|
Sentient Data posted:Speaking of light guns and obsolete, here's some head tracking tech that was basically rendered moot by the new wave of VR headsets That's similar to FreeTrack (free clone of the commercial TrackIR product) which let you do headtracking in sim games like Arma for just the cost of a Wii Remote or webcam with altered filters, and a hat or headband with a couple of IR LEDs and a battery attached. It's obsolete in that you'll get better results with a VR headset by every metric, except for cost though. You can't beat the price of FreeTrack.
|
#
¿
Apr 10, 2016 14:07
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 18, 2024 18:58 |
|
|
I'm looking forward to good AR headsets because of the potential for technical applications. Projecting schematics and datasheets into your view, showing where to put parts or what to do next, and such could be pretty cool.
|
|
#
¿
May 31, 2016 22:43
|
|
|
"Unnecessarily big" *posts picture of dinner-plate sized switch*
|
|
#
¿
Jun 10, 2016 14:26
|
|
|
well why not posted:Windows' 10's search feature is so garbage I hope it's obsoleted soon. It won't find stuff that's pinned to the taskbar and can't even do basic math. It's decades behind spotlight. Spotlight! Is this sarcasm?
|
|
#
¿
Jun 28, 2016 05:02
|
|
|
Last Chance posted:No, it's terrible. Okay I was just wondering because I didn't think things on the task bar needed searching for and I've never considered doing math to be a core function of search.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 30, 2016 00:34
|
|
|
flosofl posted:Yes, that's the only reason Windows search sucks. You've gotten to the core of it. Well that's what the specific complaints were that I first quoted. I'm not even defending it, it's just those seem like such bizarre complaints.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 30, 2016 03:32
|
|
|
Shugojin posted:Yeah? No, that was the Gizmondo guy, who blamed the crash on a German guy named Dietrich who was never located and probably never existed.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 11, 2016 14:18
|
|
|
The biggest crime of the Hobbit was cargo culting Lord of the Rings and being a trilogy instead of a single movie. The book is a pretty short and light read and there's just no excuse for that.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 21, 2016 15:36
|
|
|
I like Big Clive a lot, but I give him a miss when the teardown is yet another LED light. I watch everything Dave tears down and I don't understand the hate for his voice (I'm not Australian either)
|
|
#
¿
Aug 28, 2016 13:13
|
|
|
Magnus Praeda posted:I actually appreciate that he regularly does circuit diagrams of the stuff he tears down and explains why whatever cheapskate poo poo they did is likely to set your house on fire. May be a little repetitive, but I've learned a lot about electronics by watching him. And his voice is awesome. I agree but there's only so many capacitive-dropper-full bridge rectifier LED light circuits that I can stomach.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 30, 2016 07:44
|
|
|
Lizard Combatant posted:The fax machine was replaced with something cheaper, easier, higher quality and more efficient. Well you would think that.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 9, 2016 04:14
|
|
|
Thanks to the same deal, you can get all sorts of new-old stock G-M tubes from sellers in Russia, Ukraine, etc.. Even though I'm a Canadian nuclear engineer almost all of my own custom-made radiation detection equipment use Soviet parts because it's much cheaper than Western stuff.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 20, 2016 02:45
|
|
|
 seriously what the gently caress is this scan line poo poo. what were these TVs that looked like those fake-rear end CRT filters with not just visible scanlines but dark scanlines that are almost as thick as pixels.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 18, 2016 05:13
|
|
|
My recollection from that era is that Americans largely used AIM and non-Americans largely used MSN and ICQ was well on its way out.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 30, 2016 00:27
|
|
|
Intoluene posted:I used both in Australia but real life friends used MSN and people I knew online used AIM. Yeah I'm Canadian but same, because the people I knew online were all Americans. Metal Geir Skogul posted:Trillian master race. 
|
|
#
¿
Oct 30, 2016 02:44
|
|
|
I use BNC connectors regularly on lab equipment and I've designed and built custom equipment with BNC connectors on them. I've never seen them in person on video equipment before but the retro gaming community goes nuts for hardware with BNC audio and video connectors. That and SCART for some reason.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 23, 2016 14:17
|
|
|
Powered Descent posted:Man, "septic infiltrator" sounds like the worst job ever. They mostly use repurposed EMHs for that job now.
