Because I work for the government, nearly every bit of paper on my desk is secret and therefore, cannot be thrown away in the bin next to my desk.What I'd like is a (metal) bin with integral propane supply which sets light to pieces of paper as they are put in the bin, with a satisfying "whoosh!" noise and small cloud of smoke.-- hippo, Mar 15 2004 Glory hole http://www.andybair...otos/glory-hole.jpg(Get your mind out of the gutter!) [Klaatu, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 17 2004] 1984 http://www.mega.nu:8080/ampp/1984.html [squeak, Oct 05 2004, last modified Oct 21 2004] The satisfying "whoosh!" I like. What kills it for me is the small cloud of smoke.-- Worldgineer, Mar 15 2004 I’d like a deep hole in the floor and a sensitive microphone to hear the “whoosh!” after a few minutes when it hits the magma.-- FarmerJohn, Mar 15 2004 Wouldn't that set off the sprinklers?
We have special bins with locked covers where you can put things for shredding. I still wonder if someone goes through it beforehand, though.-- DrCurry, Mar 15 2004 We have "tapers" who work curbside for hire, painstakingly reassembling shredded documents with cellophane tape.-- Mungo, Mar 15 2004 //We have "tapers" who work curbside for hire, painstakingly reassembling shredded documents with cellophane tape.//
I've sometimes thought that for document destruction one should have a shredder arranged so that documents are cut into alternating larger and smaller pieces, with the smaller pieces going into a regrinder. Otherwise, advancements in technology may make automated document reconstruction feasible.-- supercat, Mar 15 2004 If the burner is hot enough, I have found that there is no smoke at all. We used to toss paper into glory holes <link for picture> and there would be a brief flash and no smoke. 2500º doesn't leave much smoke.-- Klaatu, Mar 16 2004 Nice picture, [Klaatu]. We have a kiln at home which gets up to about 1250ºC, and has spy-holes in the side - I'd be a bit nervous about putting anything in it though.[supercat] I think you're describing a "cross-cutting" shredder.-- hippo, Mar 16 2004 Perhaps [ub] one of those pulping "install anywhere" toilet units?-- unclepete, Mar 16 2004 Already half-baked by George Orwell in "1984". They were called "Memory Holes" and were used to destroy just about any piece of paper but especially those with sensitive information on them.
//To the right of the speakwrite, a small pneumatic tube for written messages, to the left, a larger one for newspapers; and in the side wall, within easy reach of Winston's arm, a large oblong slit protected by a wire grating. This last was for the disposal of waste paper. Similar slits existed in thousands or tens of thousands throughout the building, not only in every room but at short intervals in every corridor. For some reason they were nicknamed memory holes. When one knew that any document was due for destruction, or even when one saw a scrap of waste paper lying about, it was an automatic action to lift the flap of the nearest memory hole and drop it in, whereupon it would be whirled away on a current of warm air to the enormous furnaces which were hidden somewhere in the recesses of the building.//
See link.-- squeak, Mar 16 2004 hippo: Cross-cutting shredders generally dump all of the shredded bits into one bin, so somebody who ran edge-analysis software on all the bits could match them up. My idea would be to have slivers of about 1/40" get taken out from between the shredded bits so as to ensure that the edges can't be matched up.-- supercat, Mar 16 2004 random, halfbakery