Inventor of Low Tech Fridge Wins Award

juju2112 writes "Mohammed Bah Abba of Nigeria won a Rolex award for his pot-in-pot invention. Here's how it works. You take a smaller pot and put it inside a larger pot. Fill the space in between them with wet sand, and cover the top with a wet cloth. When the water evaporates, it pulls the heat out with it, making the inside cold. It's a natural, cheap, easy-to-make refrigerator."

Different Interpretation

[incognitox]

For some reason, I read "pot-in-pot" as more of a smuggler's invention. Ingenious! I'll hide the _REAL_ pot inside this _FAKE_ pot, so they'll never find it!

rolexity

[Doc Ruby]

Give a man a rolex, and he's more or less late for a lifetime. Give a man a stick, and he's on time at least once a day.

To be picked up by OC'ers?

[Anonymous Coward]

Just wait until someone figures out how to attach a cast iron pot to the top of the P4.

The money

[ExCEPTION]

I heard this guy needs someone to transfer the award money for him.

Re:keeping beer cool

[Rosco P. Coltrane]

Remember at school/university when we use the same principle to keep our beer cold.

Well of course it's obvious, and everybody knows the trick, but this is a perfect example of how some people can be taken by the most outrageous nigerian scams. This time it was the Rolex award judges. Perhaps they expect 20M to be wired from some bank account in Nigeria or something...

Nigeria?

[richie2000]

HELLO, I am Mohammed Bah Abba of Nigeria. I have recently won a large sum of money in a Rolex award for a new, fascinating invention of mine called the common cold. However, the Nigerian Chamber of Spa^H^H^HCommerce will not let me just withdraw the sum and leave the country. They inform me that I must e-mail someone of good repute who will assist me in acquiring the funds for a small part of the award, the sum of $30 million US dollars. I assure you that this transaction is 100% legal and risk-free.

In other news...

[Anonymous Coward]

In other news: Man from Nigeria sells Rolex award, buys fridge.

One thing before I go to sleep.

[Propagandhi]

I'm sure some of us geek's will be confused by this "sand" thing they're using in between the pots. This "sand" they talk about is actually just our friend silicon. Just thought I'd throw that out there to avoid some confusion.

Obviously

[eclectro]

If this guy got a $100,000 dollar award, then these guys [beerchiller.com] should get a "cool" million.

coming up next

[PsiPsiStar]

patent 454,845,474,734

A liquid, excreted from the skin when hot, whose evaporation helps to maintain an organism within a certain temperature range as well as serving to eliminate certain waste materials from the body.

This process may be, but is not necessecarily, augmented by a seperate device composed of a number of curved blades, fitted to a central hub and rotated at high speeds by an electric motor in order to create artificial air currents. some form of material support apparatus keeps the device elevated above the ground, either by providing a stand or attaching to the ceiling of the room, or by mounting the device inside some form of automotive vehicle. Also, a guard device may be used to keep sundry items from coming in contact with the blades.

Re:keeping beer cool

[Anonymous Coward]

Happily it turns out that the joke is on the "inventor" since it wasn't really the "Rolex award judges", but a cheap knock-off panel of judges from Thailand.

Re:so how effective is it?

[ColaMan]

and during summer it's expected to go to 30 celsius for fuckin weeks again and no money for AC

You poor bastard.

Try working outside in the sun at 43 degrees on hot earthmoving equipment (with engines hot enough to melt your boots when you stand on them)

During summer I wished for "just" 30 degree weather every day.

(Annnnnnd I had to crawl on my stomach 5 miles to school every day! Uphill both ways! Down in the dust and the dirt and prickles and the bitey ants! And I *liked* it, because damnit, that was *good* compared to what some of the other kids went through!)

Re:Brilliant.

[gunpowder]

Unfortunately such methods have been used in ancient Egypt 4000 years ago already.

Yes, but this guy is using nigerian sand, not egyptian sand!

Re:This is New?

[Smidge204]

And I thought Nigerians were the most honest people on earth!

=Smidge=

Re:keeping beer cool

[Linker3000]

I once held two weeks' technical training in a hotel for a major UK field service company. All the students (45) stayed in the hotel too and they were all around 17-20 years old - some had not stayed away from home before!

As you can imagine, there were some rather late night parties and although the hotel staff had cleared out the room mini-bars as requested by the FS company, the students had sufficient intelligence to stock up from the local spermarket.

One night, however, 'Labatts Ice' bottled beer was on special offer and so was purchased in significant quantities - sadly the bottles would not fit on the mini-bar shelves...no problem, the students simply split open the packs and depositied the bottles in the ornamental fountain in reception and went in regular convoy throughout the night to fetch and replenish stocks! The culprits were tracked down by the trails of water leading back to their rooms and were politely requested not to use the fountain as a fridge.

A couple of days later, someone tipped a couple of bottles of red food colouring into the fountain!

Oh, happy days!

Re:keeping beer cool

[stu_coates]

This is obviously untrue.... have you ever heard of a student with a clean sock? ;-)

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:This is New?

[Bohnanza]

When I was a kid, I invented the lever. How was I to know it had been done before?

Re:Not in Holland

[softwave]

Hey, if I were in Holland and I'd find pot on the street, I wouldn't hesitate to "borrow" it either :-)))

Re:This is New?

