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Doom running on a pregnancy test

443 points| boyter | 5 years ago |twitter.com

119 comments

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[+] underyx|5 years ago|reply
I find the user's earlier threads to be more interesting. Foone deconstructed a digital pregnancy test and found that it's actually just a <$1 pregnancy test strip in the shell, with light sensors that check whether it shows one or two stripes, and then display the result on a screen.
[+] huffmsa|5 years ago|reply
As I think Naomi Wu said, the paper tests are extremely accurate in the lab, the majority of errors come from failure to read the output correctly (misinterpretation or otherwise).

So adding a digital readout that produces unambiguous results justifies the price.

[+] bencollier49|5 years ago|reply
I agree with this. It confirms that most "digital" devices like this (for example, scales) are just introducing greater inaccuracy whilst conveying a false sense of certainty.
[+] kevin_thibedeau|5 years ago|reply
How else are you going to do a chemical assay in a portable device? Breathalyzers are even jankier.
[+] ufmace|5 years ago|reply
More interesting was that before the current chemical strip-based test, apparently the best way to test for pregnancy was to inject the urine into the leg of an African clawed frog, then see if it laid eggs in the next 24 hours.

https://twitter.com/Foone/status/1301844281540239360

[+] Zeebrommer|5 years ago|reply
One wonders how this method was discovered...
[+] objclxt|5 years ago|reply
Should probably be noted this isn’t actually running on a pregnancy test, it’s a pregnancy test plastic shell with a replacement CPU and display.
[+] 731d2fe149f6957|5 years ago|reply
Was searching for exactly that and couldn't find an answer. That's what I would've guessed that such an expensive display won't be on a pregnancy test. Sad.

Hats off to this great achievement, even though it's not really all original hardware.

[+] p_l|5 years ago|reply
IIRC only the display is replaced, the cpu remains the same.
[+] mrweasel|5 years ago|reply
Regardless of the CPU being replaced, am I the only one who thinks this to much electronics to put into, what I assume, is a single use pregnancy test?

This has so be sorted as "small electronics" when you dispose of it. Even before you can start dealing with the the e-waste part, someone has to manually open the thing and separate plastics and electronics.

[+] sjnu|5 years ago|reply
I thought so too, but the paper version apparently has a ridiculously high (user) error rate. When the failure mode is an extra human it might be a net win.
[+] celticninja|5 years ago|reply
Especially when you know that all the electronics actually do is interpret the result of a standard paper based test.
[+] astannard|5 years ago|reply
Congratulations it's a Cacodemon
[+] hliyan|5 years ago|reply
It's amazing how the brain can fill in the details. I had no problem identifying the levels and the enemies. I wonder what the images look like to someone who has never played Doom?
[+] noneeeed|5 years ago|reply
It sounds a bit like having a cochlear implant fitted late in life. I've heard that you can listen to music you know well and your brain will fill in all the details, but anything new just sounds terribly low def and isn't really enjoyable.
[+] awb|5 years ago|reply
> and to get it; you have to pee on it

Is this a joke? Is there no other way to start the CPU?

[+] moron4hire|5 years ago|reply
That comment was about other ideas for hacked electronics stuffed in a pregnancy test, e.g. a keyboard ("but it would be only one character" in the previous tweet, and the "and to get it, you have to pee on it". Later, he names the idea "peeboard".)
[+] jasoneckert|5 years ago|reply
During the latter half of the 1990s and onwards, there was a saying in tech circles along the lines of "It isn't a computer unless it can run DOOM."

Perhaps that was the original motivation behind this tweet, even if it isn't running natively.

[+] encom|5 years ago|reply
Both CPU and display has been replaced. Nothing about the headline is true. 100% clickbait.
[+] temporallobe|5 years ago|reply
That’s it, I’ve finally seen all of the internet.
[+] kumarvvr|5 years ago|reply
Anyone know what board he is using in the pic?
[+] royletron|5 years ago|reply
I saw Doom running on a pregnancy test 7 years ago... But I've subsequently learnt to love him.
[+] throwaway_dcnt|5 years ago|reply
Give it another 6 years. 13 years is when the monster comes out.
[+] dep_b|5 years ago|reply
It's a movie of somebody playing Doom, not actually Doom running on it.
[+] pacificmint|5 years ago|reply
The tweet clearly states that it is not a movie, but the actual game.

> Yesterday I had a lot of retweets and reddit posts and such for playing Doom on a pregnancy test.

> But as I explained then, it wasn't really PLAYING on a pregnancy test, it was just a video being played back, not an interactive game.

> Well, now it is. It's Pregnancy Test Doom!