Exit Strategy posted:

I went from being a Linux server admin to being a Windows 2012R2 admin, and the sheer lack of intelligible scripting and task automation in what's supposedly a server-grade OS is astounding. Making that migration actually made me quit IT forever.

In really, really specific obsolete tech I'd like to raise the prospect of the Gyrojet. My dad gave me his presentation-grade set of the MBA Gyrojet, a carbine and a pistol. Pictures aren't mine, of course, the set's in North Carolina still.





The Gyrojet was an experimental weapon using self-propelled ammunition. The advantages are obvious: Velocity doesn't drop after leaving the bore, you can reach longer distances much more easily with no real added weight, and rockets are loving awesome. The reasons it didn't "take off", as it were, are simple: If the rocket's spin-stabilized, it's because of angled nozzles in the rear. It doesn't spin fast enough to stabilize until it's well underway, meaning that your accuracy is about minute-of-city-block instead of minute-of-angle. Also, its possible to stop a Gyrojet round with your finger placed over the bore, as the velocity isn't there yet by the time it reaches the end of the pistol barrel.