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Humphreys posted:Saw an interesting thing today that might class as a resurgence of an old tech. These are really common in Germany, mostly made of plastic. They are on many gift keyrings and even parking discs. Keeping them in your wallet can wear the edges down and some carts might have trouble accepting them then. The coinlocks on shopping carts are only there to keep people from taking a lot of carts at once.
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Dec 22, 2015 10:19
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Lurking Haro posted:These are really common in Germany, mostly made of plastic. They are on many gift keyrings and even parking discs. Keeping them in your wallet can wear the edges down and some carts might have trouble accepting them then. Nah, they're there so that you have to return them where you got them instead of leaving them in the parking lot.
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Dec 22, 2015 12:04
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ravenkult posted:Nah, they're there so that you have to return them where you got them instead of leaving them in the parking lot. Or taking them home.
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Dec 22, 2015 12:19
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Samizdata posted:Or taking them home. There's a new technology for that! The supermarket across the street has a system where the wheels of the shopping cart lock up when you take them from the parking lot. It's awesome! I watched a half-drunk guy trying to get off the lot, but suddenly, the wheels don't work. So drunk guy thinks the cart is broken and makes his way back to exchange it. Suddenly......it's working again! So he turns around, walks 2 meters and *bam*, locked again. This went on three times until he took his stuff out and left.
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Dec 22, 2015 12:34
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RabbitWizard posted:There's a new technology for that! The supermarket across the street has a system where the wheels of the shopping cart lock up when you take them from the parking lot. It's awesome! I watched a half-drunk guy trying to get off the lot, but suddenly, the wheels don't work. So drunk guy thinks the cart is broken and makes his way back to exchange it. Suddenly......it's working again! So he turns around, walks 2 meters and *bam*, locked again. This went on three times until he took his stuff out and left.
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Dec 22, 2015 13:05
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Samizdata posted:Or taking them home. If I'd want a shopping cart, I'd "buy" it for a dollar. Pilsner posted:That system must have been ridiculously expensive to buy and implement, compared to what minor problem it solves. So it has a sensor, and an electrical motor activates locks on the wheels when it gets out of range of the store? Shopping carts are expensive. It also wouldn't need a motor, just a magnet latch. Pushing the cart could even supply the power it needs.
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Dec 22, 2015 13:16
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Pilsner posted:That system must have been ridiculously expensive to buy and implement, compared to what minor problem it solves. So it has a sensor, and an electrical motor activates locks on the wheels when it gets out of range of the store? A shopping cart costs about 100-150€, so guess it's worth it. Quickly found statistics suggest that every 20th shopping card is stolen/gets lost each year. Probably higher where I live because people here are poo poo people. I've seen many carts around town before they had that system, not any more. Also it's very, very funny if someone tries to get off the parking lot, so totally worth it.
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Dec 22, 2015 13:27
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Urban shopping centers have had those for awhile. Maybe 10-15 years. It's like an electric fence for your dog. Hit the barrier and instead of a shock, the wheels lock. As for shopping carts you rent, is that common in Germany? The only store I've seen in the States that does that is Aldi. I knew it was a cost savings thing, but is it some kind of Fatherland thing too?
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Dec 22, 2015 13:29
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My dad knows a couple of people who own supermarkets and shopping trolley theft is (was?) actually quite a big problem, because of how expensive and annoying they are to replace. I'm sure there's a few different implementations, but I used to live near one where there was a wire buried around the edge of the parking lot, and if you got too close then the lock would activate. My enterprising flatmates figured out how close you had to be to activate the lock (1m or so), then lifted the cart that same height and carried it over the boundary. Then they took the cart home with no trouble.
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Dec 22, 2015 13:38
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Krispy Kareem posted:Urban shopping centers have had those for awhile. Maybe 10-15 years. It's like an electric fence for your dog. Hit the barrier and instead of a shock, the wheels lock. Don't know about Germany, but practically every place in the Northern Europe has those. I don't think it has anything to do with cost savings or anything, the lock mechanism releases a chain which otherwise keeps the carts together when you put your coin in it, and you get your same coin back when you return the cart. The chain also makes it easier for clerks to take the carts from the parking lot depots to the store entrance, since they don't trail off. Keeps things tidy and efficient.
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Dec 22, 2015 13:39
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Krispy Kareem posted:As for shopping carts you rent, is that common in Germany? The only store I've seen in the States that does that is Aldi. I knew it was a cost savings thing, but is it some kind of Fatherland thing too? Edit: ^ Huh? It's about the wheels, not the chain. The "deposit" of 1€ is normal everywhere here.
