The Computer at the Bottom of a Canal

Post by n49o7 » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 10:30 AM UTC

stavros wrote: post #37

needSomeCoffee wrote: post #22

Very interesting and well written article. This sentence in particular: "Linn Products is the Glasgow company Ivor Tiefenbrun founded in 1972, and if you know it at all you know it for the Sondek LP12, still widely regarded by its partisans as the finest record deck ever made." I was a big audiophile right at that time. Auditioned both Sondek and Sota Star Saphire. Went with the latter which I still proudly own (Alph…

Yeah but also saying "it's considered the best by the people who love it" is a tautology.

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 12:34 PM UTC

tclancy wrote: post #32

Luc wrote: post #28

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Very well-written text, not a whiff of AI generation to it. Your example is not even a run-on sentence! I enjoyed reading it, many thanks to the author.

I really enjoyed it, but I think there’s more than a whiff. > That curve is gone. The compromise is going with it; and the workload-shaped machine, the thing Harland was building in 1984, is what comes back.

Post by fwipsy » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 1:54 PM UTC

Luc wrote: post #44

tclancy wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really enjoyed it, but I think there’s more than a whiff. > That curve is gone. The compromise is going with it; and the workload-shaped machine, the thing Harland was building in 1984, is what comes back.

Nope, and Pangram agrees with me, 100% human written with high confidence. I really enjoy this style and I think it's not _that_ close to AI output (it's much better in fact).

Post by fennecbutt » Sun, Jul 19, 2026, 5:36 PM UTC

fragmede wrote: post #33

wbl wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Depends on the canal. The UK narrow boat network has locked everywhere so minimal current in most sections similarly the Netherlands. In fact most canals. But then you have something like Suez which is just open to the ocean.

The UK locks themselves are water movement though, so if you wanted to power something for "free" on those, you'd attach it to there. Oh man did I love watching those as a kid. You wouldn't do a fan though, you'd have a line and a buoy and use the up and down motion to drive a linear electromagnetic generator to harvest energy.

Post by tmzt » Mon, Jul 20, 2026, 5:59 PM UTC