Popular Mechanics articles from December 2003

Popular Mechanics archives from December 2003

Three deuces and a 4-speed and a 389.(Editor's Notes)(Editorial)
December 1, 2003... Contributing Editor Cliff Gromer is usually immersed in the great outdoors for us, flying planes, shooting guns, testing boats, and sampling the latest ATVs on some muddy backwoods fire trail. But Gromer is no stranger to pavement. And he's no...

Fly now.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2003... Your article on sport pilot aircraft was an excellent beginning. I find most sellers of planes still do not have a handle on the unique market for this new class of birds. Perhaps your article will help disseminate the information to the...

From the front.(Letters)(Letter to the Editor)
December 1, 2003... I am a sergeant in the U.S. Army Infantry and a reader of POPULAR MECHANICS. My unit is C CO 2/187th Infantry. The 187th is part of the 101st Airborne out of Fort Campbell, Ky. Like most of the other members of the 187th, I was in Afghanistan...

Reader Ride of the Year.
December 1, 2003... Congratulations to David West of Yorba Linda, Calif., on winning the Cooper Tire Reader Ride of the Year contest! His 1951 Mercury Kustom, featured as the June 2003 Reader Ride of the Month, garnered over 30 percent of all reader votes. David...

Light 'n' lively.(Time Machine)
December 1, 2003... 50 Years Ago: December 1953 With a single car Chevrolet had come up with a pair of firsts: the first modern U.S. manufacturer to mass-produce a sports car, and the first to mass-produce a plastic car. The car was the 1953 Corvette. Its...

Flour power.(Time Machine)
December 1, 2003... 75 Years Ago: December 1928 With gasoline being so high in price, why not run your car engine at one-third the fuel cost with corn flour? Experiments had shown that feeding a mixture of corn flour and air to an engine produced a vigorous...

Flying high.(Time Machine)
December 1, 2003... 25 Years Ago: December 1978 PM's commemoration of 75 years of powered high included this 75th anniversary aviary. Pictured was a Fokker DR. 1 triplane, the nemesis of Allied fliers during World War I (4 o'clock); the Beech Staggerwing, the...

Water whirl.(Time Machine)
December 1, 2003... 100 Years Ago: December 1903 If you couldn't afford a motorboat, you could at least swim as fast as one by strapping on this water bicycle. According to PM, if you could ride a bike, you'd have no trouble operating this screw propeller....

Surgery with sunbeams.(Technology Watch)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Concentrating light with a dime store magnifying glass can raise temperatures at the focal point high enough to ignite paper. Use a large solar reflector, like the one shown here, and even higher temperatures are possible. Add a length of...

Serious look at time travel.(Tech Watch)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Movies about time travel have always been a Hollywood staple. On Thanksgiving Day, Paramount Pictures will release its latest contribution, an adaptation of Michael Crichton's novel Timeline. Billed as an action/ adventure flick, the film...

Put yourself on postage, Popular Mechanics did.(Tech Watch)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... You don't have to be a dead president to get on a postage stamp. Canada has begun marketing personalized stamps. PM sent Canada Post Corp. its centennial logo and received a packet of 25 custom stamps in about two weeks. Sources tell PM that...

New way to top up.(Tech Watch)(Boeing 767 modified to be Air Force tankers)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Boeing will modify new 767 passenger jets to create the Air Force's next generation of tankers. Instead of rows of comfortable seats, these aircraft will be fit with extra fuel tanks. The planes will offer both aerial boom and hose-and-drogue...

Smallest power supply.(Tech Watch)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Unable to find a power supply small enough for their portable [mu]ChemLab analysis instruments, scientists at Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque, N.M., put their engineers on the case. The result, shown above, is the smallest stable,...

Faster, cheaper flying.(Tech Watch)(Piper 6XT)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... The new 6-place Piper 6XT delivers two of the top items on every private pilot's wish list: higher speeds and lower insurance costs. Recently type certified by the Federal Aviation Administration, the 6XT is a turbocharged fixed-landing-gear...

