World's larget pencil?

This is a photograph of the World's Largest Pencil, a Castell 9000 located at Faber-Castell's facility in Malaysia. This pencil is nearly 65 feet tall and is housed in a glass enclosure.

Completed in 2002, it is made from Malaysian lumber, fitted from small pieces tongue-and-groove fashion. Once the 1st half was built, a German-made polymer lead running the full length was inserted and the remainder was built, then sanded and finished.

Did you know that this this project required over 7000 man-hrs. over a 2 yr. period to complete. The pencil is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's largest, but just a fyi....rumor has it there's a pencil made in New York & now indeed the largest in the world and will soon be included in the Guinness Book. The official length is 76 feet and 2 3/4 in, the weight 18,000 pounds. It is planned to be brought to one of the museums.

A Holographic Bill Gates

This is what happens when you watch way to much Star Trek and Star Wars and build too many LEGO sets....I envision a day when most presentations will be given this way, and CEO's will have the size of their hologram defined by their market capitalization.

Bill Gates addressed a 400-person audience at the World Congress of Information 2008 in Kuala Lumpur, Bill Gates appeared using a 15.1-foot holographic projection.



Although this technology is impressive, the word "hologram" is being used very cavalierly. It is actually a version of the "Pepper's Ghost" effect, most commonly know from Disneyland's Haunted Mansion.
In this case, a 1080p high definition video image (from a Sony F900R) is projected on a screen on the floor in front of the stage.



A stage-sized sheet of mylar film, hung at a 45 degree angle hangs between the projection and the stage. People can walk on stage, behind the projection, and interact (by means of hidden cameras in the wings and audience) with the person in the projection. Take a look here: