Animation composed of 6 ruby laser pulses on a screwdriver blade. The laser penetrates the screwdriver on the third shot. However, sparks continue to appear with each shot that occurs thereafter. Animation gives the illusion of 'motion' (or in this case, it appears to correspond with the time lapse of an actual event) while retaining some of the quality that often seperates photographs from actual video recordings. The quality of video content is sufficient for normal everyday things like people riding bikes, running, pets, or just normal everyday activity. Where video fails to perform, however, is in the recording of very brief or momentary events. Recording a ruby laser pulse on video is not much different from recording a fire cracker as it explodes - only a flash of light will result, and very little detail will be revealed. The same applies when trying to make video recordings of lightening-like sparks from one of my electrostatic machines - due to the low resolution of the video camera, sparks appear to be faint and weak compared with their appearance in actual photos. This assumes a spark is actually captured on a single frame of the video. Hence, fast momentary events are not good subjects for video recording - at least not with any video equipment that is within my budget. Therefore, this experimental animation appears to be a fun compromise.

Well I don't really carry this in my pocket, it is in a pouch on my belt. I just didn't think "What's On Your Belt?" was very catchy. :-) Anyway, this is a Leatherman Wave, it is a multi-tool. When I first started carrying this, about 5 years ago, the hardest thing about it was remembering I had it. I would say to myself "Gee wish I had a screwdriver, or pliers or whatever". Then I would remember I had one right on my belt. If I'm wearing a belt, I'm wearing this.