could be a real problem if the focal point moves outside the pool area.

It'd be awesome if it was a publicity stunt, but it's still pretty funny.
 
Yes, I saw this yesterday. I didn't stop to read or I would have had the good giggle yesterday.

As to Fox news, I find such things are best viewed as tools to understand how the propoganda mongers work. Have you ever read a Reader's Digest? That is the most biased dribble I have ever read.
 
Hmmm... where can I get one of those?
 
Las Vegas.....where you go to gamble your money away..hmm....but wait!....isn't gambling a sin?

sounds like divine intervention to me ;) :p
 
Wait, what? I thought Fox news was a comedy station...
 
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What the deuce!?

How did you...?

Agh! Blast it! I should think twice about leaving these comple devices with an incompetent television network!
 
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