Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[Gunner-Chan]

A replacement connector works wonders, the one it came with can be altered to be much more effective or replaced with a much better one. I did this YEARS ago for my nes and all games work first try, then and now.

[Bauglir]

Oh, that reminds me. I was pondering a minor engineering problem with a project I'm considering starting once I get properly settled in for the year, and then I realized that Gurren Lagann provided the answer! Spirals. Perfect way to get a flexible, but relatively inelastic, tube to cross joints.

[Darvi]

You should add a

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

"warning: May destroy the universe if overused"

Heheh.

[Aqizzar]

Oh, that reminds me. I was pondering a minor engineering problem with a project I'm considering starting once I get properly settled in for the year, and then I realized that Gurren Lagann provided the answer! Spirals. Perfect way to get a flexible, but relatively inelastic, tube to cross joints.

Isn't that what lots of tubes already do?  I know the wire covering on payphones was a flexible spiral, and it was made of metal.

Gears can be replaced. Connections can be resoldered. The original electrical components should last many decades beyond that if you just make sure they're stuck together properly. My electronics class has an absolutely ancient food processor that's been kept in working order for well over 60 years now. We use it on occasion for making celebratory smoothies when one of our silly projects succeeds.

I don't think elements being replaceable counts as the device as a whole being dependable.  Easy to fix is not the same thing as not needing fixing in the first place, trust me.  That said, a lot of old electronics can last ages, when you wouldn't think they would.  My mother still has a toaster and electric mixing bowl from the 1950s.  They smell weird when you turn them on, but they work.

[MaximumZero]

I spent ~10 days in Portland with very little to do for several hours each day. Using a box fan, a fog machine, a dynamometer, and some graphs, I found out that the people advocating leg-shaving for runners weren't entirely insane. I figure you have to try everything at least once, so if the difference between sasquatch legs and shaved legs was great enough, I'd change my stance on the matter. Apparently the resistance incurred by my legs with an inch of hair on them was fully 20% greater than the same leg without hair.

Upsides: I immediately ran a mile and got a personal record by several seconds, and was overall less tired at the end due to decreased energy output for the same motion.

Downsides: AUGH THINGS ARE TOUCHING MY SKIN. Blankets, wind, et cetera. Also I accidentally peeled off a small section of my epidermis, causing a worrying amount of bleeding from my mesoderm. To those of you who regularly shave your not-faces, you are masochists.

I shave my armpits regularly because the hair traps bacteria, hence BO. Tired of being smelly? Kill it with blades.

[Bauglir]

Oh, that reminds me. I was pondering a minor engineering problem with a project I'm considering starting once I get properly settled in for the year, and then I realized that Gurren Lagann provided the answer! Spirals. Perfect way to get a flexible, but relatively inelastic, tube to cross joints.

Isn't that what lots of tubes already do?  I know the wire covering on payphones was a flexible spiral, and it was made of metal.

That is true, but the idea didn't occur to me except in this form. It's hardly revolutionary, it's just something I hadn't thought of before as a way of addressing the fact that the distance the tube needs to travel is variable, but the length of the tube can't be.

[Mindmaker]

First experience with Visual Novels.

Spoiler: It's not what it looks like! (click to show/hide)

[KaelGotDwarves]

It's kind of sad that many "modern electronics" have warranties and such just to last a year or two. I have a canon SLR from the early 70s and a set of Koss Headphones from 1979 that still work, as well as a tv from the 60s and computers from the late 80s early 90s.

Nowadays it's all built just to last beyond warranty, then you have to replace. Hardly any profit in good craftsmanship.

[Vector]

a. Having washed my hair, it has settled into a shape that I have to say is just kind of completely adorable.  My parents can't seem to stop squeeing, and my dad keeps on coming by to give me pats on the head.

b. I treated my mom to rose-flavored pearl milk tea today.  It was the first time she'd tried PMT, and I'd never tried that flavor.  Not only was it delicious, but the shop we got it from put actual shredded red rose petals in.  There was something magical about it.

c. I picked out some new glasses frames today, and tomorrow I have an optometrist's appointment.  These ones are going to be cute, too!  Hopefully they'll also show off my eyes a little better, which I personally think are rather pretty >_<


Hmm, I seem to have developed at least a little confidence :3

[Aklyon]

Woo for confidence!

