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KakerMix
Apr 8, 2004

8.2 M.P.G.
:byetankie:

Jedit posted:

The revival of tape isn't just hipster bullshit. Bands have been using it because it's harder to convert to MP3.

Like an anti piracy thing? Motherfucker if your music isn't in a digital format you can gently caress right off, even cds are obsolete to me.

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Mistayke
May 7, 2003

Dick Trauma posted:

That Brook Motors starter box is luverly. :allears:

AAA maps seem obsolete. I used them heavily up to around 2000. This one looks like it might be documenting Middle Earth.



HA. I live in the white space of nothingness between "Richmond Hill and "Jamaica Bay". Otherwise known as, Queens.

That map looks all hosed up. The scale is way the hell off.

BogDew
Jun 14, 2006

E:\FILES>quickfli clown.fli

Computer viking posted:

IIRC, the best wax cylinder recordings sound fairly good?

They're not that bad to listen to most of them are now being scanned by laser to prevent any further degrading from playing them back.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnsizkVjGm8

The scanning was recently done on Edison's short lived talking dolls with the results being objects of pure terror.

Some old gramophone recordings weren't completely accurate with recordings, either being slower or faster so the pitch will shift up or down by a semitone.

Wanamingo
Feb 22, 2008

by FactsAreUseless

WebDog posted:

The scanning was recently done on Edison's short lived talking dolls with the results being objects of pure terror.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5mnQfmk9sg

NO NO NO NO NO NO

Count Chocula
Dec 25, 2011

WE HAVE TO CONTROL OUR ENVIRONMENT
IF YOU SEE ME POSTING OUTSIDE OF THE AUSPOL THREAD PLEASE TELL ME THAT I'M MISSED AND TO START POSTING AGAIN

carry on then posted:

Now if you really want hipster bullshit, release only sheet music and post a tirade against the laziness of canned music to your band blog.

I think Beck did that recently. People would perform the sheet music.

I get the idea of releasing on a physical format so that you have something to sell at shows, but we may have reached the point where vinyl is the least hipster option. It's all pretty cool though.

Count Chocula has a new favorite as of 03:17 on Aug 17, 2015

Teriyaki Hairpiece
Dec 29, 2006

I'm nae the voice o' the darkened thistle, but th' darkened thistle cannae bear the sight o' our Bonnie Prince Bernie nae mair.
Anyone know what's up with the wiring in my apartment in a very old building? The power went "out" the other day. Three outlets worked in the kitchen, two didn't. No other outlets anywhere in the apartment provided electricity. However, the ceiling lights in every room were okay. It was very strange.

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



cheerfullydrab posted:

Anyone know what's up with the wiring in my apartment in a very old building? The power went "out" the other day. Three outlets worked in the kitchen, two didn't. No other outlets anywhere in the apartment provided electricity. However, the ceiling lights in every room were okay. It was very strange.

Have you checked your breaker box? If it's a small apartment in an old building, I wouldn't be surprised if one circuit was providing power to part of the kitchen, one was doing the ceiling lights, and one was doing power for the rest of the apartment. If the "rest of the apartment" breaker tripped that would give you those symptoms.

Phanatic
Mar 13, 2007

Please don't forget that I am an extremely racist idiot who also has terrible opinions about the Culture series.
Alternately, his box could be fed from both legs of 120V service, and he just lost one of the legs, which could be a problem to call the utility about.

There's a thread for wiring questions:

http://forums.somethingawful.com/showthread.php?threadid=3090739

Humbug Scoolbus
Apr 25, 2008

The scarlet letter was her passport into regions where other women dared not tread. Shame, Despair, Solitude! These had been her teachers, stern and wild ones, and they had made her strong, but taught her much amiss.
Clapping Larry

cheerfullydrab posted:

Anyone know what's up with the wiring in my apartment in a very old building? The power went "out" the other day. Three outlets worked in the kitchen, two didn't. No other outlets anywhere in the apartment provided electricity. However, the ceiling lights in every room were okay. It was very strange.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJmvsb13dA8


You check for these?

Teriyaki Hairpiece
Dec 29, 2006

I'm nae the voice o' the darkened thistle, but th' darkened thistle cannae bear the sight o' our Bonnie Prince Bernie nae mair.
It was out in the building, too. Wasn't just my place. The downstairs is a hair salon and an apartment, then there's two units on the second floor, and one on the third. I believe the hair salon had no power anywhere and all the apartments had some odd mixture of working and non-working outlets like mine. The hall lights weren't working. The landlord was called and it was fixed, somehow. I just thought it was odd that ceiling lights worked in rooms where the outlets did not and such an odd few outlets worked.

