I absolutely love this 1940s factory promo film from RCA , describing how they make metal-can octal base vacuum tubes. Check out the all-American family in the living room, huddled around the radio, dad in 3-piece, reading the paper, mom sewing, little Timmy and Janey player checkers on the floor. Gee willikers! [Sent to us […]
Typewriters are enjoying a comeback, as collectable antiques, and as a welcome relief from overwhelming digital distractions.
From the makers of Exploded Phone comes the iSteam Phone, a t-shirt depicting an exploded view illustration that asks the musical question: What would the iPhone have looked like if Leonardo had invented it in the 15th century? iSteam Phone [via Boing Boing Gadgets]
After Professor Fzz’s wireless base station died, he found himself continually looking at where it use to be to monitor the activity lights during downloads. He wanted to replace it with something else to help him visualize this data — the Internet Pressure Gauge was born. The electronics are probably overkill for this application, but […]
Listeners Applaud Program Modern Mechanix, 1937 – BY PRESSING an electric switch, radio listeners may express approval of a current radio program. Holding down a small switch attached to the base of a small lamp placed near the radio, the increased current drain is shown at the local power plant or substation. Now being used […]
Keith Newstead is an “automatist” who makes the most amazing kinetic mechanical sculptures. Here are a couple of his pieces, recently posted to YouTube. Keith Newstead Automata [via Dug North] More: Cabaret Mechanical Theatre – A Museum of Automata (mechanical sculpture) Designing automata kit & cabaret mechanical movement
Boot Beep – The story of the Mac’s boot chime, with source code written in 68000 assembly language… Andy Hertzfeld – When you powered up an Apple II, it would make a short beep sound to let you know that it was alive. We thought that the Mac should do something similar, once it passed […]