[sonerohi]

I spent ~10 days in Portland with very little to do for several hours each day. Using a box fan, a fog machine, a dynamometer, and some graphs, I found out that the people advocating leg-shaving for runners weren't entirely insane. I figure you have to try everything at least once, so if the difference between sasquatch legs and shaved legs was great enough, I'd change my stance on the matter. Apparently the resistance incurred by my legs with an inch of hair on them was fully 20% greater than the same leg without hair.

Upsides: I immediately ran a mile and got a personal record by several seconds, and was overall less tired at the end due to decreased energy output for the same motion.

Downsides: AUGH THINGS ARE TOUCHING MY SKIN. Blankets, wind, et cetera. Also I accidentally peeled off a small section of my epidermis, causing a worrying amount of bleeding from my mesoderm. To those of you who regularly shave your not-faces, you are masochists.

I shave my armpits regularly because the hair traps bacteria, hence BO. Tired of being smelly? Kill it with blades.

Swimming. No hair. None. If you had unfortunate enough genetics to get hairy feet, you had to shave your feet.

[Lightning4]

It's kind of sad that many "modern electronics" have warranties and such just to last a year or two. I have a canon SLR from the early 70s and a set of Koss Headphones from 1979 that still work, as well as a tv from the 60s and computers from the late 80s early 90s.

Nowadays it's all built just to last beyond warranty, then you have to replace. Hardly any profit in good craftsmanship.

Well, there's still some electronics built nowadays that are built to last, Nintendo products notwithstanding.
I can't really give any examples but I feel my laptop could be a contender. Though, it's only 3 years old, which is only old in technology years. Maybe if it's still around in another 7 I can brag about it.

I don't think it's so much a problem with craftsmanship as it is with complexity. The more complex the thing is, the more likely something will go wrong somewhere, even if it's fairly well built. And nowadays you can't swing a dead cat without hitting something (sometimes needlessly) complex.

[Aqizzar]

a. Having washed my hair, it has settled into a shape that I have to say is just kind of completely adorable.  My parents can't seem to stop squeeing, and my dad keeps on coming by to give me pats on the head.

I never trust what family says about haircuts, except for one my Dad said recently.  A couple months ago, I finally took the plunge and cut off what was left of my flowing mane, for a distinctly modern cut based on Denis Leary.  Except I kinda forgot that I have wavy hair, which conspires to look as awful as possible no matter the arrangement.  My Dad said I looked like John Wilkes Booth.  That kinda put it all in perspective.

It looks alright when it lays flat, but it's almost impossible to get it to lay flat, because sleeping pushes it up and washing makes it curl and fluff.  Much like my once and former mane, it only looks really good when it's dirty, which is kind of a problem.

[Aklyon]

It's kind of sad that many "modern electronics" have warranties and such just to last a year or two. I have a canon SLR from the early 70s and a set of Koss Headphones from 1979 that still work, as well as a tv from the 60s and computers from the late 80s early 90s.

Nowadays it's all built just to last beyond warranty, then you have to replace. Hardly any profit in good craftsmanship.

Well, there's still some electronics built nowadays that are built to last, Nintendo products notwithstanding.
I can't really give any examples but I feel my laptop could be a contender. Though, it's only 3 years old, which is only old in technology years. Maybe if it's still around in another 7 I can brag about it.

I don't think it's so much a problem with craftsmanship as it is with complexity. The more complex the thing is, the more likely something will go wrong somewhere, even if it's fairly well built. And nowadays you can't swing a dead cat without hitting something (sometimes needlessly) complex.

My grandma's car is proof of older stuff being durable. She had to go get the spark plug fixed, and the first thing the guy said was apparently "Most of this is like, 20 years old! How is it still working?"

[sonerohi]

Oh my god, crazy cat lady song. She just can't hug every cat, and it makes her so sad.