oldandcold
|
5 years ago
|
on: Casio CQ-1 calculator and clock
Back in the 70's... everything seemed to be red LED. When I first saw the various VFD displays...well, that was
cool. I thought they were dead...but here is an interesting take on VFD technology... amplification!
https://korgnutube.com/en/
oldandcold
|
6 years ago
|
on: The custom-made computers powered by pepperoni pizza
Just ask them to send you an invoice. I was in a similar bind decades ago. There was Western Union, but too much hassle. "Can you send me bill? Here's my name, address...that way you have a paper trail". At that time, mailing invoices was common. They did, my company paid them too. If I recall, it was for $0.99.
oldandcold
|
6 years ago
|
on: Apollo 11 Guidance Computer vs. USB-C Chargers
It didn't crash. It behaved as designed. Too much work to do, and the scheduler had to deal with priority problems.
oldandcold
|
6 years ago
|
on: Before the DNS: how yours truly upstaged the NIC's official HOSTS.TXT (2004)
As a one-time DNS dev, this story is at once heartwarming and terrifying. Still the best thing I've read in a while! LOL!
oldandcold
|
6 years ago
|
on: Quindar Tones: the beeps heard in recordings of astronauts in space
I've always enjoyed these beeps...to me, for technical radio comms, they lend a sense of "tightness" or maybe even "seriousness" that normal comms don't have. Control purposes aside, I just love them. And until now, I had no idea they were different frequencies...now that I know this, I can tell.
oldandcold
|
6 years ago
|
on: Frost Heaving
Growing up in Northern Ontario, one learns these lessons early. Anything on, or more importantly, embedded in, the ground was always subject to frost. Roads seemed to take a few yearly cycles to get moved enough to matter, but anything with fence posts or pilings caused a lot of damage. The conversations among the local cognoscenti: "didn't go deep enough", "never use concrete!" , "needed more concrete", etc. No one really had the answer...always seemed a crap shoot to me. This lack of knowledge left every neighborhood looking like it just went through a minor earthquake each spring. Apparently, helical piles are the next great thing to try... I wonder how deep I need to go....
oldandcold
|
6 years ago
|
on: Mourning the End of Paper Maps
I knew some folks that worked for Natural Resources Canada. They were part of the "press team" who printed all sorts of wonderful maps. The press room held an enormous high-speed press... I loved the smell of the place. Ink, oil, machinery and reams of paper. These guys... so highly skilled, as much art as technology. The maps were beautiful...even the ones with mistakes. They would cut them up and make scratch pads out of them. All this was shut down years ago... they knew the end was coming. It makes me sad just thinking about it.
oldandcold
|
6 years ago
|
on: The Hacker’s Manifesto (1986)
Hackers...the movie. "their only crime was curiosity". I suspect that line was lifted from this.
As for the Manifesto itself, for the most part, looking back, this rings true. I was there... in the 80's...with colourful boxes, acoustic couplers, and pages and pages of phone numbers. I never had the sense of community this document describes...it seemed like a much more solitary pursuit, but you picked up things if you know where to look...and clearly, trails were blazed by those that went before. To paraphase Dali... It wasn't better than drugs, It was drugs.
oldandcold
|
6 years ago
|
on: Making My Own Glasses
Wonderful read. I've been wearing glasses for 40+ years...and I agree with the generally subjective nature of the exam. "better 1 or 2". "this one or that one"... etc. Is it just a bit less blurry? Or am I guessing because I want to get out of here? At my dox, they check my Rx with a machine, then the doc does the A/B testing. They know what the answer is...but they need me to validate. Then there is time... the doc has only so much time to do the A/B testing. A few hours of A/B would statistically improve the outcome. And really, fuzzy or sharp letters on a screen is not what I look at all day...show me a monitor or a book and ask me what I see. I would love to do my own testing with a box of lenses...