|
|
#
¿
Dec 6, 2016 19:29
|
|
|
Mr.Radar posted:mikeselectricstuff posted a video of his extensively-modified BBC Micro system, including several home-built add-on boards and homebrew programs. It's an absolutely amazing time capsule of what a dedicated hardware hacker could do with home computing in the early-mid 80s: Back when "building your own computer" actually meant something
|
|
#
¿
May 8, 2017 11:50
|
|
|
It wouldn't be the first time, for example Nintendo's stock going up after Pokemon Go was released.
|
|
#
¿
Jan 10, 2018 03:02
|
|
|
I think that LGR's "Tech Tales" are the best videos he makes because he does some good research and they have interesting historical value. His "Oddware" videos and videos where he sets up and uses vintage hardware are also good for the history. If for some reason anyone in here hasn't already watched his stuff, those are the most on-topic (to this thread) videos that he does.
|
|
#
¿
Oct 22, 2018 23:08
|
|
|
I hate how animated GIFs are still a thing people make when browsers have supported real video formats for a while. On my phone I just browse SA with GIFs turned off in the Awful App but even on my desktop with my fast nternet connection they take longer to load and look worse than a proper video.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 17, 2018 14:11
|
|
|
Planet X posted:Interesting to hear someone mention this, as I worked at kesmai at the time. Do you know anything about it that you're allowed to say? I played it and was kind of bummed out when it was canned. BattleTech licensing was in a weird spot at the time so I've been wondering if that was why.
|
|
#
¿
Feb 23, 2019 19:55
|
|
|
OniPanda posted:Also 60/40 isn't a cost saving measure, that was the standard solder composition until Europe switched to lead free solder. Yeah 60/40 is used because it comes close to minimizing the melting point:  Lead free solder has a higher melting point and is annoying to solder as a result A ~62/38 Sn/Pb mixture actually has a lower melting point than either of the metals in their pure forms
|
|
#
¿
Mar 12, 2019 10:21
|
|
|
I haven't had any issues using random-rear end non-aerospace rated chips in vacuum. Not in space but at high vacuum for weeks while everything outgases so I can refill it with radiation detector gases without the outgassing contaminating it. If they have air inside them it probably wouldn't be an issue if it found a way out anyway.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 17, 2019 14:58
|
|
|
Yeah it takes pretty high doses of radiation to start loving up microelectronics which the equipment I make isn't really exposed to. A while ago we were using an old consumer router donated by a colleague to talk to ethernet-connected equipment in a bunker with a D-D neutron generator and a 10 Ci cesium-137 source and after a little while it started to flake out badly. I have no evidence that it was actually related specifically to the radiation and all of our other equipment works without a hitch, but all of our equipment is expensive stuff built for the job so who knows. I had it replaced with a fancy Edgerouter X which probably isn't radiation-hardened either so it will be interesting to see if it eventually flakes out too and after how long. edit: I would love to work on a project some day related to radiation damage of electronics linking radiation track structure to the structure of individually transistors similar to how we talk about DNA damage from radiation in a living cell but I don't know if that is interesting/fresh enough to get funding because it isn't really my area BattleMaster has a new favorite as of 17:59 on Mar 17, 2019 |
|
#
¿
Mar 17, 2019 17:55
|
|
|
I have one of those from when I was younger and stupid (stupider) and thought it sounded like a good idea so I donated to the program where you pay for two and get one. I guess I don't regret it because it's a cool artifact at least. Now that I've seen how bullshit out of control "technology will solve everything" crap is I'd rather the same money and effort be spent in traditional educational programs. I saw an even dumber attempt that was "we'll give people in slums NES clones and kids will uplift themselves by learning to program NES games in assembly" edit: I wish netbooks were still a thing though BattleMaster has a new favorite as of 18:23 on Jun 8, 2019 |
|
#
¿
Jun 8, 2019 18:21
|
|
|
An upscale grocery store in my town back in the 90s had a pneumatic tube system. The office was on a higher-level overlook above the floor of the store and tubes from near the cash registers went there. I don't know what they used it for, maybe credit card carbon imprints back when that was a thing, or receipts before computerized inventory systems were a thing? I wonder if they still use it.
