New 4100 Lumen Flashlight Can Set Things On Fire 464
i4u writes "Engadget is reporting that Wicked Lasers has introduced The Torch. It is the world's brightest and most powerful flashlight. The Flashlight is capable of melting plastic, lighting paper on fire within seconds, and if you like, fry an egg or a marshmallow on a stick. At 4100 lumens, The Torch is 100 lumens more powerful than The Polarion Helios, the former most powerful flashlight, and retails for around $300. The Torch is apparently also undergoing review at the Guinness Book of World Records."
warning labels (Score:5, Insightful)
Welcome to the Nanny Nation.
But what is the point? (Score:5, Insightful)
It is far to dangerous to do many of the things that you often do with bright lights (for example, to go shooting), and so why?
Perhaps it says something in the article? Not that I can see... (Though it does say, 15 minute battery life! WTF is the point of it then?)
15 minutes? (Score:2, Insightful)
Or are they anticipating the availability of those new high-capacity batteries with the nanosilicon structures in 'em?
It seems more and more apparent that the limitations of our technology are not so much money and materials, but power consumption. Much like Tim Taylor, we're always looking for 'MORE POWER!'
Re:warning labels (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:But what is the point? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:warning labels (Score:5, Insightful)
It is fucking dangerous! Maybe you think that chainsaws shouldn't have warning labels as well? "Mummy what happens if I do this? Ahhhhhhhhhhhh" (though actually, all the chainsaws I've handled recently have quite good safety features).
Re:warning labels (Score:5, Insightful)
"Hey! There was nothing that said it was dangerous to chew on the cord while it was plugged in! Nor was their anything telling me I shouldn't plug a coffee pot, a space heater, and a PS3 onto the same cord! I should sue their asses!"
The above example may be a tad bit extreme (actually, it may not be...) but that is why those labels are there. If the company's lawyers could think of someone suing them over something, they would be stupid to not put a warning label on the product. Seeing as so many people would sue over so many little things (but NEVER over their own stupidity), a large number of labels go onto everyday products. Blame your fellow citizens for that gripe.
Re:warning labels (Score:3, Insightful)
Well, because anyone paying $300 for the world's brightest flashlight didn't buy it just so they can find their way to the electric panel after a breaker blows. They bought it because it can melt plastic. Thus, telling them as much merely insults us all, rather than providing any potential safety to the end user.
Warning labels don't protect those of us with two neurons to rub together; They keep people in the gene pool who Darwin-the-Lifeguard needs to toss out ASAP.
Re:warning labels (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:warning labels (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:warning labels (Score:5, Insightful)
Quiz time - You just bought a cool black anodized aluminum high-powered flashlight, with a huge ugly orange sticker on the handle warning you not to look at the beam. Do you:
A) Have the warning professionally engraved directly onto the barrel of the flashlight, so it can never wear off,
B) Remove that sucker before you even put in the batteries,
C) Leave the sticker alone, ruining the look of your new toy, or
D) Take it back to the store and ask for one with a more permanantly-affixed label?
Re:warning labels (Score:5, Insightful)
People like the child/wife/friend/visitor who picks up this neat little flashlight and, while remarking "I hate these maglite knock-offs" proceeds to permanently blind themselves?
As another commenter pointed out, you can't use the design and form-factor of a harmless device when packaging an extremely dangerous device, because you will confuse and possibly harm people unintentionally. Would you package rat poison to look like candy bars or perhaps like a nice slice of deliciously moist cake? Warning labels protect people. They may not serve to protect the buyer of a given device, because they generally tend to know what they're buying and what it's used/not used for; but it can serve to protect somebody unfamiliar with the device, somebody who may happen upon it by random chance. If I owned one of these lights, I would have a sticker on it that said "DO NOT POINT AT FACE. EVER. SRSLY."
Re:But what is the point? (Score:2, Insightful)
Just curious (Score:4, Insightful)
I usually think of myself as not abysmally stupid, but why can't I safely run a 20ga 100ft cord from my basement to my garage beer fridge? The purpose of the cord is to connect an outlet at one end to an appliance at the other.
Does it matter that one end is in my basement and the other is in my garage? I know some cords are rated for outdoor use and some are not, but what if my garage is attached? Is there something intuitively obvious about 20ga cords that aren't suitable for beer fridges? And how do you know if my beer fridge is one of those little travel jobbies that can run off AC or 12-volt DC, or if my beer fridge is a full size Kenmore? (I drink a lot of beer.)
Something so "mind-numbingly obvious" should be easy to explain. Maybe I'm just abysmally stupid.
Re:warning labels (Score:3, Insightful)
A torch makes perfect sense.
They used torches before electricity and lanterns to light up dark areas.
Re:warning labels (Score:5, Insightful)
Of course they shouldn't. If someone is so brain damaged that they can't figure out that a SAW can hurt them, why shouldn't they suffer the consequences?
Chainsaws have warning labels because they can hurt the user in ways the novice wouldn't expect by looking at the saw. Thinks like binding in the kerf and kicking.
Blade new weapon? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Gullability at its finest (Score:2, Insightful)
Not true.
Lumens specifically measures the visible light, and as far as brightness goes 4100 is pretty meager for a bulb, quite good for a handheld device though. Why is that a spotlight can put out 15-25,000 lumens yet the beam does not even feel warm? Reference (PDF) [artlighting.com] (and yes, I have tested this first-hand).
The heat generated is by a light is completely irrelevant to its lumens rating, so whilst in nerdland it is quite correct that heat is just another wavelength of light, in this case the heat and light are two separate things. The light is the 4100 lumens boast, and the heat is the invisible and unmeasured infrared source coming from the bulb.
Re:15 minutes? (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:warning labels (Score:3, Insightful)
One might expect to get scalded when spilling hot coffee, but not skin-melted-off-plastic-surgery level.
McDonalds was told to cool it down many times prior to that for years and they never did.
TSA (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:Campfires! (Score:4, Insightful)
Revenge is a dish that is best served cold, but this would work pretty well too.
Re:warning labels (Score:3, Insightful)
"If you want faces to melt, point this at them."
"For a free trip to the hospital, stick hand in beam."
"Look directly into the light, and you'll never have to see your parents again!"
Re:Campfires! (Score:2, Insightful)
oh good (Score:2, Insightful)