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A Story About ‘Magic' (1994)

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Re: A Story About ‘Magic' (1994)

#21

Post by david-given »

devindotcom wrote: post #8

I love things like this. In my old Dreamcast, I found after I'd packed it up and moved it a few too many times that it wouldn't start, but would show signs of life when the lid would open and close. I found that there was a position you could put the lid in at which it would boot, and that position could be reliably reached if a SweeTart was placed in the tray near the edge of the disc. I licked the flat side of the…

I've just carried a second hand mixer deck home on the bus.

While waiting for my stop, I noticed that if I moved my hand near the left VU meter, the needle would swing. Not much, but a little. It only worked on the left one. I didn't have to touch the case. And no, it wasn't plugged into anything. I'd just ruled out random motion caused by me joggling the deck as I moved my hand when I had to get off.

It doesn't do it any more.

Re: A Story About ‘Magic' (1994)

#22

Post by david-given »

beachstartup wrote: post #20
sthreet wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does "trust the map over the terrain" mean?

when the map tells you one thing, and your eyes tell you another thing, go with what your eyes tell you, because the map is full of shit. you would be surprised how often people trust "the map" more than reality. "the map" can be anything, i.e. an instruction manual, an authority figure, folklore, a rumor, whatever.

I'd stop and get a third opinion --- because sometimes my eyes are lying.

Re: A Story About ‘Magic' (1994)

#24

Post by smellf »

devindotcom wrote: post #8

I love things like this. In my old Dreamcast, I found after I'd packed it up and moved it a few too many times that it wouldn't start, but would show signs of life when the lid would open and close. I found that there was a position you could put the lid in at which it would boot, and that position could be reliably reached if a SweeTart was placed in the tray near the edge of the disc. I licked the flat side of the…

I had an ancient hardcard[0] that was obsolete when I got it in the 90s, but it was the first HDD I owned so it made me very happy. Unfortunately, to get it to spin up, you had to shake the thing vigorously for about 10 minutes, which wasn't such a big deal because there was no case - it was an open benchtop computer.

[0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardcard

Re: A Story About ‘Magic' (1994)

#25

Post by semi-extrinsic »

devindotcom wrote: post #8

I love things like this. In my old Dreamcast, I found after I'd packed it up and moved it a few too many times that it wouldn't start, but would show signs of life when the lid would open and close. I found that there was a position you could put the lid in at which it would boot, and that position could be reliably reached if a SweeTart was placed in the tray near the edge of the disc. I licked the flat side of the…

A friend of mine, working on his PhD in a European university which shall not be named, is using a really old 15 watt ruby laser for some experiments. One day last year it would not turn on, and he and his labmates spent hours trying to diagnose the problem. Finally one of them, exasperated, put his elbow on top of the laser cabinet with a deep sigh, whereupon the laser promptly started working. Excited, they found a big piece of steel and duct-taped it to the top of the cabinet in that very place, with a big "DO NOT MOVE"-note, and the laser has been working fine ever since.

Re: A Story About ‘Magic' (1994)

#26

Post by Johnythree »

david-given wrote: post #21
devindotcom wrote: post #8

I love things like this. In my old Dreamcast, I found after I'd packed it up and moved it a few too many times that it wouldn't start, but would show signs of life when the lid would open and close. I found that there was a position you could put the lid in at which it would boot, and that position could be reliably reached if a SweeTart was placed in the tray near the edge of the disc. I licked the flat side of the…

I've just carried a second hand mixer deck home on the bus. While waiting for my stop, I noticed that if I moved my hand near the left VU meter, the needle would swing. Not much, but a little. It only worked on the left one. I didn't have to touch the case. And no, it wasn't plugged into anything. I'd just ruled out random motion caused by me joggling the deck as I moved my hand when I had to get off. It doesn't do i…

Static Electricity. The meter movement is very delicately balanced, plus the plastic window can become charged. Waving your hand around affects the charge.

You've just invented the Electroscope.

Re: A Story About ‘Magic' (1994)

#27

Post by cocoablazing »

david-given wrote: post #21
devindotcom wrote: post #8

I love things like this. In my old Dreamcast, I found after I'd packed it up and moved it a few too many times that it wouldn't start, but would show signs of life when the lid would open and close. I found that there was a position you could put the lid in at which it would boot, and that position could be reliably reached if a SweeTart was placed in the tray near the edge of the disc. I licked the flat side of the…

I've just carried a second hand mixer deck home on the bus. While waiting for my stop, I noticed that if I moved my hand near the left VU meter, the needle would swing. Not much, but a little. It only worked on the left one. I didn't have to touch the case. And no, it wasn't plugged into anything. I'd just ruled out random motion caused by me joggling the deck as I moved my hand when I had to get off. It doesn't do i…

Some nuclear reactor instruments will respond in funny ways if you rub them. I never understood it, but some don't find it very funny.

Re: A Story About ‘Magic' (1994)

#28

Post by sthreet »

RickHull wrote: post #23
sthreet wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What does "trust the map over the terrain" mean?

http://wiki.lesswrong.com/wiki/The_map_is_not_the_territory

Ah, ok. Thanks.

Reminded me of thinking about what if you targeted a laser on a map and it burned physical terrain.

Re: A Story About ‘Magic' (1994)

#29

Post by scoot »

smellf wrote: post #24
devindotcom wrote: post #8

I love things like this. In my old Dreamcast, I found after I'd packed it up and moved it a few too many times that it wouldn't start, but would show signs of life when the lid would open and close. I found that there was a position you could put the lid in at which it would boot, and that position could be reliably reached if a SweeTart was placed in the tray near the edge of the disc. I licked the flat side of the…

I had an ancient hardcard[0] that was obsolete when I got it in the 90s, but it was the first HDD I owned so it made me very happy. Unfortunately, to get it to spin up, you had to shake the thing vigorously for about 10 minutes, which wasn't such a big deal because there was no case - it was an open benchtop computer. [0] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hardcard

Funnily enough we had one of those (or something like it) in the college I went to, also in an open bench top computer. The HD had no cover, and you had to give the disk a spin to get it moving after power-up. Oddly it never suffered ill-erects from environmental contamination of the head / platter. I guess the densities were low enough not to matter so much.

Re: A Story About ‘Magic' (1994)

#30

Post by parfe »

peterwwillis wrote: post #9

Uh... How was this not obvious from looking at it? Every geek who's put together or taken apart a computer knows the metal frame is grounded, and most geeks have enough basic understanding of electricity to understand you only need one wire for a ground. The switch enables or disables grounding. Since that is literally the only thing it can do, that is what it does.

Haha HN, how did this post get downvotes? The second I read about "a switch needing two wires" I thought "Unless it's grounded." Interesting story, but hardly "magic"
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