Innovations to watch.(Tech Watch)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... A new computer language that will enable drug researchers to draw maps of the biochemical activity taking place inside living cells won top honors at this year's Frost & Sullivan Technical Insights Innovation competition. Technical and...

Giving bacteria the flu.(Tech Watch)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Using advanced imaging techniques, biologists from the United States, Russia and Japan have created a highly detailed diagram of the T4 virus (above). T4 is widely studied because it readily invades troublesome E. coli bacteria, essentially...

Students aim for the stars.(Tech Watch)(NASA grants to schools)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... NASA is giving schools $10,000 to rekindle student interest in space. The newly launched NASA Explorer Schools program aims to foster efforts like the student-built rocket (above) constructed at Fredericksburg High School in Texas. Other...

Satellite eyes secret project.(Tech Watch)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... The appearance of a line of light stretching the length of an inaccessible area of Kuwait has stumped both military and petroleum industry experts. The images were spotted by Hank Brandli, a retired Air Force meteorological officer, who picked...

Toy inspires young builders.(Tech Watch)(CoolBlox)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Children often find it more fun to build a house or fort out of a box than to play with the toy inside. Taking this observation a step forward, Wayne Levy of Rochester, N.Y., created CoolBlox. Sized for little hands, the foam blocks have...

Reviving old landing craft.(Tech Watch)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Aging hulls from Navy hovercraft could be recycled to create a new type of vessel, the hoverbarge. The unique buoyancy characteristics of the 88 x 47-ft. hulls that enable powered hovercraft to ride on the water would allow an unpowered...

NASA studies small trucks.(Tech Watch)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... NASA's expertise in creating aerodynamic shapes for aircraft also can help the trucking industry find ways of shaving fuel costs. PM recently saw this delivery being made to the NASA Glenn Research Center in Cleveland, Ohio. The tiny Tiger LST...

Planet watch.(Tech Watch)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... * CANADA Nova Scotia declared a state of emergency after Hurricane Juan passed over the province in late September. Extensive flooding caused bridge closures and evacuations. One person died. The worst damage was caused by the 87-mph winds,...

Schizophrenic mice at MIT.(Tech Watch)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... About 2 million Americans suffer from schizophrenia an illness that can cause its victims to believe people are reading their minds, controlling their thoughts or plotting to harm them. Now, the same symptoms have been induced in lab rats by...

Robots mount engine heads.(Tech Watch)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Moving an engine head from its shipping container to an assembly line is dirty, backbreaking work. In short, it is the perfect job for a robot. Humans, however, have held on to this job because the heads often shift in transit, and "iron...

Take a virtual walk through a carrier.(Tech Watch)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Visitors to the newly refurbished Virginia Air & Space Center in Hampton will be able to see inside a highly detailed model of the USS Ronald Reagan. A computer monitor mounted on a rail that runs along the length of the 22-ft. model lets...

Lighting the forehead to assess health.(Tech Watch)(oximeters)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Pulse oximeters gauge blood-oxygen levels, a key measure of health, by shining infrared light through the skin and using a sensor to observe color changes. Usually, the sensor is attached to the finger. The problem is a patient is likely to...

Cheap route to solar power.(Tech Watch)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Scientists in Italy have begun a 7-year project to create a new type of solar cell. It will be half as efficient as those currently on the market, converting about 10 percent of the light that strikes it into electric current. The tradeoff is...

Taste food without cooking.(Tech Watch)(food simulators)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Normally, biting on a piece of cloth is anything but a fine dining experience. But at Japan's University of Tsukuba, it can be a real taste treat. Researchers here have developed a food simulator (below). Take a bite and it produces the sounds...

New technology creates thinner LED taillights.(Tech Watch)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... A new type of light-emitting diode (LED) will enable automotive engineers to execute sleeker designs. Both incandescent and conventional LED taillights require a pocket several inches deep to contain the bulb and reflector assembly. The...

Space elevator: going up.(Following up ...)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... The first conference to consider building a space elevator, reported on in our July 2002 issue, sparked such enthusiasm among scientists and engineers that a second meeting was held this past September in Santa Fe, N.M.,to begin working out of...

NASA doesn't believe in aliens, but covers its bets.(Following up ...)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... For the record, NASA doesn't officially believe there is life in the universe beyond our planet. But, it acknowledges that since PM's July 1999 cover story, there have been a growing number of discoveries of simple life in thermal vents, arctic...

Does e-mail make you sick?(Computers)
December 1, 2003... I grumbled about the e-mails the first few times. Nevertheless, I deleted them. Then I started getting more of them, several a week, then a day, and then a deluge of e-mails infected with Windows viruses, whether of the Sobig or the MSBlast...

Handspring's new Treo smartphone.(Telecom)
December 1, 2003... The best thing about the new Treo 600 smartphone is that despite its many bells and whistles, it is without a doubt a " working phone." By this, I mean it does what a cellphone should do: It makes and receives phone calls. It has speed dial,...

50 years of wiffling.(Sporting Goods)
December 1, 2003... Of all milestones being marked in the new millennium, here's one that probably got by you. The Wiffle ball is 50 years old. And, like many notable achievements of this modern age, this ubiquitous plastic ball with holes on one side was created...

Predicting earthquakes from space.(Geology)
December 1, 2003... Solid ground is anything but. The planet is always moving, as you can see for yourself by checking out the real-time earthquake map we've posted on the PM.Zone, The data for the map comes from a network of ground-movement sensors operated by...

2004 Pontiac GTO.(New Cars)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... 2004 Pontiac GTO Since the first announcement two years ago at the New York International Auto Show, we've been periodically reporting on the return of the Pontiac GTO, both in these pages and on our PM.Zone Web site. There has been beth good...

2004 Chevrolet Colorado/ GMC Canyon.(Automotive)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Whether you're a small family on a budget, a contractor, an outdoors enthusiast or a commercial operation, GM thinks it has your next compact pickup. Colorado and Canyon are all-new trucks that will eventually replace the S-10 and Sonoma lines...

2004 Dodge Durango.(Automotive)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Dodge's SUV is bigger than it was and offers a choice of three powertrains: a 210-hp 3.7-liter V6 a 230-hp 4.7-liter Magnum V8 or a 330-hp Hemi V8. Since this Dodge weighs 4671 pounds, it is no rocket ship with any of the engines. However,...

2004 Volkswagen Phaeton.(Automotive)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... It's big, it's fast, it's built like a bank vault. It has the best paint job of any German car we've ever seen. And, oh, did we mention that it's a Volkswagen? The VW Phaeton is as big as a Mercedes-Benz S-Class, inside and out. And it offers a...

2004 Suzuki Verona.(Automotive)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Suzuki's new Verona is the largest car the automaker has ever sold in the United States. It's no surprise that in almost every dimension, the Verona is within a few inches of the Toyota Camry and Honda Accord. And in some cases, the Verona is...

2004 Mazda3.(Automotive)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... As Mazda continues to revamp and rename its model line, the small Protege is gone, replaced by the all-new Mazda3. Like the Toyota Corolla and Honda Civic with which it competes, the Mazda3 is larger than its predecessor--by an average of 3 in....

2004 Dodge Ram SRT-10.(Automotive)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Think fives--500 hp, 500-plus ft.-lb, of torque, 5000 pounds, more than 500 watts of stereo--and you have the basics of the Dodge Ram SRT-10. A product of Chrysler's Performance Vehicle Operations, the Dodge Ram SRT-10 is a classic example of a...

2004 Mercedes-Benz SL600.(Automotive)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... With the same twin-turbo 5.5-1iter V12 as the $600 sedan, the SL boasts 590 ft.-lb. of torque and 493 hp. Because the SL has the best power-toweight ratio of any V12 Mercedes, when you floor the accelerator, there's just a mountain of forward...

2005 Ford GT.(Automotive)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... We gave you a taste of the Ford GT earlier this year when we sampled an engineering workhorse. We recently had the chance to drive a prototype that's about 95 percent production ready. And we can attest that the GT is fast, fun and gets more...