|
|
#
¿
Jun 29, 2019 10:54
|
|
|
Jerry Cotton posted:Scorpion is like two years old. Haha what? I was going to say "wow that sounds like an awesome period piece to watch for some 80s or early 90s nostalgia" but lol if it's something new
|
|
#
¿
Sep 26, 2019 01:56
|
|
|
tight aspirations posted:Don't you still have to get up and get the milk from the fridge anyway? Might as just make a cuppa while you're there. adding stuff to tea 🚮
|
|
#
¿
Apr 20, 2020 13:24
|
|
|
barbecue at the folks posted:Minidiscs were the future. And I guess they still are, the transparent tiny discs just yell 'the year 20xx' to me in a way that no tiny thumb drive ever will. I have never seen a minidisc in purpose and for a long time I thought they were made up because I had only seen them used as futuristic props in 90s sci-fi TV shows.
|
|
#
¿
May 25, 2020 12:04
|
|
|
Gromit posted:Back in the 80s I knew a guy with a VIC-20 and he had a joystick I've never seen anywhere. It looked exactly like a single handgrip from a trail-bike with the cable coming out one end. You held it upright and it worked with mercury switches to detect when you tilted it, and you could squeeze it for the fire button (might have had a fire button on the top, too). Probably this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSUiS5GknBQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G0iBBaJeM-g Unfortunately the only videos I found showing it with decent quality have obnoxious theatrics about the mercury switches inside.
|
|
#
¿
Aug 22, 2020 00:48
|
|
|
Buttcoin purse posted:Bummer! I'd heard that USB to Parallel adapters might actually be only for printers (although I'd also heard the opposite so wasn't sure what to believe). I wouldn't be surprised if this is because the USB standard covers printers but not parallel ports (just like it doesn't cover serial ports) so that for the use case 99% of people want, if the adapter just presents a printer rather than a parallel port the user won't need a special driver. Yeah I purchased one and it enumerated as a USB printer. I did some research and the consensus was that this was standard for the reason you figured - that there's no standard USB parallel port protocol and most people who want a parallel port just want to get some life out of an old printer. Though there actually is a USB serial port standard, USB CDC (communications device class) that can work 1:1 with card or motherboard serial ports with all features and programs not knowing the difference. If you plug in a USB to serial converter, it will show up in Windows as a COM port or in Linux as a TTY device and will work perfectly with software designed to talk to those. Regarding those PCI and PCIe parallel port cards, I've heard that certain chips give different levels of control over the port. They all show up as a parallel port in the OS and will work for very standard uses like printers, but may not necessarily work for non-standard use cases. This came up while researching parallel port cards for CNC machine control - some cards let you remap signals to whatever you want in software while others don't let you use them for anything other than the standard signals.
|
|
#
¿
Nov 23, 2020 19:43
|
|
|
SniperWoreConverse posted:Which would take less tape space: the audio recording of canyon.mid or the file stored Kansas style? Canyon.mid is 2:02 and 33 kilobytes. The 1200 baud variant of KCS has a bit rate of 960 bits per second when you take into account the framing. So it would be 4:42 when encoded. So hey, it would be better to just record the audio.