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Dec 22, 2015 13:44
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Lurking Haro posted:These are really common in Germany, mostly made of plastic. They are on many gift keyrings and even parking discs. Keeping them in your wallet can wear the edges down and some carts might have trouble accepting them then. A bare keyring without a chain or fob, of the right size and stiffness, works great for unlocking shipping carts
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Dec 22, 2015 17:06
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I found a few ancient files on my system with .S3M extensions! God, that was a nice little blip in the years just before computers really became ubiquitous. For a good long while it was easier to find and download a (pretty faithful) tracker version of Robert MIles' "Children" than the MP3. Also, I would like to thank FastTracker and Scream Tracker for proving beyond any doubt that I had no business trying to make music. edit: YESSSSS: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-UUvrj9yVVw Trabant has a new favorite as of 20:44 on Dec 22, 2015 |
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Dec 22, 2015 18:00
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Trabant posted:I found a few ancient files on my system with .S3M extensions! God, that was a nice little blip in the years just before computers really became ubiquitous. For a good long while it was easier to find and download a (pretty faithful) tracker version of Robert MIles' "Children" than the MP3. I used to be obsessed with tracking back in the early 2000s. Used to spend hours making stuff in Modplug. I was a terrible musician, but there was just something charming about it, halfway between programming and art.
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Dec 22, 2015 18:46
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Trabant posted:I found a few ancient files on my system with .S3M extensions! God, that was a nice little blip in the years just before computers really became ubiquitous. For a good long while it was easier to find and download a (pretty faithful) tracker version of Robert MIles' "Children" than the MP3. The music in Unreal and Unreal Tournament 99 and some other games are just regular module files that can be played and opened in trackers like ModPlug.
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Dec 22, 2015 19:03
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RabbitWizard posted:A shopping cart costs about 100-150€, so guess it's worth it. Quickly found statistics suggest that every 20th shopping card is stolen/gets lost each year. Probably higher where I live because people here are poo poo people. I've seen many carts around town before they had that system, not any more. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-l0KNCzb88Q
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Dec 22, 2015 20:13
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robodex posted:I used to be obsessed with tracking back in the early 2000s. Used to spend hours making stuff in Modplug. I was a terrible musician, but there was just something charming about it, halfway between programming and art. Same here -- I enjoyed the process so much that for a while I was able to ignore how bad I was at it  axolotl farmer posted:The music in Unreal and Unreal Tournament 99 and some other games are just regular module files that can be played and opened in trackers like ModPlug. Kinda surprising, I have to admit. It was probably done to save on filesize?
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Dec 22, 2015 20:59
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Trabant posted:I found a few ancient files on my system with .S3M extensions! God, that was a nice little blip in the years just before computers really became ubiquitous. For a good long while it was easier to find and download a (pretty faithful) tracker version of Robert MIles' "Children" than the MP3. Ahhh memories. I basically lived in scream tracker between 96-99. One of my all time faves. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PDQxkiJPv0
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Dec 22, 2015 22:08
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1000 Brown M and Ms posted:My dad knows a couple of people who own supermarkets and shopping trolley theft is (was?) actually quite a big problem, because of how expensive and annoying they are to replace. Following on that... My wife worked at a Winners in Edmonton (like TJ Maxx, for you Americans) and the management had a similar system installed at the mall doors. This was to prevent the carts from leaving the store and ending up all over West Edmonton Mall (and also from being trundled home). After all, no one is going to lift the carts over the threshold right in front of the store. That's a little too obvious. However, the installers installed the magnet facing down. The locks would never activate. And management decided it was too expensive to correct the problem. I have no idea how many carts they ended up losing.
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Dec 22, 2015 23:54
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Trackers are still around, Renoise etc. Here's a tracker running on an old graphing calculator, skip to 3.30 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6G0CnBSWVk Better sounding than you'd expect.
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Dec 23, 2015 00:15
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Schism Tracker is a ~99% feature complete clone of Impulse Tracker but it runs properly on (among others) modern Windowses. Of course instantly familiar to those who messed around with Scream Tracker too. For those who want to relive the nostalgia with a bit more immersion. e: or test how much of their muscle memory is still there.
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Dec 23, 2015 00:30
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loga mira posted:Trackers are still around, Renoise etc. Here's a tracker running on an old graphing calculator, skip to 3.30 I never knew the TI's had oscillators in them.
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Dec 23, 2015 00:38
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Lurking Haro posted:These are really common in Germany, mostly made of plastic. They are on many gift keyrings and even parking discs. Keeping them in your wallet can wear the edges down and some carts might have trouble accepting them then. The really funny thing is that people often get more attached to getting their slug back from the cart than they would a 1€ coin.
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Dec 23, 2015 15:02
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Der Kyhe posted:Don't know about Germany, but practically every place in the Northern Europe has those. I don't think it has anything to do with cost savings or anything, the lock mechanism releases a chain which otherwise keeps the carts together when you put your coin in it, and you get your same coin back when you return the cart. The chain also makes it easier for clerks to take the carts from the parking lot depots to the store entrance, since they don't trail off. What if you don't have a coin on you, are you just out of luck?