2005 Dodge Dakota.(Detroit Spy Report)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Dodge will have this newly designed Dakota ready for sale in late 2004 to meet the heavy and direct competition from GM's new compact pickups, the Colorado and the Canyon While the Dakota in this photo is heavily camouflaged, a number of...

2006 Buick.(Detroit Spy Report)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... As we reported last month, GM brass is seriously considering producing a rear-drive sedan for Buick. While the final verdict not in, this is what the car will look like if the plans go forward Like the Cadillac STS that will be available as a...

2006 Mitsubishi Eclipse.(Asia Spy Report)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... The next Mitsubishi Eclipse, pictured here in heavy camouflage, will grow in size and weight over the current car. It will be based an all-new platform called "PS" that it will share with the current Endeavor and the new Galant. Under the hood...

2005 Kia KM.(Asia Spy Report)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... This vehicle, code-named "KM", will join the Kia lineup for the '05 model year. Smaller than the Sorento, this model will probaby replace the Sportage. However, unlike the Sportage, the KM will ride on a modified version of a passenger-car...

2006 Toyota Corolla Verso4.(Asia Spy Report)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Folks at Toyota see a hole in their lineup between the Matrix and the RAV4. So they will bring a version of the Corolla Verso4, already on sale in Japan and Europe, here to plug that gap. Intended to compete with the Subaru Forester, the Verso4...

World's smallest motor.(Mechanics)
December 1, 2003... Sometimes invention is the mother of necessity. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed the world's smallest motor. Now they're trying to figure out what to do with it. Using a gold rotor mounted atop a carbon...

Buzz Aldrin.(PM People)
December 1, 2003... On July 20, 1969, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong became the first men to walk on the moon, To commemorate the 25th anniversary of Apollo 11, Aldrin wrote about his experience for the July 1994 issue of POPULAR MECHANICS. Who better to write...

A century of flight: the Wright brothers did more than conquer the sky. They unleashed a torrent of engineering genius that created a new world.(Science)
December 1, 2003... When Orville and Wilbur Wright flew their flyer at Kitty Hawk on Dec. 17, 1903, they did more than achieve the ancient dream of conquering the sky. They ignited the aeronautical equivalent of astronomy's big bang. Although it was not apparent...

Will to win: CART champ Alex Zanardi conquers the track that nearly killed him.(Motorsports)
December 1, 2003... Most of us can't even imagine what happened to 2-time CART racing champion Alex Zanardi in September 2001. There he was at a new racetrack, the EuroSpeedway Lausitz oval, at CART's first-ever race in Germany. doing his job, when suddenly his...

Canyon jets: we run the Colorado from Hoover Dam to London Bridge in Polaris's new sport boats.(Boating)
December 1, 2003... The Colorado River from Hoover Dam to Lake Havasu is 150 miles of the best boating in America. The canyon scenery is spectacular, the water is clear and filled with fish, and the weather is almost always warm and sunny. There's only one...

Fun and games: a complete guide to this season's hottest games.(Gaming)
December 1, 2003... Just when you thought you could give your thumbs a rest, here comes a barrage of tile coolest and most exciting video games, just in time for the holidays. This year's selection is almost evenly divided between action/adventure and sports,...

Refrigerator care.(The goods: great products and promotional offers from PM advertisers)(Brief Article)(Advertisement)
December 1, 2003... Maintenance Tips Maintenance will prolong the life of your refrigerator, reduce energy waste, and help eliminate unwanted odors/bacteria. Unplug your refrigerator when performing maintenance. Refer to your owner's manual for additional...

Microsoft Flight Simulator.(The goods: great products and promotional offers from PM advertisers)(Advertisement)
December 1, 2003... One hundred years ago the Wright brothers took off at Kitty Hawk and changed the world forever. Though air travel has become a fact of life over the past century, our passion for flight has only propelled us to new heights. So, whether you've...

