isn't modern technology amazing

[tris]

I'm sat here in the UK watching the TV and decided to look at a bike on Craigslist in the US.......via my phone

Remarkable

What next

[oldbike54]

 Don't spread it around , but I have a cold fusion reactor in a coffee can in my shop . The problem isn't with the reactor , it works fine , the real issue is that no one builds a large enough transformer to step the amperage generated down to some usable amount . Every thing just goes poof when hooked up to the coffee can outlet 

 Dusty

[Phang]

I'm sat here in the UK watching the TV and decided to look at a bike on Craigslist in the US.......via my phone

Remarkable

What next

a guy from Singapore says hello to you?

[oldbike54]

a guy from Singapore says hello to you?

 Yep , or a guy from the middle of the U.S. contacts a guy in NZ who tracks down a friend who has gone feral and returns him home .

 Oh , hello Phang 

 Dusty

[tris]

Bugger battery nearly flat 

Going dark but will be back 

[Phang]

and seeing what he sees outside of the window at this moment?

Hello Dusty, what is the time over there?

[cloudbase]

Still have mine.



Never needs batteries.

[oldbike54]

and seeing what he sees outside of the window at this moment?

Hello Dusty, what is the time over there?

 That is very cool Phang 

 2:32 PM Central standard time . 75 F , light winds , mostly clear skies .

 Dusty

[Chuck in Indiana]

It *is* pretty remarkable. Serious science fiction when I was a kid.. if anyone had told me that I'd be able to carry a device in my pocket that could access about anything that I had to go to a library to read, or talk to about anyone, send them a picture, receive files that I could turn into finished parts.. for almost free?? It's right up there with the flying cars. 

[ken farr]

Still have mine.



Never needs batteries.

Yep, nothing new under the sun.
In the 70's I remember a guy wrote into a VW magazine with a problem.  Seems he added a bunch of performance and economy mods, purchased from J.C. Whitney, and with the 5% here and 12% there, was going to save approx. 112% on fuel mileage.  He was asking how he was going to collect all the extra gasoline his vehicle was now going to produce......

Yes, modern tech is indeed amazing, I mean I am publishing this worldwide.

kjf

[oldbike54]

 Oh hell Ken 

 Dusty

[Lannis]

It *is* pretty remarkable. Serious science fiction when I was a kid.. if anyone had told me that I'd be able to carry a device in my pocket that could access about anything that I had to go to a library to read, or talk to about anyone, send them a picture, receive files that I could turn into finished parts.. for almost free?? It's right up there with the flying cars. 

Actually I think there's a BIG difference.   People have been predicting the advent of flying cars for everyone's garage for 75 years, along with personal jet packs, personal helicopters ... every year since WWII, there's an issue of Popular Mechanical Science Mechanix with all that stuff in it.

But NO ONE predicted a Siri-equipped pocket computer with the capability they have today.

I think William Gibson did the best job of prediction of what we're approaching.   Thirty two years ago, he wrote "Neuromancer", which is still a fun read today.   No one else was getting even close on that stuff.

Lannis

[charlie b]

Edward Teller in 1990.  He described what was called the "Briliant Pebbles" program.  Autonomous space missiles that could detect an ICBM in mid trajectory, distinguish between decoys and warhead, track and fire at the intended target and guide to hit at closing speeds of 50,000 kph, all without human intervention.  Someone in the audience told him it would take a Cray supercomputer the size of a shoebox to do the job.  He said it would be here in less than 20yrs.

The Cray computer back then was noted for having a whopping ONE gigabyte of core memory and was the size of a small room.

[oldbike54]

 There is the case of the unpublished Jules Verne manuscript written circa 1865 named "Paris in the 20th century" that predicted fax machines , gasoline powered cars , subways , the electric chair , telephones , computers , and a few other futuristic things . His publisher simply refused to publish the book . There is a very tattered copy of the original , found in a safe .

 Dusty

[tris]

I'm back and once I sort this storage of electricity problem out I'll be a billionaire

Note to self - start work on the storage of electricity problem 

[Aaron D.]

Actually I think there's a BIG difference.   People have been predicting the advent of flying cars for everyone's garage for 75 years, along with personal jet packs, personal helicopters ... every year since WWII, there's an issue of Popular Mechanical Science Mechanix with all that stuff in it.

But NO ONE predicted a Siri-equipped pocket computer with the capability they have today.

I think William Gibson did the best job of prediction of what we're approaching.   Thirty two years ago, he wrote "Neuromancer", which is still a fun read today.   No one else was getting even close on that stuff.

Lannis

"Shockwave Rider" by John Brunner. Must be near 50 years ago. It introduced most of the terminology we use today, so I'm not the only one who read it!

[Unkept]

I'm glad to see people here recognizing how beautiful technology really can be, especially in connecting us with people around the world.

I hear the "Technology is making people anti-social." argument constantly, but it's often ironic as they will state that opinion on Facebook!

My list of people I consider good friends extends all around the country, and to several people around the world (England, Germany, Hungary, Canada) that I would've never met had it not been for the internet and some common interests.

