Odd Lots
- Before GPS, there was…rolled paper. I’m not sure how useful a one-dimensional scrollable map is, but it was a good start. (And now, all you steampunkers, figure out how to do the same thing in two dimensions.)
- Shortwave radio and one-time pads are still being used, as we discovered in the recent Russian spy foofaraw. Slate’s done a decent overview of number-station covert communication. The late Harry Helms wrote a lot about these, and most of what I know came from his books. Some technologies just don’t get better over time. They were optimal from just about the beginning.
- This Lifehacker tutorial tells you in agonizing detail how to install OS X Snow Leopard in a VirtualBox VM. Cool enough–but when did that become legal? (My guess: It didn’t.)
- From Pete Albrecht comes a pointer to an item describing a proposed copyright law in Brazil that provides penalties for attempting to limit use of public-domain material, or fair use of copyrighted material via DRM. That is a remarkably good idea. (Maybe we’ll see the Viagens someday after all.)
- This looks real (i.e., not Photoshopped) but as at least one commenter has pointed out, there seems to be no way to get inside. Maybe it’s the ultimate RC car.
- Speaking of cars, in reading the comments for this Wired Blog article (titled “What’s the Fastest You’ve Driven?”) I felt old and frumpy. The fastest I’ve ever driven in my life was 95 or 96 MPH: in 1971, in my mom’s battered teal-green 1965 six-banger Chevy Biscayne, northbound on the Edens Expressway just before the I-290 junction…in the rain. Why? I no longer remember. And that’s probably just as well.
- And yet more about cars: Buss Ford Lincoln Mercury in McHenry, Illinois posts YouTube video endorsements from their happy customers. Buy a Merc before they’re gone…and be famous! (It worked for Carol’s sister and her husband.)
- And now, for quite enough about cars: Pete Albrecht reminds us that in 1973 somebody glued the rear portion of a Cessna Skymaster to a Ford Pinto, and it flew…for awhile. (What do people say? “Don’t fly 70s cars?” Uh, yeah.)
- DARPA wants a flying submarine. They should ask Irwin Allen. Or Tom Swift, Jr. (Thanks to Frank Glover for the link.)
Posted in: Odd Lots.
Tagged: humor · Memoir · software
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Roll charts are still in use today. There are roll chart motorcycle accessories so you can follow them on-the-go.
Here’s a roll chart holder for motorcycles: http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/2/9/192/30152/ITEM/Moose-Racing-Trophy-Roll-Chart-Holder.aspx
You can see what the Trans-Am trail roll chart looks like here:
http://www.transamtrail.com/purchase/
I hand-transcribed my roll chart into GPS coordinates by following the directions on a detailed map. It took days to complete but it worked!
I had a scrolling map device similar to this for my ten-speed back in the seventies. I also had a portable shortwave radio (for clandestine listening). I attempted to mount a CB, and use a Whip antenna, but I got snarled up in the battery mounting issues. Not to mention the fact that I had to pedal all that weight around!
I think I read too many old Radio-Craft magazines back then.
Rich
Sigh. I didn’t even know Radio-Craft existed until I was in my 40s. Popular Electronics and Electronics Illustrated were it. Interestingly, the very first issue of PE had an article about a battery tube superhet for mounting on your handlebars. I was not big on bike electronics, because Chicago weather made it difficult to be sure it wouldn’t get soaked. I just rode to work or school and back, and didn’t really go anywhere that would require a map. Waterproof is good!
For flying subs, there was also “Atragon”.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atragon