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Profile jason_gee
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Message 642496 - Posted: 16 Sep 2007, 18:16:07 UTC - in response to Message 642494.  
Last modified: 16 Sep 2007, 18:16:55 UTC

Dubbin, dudes! you need a tin of good ol' Dubbin Wax for your leather apparel.

"Living by the wisdom of computer science doesn't sound so bad after all. And unlike most advice, it's backed up by proofs." -- Algorithms to live by: The computer science of human decisions.
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Message 642499 - Posted: 16 Sep 2007, 18:19:42 UTC - in response to Message 642496.  

Dubbin, dudes! you need a tin of good ol' Dubbin Wax for your leather apparel.


Ah but with the oil you can pour it inside the boots as well as apply it to the outside so you waterproof the seams from both sides (though it does make the socks difficult to wash!)

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Message 642503 - Posted: 16 Sep 2007, 18:22:33 UTC

Fred and Gecko, I don't think sundials are accurate year-round unless they're made specially as, for example, from templates available at certain websites. The Sun doesn't transit at the same time each day because of the ovality of Earths orbit. One would have to change the numerals twice a year to provide for time changes. Also a sundial accurate at position x would never be right at position y. Here for example, solar noon is at (average) 1:43 PM EDT. It would be interesting to see a spiral sliderule. I bet it would be awkward to use, though.
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Message 642508 - Posted: 16 Sep 2007, 18:26:23 UTC - in response to Message 642503.  
Last modified: 16 Sep 2007, 18:31:15 UTC

ovality? I'm sure you mean ellipticalitudiness :P I may also accept ovallitudinality :D


"Living by the wisdom of computer science doesn't sound so bad after all. And unlike most advice, it's backed up by proofs." -- Algorithms to live by: The computer science of human decisions.
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Message 642519 - Posted: 16 Sep 2007, 18:40:12 UTC - in response to Message 642503.  

Fred and Gecko, I don't think sundials are accurate year-round unless they're made specially as, for example, from templates available at certain websites. The Sun doesn't transit at the same time each day because of the ovality of Earths orbit. One would have to change the numerals twice a year to provide for time changes. Also a sundial accurate at position x would never be right at position y. Here for example, solar noon is at (average) 1:43 PM EDT. It would be interesting to see a spiral sliderule. I bet it would be awkward to use, though.


For the cylindrical slide rule see here. They weren't as quick as the conventional models but far more accurate.

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Message 642572 - Posted: 16 Sep 2007, 19:49:46 UTC

I was on a project to replace the manual Army Supply System with a computerised system in Australia. The only computer we had at the start of the project had those big 7 1/2 inch floppy drives and we had the latest in Dbase software. Dbase, not Dbase 1 or 2 or 3 just Dbase. By the end of the project we had hundreds of computers and we even had a form of distributed computing for ou warehousing solution. I have been working in that field ever since and I am still amased at he power of desktops compared to the past.

Proud Founder and member of



Have a look at my WebCam
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Message 643126 - Posted: 17 Sep 2007, 18:52:01 UTC

Interesting about the spiral sliderule. Maybe it was detented so it could click its way down the cylinder and thus be moved faster. I used log tables for more accurate calculations but that was kinda slow, too. I saw "ovality" and "ovalness" in the dictionary and thought that would be more practical than "ellipticity" which sounds too scientific and might label me as an "eccentric". But on these forums the last word might be OK and more accurate. I guess none of them would be very good at a girls fashion show.
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Message 643462 - Posted: 18 Sep 2007, 7:49:28 UTC - in response to Message 641872.  

Question is does anyone here use or have used an abacus? ;)

Yes, a Japanese one with about sixteen columns, and a smaller Chinese one. Just to play with, though: I’m nowhere near fast enough on them for any practical purpose. I did keep one beside my computer at work for a while; I’d tell people it was my backup system.

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Message 643466 - Posted: 18 Sep 2007, 7:55:41 UTC
Last modified: 18 Sep 2007, 7:58:14 UTC

The Japanese still train schoolchildren in The Abacus, I've never seen such nimble fingers.

Edit....Or such nimble minds.
"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

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Message 643653 - Posted: 18 Sep 2007, 14:37:15 UTC - in response to Message 643462.  

Question is does anyone here use or have used an abacus? ;)

Yes, a Japanese one with about sixteen columns, and a smaller Chinese one. Just to play with, though: I’m nowhere near fast enough on them for any practical purpose. I did keep one beside my computer at work for a while; I’d tell people it was my backup system.


Hmmmm. I had a shiney Brass one a long time ago (about 2 1/2" x 3")...don't know where it went. Maybe I'll look for it.
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Message 663487 - Posted: 21 Oct 2007, 0:05:14 UTC - in response to Message 641590.  

And I own one of these Nixie clocks which I have set to UTC to compare with Seti event times.
Complete with real Russian nixie tubes. I think they are soooooo sexy.


Quick! Get one for each of the kitties!

Place one of those fine babies on 'yer desktop fer free: Nixie Clock

Mmmmm... Tubes!


I emailed the author of the Nixie Clock software some time ago asking about being able to add an offset so it could display UTC, but never got a reply.
However....
Today I found this nifty Desktop add-on clock which is absolutely what I have been looking for! You can set it to display UTC and drag it anywhere on your desktop, even in the taskbar. Great for reference to Seti timestamps.
Not as nifty as a nixie, but a very handy add-on!

"Time is simply the mechanism that keeps everything from happening all at once."

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Message boards : Number crunching : 20 years ago...


 
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