[SillyNickName4me]

> Sure, someone in a developed country might have come up with something more innovative, but they probably don't need the money as much as this guy would.

Hmm.. my inbox tells me they have milions of dollars just lying around there..

Re:Coolgardie Safe

[Threni]

> If so then he's losing 60 cents on each one he sells

It's a loss-leader - check out the mark-up on his solar powered torches!

Re:This is New?

[Himring]

there is something like 4500 years of prior art on this one - bedouin tribes have been using this for ever.

"So what was this used for?"

"Were not really sure, but we think they kept their weed in it...."

Re:keeping beer cool

[PhotoBoy]

Dear Sir,

Please kindly permit me to express myself to you. My name is Mohammed Bah Abba from Nigeria. I recently won money from Rolex watch company that mandated me to search for good and reliable company/individual person who can assist me to safe keep some amount of US$100,000 dollars. This fund is paid into a fixed deposit account with coded secret account number and my coded name in a bank in Europe.

Now, I am wanted by the NIGERIAN SCAMMERS who have mandated that all my assets, bank account home and abroad be confisicated to pay for their email fraud schemes.

I need trust worthy investor who can go to bank in europe to receive money either through the transfer system for certified draft in his or her name to redeposit this money in your country for good investment. If you can handle this process myself or my attorney to have meeting with you anywhere in europe to go to the bank with legal letter of administration to change beneficiary to your name as investment proxy and investor to our family investments.

This is very confidential handling if you can be able to handle it with us, I have mapped 20% for you and new fridge that not need electricity. You should contact me urgently on my email: [e-mail].

This is 100% risk free and demands absolute secret and confidentially.

If you are being good to good I pray we succeed. respond urgently.

Mohammed Bah Abba

Re:performance parameters?

[micromoog]

cooling will go faster . . . by placing a fan next to it

If only there was somewhere to plug in that fan . . .

Re:One thing before I go to sleep.

[juhaz]

Yeah, but... but... they've ground it to powder! Bastards.

How can such cruelty towards computers be tolerated!

Re:performance parameters?

[Mateito]

> Put on a wet Tshirt on a chilly day and go outside.

I'd love to try this, but I'd probably poke somebody's eye out.

Re:performance parameters?

[Anonymous Coward]

Without Flanders I might not be here

Okely-dokely!

Re:This is New?

[pantycrickets]

Yes. The thermodynamics involved in the device have been known for thousands of years. But the invenion is appling this to keeping food cool in a Nigerian village. To the best of mine, and Rolex's knowledge, nobody has apparently tried that particular feat before on a Nigerian village.

I am going to bring my Xbox there, and "invent" gaming. :)

Re:This is New?

[dougmc]

European bicycle racers have been wrapping their water bottles with a damp cloth covering to keep the water chilled for decades as well.

Now, wouldn't it be really cool if these same European bicycle racers could excrete liquid directly from their skin and then have it evaporate, removing heat directly from their body ...

(:

Re:This is New?

[ministerofsickeningr]

Living with them for a few months taught me more about how to think about living than any number of survival books and hiking expeditions had ever done.
1. this is an opportunity
2. PLEASE WRITE THIS INFORMATION DOWN!!
3. PUBLISH IT! so we ALL can
4. profit!! from it.

For those impressed by this:

[Golobarti]

Creating fire by striking two rocks together. Cooking your foor by using only wood. Washing your clothes by using only a paddle and a rock. All these secrets and more are available to you for a low price of only $9.99 + S&H Just imagine the savings. An independent study shows that you can save up to $300 a year in matches and electricity costs if you use my techniques. But wait, there is more: If you act now, I'll send you the companion booklets "How to build your own hut out of cow dung" and "Build your house entirely out of snow" These techniques are used by millions of satisfied customers around the world. You too can do away with those pesky mortgage payments. Please send certified cheque or money order for $9.99 plus $29.99 S&H to : Mr. Szostalo 3749 Albion Ottawa Canada Results guaranteed or your money back (less S&H)

Dangerous Chemicals...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm quite surprised that he won this award. After all, there are thousands of di-hydrogen monoxide related deaths each year.

Surely there should be a warning on these devices...

Re:One thing before I go to sleep.

[Cy Guy]

So will this work on my overclocked P4?

Maybe there will e a market for earthenware PC cases?

Re:keeping beer cool

[Richy_T]

There is a timesaving trick that avoids this palarver entirely but produces an almost identical product. Simply empty out the keg and piss into it until full. Carbonate as required. Then go down the pub for a pint of bitter. Job done.

Rich

Re:Okay Grandpa Simpson

[kfg]

Ah yes, the Swedish lunch box. I remember it well. I used to carry my blue jeans in one, only we didn't call them blue jeans back then. We called them "dungarees" because only shitkickers wore them. Even a shitkicker wouldn't wear dungarees into town, because then everyone would think he was a shitkicker.

That reminds me of the time I was mucking out stalls in exchange for riding time, because shitkicker is actually the sort of boot we wore to do it. And people who wore them were then shitkickers too. The whole shitkicker/dungarees thing just sort of became a package deal.

Package deal. . .now there's a phrase whose origins are. . . Zzzzzzzzzz

KFG