How long have you been into technology?

[captaincranky]

Sounds alot like my experience. I was lucky enough to go to a school that offered computer courses and electronics classes. At the time I just wished they had better facilities. 20 people soldering in a basement can cause some health issues without good ventilation.

Many people claim the Romans were so crazy because their aqueducts were lined with lead. Given 20 people in a basement with that much free lead in the air, I'm really surprised by the end of the semester, you weren't having Roman style orgies during class.

Or is there something you're not telling us?

 

[Evernessince]

Many people claim the Romans were so crazy because their aqueducts were lined with lead. Given 20 people in a basement with that much free lead in the air, I'm really surprised by the end of the semester, you weren't having Roman style orgies during class.

Or is there something you're not telling us?

I was holding you in suspense. We did have ventilation from overhead ventilation ducts but they took a while to clear the room. The teacher realized this so we had a fan blowing across the soldering stations. Better to blow it to the one side of the room no one was in and let it clear once class was over.

Lead, Asbestos, radiation, it goes on. Either through ignorance or sheer obstinance humans seem to always put harmful materials in everyday items. I'm sure the next thing that's going to be added to the "Humans should have never used this as a common material" list could very well be some of the preservatives used in food, especially in America. This is where I live and I can tell you, when your average "tea" consists of 48g of sugar and has a text wall as an ingredient list something is wrong.

 

[cliffordcooley]

Either through ignorance or sheer obstinance humans seem to always put harmful materials in everyday items.

Yep, the FDA is allowing people to buy their way into a lifetime of illness. I suppose it's all good, as long as Pharmaceutical can pay the bills.

 

[captaincranky]

I was holding you in suspense.

Still, perspiring minds want to know.

This is where I live and I can tell you, when your average "tea" consists of 48g of sugar and has a text wall as an ingredient list something is wrong.

OK, this is where I cop to having a refined sugar jones. Gosh, it feels good to get that off my chest, (or possibly that cliche should be changed to "I'd like to that off my waist").
I'm mostly addicted to Coca-Cola, but I've taken to "stepping on it" with 50% Coke Zero, which dials the sugar all the way back to "only 20 Grams in a 12 oz serving". I'm quite bitter <(pun intended), about never having been able to sample the original recipe which was laced with cocaine, instead of rotgut caffeine. Back around 1903, those were the glory days of, "all natural ingredients".

Speaking of "things we never should have taken", Thalidomide tops that list. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide

Anyway, I enjoy sitting through the commercials for new drugs on TV, especially the laundry list of possible side effects. These ads all should probably end with the caveat, "if this way overpriced s*** doesn't kill you, it could potentially make you better". (At least the percentages of cure were better than those of the placebo control group).

Anyway, I got my first transistor radio around 1958. It didn't work right. My dear old dad was a drunken trickster along with being an electronics tech. He would always bring me broken stuff home and pretend it was a present. Then when I figured out it was not repairable, he would "take it back to the shop", never to be seen or heard from again. (nor replaced).

Still, this was enough to sow the seeds of electronic gear addiction in my improperly developing mind, a curse which hangs over, me even as of today. So, as to how long I've been into tech (toys), I'm going to say 60 years, give or take.

 

[captaincranky]

Yep, the FDA is allowing people to buy their way into a lifetime of illness. I suppose it's all good, as long as Pharmaceutical can pay the bills.

Yeah, you'd think they wouldn't try to legislate against walking into traffic while playing with your "smart phone". That's a much more effective method of thinning the herd short term, as opposed to expensive long term care of terminal patients with asbestosis, and other chronic diseases.

 

[cliffordcooley]

Yeah, you'd think they wouldn't try to legislate against walking into traffic while playing with your "smart phone".

They only do it then because, they can't nickle and dime you if you are dead. They want to prolong your agony.

 

[captaincranky]

They only do it then because, they can't nickle and dime you if you are dead. They want to prolong your agony.

I used to count the traffic fatalities on the local news, and came to the conclusion that one motorist dead per week, would have to be considered, "acceptable losses". I believe one pedestrian dead per week of their own stupidity, should come to be expected and accepted as well. (y) (Especially as phones gain more features and the prices come down).

A better phone camera can equal a better selfie, especially with an oncoming bus used creatively as a backdrop.

 

[dividebyzero]

Speaking of "things we never should have taken", Thalidomide tops that list. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thalidomide

Fun fact: Thalidomide is used very effectively to combat peripheral neuropathy caused by Graft Versus Host Disease - a condition that is fairly common in recipients of medical transplants. Something I can attest to personally.

Anyway, I got my first transistor radio around 1958. It didn't work right. My dear old dad was a drunken trickster along with being an electronics tech. He would always bring me broken stuff home and pretend it was a present. Then when I figured out it was not repairable, he would "take it back to the shop", never to be seen or heard from again. (nor replaced).

Sounds like a modern reworking of a Dickensian novel. Depending on who is telling the story he was either exceedingly cheap, or fast tracking an education of expectations of the modern world.

 

[captaincranky]

Fun fact: Thalidomide is used very effectively to combat peripheral neuropathy caused by Graft Versus Host Disease - a condition that is fairly common in recipients of medical transplants. Something I can attest to personally.

I did read that. I had thought it was completely banned. I had to research that, and the current state of cyclamate for a tech gadget thread, (I know , right)? We're not questioned the efficacy of the drug for other uses, but you will agree it needs to be kept out of the hands of pregnant women at all cost. (unless of course you would like to have children with arms growing out of their foreheads. Granted they make quite the conversation piece). Now methaqualone is withdrawn , and there's something I do miss once in a blue moon...

Sounds like a modern reworking of a Dickensian novel. Depending on who is telling the story he was either exceedingly cheap, or fast tracking an education of expectations of the modern world.

Since I outlasted him by forty years, I get to do the after game analysis solo.. As the "victor", I get to write the history, and I'm going to go with drunken d***head. I'm not much of a drinker, (maybe a couple ounces of rum on a Saturday night), so you can't use, "takes one to know one", as a point of contention.

 

[grattonboy]

An Oric 1 48K, along with a penchant to understand how things worked.

Best wishes
Dean.

 

[wiyosaya]

I had a crystal radio when I was a child. But what really started it was when my Dad bought me a three-transistor FM radio kit. It was not much, really, a circuit board and a bunch of components, but I soldered it, my Mother gave me basic instructions, and it worked well. That must have been 1970 or so. From there it went to a 21" Heathkit TV, several other Heathkits including a multimeter, storage scope, signal generator, bread board. Then to a self-designed 512K ram expansion for the Sinclair QL after having put together a Sinclair ZX80 and having had an HP-25C calculator. My first PC compatible was a 386-SX16 I put together from boards.

So how long have I been into technology - 46-years give or take.

 

[daThomas]

When I was a kid the local Rad-Shack let me sit on a step ladder and teach myself Basic on their TRS-80. Even let me save my programs to a cassette tape. <img width="300" src="http://museoebc.org/sites/default/files/177a.jpg">

 

[lazer]

The problem with this page is that it attracts mostly the techie types. But what about the general public?

I myself am an older person, but I grew up making my own hi-fi, crystal radio, and was one of the first to get a computer, taught myself HTML and javascript. So what, I am just a born tech person.

 

[mailpup]

The problem with this page is that it attracts mostly the techie types. But what about the general public?

Well, this is a tech oriented website, so...

 

[captaincranky]

And this is where cranky asks, "do you think there's any chance of us getting a Emoji"?

Oh well, this will have to do in the meantime: