Post the very best in obsolete and failed technology

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ryonguy: Jun 27, 2013

Humphreys posted:

On the other end of the spectrum I have been slowly gathering bits and pieces for a GPS system for sub 10CM accuracy GPS using RTK (Real Time Kinematics). To do this I need a radio link from a known accurate location to a GPS receiver in the field. Mainly to do detailed boundary logging and eventually to make a device for my grandpa to log all the Lantana and other invasive weeds dangerous to his cattle on the farm.

These projects really really annoy my wife-to-be.

Don't land surveyors have something like this already? Or do you need something more specialized?

# ? Feb 26, 2016 22:49

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# ? Apr 19, 2024 05:32

stump: Jan 19, 2006

ryonguy posted:

Don't land surveyors have something like this already? Or do you need something more specialized?

They do but they are super expensive. I hired one today that uses a base station it connects to over GSM, it cost �80 a day. I think they are about �15k to buy. It was giving me 1-2cm accuracy.

If you need to work outside of GSM areas you'll need a separate base so double that. And you still can't survey under trees. Nifty bit of kit through, much better than using a line of sight total station (although the robotic ones are pretty nifty).

# ? Feb 26, 2016 23:12

Humphreys: Jan 26, 2013; We conceived a way to use my mother as a porn mule

stump posted:

They do but they are super expensive. I hired one today that uses a base station it connects to over GSM, it cost �80 a day. I think they are about �15k to buy. It was giving me 1-2cm accuracy.

If you need to work outside of GSM areas you'll need a separate base so double that. And you still can't survey under trees. Nifty bit of kit through, much better than using a line of sight total station (although the robotic ones are pretty nifty).

This. They are super expensive. My desire to build it comes from being able to lend it out to my property owning friends, and maybe eventually rent it out at a much cheaper rate.

# ? Feb 27, 2016 00:54

Plinkey: Aug 4, 2004; by Fluffdaddy

Buttcoin purse posted:

Is this the same as the GPS ephemeris data I can download and save to my old school TomTom sat nav which doesn't have any Internet connection of its own?

Yeah, if you can download ephemeris data it's the data on the location of the constellation at whatever point in time the ephemeris data is from.

# ? Feb 27, 2016 00:59

atomicthumbs: Dec 26, 2010; We're in the business of extending man's senses.

isn't DGPS equipment reasonably inexpensive at this point?

# ? Feb 27, 2016 21:46

empty baggie: Oct 22, 2003

Jasper Tin Neck posted:

I don't. The drat thing didn't have a GPS receiver, so I had to buy a separate Bluetooth brick to use a painfully slow navigation app.

The phone got stolen from me, but I still have the GPS brick in a drawer somewhere in this room.

I still have my GPS brick, too. I used it with my Treo 650 to run a Tom Tom app. Actually, I still have the Treo and all of my old programs and accessories, including an Altec Lansing speaker dock, remote control IR adapter, and a retail copy of Madden '05. I loved that loving Treo, unit my service provider (SunCom, which was bought out by T-Mobile a month later) jacked up my unlimited data plan and I jumped ship to ATT and the first iPhone.

# ? Feb 28, 2016 00:30

Humphreys: Jan 26, 2013; We conceived a way to use my mother as a porn mule

empty baggie posted:

I still have my GPS brick, too. I used it with my Treo 650 to run a Tom Tom app. Actually, I still have the Treo and all of my old programs and accessories, including an Altec Lansing speaker dock, remote control IR adapter, and a retail copy of Madden '05. I loved that loving Treo, unit my service provider (SunCom, which was bought out by T-Mobile a month later) jacked up my unlimited data plan and I jumped ship to ATT and the first iPhone.

I do remember spending too much money for this:

# ? Mar 1, 2016 12:41

empty baggie: Oct 22, 2003

Humphreys posted:

I do remember spending too much money for this:

That keyboard looks absolutely painful to use.

# ? Mar 1, 2016 14:52

Code Jockey: Jan 24, 2006; 69420 basic bytes free

I bought a Surface RT tablet today. Windows RT probably belongs in this thread, can't recall if it got brought up before.

To be fair, I got it for $15, and I think my wife might like it for a work tablet, to get her email and do Office-y stuff on.

# ? Mar 2, 2016 08:13

Humphreys: Jan 26, 2013; We conceived a way to use my mother as a porn mule

empty baggie posted:

That keyboard looks absolutely painful to use.