Wrangler Five Star jeans. Stronger. More Comfortable. Guaranteed.(The goods: great products and promotional offers from PM advertisers)(Advertisement)
December 1, 2003... Looking for a long lasting, comfortable pair of jeans? Wrangler Five Star Premium Quality Denim is designed for comfort and durability for work or leisure. Wrangler Five Star jeans have more room in the seat and thigh for added comfort and are...

XM Satellite Radio.(The goods: great products and promotional offers from PM advertisers)(Advertisement)
December 1, 2003... XM SATELLITE RADIO is 100 amazing digital channels of music, comedy, sports, news and talk, many commercial-free. The new Delphi XM Roady displays song title and artist and can be customized with seven included color displays. The complete kit...

Black and Decker.(The goods: great products and promotional offers from PM advertisers)(Advertisement)
December 1, 2003... The 7 Tool FireStorm Mobile Workstation by Black & Decker is a workstation on wheels. It has all of Firestorm's most powerful, innovative tools in one portable place. From the Bullseye automatic leveling laser; to the 18 Volt Drill/Driver with...

Router Roundup: we test seven fixed-base routers for performance, features and handling.(Comparison Test)
December 1, 2003... If you're going to have just one router, a plunge router is a pretty good choice. Not only can a plunge router do anything the old fixed-base design can, but it also handles a complete range of internal cuts, like mortises, enclosed holes and...

Installing a water softener: how to make water easier to get along with.(Home Improvement)
December 1, 2003... Does your home need a water softener? If your dishes have water spots and your faucets, fixtures and shower heads accumulate scale, the answer is probably yes. Consider, too, that when minerals precipitate on external surfaces, the same inside....

This all-in-one home theater surround sound unit will blow you away!
December 1, 2003... Soundmatters[R] MAINstage[TM] is a space-saving, surround-sound speaker system that produces the entire Dolby Digital 5:1 sound track experience--from one revolutionary speaker cabinet. Since MAINstage[TM] requires no additional amplifiers,...

Air volume control.(Homeowners Clinic)(water well pump)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... I replaced the air volume control line on my house water well pump, and now there's a whistling sound whenever the pump kicks on. It doesn't last longer than a few seconds, but it has me stumped. Can you help? MARTIN LYONS PLAINFIELD,...

Help with Wiring a House.(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2003... Rex Cauldwell is a third-generation master electrician, and in this excellent book he shows a reader how to build a safe electrical system, and tells you what to specify when hiring an electrician. He also shows products to avoid and why to...

Cloudy well water.(Homeowners Clinic)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... We have a well that was dug around 1957. Whenever there is a heavy rain, my water gets cloudy for a few days. I was told by a well driller to drill a new deep well. Is there a health problem when the water gets cloudy? BILLY H. VIA...

Freeze-thaw protection.(Homeowners Clinic)(sealing concrete steps)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... I have a set of precast concrete steps that are pockmarked from previous winters. Is there a sealer that can protect them? PAUL FLYNN KENNETT SQUARE, PA Freeze-thaw damage results from water absorbed into tiny capillary spaces in...

Watch the collet.(Service tip: woodwork)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Even experienced woodworkers sometimes blow it when they install a router bit. They may overtighten the bit or allow dirt and dust inside the collet. Either way, this results in a jammed collet. To be more router savvy, follow these basic...

Water softener discharge.(Homeowners Clinic)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... The saltwater waste from my water softener discharges to the septic tank. Should I run the discharge to an alternate drain? JIM SAWYER VIA INTERNET Depending on the soil type, the salt from backwashing a water softener can clog a...

Pushing all the right Buttons.(Auto Clinic)(fuel pump shutoff switch)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... I was involved in a minor fender bender with my Lincoln Town Car. I could have driven the car away from the scene--but the engine stalled and wouldn't restart. The tow truck driver told me he could start the car very easily without towing it to...

Beating the curve.(Car Care)(electrical components, water pumps)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Based on your experience, what is the life expectancy of a water pump, alternator and starter motor? How often should I replace them? JOE BUCHANAN VIA INTERNET The electrical components could easily last for the life of the...