Konstantin
Jun 20, 2005
And the Lord said, "Look, they are one people, and they have all one language; and this is only the beginning of what they will do; nothing that they propose to do will now be impossible for them.
My guess is the lighting and working outlets were ran on an old knob and tube system, while the stuff that didn't work was newer wiring that got installed later. Fairly common in older buildings, as it's illegal to install new knob and tube wiring and newer appliances want more current than it is capable of supplying.

El Estrago Bonito
Dec 17, 2010

Scout Finch Bitch
It's me, I'm the person who still buys tapes. They are like 5 for a dollar at Goodwill and there is a lot of weird music that didn't get converted to MP3 from tapes. Also, they sound like poo poo but there is a certain type of music that sounds better on tape even if it technically sounds worse. Like for instance Mariachi music, Zydeco, Delta Blues or Marty Robbins all sound much cooler with a bit of tape hiss. Gives it a nostalgic road trip vibe.

axolotl farmer
May 17, 2007

Now I'm going to sing the Perry Mason theme

slomomofo posted:

Player piano reels or die, motherfuckers.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0JZszqC7mk

Pingiivi
Mar 26, 2010

Straight into the iris!
Here's some very best mostly kinda obsolete tape decks:



Upper left:
Two HDCAM SR decks. These are still in use mostly when masters are made. The tape holds high bitrate MPEG2 and 12 channels of uncompressed audio. It supports all the standard HD formats in interlaced and PsF and with 4:2:2 or 4:4:4 chroma subsampling. Sony came up with a file based Master SR thing a few years ago.

These were/are insanely expensive with the options we have in these.

Center left:
Two HDCAM decks. An older version of HDCAM SR. These use 1440x1080 anamorphic aspect ratio and have only four channels of audio.

Bottom left corner:
An XDCAM deck. XDCAM uses an optical disk (Sony Professional Disk) in a plastic container kinda like minidisk. The disks aren't used anymore but the file based XDCAM formats are standard broadcast stuff all over the world.

Next to the XDCAM:
DVCAM deck. This is basically a frame accurate professional version of the basic DV-format

Upper right:
Two DigiBeta decks. This was the standard for standard definition stuff and a well made DigiBeta master will still hold up pretty nicely.

SlightButSteady
Sep 13, 2007

Soiled Meat

Pingiivi posted:

Here's some very best mostly kinda obsolete tape decks:


I wouldn't be surprised if that cost half a million, ten years ago.

I used to operate a standard def digi deck that cost $80,000 in 2000. Here's one listed for $700: http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Digibeta-Deck-DVW-500P-/351482785952?hash=item51d601b0a0
(the "p" in the model number stands for PAL, they were either Pal or NTSC.)

Pingiivi
Mar 26, 2010

Straight into the iris!

SlightButSteady posted:

(the "p" in the model number stands for PAL, they were either Pal or NTSC.)

These could be used either way... If you bought the hella expensive option for it.

Pingiivi
Mar 26, 2010

Straight into the iris!
More A/V stuff:



That's a D-1. The very first real time, digital, broadcast quality tape recording format. It used an uncompressed 4:2:2 format through component video. It's very big and heavy and it was wayyy expensive back in the day.



Here's a D-1 tape with a DVD case for scale. The tapes were huge and every tape came with it's own case with a carry handle.

Groke
Jul 27, 2007
New Adventures In Mom Strength

mng posted:

I'm sure it's been gone over before, but I thought of test patterns:



I have a T-shirt with one of these on it. An increasing number of co-workers don't know what it is. We're talking about people with college degrees here. Get off my drat lawn, etc. :corsair:

Groke has a new favorite as of 09:04 on Aug 17, 2015

Groke
Jul 27, 2007
New Adventures In Mom Strength

Coffee And Pie posted:

The rapid evolution of cell phones has really made it easy for movies to become extremely dated. Cellular, for example, the movie where Chris Evans plays a superhero whose power is pretty much just having a phone with a camera.

Was used to pretty good effect in the movie "Infernal Affairs 2" which was a prequel to the first movie in the series, and basically chronicled the early careers of some Hong Kong gangsters and cops; set throughout the 1990s and told in somewhat non-linear fashion, the best clue to when a scene was set was the size of everyone's phones.