Oh it was, luckily it was removable.

# ? Mar 2, 2016 08:41

Pretty good: Apr 16, 2007

Jedit posted:

They used to use it to dope long distance runners. Modern athletes don't know how good they've got it.

Looked this up, learned about something amazing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1904_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_marathon

quote:

The first to arrive at the finish line was American runner Fred Lorz, who had actually dropped out of the race after nine miles and hitched a ride back to the stadium in a car, waving at spectators and runners alike during the ride. When the car broke down at the 19th mile, Lorz re-entered the race and jogged across the finish line.[5] Hailed as the winner, he had his photograph taken with Alice Roosevelt, daughter of then-U.S. President Theodore Roosevelt, and was about to be awarded the gold medal when his subterfuge was revealed.[citation needed] Lorz immediately admitted what he'd done and said he had only been joking; the AAU responded by banning him from competition for life (although they reconsidered and lifted the ban a year later).[3][6]

British-born Thomas Hicks of the United States ended up the winner of the event, although he was aided by measures that would not have been permitted in later years. Ten miles from the finish Hicks led the race by a mile and a half, but he had to be restrained from stopping and lying down by his trainers. From then until the end of the race, Hicks received several doses of strychnine sulfate (a common rat poison, which stimulates the nervous system in small doses) mixed with brandy.[3] He was supported by his trainers when he crossed the finish, but was still considered the winner. Hicks had to be carried off the track, and might have died in the stadium had he not been treated by several doctors.[citation needed]

Another near-fatality during the event was William Garcia of San Francisco. He was found lying in the road along the marathon course with severe internal injuries caused by breathing the clouds of dust kicked up by the race officials' cars.[3]

A Cuban postman named Andar�n Carvajal joined the marathon, arriving at the last minute.[citation needed] After losing all of his money in New Orleans, Louisiana, he hitchhiked to St. Louis and had to run in street clothes for the event that he cut around the legs to make them look like shorts. Not having eaten in 40 hours, he stopped off in an orchard en route to have a snack on some apples, which turned out to be rotten.[citation needed] The rotten apples caused him to have strong stomach cramps. Despite falling ill from the apples he finished in fourth place.[citation needed]

The marathon included the first two black Africans to compete in the Olympics: two Tswana tribesmen named Len Tau (real name: Len Taunyane) and Yamasani (real name: Jan Mashiani). They were not in St. Louis to compete in the Olympics, however; they were actually part of the sideshow.[citation needed] They had been brought over by the exposition as part of the Boer War exhibit (both were really students from Orange Free State in South Africa, but this fact was not made known to the public). Len Tau finished ninth and Yamasani came in twelfth. This was a disappointment, as many observers were sure Len Tau could have done better if he had not been chased nearly a mile off course by aggressive dogs.[6]

Relevant bit bolded but :psyduck:

at just about everything else.

# ? Mar 2, 2016 09:55

3D Megadoodoo: Nov 25, 2010

No-one eats rotten apples. (Unripe apples and wild apples may cause stomach cramps and if there's any truth to that bit, that's what happened.)

# ? Mar 2, 2016 11:10

CAROL: Oct 29, 2009; by Fluffdaddy

It's hosed up no one has made an ultra-thin good looking basic phone by now

# ? Mar 2, 2016 11:42

Redrum and Coke: Feb 25, 2006; wAstIng 10 bUcks ON an aVaTar iS StUpid

sinking belle posted:

Looked this up, learned about something amazing.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletics_at_the_1904_Summer_Olympics_%E2%80%93_Men%27s_marathon

Relevant bit bolded but / at just about everything else.

Most of those stories, as shown by the lack of citations, seem more like urban legends.

# ? Mar 2, 2016 11:46

3D Megadoodoo: Nov 25, 2010

Non Serviam posted:

Most of those stories, as shown by the lack of citations, seem more like urban legends.

I think I first saw the story in Readers' Digest back in the early 1980s and then it was just the cab ride (not hitched ride as in this version) and the being supported when crossing the finish line. After that I've seen it pop up here and there in print and on the Internet every now and then and it seems like people just keep adding new stuff to it all the time.

# ? Mar 2, 2016 12:20

3D Megadoodoo: Nov 25, 2010

quote:

The last person to cross the finish line had run the entire race on his hands because he was Antipodean. And that man was Albert Einstein.

# ? Mar 2, 2016 12:21

Computer viking: May 30, 2011; Now with less breakage.