Hell, I'd never have met you crazy lot, or stumbled across Moto Guzzi most likely! (I've never lived anywhere near a Guzzi dealership.)

We'll be moving to Germany soon, but the sting of leaving my friends and family is softened by technology.

-Joe

[Chuck in Indiana]

The Cray computer back then was noted for having a whopping ONE gigabyte of core memory and was the size of a small room.

I'll take your Cray story and raise you one Univac.  I took my first computer programming classes (Fortran and Gotran) on one. Vacuum tubes, tape decks, punch cards, and a whopping 16K of memory. 
It was the size of a fairly large room..

[Muzz]

Yep , or a guy from the middle of the U.S. contacts a guy in NZ who tracks down a friend who has gone feral and returns him home .

 Oh , hello Phang 

 Dusty

And Dusty, the same guy from NZ tracks down Phang in Singapore for really valuable information to help out his daughter who happens to live in Singapore.   Thanks Phang. More

[oldbike54]

And Dusty, the same guy from NZ tracks down Phang in Singapore for really valuable information to help out his daughter who happens to live in Singapore.   Thanks Phang. More

 Yep , the internet can be used for good , although as I am learning , many use it for purposes that aren't so great . Thunder UP !

 Dusty

[Aaron D.]

In high school we had a demonstration of a computer the size of a bookcase that would do some math and the like.

Later I worked at DEC (Digital Equipment, don't you know) where a mini-computer was pretty derned big.

In the early '80s I arranged for a demo of finite element analysis in our company. That was funny.

Later I made a primitive network using phone cable for data acquisition off the production floor, ran it on my FoxBase program.

Today I told my phone, "Navigate me to..." and it did. Politely. Avoided traffic, too.

Still and all, my HP15C calculator from 1984 has not been bettered in any significant way-and I even have an HP app on my phone that duplicates it...albeit it is much faster.

[Kiwi_Roy]

My Brother a kiwi named Kev bought home a HP computer with a small screen, it was worth the same as an average house at the time and could play a few crude games.

[rboe]

Bought a seat from a guy in OZ that had bought it from a guy in the Eastern US. Ended up buying a windscreen from that same guy in Eastern US.

Bought a telescope eye piece from a buddy in Slovenia.

Had a woodshop instructor in OZ ask me if he could copy some wood working projects I had shared on the astronomy website - that one really threw me for a loop!

The world just keeps shrinking.

[Gliderjohn]

Quote from Chuck:

I'll take your Cray story and raise you one Univac.  I took my first computer programming classes (Fortran and Gotran) on one. Vacuum tubes, tape decks, punch cards, and a whopping 16K of memory. 
It was the size of a fairly large room..

When I was in grade school (mid 60s) we toured a large refinery in McPerson, KS that had a computer set up like you described. We could play Tic Tac Toe against it but we were told it was not capable of Checkers let alone Chess. We have come a long way baby!
GliderJohn

[Phang]

And Dusty, the same guy from NZ tracks down Phang in Singapore for really valuable information to help out his daughter who happens to live in Singapore.   Thanks Phang. More

You are welcome 

I hope the information is helpful. Competent and honest workshop overhere is as rare as hen's teeth  (I doubt there is any) and being a forigner is a disadvantage when you show up at the local workshops.

I fixed a leaky valve cover seal and cracked water heater pipe of my car last month at home, wife asked why not send it to the workshop.  I told her I can do a better job with significantly less money and no collateral damage.

[Tom]

HAH.....hah.....got you all beat.  You can go into McDonald's almost anywhere in the world and get the same Big Mac sandwich.  Now that's technology.  THINK about it.      

[tris]

Too True

I can remember me my customer jumping into a car to go and shout at a one of my sub contractors in rural France.

We were starving on the way back and really couldn't be assed to negotiate a meal with our dodgy French.

A Big Mac solved that one PDQ

[rboe]

Tom wins. (damn sneaky if you ask me    )

 

[rocker59]

I hear the "Technology is making people anti-social." argument constantly, but it's often ironic as they will state that opinion on Facebook!

My list of people I consider good friends extends all around the country, and to several people around the world (England, Germany, Hungary, Canada) that I would've never met had it not been for the internet and some common interests.
 

Interesting dichotomy, no ?

[Muzz]

You are welcome 

I hope the information is helpful. Competent and honest workshop overhere is as rare as hen's teeth  (I doubt there is any) and being a forigner is a disadvantage when you show up at the local workshops.

So they found. Over $2000 and the car came back with more faults than it started with. First thing I had to do when I lifted the bonnet was to put the entire induction system back together! They had been "servicing" it for about three years and there was no fluid in the radiator header tank. I did not top it up as they did not have any antifreeze at the apartment. She said the antifreeze is not used in Singapore! More  . I would hate to see the corrosion in some of these alloy motors.

Daughter has just said they are about to send it in. Doorlock system, electric windows and the aircon have all been damaged by those clowns.