|
|
#
¿
Mar 13, 2021 15:29
|
|
|
Johnny Aztec posted:Is that the one where there is a runaway nuclear semi and you have to destroy a clear path for it, through cities? Yes
|
|
#
¿
Apr 1, 2021 15:11
|
|
|
Trabant posted:This is not obsolete/failed tech, but it's kind of a revival of a concept that's been obsolete and failed due to the way the PC market has gone -- a modular/fixable laptop: "But if we use non-standard parts we can decrease the weight and volume of our laptop by 2%" -every laptop designer ever, unfortunately
|
|
#
¿
May 15, 2021 16:12
|
|
|
Photomultiplier tubes are non-obsolete and see lots of use in radiation detectors and physics. I just had some purchased for my job for a radiation detector experiment and there are still multiple manufacturers of new ones.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 20, 2021 03:45
|
|
|
Fortunately (or unfortunately for you) PMTs don't fail very often. They use different physics than typical vacuum tubes. They don't have a hot filament - instead of using thermionic emission to free electrons, the incoming light uses the photoelectric effect to get the electrons flying. So there's nothing to really wear out or burn out, and they only really fail if exposed to too much light while powered on, or if mishandled. Otherwise they last a good long while - we have equipment from the 70s that is still in working order. So the very few failed tubes we have have been chopped up to create demonstration pieces for students to be able to see what the inside looks like, or as test targets for x-ray lab activities. There's a lot of cool structure inside them so it's a good use. In radiation detection they're used for scintillation detectors. These detectors have some sort of medium that emits visible light when irradiated - usually an inorganic crystal doped with certain materials, or special plastics, or an organic scintillator chemical mixed in with a liquid sample, but there are many others including certain gases. The light emitted by radiation interactions with these materials is proportional to the energy of the particle but very tiny, so sensitive light detectors are needed. PMTs are most often used for this because of how highly sensitive they are, and how big of a detection area they can have. The ones I just got have a 5 inch diameter sensitive area, which is needed because my detector is fairly large. I'm sure one day advances in photodiode technology will obsolete them, but that may be a ways off.
|
|
#
¿
Jul 20, 2021 05:39
|
|
|
I got Vista free because I was in school at the time, and I put it on a very above spec new build. Worked great and I didn't experience any of the bad stuff that people were saying. Given that 7 was so lauded but wasn't really all that different (aside from being sold on better machines), I guess it goes to show that MS really should have had stricter minimum requirements instead of trying to maximize sales by letting marginal machines scrape in.
|
|
#
¿
Sep 30, 2021 07:27
|
|
|
His Divine Shadow posted:Stuff that's lying on the shelves around here: I have no information beyond this photo but my guess is that it's for looking at Ethernet over twisted pair signals on a scope. Ethernet has 4 pairs/8 wires but only two pairs are used for signaling - 1 transmit pair and 1 receive pair. Given that a scope would not be able to transmit, it would make sense that it only breaks out the pair with the incoming signal. Ethernet is differential signalling but is galvanically isolated. A scope measures single-ended, ground-referenced signals. So the - wire of the pair is probably connected to ground of the BNC connector while the + wire is probably connected to the signal of the connector. This wouldn't break anything because it's isolated from ground on the other side. The BNC female connector on the adapter wouldn't be able to plug directly into a scope, but could be connected by a standard male/male cable which may be preferable to having it plug directly into the scope for convenience reasons. Wired like this, if your scope has a high enough bandwidth to follow the signal, it should work just fine. edit: That said, I actually don't know if that would cause the Ethernet interface on the other side to think that a device was plugged in. If it doesn't think there's anything plugged in, then you wouldn't be able to get it to transmit and wouldn't be able to see anything. And if not, well I'm wrong, lol BattleMaster has a new favorite as of 20:16 on Oct 1, 2021 |
|
#
¿
Oct 1, 2021 20:12
|
|
|
|
| # ¿ Apr 18, 2024 18:58 |
|
|
I was looking for a video on the Altair 8800 that was more technical than just gawking at it for being a very early home computer. I found this video that walks through how the front panel works: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=suyiMfzmZKs I had a vague idea that you could enter and view code/data with the panel but I didn't know the specifics. I feel like this video, while the quality is a little old and crusty, is a really drat good explanation and demonstration of how it works. Also I didn't realize that the switches had such a chunky and satisfying sound to them. Also, even though entering a program like this is like hard mode for computing (at least by the standards of what would come just a few years later) the functionality of it is really well thought out. The "Deposit Next" function is something I didn't expect and is really well thought out and makes entering a program as easy as possible given what's available. edit: I just got to the end where he explains that it's a clone, not an original, but I assume that the original had switches like that if effort was put into duplicating its feel edit 2: His Altair 8800 playlist has 63 videos showing entering an actual program up to talking to hardware up to loading programs from teletype and paper tapes 
BattleMaster has a new favorite as of 23:25 on Dec 20, 2021 |
|
#
¿
Dec 20, 2021 23:17
|
|