Non Serviam posted:

Most of those stories, as shown by the lack of citations, seem more like urban legends.

Most of it is actually backed by the 1905-vintage book about the Olympics they link in the sources: http://library.la84.org/6oic/OfficialReports/1904/1904lucas.pdf , the marathon starts on PDF page 52.

# ? Mar 2, 2016 15:43

GOTTA STAY FAI: Mar 24, 2005; ~no glitter in the gutter~
~no twilight galaxy~; College Slice

Here's a write-up of the event not found on an enormous dry erase board

# ? Mar 2, 2016 16:35

Humphreys: Jan 26, 2013; We conceived a way to use my mother as a porn mule

Obsolete tech related. Anyone remember Bom Funk MCs?

Every one of their videos had something Sony related. I won't spew out a list of their songs or videos, but you will find MD players, original playstation controllers etc.

# ? Mar 5, 2016 09:14

Pingiivi: Mar 26, 2010; Straight into the iris!

Humphreys posted:

Obsolete tech related. Anyone remember Bom Funk MCs?

Every one of their videos had something Sony related. I won't spew out a list of their songs or videos, but you will find MD players, original playstation controllers etc.

Can you guess what music label they were on? It rhymes with phony. The Freestyler music video was post produced in my workplace before I got here. The master Is on a Betacam SP.

# ? Mar 5, 2016 09:50

CAROL: Oct 29, 2009; by Fluffdaddy

I really miss the wild phone designs of the 00s.

# ? Mar 5, 2016 11:29

Arivia: Mar 17, 2011

eightpole posted:

I really miss the wild phone designs of the 00s.

Good news! Have I got a phone for you http://www.cnet.com/news/dtoor-cyrcle-sick-of-phones-that-look-the-same-make-cyrcle/

I can't find the article where they justified that piece of trash by saying women are confused by rectangles.

# ? Mar 5, 2016 11:35

Nutsngum: Oct 9, 2004; I don't think it's nice, you laughing.

Humphreys posted:

Obsolete tech related. Anyone remember Bom Funk MCs?

Every one of their videos had something Sony related. I won't spew out a list of their songs or videos, but you will find MD players, original playstation controllers etc.

Did they have any more music videos then Freestyler?

# ? Mar 5, 2016 16:11

Aix: Jul 6, 2006; $10

Theres also "Get freaky" which features Abe from the Abes Oddyssee (sp?) games

# ? Mar 5, 2016 17:15

3D Megadoodoo: Nov 25, 2010

Pingiivi posted:

Can you guess what music label they were on? It rhymes with phony.

Parlophonee?

# ? Mar 5, 2016 17:29

Trabant: Nov 26, 2011; All systems nominal.

Humphreys posted:

Obsolete tech related. Anyone remember Bom Funk MCs?

Every one of their videos had something Sony related. I won't spew out a list of their songs or videos, but you will find MD players, original playstation controllers etc.

Holy poo poo, thought I imagined them!

# ? Mar 5, 2016 19:10

spog: Aug 7, 2004; It's your own bloody fault.

Humphreys posted:

Obsolete tech related. Anyone remember Bom Funk MCs?

Every one of their videos had something Sony related. I won't spew out a list of their songs or videos, but you will find MD players, original playstation controllers etc.

I think they moved onto movies and produced Quantum of Solace.

# ? Mar 5, 2016 19:34

Jedit: Dec 10, 2011; Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

Non Serviam posted:

Most of those stories, as shown by the lack of citations, seem more like urban legends.

I heard all of those stories, along with more, from Tom McNab, the British Olympic athletics coach who was the consultant and trainer on Chariots of Fire. He's a guy who knows a lot about the history of athletics.

(And I just found out he's released his second novel, thirty years after the first. Must buy.)

# ? Mar 5, 2016 22:12

ElwoodCuse: Jan 11, 2004; we're puttin' the band back together

wayne curr posted:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plasma_display#Discontinued

It's funny how nobody really noticed when Plasma TVs disappeared

I remember way back in the early days of HDTV (for consumers anyway, so like mid 2000s) seeing a Pioneer plasma HDTV set at Best Buy that cost $10,000. Now an 80-inch 4K set is like what, 2 grand tops?