How dry I am.(Car Care)(dry-sump oil system)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... I was reading in a Detroit Spy Report (July 2003, page 55) about the 2005 Corvette, and it says the engine will use a dry-sump oil system. What is a dry sump and why is it better? FREDRICK KNOPF VIA INTERNET Most engines use a wet-sump...

Punch and Judy.(Car Care Tip)(brake discs)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... I've seen a lot of new brake discs come over the counter in the last few years with the outer bearing races preinstalled. I always thought the bearings should be matched at the factory and that the mix-and-match approach was a bad idea, but I'm...

Service tips.(Car Care)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... * If the driver's power window Auto-Down function of your 2003-04 Sebring or Stratus won't roll the window completely down every time, you'll need to replace the window with a revised part, according to Technical Service Bulletin (TSB)...

Changing your oil and filter.(Saturday Mechanic)
December 1, 2003... The line at the quick-lube goes around the building and nearly to the street. But the auto parts store parking lot is empty--now's your chance to show the wife that it really is cheaper and easier to change your own oil. Especially after...

Great stuff: from home improvement to outdoors, automotive to electronics, here's the newest gear you'll want to own.
December 1, 2003... 1. Dirt Devil If your idea of playing in the dirt is pulling 50-ft. power wheelies, throwing up huge rooster tails and spending lots of time in the in the air, check out Arctic Cat's DVX 400 sport ATV. Powered by a Suzuki 398cc...

Stern measures.(Great Stuff)
December 1, 2003... Yamaha has come out with the first 150-hp 4-stroke outboard--the F150. The motor is designed for 17- to 21-ft. boats with single installations and 23- to 26ft. boats with dual outboards. Sporting an all-new inline Four powerhead, the motor...

Raise a toast.(Great Stuff)
December 1, 2003... T-Fal says its Avante Elite toasts 40 percent faster than conventional toasters, and that's not a bad thing when you're in a hurry to grab breakfast and go. But even if you're not in a hurry, you might appreciate its features. These include 1...

Bright eyes.(Great Stuff)
December 1, 2003... RCA has topped its high-end HDTV sets with the new Digital Light Processing (DLP) technology. The RCA Scenium DLP HDTV 50-in. widescreen includes an integrated ATSC tuner/ decoder and a 30-watt, 4-speaker package with SRS TruSurround XT for...

Crunch, crunch.(Great Stuff)
December 1, 2003... It's that time again--time to think about snowshoes. Havlick snowshoes feature a 1-size-fits-all Super Strap binding. The binding attaches with a system that uses an aggressive aluminum crampon. A large Trail Tail resists wear and also serves...

Sunny side up.(Great Stuff)(Nintendo GameBoy Advance uses solar sensor)(Brief Article)
December 1, 2003... Video games have come a long way, but who knew they'd someday be solar powered? Konami is giving this concept a shot with a new game for the Nintendo GameBoy Advance called Boktai: The Sun Is In Your Hand. A solar sensor is built into the...

Pony pages.(Great Stuff)(Mustang: Forty Years)(Brief Article)(Book Review)
December 1, 2003... Did you know that the Ford Mustang is the "official car of the baby boom generation"? We didn't--until we checked out MBI Publishing's new book, Mustang: Forty Years by Randy Leffingwell and David Newhardt. The 384-page book, with 350 photos,...

Pot luck.(Great Stuff)
December 1, 2003... If you need a new carburetor for your small-block off-road truck, check out Holley's new Truck Avenger. The Avenger features a no-hassle bolt-on installation--no experience necessary. Only two small tuning adjustments are required before...

Work the angles.(Great Stuff)
December 1, 2003... Whether you're using it to cut framing lumber or trim, Ridgid's 12-in.dual-compound sliding miter saw should be up to the job. It's powered by a 15-amp motor and can crosscut a 4 x 4 at 90[degrees] or a 2 x 10 at 45[degrees]. Somebody was...