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Dec 23, 2015 15:08
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You can usually get a slug in the store for free, since they're marketing material.
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Dec 23, 2015 15:11
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Then what's the point of having it take dollar coins at all?
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Dec 23, 2015 15:19
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Convenience? Originally it was assumed people would always have a coin to unlock the cart, but since cash (especially coins) is rapidly becoming an obsolete technology you can no longer assume that.
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Dec 23, 2015 15:35
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Collateral Damage posted:Convenience? So, what you are saying is that Square needs to make a debit terminal for the carts then?
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Dec 23, 2015 15:49
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Shifty Pony posted:The really funny thing is that people often get more attached to getting their slug back from the cart than they would a 1€ coin. Slugs are prime pog slammers.
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Dec 23, 2015 17:09
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Lurking Haro posted:Slugs are prime pog slammers. our administration would only allow Pog brand slammers on school grounds
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Dec 23, 2015 17:56
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Life hack: European shopping carts meant to be unlocked with a one euro coin will happily accept a five cent coin. (I mean you don't save anything since you always get your own coin back but handy if you don't have a euro  )
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Dec 23, 2015 20:58
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Any coin smaller than a euro goes in the shrapnel/donation jar.
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Dec 23, 2015 21:02
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axolotl farmer posted:The music in Unreal and Unreal Tournament 99 and some other games are just regular module files that can be played and opened in trackers like ModPlug.  Deus Ex's music is also tracker (Impulse Tracker, .it files) and is cool. EverQuest's original music likewise, XMI format. Make sure you use a proper media player for playing them, as one file can contain multiple sub-tracks. XMPlay is good. Pilsner has a new favorite as of 23:37 on Dec 23, 2015 |
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Dec 23, 2015 23:32
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Fuzz1111 posted:I will say this - hard drive defragmenters that not only make individual files continuous, but ensure that related files (eg: those in the same directory) are close together can definitely make a difference. Humphreys posted:She proudly showed me this little fake coin the size of a $1AUD coin and I thought it was just a place holder for a spare CR2023 battery for the keyfob. But no! Apparently it's designed so you can take the slug out and put it into shopping trolleys/carts and luggage carts without the need to keep change on you. Now those carts DO refund you your $1 when you return it so not sure if counts as stealing. But I had a good laugh about my childhood. RabbitWizard posted:There's a new technology for that! The supermarket across the street has a system where the wheels of the shopping cart lock up when you take them from the parking lot. It's awesome! I watched a half-drunk guy trying to get off the lot, but suddenly, the wheels don't work. So drunk guy thinks the cart is broken and makes his way back to exchange it. Suddenly......it's working again! So he turns around, walks 2 meters and *bam*, locked again. This went on three times until he took his stuff out and left.
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Dec 24, 2015 04:21
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flosofl posted:I never knew the TI's had oscillators in them. They don't.
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Dec 24, 2015 04:35
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GWBBQ posted:Did that happen before or after the 20 minutes you spent downloading the Unreal Tournament kill sound effects plus Homer saying "D'oh" and Nelson saying "Ha Ha"? I used to love setting up my windows 98 machine with custom sound clips, shutdown screens, and animated pointers that glowed with lightening. It feels like that was a very late-90's/early-2000's thing.
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Dec 24, 2015 06:08
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GWBBQ posted:Did that happen before or after the 20 minutes you spent downloading the Unreal Tournament kill sound effects plus Homer saying "D'oh" and Nelson saying "Ha Ha"? This poo poo was annoying. Also the ever popular situation where you'd not have the map and because the game didn't download it automatically, it would just kick you out.
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Dec 24, 2015 06:32
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dobbymoodge posted:They don't. They do just not that kind.
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Dec 24, 2015 08:08
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titties posted:I used to love setting up my windows 98 machine with custom sound clips, shutdown screens, and animated pointers that glowed with lightening. It feels like that was a very late-90's/early-2000's thing. I remember setting the boot login sound to the usual dialup screeches on a coworkers computer on a delay many years ago. It was glorious. I just LOVE those sounds because I am broken.
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Dec 24, 2015 09:29
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Jerry Cotton posted:Life hack: European shopping carts meant to be unlocked with a one euro coin will happily accept a five cent coin. (I mean you don't save anything since you always get your own coin back but handy if you don't have a euro Shopping carts and most coin-operated toilet locks also accept a Hilti R-23 washer in place of a one-euro coin. I always carry one on my keychain because I'll rather pay ¢8 than €1 to take a leak at a bus or train station.
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Dec 24, 2015 11:58
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