# ? Mar 6, 2016 08:53

Redrum and Coke: Feb 25, 2006; wAstIng 10 bUcks ON an aVaTar iS StUpid

Aix posted:

Theres also "Get freaky" which features Abe from the Abes Oddyssee (sp?) games

I had to look this up, because it sounded terrible.
You got the band wrong, but the video and music are indeed terrible https://youtu.be/2eacxC3D4uo

# ? Mar 6, 2016 12:39

Jedit: Dec 10, 2011; Proudly supporting vanilla legends 1994-2014

ElwoodCuse posted:

I remember way back in the early days of HDTV (for consumers anyway, so like mid 2000s) seeing a Pioneer plasma HDTV set at Best Buy that cost $10,000. Now an 80-inch 4K set is like what, 2 grand tops?

That was probably a Kuro. They were known for having the best blacks of any plasma display. I saw a demo model once and can't say that assessment was wrong, but a good LED will provide the same quality for less weight and less cash.

# ? Mar 6, 2016 14:32

Pham Nuwen: Oct 30, 2010

Jedit posted:

That was probably a Kuro. They were known for having the best blacks of any plasma display. I saw a demo model once and can't say that assessment was wrong, but a good LED will provide the same quality for less weight and less cash.

Makes sense, given that the model name means "black"

# ? Mar 6, 2016 16:25

JayKay: Sep 11, 2001; And you thought they were cute and cuddly.

Humphreys posted:

Obsolete tech related. Anyone remember Bom Funk MCs?

Every one of their videos had something Sony related. I won't spew out a list of their songs or videos, but you will find MD players, original playstation controllers etc.

I just watched Freestyler and I'm not sure if it's 90s.rm or ~~Britain~~ Finland.rm

# ? Mar 6, 2016 16:56

Drano: Dec 21, 2004; BEST at removing tough clogs!

ElwoodCuse posted:

I remember way back in the early days of HDTV (for consumers anyway, so like mid 2000s) seeing a Pioneer plasma HDTV set at Best Buy that cost $10,000. Now an 80-inch 4K set is like what, 2 grand tops?

Worked at Sears in 2000 and remember a Philips (possibly Pioneer) 720p 42'' plasma demo area being set up, single model listed at $25,000.

Never heard of them selling one, price was reduced to $10,000 a few months later.

It took about a month for darkening/discoloration of the paint above the set to occur.

# ? Mar 6, 2016 19:33

Pastey: Jun 17, 2005; Some old crap, different roll of tissue

Drano posted:

Worked at Sears in 2000 and remember a Philips (possibly Pioneer) 720p 42'' plasma demo area being set up, single model listed at $25,000.

Never heard of them selling one, price was reduced to $10,000 a few months later.

It took about a month for darkening/discoloration of the paint above the set to occur.

Wait, paint ABOVE the set? Like on the wall?

Did plasmas outgas something nasty or something?

# ? Mar 6, 2016 19:48

KozmoNaut: Apr 23, 2008; Happiness is a warm
Turbo Plasma Rifle

Pastey posted:

Wait, paint ABOVE the set? Like on the wall?

Did plasmas outgas something nasty or something?

No, but they get really super hot.

My parents' old Panasonic 42" plasma set had like 5 fans in it, and got uncomfortably hot, even in front of the screen.

# ? Mar 6, 2016 19:57

Fo3: Feb 14, 2004; RAAAAARGH!!!! GIFT CARDS ARE FUCKING RETARDED!!!!

(I need a hug)

evobatman posted:

I just got a complete in box 1st-gen white Wii with the gamecube ports for $25 at the salvation army, modded it and resold it for $90. I can see the 1st-gens getting rarer and gaining value eventually because of the softmod abilities. The Wii mini has absolutely no redeeming features.

I have a first gen I never use (bought it for my partner as she wanted sports and fit, and I thought "may as well, get a new mario cart").
I haven't looked at homebrew wii for years, even though occasionally I do use the PS for TOCA and other driving games, plus the n64 for mario cart and some old 3d platformers. First thing I downloaded for the wii homebrew today was a game called "pissed". The perfect use for a wii controller.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CwRjohWmYQo

E: someone mentioned wireless security later. I thought it was poo poo at the time too, guess I didn't know anything about setting up wireless networks back then, because it works fine if you know what you're doing.
Project now is install geexbox, maybe debian, maybe set up an emulator with a smb share for roms rather than buy more SD cards (almost filled up the 2gb card I have, there's a 32GB one I have but that's for my dashcam)...

Fo3 has a new favorite as of 17:39 on Mar 7, 2016

# ? Mar 7, 2016 17:32