BogDew
Jun 14, 2006

E:\FILES>quickfli clown.fli

Groke posted:

I have a T-shirt with one of these on it. An increasing number of co-workers don't know what it is. We're talking about people with college degrees here. Get off my drat lawn, etc. :corsair:
Yeah I have one too that's kinda my "good luck shoot" shirt that usually gets worn on the first day of set. I had someone ID it as a Phillips PM5544 pattern.
Here's the old Paintbox Harriet system I used to toy with. Managed to get it to work with After Effects where if you pressed render it would actually transmit out into the Paintbox and be able to get used.
But it sorely was suffering from it's age as a round trip would amount to two generations of degregation and HD was right around the corner at the time.

To be honest I'm young enough to not really know what half of the things in that room did. :/

Coffee And Pie posted:

The rapid evolution of cell phones has really made it easy for movies to become extremely dated.
Like the scene in The Departed where they know their way around their phones well enough to stealthily text each other with their hands in their pockets.

Humphreys
Jan 26, 2013

We conceived a way to use my mother as a porn mule


Pingiivi posted:

Next to the XDCAM:
DVCAM deck. This is basically a frame accurate professional version of the basic DV-format


Which DVCAM model is that Sony Deck? I used them a few years ago and from memory the serial one was much more reliable than the newer one that had Firewire added on. The later HDV ones I had an endless war with over timecode breaks only cropping up when I went on a bio break.

Humphreys has a new favorite as of 10:50 on Aug 17, 2015

Pingiivi
Mar 26, 2010

Straight into the iris!

Humphreys posted:

Which DVCAM model is that Sony Deck? I used them a few years ago and from memory the serial one was much more reliable than the newer one that had Firewire added on. The later HDV ones I had an endless war with over timecode breaks only cropping up when I went on a bio break.

It's the DSR 1500AP and it's hooked up with SDI to the patch matrix on the right side of the picture so you can do tape to tape stuff etc. No messing around with firewire.

Fo3
Feb 14, 2004

RAAAAARGH!!!! GIFT CARDS ARE FUCKING RETARDED!!!!

(I need a hug)

Groke posted:

I have a T-shirt with one of these on it. An increasing number of co-workers don't know what it is. We're talking about people with college degrees here. Get off my drat lawn, etc. :corsair:

I haven't seen one live since the 1980s.
Since then TV stations have either run weather info with lovely music, played infomercials and home shopping, or run 24hrs playing old re-runs.

Tape chat: the last tape I bought was ac/dc live, and ~20 y/o me with next to no knowledge ripped it to mp3 on an old athlon or p3 pc over a decade ago; It's not hard.

Fo3 has a new favorite as of 11:18 on Aug 17, 2015

johnnyratbastard
Nov 9, 2012

Pingiivi posted:

Here's some very best mostly kinda obsolete tape decks:


Upper right:
Two DigiBeta decks. This was the standard for standard definition stuff and a well made DigiBeta master will still hold up pretty nicely.

I worked many years on the DVW-A500P (PAL region version) and I'll love that machine until the end of time.

Pingiivi
Mar 26, 2010

Straight into the iris!

I love how every single feature had to have it's own processor card. We have a Davinci 2K running still and you had to have a card for each mask you wanted to use per picture.

CannonFodder
Jan 26, 2001

Passion’s Wrench

titties posted:

32" Trinitron 4 lyfe (because it can't be moved out)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6XdqMGBZjGM

Dick Trauma
Nov 30, 2007

God damn it, you've got to be kind.
When I was a kid this was the common test pattern, as some stations were still purely black and white and some were only broadcasting in color part of the time.



It's weird to think about it but we live in an age where there is no end to content. There's no point late in the evening where you have to pack it in because there simply isn't anything available on TV.

Tunicate
May 15, 2012

Dick Trauma posted:

When I was a kid this was the common test pattern, as some stations were still purely black and white and some were only broadcasting in color part of the time.



It's weird to think about it but we live in an age where there is no end to content. There's no point late in the evening where you have to pack it in because there simply isn't anything available on TV.

Instead, late in the evening there's nothing good on TV.

Pham Nuwen
Oct 30, 2010



Tunicate posted:

Instead, late in the evening there's nothing good on TV.

actually it seems like a lot of the interesting (read: not completely over-played) movies come on late at night, like at 2 in the morning.

also X-files reruns.

JesustheDarkLord
May 22, 2006

#VolsDeep
Lipstick Apathy

Dick Trauma posted:

When I was a kid this was the common test pattern, as some stations were still purely black and white and some were only broadcasting in color part of the time.



It's weird to think about it but we live in an age where there is no end to content. There's no point late in the evening where you have to pack it in because there simply isn't anything available on TV.

Great now I want to play fallout

DigitalRaven
Oct 9, 2012




Pham Nuwen posted:

actually it seems like a lot of the interesting (read: not completely over-played) movies come on late at night, like at 2 in the morning.

also X-files reruns.

Infomercials. Which are sadly not obsolete or failed, but did inspire a brilliant Steve Goodman song.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnqtGjHJjs8

Tater Tot 13
Nov 14, 2003

Making the best of a goon situation.
I retired a 40" version of this beast last year. It weighed about 350-400lbs.

It didn't have a spaceman on it full time though.


Edit: It weighed that much not "I"... :(

Only registered members can see post attachments!

Tater Tot 13 has a new favorite as of 08:02 on Aug 19, 2015

BogDew
Jun 14, 2006

E:\FILES>quickfli clown.fli

Pham Nuwen posted:

Actually it seems like a lot of the interesting (read: not completely over-played) movies come on late at night, like at 2 in the morning.
In Australia it generally was all of the sci-fi shows like Star Trek or Babylon five that were aired at the witching hour. You could tell if anyone was a Trek fan back then by the few days that they staggered into school looking completely dead because they'd snuck downstairs to watch.

JesustheDarkLord
May 22, 2006

#VolsDeep
Lipstick Apathy

Tater Tot 13 posted:

It didn't have a spaceman on it full time though.

so what was the point

LethalGeek
Nov 4, 2009

Instant Sunrise posted:

I have a 26" Toshiba HDCRT that's sitting in storage until I get moved in to my new place, it makes HD and SD look good. Right now though, I'm just using my PC, which I stuck a CableCARD tuner into a few years ago. (Which itself, is pretty much another failed technology at this point)
It sucks it never took off but I love my cable box PC. Makes everything about SMART TVs look as dumb as they actually are.

Count Chocula
Dec 25, 2011

WE HAVE TO CONTROL OUR ENVIRONMENT
IF YOU SEE ME POSTING OUTSIDE OF THE AUSPOL THREAD PLEASE TELL ME THAT I'M MISSED AND TO START POSTING AGAIN

WebDog posted:

In Australia it generally was all of the sci-fi shows like Star Trek or Babylon five that were aired at the witching hour. You could tell if anyone was a Trek fan back then by the few days that they staggered into school looking completely dead because they'd snuck downstairs to watch.

I worked overnight shifts when they aired Firefly at 2am. That was at a TV station where I had to transcribe Betamax tapes that had all the info on file cards. This whole country is obsolete tech. There's still Blockbusters open everywhere since we just got Netflix.

big parcheesi player
Apr 1, 2014

Also, I can kill you with my brain.

JesustheDarkLord posted:

so what was the point

Wouldn't have been obsolete if it did?

TotalLossBrain
Oct 20, 2010

Hier graben!

Count Chocula posted:

This whole country is obsolete tech.

Addendum to thread title.


Content!

A couple of months back I got to visit my parents in Germany and during that visit, I went to the Technik Museum Berlin. They had a whole expo dedicated to the history of telecommunications and computing equipment.
I took some pics (linked to my own imagehosting via SmugMug, hope that's okay)

Beautiful older adjustable capacitor. That's usually what was connected to the frequency dial in older radios and TV's.


Awesome German radio from the 80's:


In the spirit of the last few pages:


I'd expect to see this in a Fallout game:


Computer memory old school! Ferrite memory:


A close-up:


A computer built entirely out of (presumably 12V/24V) electro-mechanical relays:


Close-up of an early business machine of German computing giant Zuse (again, needs to be in a Fallout game):



I have a bunch more of these if these look interesting to the thread.

Edit: Hah!

TotalLossBrain has a new favorite as of 03:01 on Aug 18, 2015

DicktheCat
Feb 15, 2011

Yes, they look interesting! Please do go on!

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Tater Tot 13
Nov 14, 2003

Making the best of a goon situation.

JesustheDarkLord posted:

so what was the point

It didn't have a spaceman so it had no point.


Also it was a hulking obsolete chunk of TV.

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